Patent ID: 8779317

Claim:
A contact assembly for a vacuum interrupter, the assembly configured to cause a current flowing from a movable contact to a fixed contact to bend around a space generated between a recessed portion of a surface of the movable contact and a recessed portion of a surface of the fixed contact and comprising: a fixed electrode coupled to and contacting the fixed contact, the fixed electrode having a diameter smaller than a diameter of the fixed contact; a movable contact configured to move to a first position in which the movable contact comes into contact with the fixed contact and into a second position in which the movable contact is separated from the fixed contact; a movable electrode coupled to and contacting the movable contact, the movable electrode having a diameter smaller than a diameter of the movable contact; and a plurality of contact support members, a first of the plurality of contact support members arranged between the fixed contact and the fixed electrode and a second of the plurality of the contact members arranged between the movable contact and the movable electrode, wherein each one of the plurality of contact support members covers a body of the fixed electrode or a body of the movable electrode, and wherein an outer diameter of the first of the plurality of contact support members is greater than the diameter of the fixed electrode and an outer diameter of the second of the plurality of contact support members is greater than the diameter of the movable electrode such that a first contact area between the fixed contact and the fixed electrode and a second contact area between the movable contact and the movable electrode are increased and stress concentration at the first contact area and second contact area is reduced by spreading stress over the increased first contract area and second contact area.