High current electrical contact arrangement

Claim 1

In a high-current, liquid-metal contact arrangement for an electrical machine such as an electric unipolar machine utilized as a motor or the like, the contact arrangement including a ringshaped rotatable member; and, a stationary member adjacent the rotatable member, the stationary member being likewise ringshaped; first and second surfaces formed on the members respectively, said surfaces being mutually adjacent to conjointly define an annular gap therebetween having an approximately uniform thickness about its periphery; the stationary member having an annular canal means therein through which the liquidmetal conductor is pressed into the annular gap between the stationary and rotatable members under pressure to completely fill the gap thereby establishing a good electrical contact between the members; the improvement comprising: an intermediate ring arranged in the annular gap freely floating in the liquid conductor so as to be radially self-centering in said annular gap, said intermediate ring including axial centering means for axially centering said intermediate ring, said ring having a plurality of openings therein located at the mid portion of the lateral dimension thereof and distributed along the circumference of said ring.