For the ZXZC Awards 2022, the Breaktor™ from Eaton (China) Investments Co., Ltd. has applied for the Top 100 Players of China's New Automotive Supply Chain.

Photo credit: Eaton

Description:

The analysis of conventional circuit protection considerations concludes that there is clearly a need for a new protection solution. The development trends in the voltage and power levels underline the increasing complexity to protect against the electrical fault scenarios. The solution needs to

（1）offer a fully coordinated circuit protection and switching solution,

（2）actively interrupt but also passively trigger in case of power loss,

（3）improve functional safety of critical protection systems,

（4）deliver improved component serviceability and/or resettability.

Photo credit: Eaton

Eaton developed a solution considering the criteria above. Breaktor™ circuit protection combines two key components into one: the circuit breaker and the relay, and thereby is capable of handling the full protection range from overloads to short-circuits as well as the switching functionality in normal operation.

Unique advantages:

In normal switching operation, the driver coil closes the contacts powered by a 12V supply to switch the device on and falls back into off-mode when the supply voltage drops off.

Breaktor constantly monitors the current levels with the onboard current sensor and shuts-off the power to the driver coil once an overload condition is detected. The trigger overcurrent level is adjustable.

For short-circuit situations, Breaktor detects the condition in less than 1ms and disconnects the driver coil. This high-speed deactivation helps to prevent contact welding. Furthermore, Breaktor utilizes the effect of electrodynamically contact levitation positively to limit the current through to the system. This effect is threatening in the case of contactor and fuse combinations, since the levitation of conventional contactors can disrupt the fuse reaction to the fault.

In any fault case, after the respective safety checks, Breaktor can be re-activated.

Breaktor not only replaces protection and switching components, but also eliminates high voltage busbars and auxiliary voltage harnesses in the system due to the reduced number of overall components and connections within the system protection architecture. The integration of Breaktor therefore poses advantages form a system perspective with regards to optimized cost, power density, and safety assurance.

Breaktor advanced circuit protection is the perfect combination by covering the full protection range for overloads and short-circuit scenarios and can actively interrupt but also passively trigger in case of power losses. It improves the functional safety of the protection system and adds resettability as a key feature into the value proposition of the protection system.

Application:

Circuit Protection for electric vehicles

Prospect:

The Breaktor circuit protection solution offers fast, safe and reliable protection for high-power battery and inverter systems. New EVs have increased power levels, which drives the need for advanced circuit protection for these high-voltage systems.