Patent 7679021 was granted and assigned to Siemens Aktiengesellschaft on March, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
An electrical switching device, especially a high-voltage circuit breaker, contains arcing contacts and nominal current contacts. At least one of the nominal current contacts has a surface formed of an arc-resistant material provided with a galvanic coating. In this configuration, the contact points can withstand high mechanical and thermal loads and at the same time maintain a high current carrying capacity.