CH682603A5 - Electromagnetic switch device locked forced march. - Google Patents

Description

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CH 682 603 A5

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Description

The present invention relates to an electromagnetic switch device comprising several poles and, to act on these poles in automatic mode and respectively in forced mode, an electromagnet and a manual control button, as well as a kinematic chain for actuating the movable contacts which uses in one and the other case the same drive part.

Such known devices, such as contactors and other automatic switching devices, include in a housing:

- several poles, each pole comprising at least one fixed contact and one separable movable contact,

- an electromagnet having a coil and an armature subject to a spring,

- the armature being coupled to a drive part capable of acting on the contacts to open and close these depending on the supply of the coil,

- a manual control button arranged near a front face of the housing and biased by a return spring,

the button cooperating with the armature or the drive part by means of retaining elements and which can assume an automatic operating position and a forced operating position in which it releases and, respectively, maintains the armature or the drive part.

When the manual control button is placed in its forced running position, the armature return spring contributes to maintaining the armature-drive part coupling in the on position and simultaneously ensures a slight detachment of the armature by compared to the fixed magnetic circuit. It follows that the supply of the coil causes a reapplication of the armature on the fixed magnetic circuit; the manual control button is thus released and returns to its automatic operating position under the effect of its return spring.

The object of the invention is in particular to provide, in a simple manner, in an electromagnetic switch device of the type described, a choice of automatic return to automatic operation or the continuation of forced operation, during an automatic "on" command. intervening during a forced operation situation controlled manually.

Another object of the invention is to allow such a choice using space-saving means which are not inadvertently operable.

According to the invention, the manual control button is associated with a lock accessible from outside the housing and movable between a first position and a second position so that it allows in its first position the free movement of the button from the position of forced march to the automatic on position and that it ensures in its second position that the button is locked in the forced on position.

The lock can be placed next to or combined with the manual control button. It can be provided to be moved by pivoting, rotation or translation, being attached either to the button or to the front face of the housing, without however substantially protruding from the latter.

It can advantageously be constituted by a cursor movable in translation in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the manual control button. The cursor is mounted on a conformation of the housing or is combined with the button; in the latter case, it is for example housed in a transverse opening of the button and has an imprint accessible to a tool which is passed through a window provided in the button.

An embodiment of the switch device according to the invention will be described below, by way of nonlimiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings. Among these drawings:

Fig. 1 schematically shows a section in elevation of a contactor according to the invention;

Figs. 2 to 4 show a front view of the contactor housing, the manual control button and its locking slider occupying different positions;

Figs. 5 and 6 show on a larger scale, in section along the planes V-V and VI-VI of FIGS. 3 and 4, the button and the cursor;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of the button-cursor assembly shown in FIG. 1;

Figs. 8 to 10 represent alternative embodiments of the lock.

The electromagnetic contactor illustrated in the figures is a bipolar contactor, but it can also be three- or four-pole. It comprises a housing 10 having a front face 11 at which is located the tactile part of a manual control button 12 with three positions, as well as a rear face 13 provided with latching means on a standardized support. The button can be placed in three positions: automatic or normal operation (AUTO), forced operation (I) and stop (O), respectively in the center, to the right and to the left in fig. 1, or in the center, bottom and top in figs. 2 to 4.

In the housing 10 is housed an electromagnet 14 which has a coil 15, a fixed magnetic circuit 16 and a movable armature 17, the latter being located on the front side of the housing. The frame 17 is biased by a return spring 18, while the button 12 is biased from its forced on position to its automatic on position by a return spring 19.

The frame 17 is coupled to a drive part 20 presently constituted by a flat link linked to a contact carrier 21 or applicable to a pivoting lever 22 itself linked to the contact carrier and urged towards a rest position by a spring. 23. The contact carrier comprises, for each power pole, a contact bridge 24 provided with two movable contacts each associated with a fixed contact so as to establish or cut a current path between two power terminals such as 1 , 2. The illustrated contacts are of the closing type, but can, of course, be of the

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opening. They could also be single cut.

The coil 15 of the electromagnet is energized when a current path passing through two control terminals A1, A2 closes. This current path can be interrupted either by an external control, or by the button 12 in its off position using a switch not shown.

The manual control button 12 is constituted by a plate 30 (see fig. 7) housed under the front face 11 of the housing substantially parallel to the latter and movable in a direction D1. The plate is provided towards the front with a projecting part 31, at the level of the face 11 or protruding slightly from the latter, and allowing the operation by an operator's finger; the plate is fitted towards the rear with retaining elements 32. These elements include a ramp and a bearing and possibly hooking surface and they cooperate with complementary elements 33 provided either on a cowling 34 secured to the frame , or on an appropriate part of the drive part 20. The elements this retainer can of course be formed and arranged differently.

The button 12 is combined with a lock constituted by a cursor 35. The latter is housed in a transverse opening 36 of the button so as to move in a direction D2 perpendicular to D1. The cursor allows the button to move freely from its I position to its AUTO position in the erased position (fig. 2, 3 and 5) and locks the button in its I position in the extended position (fig. 4 and 6). In the extended position , the cursor 35 enters a housing 37 formed in the housing and the button remains locked by the application of the cursor against a retaining face 37a of the housing. The latter is a clearance from a window 38 provided in the front face 11 for the displacement of the projecting part 31 of the button. The cursor 35 has an imprint 40 accessible by a tool (see FIG. 6) via a window 39 in the projecting part 31, as well as guide and retaining elements 41 in the button. This allows the button-cursor assembly not to protrude substantially from the front face 11 and avoids inadvertent actuation of the cursor.

In the variant of FIG. 8, the cursor 35a is an element associated with the projecting part 31a of the button 12a and movable on a slide of this part.

In fig. 9 shows a pivoting cam lock 35b disposed on or in the projecting part 31b of the button 12b.

In fig. 10 is illustrated the case of a pivoting lock 35c arranged so as to pivot on the housing and having a flat which cooperates with a slot of suitable shape 42 of the button 12c. The flat and the slot are designed in such a way that when the flat is oriented parallel to the axis of the slot 42, the lock can slide freely in the latter; on the other hand, when the flat is oriented perpendicular to said axis, the latch which has transversely a width greater than that of the slot, can therefore not engage therein and is blocked.

It is understood that the latch 35 can be mounted either on or in the button 12 to be able to lock against a fixed element of the housing 10, or on or in the front face 11 of the housing to be able to block against a stop element of the button 12.

The contactor according to the invention operates in the following manner.

The manual control button 12 being placed in the AUTO position (fig. 1 and 2), the armature 17 remains in the high position (fig. 1) under the effect of the spring 18 when the coil is not energized; the same applies to the drive part 20 and the contact-holding part, so that the contacts are open. As soon as the coil is supplied, the armature 17 pivots counterclockwise (fig. 1), the drive part 20 descends with the contact carrier; the contacts close and the springs 18 and 23 are compressed.

When the button 12 is put in position I while the coil is not supplied and the cursor 35 remains deleted (fig. 3 and 5), the elements 32, 33 are implemented and force the armature 17 and the part 20 downwards (fig. 1) to close the contacts; the armature remains slightly detached from the fixed magnetic circuit and the button remains maintained in the forced running state under the effect of the springs 18, 23, with possibly a slight catching. As soon as the coil is supplied, the armature 17 descends slightly and releases the button 12 which returns to the AUTO position under the effect of the spring 19.

When the button 12 is put in position I by bringing out the cursor 35 (FIGS. 4 and 6), the button remains maintained as before in the forced running state. When the coil is supplied, the button 12 remains held in position I since the cursor 35 remains applied on the face 37a.

The electromagnetic switch device according to the invention can be constituted by any automatic switching device provided with a manual control allowing the choice between automatic walking and forced walking.

Claims (7)

Claims 1. Electromagnetic switch device comprising in a housing: - several poles, each pole comprising at least one fixed contact and one separable mobile contact, - an electromagnet (14) having a coil and an armature (17) secured to a spring, the armature being coupled to a drive part (20) capable of acting on the contacts to open and close them as a function of the supply to the coil, a manual control button (12) disposed near a front face (11) of the housing (10), movable parallel to this front face and biased by a spring, this reminder, the button cooperating with the frame of the drive part by means of retaining elements and which can assume an automatic on position and a forced on position in which it releases and, respectively, maintains the frame or the drive part, characterized in that: - A manual control button (12) is associated with a lock (35) accessible from outside the box. 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 3 5 CH 682 603 A5 tier and movable between a first position and a second position so that, - in the first position, the latch (35) allows the button (12) to move freely from its forced on position to its automatic on position, - In the second position, the lock ensures the button is locked in its forced on position. 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the manual control button (12) and the latch (35) do not protrude substantially from the front face (11) of the housing (10). 3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the manual control button (12) moves in translation in a direction (D1) and the latch (35) is a slider movable in a direction (D2) perpendicular to the direction (D1) of movement of the control button. 4. Apparatus according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the latch (35) is mounted on or in the manual control button (12) and is applicable in its second position against a wall of a housing ( 37) formed in the front face (11) of the housing (10). 5. Apparatus according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the latch (35) is housed in a transverse opening (36) of the button and has an imprint (40) accessible by a tool. 6. Apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that the imprint (40) of the lock (35) is accessible via a window (39) formed in a part (31) of the manual control button (12) which is protruding but does not protrude from the front face (11) of the housing. 7. Apparatus according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the latch (35) is mounted in the front face (11) of the housing to lock in its second position a stop element specific to the button (12) . 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 4