CH686853A5 - Apparatus matable protection switch to a control module and / or to a signaling module. - Google Patents

Description

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Description

The present invention relates to a protective switch device, for example of the circuit breaker type, which can be coupled to a control module and / or to a signaling module.

Usually, devices of this kind include a prismatic housing, the base of which has a longitudinal central rib shaped so as to be able to engage and be fixed by clipping onto a profiled support rail (hat profile).

This box houses a switch device, the moving assembly of which can be actuated by a trigger mechanism with potential energy accumulation generally called a lock, the detent of which can be caused under the effect of a manual control mechanism, a trigger sensitive to short circuits, for example magnetoelectric and / or a trigger sensitive to overloads, for example thermal. The control mechanism also serves to reset the lock. Frequently, the magnetothermal trigger includes a striker lever which acts directly on the moving element when a short circuit occurs while causing the trigger mechanism to relax, the latter confirming and prolonging the action of the striker lever.

Usually, the housing of these devices, the cross section of which has an inverted T shape, comprises two lateral faces oriented perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the profiled rail. These lateral faces serve as an assembly and / or coupling face, against which the lateral faces of adjacent devices or even of additional modules can be applied. The coupling of these additional modules or to the switch mechanism is carried out by means of male and female coupling elements respectively provided in said device and in said modules.

By patent DE 3 837 461, it has already been proposed to add to a device of the above type a signaling module whose mechanism, which actuates a display member and / or switches connectable to a signaling circuit, is driven by the triggering device of the switching device, by means of coupling.

Such a signaling module therefore makes it possible to indicate directly or indirectly (thanks to the auxiliary switches) the armed / tripped state of the switching device.

The object of the invention is more particularly to improvements making it possible to couple, on at least one of the lateral faces of a device of this kind, a control module for the trigger member of the trigger mechanism, this control module may for example consist of a device sensitive to a lack of voltage or to a voltage emission, or even more generally, a device for remote control of the triggering device.

Of course, the action of this control module must be compatible with the operation of the switch device and of the auxiliary modules associated with it.

Furthermore, it is desirable that the signaling module can make a distinction between a trigger produced by the magneto-electric trigger, or even by the thermal trigger and the triggers caused by the control module.

Indeed, a tripping caused by the magnetoelectric trip means that a short-circuit has occurred on the line and therefore that it is dangerous to re-energize the circuit before having removed the short-circuit stroke.

On the other hand, re-energizing the circuit after a trip caused by the control module, for example following a momentary absence of current, does not present any danger.

To achieve these results, the invention provides a switch device according to claim 1.

Advantageously, the signaling module comprises a bista-ble triggering mechanism with passing neutral, designed so as to pass from the state of rest to the triggered state when the coupling finger has exceeded the above-mentioned intermediate position, the return in the rest position which can then only be carried out thanks to the manual intervention of an operator.

An embodiment of the invention will be described below, by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figs. 1 and 2 are cross sections of a protection switch implementing the invention;

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are schematic cross sections of a protection switch of the type shown in FIG. 1, to which are coupled a control module and a signaling module, FIG. 3 showing the switch in the armed state (on), fig. 4 showing this switch in the triggered state following a section of the control module, not causing a change of state of the signaling module, and FIG. 5 showing the switch in the triggered state following the action of the electromagnetic trigger;

Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are schematic representations illustrating the operating principle of the trigger mechanism;

Figs. 9 and 10 are schematic representations of a control module acting as a low-voltage (fig. 9) and voltage-emitting release (fig. 10).

The electrical protection switch, designated by the general reference 10 in FIGS. 1 and 2, is a low-voltage double-pole multipole circuit breaker of which only one pole has been shown.

This device 10 comprises an insulating housing 11 composed of a base having a base 12 and a cover 13. The housing comprises, on its front face, a projecting part 14 and, on its rear face (base), elements 15 used for fixing the device by snap-fastening on a standardized profile.

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Each pole of the device 10 comprises a contact bridge 17 carrying two movable contacts 18,19 arranged on either side of a median plane P - common to all of the poles - and intended to occupy either a position of closure in which they cooperate respectively with two fixed contacts 20, 21 formed on respective conductive parts 22, 23, or an open position in which they are separated from the fixed contacts 20, 21 following an automatic tripping in the event of a fault in overcurrent or manual control.

The conductive part 22 is directly connected to a first electrical connection terminal 26, while the conductive part 23 is electrically connected to a second electrical connection terminal 27 via a series electrical assembly consisting of a bimetal thermal release generally designated at 28 for protection against overload currents, and an electromagnetic trip device with striker generally designated at 29 for protection against short-circuit currents.

In this example, the electromagnetic trip device and the thermal trip device are an integral part of the same magnetothermal trip sub-assembly 30.

The device 10 also includes a trigger mechanism (lock) 31, common to all of the poles and disposed in a central compartment 32 of flat shape, that is to say of relatively small thickness perpendicular to the median plane P .

In this example, the striker of the electromagnetic trip device 29 of each pole is a pivoting lever 41 which, in normal service (fig. 1), on the one hand is engaged with a bearing surface of an orifice 42 formed in the vicinity from the lower end of a flat piece in the form of a plate 38 which constitutes the release member of the lock and which extends against the side wall 31a of the compartment 32 and, on the other hand, opens out as close as possible of the median plane P through a lumen 43 formed in the side wall 31a of the lock 31.

The contact bridge 17, fig. 1, is biased in the direction of closing of the contacts by a return and pressure spring 44 also bearing against the bottom of the housing 11. The contact bridge 17 is controllable in the direction of opening of the contacts by a drive pusher 45 carrying the bridge and belonging to a part common to all of the poles, which part comprising as many pushers as there are poles.

The pusher 45 is itself driven, following a short circuit detected by the electromagnetic trip device 29 of each pole, by the striker lever 41 pivoting in a plane substantially transverse to the median plane, and this after triggering the lock 31, of which the response time is greater than the percussion time of the striker lever 41, by means of the plate 38 driven parallel to the median plane under the action of a traction exerted by the lever during its pivoting; the striker lever 41 therefore constitutes a member for very rapid opening of the contacts, while the actuating part (actuator) 39 of the lock 31 in the released position in this case constitutes a member for confirming the opening of the contacts , the action-neur 39 moving parallel to the median plane (fig. 2).

Pusher 45, fig. 1, is also driven by the actuator 39 of the lock 31 following the triggering of the latter either by a manual control member, or by a control device (not shown) urged by the thermal trigger 28 of each pole in response to an electrical overload detected by it.

In fig. 1 and 2, there is shown in 51 an opening push button or “stop” button causing the triggering of the lock 31, and in 50 a reset and closing push button or “start” button, these buttons push buttons 50 and 51 being arranged in compartment 32 so as to be able to project at the front of the housing 11. Of course, these push buttons 50, 51 could be replaced by any other equivalent means, such as, for example, by tilting buttons, or by a rotary lever for resetting, closing and opening, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The wafer 38, the actuator 39 and the striker lever 41 are in the high position (FIG. 1) under normal operating conditions, the operating push button 50 being pressed. They are all three in the low position (fig. 2) when a short circuit has been detected by the electromagnetic trip device 29; on the other hand, the actuator 39 is alone in the low position when an electrical overload has been detected by the thermal trip device 28 or when the stop push-button 51 has been pressed.

The manual control and reset mechanism, associated with the buttons 50 and 51 involves, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 8, a tilting part 130 pivotally mounted about an axis DD perpendicular to the plane PP and has, on either side of this axis, two bearing surfaces 131, 131 'located at the ends of arms 132, 132' and cooperating with respective bearing faces 133, 133 ′ of the buttons 50, 51. The bearing surfaces are, for example, studs of rounded shape.

The tilting piece 130 cooperates via a rod 122 with a spoiler 123 which, on the one hand, is capable of being retained or released by a hook 124 pivoting about an axis 125, on the other hand, is associated to a square piece 126. The latter pivots about an axis 127, is coupled to the actuator 39 which acts on the contact bridges, and is stressed with the actuator 39 by a spring 128 for triggering and opening.

When the actuator 39 is in the high position (FIGS. 3 and 6), the movable contact elements 18, 19 are applied to the fixed contacts 20, 21 (closing). When the actuator 39 is in the low position (fig. 4, 5, 7 and 8), the elements 18, 19 are separated from the fixed contacts (opening). The parts 122-128 making up the control mechanism 20 are known in themselves and will not be described in more detail.

The closed position ("on") of the circuit breaker5

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This is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 6. The closing button 50 is pressed, which constrains, via the bearing 131, the part 130 to tilt counterclockwise as shown in FIG. 6. The range 131 'is applied to the bearing face 133' of the opening button 51, which forces the latter to come out and protrude considerably from the front face 14. The kinematic chain 122-128 brings the actuator 39 in the upper position which is indicated.

When an electrical fault occurs, for example detected by the thermal trigger 28 or magnetic 29, the hook 124 pivots clockwise (fig. 7) and releases the spoiler 123. This releases the bracket 126 which therefore allows spring 128 to lower the actuator 39 to give the desired opening of the contacts. In a second phase, the closing button 50 rises under the effect of an unspecified spring, by driving the bearing surface 131 by a bearing face 134 opposite the face 133, which makes the tilting part 130 pivot in the opposite direction. schedule. The range 131 'acts on a support face 134' of the push button 51 to lower the latter, the buttons finally having the positions indicated in broken lines.

When the user wants to manually open the contacts from the closed state indicated in fig. 6, he presses the opening button 51 (fig. 8). The tilting part pivots clockwise via the bearing face 133 ′ and the bearing surface 131 ′, while the closing button 50 rises under the effect of the bearing surface 131 cooperating with its face 133.

As shown in fig. 2, 3, 4, the plate 38 constituting the release member of the lock 31 has a substantially rectangular shape, parallel to the plane P, P, movable in translation along an axis perpendicular to the base 12 and which has:

- Two parallel side edges 52, 52 'respectively adjacent to the two side faces 53, 54 of the housing 11 of the device, each of these side edges 52, 52' having a notch 55, 56 located substantially opposite an oblon light -gu 57, 58 formed on the side face 53, 54 which is adjacent thereto;

- A recess 59 in which engages a pin 60 integral with the hook 124, so that a displacement of the plate 38 downwards, from its armed position, causes a rotation movement of the hook 124 releasing the spoiler 123;

- An extension 61 provided with the orifice 42 into which the end of the striker lever 41 of the magnetothermal assembly 29-30 engages.

The notches 55, 56 each comprise a bottom substantially parallel to the axis of movement of the plate, a straight upper edge 63, perpendicular to said axis and a lower edge successively comprising a portion 64 perpendicular to said axis and an oblique portion 65.

In fact, the upper edge 63 of these notches constitutes a driving stop intended to act on a coupling finger (led) 66 of a signaling module 67 mounted here against the lateral face 54 of the housing 11.

The portion 64 of the lower edge of these notches 55, 56 constitutes, for its part, a driven stop on which can act a coupling finger (leading) 68 of a control module 69 mounted here against the lateral face 53 of the housing 11.

These arrangements are visible in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, which represent a circuit breaker equipped with both a signaling module 67 mounted on the side face 54, with its coupling finger 66 engaged in the notch 56 and a control module 69 mounted on the lateral face 53 with its coupling finger 68 engaged in the notch 55.

In this example, the signaling module 67 comprises a bista-ble triggering mechanism with neutral passage comprising:

- An actuating rod 70 slidably mounted parallel to the axis of movement of the wafer 38 by means of bearings 71, 72, this rod 70 carrying in its central part, the coupling finger 66 which extends transversely for s '' engage in the notch 56 after passage through an oblong recess made in the module housing 67 so as to coincide with the recess 58 of the side face 54, in the assembled position of the module 67 on the side face 54;

- A pressure spring 73 retained on the rod 70 by one of its ends by means of a stud 74, and retained, by its other end, on a fixed bearing point 75 secured to the module 67, this spring 73 able to oscillate between two stable positions located on either side of an axis XX 'perpendicular to the rod 70 and passing through the fulcrum 75;

- A normally open switch 76 actuated by one of the ends of the rod 70;

- a signaling and reset button 77 mounted rocking about an axis 78 located at the front face 14 'of the module 67 and mechanically coupled to the other end of the rod 70.

This signaling module 67 therefore has two states, namely:

- A standby state in which the rod 70 biased by the spring 73 is in the high position (limited by a stop) and maintains the button 77 disposed substantially in the extension of the front face 14 ', the lower part of the rod 70 does not requesting the switch 76 which is then in the normally open position;

- a triggered state caused by a downward movement of the coupling finger 66, beyond neutral (materialized by the passage of the stud 74 beyond the axis XX ') state in which under the effect of spring 73, the button 77 is tilted projecting relative to the front face 14 'and the switch urged by the rod 70 is kept in the closed state.

As previously mentioned, the return of this signaling module to the standby state involves manual action on the button 77, to make it switch in the opposite direction so that the rod 70 passes the neutral position in the opposite direction and

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returns to its original stable position. The switch 76 then returns to its normally open position.

Of course, this switch 76 can control a signaling circuit and / or be integrated into a monitoring circuit.

The control module 69, mounted on the lateral face 53 of the circuit breaker, comprises an electromagnet 80, the movable armature 81 of which is tiltably mounted and urged by a spring 82, drives in translation a transmission bar 83.

This transmission bar 83 carries at its end the coupling finger 68 which passes through an orifice 57 'provided in the lateral face 53 of the module 69 to engage in the notch 55 (after passage through the orifice 57).

This control module 69 can consist, for example, of a low voltage release or, on the contrary, a voltage release.

In the case where it consists of an undervoltage release, the electromagnet 80 can be placed as shown in FIG. 9 with the movable armature 81 disposed between the fixed carcass 84 and the bottom 85 of the housing of the control module 69.

In this case, in normal operation, the coil of the electromagnet 80 is excited and causes the movable armature 81 to be held against the fixed carcass, and this, against the action of the spring 82.

The coupling finger 68 is therefore in the high position and does not stress the plate 38.

On the other hand, during a lack of tension causing a deexcitation of the coil, the movable armature 81 driven by the spring 82, moves away from the fixed carcass 84 and generates a downward movement of the coupling finger 68 ( position shown in fig. 9).

During this movement, the coupling finger 68 acts on the portion 64 of the lower edge of the notch 55 by causing a displacement downwards of the plate 38.

This downward movement of the plate 38 in turn causes a rotation of the hook 124 which releases the spoiler 123 thereby passing the lock 31 to the triggered state.

In the case where it consists of a voltage emission trip device, the electromagnet 80 is arranged in reverse of the previous example, with the fixed carcass 84 located against the bottom 85 and the movable armature 81 located at the opposite of the bottom 85 (fig. 10).

In this case, in normal operation, the coil of the electromagnet 80 is not excited and the movable armature 81 is kept apart from the fixed carcass 84 by the spring 82.

The coupling finger 68 is in the high position and does not stress the plate 38.

On the other hand, during a voltage emission causing the excitation of the electromagnet, the movable armature 81 is attracted against the carcass 84 against the action of the spring 82 and generates a downward movement of the finger d '' coupling 68.

This movement causes the lock 31 to be triggered in the manner previously indicated.

Advantageously, the width of the notch 55 will be provided so that the movement of the plate 38 under the effect of the coupling finger 68 does not cause a displacement of the rod 70 of the signaling module 67 beyond the neutral and, consequently, does not cause a change of state of the signaling module 67.

The stroke of the striker lever 41 is provided so as to cause a displacement of the wafer 38 greater than that caused by the control module 69 so as to be able to bring the rod 70 beyond neutral and to change state the signaling module 67.

To prevent the action of the striker lever 41 from being reflected on the movable armature 81 of the electromagnet 80, there is provided on the side of the control module 69 a notch 55 of width equal to the total stroke of the plate imposed by the striker lever 41 (to the thickness of the finger).

In this example, the notch 56 located on the side of the signaling module 67 has a width less than that of the notch 55 located on the side of the control module. This width corresponds substantially to the stroke of the finger 68 (to the thickness of the finger close). Indeed, the striker lever 41 must be able to cause the change of state of the signaling module 67 without acting on the control module 69, while the latter must be able to cause the release of the lock 31 without causing a change of state of the signaling module 67.

However, this solution has the drawback of allowing connection on a side face of the device only of a module of a determined type (control module or signaling module).

To eliminate this drawback, it is possible to use a notch 55 having the same height as the notch 56 by shifting the coupling finger 66 in height relative to the coupling finger 68.

Such an arrangement therefore makes it possible to connect a control module or a signaling module to a lateral face 53, 54 of the device 11, indifferently.

An important advantage of the device described above is that, following a trip caused by a short circuit, resetting of the circuit breaker can only be carried out if the signaling module 67 has been brought back to the standby state, by manual action on button 77.

Indeed, as long as the finger 66 maintains the plate 38 in the triggered position, the return of the lock 31 in the armed position is impossible (the spoiler 123 cannot be retained by the hook 124).

Furthermore, the oblique portions 65 of the edges of the notches 55, 56 are intended to authorize the mounting of the additive modules 67, 69 in any state.

In the case where, during assembly, the signaling module 67 is in the triggered state, as in the case where the control module 69 is activated (finger 68 in the down position), the action of finger 66 (or finger 68) on the oblique portion 65 of the notch 56 (or of the notch 55) causes a displacement downwards of the plate 38 and a triggering of the lock 31.

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Claims (7)

Claims 1. A protective switch device of the type comprising a housing housing a switch device, the moving assembly of which is actuated by a trigger mechanism with accumulation of potential energy (31), the expansion of which can be caused by the effect of a mechanism. manual control, a trigger sensitive to short-circuits (29) and a trigger sensitive to overloads (28), a trigger (38) of the trigger mechanism (31) being movable in translation in a perpendicular direction at the base of the housing, characterized in that the trigger mechanism (31) is intended to cooperate, via two orifices respectively provided in two lateral faces (53, 54) of the housing: - Either with a coupling finger (68), of the driving type, of an additive control module (69), this coupling finger (68) being designed so as to be able to move the expansion member (38) from the mechanism from an armed position to a first triggered position, - either with a coupling finger (66), of the driven type, of an additive signaling module (67) designed so as to emit a signal indicative of a short circuit when the expansion member (38), biased by the short-circuit sensitive trigger (29), exceeds the first triggered position to reach a second triggered position. 2. Switching device according to claim 1, characterized in that the expansion member (38) has two opposite lateral edges (52, 52 ') shaped so as to each present a pair of stops (63, 64) which are offset in the direction of translation of the expansion member and between which the driving finger (68) or the driven finger (66) can engage. 3. Switching device according to claim 2, characterized in that one of the two pairs of stops (63, 64) is designed so as to be able to cooperate exclusively with the coupling finger (68) of a control module ( 69), and in that the other pair of stops is designed so as to be able to cooperate exclusively with the coupling finger (66) of a signaling module (67). 4. Switching device according to claim 2, characterized in that the two pairs of stops (63, 64) are designed so as to be able to cooperate, without distinction, with the coupling finger (68) of a control module (69 ) or with the coupling finger (66) of a signaling module (67). 5. Switching device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the aforesaid expansion member consists of a plate (38) movable in translation in a direction perpendicular to the base (12) of the housing (11), and in that that said pairs of stops (63, 64) are formed by notches made in the lateral edges (52, 52 ') of this plate (38). 6. Switching device according to claim 5, characterized in that said plate (38) comprises an orifice (42) in which engages the end of a striker lever (41) of the trigger sensitive to short-circuits (29) . 7. Switching device according to one of claims 5 and 6, characterized in that the above notches include an oblique portion (65) on which the above coupling fingers (66, 68) of additive modules can act to cause displacement towards the bottom of the plate (38) and a triggering of the triggering device (31) in the case where during assembly, a signaling module (67) is in the triggered state, and / or a control module (69) is in the active state. 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 6