CN1237568C

CN1237568C - Auxiliary device of low-voltage circuit breaker

Info

Publication number: CN1237568C
Application number: CN 01145294
Authority: CN
Inventors: G·莫罗
Original assignee: ABB Service SRL
Priority date: 2000-12-28
Filing date: 2001-12-28
Publication date: 2006-01-18
Anticipated expiration: 2021-12-28
Also published as: CN1362719A; IT1319717B1; ITMI20002852A1; EP1220258A3; BR0106109A; AR032054A1; EP1220258A2

Abstract

An accessory device for locking the resetting mechanism of a circuit breaker of the draw-out or removable type, characterized in that it comprises: an insulating enclosure; an actuating lever which protrudes, at least partially, outside said insulating enclosure; a kinematic chain which is accommodated inside said insulating enclosure and is operatively coupled to said actuating lever; and a lever for coupling to said resetting mechanism, said coupling lever being operatively coupled to said kinematic chain and protruding at least partially outside said insulating enclosure.

Description

Auxiliary device for low-voltage circuit breaker and protection device for low-voltage electronic circuit

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an auxiliary device for a low-voltage circuit breaker of the withdrawable or removable type, and more particularly, 'low-voltage circuit breaker' should be understood to mean a circuit breaker for operating voltages up to about 1000 volts.

Background

It is known in the prior art that power supply circuits for domestic and industrial use generally employ circuit breakers which are considered to provide the required performance in order to ensure the correct operation of the circuit provided with the circuit breaker and to protect the associated devices connected from damage or faults during normal operating cycles.

These circuit breakers, together with other connectable devices such as auxiliary devices intended to provide additional functions to the circuit breaker in addition to the basic functions normally provided, are normally used by being fixed to a support such as a DIN (german industrial standard) guide and optionally provided on a suitable panel or controller.

Circuit breakers can now be provided in various forms, among which one of the prior art is of the so-called pull-out or removable type. In this embodiment, the circuit breaker is provided with two parts, a fixed part on the support, on which input and output terminals are provided that can be connected to the circuit on which the circuit breaker is located; and a moving portion that includes the main contacts of the circuit breaker, the contact actuating mechanism, and an actuating lever that resets the circuit breaker. In addition, the two parts are provided with suitable connection means enabling the moving part to be electrically connected and disconnected from the fixed part.

The technical solution of the circuit breaker of the pull-out or removable type has the significant advantage of facilitating the operations of replacing the moving parts of the circuit breaker or checking the circuit breaker, for example for maintenance. In this case, the movable part can be pulled out of the fixed part by hand without affecting the cable connected to the terminal by using the connection mechanism. There is therefore only a simple and rapid intervention. For safety reasons, the circuit breaker must be opened beforehand to disconnect the main contacts and break the current, or to connect the two parts. In some cases, this requirement may require that the plant, which is placed in the same support as the circuit breaker, be taken out of service. At present, if the operator intervenes inadvertently on the circuit breaker without first disengaging the main contacts, there is no system that ensures in any case the current breaking of the circuit breaker when connecting or disconnecting the two parts. That is to say. These interventions may occur under conditions that are not the highest safety conditions, and therefore electrical contact with exposed live parts, mainly with the connection means, may occur.

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the present invention is to provide an auxiliary device for a low-voltage circuit breaker of the withdrawable or removable type. The circuit breaker can ensure that the interventions for disconnecting or connecting the fixed part of the mobile part occur under the highest safety conditions, even if the operator does not first disconnect the circuit breaker and then intervene.

In order to achieve the above object, there is provided an auxiliary device for locking a reset mechanism of a draw-out or withdrawable type circuit breaker, comprising: an insulating housing; an actuating rod at least partially protruding out of the insulating housing; a kinematic chain housed within said housing operatively connected to said actuating rod; a connecting rod connected to the return mechanism, the connecting rod being operatively connected to the kinematic chain and projecting at least partially outside the insulating housing.

The invention also provides a protection device for a low-voltage electronic circuit, characterized in that it comprises a withdrawable or removable low-voltage circuit breaker, said circuit breaker comprising: a base portion locatable on the support and provided with a terminal connecting the circuit and a first connecting mechanism electrically connected to the terminal; a moving part connectable to or separable from the base; a housing containing separate contacts and the circuit breaker reset mechanism, the circuit breaker including a reset lever projecting outside the housing and a second connection mechanism projecting outside the housing and electrically disconnectably connected to the first connection mechanism; and auxiliary means comprising an insulating housing, an actuating rod projecting at least partially outside said insulating housing, a kinematic chain housed inside said housing and operatively connected to said actuating rod, and a connecting rod connected to said return means, wherein said connecting rod is operatively connected to said kinematic chain and projects at least partially outside said insulating housing.

Drawings

Other advantages and features of the invention will be more clearly understood by a description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of the auxiliary device according to the invention. The embodiments are described by way of non-limiting examples in the figures. Wherein,

fig. 1 is a perspective view of the auxiliary device of the present invention in a position in which the connected circuit breaker can be reset;

fig. 2 is a perspective view of the auxiliary device of the present invention in a position in which the connected circuit breaker cannot be reset;

fig. 3 is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of an auxiliary device according to the present invention, the auxiliary device being in a position in which the connected circuit breaker can be reset;

fig. 4 shows the auxiliary device of fig. 3 in a position in which the connected circuit breaker can be reset; and

fig. 5 is a perspective view of an auxiliary device according to the present invention, which is attached to a moving part of a draw-out or withdrawable type circuit breaker, in the process of being attached to a fixed base.

Detailed Description

With reference to the figures, the auxiliary device according to the invention, generally having the reference number 100, comprises an outer casing 1 to be connected to the casing of a low-voltage circuit breaker of the withdrawable or removable type, the manner and purpose of which will be described in detail later.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 5, the draw-out or removable type circuit breaker includes a first part or base 50 and a second moving part 60, which can be electrically connected to or separated from each other. The base 50 has a shaped insulator 51 which can be placed in a fixed position on a support (not shown), such as a DIN-type guide, and is provided with a first connection 52 and a terminal 53 for connection to a power circuit. The connection means 52 may advantageously be housed inside the insulator 51, except for the open portion, which is surrounded by an insulating material, which facilitates the electrical connection to the moving part 60.

The second part 60, in turn, comprises a casing 61, the casing 61 comprising at least one fixed contact and one moving contact, which can be coupled to and uncoupled from each other, and a mechanism for resetting the circuit breaker, according to techniques widely known in the art and therefore not requiring a detailed description. Specifically, the reset mechanism includes an actuating mechanism that actuates the moving contacts, and a reset lever that protrudes out of the housing 61 is connectable to the actuating mechanism for manual reset operation of the circuit breaker. Further, the moving portion 60 includes a second connecting mechanism 63 that protrudes outside the housing 61 and is electrically connected to the first connecting mechanism 52 in a detachable manner.

In an embodiment of the aid according to the invention, the insulating housing 1, which can be connected to the housing 61 of the moving part 60 as shown in fig. 5, is realized by two half-shells connected to each other and having a bottom plate, a top plate, a rear wall plate, two side wall plates and a front wall plate.

As shown in fig. 1-4, the device according to the invention may advantageously comprise: an actuation bar 30 projecting at least partially from the insulating housing 1, preferably from the backplate; a kinematic chain, generally indicated by the reference numeral 20, housed inside said insulating casing 1 and operatively connected to an actuation rod 30; and a connecting rod 10 connected to the reset mechanism of the circuit breaker, operatively connected to the kinematic chain 20 and projecting at least partially from one of the two side plates outside the insulating casing 1.

More specifically, as shown in fig. 1 to 4, the connecting rod 10 has a shaped structural portion, one end of which is pivotally connected to the pivot 11 of the casing 1; there is also a first end portion 13 which is operatively associated with the kinematic chain 20 and which projects at least partially laterally beyond the casing 1, as a pivot (not visible in the figures). The contoured structural portion is operatively connected to a return mechanism located within the traveling portion 60 and can exert a locking action thereon. A spring 14, also located at the pivot 13, is operatively connected to the connecting rod.

Next, the actuation bar 30 has a shaped portion having a first end operatively connected to the kinematic chain 20, and a second end 31 opposite the first end and projecting outside the casing 1; said end 31 can interact with a portion of the circuit breaker in order to actuate the kinematic chain 20 and cause the connecting rod 10 to release said locking action in the position in which the auxiliary device and the circuit breaker are mounted, in a manner that will be described in detail later.

In the illustrated embodiment, the actuation bar 30 advantageously has a cantilevered bar-like body with a second end that is substantially T-shaped, and a notch 34 is provided in the wing of the T-shaped end 31 to facilitate breakage of the wing.

The kinematic chain 20 comprises an associated lever 21 pivotable about the pivot 12 of the casing 1 and having a first arm 23 interacting with the connecting rod 10 and a second arm 24 angularly spaced from the first arm 23 and provided with a shaped end 25. The shaped end 25 may be colored in any color and may be located in an opening 2 in figure 5 of the housing 1 when the moving part 60 is attached to the base 50 to indicate that the circuit breaker can be reset. Furthermore, in the preferred embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4, the associated lever 21 has a third arm angularly spaced from the first and

second arms

23 and 24 and is connected to the first end of the actuation bar 30; alternatively, the actuation bar 30 may be directly connected to the second arm 24 without the need for the third arm 22, as in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-2.

In both cases, as shown in part in fig. 1-4, the first end of the rod 31 has a pivot 32 that can enter a hole 33 formed in the rod 21.

The second spring 26 is connected to the associated rod 21, and more specifically, the spring 26 is preferably a coil spring with a pulling action having a first end connected to the pivot 27 of the housing 1 and a second end fixed to the pivot 29 of the associated rod 21 as shown in fig. 3-4 or to the seat 29 as shown in fig. 1-2.

The actual use and operation of the auxiliary device according to the invention will now be described.

First, the auxiliary device 100 is connected to the moving part 60 of the circuit breaker, and the case 1 is connected to the case 61 as shown in fig. 5, so that the pivot of the connecting rod 10 protruding from one of the two side wall plates of the case 1 passes through an appropriate hole of the case 61 and is connected to the return mechanism inside thereof, so that the locking action can be exerted thereon. In particular, in the embodiment shown in fig. 5, the device 100 can advantageously be fixed to the left of the mobile portion 60 with respect to the front of the circuit breaker; the device 100 may also be fixed to the right side of the moving part 60, depending on the requirements of the application; depending on the location of the securement, one of the two ends of the T-shaped wing 34 may be suitably broken away so that additional components or devices can be freely secured adjacent to the device 100.

The assembly thus obtained is then connected to the base 50 of the circuit breaker, which is in a fixed position on a fixture, such as a DIN (german industrial standard) guide, and the terminal 53 is electrically connected to the circuit on which the circuit breaker is located.

In particular, the length of the actuation bar 30 should be such that the T-shaped end 31 does not act on the wall 54 of the base 50 during the initial stage of connecting the base 50 and the auxiliary device 100-moving part 60 until the connecting mechanism 63 is almost completely inserted into the fixing body 51 and covered by the insulating part. Once this step is completed, in the final phase of the connection step, the connection means 52 are electrically connected to the connection means 63, the end 31 is in contact with the wall 54 and the lever 30 exerts a release action and pushes the associated lever 21 through the pivot 32. Under this pushing action, the lever 21 rotates about the pivot 12 and pulls the spring 26. At this point, spring 14 acts on lever 10 and rotates lever 10 in the direction indicated by arrow 3 in fig. 1 and 3, causing end 13 to act on arm 23. Only the lever 10 connected to the reset mechanism of the circuit breaker in this case is able to actuate the lever 62 and allow the circuit breaker to reset.

When the operator acts on the circuit breaker in order to extract the mobile part from the fixed base 50, this extraction action brings the end 31 out of abutment with the wall 54, the wall 54 being in contact with the end 31 during the initial phase of the extraction operation; the connection mechanism 63 is not yet exposed from the insulator 51 at this initial stage. In this case, the spring 26, which is subjected to traction, pulls the rod 21, the rod 21 pushing the connecting rod 10 through the arm 23 and overcoming the force exerted by the spring 14. In this way, the lever 10 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow 4 in fig. 2 and 4, moving to a position in which its pivot is connected to the return mechanism of the circuit breaker, the action of the spring 14 releasing the contacts in the moving part 60 and preventing the lever 62 from being actuated, in effect preventing the circuit breaker from returning.

In practice it has been found that the auxiliary device according to the invention fully achieves the intended aim, since it can provide an absolutely safe intervention on the circuit breaker. As described above, the device 100, during the extraction of the mobile part from the fixed part and during the connection, effectively prevents the flow of current into the circuit breaker when there is an exposed live part and in this case prevents undue intervention on the lever 62 to avoid resetting the circuit breaker. The possibility of direct or indirect connection, the consequence of which is a considerable risk to the operator, is thus eliminated or at least considerably reduced. The fact that all of the improved functions and inventive aspects can be realized by elements and materials purchased from common commercial sources at a very reasonable price should not be ignored.

The thus obtained aid is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are intended to be within the scope of the inventive concept, for example the shape of the various rods and elements may be modified as far as the application allows. All the details or elements may further be replaced with other technically equivalent elements.

The materials used, as well as the dimensions, may in fact be any according to requirements and to the technical conditions.

Claims

1. An auxiliary device for locking a reset mechanism of a circuit breaker of the withdrawable or removable type, comprising:

an insulating housing;

an actuation rod projecting at least partially outside of said insulating housing;

a kinematic chain housed within said housing and operatively connected to said actuation bar;

a connecting rod connected to the return mechanism, the connecting rod being operatively connected to the kinematic chain and projecting at least partially outside the insulating housing.

2. Auxiliary device according to claim 1, wherein the insulating housing comprises a bottom plate, a top plate, a rear wall plate, two side wall plates and a front wall plate, the actuation bar and the connection bar protruding from the rear wall plate and one of the side wall plates, respectively, outside the housing.

3. The supplemental device of claim 1, wherein the connecting rod has a contoured structural portion, at least a portion of which is adapted to connect to the return mechanism and exert a locking action on the return mechanism; said actuation bar comprising a shaped body having a first end connected to the kinematic chain and a second end opposite said first end and protruding outside said housing, said second end being adapted to interact with a portion of the circuit breaker to actuate the kinematic chain and release said connecting bar from said locking action at the location where said auxiliary device and said circuit breaker are mounted.

4. Auxiliary device as claimed in one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said connecting rod is pivoted on said casing, said connecting rod having a first portion adapted to interact with said kinematic chain and projecting laterally outside said casing and a second portion adapted to be connected to a return mechanism of said circuit breaker, a first spring being operatively connected to said connecting rod.

5. An auxiliary device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said kinematic chain comprises an associated lever for pivotal movement about a pivot axis of said housing, and having at least a first arm for interaction with said connecting rod and a second spring operatively connected to said associated lever.

6. An accessory device as claimed in claim 5, characterised in that the associated lever comprises a second arm angularly spaced from the first arm, the second arm having a profiled end adapted to be placed in an opening in the housing to indicate that the circuit breaker is resettable.

7. Auxiliary device according to claim 6, characterized in that the articulation link comprises a third arm which is angularly spaced from the first and second arms and which is connectable to the actuation bar.

8. Auxiliary device according to claim 5, characterized in that said second spring is a traction spring, a first end of which is connected to a pivot formed on said casing and a second end of which is fixed to said associating rod.

9. Auxiliary device according to claim 3, wherein the actuation bar has a cantilevered bar-shaped profiled portion, the second end of which is T-shaped.

10. An aid according to claim 9 wherein the wings of the T-shaped end are provided with recesses which assist in breaking the wings.

11. A protection device for low-voltage electronic circuits, characterized in that it comprises a low-voltage circuit breaker of the withdrawable or removable type, said circuit breaker comprising:

a base portion locatable on the support and provided with a terminal connecting the circuit and a first connecting mechanism electrically connected to the terminal; and

a moving part connectable to or separable from the base; a housing containing separate contacts and the circuit breaker reset mechanism, the circuit breaker including a reset lever projecting outside the housing and a second connection mechanism projecting outside the housing and electrically disconnectably connected to the first connection mechanism;

the supplemental device of claim 1.