EP0241412B1 - Mounting arrangement for auxiliary tripping units - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to an arrangement for mounting auxiliary triggers in a switching device, which has a trigger shaft and as a component of the supporting structure of the switching device, a wall with a mounting plate provided for attachment to the wall with fasteners, which are dimensioned for the most extensive configuration with auxiliary triggers and has mounting spaces designed to accommodate certain types of auxiliary releases.

Shunt releases or undervoltage releases can be considered as auxiliary releases; a switching device can be triggered remotely or inevitably triggered when the voltage falls below a certain value. If the switching device is a low-voltage circuit breaker which has a storage drive, it may also be desirable to be able to remotely switch on by means of a further shunt release. It may also be desirable to secure the circuit breaker against reclosing if tripping has occurred due to overcurrent, short circuit or undervoltage. These processes can also be achieved using auxiliary triggers of suitable designs.

An arrangement of the type mentioned is known from US-A-4 097 831. A slider is arranged on the carrier plate for forwarding the release movement of the auxiliary releases. This only allows the connection of a limited number of auxiliary triggers, which can only be used in a fixed arrangement.

In US-A-4'166'260 only a single auxiliary release is described, which can optionally be mounted in a switching device. For this purpose, the auxiliary release according to FIG. 2 has a holding bridge which, instead of an otherwise used separating piece, can be inserted into a dividing wall between adjacent pole tracks of a compact circuit breaker. The auxiliary trigger interacts directly with the trigger shaft 38 of the switching device, thus without an intermediate shaft. In view of the extremely compact design of the switching device, only one auxiliary release can be used in the manner described.

The US-A-4'246'558 relates to switching devices that can be supplemented in a modular manner by additional parts, each of which performs the function of an auxiliary release. For this purpose, a separate housing is provided for each such auxiliary release, which is attached laterally parallel to the actual switching device. A total of three coupling points are provided for the transmission of a switching movement as well as a reset and release movement, which must be brought into engagement when the auxiliary modules are mounted on the side.

The invention has for its object to provide an arrangement which allows the switching device to be provided with a simple or with the most comprehensive possible equipment of auxiliary releases with little effort and for which the restriction according to US-A-4 097 831 to overcome and one appropriate to the different requirements To enable assembly with auxiliary triggers.

• a) die Befestigungsmittel sind formschlüssig mit der Wand zusammenwirkend ausgebildet,
• b) wenigstens einer der Montageplätze ist zur wahlweisen Bestückung mit Hilfsauslösern von unterschiedlicher Funktion und/oder Größe ausgebildet und die Trägerplatte ist mit Bereich dieses Montageplatzes zur Erzielung einer größtmöglichen Montagetiefe rahmenartig (Durchbrechung) ausgebildet,
• c) an der Trägerplatte ist eine Hilfswelle zur Übertragung der Auslösebewegung der Hilfsauslöser auf die Auslösewelle des Schaltgerätes gelagert,
• d) die Hilfswelle besitzt zur Beaufschlagung durch Auslöseorgane der Hilfsauslöser vorgesehene Tastfinger, deren Länge und Anordnung entsprechend der bei unterschiedlicher Bestückung der Trägerplatte mit Hilfsauslösern möglichen Lage der Auslöseorgane angepaßt ausgebildet ist, und
• e) die Hilfswelle ist im Bereich des wahlweise bestückbaren Montageplatzes mit zwei oder mehreren Tastfingern in einer den unterschiedlichen Bestückungen nach Größe und Stellung angepaßten Gestaltung versehen.

This task is solved by the following features:

• a) the fastening means are designed to interact with the wall in a form-fitting manner,
• b) at least one of the assembly stations is designed to be optionally equipped with auxiliary triggers of different functions and / or sizes, and the support plate is designed like a frame (opening) with the area of this assembly station to achieve the greatest possible installation depth,
• c) an auxiliary shaft for transmitting the release movement of the auxiliary releases to the release shaft of the switching device is mounted on the support plate,
• d) the auxiliary shaft has contact fingers provided for actuation by triggering elements of the auxiliary trigger, the length and arrangement of which is adapted in accordance with the position of the triggering elements possible with different mounting of the carrier plate with auxiliary triggering elements, and
• e) the auxiliary shaft is provided in the area of the optionally equipped assembly station with two or more probe fingers in a design adapted to the different configurations according to size and position.

In this way, the required auxiliary releases can be installed and checked outside the switchgear. The finished and functional unit can then be inserted into the switching device without difficulty, since the form-fitting fastening means ensure interaction with the trigger shaft of the switching device without special adjustment. The carrier plate and the auxiliary shaft can still be used with different equipment with auxiliary triggers, since thanks to the arrangement of tactile fingers, different auxiliary triggers can be mounted at one and the same place on the carrier plate. The deviating from the previous design locally frame-like design of the support plate allows to achieve the greatest possible depth of installation with good mechanical stability.

The auxiliary shaft only requires a relatively simple storage, since it only needs to execute a small swivel angle in order to actuate the trigger shaft. For this purpose, the auxiliary shaft can have a bearing journal at one end and, at a suitable distance therefrom, at least one shaft section provided for mounting in a half-shell-like recess in the carrier plate. The auxiliary shaft can then only be installed by inserting its journal into a bearing opening in the carrier plate and attaching a suitable cover plate.

As already mentioned, a connection to the trigger shaft is established automatically when the carrier plate is inserted into the switching device. In order to carry out this process particularly reliably, it has proven useful to provide the auxiliary shaft with a touch finger to act on a driver seated on the release shaft; this driver can additionally have at least one additional work surface for direct loading by one of the auxiliary triggers. This makes it possible to assign the auxiliary shaft to those auxiliary triggers which are arranged at a distance from the tripping shaft, while auxiliary triggers adjacent to the tripping shaft can interact directly with the driver.

If, in addition to the trigger shaft for the switching lock, the switching device also has a trigger shaft for a switch-on memory, it is advisable to provide the mounting plate with a mounting location for an auxiliary release provided for triggering the switch-on memory, ie for switching on the switchgear. This auxiliary release can expediently interact directly with the associated release shaft. If, however, it should be cheaper for reasons of spatial allocation, this can also be the case use of the auxiliary shaft.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the exemplary embodiments shown in the figures.

Figures 1 and 2 show an arrangement of auxiliary triggers in plan view and in a side view with adjacent parts of a low-voltage circuit breaker.

FIG. 3 shows an auxiliary shaft of the arrangement according to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIGS. 4 and 5 show a view of the auxiliary shaft according to FIG. 3 in the direction of arrow IV in FIG. 3 or a section V-V in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 shows a carrier plate for an auxiliary release arrangement in a top view.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show, in a representation that is reduced compared to FIG. 6, the equipping of an assembly location of the carrier plate according to FIG. 6 with different auxiliary triggers.

The auxiliary release arrangement designated as a whole by 1 in FIGS. 1 and 2 is mounted on a wall 2, which is part of the supporting structure of a low-voltage circuit breaker. For example, the wall 2 can be an intermediate wall in which the drive shafts and tripping shafts of the circuit breaker are mounted. The auxiliary trigger arrangement 1 comprises a carrier plate 3, which can preferably consist of a suitable plastic. On its underside, the carrier plate 3 has at least two pins 4, openings 2 of which are provided in the wall for receiving them. In this way, the carrier plate 3 can be inserted dimensionally into the circuit breaker without adjustment. Screws are sufficient for fastening, for which a through opening 5 and a laterally open recess 6 are provided on the edge of the carrier plate 3.

The carrier plate 3 is equipped with a total of four auxiliary releases, namely an undervoltage release 7, a shunt release 10, a restart lock 11 and a solenoid 12. The auxiliary releases 7, 10 and 11 act on a trigger shaft 13 on which a driver 14 is placed. The trigger shaft 13 is part of the circuit breaker of the circuit breaker and is used to latch the contact apparatus of the circuit breaker in the closed position and to be able to release this latching again. In the present example it is also assumed that the circuit breaker has a spring accumulator which serves to store the switch-on energy. A tripping shaft also belongs to this energy store, by actuating it the energy store can be released so that the circuit breaker is switched on. The retrieval magnet 12 serves as a separate auxiliary trigger for the remote-controlled implementation of such a switch-on. The relevant trigger shaft has been omitted in FIGS. 1 and 2 to improve clarity.

1, it can be seen that the auxiliary trigger 7 is located at such a distance from the trigger shaft 13 and the driver 14 seated thereon that a direct action on the driver 13 by the trigger member 15 of the auxiliary trigger 7 is not possible. However, the trigger movement is transmitted in a surprisingly simple manner by means of an auxiliary shaft 16 which is pivotably mounted on the carrier plate 3. As FIG. 3 shows in particular, the auxiliary shaft 16 has at one end a bearing pin 17 and at a suitable distance therefrom a cylindrical section 20 suitable for storage. With the bearing pin 17, the auxiliary shaft 16 engages in a bearing opening 21 in a lower, angled end part 22 of the carrier plate 3 a. The cylindrical section 20 lies in an approximately half-shell-shaped recess 23 (FIG. 2) of the carrier plate 3. In this position, the auxiliary shaft 16 is secured by a cover piece 24.

The auxiliary shaft 16 has at its end opposite the journal 17 a finger 25, the shape of which can be seen in detail in FIG. With this touch finger, the auxiliary shaft 16 interacts with an extension 26 of the driver 14, so that the movements of the auxiliary shaft 16 can be transmitted to the trigger shaft 13 in this way. As FIG. 2 shows, the touch finger 25 is dimensioned such that it does not protrude into the path of a trigger member 27 of the auxiliary trigger 10 and this trigger member can thus act directly on the extension 26 of the driver 14.

Further tactile fingers 30, 31 and 32 of the auxiliary shaft 16, which can be seen in greater detail in FIGS. 2 and 3, are located in the region of the auxiliary trigger 7, the trigger element 15 interacting with the tactile finger 32. If the mounting location of the support plate 3, at which in FIGS Auxiliary trigger 7 is located, equipped with other auxiliary triggers, the trigger force can also be applied to the touch finger 30 or the touch finger 31. The trigger movement is always transmitted to the trigger shaft 13 by means of the auxiliary shaft 16.

Furthermore, the trigger shaft 16 is provided with an extension 33 which is arranged near the touch finger 25. The shape of this extension is shown in more detail in FIGS. 3 and 5. As can be seen, the extension 33 is provided with a through opening 34, which is used to hang a helical tension spring in order to be able to introduce a restoring force into the auxiliary shaft 16.

As already mentioned, the auxiliary release 11 is a restart lock. It is a magnet system which is attracted in its rest position by means of a permanent magnet or by permanent excitation and which can be released by de-excitation or overcoming the holding force of the permanent magnet. A spring mechanism then brings the auxiliary release into the released state, in which a pull rod 35 with an angled end 36 acts on a further extension 37 of the driver 14. The trigger shaft 13 then remains in its trigger position until the restart lock is reset. An auxiliary switch 40 is actuated by means of the pull rod 37 in the manner shown in FIG. 1, which thus signals the position of the trigger shaft 13.

A third extension 41 of the driver 14 is provided to transmit a trigger movement by an actuating magnet, not shown, in the direction of an arrow 42 to the trigger shaft 13. This actuating magnet can in particular be controlled by an electronic tripping unit which responds to overcurrent and short-circuit in accordance with predefined characteristic curves.

In FIG. 6, a carrier plate 50 largely corresponding to the carrier plate 3 in FIGS. 1 and 2 is shown only together with a trigger shaft 51. Based on this representation, the mounting locations of the carrier plate can be recognized by the auxiliary releases. A total of four assembly stations 52, 53, 54 and 55 are provided, which are provided with suitable fastening means, for example the bores or through holes 56, 57 and 58 shown in the region of the assembly stations 53, 54 and 55. In the area of the assembly site 52, the carrier plate 50 is designed like a frame with an opening 60. At this point, the greatest possible mounting depth is available, since an auxiliary trigger to be mounted here - apart from a necessary small space - can extend to wall 2 (FIGS. 1 and 2). FIG. 6 also shows a tension coil spring 64 which acts on the auxiliary shaft 51 in the same manner as was explained with reference to FIGS. 3 and 5 using the example of the auxiliary shaft 16.

Depending on the desired equipment of the circuit breaker, the carrier plate 50 can be provided with one or more auxiliary triggers up to the intended maximum configuration of four auxiliary triggers. Different auxiliary releases can be installed in the area of the assembly site 52. As an example of this, FIG. 7 shows the assembly location 52 being equipped with a shunt release 61 which is only of a relatively small size and thus only partially utilizes the available space. Proper interaction of the release member 62 of the shunt release 61 with the auxiliary shaft 51 is ensured by the fact that the latter has adjacent finger fingers in the manner already described.

A larger auxiliary release 63 is shown in FIG. B. an undervoltage release, which accordingly dips into the opening 60 of the support plate 50 and fully utilizes the assembly space 52.

The other assembly stations 53, 54 and 55 are each provided in the example shown for fitting with a specific type of auxiliary release; However, it is easy to see that these assembly stations can also be equipped with auxiliary releases of different functions and sizes if necessary.

Claims (4)

1. An arrangement for the assembly of auxiliary tripping units (7, 10, 11, 12; 61, 63) in a switching device, which has a releasing shaft (13), and as a component of the supporting framework of the switching device there is a wall (2) with a carrier plate (3;50), provided with securing means for an attachment, which is true to size, to the wall (2), which plate is proportioned for the most extensive considered fitting with auxiliary tripping units (7, 10, 11, 12; 61, 63) and has measured assembly spaces (52, 53, 54, 55) for accepting certain types of structure of auxiliary tripping units, characterised by the following features:

   a) the securing means (4) are formed together in an interlocking manner interacting with the wall (2);

   b) at least one of the assembly spaces (52) is designed for selective fitting with auxiliary tripping units (61, 63) of varying function and/or size, and the carrier plate (50) is formed with the region of this assembly space (52) like a frame with a perforation (60) for achieving the greatest possible assembly depth;

   c) mounted on the carrier plate (3;50) there is an auxiliary shaft (16) for transmission of the trigger motion of the auxiliary tripping units (7, 10, 11, 12; 61, 63) onto the releasing shaft (16) of the switching device;

   d) the auxiliary shaft (16) possesses gauge fingers (30, 31, 32) provided for action by the release organs (15) of the auxiliary tripping units (7), the length and arrangement of which gauge fingers are formed to adapt according to the position of the release organs (15) possible with varying fitting of the carrier plate (3;50) with auxiliary tripping units and

   e) the auxiliary shaft (16) is provided in the region of the assembly space, able to be fitted selectively, with two or more gauge fingers (30, 31, 32) in a shape adapted to the varying fittings, according to size and position.
2. An arrangement according to claim 1, characterised in that the auxiliary shaft (16) has on one end a bearing pin (17) and, at a suitable distance from this, at least one shaft section (20), provided to be supported in a half shell-like recess (23) of the carrier plate (3).
3. An arrangement according to claim 1, characterised in that the auxiliary shaft (16) has a gauge finger (25) for the action of a driver sitting on the releasing axle (13), and in that the driver (14) is provided with at least one additional working face (26) for direct action by one of the auxiliary tripping units (10).
4. An arrangement according to claim 1, characterised in that the carrier plate (3) has at least one assembly space for a further auxiliary tripping unit (12), cooperating with an additional releasing axle of the switching device.

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