EP0718862A1 - Circuit breaker with curved fuseholder - Google Patents

Abstract

The circuit breaker includes a cartridge fuse (16) which is fitted into an opening (15) in the top of a curved holder (14) accessible from the outside of the circuit breaker housing (11). The holder slides within the housing between a closed position where the fuse establishes a conductive link between two connection terminals (13P), and an open position where the opening containing the fuse is at least partially outside the housing. The guide consists of a curved slot (38R) in each face (32) of the holder and a complementary rib projecting from each side of the housing.

Description

The present invention relates generally to circuit breakers.

As is known, such a circuit breaker comprises, overall, in a housing, on the one hand, two contact members, which, established at a distance from each other, are each in electrical connection with two connection terminals accessible from outside the housing, and, on the other hand, a fuse holder, frequently called "gripper", which has a recess specific to the housing of a fuse cartridge, and which, also accessible from the outside of the housing is mounted movable therein between two positions, namely, a closed position, for which its recess extends from one to the other of the two contact members, so that a fuse cartridge present in this recess then establishes an electrical connection between them, and an open position, for which, spaced from these contact members, its recess extends at least partially outside the housing, so that '' it is possible to install a fuse cartridge or remove it.

In practice, these circuit breakers are intended to be attached to any support by the rear face of their housing.

In certain embodiments, and this is the case for example in French patent No 1,526,090, the fuse holder is articulated to the housing along an axis of rotation duly materialized by a pivot.

This arrangement has the advantage of allowing the fuse holder to tilt in the direction of the operator in the open position, and thus of facilitating the installation of the fuse cartridge or its replacement, by favoring it. a good vision of the whole.

However, since the corresponding axis of rotation is at best located on the edge of the housing, it most often has the disadvantage of only driving the fuse holder to a relatively reduced deflection capacity from one of its positions. to the other.

As a result, in the open position, the the isolation distance separating the internal contact members in the housing from the recess of the fuse holder on which the operator must intervene is itself relatively reduced, to the detriment of safety.

This is all the more so since the operator is almost inevitably unable to see all of this recess, and therefore, in the case of a replacement, to visually check whether the fuse cartridge which it must understand is effectively cleared from that of these contact members which is closest to the axis of rotation of the fuse holder.

In other embodiments, and this is for example the case in the French patent which, filed under No. 69 40088, was published under No. 2 067 912, the fuse holder is slidably mounted in the housing in the manner of a drawer.

This arrangement has the drawback of leading to exclusively horizontal travel of the fuse holder, which makes it relatively difficult to install or replace the fuse cartridge.

In other embodiments, finally, and this is the case for example in the French patent which, filed under No 81 02508, was published under No 2 499 763, the fuse holder is mounted both pivotally and sliding in the housing.

It is substantially the same in the German patent application No 11 57 287, in the French patent published under No 2 038 633, and in the American patent No 3 158 700.

But each time this results in a relative complexity of construction for the whole.

The present invention generally relates to a provision making it possible to avoid these drawbacks.

More specifically, it relates to a circuit breaker of the type comprising, in a housing, on the one hand, two contact members, which, set at a distance from each other, are each respectively in electrical connection with two connection terminals accessible from outside the housing, and, on the other hand, a fuse holder, which has a recess specific to the housing of a fuse cartridge, and which, also accessible from outside the housing, is slidably mounted therein between two positions, namely, a closed position, for which its recess extends from the 'to each other of the two contact members, so that a fuse cartridge present in this recess then establishes an electrical connection between them, and an open position, for which, apart from the contact members, its recess extends at least partially outside the housing, so that it is possible to put a fuse cartridge in or remove it, this circuit breaker being generally characterized in that, guide means acting between the fuse holder and the housing, these guide means are generally curved, and, itself generally curved like these guide means, the fuse holder has, from one to the other of its positions, a curved trajectory.

In other words, everything happens as if, from one to the other of its positions, the fuse holder was mounted not only sliding, but also pivoting, along an axis of rotation, which, immaterial, can advantageously be located outside of the housing.

The radius of the corresponding path can thus be relatively high, the fuse holder advantageously benefits from one to the other of its positions, a movement itself relatively large.

In the open position, the isolation distance from the contact members present in the housing can thus advantageously also be relatively high, for the benefit of safety.

In particular, during a replacement, the fuse cartridge to be removed is advantageously entirely visible.

In short, the arrangement according to the invention advantageously makes it possible to very simply combine the advantages of a pivoting assembly and those of a sliding assembly for the fuse holder, and, overall, the safety conditions of the assembly are advantageously of the same class both for the closed position of this fuse holder only for its open position or for any intermediate position thereof.

• la figure 1 est une vue en perspective d'un coupe-circuit suivant l'invention, pour la position de fermeture de son porte-fusible ;
• la figure 2 en est une vue en perspective, pour la position d'ouverture de ce porte-fusible, avec, retirée de celui-ci, la cartouche fusible correspondante ;
• la figure 3 est, à échelle différente, suivant la flèche III de la figure 2, et avec des arrachements locaux, une vue en élévation de ce coupe-circuit pour la position d'ouverture de son porte-fusible, après retrait du couvercle que comporte son boîtier ;
• la figure 4 est, à échelle supérieure, une vue partielle en coupe longitudinale, supposée développée à plat, du seul porte-fusible, suivant la ligne IV-IV de la figure 3 ;
• la figure 5 est une vue partielle en élévation de ce porte-fusible, suivant la flèche V de la figure 4 ;
• la figure 6 en est une vue partielle en coupe transversale, suivant la ligne brisée VI-VI de la figure 5 ;
• la figure 7 reprend, à échelle supérieure, le détail de la figure 4 repéré par un encart VII sur cette figure 4 ;
• la figure 8 est, en correspondance avec la figure 7, une vue partielle en coupe du boîtier ;
• la figure 9 est une autre vue partielle en coupe de ce boîtier, suivant la ligne IX-IX de la figure 8 ;
• les figures 10 et 11 sont des vues en perspective qui, analogues, chacune respectivement, à celles des figures 1 et 2, se rapportent à une variante de réalisation ;
• la figure 12 est, à échelle supérieure, une vue partielle en coupe transversale du porte-fusible de cette variante de réalisation, suivant la ligne XII-XII de la figure 11 ;
• la figure 13 est, également à échelle supérieure, et suivant la ligne XIII-XIII de la figure 11, une vue en coupe transversale du guide de lumière prévu dans cette variante de réalisation.

The characteristics and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description which follows, by way of example, with reference to the appended schematic drawings in which:

• Figure 1 is a perspective view of a circuit breaker according to the invention, for the closed position of its fuse holder;
• Figure 2 is a perspective view, for the open position of this fuse holder, with, removed therefrom, the corresponding fuse cartridge;
• Figure 3 is, on a different scale, along arrow III of Figure 2, and with local cutaways, an elevational view of this circuit breaker for the open position of its fuse holder, after removing the cover that has its housing;
• Figure 4 is, on a larger scale, a partial view in longitudinal section, assumed to be developed flat, of the single fuse holder, along the line IV-IV of Figure 3;
• Figure 5 is a partial elevational view of this fuse holder, according to arrow V in Figure 4;
• Figure 6 is a partial view in cross section along the broken line VI-VI of Figure 5;
• Figure 7 shows, on a larger scale, the detail of Figure 4 identified by an insert VII in this Figure 4;
• Figure 8 is, in correspondence with Figure 7, a partial sectional view of the housing;
• Figure 9 is another partial sectional view of this housing, along the line IX-IX of Figure 8;
• Figures 10 and 11 are perspective views which, analogously, each respectively, to those of Figures 1 and 2, relate to an alternative embodiment;
• Figure 12 is, on a larger scale, a partial cross-sectional view of the fuse holder of this alternative embodiment, along the line XII-XII of Figure 11;
• Figure 13 is, also on a larger scale, and along the line XIII-XIII of Figure 11, a cross-sectional view of the light guide provided in this alternative embodiment.

As illustrated in these figures, and in a manner known per se, the circuit breaker 10 according to the invention comprises, overall, in a housing 11 detailed below, on the one hand, two contact members 12P, which, established at a distance from each other, are each respectively in electrical connection with two connection terminals 13P accessible from outside the housing 11, and, on the other hand, a fuse holder 14, which has a recess 15 suitable for housing a fuse cartridge 16, and which, also accessible from the outside of the housing 11, is slidably mounted therein between two positions, namely, a depressed, closed position, which is that shown in FIG. 1, and for which its recess 15 extends from one to the other of the two contact members 12P, so that, as shown diagrammatically in broken lines in FIG. 3, a fuse cartridge 16 present in this recess 15 then establishes an electrical connection between them, and a open position, which is that shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and for which, separated from the contact members 12P, its recess 15 extends at least partially outside the housing 11, so that, as as shown schematically by a double arrow F1 in FIG. 2, it is possible to install a fuse cartridge 16 therein or to remove it.

In the embodiments shown, the housing 11 is of the modular type.

It therefore presents itself, in a manner known per se, in the general form of a wafer, thus comprising, on the one hand, two main faces 18, and, on the other hand, by its edge, a rear face 19 , two side faces 20, which, parallel to each other, are perpendicular to the rear face 19, and a front face 21, which, generally parallel to the rear face 19, has, projecting, in its median part , a nose 22, with, on either side of it, two recesses 23.

For the engagement of the assembly on a support rail not shown, transversely with respect to this support rail, the rear face 19 has, in its median part, a recess 24, with, at the ends thereof, means, also not shown, suitable for snapping the assembly onto this support rail.

The lateral faces 20 each have an opening 25P giving access to the corresponding connection terminal 13P.

At the same time, the recesses 23 on the front face 21 each have an opening 26P, for the passage of the screwdriver necessary for controlling this connection terminal 13P.

The front portion 28 of the nose 22, which also forms the front portion of the housing 11, is open, for the passage of the fuse holder 14, with, in withdrawal, a clearance 29 allowing, in the closed position, to grasp the fuse holder 14 from the rear, and therefore act in traction on it, according to arrow F2 in FIG. 1.

In practice, the housing 11 thus formed is generally formed, on the one hand, of a base 30, which forms in one piece one of its main faces 18, its rear face 19, its lateral faces 20, and its front face 21, and, on the other hand, a cover 31, which forms the other of its main faces 18, and which, attached to the base 30 by means of a rebate thereof, is duly secured to this base 30, for example by ultrasonic welding.

The foregoing provisions are well known in themselves, and, not pertaining specifically to the present invention, they will not be described in more detail here.

In a manner also known per se, the fuse holder 14 is itself in the form of a plate, which, of thickness slightly less than that of the housing 11, slides parallel to the main faces 18 thereof, at like a drawer.

This fuse holder 14 therefore also has, on the one hand, two main faces 32, and, on the other hand, by its edge, a rear face 33, two lateral faces 34, 34 ′, and a front face 35.

The recess 15 extends substantially transversely from one of the lateral faces 34, 34 ′ to the other, and the front face 35, which is equipped with a label holder 36, slightly protrudes from the transverse contour of the assembly , to apply to the front portion 28 of the nose 22 of the housing 11.

According to the invention, from one to the other of its closed and open positions, the fuse holder 14 has a curved trajectory.

In practice, guide means 38 acting between the fuse holder 14 and the housing 11 for controlling this trajectory, these guide means 38 are generally curved.

In the embodiments shown, these guide means 38 comprise at least one hollow groove 38R on the fuse holder 14, and, in correspondence, at least one complementary rib 38N, which, projecting into the housing 11, is in taken with groove 38R.

In practice, two grooves 38R are provided on the fuse holder 14, at the rate of one per main face 32 thereof, and they generally extend from its rear face 33 to its front face 35, being formed, over at least part of their length, by two parallel ribs 39.

As a corollary, there are provided, in the housing 11, two ribs 38N, at the rate of one per main face 18, one of these ribs 38N projecting from the interior surface of the bottom 40 of the base 30 and the another projecting from the inner surface of the cover 31.

The corresponding provisions are within the skill of the art, and therefore will not be described in more detail here.

In practice, the fuse holder 14 is itself generally bent, like the guide means 38.

One of its lateral faces 34, 34 ′ is therefore longer than the other, being generally convex while the other is generally concave.

In practice, this is the upper side face 34, that is to say that facing upwards when the circuit breaker 10 is mounted vertically on a horizontal support rail.

The recess 15, the cross section of which is generally circular, opens by an outlet 42 on this upper side face 34, while, on the side of the lower side face 34 ', it has a blind bottom 44.

In the embodiments shown, this recess 15 is also open laterally over its entire height by slots 45, except for two strips 46 which, formed in particular by the ribs 39, each being perforated by an opening 47 between them ci, close it locally transversely, at a distance from its outlet 42, for retaining the fuse cartridge 16.

In the embodiments shown, the guide means 38 extend in an arc A, which is shown diagrammatically in broken lines in FIG. 3, and the center C of which is largely outside the housing 11, and, as a corollary, the fuse holder 14 is itself generally curved in an arc.

Preferably, and this is the case in the embodiments shown, the radius R of the arc of a circle A is at least of the same order of magnitude as the largest dimension D of the housing 11 measured parallel to its main faces 18, from one to the other of its lateral faces 20.

For example, when the largest dimension D of the housing 11 is of the order of 80 mm, the radius R can be between 80 and 100 mm.

But, of course, these numerical values are here given only by way of example, to illustrate the invention, without any resulting limitation being possible.

Preferably, and this is the case in the embodiments shown, the trajectory of the fuse holder 14 is generally normal to the front portion 28 of the housing 11.

In other words, the arc of circle A generally intersects this part of the facade 28 at an angle of the order of 90 °.

Preferably, finally, and this is the case in the embodiments shown, stop means are provided between the fuse holder 14 and the housing 11, for a positive delimitation of the closed and open positions of this holder. fuse 14 in this housing 11.

For the closed position, these abutment means use the front face 35 of the fuse holder 14, the latter then coming to bear against the front portion 28 of the housing 11.

For the open position, the abutment means comprise several shoulders provided in a complementary manner for this purpose on the fuse holder 14 and on the housing 11.

First there is a shoulder 48 which, projecting from the upper side face 34 of the fuse holder 14, at the end of the latter opposite the front face 35, cooperates with a shoulder 48 'provided on the housing 11 behind its front portion 28, and, more precisely, behind the clearance 29 provided for withdrawal thereof.

There is also a shoulder 49 which, projecting from each of the main faces 32 of the fuse holder 14, on the bottom of the corresponding groove 38R thereof, near its rear face 33, is capable of cooperating with a shoulder 50 provided as a complementary projection on the corresponding rib 38N of the housing 11.

As a safety measure, and as is better visible in FIGS. 4 and 7, one of the shoulders 49 thus presented by the fuse holder 14 is accompanied by a hook 51 in the embodiments shown.

In the embodiments shown, the contact members 12P are generally U-shaped, with a central part 52, which, generally perpendicular to the main faces 18 of the housing 11, is in electrical connection with the corresponding connection terminal 13P, and two wings 53, which, parallel to the main faces 18, each extend respectively in the vicinity of these.

In practice, these wings 53 have, in plan, a square configuration, and, to reinforce their elasticity, they are jointly clamped by a pin-shaped spring 54 in the shape of a U.

In the embodiments shown, the fuse holder 14 carries, moreover, a connection strip 55 by which, in the closed position, it establishes an electrical connection between two other contact members 12N, which, established remotely the one from the other in the housing 11, are each in electrical connection with two other connection terminals 13N.

In practice, the contact members 12N, which are for example neutral contact members while the contact members 12P are phase contact members, extend in the vicinity of the rear face 19 of the housing 11, and it these are simple strips, which, transversely, are substantially perpendicular to the main faces 18 of this housing 11.

Like the connection terminals 13P, the connection terminals 13N are located on the lateral faces 20 of the housing 11, being offset in the direction of the rear face 19 thereof relative to the connection terminals 13P, and being each accessible by an opening 25N of these lateral faces 20.

Jointly, and as before, the recesses 23 of the front face 21 of the housing 11 each have an opening 26N, for the passage of the screwdriver necessary for the control of these connection terminals 13N.

Folded in a U, with its concavity turned towards the front face 35 of the fuse holder 14, the connection strip 55 is engaged with a portion 56 of this fuse holder 14 which, situated at its end opposite to its front face 35, and elongated along its path, is inserted between the two contact members 12N in the closed position.

In practice, this connection strip 55 is formed by a strip, which is suitably shaped, being, transversely, substantially perpendicular to the main faces 32 of the fuse holder 14, and which, by returns 57, is hooked on the portion 56 thereof which it encloses.

In practice, too, this portion 56 of the fuse holder 14 extends between two flanges 58 forming the rear part thereof, beyond the recess 15.

As will be noted, the intervention of the connection strip 55 for the electrical connection of the contact members 12N in the closed position is advantageously done without any auxiliary elastic member.

Because of the relatively large value of the radius R of the circular arc A along which the trajectory of the fuse holder 14 extends, this fuse holder 14 advantageously has, according to the invention, a large clearance between its position, pressed in, closed, and its position, released, opened.

For the open position, the recess 15 can thus advantageously be located entirely outside the housing 11, as can be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3.

In the alternative embodiment shown in FIGS. 10 to 13, the fuse holder 14 has a second recess 59, which extends at a distance from its front face 35, between the latter and the first recess 15, and which is clean housing a lamp 60, forming a sight glass, and, with this second recess 59, there is associated a light guide 61, which extends from this second recess 59 to the front face 35, opening onto this front face 35 by means of a notch 62 locally affecting this for this purpose.

In practice, this light guide 61 extends parallel to the main faces 32 of the fuse holder 14, and, attached, laterally, removably, on this fuse holder 14, under one of its strips 46, it intersects transversely, at mid-height, the second recess 59 at the edge thereof, as shown diagrammatically in broken lines in FIG. 12.

In practice, also, the light guide 61 is inserted in a recess 63 of the fuse holder 14, which, in continuity with the notch 62 of its front face 35, extends substantially along a cord, from this front face 35 to second recess 59.

The light guide 61, which, too, is generally in the form of a substantially parallelepiped plate, has, projecting on one of its main faces, and as it is better visible in FIGS. 11 and 13, two tabs 64, which are capable of being inserted in housings provided for this purpose in the fuse holder 14, and one of which, at least, is shaped as a hook at its end, for snapping onto this fuse holder 14.

In practice, the light guide 61 is made of translucent synthetic material.

In the second recess 59 of the fuse holder 14, there is also provided, in the embodiment shown, an elastically deformable tongue 65, which, coming in one piece from the fuse holder 14, has, successively, three perpendicular sections two by two, namely, a first section 66, which extends substantially parallel to the main faces 32 of the fuse holder 14, and by which it comes from the latter, a second section 67, which extends substantially perpendicular to the main faces 32, and which in practice forms the bottom of the second recess 59, and a third section 68, which is parallel to the main faces 32, and which, at its end, has, to bear on the lamp 60, a bead 69.

When the lamp 60 is in place in the second recess 59 of the fuse holder 14, it is resiliently clamped, transversely, between the elastically deformable tongue 65, and, more precisely, the bead 69 of the section 68 thereof, and the light guide 61.

Removal of this light guide 61 therefore facilitates the installation of this lamp 60, or its replacement.

In practice, the lamp 60 is a shuttle lamp, and, as shown diagrammatically in broken lines in FIG. 3, the contact members 12P, and, more precisely, their wings 53, are sufficiently extended in the direction of the front portion 28 of the housing 11 so that, in the closed position, they extend not only over the first recess 15 of the fuse holder 14, but also, at least partially, on the second recess 59 thereof.

Thus, for the closed position of the fuse holder 14, the lamp 60 is mounted in parallel on the terminals of the fuse cartridge 16.

But, having regard to its resistance, it is extinct when it is busy.

On the contrary, it is excited when, having melted, the fuse cartridge 16 becomes non-conducting.

The lamp 60 therefore constitutes from this point of view a melting indicator for the fuse cartridge 16.

In practice, the light guide 61 constitutes an accessory which, supplied separately from the circuit breaker 10, together with a lamp 60, is only used when it is desired that this circuit breaker 10 includes such a lamp 60 .

In the absence of any lamp 60, it is simply substituted, for the light guide 61, a cover, not shown in the figures, which, complementary to the corresponding notch 62 of the front face 35 of the fuse holder 14, comes hide this notch 62.

Thus, a single reference is advantageously and economically sufficient to constitute a circuit breaker comprising, or not, on request, an on-board lamp.

According to another alternative embodiment shown diagrammatically in broken lines in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5, an additional advantage is derived from the relatively large clearance of the fuse holder 14 to ensure, if desired, the control of any auxiliary device by that -this.

To this end, the fuse holder 14 has, for example, projecting from the bottom of one of its grooves 38R, cam means 70 on the path of which the housing 11 has an opening 71.

It suffices that, jointly, the auxiliary apparatus to be controlled, not shown, has a suitable control rod projecting from it and is duly attached to the circuit breaker 10.

Entering this circuit breaker 10 through the opening 71 of the housing 11, its control rod is duly actuated by the cam means 70 of the fuse holder 14 during the passage of the latter from its closed position to its open position.

The present invention is moreover not limited to the embodiments described and shown, but encompasses any variant embodiment and / or combination of their various elements.

Claims (12)

A circuit breaker of the kind comprising, in a housing (11), on the one hand, two contact members (12P), which, established at a distance from each other, are each respectively in electrical connection with two terminals of connection (13P) accessible from outside the housing (11), and, on the other hand, a fuse holder (14), which has a recess (15) suitable for housing a fuse cartridge (16), and which, also accessible from outside the housing (11), is slidably mounted therein between two positions, namely, a closed position, for which its recess (15) extends from one to the other. 'other of the two contact members (12P), so that a fuse cartridge (16) present in this recess (15) then establishes an electrical connection between them, and an open position, for which, spaced from said contact members (12P), its recess (15) extends at least partially outside the housing (11), so that it is possible to put a card in it uche fuse (16) or remove it, characterized in that, guide means (38) acting between the fuse holder (14) and the housing (11), these guide means (38) are generally bent , and, itself generally bent in the image of these guide means (38), the fuse holder (14) has, from one to the other of its positions, a curved trajectory. Circuit breaker according to claim 1, characterized in that the guide means (38) acting between the fuse holder (14) and the housing (11) extend in an arc (A) whose center (C ) is out of the housing (11). Circuit breaker according to claim 2, characterized in that, the housing (11) being of modular type, being in the general form of a plate, the radius (R) of the circular arc (A) according to which extend the guide means (38) acting between the fuse holder (14) and the housing (11) is at least of the same order of magnitude as the largest dimension (D) of the housing (11) measured parallel to its main faces (18). Circuit breaker according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the path of the fuse holder (14) is generally normal to the front part (28) of the housing (11). Circuit breaker according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the guide means (38) comprise at least one groove (38R) recessed on the fuse holder (14) and at least one rib (38N ) which, projecting into the housing (11), is engaged with the groove (38R). Circuit breaker according to any one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the fuse holder (14) carries a connection strip (55) by which, in the closed position, it establishes an electrical connection between two other members contact (12N), which, set at a distance from each other in the housing (11), are each in electrical connection with two other connection terminals (13N). Circuit breaker according to claim 6, characterized in that, bent in a U, the connection strip (55) is engaged with a portion (56) of the fuse holder (14), which, elongated along its path, s' inserts between the two other contact members (12N) in the closed position. Circuit breaker according to claim 7, characterized in that the portion (56) of the fuse holder (14) carrying the connection strip (55) extends between two flanges (58). Circuit breaker according to any one of Claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the fuse holder (14) having a second recess (59), which extends away from its front face (35), and which is suitable for housing a lamp (60) forming an indicator, a light guide (61) extends from said second recess (59) to said front face (35). Circuit breaker according to claim 9, characterized in that the light guide (61) is attached, laterally, in a removable manner, to the fuse holder (14), and it transversely intersects the second recess (59) that has that -this. Circuit breaker according to any one of Claims 9 10, characterized in that the contact members (12P) are sufficiently extended in the direction of the front part (28) of the housing (11) so that, in the closed position, they extend not only over the first recess (15) of the fuse holder (14) but also at least partially over its second recess (59). Circuit breaker according to any one of Claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the fuse holder (14) has cam means (70) on the path of which the housing (11) has an opening (71).

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