EP0780860B1 - Auxiliary switch for circuit breaker and corresponding circuit breaker - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates generally circuit breakers.

As we know, a circuit breaker includes, overall, in a housing, on the one hand, two organs of contact, which, established at a distance from each other, are each respectively in electrical connection with two terminals of connection accessible from outside the case, and, on the other hand, a fuse holder, frequently called "gripper", which has a recess specific to the housing of a cartridge fuse, and which also accessible to the user from the outside of the case, is mounted movable in this case between two positions, i.e., a closed position, for which its recess extends from one to the other of the two organs of contact, so that a fuse cartridge present in this obviously then establishes an electrical connection between them, and an open position, for which, removed from these contact members, its recess extends partly outside the case, so that it is possible for the user to put in it places or removes a fuse cartridge.

In the European patent application filed on 19 December 1995 under No. 95402874.2, it was proposed to associate an auxiliary device with this circuit breaker, by pulling lever travel of its fuse holder from one to the other of its positions for the control of this auxiliary device.

To this end, provision has been made for this fuse holder cam means, and to equip the auxiliary apparatus a control rod which, projecting out of its case, is engaged with these.

The present invention generally has for purpose of developing this provision, by implementing it for a switch capable of controlling the supply another circuit, such as that of an indicator, depending on the opening or closing position of the fuse holder of the circuit breaker.

Document US-A-3,435,389 describes (the references in parentheses apply to this document) an auxiliary switch (58) for circuit breaker electromagnetic, of the kind comprising, in a housing (70), at least one contact blade (85), which, under the control of a slide (88) mounted sliding, is, at least in part, mounted movable between two positions, one closing, for which it is applied against a fixed contact (81), the other opening, for which it is instead removed from this contact fixed, the slide (88) laterally comprising a control rod (59), which, for its intervention, protrudes out of the housing (70) in favor of a buttonhole (94).

It has already been proposed in the published French patent under No. 2 638 562, an auxiliary switch comprising, in a case, a contact blade, which, under the control an actuating lever mounted pivoting and sliding, is, at least in part, movable mounted between two positions, one of closure, for which it is in application against a fixed contact, the other opening, for which it is at otherwise discarded from this fixed contact.

But, for its control, the actuation lever is under the control of a pusher, without it being considered there associate any control rod.

This auxiliary switch cannot therefore be easily associated with a circuit breaker of the type in question, and this also poses a particular problem, in the measure where, its fuse holder having a relatively deflection important, the cam means which it comprises must not intervene only momentarily, on the fly, on such auxiliary switch.

The present invention has first of all more precisely for an auxiliary switch responding to this double requirement.

This auxiliary switch, which is of the kind comprising, in a housing, at least one contact blade, which, under the control of a pivotally mounted actuating lever and sliding, is, at least in part, movable mounted between two positions, one of closing, for which it is in application against one fixed contact, the other opening, to which, on the contrary, it is removed from this fixed contact, is generally characterized in that, the lever actuator laterally comprising a control rod, which, for its intervention, protrudes out of the housing at the favor of a buttonhole of it, this buttonhole forms, locally, away from its current part, a lobe exhaust which is suitable for receiving this control rod.

Thus, after having momentarily trained, by his cam means, switch control rod auxiliary, the fuse holder of the circuit breaker directs this rod button to the buttonhole exhaust lobe in which it struggles, and this fuse holder can thus continue its journey without there being any more interference between it and this control rod.

On return, the cam means of this fuse holder bring the control rod back into the current part of the buttonhole, for its training in the opposite direction of previous.

The present invention also relates to a circuit breaker with fuse holder having cam means established accordingly.

la figure 1 est une vue en perspective d'un interrupteur auxiliaire suivant l'invention, vu du côté du couvercle de son boítier ;

la figure 2 en est une autre vue en perspective, vu du côté du socle de son boítier ;

la figure 3 en est, avec un arrachement local, une vue en élévation, vu de l'intérieur, et couvercle de boítier enlevé, suivant la flèche III de la figure 1 ;

la figure 4 est, à échelle supérieure, et avec un arrachement local, une vue en élévation du levier d'actionnement que comporte cet interrupteur auxiliaire ;

la figure 5 est une vue en plan de ce levier d'actionnement, suivant la flèche V de la figure 4 ;

la figure 6 en est une vue en perspective ;

les figures 7A et 7B sont, avec des arrachements locaux, des vues en élévation, qui, déduites de celle de la figure 3, illustrent, chacune respectivement, deux phases successives de fonctionnement de l'interrupteur auxiliaire suivant l'invention ;

la figure 8 est une vue partielle en élévation du porte-fusible du coupe-circuit auquel cet interrupteur auxiliaire peut être associé ;

la figure 9 est une vue partielle en coupe transversale de ce porte-fusible, suivant la ligne IX-IX de la figure 8 ;

les figures 10A, 10B et 10C sont des vues partielles en plan qui, reprenant celle de la figure 8, illustrent diverses phases successives de fonctionnement de l'ensemble.

The objects of the invention, their characteristics and their advantages 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 an auxiliary switch according to the invention, seen from the side of the cover of its housing;

Figure 2 is another perspective view, seen from the side of the base of its housing;

Figure 3 is, with a local cutaway, an elevational view, viewed from the inside, and housing cover removed, according to arrow III of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is, on a larger scale, and with a cutaway, an elevational view of the actuating lever that includes this auxiliary switch;

Figure 5 is a plan view of this actuating lever, according to arrow V in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a perspective view;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are, with local cutaway views, in elevation, which, deduced from that of FIG. 3, illustrate, each respectively, two successive phases of operation of the auxiliary switch according to the invention;

Figure 8 is a partial elevational view of the fuse holder of the circuit breaker with which this auxiliary switch can be associated;

Figure 9 is a partial cross-sectional view of this fuse holder, along the line IX-IX of Figure 8;

Figures 10A, 10B and 10C are partial plan views which, taking that of Figure 8, illustrate various successive phases of operation of the assembly.

As illustrated in these figures, and as it is best seen in Figure 3, the auxiliary switch 10 according to the invention comprises, in a manner known per se, in a housing 11, at least one contact blade 12A, which, under the control of an actuating lever 14 pivotally mounted and sliding according to arrangements described in more detail subsequently, is, at least in part, movable mounted between two positions, one closed, shown in Figure 3, for which it is in application against a fixed contact 15A, the other opening, shown in FIG. 7B, for which, on the contrary, it is removed from this fixed contact 15A.

In the embodiment shown, this auxiliary switch 10 constitutes a modular device.

Its housing 11 is therefore in the general form a plate, with two main faces 16 parallel to each other, and, along its contour, a rear face 17, two side faces 18 substantially parallel to each other and perpendicular to the rear face 17, and a front face 19, which, apart from a protruding part 20 in its area median, is substantially parallel to the rear face 17.

In practice, the rear face 17 has a notch 21, in favor of which is likely to intervene latching device, not shown, for fixing the assembly on a standard type support rail, also not shown.

In the embodiment shown, the housing 11 is formed, on the one hand, by a base 22, which forms the body of box, and the bottom 23 of which forms one of the main faces 16, and, on the other hand, a cover 24, which, attached to the base 22, is duly attached to it, and which forms the other of main faces 16.

The foregoing provisions are well known by themselves, and, not specifically falling under this invention, they will not be described in more detail here.

In the embodiment shown, the auxiliary switch 10 according to the invention comprises a second contact blade 12B, which, under control, also, of the actuating lever 14, is also at least partly mounted movable between two positions, one of closure, shown in Figure 7B, for which it is in application against a second fixed contact 15B, the other opening, shown in Figure 3, for which it is on the contrary removed from this fixed contact 15B.

More specifically, in the embodiment shown, the auxiliary switch 10 according to the invention constitutes an inverter, the two fixed contacts 15A, 15B being carried by the same metal strip 25 by which they are in connection with an input terminal 26 while the two blades 12A, 12B are each individually in connection with two output terminals 27A, 27B and that one is in the closed position while the other is in the closed position opening hours, and vice versa.

In practice, the contact blade 12A is embedded on the housing 11 at one of its ends, and, by its other end, which is free, it cooperates with the fixed contact 15A with which it is associated.

More specifically, in the embodiment shown, the contact blade 12A has two sections, namely, a fixed section 28, which is in connection with the terminal output 27A, and which is inserted between pads 30 coming from a in one piece from the bottom 23 of the base 22 of the housing 11, and a section mobile 31, which is subjected to the actuation lever 14, according to provisions described in more detail later, and which cooperates with the fixed contact 15A.

In the embodiment shown, this section fixed 28 and this movable section 31 make an acute dihedral between them.

Likewise, the second contact blade 12B is embedded on the housing 11 at one of its ends, and, by its other end, which is free, it cooperates with the fixed contact 15B with which it is associated.

More precisely, and like the contact blade 12A, this contact blade 12B comprises, in the form of illustrated embodiment, a fixed section 33, which is connected with output terminal 27B, and which is inserted between the part rim 34 of the base 22 of the housing 11 forming the rear face 17 of the latter and studs 35 coming in one piece from the bottom 23 of this base 22, and a movable section 36, which is subjected to actuation lever 14, and by which it cooperates with the fixed contact 15B.

In the embodiment shown, this section fixed 33 and this movable section 36 make an obtuse dihedral between them.

The input terminal 26 opens on one of the faces side 18 of the housing 11, while the output terminals 27A, 27B open on the opposite side face 18, being stepped on it.

But, for each of them, the clamping screw 37 is accessible from the front face 19 of the housing 11.

According to the invention, the actuation lever 14 comprises, laterally, a control rod 38, which, for its intervention, and according to methods described in more detail later, protrudes out of the housing 11 in favor a buttonhole 39 of it, and this buttonhole 39 locally forms, apart from its main part 40, a lobe exhaust 42 which is suitable for receiving this control rod 38.

In the embodiment shown, the lever actuation 14 is, overall, in the form of a hollow stick, U-shaped cross section.

It thus comprises, on the one hand, two flanks 44, which are substantially parallel to each other, and which, abstraction inflection in their middle area, are in practice substantially straight, and, on the other hand, a flat bottom 45, which is substantially perpendicular to the sides 44.

The sides 44 form a groove 46 between them.

At one end, 47, of the actuation lever 14, this groove 46 is open, while, at the other of its ends, 48, it is closed, one of the sides 44 joining the other by a rounded profile 49.

The actuation lever 14 thus overall formed with its concavity turned towards the bottom 23 of the base 22 of the housing 11, and, for its guidance, its width L1, that is to say the distance separating externally from each other its two sides 44, is substantially equal to the distance L2 internally separating this bottom 23 from the cover 24, such that shown schematically in broken lines in Figure 5, while being slightly less than this distance L2.

The control rod 38 is carried by a block 50, which, coming in one piece from the bottom 45, substantially perpendicular to it, extends between the sides 44, spaced from either end 47, 48, but more near the open end 47 than the closed end 48.

In practice, the control rod 38 comprises, at its base, for its guidance, a section 52 of larger section, whose diameter D1 corresponds substantially to the width L3 of the buttonhole 39 of the housing 11, while being slightly less than this width L3.

In the embodiment shown, it also includes a section 53 whose diameter D2 is intermediate between that D1 of section 52 and its own diameter D3.

For its pivoting and sliding mounting, the lever actuator 14 is engaged, by its groove 46, on the side of its open end 47, with a lug 54 secured to the housing 11, figure 3.

In practice, it is a cylindrical lug 54, of circular cross section, which is integral with the bottom 23 of the base 22 of the housing 11, and whose diameter D4 is substantially equal to the width L4 separating internally one from the other the two sides 44 of the actuating lever 14, while being slightly less than this width L4.

For its action on the contact blade 12A, the lever actuator 14 comprises, transversely, in its zone median, that is to say between its ends 47, 48, a recess 55, which affects in practice its only flanks 44, without interference with its background 45, and in favor of which it is traversed right through by this contact blade 12A.

More specifically, the actuation lever 14 has, at the edge of this recess 55, a boss 56, at rounded profile, which is in one piece with one of its flanks 44, in this case that opposite to that presenting a rounded profile 49 at the closed end 48, forming in sort of a local bulge of this flank 44, and by which it is able to act on the contact blade 12A.

The block 50 carrying the control rod 38 extends also on the edge of the recess 55, but on the side thereof opposite boss 56, and it is integral with the flank 44 having a rounded profile. 49 at the end 48 closed.

In practice, for the closed position shown in FIG. 3, the contact blade 12A carries elastically, by itself, on the fixed contact 15A to which it is associated, and the boss 56 of the actuating lever 14 is located on the same side of this contact blade 12A as this fixed contact 15A, slightly away from the contact blade 12A.

The contact blade 12B extends on the other side of the control rod 38 of the actuation lever 14 by compared to contact blade 12A.

The actuation lever 14 is able to act on this contact blade 12B by one of its ends, in this case the closed end 48 having a rounded profile 49.

At least one of the contact blades 12A, 12B is at less partially elastically deformable, and thus constitutes by itself elastic means suitable for holding stable operating lever 14 in at least one of its positions.

In practice, it is the contact blade 12B, the latter being elastically constrained by the lever actuator 14 when in the closed position.

In the embodiment shown, the lobe exhaust 42 formed by the buttonhole 39 of the housing 11 in practice extends to one end of the part current 40 of it.

In the embodiment shown, this lobe exhaust 42 is reduced in practice to a bent extension of the main part 40, by connecting to it by a largely rounded section 57, and this running part 40 is substantially straight.

In the embodiment shown, finally, the actuating lever 14 comprises, laterally, on the opposite side to its control rod 38, in favor of the block 50 carrying this one, a hole 58, which is aligned, axially, with this control rod 38, and in correspondence with which the case 11, and, more precisely, the cover 24 thereof, has a buttonhole 59 of the same type as the buttonhole 39 that it presents for the control rod 38.

The circuit breaker 60 at which the auxiliary switch 10 thus constituted is likely to be associated will not be described in full detail here, to the extent that it is described in French patent application No 94 15332, and where, in this regard, the description thereof can be considered as part of this request for patent.

It will suffice to indicate that it has a fuse holder 61 mounted movable between two positions, one closed, shown in Figure 8, the other opening, shown in Figure 10C.

In practice, this fuse holder 61 moves according to a curved trajectory.

Specifically, it is generally bent, and it is in engagement with guide means which, integral with the housing 62 of the assembly, are themselves generally bent so complementary.

More precisely, again, this fuse holder 61 presents, projecting, two ribs 63, by which, such as shown schematically in broken lines in Figure 9, it is taken with a rib 64 integral with the housing 62 of the circuit breaker 60.

For the control of the auxiliary switch 10, the fuse holder 61 of the circuit breaker 60 includes means for cam 65 on the path of which the housing 62 of this circuit breaker 60 has an opening 66 suitable for the passage of the control rod 38 of its actuating lever 14, this opening 66 being in practice constituted by a buttonhole of the same type as the buttonholes 39, 59 of the housing 11 of the auxiliary switch 10.

As described in the European patent application No 95402874.2, the cam means 65 have a groove 67 that the fuse holder 61 has in hollow, between its ribs 63, for the engagement of the control rod 38, such as shown schematically in broken lines in Figure 9.

In practice, this groove 67 has, successively, according to the invention, two sections, which are offset transversely with respect to each other, namely, a first section 68, which opens freely through an outlet 69, at the end of the fuse holder 61, on the edge thereof, and a second section 70, which, on the contrary, has a blind bottom 71, with, at the connection of these two sections 68, 70, on the one hand, on a first of the sides of this groove 67, a pan of drive 72, which, facing the blind end 71 of the second section 70, is suitable for driving the rod 38, and, on the other hand, on the other side of this groove 67, between the blind bottom 71 of the second section 70 and the training section 72, a deflection section 74, which, facing the outlet 69 of the first section 68, is suitable for deflect this control rod 38.

Taken as a whole, groove 67 is by elsewhere generally curved, like the trajectory fuse holder curve 61.

During assembly, when the auxiliary switch 10 according to the invention is attached to the circuit breaker 60 to which it is associated, and that the fuse holder 61 of this circuit breaker 60 is in the closed position, as shown in the figure 8, the control rod 38 of the auxiliary switch 10 is in engagement with the groove 67 forming the cam means 65 that includes fuse holder 61, located on the bottom side blind 71 of the second section 70 of this groove 67, such that shown schematically in broken lines in this figure 8.

If, according to the arrows F1 in FIGS. 8, 10A and 10B, fuse holder 61 is ordered to open, it has everything first an empty run for which it remains without incidence on the control rod 38 of the auxiliary switch 10, until the drive section 72 of its groove 67 comes in contact with this control rod 38, as shown schematically in broken lines in Figure 10A.

Then there is a training of this rod of command 38 by the fuse holder 61, according to the current part 40 of the buttonhole 39 of the housing 11 of the switch auxiliary 10.

At first, and as shown in the FIG. 7A, the actuating lever 14 of this switch auxiliary 10 comes, through its boss 56, to bear on the blade contact 12A, which causes it to move into position opening, however, by its closed end 48, it also comes to bear on the contact blade 12B.

Secondly, and as shown in the FIG. 7B, the actuation lever 14 ensures the passage into closed position of the contact blade 12B, while accentuating the opening of the contact blade 12A.

When, as shown in Figure 7B, and as shown schematically in broken lines in FIG. 10B, the rod of command 38 of the auxiliary switch 10 arrives at the right of the exhaust lobe 42 of the buttonhole 39 of the housing 11, it is directed towards this exhaust lobe 42 by the section largely rounded 57 of this buttonhole 39, so that such as shown in FIG. 10B, the fuse holder 61 of the circuit breaker 60 can continue its course freely, until its final opening position.

When this fuse holder 61 is returned to the position of closure, a process opposite to the previous one develops.

First, the groove 67 forming the cam means 65 of this fuse holder 61 again engages, at the favor of the outlet 69 of its first section 68, on the rod 38 of the actuating lever 14 of the switch auxiliary 10, then, by its deflection section 74, it causes the release of this control rod 38 from the lobe exhaust 42 of the buttonhole 39 of the housing 11 of this auxiliary switch 10, until returning it to the part current 40 of this buttonhole 39, and, finally, through the bottom blind 71 of its second section 70, it acts on this rod 38 in the direction causing the lever to return actuating the auxiliary switch 10 in its position initial.

Together, the contact blades 12A, 12B of the auxiliary switch 10 come back on their own elastically to their original position, in this case a closed position for contact blade 12A and one open position for contact blade 12B.

If desired, the bore 58 of the actuation lever 14 may allow cascade control of another switch auxiliary, or other electrical device, not shown.

To do this, the control rod 38 of the actuating lever 14 of this other auxiliary switch, or a control rod similarly provided for this purpose on this other electrical device, be engaged in this drilling 58.

Claims (17)

1. An auxiliary switch for a circuit-breaker, of the kind comprising in a housing (11) at least one contact blade (12A) which under the control of an actuating lever (14) mounted pivotably and slidably is at least in part mounted movably between two positions, one being a closure position in which it is in a condition of bearing against a fixed contact (15A) and the other being an open position in which in contrast it is spaced away from said fixed contact, the actuating lever (14) laterally comprising an operating rod (38) which for actuation thereof projects out of the housing (11) by way of a slot (39) therein, said slot (39) locally forming away from the main portion (40) thereof an escape lobe (42) which is suitable for receiving said operating rod (38).
2. An auxiliary switch according to claim 1 characterised in that the escape lobe (42) that the slot (39) in the housing (11) forms extends at one of the ends of the main portion (40) thereof.
3. An auxiliary switch according to claim 2 characterised in that the escape lobe (42) that the slot (39) in the housing (11) forms is reduced to a bent prolongation of the main portion (39) thereof, being connected thereto by way of a widely rounded portion (57).
4. An auxiliary switch according to any one of claims 1 to 3 characterised in that the main portion (40) of the slot (39) in the housing (11) is substantially rectilinear.
5. An auxiliary switch according to any one of claims 1 to 4 characterised in that, for its pivotal and slidable mounting, the actuating lever (14) comprises a groove (46), by way of which it is in engagement with a projection (54) on the housing (11).
6. An auxiliary switch according to any one of claims 1 to 5 characterised in that the actuating lever (14) comprises an opening (55), by way of which the contact blade (12A) passes therethrough from one side to the other, and bordering said opening (55) it has a boss (56) by way of which it is capable of acting on said contact blade (12A).
7. An auxiliary switch according to claim 6 characterised in that in the closure position the contact blade (12A) bears elastically by itself against the fixed contact (15A) with which it is associated and the boss (56) on the actuating lever (14) is on the same side of said contact blade (12A) as said fixed contact (15A).
8. An auxiliary switch according to any one of claims 1 to 7 characterised in that the contact blade (12A) is inserted on the housing (11) at one of its ends and by way of its other end which is free it co-operates with the fixed contact (15A) with which it is associated.
9. An auxiliary switch according to any one of claims 1 to 8 characterised in that it comprises a second contact blade (12B) which also under the control of the actuating lever (14) is at least in part mounted movably between two positions, one being a closure position in which it is in a condition of bearing against a second fixed contact (15B) and the other an open position in which in contrast it is spaced away from said fixed contact (15B).
10. An auxiliary switch according to claim 9 characterised in that the second contact blade (12B) extends on the other side of the operating rod (38) of the actuating lever (14) with respect to the first.
11. An auxiliary switch according to either one of claims 9 and 10 characterised in that the actuating lever (14) is capable of acting on the second contact blade (12B) by one of its ends.
12. An auxiliary switch according to claim 11 characterised in that the end (48) by way of which the actuating lever (14) is capable of acting on the contact blade (12B) is of a rounded profile (49).
13. An auxiliary switch according to any one of claims 9 to 12 characterised in that the second contact blade (12B) is inserted on the housing (11) at one of its ends and by way of its other end which is free it co-operates with the fixed contact (15B) with which it is associated.
14. An auxiliary switch according to any one of claims 9 to 13 characterised in that one at least of the contact blades (12A, 12B) is at least in part elastically deformable and thus by itself constitutes resilient means for stably holding the actuating lever (14) in one at least of the positions thereof.
15. An auxiliary switch according to any one of claims 1 to 14 characterised in that the actuating lever (14) comprises laterally on the opposite side to its operating rod (38) an aperture (58) which is axially aligned with said operating rod (38) and in correspondence with which the housing (11) has a slot (59) of the same type as the slot (39) that it has for said operating rod (38).
16. An auxiliary switch according to any one of claims 1 to 15 characterised in that, the fuse carrier (61) of the circuit breaker (60) with which it is associated comprising for operation thereof cam means (65), on the path of which the housing (62) of said circuit breaker (60) has an opening (66) for the passage of the operating rod (38) of its actuating lever (14), said cam means (65) comprise a groove (67) that said fuse carrier (61) has in recessed relationship for engagement of said operating rod (38), said groove (67) successively having two portions (68, 70) which are displaced transversely with respect to each other, namely a first portion (68) which opens freely by way of an orifice (69) at the end of the fuse carrier (61) on the edge thereof and a second portion (71) which in contrast has a blind end (71) with, at the junction of said two portions (68, 70), on the one hand on a first of the flanks of said groove (67) an entrainment surface portion (72) which facing towards the blind end (71) of the second portion (70) is suitable for entrainment of the operating rod (38) and on the other hand on the other of the flanks of the groove (67) between the blind end (71) of the second portion (70) and the entrainment surface portion (72) a deflection surface portion (74) which facing towards the orifice (69) of the first portion (68) is capable of deflecting said operating rod (38).
17. A circuit breaker of the kind comprising a fuse carrier (61) mounted movably between an open and a closure position, characterised in that for operation of an auxiliary switch (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 16 its fuse carrier (61) comprises cam means (65), on the path of which its housing (62) has an opening (66) for the passage of the operating rod (38) of the actuating lever (14) of said auxiliary switch (10), said cam means (65) comprise a groove (67) that said fuse carrier (61) has in recessed relationship for engagement of said operating rod (38), said groove (67) successively having two portions (68, 70) which are displaced transversely with respect to each other, namely a first portion (68) which opens freely by way of an orifice (69) at the end of the fuse carrier (61) on the edge thereof and a second portion (71) which in contrast has a blind end (71) with, at the junction of said two portions (68, 70), on the one hand on a first of the flanks of said groove (67) an entrainment surface portion (72) which facing towards the blind end (71) of the second portion (70) is suitable for entrainment of the operating rod (38) and on the other hand on the other of the flanks of the groove (67) between the blind end (71) of the second portion (70) and the entrainment surface portion (72) a deflection surface portion (74) which facing towards the orifice (69) of the first portion (68) is capable of deflecting said operating rod (38).

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