EP1628317A2 - Circuit breaker with short circuit and overload trip indicator and according method - Google Patents

Abstract

Circuit breaker contains interruptable contact mechanism (3) for current flow; and short circuit cut-out (2) for interrupting contact mechanism at short circuit and/or overload cut-out occurrence. To cut-outs is coupled display (6) for clear indication of cut-out reason.Preferably display is of mechanical type coupled to each cut-out, and typically contains sprung display element (61), held in first position by movable cut-out element (22) of respective cut-out. It is driven to move into second position by position change of cut-out element. Independent claims are included for indication of state of protective circuit breaker.

Description

The present invention relates to a protective switching device having an interruptible contact device for conducting current, a short-circuit tripping device for interrupting the contact device in the event of a short circuit and an overcurrent tripping device for interrupting the contact device in the event of an overcurrent event. Moreover, the present invention relates to a corresponding method for indicating a state of a circuit breaker. It is understood by circuit breakers, for example, circuit breaker, circuit breaker, motor protection switch and the like.
In the present document, the term "protective switching device" is understood to mean in particular protective switching devices or installation built-in devices.

Circuit breakers often have an overload release and a short-circuit release. These two overcurrent trip mechanisms operate independently of each other and trip the circuit breaker in the event of overload or short-circuit current, i. the contacts of the circuit breaker are opened. After tripping and a subsequent elimination of the cause, the circuit breaker can be switched on again. However, to remedy the cause, it is convenient to know whether the circuit breaker has been triggered by an overload current or a short-circuit current. However, such information is not available from circuit breakers currently on the market.

In this context, Kopp a circuit breaker is known by the company, in which a so-called reset position is provided on the handle. When the circuit breaker is switched off, the handle does not return to the basic position, but instead into this reset or middle position.

From this position the device can not be switched on again. The handle must first be brought by hand to the basic position to be able to switch on the device again. However, the user does not receive any information as to what the actual reason for the shutdown was, i.e., whether there is an overload or a short circuit.

The object of the present invention is therefore to give the user in the case of triggering a circuit breaker information about why the triggering has taken place.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by a protective switching device with an interruptible contact device for conducting current and a short-circuit tripping device for interrupting the contact device in a short circuit event and / or an overload trip device for interrupting the contact device in an overload event, and further a display device connected to the short-circuit tripping device and / or the Overload tripping device is connected and clearly with the short-circuit event or the overload event or both clearly separated from each other can be displayed / are.

In addition, the invention provides a method for indicating a state of a circuit breaker by triggering the circuit breaker by a short circuit event or overload event, specific display of the short circuit event or overload event with a first display variant, non-display or specific display with a second display variant of the other event ,

In an advantageous manner, the user can thus visually recognize to which cause the intended triggering of the protective switching device is due. He receives a unique Information about whether the circuit breaker has been switched off by an overload current or a short-circuit current.

Preferably, the display device is mechanically realized and coupled to the respective triggering device. Such a display device is easy to implement. The mechanical display device may comprise a spring-supported, movable display element. Examples of this would be simple to produce pressure and sliding elements.

Alternatively, however, it is also possible to provide an electrical display device in which, for example, the causes of the interruption are displayed with one or more LEDs. An electronic detects the switching or tripping movement of the circuit breaker and controls a corresponding display.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention, the display element of the display device is fixed by a movable trigger element of the short-circuit or overload release device or by a pawl in a first, biased position and unlocked by a change in position of the movable member or the pawl for movement to a second position , As a result, the display element can assume a stable position after a short circuit event or an overload event, which can only be left by manual actuation.

Conveniently, a switching mechanism of the contact device can be held in a freewheeling position by the display device holding the movable triggering element or the switching mechanism directly in a triggering position when displaying the respective triggering event. In this freewheeling position, the circuit breaker can not be turned on again and closing the contacts is inhibited. Switching to the freewheeling position has the advantage that the circuit breaker can not be accidentally turned on again. Rather, it is conscious to make an additional release.

FIG 1

einen Kurzschlussauslöser eines Leitungsschutzschalters mit Anzeigeeinrichtung vor einem Kurzschlussereignis;

FIG 2

den Kurzschlussauslöser und die Anzeigeeinrichtung nach einem Kurzschlussereignis;

FIG 3

einen Überlastauslöser eines Leitungsschutzschalters mit Anzeigeeinrichtung vor einem Überlastereignis; und

FIG 4

den Überlastauslöser und die Anzeigeeinrichtung nach dem Überlastereignis.

The present invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1

a short circuit release of a circuit breaker with indicator before a short circuit event;

FIG. 2

the short-circuit release and the display device after a short circuit event;

FIG. 3

an overload trip of a circuit breaker with indicator before an overload event; and

FIG. 4

the overload release and the display device after the overload event.

The embodiments described in more detail below represent preferred embodiments of the present invention.

1, a short-circuit release 2 is arranged in a circuit breaker whose housing 1 is indicated in principle in the drawing and is shown in an open state. The short-circuit release 2 has a coil 21 which is connected to a fixed contact 3 of the circuit breaker and detects a short-circuit current. Furthermore, the short-circuit release 2 has an armature 22, which protrudes with its proximal end into the coil 21 and is pulled in the presence of a short circuit due to the magnetic field into the interior of the coil 21. At its proximal end, the armature 22 is connected to a plunger 23 which moves a release lever 4 of the switching mechanism of the circuit breaker in the event of a short circuit.

At its distal end, i. at its the end face opposite the plunger 23, the cylindrical armature 22 has a concentric plate 24. Its diameter is slightly larger than that of the armature 22. Therefore, a shoulder forms, to which a leaf spring 5 engages. It serves to reset the armature 22 in a defined horizontal position before and after the short circuit event. Instead of the plate 24, the armature 22, any other any shoulder or a projection to be formed, to which the leaf spring 5 engages.

Driven by the leaf spring 5, the anchor 22, here with its plate 24, abuts against a vertically arranged pin 6. This pin 6 is displaceable in the vertical direction. For this purpose, it is guided through a recess 11 on the housing 1. In the case of a short-circuit release, a display section 61 of the pin 6 protrudes from the recess 11 (see FIG. In the state shown in FIG 1, the pin 6 is biased by a spring 62 which is supported on a housing portion 12 which also guides the pin 6.

The pin 6 also has at its lower, i. the display portion 61 opposite end, a shoulder 63 which is pressed by the spring 62 to the armature 22 and to its plate 24. Thus, the vertical movement of the pin 6 is inhibited upward.

In the case of a short circuit event, the armature 22 is withdrawn from the pin 6 and unlatched with its plunger 23, the trigger lever 4 of the switching mechanism. Thus, the pin 6 is no longer held by the shoulder 63 in its normal operating position, but jumps, driven by the spring 62, upwards, as shown in FIG. In this case, the display section 61 protrudes from the recess 11 of the housing 1. The display section 61 indicates that the circuit breaker was triggered by a short circuit.

Below the shoulder 63, the pin has a horizontal direction, i. perpendicular to its Hauptausdehnungsrichtung, a reinforced stopper portion 64 on. In the short circuit display position according to FIG. 2, the armature 22 of the short-circuit release 2 is pressed against this reinforced stop section 64 by the leaf spring 5. As a result, the trigger lever 4 and thus the switching mechanism is held in a freewheeling position in which the circuit breaker can not be turned on again. Only by pressing the pin 6 vertically down to the normal operating position of the armature 22 jumps back through the leaf spring 5 in its initial position and the release lever 4 in the Verklinkungsposition. The circuit breaker can then be turned on again. This ensures that the pin 6 is again in its normal operating position when it is switched on again and consequently fulfills its function as intended in the event of a renewed short circuit.

The display of the short-circuit release by the display section 61 allows the user to immediately recognize which type of fault led to the shutdown and whether a safe restart is possible. A circuit breaker in the OFF state (tripped state) and a display section protruding from the housing must be short-circuited in the circuit. The user is thus informed of a possible error in his system and can react accordingly, for example by consulting a specialist.

In a circuit breaker in the OFF state and a non-protruding display section of the circuit breaker was triggered by the overload release due to temporary overload of the circuit or deliberately or unconsciously turned off manually. The circuit can be switched on again without danger if the consumer has been switched off with the excessively high power consumption or the other fault in the system has been rectified.

A separate display for the overload release is therefore not necessary, since the cause of the trip can be clearly removed from the display device for the short-circuit release. Alternatively, of course, the overload release could be provided with a display device, while the short-circuit release has none. In this variant, the presence of an overload current is displayed directly. Indirectly, this also indicates that a short-circuit must have been present or was switched off manually, if the circuit breaker has tripped and an overload event is not displayed.

Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. It relates to an overload release of a circuit breaker with display device. In FIG. 3, the overload release, including the mechanical indicator, is in a normal operating condition, ie. H. before an overload event. Again, the display device comprises a pin 106 which is guided through a recess 111 and a housing portion 112 in the housing 101 of the circuit breaker. The pin 106 also has a display portion 161 and a spring 162 which biases the pin 106 in the non-release position. At the opposite end of the display portion 161, the pin 106 has a projection 163 extending perpendicular to the longitudinal extent of the pin 106. This projection 163 moves the release lever 104 of the switching mechanism of the circuit breaker, not shown further.

Also in the region of the lower end of the pin 106, a pawl 120 is rotatably mounted on the housing 101. The pawl 120 has a nose 121, which engages in the non-triggering position of the trigger lever 104 and the pin 106 in a recess 164 of the pin 106. In this position, the pawl 120 is held by a sprue spring 122, which on the pawl 120 is molded and is supported on the release lever 104 or a housing portion.

At the opposite end of the nose 121, the pawl 120 has a projection 123 on which in the non-triggering position of the components shown in FIG 3, a bimetallic strip 130 is applied.

In the following, the function of the overload release with corresponding display will now be described in more detail. Before the overload event, the pin 106 is held by the pawl 120 and in particular its nose 121 in the depressed position (non-triggering position) in which the display portion 161 is not or hardly visible to the operator. In the event of an overload current, the bimetal strip 130 now bends according to the current intensity and its duration of action and thus disconnects the switching mechanism. This is done by cooperation of the bimetallic strip 130 and the release lever 104. After triggering, the bimetallic strip bends back into its normal position.

If the bimetallic strip 130 then releases the pawl 120, the pin 106, driven by the spring 162, springs upwards, so that the display section 161 becomes visible to the user. This triggering or Entklinkungsposition of the components involved is shown in FIG 4. The projection 163 of the pin 106 holds the release lever 104 in a freewheeling position in which the circuit breaker can not be turned on again. Only when the pin 106 is pressed down on its display section 161, the release lever 104 can leave the freewheeling position, so that the circuit breaker can be turned on again. This means that only by a conscious action of the operator of the circuit breaker is ready to start again.

In this application example, the user can immediately recognize which type of fault, in this case overload, led to shutdown and whether a safe switch-on is possible again. With a circuit breaker in the OFF position and an "extended" pin 106, the user can close the circuit safely again, because there is only a temporary overload of the circuit. After switching off the inadmissibly high power consumption, the circuit is in order again.

In a circuit breaker in the OFF position and a non-visible display portion 161 of the display device, a short circuit in the circuit may have occurred. In this case, increased caution is appropriate. The user is pointed in this constellation on a possible error in his system and can respond accordingly, for example, by consulting a specialist.

A further alternative of a protective switching device according to the invention is that a separate display device is provided both for the short-circuit release and for the overload release. This would have the advantage that also the manual triggering could be distinguished from a tripping by short circuit or overload.

Claims (12)

Protection switching device with - An interruptible contactor (3) for power management and - A short circuit triggering device (2) for interrupting the contact device (3) in a short circuit event and / or an overload trip device for interrupting the contact device in the event of an overload,
marked by - A display device (6) which is connected to the short-circuit release device (2) and / or the overload trip device, and with the clearly the short circuit event or the overload event or both clearly separated from each other can be displayed / are. Protection switching device according to claim 1, wherein the display device (6) is mechanically realized and coupled to the respective triggering device. A circuit breaker according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the indicator (6) comprises a spring-supported movable indicator (61). Protective switching device according to claim 3, wherein the display element (61) by a movable trigger element (22) of the short-circuit release device (2) or overload release device in a first, biased position can be fixed and unlocked by a change in position of the movable trigger element (22) for movement into a second position , Protective switching device according to claim 3, wherein the display element can be fixed by a pawl in a first, biased position and by a linear or rotary movement the pawl is unlockable for movement to a second position. A circuit breaker according to claim 4, wherein a movable mechanism (4) of the contactor (3) is maintained in a free-running position by the movable trip member (22) by holding the movable trigger member (22) in a trip position upon display of the respective triggering event , A circuit breaker according to claim 5, wherein a switching mechanism of the contact device is durable in a freewheeling position by the display device holds the switching mechanism in a triggering position when the display element is in the second position. A method of indicating a condition of a circuit breaker Triggering of the circuit breaker by a short circuit event or an overload event,
marked by specific indication of the short circuit event or the overload event with a first display variant and - Non-ads or specific ads with a second display variant of the other event. The method of claim 8, wherein the displaying is mechanical. The method of claim 9, wherein a mechanical indicator (61) is moved by a spring (62). The method of claim 10, wherein the display element (61) is fixed in a first, biased position in the absence of a short circuit event or overload event and in the presence of a short circuit event or Overload event is unlocked to move to a second position. Method according to claim 11, wherein a contact device (3) of the circuit breaker is held in a freewheeling position after release, in which contacts of the contact device (3) are not closable.

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