FR2569901A1 - IMPROVEMENTS TO AUTOMATIC SWITCHES, IN PARTICULAR TO DIFFERENTIAL SWITCHES AND CIRCUIT BREAKERS - Google Patents

Abstract

1. An electrical device with automatic circuit-breaking, comprising a base (27) of insulating material, a support (26) able to receive mechanical elements of the device and a break chamber (35) which is closed on all sides with the exception of an opening (36) for the passage of at least one movable contact (4) cooperating with a fixed contact (5) and which contains armatures (37) capable of creating a deionizing magnetic field on the separation movement of the contact studs (33, 34) or similar elements, of the fixed and movable contacts (5, 4), the support (26) and the base (27) being equipped with means for mutual pivoting, guiding and positioning (76, 77, 78, 79) such that the base (27) can be moved towards the support (26), brought into the final assembly position by pivoting in relation to the support (26) and held in this final position by means of a single screw (44), the whole being completed by a cover (47) surrounding the support (26) and mounted on the base (27), characterised in that the support (26) is a self-contained unit (26) of insulating material which receives the majority of the electrical and mechanical elements of the device before mounting on the base (27) and in which the break chamber (35) is formed, and in that the single screw (44) passes through the base (27) and is screwed tight in the unit (26).

Description

Improvements to automatic cut-off switches,

including switches

RCDs and circuit breakers.

  The invention relates to electrical devices

  with automatic cut-off, in particular at different switches

  RCDs, circuit breakers or earth leakage circuit breakers, of the type comprising a breaking chamber (or more precisely a breaking arc extinguishing chamber) which is closed on all sides except for an opening for the passage of '' at least one movable contact cooperating with a fixed contact and which contains reinforcements capable

  create a magnetic deionization field during the

  separation of contact rivets, or elements

  analogs, fixed and mobile contacts.

  The object of the invention is to facilitate assembly

of these devices.

  For this purpose, the breaking chamber is arranged in an autonomous block of insulating material which is arranged so as to receive, separately or in the form of assemblies or sub-assemblies, most of the electrical and mechanical elements of the apparatus and which is associated with a base of insulating material, the block and the base being provided with

  pivoting, guiding and positioning means

  tuels such that the base can be approached from the block furnished with the above elements, brought to the final mounting position by pivoting relative to the block and maintained in this final position by means of a single screw passing through the base and tightened in the block, the assembly being completed by a cover surrounding the block and attached to

pedestal.

  The above block thus fulfills the dual function of a mounting template and a framework of the apparatus.

  and it is easy to adapt and attach it to the base.

  According to a preferred embodiment in which the or each movable contact is provided with a pressurizing spring, this spring is maintained on the base while the corresponding movable contact is maintained on the block, so that the fixing from the base to the block using the aforesaid single screw ensures the compression of the spring and consequently the pressurization of the contact

corresponding mobile.

  20. This embodiment thus makes the fixing screw play an additional role, which simplifies the

construction of the device.

  In accordance with another improvement, the cham-

  breaker is closed laterally by a cover

  attached to the block and a plate is used for both

  the cover on the block and the support of a button-

known type test.

  Here again, the same room fulfills a double function.

  tion, which further simplifies the construction of the apparatus

reil.

  The invention will now be explained in more detail.

  detail using the accompanying drawings.

  Figure 1 shows, in exploded perspective, the block o is arranged the breaking chamber, the cover attached to this block and the various elements carried by

  the block and held thereon by the cover.

3 2569901

  Figure 2 shows, in exploded perspective, the elements of Figure 1 after assembly, the base

  and various components intended to be adapted thereto.

  Figure 3 is a detail view along arrow III of Figure 2. Figure 4 illustrates the fixing operation of the

base on the block.

  Figure 5 illustrates the final fixing phase

of the appliance cover.

  Figure 6 shows in section the fully assembled device. The invention is particularly applicable to

  a differential switch of the kind described in the

  French patent application filed by the plaintiff on

October 4, 1983 under No. 83 15784.

  According to this patent application, the differential switch comprises, as shown in particular in Figure 6, a toggle and snap mechanism 1, between a rotary manual actuation member or lever 2 to 20. actuation button 2a and a tilting contact carrier

  3 on which at least one movable contact 4 is mounted

  rant with a fixed contact 5 and which is biased by a first spring 6 in the direction of opening or separation

  of the movable contact 4 relative to the fixed contact 5.

  There are generally two mobile contacts 4 coo-

  operating respectively with two fixed contacts 5 and stressed

  each cited by a spring 6. The assembly of the contact carrier 3 and of the movable contact (s) 4 is preferably arranged in the manner described in the French patent application filed by the applicant on October 4, 1983 under the number n

  83 15783, i.e. so that the same (s) remain

  spell (s) 6 ensures (s) both the separation of contacts 4 and 5 during the opening movement and the pressure of

  these contacts 4, 5 one on the other in the closed position

  ture. The mechanism 1 is capable, on the one hand, when it is tensioned, of transmitting the movement of the lever 2 to the contact carrier 3 both in the opening direction

  only in the closing direction and, on the other hand, at the

  where the mechanism 1 is relaxed by a relay 7 acting

  independently of lever 2 on the latching of the mechanism

  nism 1, to cause the contact carrier 3 to return from its

  closed position to its open position. The mechanic

  nism 1 is arranged so as to allow the lever 2 to reset the switch, that is to say to tighten the mechanism 1 by returning it from its open position after tripping to its open position

  normal shown in Figure 6, after cessation of in-

  the relay 7 and under the action of a second res-

  fate 8 acting on this lever 2.

  Usually, the switch is housed in an insulating case which will be described in more detail below.

  and from which the button 2a of the controller 2 emerges.

  The mechanism 1 essentially consists of: - a connecting rod 10 articulated by one of its ends on the handle 2, along an axis 11 eccentric with respect to the fixed axis of rotation 12 of the handle 2; - A link 13 articulated by one of its ends to the other end of the rod 10, along an axis 14, and by the other of its ends to the contact carrier 3, along an axis 15 eccentric relative to to the fixed tilt axis

16 of contact carrier 3; and-

  a trigger lever 17 articulated by one of its ends around a fixed axis 18 and provided with a longitudinal groove 19 in which the axis of articulation 14 between connecting rod 10 and connecting rod 13 can slide practically

without transverse play.

  The above axes 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 18 are parallel to each other, the fixed axes 12, 16 and

18 being linked to the housing.

  The latching of the mechanism 1 comprises a pawl 20, of axis 21, which is biased by a third spring

  22, this pawl 20 acting on the trigger lever 17.

  Axis 21 is also parallel to axes 11, 12, 14, 15,

  16 and 18 and it is linked to the housing.

  The fixed axis 18 of the trigger lever 17 is located in such a way that, in the closed position, this trigger lever 17 is approximately parallel to the assembly of the connecting rod 10 and the connecting rod 13, this axis then being practically aligned with axis 11 between lever 2

and connecting rod 10.

  The connecting rod 10 consists of a rectilinear rod, the two ends of which are folded at a right angle so as to respectively constitute the axis of articulation

  11 of the connecting rod 10 with the lever 2 and its articulation axis

  tion 14 with the link 13. As also shown in figure

  gure 1, the link 13 advantageously consists of two individual parallel links 13a and 13b so that the part 3a of the contact holder 3, by which the articulation is made with the double link 13, is

  place between the two individual links 13a, 13b.

  Preferably, a connecting bar 43 secured together

  20. ble these two individual links 13a, 13b.

  The length of the groove 19 of the trigger lever 17 is such that the articulation axis 14 between connecting rod 10 and connecting rod 13 abuts against one 23 of the longitudinal ends of this groove 19 during the movement

rearmament.

  In general, the relay 7 is a permanent magnet relay, which acts by a push rod 25 on the pawl

  , which forces the pawl 20 to exert on this rod-

  push 25 enough force to defeat the action

  of the opposing spring of the permanent magnet during the rear-

  relay 7. To ensure this operation, a

  reset spell 48 is arranged in such a way that

  that the mechanism 1 is relaxed by the action of the relay 7, the tension of this spring 48 is greatly increased, by a movement of separation of the two ends of this spring. The pawl 20 is provided with a clean notch 28

  to receive a spout 30 carried by the trigger lever 17.

  The box has as many input terminals

  32 as fixed contacts 5, which are electrically connected

  ment to these fixed contacts 5. Usually, the or each fixed contact 5 carries a contact rivet 33 which cooperates with a contact rivet 34 carried by the or each corresponding movable contact 4. The continuity of the electrical circuit is ensured by a braid 38 attached to the movable contact 4. The rivet 33 is housed in a fixed position and the rivet 34 moves in a cutting arc extinguishing chamber or, more briefly, a break 35 which is

  closed on all sides except for an opening 36 ne-

  necessary for the movement of the movable contact 4 or more exactly the part of this movable contact 4 which is close to its contact rivet 34. As is known, a

  such breaking chamber 35 contains armatures 37 capa-

  to create a magnetic deionization field during

  of the separation of the contact rivets 33 and 34.

  On the side opposite that of the input terminals

  32, the housing is provided with output terminals 31.

  Relay 7 is connected to a toroid for detecting

  faults 9 by a secondary winding 24.

  Finally, the switch includes a test button

  39 with which a resistor 40 is associated, a sub contact

  ple 41 a return spring 56 and two metal tabs

57 and 73.

  The overall operation of the switch

  is known and therefore need not be described here.

  However, in accordance with the invention, the breaking chamber 35 is arranged in an autonomous block

  26 of insulating material which is arranged to receive

  see, separately or as sets or sub-in-

  sembles, most of the electrical and mechanical elements of the device and which is associated with a base 27 made of insulating material. The block 26 and the base 27 are provided with mutual pivoting, guiding and positioning means which will be described in more detail below and such that the base 27 can be approached from the block 26 furnished with the above elements, brought to the position final mounting by pivoting with respect to block 26 (as will be

  explained in more detail using Figure 4) and main-

  held in this final position using a single screw 44 which passes through the base 27 through a hole 45 and which is clamped in the block 26, engaging in a hole 46 formed in the latter. The shoemaker, which includes the block 26 and the base 27, is completed by a cover 47 surrounding

  the block 26 and attached to the base 27.

  Preferably, the spring 6 for pressurizing the or each movable contact 4 is held on the base

  27 (see Figure 2) while the movable contact 4 corresponds to

  laying is held on the block 26, so that the fixing of the base 27 on the block 26 using the single screw 44 ensures the compression of or each spring 6 and therefore the pressurization of the movable contact

4 correspondent.

  More preferably, the interrupting chamber 35 is closed laterally by a cover 42 attached to the block 26 and a plate 29 is used both for holding the cover 42 on the block 26 and for supporting the test button 39 and associated elements to this one. In this case, the

  the above means of pivoting, guiding and positioning

  ment, which are provided between the base 27 and the block 26, are distributed, on the side of the latter, between the block 26 and

  the cover 42 which form a rigid assembly after adapting

plate holder 29.

  We will now describe the successive phases

  the device and, gradually, the characteristics

  building specifications that allow the realization

of these phases.

  1) Contact holder sub-assembly: The pin 15 is introduced into the openings 49 of the individual links 13a, 13b and into the opening 50 of the part 3a of the contact holder 3, by hooking one

  ends of the resetting spring 48 to this axis 15.

  S9901 Then two axes 51 are introduced into the openings 52 of the contact holder 3 (to the right of its lower part, FIG. 1 represents a fragment of the contact holder upside down

3 and one of the movable contacts 4).

  2) Test sub-assembly: Resistor 40 is introduced into the test button

  39 and the flexible contact 41 is placed there, making the welds

res required.

  3) Test sub-assembly and plate: Introduce the test sub-assembly thus obtained between the plate or clip 29 and a wing 55 made

  in one piece with the plate 29 and parallel to it

  ci, by adapting the return spring 56 between the button-

  pusher 39 and wing 55 of plate 29.

  4) Fixed contact sub-assembly (phase and neu-

  tre) and corresponding terminals: The fixed contacts 5 with or without contact blade 57 are introduced into the terminals 32, as well as contacts

fixed, 8 in terminals 31.

  20. - 5) Relay sub-assembly: A shock absorber 59 is attached to each ear 53 of relay 7 (see the detail on the left of the

figure 3).

  6) Base sub-assembly: The two springs 6 are fitted on studs

  (Figure 6) provided for this purpose on the base 27.

  7) Cut-off chamber sub-assembly: The trigger lever 17 is presented on the axis 18 coming from molding with the block 26, then the pawl 20

  on the axis 21 also come from molding with the block 2.6.

  The compression spring 22 is placed on the pawl 20.

  Then the spout 30 of the trigger lever 17 is presented in the notch 28 of the pawl 20. A reset piece 61 is then hooked to the other end of the tension spring 48 of the contact carrier sub-assembly. The sub-assembly thus produced is then presented on the block 26, by engaging one of the axes 16 of the contact carrier 3 in a bearing 62 of the block 26 and the axis 63 of the reset piece 61 in a

another level 64 of block 26.

  The torsion spring 8 is placed in the handle 2 and the latter on an axis 65 molded with the block 26, by placing the end of the spring 8 behind the axis 18 of the trigger lever 17, which retains the latter. -

deny laterally.

  Furthermore, the axis 14 of the connecting rod is presented in holes 66 of the connecting rod 13 and in the groove 19 of the trigger lever 17 and the axis 11 of the connecting rod 10

  in an eccentric bearing 67 of the lever 2 by turning-

  ner this to get the center distance of the rod 10.

  8) Block and cover assembly: The cover 42 is centered on the block 26 in

  having the other axis 16a of the contact carrier 3 in a pa-

  link 68 provided on the cover 42 and the other axis 63 of the reset piece 61, in a bearing (not shown)

  also provided on the cover 42 and engaging the ex-

  end of axis 15 in a light in an arc of a circle 69

  which crosses the cover 42. Then the cover is locked

  key 42 on the block 26 by lowering the plate 29 as indicated by the arrow F1 in FIG. 2, to the position represented by the detail view located at the top left of FIG. 2, which produces a stapling by engagement of the wing 55 of the plate 29 in a notch 70 of the block 26 and by hooking a notch 71 of the block 26 on the edge

  an opening 72 formed in the plate 29.

  The armored deionization sub-assemblies 37 are also presented in the breaking chamber of the block 26 as well as the fixed contacts 5 on this block.

  26. The test tab 73 is embedded on the block 26.

  Finally, the two movable contacts 4 are introduced into the housings provided for this purpose in the contact holder 3 and the relay sub-assembly is stapled to the block 26 by inserting the ears 53 fitted with the shock absorbers 59 successively in the openings 74 of the cover 42 and 75 of block 26, as shown in the detail view

'99O 1

  located to the left of the top of Figure 3.

  We thus obtain a functional set

  plet. 90) Block-cover-base assembly: The base 27 is approached from the assembly thus constituted by the block 26 and by the cover 42 by putting

  in engagement their means of pivoting, guiding and positioning

  mutual action, as shown schematically

& Figure 4.

  These means advantageously include two spouts 76 and 77 provided respectively on the block 26 and the cover 42 and two corresponding notches 78 provided on the base 27, the assembly being such that, when the spouts 76, 77 are inserted respectively in the notches 78 , the assembly 26, 42 can be pivoted relative to the base 27 according to the arrow F2 in FIG. 4 or, more generally, the base 27 relative to the assembly 26,

  42. These means further include flanges 79 surrounding

  rant the base 27 and adapted to receive and guide between them the side faces of the assembly 26, 42 and that of

  transverse faces of this set which is the most distant

  gné des bets 76, 77. These means may include

  in addition to the projections and recesses which are formed on the elements

  26, 42 and 27 and which commit to each other

  very during the aforementioned pivoting movement.

  Then the above-mentioned pivoting movement is carried out, which automatically presents the springs 6 on flanges 80 (FIG. 1) provided for this purpose on the movable contacts 4, then compresses the springs 6. At the end of the pivoting movement, we introduce the assembly screw 44 in the hole 45 of the base 27 and in the hole 46 of the block 26 and the screw 44 is tightened in the latter

hole 46.

  10) Final assembly and adjustment operations: The terminals 31 are presented in housings there provided for this purpose between the elements 26, 42 and 27 and the various electrical connections are made (the product thus obtained being represented at the bottom of the figure 5). We then proceed on this product to the sensitivity settings of relay 7 and to the mechanical and electrical checks of the differential switch. Finally, the cover 47 is adapted to the product, as shown schematically by the arrows F3

  of Figure 5, by introducing elastic tabs of-

  click 81, molded with the cover 47, in notches 82 provided for this purpose in the base 27 (see the detail view to the left of FIG. 5),

  passing the button 2a of the stalk 2 and the button-

  pusher 39 respectively through openings 83 and 84 formed in the cover 47; The differential switch

is then ready to use.

Claims (4)

  1. Electric apparatus with automatic cut-off, comprising a cut-off chamber (35) which is closed   all sides except an opening (36) for the passage   wise of at least one movable contact (4) cooperating with a   fixed contact (5) and which contains armatures (37)   to create a magnetic deionization field during the separation movement of the contact rivets (33, 343), or similar elements, of the fixed (s) - and mobile (s) (5, 4) contacts, characterized in that the breaking chamber (35) is arranged in an autonomous block (26) of insulating material   which is arranged to receive most of the   electrical and mechanical elements of the device and which is associated with. a base (27) made of insulating material, the block (26) and the base (27) being provided with means for pivoting, guiding and mutual positioning (76, 77, 78, 793 such that the base (27) can be approached the block {26) lined with the above elements, brought to the final mounting position by pivoting relative to the block (26) and maintained in this final position by means of a single screw (44)   passing through the base (27) and clamped in the block (26), the   seems to be completed by a cover (47) surrounding the block   (26) and attached to the base (27).   2. Apparatus according to claim 1, in   which the or each movable contact (4) is provided with a res-   pressurizing spell (6), characterized in that this spring (6) is held on the base (27) while the corresponding movable contact (4) is held on the block (26), so that the fixing from the base (27) to the block   (26) using the above single screw (44) ensures the com   pressure of or each spring (6) and consequently, the pressurization of the movable contact (4) corresponding_   3. Apparatus according to claim 2, character-   laughed in that the mutual pivoting, guiding and positioning means comprise nozzles (76, 77) provided respectively on the block (26) and on the cover (42) and which respectively engage in notches t / 0 provided on the base (27).   4. Apparatus according to any one of the claims.   cations 1 to 3, characterized in that the interrupting chamber (35) is closed laterally by a cover (42) attached to the block (26) and in that a plate (29) serves both to hold the cover (42) on the block (26) and   to the support of a test button (39) of known type.