FR2674370A1 - PROTECTIVE SWITCHING APPARATUS ACCOUPABLE TO A CONTROL MODULE AND / OR A SIGNALING MODULE. - Google Patents

Abstract

The switch device according to the invention comprises a switch device actuated by a trigger mechanism (31) whose trigger member (38) has two opposite edges each provided with movable stops facing two orifices respectively provided in two side faces. (53, 54) of the housing. These stops (63, 64) are shaped so as to be able to cooperate either with a coupling finger (68) of the leading type of an additive control module (69), or with a coupling finger (66), of the driven type, an additive signaling module (67). This device makes it possible to distinguish between a trip produced by the magnetoelectric trip unit and trips caused by the control module.

Description

PROTECTIVE SWITCHING APPARATUS COUPLABLE TO A

  CONTROL MODULE AND / OR A SIGNALING MODULE.

  The present invention relates to a switch device

  of protection, for example of circuit breaker type, coupling

  suitable for a control module and / or a signaling module. Usually devices of this kind include a

  prismatic housing, the base of which has a rib

  longitudinal central section shaped so that

  see engage and fix by clipping on a rail

  support wire (hat profile).

  This box houses a switch device whose mobile assembly can be actuated by a

  triggering with accumulation of potential energy gener-

  generally called a lock, the detent of which can be provoked

  quée under the effect of a manual control mechanism, a trigger sensitive to short-circuits, for example magnetoelectric and / or a trigger sensitive to overloads, for example thermal The control mechanism also serves to ensure the resetting the lock Frequently, the thermomagnetic release includes a striker lever which acts directly on the moving element when a short circuit occurs

  while triggering the trigger mechanism

  2 - ment, the latter confirming and extending the action

of the striker lever.

  Usually the housing of these devices, the sec-

  transverse tion has an inverted T shape, includes two lateral faces oriented perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the profile rail These lateral faces serve as assembly and / or coupling face, against which the faces can be applied lateral

  adjacent devices or even additional modules.

  The coupling of these additional modules or to the

  nism of the switch is effected by means of male and female coupling elements respectively provided in

  said device and in said modules.

  By patent DE-38 37 461, it has already been proposed to add to a device of the above type a signaling module

  whose mechanism, which activates a visualization organ

  tion and / or switches connectable to a circuit

  signaling, is driven by the trigger device

  chection of the switch device, thanks to coupling means. Such a signaling module therefore makes it possible to indicate directly or indirectly (thanks to the switches

  armed / tripped state of the inter-

breaker.

  The object of the invention is more particularly to improve

  operations for coupling on at least one of the side faces of a device of this kind, a module

  control of the trigger of the trigger mechanism

  This control module can for example

  consist of a device sensitive to a lack of

  voltage emission, or in a way

  more generally, a device for remote control of the device

trigger.

  3 - Of course, the action of this control module must be

  compatible with the operation of the interrup-

  tor and associated auxiliary modules.

  Furthermore, it is desirable that the signaling module

  can distinguish between a trigger

  produced by the magnetoelectric trip unit, or even by the thermal trip unit and trips

  caused by the control module.

  Indeed, a disjunction caused by the trigger

  magnetoelectric means that a short

  circuit on the line and therefore it is dangerous to re-energize the circuit before having removed

the short circuit stroke.

  On the other hand, re-energizing the circuit after a trip caused by the control module, for example following a momentary absence of current,

does not present any danger.

  To achieve these results, the invention provides a switching device having the general structure mentioned above, in which the trigger of the triggering device is movable in translation in a direction perpendicular to the base of the housing, so as to be able to occupy an armed position and, from this armed position, at least two positions

  successive triggers, namely: an intermediate position

  diary and an extreme position which limits the travel of the expansion member imposed by the short-circuit sensitive trigger, this device being characterized in that said expansion member has two lateral edges

  opposite, movable opposite two respective orifices-

  ment provided in the two side faces of the housing, these

  side edges being shaped so as to present

  each ter a couple of stops offset in said 4 - direction, between which can come to engage, thanks to one of said orifices is a coupling finger, driving type, an additive control module, this finger d coupling being designed so as to be able to move the trigger member from the armed position to the first triggered position, ie a coupling finger, of the led type, of an additive signaling module designed so as to emit an indicative signal a short circuit when the detent member, urged by the short-circuit sensitive release, exceeds the intermediate position,

  in its race towards the extreme position.

  Advantageously, the signaling module comprises a bistable trigger mechanism with passing neutral point designed so as to pass from the state of rest to the triggered state when the coupling finger has exceeded the said intermediate position, the return to the rest position which can then only be effected

  thanks to the manual intervention of an operator.

  An embodiment of the invention will be described below,

  by way of nonlimiting example, with reference to the

attached sins in which:

  Figures 1 and 2 are cross-sections

  sales of a protection switch implementing the invention;

  Figures 3, 4 and 5 are cross-sections

  dirty schematics of a protection switch

  tion of the type shown in FIG. 1, to which a control module is coupled and

  a signaling module, Figure 3 my-

  the switch in the armed state (on), Figure 4 showing this switch in the

_ 5 _ 2674370

  triggered following a section of the control module, not causing a change of state

  of the signaling module, and Figure 5 my-

  trating the switch in the triggered state following the action of the electromagnetic trigger; Figures 6, 7 and 8 are representations

  diagrams illustrating the principle of function

  operation of the trigger mechanism; Figures 9 and 10 are schematic representations of a control module acting as an undervoltage release (Figure 9) and a voltage release (Figure

10).

  The electrical protection switch, designated by the general reference 10 in FIGS. 1 and 2, is

  a double-pole low-voltage multipole circuit breaker

  pure of which only one pole has been represented.

  This device 10 comprises an insulating housing 11 composed

  a base having a base 12 and a cover 13.

  The housing has, on its front face, a projecting part 14 and, on its rear face (base), elements used for fixing the device by snap-fastening

on a standard profile.

  Each pole of the apparatus 10 comprises a contact bridge 17 carrying two movable contacts 18, 19 arranged on either side of a median plane P common to all of the

  poles and intended to occupy either a closed position

  in which they cooperate respectively with two fixed contacts 20, 21 formed on respective conductive parts 22, 23, that is to say an open position in which they are separated from the fixed contacts 20, 21 continued

  an automatic trip in the event of a surin- fault

  tensity or manual control.

  6 - The conductive part 22 is directly connected to a first electrical connection terminal 26, while the conductive part 23 is electrically connected to a second electrical connection terminal 27 via a series electrical assembly composed of a bimetal thermal trip device generally designated at 28 for protection against overload currents, and an electromagnetic trip device with striker generally designated at 29

  for protection against short-circuit currents.

  In this example, the electromagnetic trip unit and the thermal trip unit are an integral part of the same

  magnetothermal trip sub-assembly 30.

  The apparatus 10 also includes a trigger mechanism

  chement (lock) 31, common to all the poles and arranged in a central compartment 32 of flat shape,

  that is to say of relatively small thickness perpendicular to

medial plane P.

  In this example, the striker of the electromechanical release

  gnetic 29 of each pole is a pivoting lever 41 which, in normal service (Figure 1), on the one hand is engaged with a bearing surface of an orifice 42 formed in the vicinity of the lower end of a part plate-shaped plate 38 which constitutes the release member of the lock and which extends against the side wall 31 a of the compartment 32 and, on the other hand, opens out as close as possible to the median plane P by passing through a lumen

  43 formed in the side wall 31 a of the lock 31.

  The contact bridge 17, FIG. 1, is biased in the direction of closing of the contacts by a return and pressure spring 44 furthermore bearing against the bottom of the housing 11 The contact bridge 17 is controllable in the direction of the opening of the contacts by a drive pusher 45 carrying the bridge and belonging to a 7 -

  part common to all the poles, which part

  taking as many pushers as there are poles.

  The pusher 45 is itself driven, following a short

  circuit detected by the electromagnetic trip device 29 of each pole, by the striker lever 41 pivoting in a plane substantially transverse to the median plane, and this after triggering of the lock 31, whose response time is greater than the percussion time of the striker lever 41 , by means of the plate 38 driven parallel to the median plane under the action of a traction exerted by the lever during its pivoting; the striker lever 41 therefore constitutes a member for very rapid opening of the contacts, while the part

  actuator (actuator) 39 of lock 31 in posi-

  In this case, the triggered action constitutes a device for confirming the opening of the contacts, the actuator 39

  moving parallel to the median plane (Figure 2).

  The pusher 45, Figure 1, is also driven by the actuator 39 of the lock 31 following the triggering of the latter either by a manual control member, or by a control device (not shown) biased by the thermal release 28 of each pole in response

  to an electrical overload detected by it.

  In FIGS. 1 and 2, a button is shown at 50

  opening pushbutton or "stop" button causing the

  release of lock 31, and at 51 a push button

  rearming and closing evening or "start" button, these push-buttons 50 and 51 being arranged in compartment 32 so as to be able to protrude at

  the front of the housing 11 Of course, these push buttons

  evenings 50, 51 could be replaced by any other

  equivalent means, such as, for example, by bou-

  tilting tones, or by a rotary lever for resetting, closing and opening, without deviating for

as much of the spirit of the invention.

  8 - The plate 38, the actuator 39 and the striker lever 41 are in the high position (FIG. 1) in normal operating conditions, the push button 51 being pressed. They are all three in the low position (FIG. 2) when a short circuit has been detected by the electromagnetic trip device 29; on the other hand, the actuator 39 is alone in the low position when an electrical overload has been detected by the thermal release 28 or when the push button has been pressed

stop 50.

  The manual control and reset mechanism, combined

  linked to buttons 50 and 51 involves, as shown

  felt in FIGS. 3 to 8, a tilting part 130 pivotally mounted around an axis DD perpendicular to the plane PP and has, on either side of this axis, two bearing surfaces 131, 131 'situated at the ends of the arms 132, 132 'and cooperating with respective bearing faces 133, 133' of the buttons 50, 51 The ranges are for example

round nipples.

  The tilting part 130 cooperates via a link 122 with a spoiler 123 which, on the one hand, is capable of being retained or released by a hook 124 pivoting about an axis 125, on the other hand, is associated with a part 126 in the form of a square This pivots around an axis 127, is coupled to the actuator 39 which acts on the contact bridges, and is biased with the actuator 39

  by a spring 128 for triggering and opening.

  When the actuator 39 is in the high position (Figures 3

  and 6), the movable contact elements 18, 19 are applied

  on the fixed contacts 20, 21 (closing) When the actuator 39 is in the low position (Figures 4, 5, 7 and 8), the elements 18, 19 are separated from the fixed contacts (opening) The parts 122-128 component the mechanism of -9 - command 20 are known in themselves and will not be

described in more detail.

  The closing position ("on") of the circuit breaker is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 6 The closing button is pressed, which constrains, via the range 131, the

  part 130 to be tilted counterclockwise as shown

  felt The range 131 'is applied to the bearing face 133' of the opening button 51, which forces it to come out and protrude considerably from the front face 14 The kinematic chain 122-128 brings the actuator 39 into the

high position which is indicated.

  When an electrical fault occurs, for example detected by the thermal trigger 28 or magnetic 29, the hook 124 pivots clockwise (Figure 7) and releases the spoiler 123 This releases the bracket 126 which therefore allows the spring 128 to lower the actuator 39 to give the desired opening of the contacts In a second phase, the closing button 50 rises under the effect of an unspecified spring, by driving the bearing surface 131 by a bearing face 134 opposite face 133, this

  which rotates the tilting part 130 clockwise.

  The range 131 'acts on a support face 134' of the button-

  push button 51 to lower it, the buttons having

  finally the positions indicated in broken lines.

  When the user wants to manually open the contacts from the closed state indicated in FIG. 6, he presses the opening button 51 (FIG. 8) The tilting part pivots clockwise via the bearing face 133 ′ and the range 131 ', while the closing button rises under the effect of the range 131 cooperating with

its face 133.

  As shown in Figures 2, 3, 4, the wafer

  38 constituting the detent member of the lock 31 pre-

  feels a substantially rectangular shape, parallel to -

  plane P, P, mobile in translation along a perpendicular axis

  base 12 and which has:

  two parallel side edges 52, 52 'respective-

  ment adjacent to the two lateral faces 53, 54 of the box

  tier 11 of the device, each of these lateral borders

  rails 52, 52 ′ having a notch 55, 56 situated substantially opposite an oblong lumen 57, 58

  formed on the lateral face 53, 54 which is adjacent thereto

  cente; a recess 59 in which engages a pin integral with the hook 124, so that a displacement of the plate 38 downwards, from its armed position, causes a rotational movement of the hook 124 releasing the spoiler 123; an extension 61 provided with the orifice 42 into which the end of the striker lever 41 of

the magnetothermal assembly 29-30.

  The notches 55, 56 each include a sensitive bottom

  completely parallel to the axis of movement of the insert, a straight upper edge 63, perpendicular to said axis and a lower edge successively comprising a portion

  64 perpendicular to said axis and an oblique portion 65.

  In fact, the upper edge 63 of these notches constitutes

  kills a driving stop intended to act on a coupling finger (led) 66 of a signaling module 67

  mounted here against the side face 54 of the housing 11.

  The portion 64 of the lower edge of these notches 55, 56 constitutes, for its part, a driven stop on which can act a coupling finger (leading) 68 of a control module 69 mounted here against the side face

53 of the housing 11.

  These arrangements are visible in Figures 3, 4 and 5, which show a circuit breaker equipped with both a signaling module 67 mounted on the side face 54, with its coupling finger 66 engaged in the notch 56 and d a control module 69 mounted on the lateral face 53 with its coupling finger 68 engaged in

notch 55.

  In this example, the signaling module 67 comprises a bistable tripping mechanism with passing neutral position comprising:

  an actuating rod 70 mounted to slide parallel

  Lement to the axis of movement of the plate 38 by means of bearings 71, 72, this rod 70 carrying in its central part, the coupling finger 66 which extends transversely to engage in the notch 56 after passage through an oblong recess produced in the module housing 67 so as to coincide with the recess 58 on the side face 54, in the assembled position of the module 67 on the side face 54; a pressure spring 73 retained on the rod 70 by one of its ends by means of a stud 74, and retained, by its other end, on a fixed bearing point 75 secured to the module 67, this spring 73 being able to oscillate between two stable positions located on either side of an axis XX 'perpendicular to the rod 70 and passing through the fulcrum 75; a normally open switch 76 actuated by one end of the rod 70; a signaling and reset button 77 mounted rocking about an axis 78 located at the front face 14 'of the module 67 and mechanically coupled to

the other end of the rod 70.

  il - 12 - This signaling module 67 therefore has two states, namely: a standby state in which the rod 70 urged by the spring 73 is in the high position (limited by a stop) and keeps the button 77 disposed substantially

  in the extension of the anterior face 14 ', the part

  lower tie of rod 70 not stressing

  the switch 76 which is then in the normal position

  badly opened; a triggered state caused by a downward movement of the coupling finger 66, beyond neutral (materialized by the passage of the stud 74 beyond the axis XX ') state in which under the effect of the spring 73, the button 77 is tilted projecting relative to the front face 14 'and the switch biased by

  the rod 70 is kept in the closed state.

  As previously mentioned, the return of this signaling module to the standby state involves manual action on the button 77, to tilt it in the opposite direction so that the rod 70 passes the neutral position in the opposite direction and returns to its initial stable position Switch 76 then returns to its position

normally open.

  Of course, this switch 76 can control a circuit

  signaling cooked and / or integrated into a monitoring circuit. The control module 69, mounted on the lateral face 53 of the circuit breaker, comprises an electromagnet 80, the movable armature 81 of which is tiltably mounted and biased by a spring 82, drives in translation a bar of

transmission 83.

  13 - This transmission strip 83 carries at its end the coupling finger 68 which passes through an orifice 57 'provided in the lateral face 53 of the module 69 to come to engage in the notch 55 (after passage through the orifice 57 ). This control module 69 can consist, for example, of a

  low voltage trigger or, on the contrary, to emit-

tension.

  In the case where it consists of a trigger for lack of

  voltage, the electromagnet 80 can be placed as a

  felt in Figure 9 with the movable frame 81 disposed between the fixed carcass 84 and the bottom 85 of the housing of the

control module 69.

  In this case, in normal operation, the coil of the electromagnet 80 is excited and causes the movable armature 81 to be held against the fixed carcass, and this at

  against the action of the spring 82.

  The coupling finger 68 is therefore in position

  high and does not stress the plate 38.

  On the other hand, during a lack of tension causing a

  de-excitation of the coil, the movable armature 81 drives

  born by the spring 82, moves away from the fixed carcass 84 and generates a downward movement of the finger

  coupling 68 (position shown in Figure 9).

  During this movement, the coupling finger 68 acts on the portion 64 of the lower edge of the notch 55 by causing a movement downwards

of the plate 38.

  This downward movement of the plate 38 causes

  in turn a rotation of the hook 124 which releases the spout

  14 - quet 123 thus passing the lock 31 to the triggered state. In the case where it consists of a voltage emission trip device, the electromagnet 80 is arranged in reverse of the previous example, with the fixed carcass 84 located against the bottom 85 and the movable armature 81 located at

opposite of the bottom 85 (Figure 10).

  In this case, in normal operation, the coil of the electromagnet 80 is not excited and the movable armature 81 is kept away from the fixed carcass 84 by the

spring 82.

  The coupling finger 68 is in the high position and

does not stress plate 38.

  On the other hand, during a voltage emission causing the excitation of the electromagnet, the movable armature 81 is attracted against the carcass 84 against the action of the spring 82 and generates a displacement towards the

bottom of the coupling finger 68.

  This movement triggers the lock 31

  as previously indicated.

  Advantageously, the width of the notch 55 will be pre-

  view so that the movement of the plate 38 under the effect of the coupling finger 68 does not cause a displacement of the rod 70 of the signaling module 67 beyond neutral and, consequently, does not cause

  not a change of state of the signaling module 67.

  The stroke of the striker lever 41 is provided so as to

  cause the plate 38 to move more

  as long as that caused by the control module 69 so as to be able to bring the rod 70 beyond neutral

  and causing the signaling module 67 to change state.

  - To prevent the action of the striker lever 41 from being reflected on the movable armature 81 of the electromagnet 80,

  there is provided on the side of the control module 69 a

  crate 55 of width equal to the total stroke of the insert imposed by the striker lever 41 (at the thickness

finger).

  In this example, the notch 56 located on the side of the

  signaling module 67 has a width less than

  lower than that of the notch 56 located on the side of the control module This width corresponds substantially to the stroke of the finger 68 (to the thickness of the finger near) Indeed, the striker lever 41 must be able to cause the change of state of the signaling module 67 without acting on the control module 69, while the latter must be able to cause the triggering of the lock 31 without causing a change of state of the signaling module 67. However, this solution has the drawback of not allowing the connection on a side face of the device that of a module of a determined type (module of

  control or signaling module).

  To eliminate this drawback, it is possible to use a notch 55 having the same height as the notch 56 by shifting the finger in height

  coupling 66 with respect to coupling finger 68.

  Such an arrangement therefore makes it possible to connect a control module or a signaling module to a lateral face 53, 54 of the device 11. An important advantage of the device described above is that after a trip caused by a short circuit, the circuit breaker can only be reset if the signaling module 67 has 16 - returned to standby by manual action

on button 77.

  Indeed, as long as the finger 66 maintains the plate 38 in the triggered position, the return of the lock 31 in the armed position is impossible (the spoiler 123 cannot

  not be retained by the hook 124).

  Furthermore, the oblique portions 65 of the edges of the notches 55, 56 are intended to authorize the mounting.

  add-on modules 67, 69 in any state.

  In the case where, during assembly, the signaling module 67 is in the triggered state, as in the case where the control module 69 is activated (finger 68 in the down position), the action of the finger 66 (or of the finger 68) on the oblique portion 64 of the notch 56 (or of the notch 55) causes a displacement downwards of the plate 38 and

a release of the lock 31.

17 -

Claims (8)

Claims   1 Protection switch type   taking a prismatic housing housing a provision   sitive switch whose moving assembly can be actuated by an accumulation trigger mechanism   potential energy (31) whose relaxation can be pro-   evoked under the effect of a manual control mechanism, a trigger sensitive to short-circuits (29) and, optionally, a trigger sensitive to overloads, the trigger member (38) of said device trigger (31) being movable in translation in a direction perpendicular to the base of the housing, so as to be able to occupy an armed position and, from   from this armed position, at least two positions triggered   successive steps, namely: an intermediate position and an extreme position which limits the travel of the expansion member (38) imposed by the short-circuit sensitive trigger (29),   characterized in that said detent member (38) pre-   has two opposite lateral edges (52, 52 '), movable opposite two orifices respectively provided in two   lateral faces (53, 54) of the housing, these lateral edges   rales (52, 52 ') being shaped so as to each have a pair of stops (63, 64) offset in said direction, between which can come to engage, thanks to one of said orifices: either a coupling finger (68), of the driving type, of an additive control module (69), this coupling finger (68) being designed so as to be able to move the trigger member (38) from the armed position to the first position triggered, either a coupling finger (66), of the driven type, of an additive signaling module (67) designed so as to emit a signal indicative of a short circuit when the expansion member (38), solicited by the trigger 18 - sensitive to short-circuits (29), exceeds the position   intermediate, in its race towards the extreme position.   2 switch device according to claim 1, characterized in that one of the two pairs of stops (63, 64) is designed so as to cooperate exclusively with the coupling finger (68) of the control module (69), and in that the other pair of stops is designed so as to cooperate exclusively with the finger   coupling (66) of the signaling module (67).   3 Switching device according to claim 1, characterized in that the two pairs of stops (63, 64)   are designed so that everyone can cooperate, indi-   proudly, with the coupling finger (68) of the control module (69) or with the coupling finger (66) of the signaling module (67).   4 Switching device according to one of the claims   tions above, characterized in that the aforesaid expansion member consists of a plate (38) movable in translation in a direction perpendicular to the base (12) of the housing (11), and in that said pairs of stops (63, 64 ) are formed by notches made in the   lateral edges (52, 52 ') of this plate (38).   Switching device according to claim 4, characterized in that said plate (38) comprises an orifice (42) in which the end of a lever engages   short-circuit sensitive trigger (41) striker cooked (29).   6 Switching device according to one of the claims   tions above, characterized in that the signaling module (67) comprises a bistable trigger mechanism with neutral shift designed so as to pass from the state of rest to the triggered state when the coupling finger (66) has caused a displacement of the expansion member (38) beyond the aforementioned intermediate position, the return to the rest position can then only be effected by the manual intervention of an operator.   7 Switching device according to one of the claims tions 4 to 6,   characterized in that the above notches include   nent an oblique portion (65) on which can act the aforesaid coupling fingers (66, 68) to cause a displacement downwards of the plate (38) and a triggering of the triggering device (31) in the case o at mounting, the signaling module (67) is in the triggered state, and / or the control module (69) is the active state.   8 Switching device according to one of the claims   tions above, characterized in that the control module (69) comprises an electromagnet whose movable armature (81), biased by a spring, is connected to the coupling finger by   via a transmission strip (83).   9 Switching device according to claim 8, characterized in that the control module (69) is arranged so as to constitute a release undervoltage. Switching device according to claim 8, characterized in that the control module (69) is arranged so as to constitute a trip release Of voltage. 19 -