JP2008004353A - Circuit breaker - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a circuit breaker capable of changing the operation method of the circuit breaker to a push button type or a grip type by little changing of the opening/closing mechanism part of the circuit breaker and capable of composing the opening/closing mechanism part compactly. <P>SOLUTION: The circuit breaker comprises: a rotation member arranged in an equipment body between the on/off states of the circuit breaker by operating operation members 21, 22; a latch member connected to the rotation member by a link 6 and operates in linking with the rotation operation of the rotation member via the link; a crossbar in linking with the latch member; a movable contact 31 supported by the crossbar; and a fixed contact 32 arranged opposite to the movable contact. In two regions formed by a slope surface including the rotation center of the rotation member to the mount surface of the circuit breaker, the operation member 21 is connected to the rotation member at one region and the second operation member 22 is provided at the side of a cover 1b in the other region. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a circuit breaker, and in particular, the circuit breaker on / off operation method can be easily changed from a push button type on / off operation method to a handle type while sharing the opening / closing mechanism of the circuit breaker. The present invention relates to a circuit breaker that can be changed to an on / off operation method or from a handle type on / off operation method to a push button type on / off operation method.

In a state where the circuit breaker is attached to a predetermined surface, an operation method for turning on and off the circuit breaker is usually a handle type that protrudes outside the body of the circuit breaker, that is, a handle operation part. A general method is to perform an operation such that the finger is turned up or down with a finger or the like. For example, Patent Document 1 to Patent Document 3 disclose a safety breaker (JIS C 8370, which is mainly defined in the vicinity of a service entrance of a house, a circuit breaker used as a circuit breaker for a branch circuit, etc. In any case, the circuit breaker is turned on and off by operating the handle operation part in the direction connecting the power supply side terminal and the load side terminal. A method of performing the operation is employed.

In addition, a safety breaker type earth leakage breaker (in JIS C 8371, a leakage breaker for branching of residential distribution boards, which is defined as an earth leakage breaker mainly used in the vicinity of service entrances, etc., for branch circuits) In circuit breakers and agreement type circuit breakers for electric distribution boards, which are often used as circuit breakers for branch circuits of electric distribution boards, which also have agreement dimensions as defined in JIS, As with the safety breaker, the handle operating part protruding outside the body of the circuit breaker is operated so as to be rotated by pushing up or pulling it down with a finger or the like when the circuit breaker is mounted on a predetermined surface. The method of doing was common.

In addition to the circuit breaker having the handle type (handle operation type) operation member as described above, there are various circuit breakers having a push button operation type operation member depending on the application. It is disclosed. For example, Patent Literature 4 discloses a push button operated switch with circuit breaker, and Patent Literature 5 discloses a push button operated type circuit breaker with an overcurrent protection function.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-445338 Fig. 2 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-236729 FIG. JP-A-9-63450 FIG. Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 7-27034 Fig. 1 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-283904 FIG.

As described above, the circuit breaker is configured to be a handle-type operation method as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3 according to the use application, or the Patent Documents 4 to As disclosed in Document 5, there is a case where it is configured to be a push button type operation method. When providing circuit breakers having different operation methods as described above, the circuit breaker is operated by the operation method. It was necessary to make a dedicated design for each.

That is, in order to provide a circuit breaker having a different operation method, a manufacturer of the circuit breaker needs to design a plurality of switching mechanisms according to the operation method of the circuit breaker, leading to an increase in development cost. As a result, there are problems such as an increase in the number of parts at the time of mass production, an increase in the types of assembly process work, and an increase in the types of production lines, resulting in an increase in cost due to an increase in the number of products.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such problems, and the operation method of the circuit breaker is changed from a push button type operation method to a handle type operation method with almost no change in the opening / closing mechanism of the circuit breaker. It is an object of the present invention to provide a circuit breaker that can be changed from an operating method or a handle-type operating method to a push-button type operating method, and in which the opening / closing mechanism can be made compact.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a container body comprising a case and a cover constituting an outer shell of the circuit breaker;
An operating member partially projecting from the body, an open / close mechanism that operates in conjunction with the operating member by operating the operating member and forcibly contacts and separates the fixed contact and the movable contact; and the circuit In a circuit breaker having a mounting surface for mounting the circuit breaker on a predetermined surface,
A rotating member disposed in the container so as to be rotatable between an on state and an off state of the circuit breaker by operating the operation member;
A latch member that is connected to the rotating member by a link, and operates in conjunction with the rotating operation of the rotating member via the link;
A crossbar interlocking with the latch member;
A movable contact supported by the crossbar;
A fixed contact disposed opposite to the movable contact,
The operating member is provided on the cover by a pressing operation type first operating member that is rotatably connected to the rotating member, and the rotating by pressing from outside the cover. A second operating member that comes into contact with the member to give a rotational force,
When the two regions formed by the mounting surface of the circuit breaker and the normal surface with respect to the mounting surface of the circuit breaker including the rotation center of the rotating member are the first region and the second region In addition,
The first operating member is coupled to the rotating member in the first region;
The second operating member is provided on the cover side in the second region, and provides a circuit breaker.

According to such a configuration, the first operation member and the rotation member are replaced with a rotation member with a gripping portion having the same rotation center as that of the rotation member, and the cover is rotated with a rotation portion with a gripping portion. A circuit breaker with a different operation method can be provided by replacing the cover formed so as not to obstruct the movement locus of the moving member, and the opening / closing mechanism portion can be provided by providing the second operating member on the cover side. Thus, it is possible to provide a circuit breaker that can change the operation method at a low cost with almost no change in the opening / closing mechanism.

Further, the second operation member may be configured to be constantly biased toward the outside of the case by a coil spring.

As a result, the second operating member is supported on the cover side and is biased toward the outside of the cover, so that it is not necessary to support the second operating member in the cover. The opening / closing mechanism can be made compact.

In addition, the first operating member and the rotating member are replaced with a rotating member with a gripping portion provided with a gripping portion and having the same rotation center and link connection position, and the cover is replaced with the gripping portion. By replacing with a cover corresponding to the attached rotating member, the operation method of the circuit breaker can be changed from a pressing operation type to a gripping operation type.

Thereby, when changing the operation method of a circuit breaker with a press operation type (push button type) and a grip operation type (handle type), among the opening / closing mechanisms, the first operation member, the rotating member, the cover, Is replaced with a rotating member with a gripping portion provided with a gripping portion and having the same rotation center and link connection position, and the cover is replaced with a cover corresponding to the rotating member with the gripping portion. The operation method of the circuit breaker can be easily changed from the push button type to the handle type and from the handle type to the push button type.

According to the present invention, the operation method of the circuit breaker is changed from a push button type operation method to a handle type operation method or a handle type operation method with little change of the switching mechanism of the circuit breaker. Therefore, it is possible to provide a circuit breaker that can be changed to a push-button type operation method, and that the opening / closing mechanism can be configured compactly.

Hereinafter, a circuit breaker according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are schematic internal structural views of the circuit breaker according to the present invention as viewed from the parallel direction of the circuit breaker. FIG. 1 shows a case where the circuit breaker is turned on, and FIG. 2 shows a case where the circuit breaker is turned off. In addition, in order to facilitate explanation of the operation of the mechanism unit, a part of the diagram is simplified. FIG. 3 shows a view facing the operation member of the circuit breaker, and FIG. 4 shows an enlarged view of the vicinity of the opening / closing mechanism of the circuit breaker, with a part cut out of components for easy explanation. Show.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a container constituting the outline of the circuit breaker, 1a is a case, and 1b is a cover. 21 is a first operation member that partially protrudes outside the container body 1 according to the operation state, 22 is provided on the cover 1b, and rotates to the rotating member 5 by pressing from outside the cover. It is the 2nd operation member provided so that it might contact so that a force might be given. The second operating member 22 has a coil spring 23 passing through an abutting member 22a in the figure, and is always biased toward the outside of the cover 1a by the coil spring 23. Further, the second operation member 22 is provided with a retaining member 22b that is hooked on the cover 1a and plays a role of retaining the retaining member 22a. Reference numeral 31 denotes a movable contact, 32 a fixed contact, 4 a circuit breaker mounting surface, 5 a rotating member, 6 a link, 7 a latch member, 8 a cross bar, 9 a bimetal, and 10 an operating plate. In the drawing, the left side is the power supply side terminal side and the right side is the load side terminal side.

Next, each component will be described.

The first operating member 21 is pivotally connected to the rotating member 5 at the first connecting portion 211 so as to be rotatable. The pivotally connected positions are two regions formed by the mounting surface 4 of the circuit breaker and a normal surface with respect to the mounting surface 4 of the circuit breaker including the rotation center 501 of the rotating member 5. That is, in the drawing, when the two regions that are divided when the perpendicular line is drawn from the rotation center 501 to the mounting surface 4 in the drawing are the first region and the second region, the first operating member is the first member. It is provided so as to be pivotally connected to the rotating member in one region.

The rotation member 5 is pivotally supported by a main bearing provided in the container body 1 at the rotation center 501, and a shaft support connection portion 211 with the first operation member 21 is provided in the first region. Then, the first operating member 21 connected to the shaft is pressed toward the mounting surface 4 to rotate counterclockwise in the drawing. The rotating member 5 is provided with a contact portion 221 that contacts the second operation member when the second operation member 22 is pressed in the second region.

The turning member 5 rotates clockwise in the figure by pressing the second operating member 22 toward the mounting surface 4 in the engaged state. The rotating member 5 is always urged counterclockwise by a spring 550 in the drawing.

The internal shape of the first operation member 21 is formed by providing a recess inside so as to avoid the rotation locus so as not to prevent the rotation of the rotation member 5.

The link 6 has one end of the link 6 attached to the link attaching portion 512 of the rotating member 5 and the other end attached to the link attaching portion 701 provided on the latch member 7 by a shaft support. And the latch member 7 are interlocked. Further, a guide portion 500 for restricting the movement of the other end portion of the link 6 on a predetermined locus is provided in the container body 1, and the other end portion of the link 6 is provided by the guide portion 500. Is provided so as to move on a predetermined locus in conjunction with the rotation of the rotating member 5.

Since the latch member 7 is connected to the rotating member 5 and the link 6, the latch member 7 operates in conjunction with the rotation of the rotating member 5. One end of the latch member 7 is provided with a crossbar pressing portion 702 that presses the crossbar 8 when the circuit breaker is turned on, and the other end is provided with a latch portion 703 that latches with the operation plate 10. It has been.

The cross bar 8 supports a movable contact plate provided with a movable contact 31 and operates in conjunction with the latch member 7. When the cross bar 8 is pressed by the cross bar pressing portion 702, the movable contact 31 is illustrated. When the crossbar pressing portion 702 is released from the pressed state, it is pushed downward to the upper side by a spring (not shown) that constantly biases the crossbar 8 upward. The lifted movable contact 31 is separated from the fixed contact 32.

The bimetal 9 is provided with a part of the bimetal 9 as an electric circuit (direct heating type), and is bent and deformed in a predetermined direction when a current flows through the electric circuit to generate heat. Note that a part of the bimetal may not be an electric circuit, and a heater may be provided in the vicinity so that the heat of the heater is transmitted to the bimetal so that the bimetal is bent and deformed in a predetermined direction.

The operation plate 10 is pivotally supported by a part of the operation plate 10, and the shaft support portion rotates about the rotation center 101 of the operation plate. The operating plate 10 is always urged counterclockwise by a spring (not shown), and urged in a direction in which the latch portion 703 provided on the latch member 7 and the latch portion 103 of the latch member 7 latch. Has been.

Further, the working plate 10 is provided with a bimetal contact portion 102 that comes into contact when the bimetal 9 is bent and deformed, and the bimetal 9 comes into contact with the bimetal contact portion 102 to rotate the working plate. It rotates clockwise around the center 101.

Next, the operation of the operation unit of the circuit breaker will be described.

First, the case where the circuit breaker is operated from the OFF state to the ON state will be described. In the cut-off state, as shown in FIG. 2, a part of the first operation member 21 is in a state of protruding to the outside of the container body 1.

When the first operating member 21 is pressed from the outside of the body 1 toward the inside of the body 1, the rotating member 5 and the first operating member 21 are pivotally connected by the first connecting portion 211. Therefore, the rotation member 5 starts to rotate counterclockwise about the rotation center 501.

Further, the link 6 starts to move as the rotating member 5 rotates, and the other end of the link 6 draws a predetermined locus along the guide portion 500 in the downward direction in the figure. Move. In addition, since the latch member 7 is connected to the pivot member 5 and the link 6 by a pivotal support at the link mounting portion 701, the latch member 7 starts to move downward in the figure as the pivot member 5 rotates.

When the latch member 7 is pressed by the link 6 and moves downward in the figure, first, the latch portion 703 comes into contact with the latch portion 103 of the actuating plate 10 with the latch member 7. When the latch portion 703 comes into contact with the latch portion 103 of the operation plate 10, it starts to rotate counterclockwise around the latch portion 703 and is pressed against the link 6, whereby the crossbar pressing portion 702 is pressed. While abutting against the crossbar, the crossbar pressing portion 702 pushes down the crossbar 8.

Now, when the first operating member 21 is pressed from the outside of the body 1 toward the inside of the body 1, the turning member 5 starts to rotate counterclockwise around the turning center 501. The rotating member 5 is biased clockwise by a spring 550 that constantly urges the rotating member 5 in the clockwise direction and a spring that constantly urges the crossbar 8 in the upward direction. When the pressing is released in the middle of the transition from the state to the on state, the rotating member 5 again rotates clockwise toward the original position, and the first operating member 21 also returns to the original position. It behaves so as to move in a direction that protrudes outside the body 1. Note that the strength of the spring 550 that constantly biases the rotating member 5 in the clockwise direction and the strength of the spring that constantly biases the crossbar 8 in the upward direction are such that the crossbar 8 is always in the upward direction. The biasing spring is provided to be larger.

Here, when a line connecting the rotation center 501 of the rotation member 5 and the link mounting portion 701 of the latch member 7 is a dead line, the first operation member 21 is directed from the outside of the body 1 to the inside of the body 1. When the link attachment portion 512 exceeds the dead line due to the rotation of the rotation member 5, the balance of the link is lost, that is, the rotation center 501 of the rotation member, the link attachment portion 512, and the link attachment. A substantially U-shaped shape connecting the portion 701 becomes an inverted substantially U-shaped shape as shown in FIG. 1, and the rotating member 5 is urged by a spring that constantly biases the cross bar 8 upward. This time, it is urged to rotate counterclockwise in the figure, and as a result, the first operating member 21 moves to a position where it is housed inside the container 1. The movable contact 31 supported by the cross bar 8 comes into contact with the fixed contact 32 by being pressed by the cross bar 8, and the operation of the circuit breaker from the OFF state to the ON state is completed.

Next, the case where the circuit breaker is operated from the on state to the off state will be described. In the on state, as shown in FIG. 1, the first operation member 21 is housed inside the container body 1.

In this state, the second operating member 22 is pressed from the outside of the container body 1 toward the inside of the container body 1, and the force by the pressing urges the rotating member 5 in the counterclockwise direction. When the force is won, the rotating member 5 starts to rotate in the clockwise direction. The link mounting portion 512 gradually approaches the deadline, and when the deadline is exceeded, the link is unbalanced, and a spring that constantly biases the rotating member 5 in the clockwise direction, and the crossbar By the action of a spring that constantly biases 8 upward, the rotating member 5 is biased in the clockwise direction and rotates in the clockwise direction. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the first operating member operating member 21 moves to a position where a part of the first operating member operating member 21 protrudes outside the body 1. When the second operating member 22 stops being pressed, the coil spring 23 is biased toward the outside of the body 1 by the coil spring 23, and thus returns to the initial state.

Further, since the cross bar 8 moves upward in the figure, the movable contact 31 supported by the cross bar 8 is separated from the fixed contact 32 and linked in conjunction with the rotation of the rotating member 5 in the clockwise direction. 6, the latch member 7 is also moved upward in the figure, and the circuit breaker is in the cut state shown in FIG.

When an abnormal current such as an overcurrent occurs in the circuit when the circuit breaker is in the on state, the bimetal 9 is bent and deformed to abut against the abutting portion 102 of the operating plate 10, and the bimetal 10 By rotating the operation plate 10 in the clockwise direction in the figure, the latch portion 103 with the latch member 7 and the latch portion 703 with the operation plate 10 are unlatched, and the restriction of the movement of the latch member 7 is released. Accordingly, it can freely rotate in the clockwise direction in the figure, and is always pressed in the upward direction in the figure by the cross bar 8 urged in the upward direction in the figure, and clockwise in the figure with the link mounting portion 701 as the rotation center. And the cross bar 8 moves upward in the figure, and the movable contact 31 supported by the cross bar 8 moves away from the fixed contact 32.

Further, since the rotating member 5 is always urged in the clockwise direction, the rotating member 5 starts to rotate in the clockwise direction, and the latch member 7 is pulled upward in the drawing by the link 6, and the first operating member 21 is moved in the direction in which it protrudes to the outside of the container 1, and the circuit breaker is in the cut state shown in FIG.

Further, when the circuit breaker is in the on state, when an abnormal current such as an overcurrent occurs in the electric circuit, even when the first operation member 21 or the rotation member 5 does not move, as described above, When the latch part 703 with the latch member 7 is disengaged from the latch part 103 of the operating plate 10, the latch member 7 is released from the restriction and can rotate in the clockwise direction in the figure. The member 7 is constantly pressed in the upper direction in the figure by the cross bar 8 urged in the upper direction in the figure, and rotated in the clockwise direction in the figure with the link mounting portion 701 as the center of rotation. The movable contact 31 supported by the cross bar 8 is separated from the fixed contact 32 and opened. That is, a so-called trip-free operation is performed.

Next, the first operation member 21 and the rotation member 5 are replaced with a rotation member 24 provided with a gripping portion, in which the rotation center 501 of the rotation member 5 and the connection position of the link 6 are the same, and the cover 1a is replaced. FIG. 5 shows a circuit breaker configured by replacing the cover 1c formed with a depression inside so as not to hinder the movement trajectory of the rotating member provided with the gripping portion.

By configuring the circuit breaker in this way, it is easy to change from a push button type operation method to a handle type operation method, or from a handle type operation method to a push button type. It is possible to provide a compact circuit breaker that can change the operation method at a low cost with little change.

The applicant has filed an application for a push-button circuit breaker in which a second operating member is connected to the rotating member, and the second operating member is connected to the rotating member. Since the space for housing the second operating member required in the container can be made unnecessary, the space in the container can be used more effectively and the mechanism can be made compact.

As described above, the circuit breaker according to the present invention can make the mechanism portion compact and can change the operation method with fewer changes in the component parts. It is possible to provide a circuit breaker that can further reduce inventory risk.

It is the schematic structure figure showing the circuit breaker of the present invention. It is the schematic structure figure showing the circuit breaker of the present invention. It is the schematic structure figure showing the circuit breaker of the present invention. It is the expansion schematic structure figure which showed the circuit breaker of this invention. It is the schematic structure figure which replaced the operation part of the circuit breaker of this invention. It is a figure explaining background art. It is a figure explaining background art. It is a figure explaining background art.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Body 1a Case 1b Cover 21 1st operation member 211 Connection part 22 2nd operation member 22a Contact member 22b Retaining member 23 Coil spring 24 Rotating member 31 with the holding part Movable contact 32 Fixed contact 4 Attachment Surface 5 Rotating member 500 Guide portion 501 Rotation center 512 Link attachment portion 550 Spring 6 Link 7 Latch member 701 Link attachment portion 702 Crossbar pressing portion 703 Latch portion 8 Crossbar 9 Bimetal 10 Actuation plate 102 Bimetal contact portion 500 Guide Part

Claims (3)

A container composed of a case and a cover constituting the outline of the circuit breaker;
An operating member partially projecting from the body, an open / close mechanism that operates in conjunction with the operating member by operating the operating member and forcibly contacts and separates the fixed contact and the movable contact; and the circuit In a circuit breaker having a mounting surface for mounting the circuit breaker on a predetermined surface,
A rotating member disposed in the container so as to be rotatable between an on state and an off state of the circuit breaker by operating the operation member;
A latch member that is connected to the rotating member by a link, and operates in conjunction with the rotating operation of the rotating member via the link;
A crossbar interlocking with the latch member;
A movable contact supported by the crossbar;
A fixed contact disposed opposite to the movable contact,
The operating member is provided on the cover by a pressing operation type first operating member that is rotatably connected to the rotating member, and the rotating by pressing from outside the cover. A second operating member that comes into contact with the member to give a rotational force,
When the two regions formed by the mounting surface of the circuit breaker and the normal surface with respect to the mounting surface of the circuit breaker including the rotation center of the rotating member are the first region and the second region In addition,
The first operating member is coupled to the rotating member in the first region;
The circuit breaker, wherein the second operation member is provided on the cover side in the second region. 2. The circuit breaker according to claim 1, wherein the second operation member is configured to be constantly biased toward the outside of the case by a coil spring. The first operating member and the rotating member are replaced with a rotating member with a gripping portion provided with a gripping portion and having the same rotation center and link connection position, and the cover is rotated with the gripping portion. 3. The circuit breaker according to claim 1, wherein the operation method of the circuit breaker can be changed to a pressing operation type or a gripping operation type by replacing with a cover corresponding to the moving member.

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