JP3028759B2 - External operation handle device for circuit breaker - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a circuit breaker incorporated in a switchboard, a control panel, or the like, which is manually operated from outside the panel.
The present invention relates to an external operation handle device for turning off the power.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to manually turn on and off a circuit breaker incorporated in a switchboard, a control panel, or the like from outside the panel,
2. Description of the Related Art It is well known that a circuit breaker is combined with a rotary operation type external operation handle device, and a handle knob of the handle device is projected from a front surface of an operation panel of a switchboard to be operated from outside the panel.

[0003] In addition, when the maintenance work is carried out by a maintenance person in the panel with respect to such an external operation handle device,
If another person accidentally switches the handle outside the panel from OFF to ON, the circuit breaker that was in the OFF state switches ON and the wiring circuit in the panel becomes live, so it is in the panel. Since the maintenance staff may cause an electric shock accident, the present invention relates to a locking means for locking the handle knob to the OFF position on the external operating handle device by locking the handle device with a padlock. It has already been proposed by the same applicant as Japanese Patent Application No. 7-177210.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are diagrams showing the construction of such an external operation handle device with a lock means. In the drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes a circuit breaker installed inside a switchboard, and 2 denotes a handle knob on the front side of a switchboard panel 3. Is an external operation handle device which is mounted on the circuit breaker 1 by protruding. The handle device 2 has a rotary knob 5 built into the front side of a body (resin molded product) 4. The handle 5 is attached to the peripheral wall of the body 4 (an outer frame surrounding the knob 5).
When turned in accordance with the ON / OFF mark displayed on 4a, the drive arm 6 linked to the handle knob 5 moves in the direction of the arrow, and switches the operation knob 1a of the circuit breaker 1 to the ON or OFF position. Note that the handle knob 5 is rotated by 90 degrees between the ON position and the OFF position. As means for locking the handle knob 5 to the OFF position with respect to the handle device 2, an OFF lock hole 4b is opened in the peripheral surface of the body peripheral wall 4a, and the arm of the padlock 7 is inserted into the lock hole 4b. The gold 7a is hooked as shown to prevent the handle knob 5 from being turned from OFF to ON.

[0005]

However, the external operation handle device having the above configuration has the following problems in terms of safety management. That is, if an overcurrent flows in the load circuit while the handle 5 is turned to the ON position and the current is flowing to the circuit breaker 1, if the circuit breaker fails and does not trip, the main contact However, an abnormal situation occurs in which the fuses are welded by the heat generated by the overcurrent and remain in the conductive state. Moreover, even in an abnormal situation where the contacts are welded, it is possible to move the operation knob 1a of the circuit breaker 1 to the OFF position by applying an external force. However, even when the operation knob 1a is moved to the OFF position, the contact is welded, so that the opening / closing mechanism (toggle link mechanism) of the movable contact does not perform a reversing operation.
It is returned to the OFF position by the spring force of the open / close spring built in the circuit breaker.

Therefore, even in the case of the above-mentioned abnormal condition of the occurrence of the welding of the contacts, the handle knob 5 of the external operation handle device 2 is turned from the ON position to the OFF position with one hand, and the padlock held by the other hand at this position. It is possible to easily lock the handle knob 5 to the OFF position by hooking the lock 7 to the lock hole 4b, and the maintenance staff can lock the handle knob 5 of the external operation handle device 2 to the OFF position. ,
There is a possibility that the circuit breaker 1 may be erroneously determined to be turned off.

However, even if the handle knob 5 of the external operation handle device 2 is actually locked with the padlock 7 in the OFF position, the circuit breaker 1 remains in a live state in the switchboard with the contacts being welded. Therefore, there is a risk of electric shock if maintenance personnel enter the switchboard for inspection. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its object to solve the above-described problems and to avoid erroneous recognition of ON and OFF in a state where an abnormal situation such as contact fusion occurs in a circuit breaker. An object of the present invention is to provide an external operation handle device of a circuit breaker with improved safety by preventing the handle knob from being easily locked at the OFF position.

[0008]

According to the present invention, a lock hole corresponding to an OFF position of a handle is opened on a peripheral surface of a body peripheral wall surrounding a rotary handle knob, according to the present invention. In an external operation handle device in which a padlock is hung on the lock hole to lock a handle knob to an OFF position, a shutter means for always closing the lock hole with respect to the lock hole and manually releasing the lock when the padlock is hooked. Shall be provided.

Here, the shutter means in the above configuration can be specifically configured in the following form. 1) The shutter means is constituted by a leaf spring type shutter that has one end fixed to the body and protrudes to close the lock hole. 2) The shutter means is constituted by a ring-shaped rubber band covering the open end face of the lock hole and covering the outer periphery of the body peripheral wall.

[0010] 3) The shutter means is constituted by a cylindrical shutter with a handle having an opening through which an arm for a padlock is opened in a part of the peripheral surface, and the shutter is normally biased to a lock hole closing position by a spring. Insert inside the peripheral wall. As described above, by providing the shutter means in the lock hole for the external operation handle device, the handle of the external operation handle device is switched to OFF in a state where an abnormal situation such as contact welding has occurred in the circuit breaker. To lock a padlock, the following three operations need to be performed in parallel. That is, after turning the handle knob from the ON position to the OFF position,
Until the padlock is locked in the lock hole, hold the handle knob by hand to keep it in the OFF position.

The shutter is opened by hand, and the shutter is held at the open position so that the arm of a padlock can be hooked into the lock hole. Then pass the padlock arm through the lock hole. However, the maintenance worker can perform two tasks at the same time using both hands, and cannot simultaneously carry out three tasks. In addition, even under abnormal circumstances where the contacts of the circuit breaker are fused, even if the handle is turned to the OFF position, the handle is turned on when the hand is released from this position.
Will return to position.

The circuit breaker is turned off in a normal state.
When the handle knob is locked to the OFF position by operating the handle knob, the handle knob is switched from the ON position to the OFF position, and the handle knob is stopped at the OFF position. Can be done using

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings by dividing them into the above-mentioned embodiments 1) to 3).
In the drawings of each embodiment, the same members corresponding to FIGS. 5 and 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals. Embodiment 1 FIGS. 1A and 1B and FIGS. 2A and 2B
5 shows an embodiment corresponding to claim 2 of the present invention. In addition to the configuration shown in FIGS.
Is additionally provided with a leaf spring type shutter 8 which is fixed at one end to the body 4 and protrudes so as to close a lock hole 4b opened in the peripheral wall 4a. The leaf spring type shutter 8 is made by bending a leaf spring material into a hairpin shape.
One end is fixed to the body 4 and the tip (free end) is
The lock hole 4b is opened and inserted into the hole so as to protrude toward the front side of the lock hole 4b opened at the position a. Here, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 2A, the shutter 8 always closes the lock hole 4a, and when a force is applied to the fingertip to push down the tip 8a of the shutter 8, the shutter 8 is deformed as shown by a chain line. Lock hole 4b
To release. To lock the handle knob 5 at the OFF position, first, turn the handle knob 5 from the ON position to the OF position.
After turning to the F position, the shutter 8 is opened by the above operation using one hand, and while holding this state, the arm 7a of the padlock 7 held by the other hand is locked as shown in FIG. Lock through the hole 4b. As a result, the handle knob 5 is locked at the OFF position, and cannot be turned to the ON position unless the padlock 7 is removed. When the padlock 7 is removed, the shutter 8 self-returns and returns to the lock hole 4 again.
b.

[Embodiment 2] FIG. 3 shows an embodiment corresponding to claim 3 of the present invention. In this embodiment, a ring-shaped rubber band 9 is employed as shutter means for the lock hole 4b, and the band 9 is fitted on the outer periphery of the peripheral wall 4a of the body 4 so as to cover the opening end face of the lock hole 4b. Configuration.

In this configuration, the rubber band 9 normally closes the lock hole 4b opened in the body peripheral wall 4a. Then, a padlock 7 is hung on the lock hole 4b, and a handle 5
Is locked to the OFF position, a fingertip is hung on the rubber band 9 from the position in front of the lock hole 4b and pulled down to the chain line position, and the arm 7a of the padlock 7 is held with the other hand while maintaining this state. Through the lock hole 4b for locking.

[Embodiment 3] FIGS. 4A and 4B show an embodiment corresponding to claim 4 of the present invention. In this embodiment, as a shutter means for the lock hole 4b, a cylindrical shutter 10 with a handle as shown in FIG. 4B is employed, and this shutter 10 is connected to the inner peripheral surface of the bore peripheral wall 4a and the handle knob 5. Are inserted in the gaps between them. The shutter 10 is made of a resin molded product or the like, has a padlock armhole 10a opened in a part of the peripheral surface thereof, and an operation handle 10b provided on the peripheral edge thereof, and further a window opened on the peripheral surface. The configuration is such that the biasing spring (compression coil spring) 10c is incorporated in the hole. The urging spring 10c serves to urge the shutter 10 toward the closing position of the lock hole 4b, and is stretched between the shutter 10 and the body 4 side.

With this configuration, the shutter 10 normally closes the lock hole 4b opened in the peripheral wall 4a of the body 4 by the bias of the spring 10c. The padlock 7 is inserted into the lock hole 4b.
To lock the handle knob 5 to the OFF position, turn the handle 10b in the circumferential direction with a fingertip to operate the lock hole 4b so that the arm hole 10a of the shutter 10 overlaps, and maintain this state. The other hand is used to lock the arm 7a of the padlock 7 through the lock hole 4b and the through hole 10b.

[0018]

As described above, according to the configuration of the present invention, the lock means is always closed and the shutter means for manually releasing the padlock is provided, so that the handle knob is moved from the ON position to the OFF position. When the padlock is hooked into the lock hole and the handle knob is locked to the OFF position, if the circuit breaker has an abnormality such as welding of the main contact, the handle can be locked even if both hands are used. Locking work cannot be performed. Therefore, an erroneous operation of locking the handle knob to the OFF position in an abnormal situation of the circuit breaker such as welding of the main contact and an erroneous recognition resulting from the erroneous operation can be avoided, and the safety against an electric shock accident can be strengthened.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an external operation handle device corresponding to a first embodiment of the present invention, where (a) is a plan view and (b) is a side view.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an operation of a shutter in FIG. 1;
(A) is a diagram showing a normal state in which a shutter closes a lock hole, and (b) is a diagram showing a state in which a padlock is locked in a lock hole.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a handle device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

4A and 4B are configuration diagrams of a handle device corresponding to a third embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 4A is a side view, and FIG. 4B is an external perspective view of a shutter component.

FIG. 5 is an external perspective view showing a conventional external operation handle device of a circuit breaker.

FIG. 6 is a side view of FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 circuit breaker 1a operation knob 2 external operation handle device 3 switchboard panel 4 body 4a peripheral wall 4b lock hole 5 handle knob 7 padlock 7a arm 8 plate spring type shutter (shutter means) 9 rubber band (shutter means) 10 cylindrical Shutter 10a Arm hole 10b Handle 10c Bias spring

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01H 73/02 H01H 71/62

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. An external operation handle device for turning on / off a circuit breaker incorporated in a switchboard or the like by manual operation from outside the panel. The handle is provided on a peripheral surface of a body peripheral wall surrounding a rotary handle knob. A lock hole corresponding to the OFF position is opened, and a padlock is hung on the lock hole to lock the handle knob to the OFF position.
An external operating handle device for a circuit breaker, characterized in that a shutter means for always closing the lock hole with the lock hole and manually releasing the padlock when the padlock is engaged is provided. 2. The external operation of a circuit breaker according to claim 1, wherein the shutter means is a leaf spring type shutter having one end fixed to the body and extended to close the lock hole. Handle device. 3. The circuit breaker according to claim 1, wherein the shutter means is a ring-shaped rubber band covering the opening end face of the lock hole and covering the outer periphery of the body peripheral wall. External operating handle device. 4. The handle device according to claim 1, wherein the shutter means is a cylindrical shutter with a handle having an opening through which an armhole of a padlock is opened on a part of the peripheral surface, and the shutter is always closed with a lock hole. An external operating handle device for a circuit breaker, wherein the device is spring-biased to a position and inserted inside a body peripheral wall.