US1377876A - Circuit-breaker - Google Patents

Description

gagement with the contacts, said circuit breaking device being subject to a predetermined power to be developed by the electric current in said electro-magnetic device.

2. A circuit breaker including a hollow plug adapted to plug receptacles, separate contact elements. adapted to be placed in circuit with conductor wires, an electro-- magnetic device in circuit with said contacts and comprising coils housed within said hollow plug, aswingable circuit-breaking device adapted to engage and separate said contacts or to assume a position away from said contacts, means tending to swing said circuit-breaking device to a position for separating said contacts, and a stop normally in the path of movement of said cir' cuit-breaking device to prevent a circuit breaking movement thereof, said stop being subject to said electro-magnetic device for releasing the circuit-breaking device under a predetermined power developed in the electro-magnetic device. a I

3. A circuit breaker including separable contact'elements adapted to be placed in circuit with conductor wires, an electromagnetic device in circuit with said "contacts, a circuit-breaking device adapted to engage and separatesaidcontacts to break the circuit or to assume. a position out of engagement with the contacts, a turnable spindle carrying said circuit-breaking de-.

vice, a spring tending to turn said spindle for moving the circuit-breaking device to circuit-breaking position, an armature lever subject to said electro-m'agnetic device, a stop on said armature lever and normally restraining the circuit-breaking device and spindle against turning, and means controllable from the exterior of the. circuit-breaking device and adjustable for varying the ate path from a position out of engage'' ment with said contacts to a position engaging the latter, spring means tending to swing said circuit-breaking device for breaking the circuit, an electro-magnetic device in circuit with said contacts and comprising coils housed within said hollow plug, an armature sub ect to a predetermined current energizing said electro-magnetic device,

' a stop on said armature and normally disposed in the path of movement of the circuit-breaking deviceto move out of said path with a movement of the armature,and

means on said armature adapted. to engage said disk and prevent actual contact of the armature with the electro-magnetic device.

5. A circuit breaker including separable contact elements adapted to be placed in cirf cuit with conductor wires,- an electro-mag- 'netic device in circuit with said contacts,

a circuit-breaking arm adapted to move from a position out ofengagement with said contacts to a position engaging the contacts and separating the same for breaking the circuit, a spindle carrying said arm and turnable from the exterior of the circuit breaker for resetting said arm out of engagement with the contacts, 'a' torsion spring tending to turn said spindle and swing said arm tocircuit-breaking position, an armature subject to said electromagnetic device, and a stop on said arm and normally in the path of said arm to restrain the latter out of engagement with the contacts until the armature is attracted by said electro-magnetic devi'cer '6. A circuit breaker including separable contact elements-adapted to be -placed in circuit with conductor wires, an electromagnetic device in circuit with said contacts, a circuit-breaking device movable from a position out :of engagement with said contacts to a position engaging and separating said contacts for breaking the circuit, means tending to throw said circuitbreaking device toa circuit-breaking position, resetting means for said circuit-breakposition and movable with said armature for releasing said circuit-breaking device, a spring on said armature and extending at the opposite side of the vfulcrum from said stop, and means operable from the exterior of the circuit-breaker for varying the tension of said spring to vary the resist- I ance of the armature lever to the electromagnetic'device. c

7.. A circuit breaker including separable contact elements adapted to be placed circuit with conductor wires, an electro-niagneti'c device in circuit with said contacts,- a circuit-brea'kingdevice movable from -a position out of engagement with said contacts to a position engaging and separating said contacts for breaking the circuit means tending to throw said c1rcuit-break1ng device to a circuit-breaking position, resetting means for said circuit-breaking device and, controllable fromthe exterior of the circuit breaker, an armature lever 'subjectto said electromagnetic device, a stop on said' armature lever and normally restraining said c1rcu1t-break1ng device from PATENT OFFICEQ GWYN OSCAR OWEN DAVIES, OF CLE ELUM, WASHINGTON. I

CIRCUIT-BREAKER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 10, 1921.

Application filed December 3, 1919. Serial No. 342,050.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GWYN O. O. DAvms, a. citizen of the United States, and a resident of Cle Elum, in the county of Kittitas andState of lVashington, have invented a new and Improved Circuit-Breaker, of which the following is a description.

My invention relates to an automatic, electro-magnetic, overload circuit breaker of compact form adaptable to plug fuse receptacles, to be employed in house lighting and other electrical circuits; and the objects of my invention are first, to provide a more eflicient and more durable device for the protection of electrical circuits from the damage wrought by over-loads or short circuits; second, to provide a means for readily adjusting the circuit breaker to respond to various over-loads for Various normal loads; third, to provide a means whereby the operator may readily determine which circuit breaker, due to the passage of an excessive current of electricity, has broken the electrical circuit; fourth, to provide a means for easily completing a circuit which has been broken by said circuit breaker and thereby eliminate 'the present necessity of either refilling, renewing .or replacing said circuit breaker. t

The present invention is more particularly designed as an improvement on the circuit breaker forming the subject matter of United States Letters Patent No. 1,310,562, granted to me July 22, 1919.

The general object of the present inven-' tion is to provide a circuit breaker of the indicated type improved in various particulars to the end that the device will be dependable and efiicient, and that it may be accurately adjusted to the load it is in tended to carry as well as to promote economy in extending the life of the device practically indefinitely and to increase the facility with which the device may be set, and to provide novel means to indicate whether the circuit is closed or broken, whereby to readily discover the condition of any of several of the circuit breakers, as to the current being on or off, when a number of the circuit breakers are employed.

The nature of the present invention and its advantages will clearly appear from the I specific description following.

Reference is to be had to the accompanymg draw ngs forming a part of this specification, 1t being understood that the draw- 1ng are merely illustrative of one example of the invention.

Figure l is a side elevation partly in section of a circuit'breaker embodying my invention with the circuit closed; I

Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation at right angles to Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view, the knob of the spindle carrying the circuit breaking arm being omitted;

Fig. 1 in a plan view, thecap and the adjusting screw for the spring employed in connection with the armature being omitted;

Fig. 5 is a schematic view of the circuit.

In carrying out my invention in practice, in accordance with the present invention, a disk 10 of suitableinsulating material is provided, having a cap 11 secured thereto at the lower edge of the cap, a screw lug 12 being secured to the disk at the ront side and adapted to be received in any approved socket or receptacle as generally employed to receive a device of this character. The cap and disk may be secured in any suitable manner to be out of electrical connection, the cap in the form shown being indicated as ,crimped over the edge of the disk andthere being indicated arcuate projections 14 on the plug extending into and through the disk to the rear side thereof.

A suitable electro-magnetic device such as an electro-magnet, solenoid, or the like, is employed, there being shown in the illustrated example electro-magnetic coils 16 about a U-shaped, soft metal core 15, these being disposed at the front side of the disk 10 within the plug 12, the lugs of the core extending through the said disk to the .rear side thereof and suitably fastened thereto as by riveting. One terminal of the coils is in electrical connection with the contact member 18 here shown as secured by a rivet 19 to disk 10, and a separate coacting contact member 20 is disposed adjacent to the contact 18, the two being normally in contact to complete the circuit. The contact terial, such as slate adapted to be carried' withthe swinging of the arm 22 to enter between the contact elements 18, 20 tor breaking the circuit. The spindle 23 outside of the cap 11 has a suitable milled knob 25 or the like for setting the circuit breaker. An indicator arm 29 bearing the legends On, Off is rigid with the spindle 23, the legends being observable through an opening 29 formed in cap 11, thereby indicating whether the circuit is closed or broken.

Spring means is provided, normally tending to turn the circuit breaking arm 22 and its spindle 23 through an arc to dispose the blade 24 between the contact elements 18 and 20, said spring means in the present instance consisting of a torsion spring 26 coiled about the spindle 23, one end of the spring being secured as at 27 to the arm 22 and the opposite end secured as at 231110 disk 10. -When the spindle 23 is turned by its knob 25 to withdraw the blade 24 from .the

contact elements anddispose the arm 22 in position with said'blade away from said contact elements, the spring 26 is placed under tension ready to react for breaking the circuit by swinging the arm 22 and blade 24 to circuit-breaking position and the arm 22 is restrained in position with the circuit closed bya magnetically controlled latch means next described.

' An armature rear side of disk 10 and is here shown as ful crumed at one end by' a pin 31 on a bracket 32 rigidly secured to disk 10, said pin passing through ears on said lever and through ears on said bracket. Projecting from said lever at the forward end is a latch arm 33 extending beneath the circuit-breaking arm 22 and terminatingat-the farside of said arm in a latch projection 34'adapted to engage said arm and normally constitute a stop against the movement of said arm for breaking the circuit except as the latch is dis engaged from the arm by the attraction of the armature when the coils 16 are energized.

In order to prevent the armature 30 from actual contact with the core 15, arm 33 is provided with a stop member 35 projecting in the direction of the disk 10 to limit the movement of the armature by contact with said disk.

In, order to vary the resistance of the armature lever 30 to the attraction of the magtion of the parts.

lever 30 is disposed at the 5 netic device when energized, I provide on said lever at the rear end a spring 36 which advantageously is a plate spring and extends from its connection with the lever to apoint duced end or tenon 38 on an adjusting screw 39, said screw extending through the cap 11 and being provided with a milled knob 40 or the like for turning it, to thereby adjust the tension of the spring and in consequence increase or decrease the resistance of the armature to the magnetic attraction. Said screw 39 1s provided with a pointer arm 41 outside of the cap'll and swingable over the surface thereof with the turning of said screw, there being a suitable scale 42 produced on the cap to register thdmovement of the pointer arm 41. r

One conductor terminal 43 of the coil 16 extends through and is in electrical connection' with a contact plug 44 in the end of the I I screw plug 12, said plug '44 being secured by an insulating bushing formed of inner and outer washers 45, 46. Ifdesired, an insulati-ng cylinder 47 may be provided in the plug 12 and extendingabout the coils 16 as a precaution against short circuiting should accident result in the distortion or deforma- Similarly, an insulating linlng 48 may be applied to .the cap 11.

In operation when the current flow through the circuit breakerbecomes excessive, the armature is attracted t0ward the core 17 thereby withdrawing the latch member 34 from the path of the circuit-breaking arm 22, thus permitting the action of the spring 26, swinging said arm toward-the contacts 18 and 20 and causing the insulating blade 24 to enter between and separate said contacts, thus breaking the circuit. The circuit is again completed and the circuit breaker ready for another operation merely by turning the spindle'23 through the medium of its knob 25.

I would state in conclusion that while the illustrated example constitutes a practical embodiment of my invention, I do not limit.

myself strictly to the mechanical details herein illustrated, since manifestly the same 'can be considerably varied without deparhire from the spirit of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus describedmy invention, I claim: Y '1. A circuit breaker including a hollow plug adapted to plug receptacles, separate contact elements adapted to be placed in circuit with conductor wires, an .electro-magnetic device in circuit with said contacts and comprising coils housed within said hollow plug, a swingable circuit-breaking device adapted to engage and separate. said contacts or to assume a position away from said contacts, and means tending automatically to swing said circuit-breaking device into engagement with the contacts, said circuitbreaking device being subject to a predetermined power to be developed by the electric current in said electro-magnetic device.

2. A circuit breaker i'ncludinga hollow plug adapted to plug receptacles, separate contact element adapted to be placed in circuit with conductor wires, an electromagnetic device in circuit with said contacts and comprising coils housed within said hollow plug, aswingable circuit-breaking device adapted to engage and separate said contacts or to assume a position away from said contacts, means tending to swing said circuit-breaking device to a position for separating said contacts, and a stop normally in the path of movement of said circuit-breaking device to prevent a circuitspindle carrying said circuit-breaking de-.

vice, a spring tending to turn said" spindle for moving the circuit-breaking device to circuit-breaking position, an armature lever subject to said electro-magnetic device, a. stop on said armature lever and normally restraining the circuit-breaking device and spindle against turning, and means controllable from the exterior of the circuit-breaking device and adjustable for varying the resistance of said armature lever to the attraction of the electro-magnetic device.

4. A circuit breaker adapted to plug receptacles and including an insulating disk, a hollow plug at the front of said disk,'sep-. arable contact elements adapted to be placed in circuitwith conductor wires, a swingable circuit-breaking device movable in an arcuate path from a position out of engage ment with said contacts to a position engaging the latter, spring means tending to swing said circuit-breaking device for breaking the circuit, an electro-magnetic device in circuit with said contacts and comprising coils housed within said hollow plug, an armature sub ect to a predetermlned current energizing said electro-magnetic device,

' a stop on said armature and normally disposed in the path of movement of the circuit-breaking deviceto move out of said path with a movement of the armature, and

i said contacts to a position engaging the means on said armature adapted. to engage said disk and prevent actual contact of the armature with the electro-magnetic device.

5. A circuit breaker including separable contact elements adapted to be placed in Cil'f cuit with conductor wires, an electro-mag- I 'netic device in circuit with said contacts,

a circuit-breaking arm adapted to move from a position out of engagement with contacts and separating the same for breaking the circuit, a spindle carrying said arm and turnable from the exterior of the circuit breaker for resetting said arm out of engagement with the contacts, a torsion spring tending to turn said spindle and swing said arm to circuit-breaking position, an armature subject to said electromagnetic device, and a stop on said arm and normally in the path of said arm to restrain-the latter out of engagement with the contacts until the armature is attracted by said electro-magnetic device.- I 6. A circuit breaker including separable contact elementsadapted to be-placed in circuit with conductor wires, an .electromagnetic device in circuit with said contacts, a circuit-breaking device; movable from a position out :of engagement with said contacts to a position engaging and separating said contacts for breaking the circuit, means tending to throw said circuitbreaking device toa circuit-breaking posi tion, resetting means for said circuit-breakingdevice and controllable from the exte- 10 rior of the circuit breaker, an armature leven subject to said electro-m'agnetic .device, a stop on saidiarmature lever and normally restraining said circuit-breaking-device from movement to the circuit-breaking 1.05. position and movable with said armature for releasing said circuit-breaking device, a spring on said armature and extending at the opposite side of the fulcrum from, said stop, and means operable from the ex- 11 .terior of the circuit-breaker for varying the tension of said spring to vary the resistance of the armature lever to the electromagnetic'device. I

7.. A circuit breaker including separable 15 contact elements adapted to be placed circuit with conductor wires, an electro-magnetic device in circuit with" said contacts, a circuit-breakingdevice movable from a position out of engagement with said contacts' to a position engaging and separating said contacts for breaking the circuit, means tending to throw .said circuit-breaking device to a circuit-breaking position, resetting means for said circuit-breaking de- 1 vice and controllable fromthe exterior of the circuit breaker, an armature lever subject to said electromagneticdevice, a stop on saidarmature lever and normally restraining said circult-breaklng device from movement to the circuit-breaking position and movable with said armature for releasing said circuit-breaking device, a spring the circuit breaker for varying the tension of said spring to vary the resistance of the armature lever to the electro-magnetic devlce; together with coaoting indicator elements on the last-mentioned means and on a relatively fixed part at the exterior of the circuit breaker.

GWYN OSCAR OWEN DAVIES.

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