US1956434A - Panel board switch - Google Patents

Description

April 24, 1934- .1. E. CARLSON- PANEL BOARD SWITCH Filed June 6, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l April 24, 1934. J. E. CARLSON 1,955,434

PANEL BOARD SWITCH Filed June 6, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Patented Apr. 24, 1934 UNITED STATES PANEL BOARD SWITCH John E. Carlson, Forestville, Conn., assignor to The Trumbull Electric Manufacturing Company, Plainville, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application June 6, 1932, Serial No. 615,492

4 Claims.

I with a hinged cover for the fuse compartment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a switch of the above character in which all the switch operating mechanism is supported in a box which is closed at the front by means of a detachable face plate and access to the fuses is normally prevented except through an opening which is locked when the switch is closed.

Another object is to provide means for preventing accidental engagement with the quick' 0 break mechanism when the face plate is removed.

Another object is to provide a simple form of interlocking mechanism coacting between the quick break mechanism and the door to the fuse 5 compartment.

Another object is to provide a simple and effective support for the operating handle in direct connection with the switch and independently of the face plate.

In the form of the invention as shown in the accompanying drawings the panel board is provided with openings adapted to receive the switch units. Each switch unit consists of a box and a detachable face plate. The box is detachably secured to the frameworkof the panel board and contains any suitable type of switch mechanism,

- preferably of the quick make and break construction.

The operating handle is hinged to a bridge across the upper part of the box and connected to a switch operating crank at the back with intervening snap action mechanism. A guard is provided toprevent accidental contact with the snap action mechanism. The face plate is detachably connected to the front of the panel board and provided with a passage for the operating handle and an opening for access to the fuses. This opening is closed by means of a hinged door. An interlocking device is provided between the door and the snap action mechanism which, however, does not interfere with the removal of the face plate and the door. Fig. 1 is a front view of a panel board showing mechanism involving my invention. This shows for convenience in illustration a board for five switch units and the drawing shows the face plates and doors for two of these units. Two of the other units are omitted and the face plate of the fifth unit is omitted. I Fig. 2 is a side view and :vertical section of the construction shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view and partial section of the construction shown in Fig. 1 with a box in. place.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the box of one of the switch units but omitting the switch mechanism and the fuses.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the face plate for a box such as shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a front view on a somewhat larger scale of one of the switch boxes with switch actuating mechanism and the guard for the snap action mechanism; the switch contacts and fuses, however, being omitted.

Fig. 7 is a vertical section of the construction shown in Fig. 6 with the face plate and its door in place.

Fig. 8 is a horizontal section taken generally on the planes of the line 8-8 of Fig. 6 but also showing the face plate in position.

Fig. 9 is a horizontal section taken generally on the plane of the line 9-9 of Fig. 6 and showing the faceplate and its door.

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary detail view showing the latch and interlocking member for the door.

The general panel board construction is fully shown, described and claimed in an accompanying application-of Herman J. Hammerly, Serial No. 615,488 filed June 6th, 1932 although it is shown generally here for a better understanding of the invention claimed herein.

The panel board is made up of a main panel 15 with side 16 and cross bars such as 17, 18 and 19 at the rear. The panel is provided with suitable openings such as 20 and 21 for the detachable safety switch units.

Each switch unit consists of a box 22 and a face plate 23. The box isprovided with flanges 24 and 25 at the rear which are adapted to be secured to the edges of the cross bars 1'1 and 18 at the rear of the panel board in any suitable manner.

The body ofthe box is adapted to be inserted through the opening provided for it in the panel. The face plate 23 is securednot to the body of the box but to the main panel 15. For this purpose the lower edge of the face plate 23 is provided with a lip or hook-like flange 26 offset inwardly just sufficient to hook over the edge 27 of e the opening in-the main panel. The upper edge of the face plate 23 is provided with a pivoted arm 28 which is adapted to be drawn up behind the wall 29 at the upper edge of the opening in the main panel by means of a screw 30 accessible from the front of the face plate.

The switch mechanism per se may be of any suitable construction and will usually include insulating members such as 32 and 33 for supporting the switch contacts 34 and the fuses 35. The switch contacts are preferably mounted in the upper part of the box and the fuses in the lower part of the box and the face plate 23 is provided with an opening 36 through which access may be had to the fuses for inspection and replacement. This fuse opening 36 is normally closed by a door 37 hinged at 38 and provided with a spring pressed latch bolt 39 adapted to be retracted by a pivoted fingerpiece 40.

Current is supplied to each switch unit from the main line bus bars 42, branches 43 and 44 to screw bolts 45 which extend through the back of the box and are connected to the respective line terminals of the switch. The load terminals 46 are connected to the screw bolts 47 for the respective switch units.

Each switch unit has an operating crank 50 suitably pivoted in the opposite sides of the box and suitably connected to the movable switch members. Any suitable type of snap action mechanism may be provided to insure a quick break and also a quick make if desired. Such mechanism may include a hub 51 supporting one end of the operating crank, an oscillating disc 52 having a lost motion connection with the hub and also a lost motion connection with the operating crank, a spring 53 on the guide rod 54 connected to this disc and manually operable means for oscillating the hub.

The operating handle 55 is supported by a bridge 56 which extends across the upper end of the box. This bridge preferably has its ends 57 bent rearwardly and secured to the side of the box by riveting, spot welding or by screws 58. The central part of the bridge is bent into a U-shaped or channeled form 59 to provide a recess for the inner end of the handle 55. A countershaft 60 is supported at the rear of the bridge by straps 61 which provide bearings for the shaft. The inner end of the shaft 60 is square or other irregular cross section to fit in a correspondingly shaped opening in the inner end of the operating handle. The outer end of the countershaft is provided with an offset crank pin I 62 which is connected by a link 63 to an extension 64 on the hub so that when the operating handle 55 is moved up or down movement is transmitted through the countershaft 60, the crank pin 62 and the link 63 to the hub 51. In this way the snap action mechanism is actuated by the handle 55. Such a construction is broadly covered in Hammerly application 521,709, filed March 11, 1931.

The bridge and the attached handle are removable from the box independently of the link 63 and the snap action mechanism.

In order to prevent accidental engagement with the snap action mechanism I prefer to provide a guard plate 65 which has flanges 66 at opposite ends which may be secured to the box by riveting, spot welding or by screws 67. This guard covers the inside of the top of the snap action mechanism, as shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8.

The face plate 23 as previously mentioned is provided with an opening 36 for access to the fuses, which opening is normally closed by a door 37-with a latch 39. It is highly desirable, however, that this door be automatically locked to prevent access to the fuses when the switch is on. I therefore provide an interlocking mechanism between the door and the hub 51.

The lever 70 is pivoted at 71 to the inside of the box and has a hook 72 on one end adapted to fit into a notch 73 in the hub 51. The spring 74 normally presses this hook against the hub.

The door 37 is provided with a pin 75 which is interlocked with a hook 76 on one arm of the lever 70 when the switch parts are in the closed circuit position and the switch actuating mechanism is in the position shown in Figs. 6 and 7. In this position it is impossible to open the door 37 because the pin 75 is held by the hook 76 on the interlocking lever 70 and the lever is' held from tilting counter-clockwise because of the engagement of the hook 72 with the hub 51.

When the operating handle 55 is moved to open the switch the recess or notch 73 is brought into the path of the hook 72, whereupon the spring 74 pulls the horizontal arm of the interlocking lever upwardly to release the pin 75 and permit the door 37 to be opened. This guard clip is suitably secured to the center of the bridge 56.

As the door is closed the pin 75 engages the inclined shoulder 77 and disengages the hook 72 from the notch 73 in the hub 51, thus permitting the switch to be closed when necessary.

On account of the fact that the timing of the interlocking parts may be important in some cases I have provided means for adjusting the hooked end of the lever 70 with respect to the door. This is effected by forming one arm of the interlocking lever 70 of two parts, 78 and 79, which are connected together by one or more screws such as 80 in a slot 81 so that in effect the length of the horizontal arm of the interlock lever may be adjusted to bring the hooked end into its proper position with respect to the pin 75 on the door of the fuse compartment.

The front plate 23 of the switch unit is provided with an opening 83 for the operating handle 55. This opening should be large enough to permit of the convenient application of the face plate to the switch box. In order to guard the upper and lower edges of this opening I provide a U-shaped clip 84 which has its upper and lower ends extended to cover the upper and lower edges of the slot 83 as shown in Fig. 7.

In order to permit the locking of the operating handle in the on and of! positions I provide a plate 85 which is suitably secured to the face plate around the opening 83. This plate 85 has flanges 86 on opposite sides of the handle and these flanges have holes 87 through which interlocking or sealing members such as a padlock may be introduced.

According to my invention it will be seen that a panel board may be built up of a plurality of switch units, each independently secured to the panel board frame and each unit comprising an independently enclosed switch of the safety type having a face plate substantially flush with the face of the panel board and with only a projecting operating handle. These switch units can be made up in any size and various units of various sizes can be assembled in a panel board to take care of any conditions required. It will be seen that each of the switch units is accessible for the purpose of inspecting and replacing fuses and that when necessary the entire switch unit can be removed and replaced.

I claim:

1. A switch unit including a sheet metal box,-

abridge secured to said box across the open face of the box and having an offset portion, a handle pivoted in said offset portion, snap action switch mechanism in the box actuated by said handle, a face plate detachably secured to the box independently of the bridge and a movable door permitting access to a part of the box through the face plate.

2. A switch unit including a sheet metal box, a switch block mounted in one end of the box and having stationary and movable contacts, an operating crank shaft for the movable contacts at the rear of the block, snap action mechanism in the box detachably connected to said crank shaft, a bridge secured across the'front of the box over said block substantially flush with the front edge of the box, a counter crank shaft pivotally carried by said bridge and connected to the snap action mechanism, an actuating handle carried by said counter crank shaft and said bridge and a face plate secured in place over the entire box independentlyof the handle and movable independently of the bridge.

3. A switch unit including a box, a switch block mounted in the box and having stationary and movable contacts, an operating crank shaft for the movable contacts at the rear of the block, snap action mechanism in the box detachably connected to said crank shaft, abridge secured to the box and extending across the front of the box over said block back of the front edge of the box,v a counter crank shaft pivotally carried by said bridge and connected to the snap action mechanism, an actuating handle carried by said counter crank shaft and said bridge and a face plate secured to the box and removable independently of the bridge and of the handle.

4. A switch unit including a box, a switch block mounted in the box, stationary and movable contacts mounted on said block, an operating crank shaft for the movable contacts mounted at the rear of the block, switch operating mechanism in the box and connected to said crank shaft, a bridge across the front'of the box and over the front of said block, a counter crank shaft pivotally mounted on said bridge and connected to the switch mechanism, an actuating handle pivotally mounted on said bridge and operably connected to said counter crank shaft and a face plate connected in place over the front of the box and removable independently of the bridge and handle.

JOHN E. CARLSON.

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