US2612574A - Circuit restorer - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 30, 1952 Y B. w. WYMAN CIRCUIT RESTORER Filed April 6, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Fig.2.- 9

ml IOZ -OIL. LEVE,L

P if I Inventor:

Hi 5 At corney.

Sept. 30, 1952 3 w WYMAN 2,612,574

CIRCUIT RESTORER Filed April 6, 1948 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 Inventor: Bryce W Wym'an, by W Hi S Attorney Patented Sept. 30, 1952 PATENT OFFICE 'GIRGUIT' RESTORER Bryce. Wt. Wyman, Havertow-n, Pa., assignor to Gqntral Electric- Company. a. corporation of.

New York,

ApplicationApril-G', 1948, Serial No. 19,280 5. Qlaims.. (01. 200-3 9.).

Myinvention relatestoelectric circuitbreakers The device disclosed inthe above-mentioned:

patent to W-alle provides for a series of time;- delaye'd reclosing operations which cause incremental movement of a lock-outmember toward its locking position and which eventually: cause the-"interrupter automatically to become looked in the open circuit position as a result of a pre-.- determined number'of successive reclosing operations;

In electric distribution circuits; it is: common practice to utilize fuses and automatically operable" reclosinginterrupters in combination and thereby-to achieve optimum protection per dollar of" investment in protective apparatus. To: this end; it has beenfoundfeasible to install fuses on boththesource andload sides of one or more reclosers. The" time current characteristics of the fusesand recl'osers used must be such that the system will be properly coordinated; Experionce has shown that it is desirable not only'to delaythe reclosing operations a predetermined time v as in the above-mentioned patent toW'al'le, but also to delay certain preselected opening operations oftheinterrupter where the fault condition is presistent in nature. Under certain circumstanceajit may be desirable for. the 'recloser automatically to lock its contacts open after a predetermined number of opening and reclosing operations; whileunder-certain other conditions, it"mavbeidesirable for the recloser' automatically to locl'rits contacts closed after a predetermined number of opening and reclosing operations.

My invention is" an improvement on application Serial Nb; 19,249, filed April 6, 1948, Thumim, assigned to the same assignee asthis application.

It is an object of my invention to provide an automatically operable reclosing' circuit interrupter'having improved operating characteristics wherein provision ismade for time-delayed opening and time-delayedreclosing operations should the fault condition lie-persistent in nature.

Another object of my invention is the provision of an operating mechanism for automatically operablereclosing circuit interrupters wherein a predetermined number of time- .delayed opening and closing operations are utilized; to cause the mechanism automatically "to look its contacts'inthe opencircuit. position 2 should the. fault condition be presistent: in, nu: ture.

Still another object, of my invention is to, provide an; operating mechanism for automatically; operable reclosing: circuit interrupters wherein a member is caused to. rotate in response to time.- delayed opening and; reclosing operations and thereafter-to, cause the mechanism automatically to; look: its contacts in; the open; circuit position where a persistent fault occurs. on the line.

A further object of. myinvent on i he 9m: vision of an operating mechanism. for. automatically operable. reclosingl circuit, interrupters wherein a predetermined: number of, time-dew ed openin and reclosin ope ions, are. util: ized to cause the'mechanisrn automatically to look its contacts in the; closed circuit position should the: fault be persistent. thereby to force a. system fuseto clear; the; fault orto cause. the

iault to burn itselfclear.,

'matically operable reclosing devices which affords precise time current characteristics and which is unaifected by changes in ambient conditions.

Still another; object; of my invention is the provision ofautomatically operable; reclosingi Gil.- cuit interrupters which maybe coordinatedfro n recloser; to recloser and from recloser' to fuses for year-round service.

Further: objects: and. advanta es. ofmy" inven: tion will become.- apparent; as the following dc.- scription-v proceeds. and the features of novelty which characterize my: invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims, annexed to and forming a part of this; specification.

For a. better understanding of my invention, reference may behad t0;- the accompanying: draw.- ings in whichFig. 1 is; a. schematic representation of the circuit incorporatedinan interrupter embodying invention; Eie. 21s an elevatiqnal viewin section of a recloser embodyin my invention; Fig. 3 is; aview of: a portion of, the timing mechanism of the; device; shown Fi 2 tacts I and 2.

3 parts in the positions which they occupy when the interrupter has automatically locked its contacts in the open circuit position; Figs. 6 and 7 show a modification of the timing mechanism embodying my invention wherein provision is made for locking the contacts closed, Fig. 6 showing the mechanism in a position of readiness to begin a ,series of opening and reclosing operations and Fig. 7 showing the parts in the positions which they occupy when the contacts are locked-closed.

With reference to Fig. l, the numerals I and 2 designate the contacts of the recloser. Contact I is connected to schematically represented terminal 6 by a line 4 and movable contact 2 is connected through line 3 to the operating coil 5 which in turn is connected to schematically represented terminal I of the interrupter by a line 8. The occurrence of an excessive current on the line will energize the coil 5 sumciently to cause this coil to elevate contact 2 thereby to interrupt the circuit.

With reference to Fig. 2, the terminal 6 is shown while the terminal I does not appear in the drawing. Surrounding the terminal 5 is an insulator 9 which is supported by adapters I3 and II, bolts I2, and the cover I3. The mech anism is housed in the tank I4, the inner surface of which is covered with insulating material I5. The tank is filled with insulating fluid such as oil to the level indicated. Tank I4 is provided with a flange I6 having a peripheral groove I7 therein. Cover I3 is constructed with a peripheral flange I8. A gasket I9 is inserted into the groove I1 and serves to seal the joint between the flanges I3 and I8. Secured to the cover I3 by welding or other suitable means is a U-shaped supporting structure having downwardly extending side plates, only the rear one of which appears in the cross-sectional view shown in Fig. 2. The lower extremities of the side plates of the supporting structure 20 are provided with outwardly projecting flanges 2: through which bolts 22 extend. Bolts 22 are secured to projections 2| by the nuts 23. Bolts 22 extend downwardly and are secured to the plate 24 by nuts 25. The supporting angle members 26 are secured by bolts 2! to the plate 24. The

bolts 21 cooperate with one flange 28 on the angle members 26. Laminated structures 29 and 33 depend from the supporting angles 26 and are secured thereto by any suitable means such as by the rivets 3I. Operating coil 5 is supported by laminated structures 29 and 30. Lower supporting angles 32 are secured to the laminated structures by any suitable means such as by the rivets 33. The horizontal metallic plate 34 is seblast ports 42 for the expulsion of oil and gas from the chamber 38 into the tank I 4 when a circuit interruption takes place between the con- Contact I is secured to plate 31 by a terminal extension 45 thereof which forms a point of connection for the interval lead 4 to the contact I. For simplicity, lead 4 is only partially shown in Fig. 2, but, as explained above,

lead 4 is connected tothe terminal 6 of the recloser at a convenient point inside the cover I3. Furthermore, in Fig. 2 the lead 3 is only partially shown but it will be understood from Fig. 1 that this lead connects to one terminal of the operating coil 5 and that the lead 8, which is not shown in Fig. 2, is interposed between the other terminal of the coil 5 and the terminal I of the interrupter which terminal is not shown in Fig. 2.

Secured to the plate 34 as by welding is a U- shaped supporting structure 46. Because the view in Fig. 2 is cross-sectional, only the rear one of the downwardly extending cheeks of the U is shown.

For reasons which will become apparent as the description proceeds, the armature 4'! must be caused to move upwardly in response to current flow through coil 5 a considerable distance before contacts I and 2 are separated. Hence, it is necessary to provide suitable means for delaying the actual separation of the contact 2 until the armature 4'! will have moved a substantial distance toward the limit of its upward travel. To this end an over-center toggle device is provided which comprises a lever 48 which is connected to the fixed pivot 49 which is mounted on the cheeks of supporting structure 46. Lever 48 is connected to the movable armature 41 by the pivot 50. A tension spring 5I is connected at either end to the lever 48 by means of a pin 52 and to the contact 2 by a pin 53 respectively. Contact arm 2 is rotatable about the fixed pivot 54 which is carried by the supporting structure 45.

The operation of the contact operating mechanism will now be described. When the armature 41 moves upwardly against the bias of compression type contact closing spring 55, the lever 43 is rotated in the clockwise direction about the fixed pivot 49. From the drawing it will be observed that the extension spring SI and the contact arm 2 constitute a conventional overcenter spring device so that it will readily be understood that, not until the upwardly moving pin 52 of lever 48 passes beyond its dead center position with respect to pivots 54 and 53, can the contacts I and 2 be separated through the agency of the armatures upward pull. Accordingly, this overcenter toggle arrangement provides lost motion means whereby the contacts do not part until the armature has lifted through a major portion of its full upward stroke.

For the purpose of controlling the upward velocity of armature 4'! during certain opening operations and also for the purpose of controlling the closing velocity of armature 41 and thereb'y to establish appropriate time-delayed operations, the timing mechanism generally designated by the numeral 58 is used.

In accordance with my invention an insulating rod 59 is connected to the armature 41 by any suitable means as by the rivets 60 and is movable therewith. The guide link BI which is pivotally mounted about the fixed pin 62 in the supporting structure 20 is connected to the rod 59 by the pin 63. Link BI, cooperating with lever 48, provides rectilinear vertical movement to the armature and its rod.

For controlling the opening time-delay, I have provided an opening pawl 64 which is pivoted at 65 to its carrier arm 66 which arm in turn is pivoted on and rotatable about the shaft 61, which shaft is mounted upon the supporting structure 20. A torsional spring 16 biases pawl 64 in the clockwise direction about the pivot 65. In the position shown in Fig 2 pawl4 is held out of engagement with the smoothperipheral' is mounted on the "supporting structure 20. Carrier arm 66 is connected to red 59 by'thecurved connecting" member 51' which ispivoted" to the rod 59 by the pin 63 and. tothe carrierarm fit by the pin 68. It will be evident that upward motion of armature 41 with its rod 59 will cause upward motion of the curved link 51. This up ward motion will result: in clockwise rotation or the carrier arm 66 about the shaft 61. Ratchet wheel 69 is provided with a notched section m about its perimeter and also asmooth or unnotched section H.

For the purpose of governing" the velocity of rotation of the ratchet wheel 69'for-introducing time-delay at appropriate timesga gear wheel 12 is: mounted for rotation on shaft 6-1 and is secured" to" the ratchet-wheel6'9 by rivets or other suitable-means.

A pinion 13* mounted on a shaft 1-4 rotates whenever the gear wheel 1-2' and the ratchet wheel 69' arecaused to rotate. Theshaft ltis secured to the supporting structure 20. Secured to the pinion 13 and rotatable therewith is a timer wheel 15, the entire perimeter of which is notched. An oscillatoryvergemember 18 is'supported on the fixed" shaft 19 which inturn is secured to the supporting-structure 20'. Because the ratchet wheel 69 isv connected to the gear wheel 12, it is evident that rotation ofratchet wheel 69 will cause rotation of: gear wheel" 12,'pinion'- I3, and timer. wheel 15, which inturn will result in oscillatory motion of a verge member 18 about its fixed shaft 19 for producing the well-known watch-type escapement; Rotation of the ratchet wheel 69 will thus be controlled; in a manner-well known in the art. It-will also beapparent-that, if'the pawl 64 happens to' be in engagement with the smooth section II of the ratchet wheel 69, the armature 41 will be free to move upwardly without impediment. Furthermoretif, after initial rotation of the ratchet wheel 69; pawl 64 engages the toothed section I0, itwill be clear that upward movement of armature 41' will be impeded by the oscillatory member 18'. Hence, the contacts would be maintained. closed for a short time so that a time-delayed opening will be accomplished.

For the purpose of controlling the closing operations of the device, a closing pawl is provided. P'awl 82' is, supported'on itsi'carrier arm 83 by a pin 84'. Pawl 82 is. biased'in the clockwise direction about pin 84' by" atorsionalspring 852 Arm 83 is rotatableaboutthe: shaft 61 and is interconnected to the rod 59 by-theconnecting member 86, the latter being pivotally connected to rod 59"by the pin 63 an'dto the arm 83 by the pin 84'. In the contact closed position shown, closing pawl 82 is held out of engagement with the periphery of" ratchet wheel 69 by the provision of the fixed stop 8| which is secured to the supporting structure 20;

When armature 41 movesupwardly due to excessive current in coil 5to pr0ducec1o0kwiserotatlonof the opening pawl ca-rrier arm 66', it will be apparent that the link 88- also isdisplaced upwardly at the same time and causes carrier arm 83' to rotate in the counterclockwise direction about-the shaft-61'. It will'beapparentthat inthis movementt-he pawl 82" will free-wheel" over the notched portion ID of" the ratchet wheel 69 without rotating the ratchet wheel. 'When the contacts I" and 2, are fullyseparated, the mechanism will" be free to begin the closingoperation.

Pawl 82 nowwill bebiased into engagement". with the notched section 10 of the ratchetuwheel 'fifi due to" the action of torsional spring 85. Hence,

downward motion of armature 41 and the: parts:

wlse rotation about its fixed shaft' 89 by' thespring 90, and an interconnecting flexible-cord 9| which winds fromoff the drum81and-orrto the drum 88 during a resetting operation dueto the action of spring 99. Shaft 89 is-secured' to the supporting structureill.

For the purpose of arresting the opening-operation of the-mechanism, I haveprovided a cylindrical-bufier 92 which is mounted on the fixed pin 93 which pin is secured to the supporting struc ture 2B. Near the end of the opening operation, thearm 66 encounters buffer 92 and in this man ner the momentum of the parts caused by an opening operation is absorbed and the opening motion is arrested without undue shock.

It will beunderstood that myinvention could be adapted to perform, within limits, at relatively wide range of opening and closing operations wherein certain of these operations would be time-delayed and wherein certain others would be made to occur substantially instantaneously; For persistent faults, the particular embodiment of my invention described above and shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is adapted to perform a first instantaneous opening operation followed by" a time-delayed closing operation, a second instantaneous opening operation followed by a timedelayed'cl'osing operation, a third openingopera tion which is time-delayed followed by a third time-delayed closing operation and a fourth opening operation which is time-delayed followed by a final lock-out operation. 7

Assuming that the recloser is in the closed posi tion as shown in Fig. 2, a fault on the line will cause an excessive current to flow through the interrupter circuit shown inFig; l. Thisexces sive current will cause the operating coil 5 to elevate the armature 41.

v This upward motion of armature 41 will cause the opening pawl carrier arm 66" to rotate clockwise about the shaft 61 and will also cause the closing pawl arm 83 to rotate counterclockwise about the shaft 61. When the upwardlymoving mechanism parts reach a point near the limit of opening-movement, the contact arm 2 willmoye out of. engagement with the contact I for drawing and interrupting an arc, and the above-mentioned parts will then assume the positions shown in Fig. 3. Pawl 64 will. have ridden over the smooth portion II of the ratchet wheel" 69 and the opening pawl 82 will havefree-wheeled over the notched section Ill of the ratchet wheel 69 without impediment and the opening" operation will have occurred substantially instantaneously. Once the contacts I and 2 have, separated; there is nocurrent in coil 5* and, hence, the mechanism is freed from upward'force and mayreturntdown ward by'gravity and spring-bias toward thecon tactclosed position. This contact closing operation will be with time-delay as already explained because the closing pawl 82 will now be in engagement with the notched section I9 of the ratchet wheel I59 and, hence, will cause rotation of the ratchet wheel 69, gear wheel I2, and through pinion I3 and timer wheel 15 which latter will cause verge member I8 to oscillate. The delayed portion of the closing operation terminates when theclosing pawl 82 comes into engagement with the stop SI, for the pawl 82 is moved thereby out of engagement with the periphery of the ratchet wheel 99. Immediately thereafter, the contact arm 2 snaps into closed circuit position, the spring ,5I having moved back into its initial overcenter region.

Should the fault be persistent in nature, the contacts will be opened again substantially instantaneously because the smooth portion II of the ratchet Wheel 99 is not entirely rotated out from under the opening pawl 94 by the first delayed reclosure. The following or second reclosing operation will be with time-delay because the pawl 82 in its upper position will still be'opposite the notched portion of ratchet wheel 69.

At the termination of the second reclosure the parts will then occupy the positions shown in Fig. 4 and the ensuing or third opening operation will be with time-delay because the opening pawl 94 will now engage the advanced toothed section '19 of the ratchet wheel 69 as soon as the pawl moves away from its stop pin 89. The next subsequent reclosing operation, which is the third, will also be with time-delay, for the closing pawl 82 engages the toothed portion as in the earlier reclosures. I The fourth opening operation will also be with time-delay, as in the third opening explained above. Upon completion of this fourth opening operation, the mechanism will automatically lock the contacts in the open circuit position. To this end, I have provided a hook-type latch 94 which is pivotally hung from the pin 95 which is secured to the supporting structure 29. The lower portion of latch 94 is curved or hook-shaped for performing its holding function. Indicated at 97 is a crankpin which is overhung from the forward surface of the ratchet wheel 69. Pin 9'! projects outwardly from the forward face of ratchet wheel 99 far enough to engage the arm 66 but not far enough to interfere with motion of the arm 83. Intermittent clockwise rotation of the ratchet wheel 69 caused by successive delayed opening and closing operations during a persistent fault eventually will advance the pin 91 into or beyond the hooked section '96 of the arm 94. From Fig. 2 it will be clear that the arm 94 first will be swung to the left by the pin 9'! engaging the surface 98 of the arm 94 before it rides over the surface 98 and intothe hooked portion 96 of the arm 94. Once it has passed into the. hooked section 98 of the arm 94, the pin will no longer be free to move back out of the hooked section 99 of the arm 94 and pin 97, furthermore, will engage the carrier arm 99 as it rebounds from the buffer 92 so as to hold that arm in an elevated position as shown in Fig. 5. Otherwise stated, both the ratchet wheel 69 and carrier arm 99 are now rendered incapable of rotating back in the counterclockwise direction. Accordingly, the mechanism cannot reset and the contacts will be locked-open.

It will be evident that the particular position chosen for the pin 91 on the ratchet wheel 69 should besuch that the pin 91 will have ad.-

vanced to its holding position inside the hooked portion 96 of the arm 94 whenever the mechanism will have completed the desired number of time-delayed opening and closing operations so that the armature 4 1 and parts associated therewith will be prevented from moving downwardly under the urge of the biasing spring 55 and the pull of gravity; The cooperating parts in the particular embodiment of my inventionrdescribed above are so proportioned that the contacts become locked open after two instantaneous opening operations followed by two time-delayed opening operations, all the intervening reclosures being with time delay.

In order to close the contacts after the interrupter has automatically locked its contacts in theopen position,;it is only necessary to rotate the arm 94 in the clockwise direction about the shaft thereby to unlatch the crankpin 91. For this purpose the shaft 95 is extended through one of the side plates of the supporting structure 29 and through the wall of the cover I3 so that a-portion of the shaft 95 projects outside the cover I3. To this exteriorly extending portion of the shaft 95 there is keyed a manual crank 99 which has-an opening 99' at its outer end. To close the contacts, an operator merely inserts a switch hook into the opening 99' of the arm 99 and pulls downwardly. This operation releases the pin 91 from the hooked portion 96 of the arm 94, and the armature 4'! and parts associated therewith then are free to move downwardly to the contact closed position. Coincident with this manual closing operation, opening pawl 64 and closing pawl 92 encounter their holdout pins 89 and 8I, respectively, thereby moving them out of contact with the ratchet wheel periphery so that the mechanism would reset under the action of spring 99 and the winding mechanism associated therewith. This resetting movement is slow because the verge member 18 retards the otherwise free movement of the gear train irrespective of the direction of rotation.

For manually opening and closing the contacts, an external crank arm I99 is provided which is pivotally mounted upon the pin I9I which is secured to the side walls of the cover I3. Arm I99 has an opening I92 at its right-hand end. An internal crank arm I93 is secured to the left-hand end of crank arm I99 and, hence, is movable therewith. A link I94 is pivotally connected at I95 to the internal arm I 93. A pin I99 is mounted on the closing pawl carrier arm 83 and isslidable within a slot I9'I in the lower part of link I94. The lost motion slot I91 permits the manual bell crank to idle when the mechanism is operating automatically.

vIn order to open the contacts, an operator inserts a switch hook into the opening I92 of the arm I99 and pulls downwardly. This action cranks the pin I95 upwardly thereby elevating the rod 59 and armature 47 through the link 86, and the contact 2 accordingly snaps open. The contact will be held in the open position because pin I95 will have rotated about the pin I9I to an over-center position with respect to pin I9I.

In order to close the contacts after they have been manually opened, it is only necessary for the operator to insert the switch hook into the opening I92 in the arm I99 and to push it upwardly back to the position shown. Although this manual closing action may be done smartly because of the lost motion slot I9I, the actual rclosingoperation will be attended with timedelay *because the closingpawl 82 will have enaged theratchet wheel just as in the first automatic opening operation.

Theabove-described mechanism may be simply and easily converted to a device which is capable ofzautomatically locking the contacts in the .closed position after a predetermined number of opening and reclosing operations by modifying the-mechanism as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. To this'rend, I provide means. which becomes effective for preventing upward movement of the carrier arm 66 from its down position at the termination of the reclosing cycle thereby to render the armature impotent to respond to the energized coil. In other-words, whereas arm 65 is held up for locking the contacts open, this arm is held down for locking them closed. For achieving this purpose, the supporting member I ll) .is secured-to the fixed structure 20 by any suitable means and a push rod H! is slidably mounted therethrough in an opening therein. A compressional return spring 2 bears against a surface of the member H and against the enlarged end portion I [3 of the rod III. A cam H4 is eccentrically mounted on and secured to the shaft 14 for rotation with the ratchet wheel 1-5 which, as explained above, is secured to and rotatable with the pinion 73. In Figs. 6 and -'7 the shaft 14 is shown to the right of the ratchet Wheel 69 while in Fig. 2 the shaft 14 and parts associated therewith are shown to the left of the ratchet wheel. It will be understood that the location of these parts is not critical and that the parts could function equally well in either position. The supporting shaft H5 is: 'secured to the supporting structure 2!) and has mounted ,pivotally thereon the hook catch mem-- ber H6. The member H6 is rotatable about the shaft H5 and has a hooked portion Ill constituting a catch at its upper right-hand end. The rod III is constructed with an enlarged threaded portion 1 l8 at its lower left-hand end. The nut H9 affords a bearing surface for the compression spring 120. The spring I2!) also bears against a laterally projecting surface l2l of the catch I IS, the nut I22 providing adjustment for holding the catch H6 in its proper place with respect to the arm 66. In other words, the catch H6 is resiliently coupled to its operating push rod II I.

In Fig. 6 the parts are shown with the' breaker occupying its closed position. In this arrangement, no provision for delayed opening is contemplated, for the opening pawl M has been omitted from the carrier arm 56. Accordingly, only a predetermined sequence of time-delayed reclosures contributes to the advancement of the ratchet wheel 69 from the position shown in Fig 6 to that shown in Fig '7. This rotation of ratchet wheel 59 will be accompanied by rotation of pinion 13 (of Fig. 1) and the associated eccentric cam H4. With the parts shown in the closed position, as in Fig 6, the arm 66 is free to move about the shaft 6'5 without interference by the hooked end ll! of the arm H6. When the eccentric cam H4 has revolved from the position shown in Fig. 6 to that shown in Fig. l, the rod III will have been moved downwardly and to the left against the urge of its return spring H2 due to the engagement of eccentric cam H4 and the enlarged portion H3 of the rod ill. This motion of the rod III will rotate the catch H6 in the clockwise direction about the fixed shaft H5 and, after a predetermined angular displacement of ratchet wheel 69, the hooked portion I I1 .10 of the catch H 6 will be in a position effectivelyto 'block clockwise rotation of the armtfi as shown in Fig. 7. The resilient connection afforded by spring I20 allows the arm 66 to fall into catching relation in the event that catch H6 has moved over while the arm 66 happens to be moving in the region above the catch H6. Thus the armature 4'! will be prevented from moving upwardly even though an excessively high current may be flowing through the interrupter. The fault will then be forced to either burnits'elf out,

to blow an appropriate fuse, orto trip the station breaker.

While the arm E56 cannot rotate in the clockwise direction about the shaft 6'! during a lockclosed operation, the ratchet wheel 69, which has been freed to back-track by the pawl 82 striking its stop pin 81., will thereupon be rotated back -to the reset vpositionshown in Fig. 6 by theaction of spring 99 and apparatus associated therewith so that the mechanism will be in readiness to perform a subsequent series of operations within a fairly short time after the device has automatically locked in the closedcircuit position. Upon clearance of the fault orthe opening of a backup .fuse or breaker, the upward force-on-the mechanism parts will be removed so that the arm 65 will fall back against its stop I23, thereby permitting the catch H6 freedom to swing back to its normal position, as in Fig. 6, in accordance with the resetting operation. 1

At any time during the reclosing cycle after the occurrence of a fault condition, the mechanism will automatically reset if the fault is re moved, either by burning itself out or by being cleared by a fuse or the station breaker or an-.

other recloser.

While I have shown and described particular embodiments of my invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from my inventionin its broader aspects and I, therefore, intend in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as .fall within the true spirit and'scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In an electric circuit reclosing device, relav ti-vely movable interrupting contacts, electromagnetic means having a coil and an armature, said armature beingxoperably related by a lost motion connection with -af:movable one of said contacts and being responsive to predetermined fault current .in said coil for imparting opening movement to said 'movable o'ne of'said contactsa timing mechanism including a ratchet wheel haying a smooth and notched portion about its periphery, an opening pawl normally disposed to engage a smooth portion of said ratchet wheel, a connecting member directly attaching said pawl with said armature, said pawl and armature being movable in response to predetermined energization of said coil, means for closing said contacts, a closing pawl, a second connecting member directly connecting said armature with said closing pawl, said closing pawl being engageable with a notched portion of said ratchet wheel after completion of a circuit interrupting operation to delay closing of said contacts, a notched portion of said ratchet wheel being en- I gageable by said opening pawl after a predetermined advancement of said ratchet wheel to render said opening pawl effective to delay opening movement of said armature.

2. In an electric circuit reclosing device, rela tively movable interrupting contacts, electromagnetic means having a coil and an armature, said armature being operably related by a lost motion connection with a movable one of said contacts and being responsive to predetermined fault current in said coil for imparting opening movement to said movable one of said contacts, a

timing mechanism including a ratchet wheel, an

opening pawl, a connecting member directly attaching said pawl with said armature, said pawl and armature being movable in response to predetermined energization of said coil, said ratchet wheel being engageable by said opening pawl to delay an opening movement of said armature and of said contacts, means for closing said con tacts, a closing pawl, a second connecting member directly connecting said armature with said closing pawl, said closing pawl being arranged to engage said ratchet wheel after completion of a circuit interrupting operation to delay closing movement of said armature and of said contacts, said connecting members being pivotally connected to said armature at a common point.

3. In an electric circuit reclosing device, relatively movable interrupting contacts, electromagnetic means having a coil and an armature, said armature being operably related with a movable one of said contacts by a lost motion connection and being responsive to predetermined fault current in said coil for imparting opening movement to said movable one of said contacts, a timing mechanism including a ratchet wheel having a smooth and a notched portion about its periphery, an opening pawl normally disposed to engage said smooth portion of said ratchet wheel, a connecting member directly attaching said opening pawl with said armature, said opening pawl and armature being movable in response to predetermined energization of said coil, means for closing said contacts, a closing pawl, and a second connecting member directly connecting said armature with said closing pawl, said closing pawl being arranged to engage said ratchet wheel after completion of a circuit interrupting operation to delay closing movement of said armature and of said contacts.

4. In an electric circuit reclosing device, relatively movable interrupting contacts, electromagnetic means having a coil and an armature, said armature being operably related with a movable one of said contacts by a lost motion connection and being responsive to predetermined fault current in said coil for imparting opening movement to said movable one of said contacts, a timing mechanism including a ratchet wheel, an opening pawl, a connecting member directly attaching said pawl with said armature,.said pawl and armature being movable in response to predetermined energization of said coil, said ratchet wheel being engageable by said opening pawl to delay an opening movement of said armature and of said contacts, means for closing said contacts, a closing pawl, and a second connecting member directly attaching said armature with said closing pawl, said closing pawl being engageable with said ratchet wheel after completion of a circuit interrupting operation to delay closing of said contacts.

5. In an electric circuit reclosing device, relatively movable interrupting contacts, electromagnetic means having a coil and an armature, said armature being operably related with a movable one of said contacts by a lost motion toggle connection having a normally overcenter position corresponding to the closed position of said movable one of said contacts and being responsive to predetermined fault current in said coil for opening said movable one of said contacts, said lost motion toggle connection being eifective to cause said contacts to remain closed until after predetermined opening movement of said armature, a timing mechanism including a ratchet wheel, an opening pawl, a connecting member directly attaching said pawl with said armature, said pawl and armature being movable in response to predetermined energization of said coil, said ratchet wheel being engageable by said opening pawl to delay an opening movement of said armature thereby to prevent operation of said toggle and opening of said movable one of said contacts until a major portion of the opening movement of said armature is completed, means for closing said contacts, a closing pawl, a second connecting member directly atttaching said armature with said closing pawl, said closing pawl being engageable with said ratchet wheel during a closing movement of said armature to delay closing movement thereof and of said movable one of said contacts until said toggle is moved over center.

BRYCE W. WYMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,069,082 Walle Jan. 26, 1937 2,414,786 Lincks Jan. 21,1947 2,464,303 Gesellschap Mar. 15, 1949 2,487,025 Matthews Nov. 1, 1949

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