US3599130A - Circuit interrupter - Google Patents

Circuit interrupter Download PDF

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Publication number
US3599130A
US3599130A US840728A US3599130DA US3599130A US 3599130 A US3599130 A US 3599130A US 840728 A US840728 A US 840728A US 3599130D A US3599130D A US 3599130DA US 3599130 A US3599130 A US 3599130A
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
movable contact
trip plate
contact arm
trip
movable
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
US840728A
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English (en)
Inventor
Wasaburo Murai
Kiyoshi Hiroi
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Terasaki Electric Co Ltd
Original Assignee
Terasaki Electric Co Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Terasaki Electric Co Ltd filed Critical Terasaki Electric Co Ltd
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US3599130A publication Critical patent/US3599130A/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01H—ELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
    • H01H71/00—Details of the protective switches or relays covered by groups H01H73/00 - H01H83/00
    • H01H71/10—Operating or release mechanisms
    • H01H71/50—Manual reset mechanisms which may be also used for manual release
    • H01H71/503—Means for increasing the opening stroke of the contacts

Definitions

  • a circuit interrupter comprises a trip plate including a stop for limiting the stroke of a movable contact arm.
  • an object of the invention is to provide a circuit breaker capable of changing the separation distance between the contacts from a small magnitude for manual opening operation to a large magnitude for automatic opening operation and wherein there is provided an improved mechanism by which the operation is rapidly and smoothly performed.
  • a circuit interrupter comprising in combination, a pair of relatively movable contacts, an arm having disposed thereon one of said contacts, a switching mechanism coupled to said movable contact arm for driving said movable contact from its closed position to its open position and vice versa, a trip plate operative to automatically release said movable contact arm to separate said movable contact away from the other contact and a stop disposed on said trip plate to limit the separation movement of said movable contact arm from the other contact, the arrangement being such that upon automatically releasing the movable contact arm, said stopper is moved in a direction to increase the spacing between said pair of contacts as compared with the spacing between the contacts provided through the manual operation of the operating mechanism.
  • FIG. 1 is a side elevational view partly in section of a circuit interrupter in its closed position constructed in accordance with the teachings of the invention.
  • FIG. 2 is a schematic side elevational view of one portion of the circuit interrupter illustrated in FIG. 1 useful in explaining the operation of the invention.
  • FIG. 1 there is illustrated a three-pole circuit interrupter constructed in accordance with the teachings of the invention.
  • the arrangement illustrated comprises a base member 2 and a detachable cover member 4 forming a closed enclosure. Both the members may be conveniently made of any suitable electrically insulating plastic by a moulding technique.
  • Disposed at the bottom of the enclosure is a stationary contact 6 connected by way of an electric conductor 8 to a source terminal 10.
  • a movable contact arm 12 of any suitable electrically conductive material is provided at that end facing the stationary contact 6 with a movable contact 14 and is rotatably secured by a pin 16 to a contact holder 18 pivotally mounted on an electrically insulating shaft 20 common to all the poles.
  • the movable contact arm 12 is always biased toward the stationary contact 6 by the action of a spring 21 disposed around the pin 16 and is connected to a connector 22 through a flexible conductor 24.
  • an operating mechanism generally designated by the reference numeral 26 including an operating handle 28, an operating lever 30, operating springs 32 and a trip plate 34.
  • the operating handle 28 is made of any suitable electrically insulating material and is fixedly mounted on one end of the operating lever 30 with the other end portion projecting beyond the cover member 4.
  • the operating lever 30 is of an inverted U- shape section and is pivotably mounted at the other end on a pin 36 secured to a stationary frame 38.
  • the operating springs 32 are anchored at one end to the one end portion of the lever 30 and are rotatably mounted on a toggle shaft 40.
  • the trip plate 34 is in the form of a bell crank including one arm pivotably mounted on the frame 38 by a pivot pin 42.
  • the trip plate 34 is adapted to be contacted at the free end 34a by the contact arm 12 thereby to prevent the arm from effecting a further movement in a direction to separate the movable contact 14 from the stationary contact 6.
  • the trip plate 34 is further provided on the middle portion with a toggle pin 44.
  • a toggle link 46 is pivotably mounted at one end on the toggle pin 44 and articulated at the other end to another toggle link 48 by the toggle shaft 40.
  • the toggle link 48 has its free end connected to the pin 16 along with the contact holder 18 and movable contact arm 12.
  • the trip plate 34 normally engages a trip hook 50. More specifically, the trip hook 50 is rotatably supported on the stationary frame 38 by a pin 52 secured to the latter and includes a flat section generally upwardly directed and is provided on the upper end portion with a slot 54 which, in turn, normally engages the free end 341) of the other arm of the trip plate 34.
  • a trip shaft 56 common to all the poles is rotatably supported by the stationary frame 38 and adjacent the trip hook 50.
  • the shaft has fixedly secured thereon a protrusion 58 normally engaging the trip hook 50, under the action of a spring 60 disposed around the pin 52.
  • the shaft 56 has further fixed thereon one trip piece 62 for each pole.
  • the arrangement further comprises an electromagnetically and thermally responsive device generally designated by the reference numeral 64.
  • the device 64 includes a stationary electromagnet 66 having a cylindrical portion 66a around which a conductor 68 is wound.
  • the conductor 68 has one end connected to the flexible conductor 24 through the connector 22 and the other end connected to one end of heater 70.
  • the heater 70 has the other end connected to a conductor 72 connected to a load terminal 74.
  • An L-shaped bimetal element 76 is disposed in close proximity to the heater 70 by having the lower shorter leg of the L mechanically connected to the adjacent portion of the heater 70 and there is controllably screw threaded into the upper end of the other leg an adjusting screw 78 facing both the free end of the trip piece 62 and one end of a movable iron piece 80.
  • the movable iron piece 80 is rotatably secured at a point intermediate the two ends to the stationary frame 38 by a pin 82 and has the other end portion opposed to the stationary electromagnet 66.
  • a spring 84 engages the pin 82 to normally maintain the movable iron piece 80 spaced away from the electromagnet 66. Under these circumstance, the one end of the iron piece 80 is slightly spaced away from the end of the adjusting screw 78.
  • an arc-extinguishing space 86 having a conventional construction is disposed in the region of the movable contact arm 14 as shown in FIG. 1.
  • the operating handle 28 can be turned to the OFF side or in the righthand direction as viewed in FIG. 1.
  • This turning movement of the operating handle 28 causes the pair of toggle links 46 and 48 to be folded into a V-shape due to the reversal of the line of action of the operating springs 32 which pull up the pin 16 on the movable contact arm 12. Therefore the movable contact arm 12 is rotated about the axis of the shaft 20 in the clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1 until it abuts against the lower end 34a of the trip plate 34 whereupon the arm is stopped at its position as shown at solid line in FIG. 2, resulting in the completion of the particular manual opening operation.
  • the movable contact 14 is maintained spaced away from the surface of the stationary contact 6 by a minimum distance L,,. It is easily understood that a manual closing operation can be accomplished by turning the operating handle 28 in the left-hand direction as viewed in FIG. 1.
  • the bimetal element 76 Upon the occurrence of a flow of overload current through the interrupter in its closed position, the bimetal element 76 is excessively heated and is deflected so that the free end thereof pushes the trip piece 62. This causes the trip shaft 56 and therefore its protrusion 58 to be rotated in the counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1 against the action of the spring 60 until the protrusion falls into the slot 54 on the trip hook 50. At that time the end 34b of the trip plate 34 disengages from the trip hook 50 to permit that plate to be rotated in a counterclockwise direction by the action of the operating spring 32 through the toggle link 46. This rotational movement of the trip plate 34 causes the toggle links 46 and 48 to collapse resulting from the reversal of the line of action of the spring 32 thereby to pull up the contact holder until the interrupter is in its open position.
  • the movable contact ann 12 is located at the position as shown by dotand-dash lines in FIG. 2. It is to be noted that with the tripping operation the movable contact 12 has been separated from the surface of the stationary contact 6 by a maximum distance L greater than the minimum distance of L obtained with the manual opening for the following reason:
  • the operating handle 28 is manually operated to separate the movable contact 14 from the stationary contact 6 a relatively small distance L
  • the lower end of the .bellcrank-shaped trip plate 34 is moved to permit the movable contact 14 to be moved away from the stationary contact 6 a distance greater than that obtained in the manual operation of the handle 28. Therefore the invention is advantageous in that for the normal switching operation, damage to the flexible conductor 24 and chattering of the movable contact arm 12 greatly decreases leading to an increase in durability because a relatively small separation distance permits the reasonable construction of circuit interrupters.
  • a relatively long separation distance obtained in a tripping operation or an automatic interrupting operation which results in an increase in interrupting capability.
  • a circuit interrupter comprising in combination a pair of relatively movable contacts, a movable contact arm having dispose thereon one of said contacts, a switching mechanism coupled to said movable contact arm for driving said movable contact from a closed position to an open position and vice versa, a trip plate pivotally mounted on said switching mechanism, a pair of foldable toggle links pivotably coupled at one end to the contact arm and at the other end to said trip plate, said trip plate normally being held in a first position and operative to be pivoted to a second position to actuate said toggle links and automatically actuate said switching mechanism to move said movable contact arm to separate said movable contact from the other contact upon flow of an excessive current, and a stop on said trip plate adjacent the pivotal mounting of said trip plate to limit the movement of said movable contact arm away from the other contact, the stop being in a position when the trip plate is in the second position which increases the distance the movable contact moves away from the other contact as compared with the distance the movable contact arm can move with the

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US840728A 1968-07-15 1969-07-10 Circuit interrupter Expired - Lifetime US3599130A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP43048999A JPS492468B1 (ja) 1968-07-15 1968-07-15

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3599130A true US3599130A (en) 1971-08-10

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Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US840728A Expired - Lifetime US3599130A (en) 1968-07-15 1969-07-10 Circuit interrupter

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US (1) US3599130A (ja)
JP (1) JPS492468B1 (ja)

Cited By (17)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3849748A (en) * 1973-12-04 1974-11-19 Ite Circuit Breaker Ltd Small circuit breaker having large contact separation
US4346356A (en) * 1980-02-19 1982-08-24 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Circuit breaker with increased contact separation
EP0061097A2 (en) * 1981-03-12 1982-09-29 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Circuit breaker
US4409445A (en) * 1980-12-09 1983-10-11 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Circuit breaker
US4409444A (en) * 1980-12-09 1983-10-11 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Circuit breaker
US4451718A (en) * 1981-02-27 1984-05-29 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Circuit breaker
US4453053A (en) * 1981-07-21 1984-06-05 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Circuit breaker with arc restricting device
US4454395A (en) * 1981-02-27 1984-06-12 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Circuit breaker
US4459445A (en) * 1981-03-02 1984-07-10 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Circuit breaker
US4514709A (en) * 1982-03-31 1985-04-30 Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. Circuit breaker
EP0206249A2 (en) * 1985-05-10 1986-12-30 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Circuit breaker
EP0233322A2 (en) * 1981-03-12 1987-08-26 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha A circuit breaker
EP0233323A2 (en) * 1981-03-12 1987-08-26 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha A circuit breaker
US4771258A (en) * 1987-10-29 1988-09-13 General Electric Company Molded case circuit breaker bimetal with high calibration yield
WO1995022161A1 (de) * 1994-02-09 1995-08-17 Klöckner-Moeller Gmbh Niederspannungs-leistungsschalter mit relativ-hilfsschalter
FR2799574A1 (fr) * 1999-10-11 2001-04-13 Schneider Electric Ind Sa Contacteur-disjoncteur
US6472971B2 (en) * 2000-03-06 2002-10-29 Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. Circuit breaker

Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3305806A (en) * 1964-08-07 1967-02-21 Murray Mfg Corp Automatically resettable circuit breaker having two serially connected toggles
US3475711A (en) * 1967-05-17 1969-10-28 Gen Electric Electric circuit breaker operating mechanism and assembly thereof

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3305806A (en) * 1964-08-07 1967-02-21 Murray Mfg Corp Automatically resettable circuit breaker having two serially connected toggles
US3475711A (en) * 1967-05-17 1969-10-28 Gen Electric Electric circuit breaker operating mechanism and assembly thereof

Cited By (23)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3849748A (en) * 1973-12-04 1974-11-19 Ite Circuit Breaker Ltd Small circuit breaker having large contact separation
US4346356A (en) * 1980-02-19 1982-08-24 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Circuit breaker with increased contact separation
US4409445A (en) * 1980-12-09 1983-10-11 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Circuit breaker
US4409444A (en) * 1980-12-09 1983-10-11 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Circuit breaker
US4451718A (en) * 1981-02-27 1984-05-29 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Circuit breaker
US4454395A (en) * 1981-02-27 1984-06-12 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Circuit breaker
US4459445A (en) * 1981-03-02 1984-07-10 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Circuit breaker
EP0061097A3 (en) * 1981-03-12 1983-07-27 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Circuit breaker
EP0233322A3 (en) * 1981-03-12 1987-09-16 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha A circuit breaker
EP0061097A2 (en) * 1981-03-12 1982-09-29 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Circuit breaker
EP0233323B1 (en) * 1981-03-12 1991-10-16 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha A circuit breaker
EP0233322A2 (en) * 1981-03-12 1987-08-26 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha A circuit breaker
EP0233323A2 (en) * 1981-03-12 1987-08-26 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha A circuit breaker
US4453053A (en) * 1981-07-21 1984-06-05 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Circuit breaker with arc restricting device
US4514709A (en) * 1982-03-31 1985-04-30 Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. Circuit breaker
EP0206249A3 (en) * 1985-05-10 1988-01-20 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Circuit breaker
EP0206249A2 (en) * 1985-05-10 1986-12-30 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Circuit breaker
US4771258A (en) * 1987-10-29 1988-09-13 General Electric Company Molded case circuit breaker bimetal with high calibration yield
WO1995022161A1 (de) * 1994-02-09 1995-08-17 Klöckner-Moeller Gmbh Niederspannungs-leistungsschalter mit relativ-hilfsschalter
US5774031A (en) * 1994-02-09 1998-06-30 Klockner-Moeller Gmbh Low-voltage power switch with relative auxiliary switch
FR2799574A1 (fr) * 1999-10-11 2001-04-13 Schneider Electric Ind Sa Contacteur-disjoncteur
DE10050081B4 (de) * 1999-10-11 2021-02-25 Schneider Electric Industries S.A. Schaltschütz
US6472971B2 (en) * 2000-03-06 2002-10-29 Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. Circuit breaker

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JPS492468B1 (ja) 1974-01-21

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