Rotary switch and circuit interrupter including the same
AssigneeEaton Intelligent Power Limited
InventorsGeraldo Nojima, Steven Chen, Robert P. Griffin, Koustubh D. Ashtekar
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A rotary switch includes a housing having an interior and an exterior, a plurality of moving contacts entirely disposed within the interior of the housing, a plurality of stationary contacts disposed partially within the interior of the housing and extending to an exterior of the housing, and a rotary element coupled to the plurality of moving contacts and being structured to rotate between a closed state where at least one of the plurality moving contacts contact a corresponding one of the plurality of stationary contacts and an open state where the plurality of moving contacts and the plurality of stationary contacts are separated.
Claims20
A rotary switch comprising:
- a housing having an interior and an exterior;
- a plurality of moving contacts entirely disposed within the interior of the housing;
- a plurality of stationary contacts disposed partially within the interior of the housing and extending to an exterior of the housing;
- and
- a rotary element comprising a cylindrical shaft, the rotary element being coupled to the plurality of moving contacts and being structured to rotate between a closed state where at least one of the plurality of moving contacts contact a corresponding one of the plurality of stationary contacts and an open state where the plurality of moving contacts and the plurality of stationary contacts are separated,
- wherein the rotary element is structured such that, in order for the rotary element to rotate between the closed state and the open state, current must flow concentrically around an axis of the shaft.
A circuit breaker structured to electrically couple between a power source and a load, the circuit breaker comprising:
- a number of rotary switches structured to electrically coupled between the power source and the load, each of the number of rotary switches comprising:
- a housing having an interior and an exterior;
- a plurality of moving contacts entirely disposed within the interior of the housing;
- a plurality of stationary contacts disposed partially within the interior of the housing and extending to an exterior of the housing;
- and
- a rotary element comprising a cylindrical shaft, the rotary element being coupled to the plurality of interior contacts and being structured to rotate between a closed state where at least one of the plurality of moving contacts contact a corresponding one of the plurality of stationary contacts and an open state where the plurality of moving contacts and the plurality of stationary contacts are separated;
- and
- control elements structured to control the rotary element to change between the closed state and the open state,
- wherein, for each of the number of rotary switches, with respect to a plane in which the entire shaft axis lies and which bifurcates the shaft, the rotary element is symmetric with respect to the plane.
A rotary switch comprising:
- a plurality of first contacts;
- a plurality of second contacts;
- a rotary element comprising a cylindrical shaft, the rotary element being coupled to the plurality of first contacts and being structured to rotate between a closed state where at least one of the plurality first contacts contact a corresponding one of the plurality of second contacts and an open state where the plurality of first contacts and the plurality of second contacts are separated;
- and
- a number of latching elements structured to latch the rotary element in the open state or the closed state,
- wherein the rotary element is structured such that, in order for the rotary element to rotate between the closed state and the open state, current must flow concentrically around an axis of the shaft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.