Mechanical fuse striker
AssigneeABB Schweiz AG
InventorsMatthew Cawood, Aaron Motes
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A strike pin assembly for a fuse assembly in which the strike pin assembly is maintained in a locked position by a holding force of a filament and an interference provided by a plurality of retention bodies. Upon a breakage of the filament, such as, for example, in response to heat generated by operation of a fuse element, a trigger can be displaced via a first biasing force in a distal direction such that the trigger is positioned at a location that does not impede an inward displacement of a plurality of retention bodies from a recess of a firing pin. Upon the inward displacement of the retention bodies, a second biasing force can displace the firing pin in the distal direction such that a portion of the firing pin can protrude out from an adapter of the strike pin assembly.
Claims17
A fuse assembly comprising:
- a casing having an interior region, the interior region housing at least a portion of a fuse element and a filament;
- and
- a strike pin assembly comprising:
- a cap coupled to the casing, the cap having a plurality of openings;
- an adapter coupled to the cap;
- a firing pin housed within the adapter, at least a distal end of the cap being positioned within an aperture of the firing pin when the strike pin assembly is at a locked position, the aperture having a recess that is separated from a proximate end of the firing pin by a retention wall, at least a portion of the firing pin sized to be displaced to a position outside of the adapter upon a release of the strike pin assembly from the locked position;
- a plurality of retention bodies, at least a portion of the plurality of retention bodies being positioned, when the strike pin assembly is at the locked position, within the recess and at least partially extending into an adjacent opening of the plurality of openings of the cap;
- a trigger being releasably secured within a cavity of the cap by the filament when the strike pin assembly is in the locked position, at least a portion of an engagement section of the trigger being positioned adjacent to the plurality of openings when the strike pin assembly is in the locked position and sized to prevent removal of the plurality of retention bodies from the recess of the firing pin through the plurality of openings, the trigger further including a recessed section sized to accommodate a displacement of each of the plurality of retention bodies from the recess of the firing pin and at least partially through the plurality of openings and into the cavity of the cap in response to the release of the strike pin assembly from the locked position;
- a first biasing element positioned to displace, in response to a breakage in the filament, the trigger in a distal direction and to a location at which the recessed section accommodates the displacement of each of the plurality of retention bodies;
- and
- a second biasing element positioned to displace the firing pin in the distal direction in response to the displacement of each of the plurality of retention bodies.
A method for operating a strike pin assembly of a fuse assembly comprising:
- releasing a holding force provided by a filament of the fuse assembly on a trigger of the strike pin assembly, the holding force maintaining the trigger at a position that prevents a displacement of a plurality of retention bodies from a recess of a firing pin of the strike pin assembly;
- displacing, upon the release of the holding force and via a biasing force of a first biasing element, the trigger in a first direction toward a distal end of the strike pin assembly;
- displacing, upon displacement of the trigger, the plurality of retention bodies from the recess of the firing pin;
- and
- displacing, in response to the displacement of the plurality of retention bodies and via a biasing force of a second biasing element, the firing pin in the first direction such that a distal end of the firing pin protrudes out of an adapter of the strike pin assembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.