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US 2004/0174661 A1Published application
Low cost safety switch interlock defeat operator
AssigneeEaton Corporation
InventorsBuell E. Gray, Richard D. Prohaska
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for defeating an interlock for an electrical cabinet permits a technician qualified to service the equipment within the cabinet to defeat the interlock and open the cabinet while current is flowing through the equipment therein, while permitting the interlock to continue to resist unauthorized access to the interior of the cabinet.
Claims18
An interlock defeat for an electrical cabinet, the cabinet having a first side, a second side, a top, a bottom, a back, the first side defining an interlock defeat aperture;
- a door hingedly attached to the second side, the door having a hook thereon, adjacent to the first side when the door is closed, a power switch being movable between an on position and an off position, an interlock adjacent to the interlock defeat aperture, the interlock having a latch, the latch having a pivot end pivotally secured adjacent to the first side, and a hook end opposite the pivot end, the latch being operatively connected to the power switch so that the latch's hook end is spring-biased towards and engages the hook when the power switch is in the on position, and the power switch is disengaged from the hook when the power switch is off, the interlock defeat comprising:
- a peg secured within the interlock defeat aperture, the peg having an inside end within the cabinet and an outside end outside the cabinet, the peg being dimensioned and configured to move its inside end towards the latch and push the latch away from the hook, causing the latch to disengage the hook, in response to a force applied to its outside end, the peg being biased towards a position wherein it permits engagement of the hook by the latch.
A cabinet for electrical equipment, the cabinet comprising:
- a first side, a second side, a top, a bottom, and a back, the first side defining an interlock defeat aperture;
- a door hingedly attached to the second side, the door having a hook thereon, adjacent to the first side when the door is closed;
- a power switch being movable between an on position and an off position;
- an interlock adjacent to the interlock defeat aperture, the interlock having a latch, the latch having a pivot end pivotally secured adjacent to the first side, and a hook end opposite the pivot end, the latch being operatively connected to the power switch so that the latch's hook end is spring-biased towards and engages the hook when the power switch is in the on position, and the power switch is disengaged from the hook when the power switch is off;
- and
- an interlock defeat, having a peg secured within the interlock defeat aperture, the peg having an inside end within the cabinet and an outside end outside the cabinet, the peg being dimensioned and configured to move its inside end towards the latch and push the latch away from the hook, causing the latch to disengage the hook, in response to a force applied to its outside end, the peg being biased towards a position wherein it permits engagement of the hook by the latch.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.