Circuit breaker with advanced health diagnostics

A method of monitoring performance of a mechanical trip mechanism during opening operations of a circuit interrupter, the method comprising:

• positioning a D-shaft sensor to track a position of a D-shaft of the mechanical trip mechanism;
• positioning a pole shaft sensor to track a position of a pole shaft of the mechanical trip mechanism;
• time stamping, with a microprocessor, a first time at which the D-shaft begins moving from its closed position to its open position;
• time stamping, with the microprocessor, a second time at which the pole shaft reaches its open position;
• determining, with the microprocessor, a mechanism performance time of the mechanical trip mechanism by subtracting the first time from the second time;
• and
• determining, with a trip unit of the circuit interrupter, whether or not the circuit interrupter requires servicing based on the mechanism performance time,
• wherein the D-shaft is configured to be actuated by the trip unit upon detection of a trip condition by the trip unit,
• wherein an operating mechanism of the mechanical trip mechanism is configured to be actuated by the D-shaft,
• wherein the pole shaft is configured to be actuated by the operating mechanism,
• wherein the pole shaft is configured to open separable contacts of the circuit interrupter, and
• wherein the separable contacts are structured to be closed when the D-shaft is in its closed position and structured to be open when the pole shaft is in its open position.

A diagnostic system for monitoring performance of a mechanical trip mechanism of a circuit interrupter, with the mechanical trip mechanism comprising:

• a D-shaft structured to be actuated by a trip unit;
• an operating mechanism structured to be actuated by the D-shaft;
• and a pole shaft structured to be actuated by the operating mechanism and to separate a moving separable contact from a stationary separable contact, the diagnostic system comprising:
• a D-shaft sensor structured to be fixedly positioned in proximity to the D-shaft and to track a position of the D-shaft;
• a pole shaft sensor structured to be fixedly positioned in proximity to the pole shaft and to track a position of the pole shaft;
• and
• a microprocessor in electrical communication with the D-shaft sensor and the pole shaft sensor,
• wherein, for each opening operation of the circuit interrupter, the microprocessor is configured to:
• time stamp a first time at which the D-shaft begins rotating to its open position,
• time stamp a second time at which the pole shaft reaches its open position,
• determine a mechanism performance time of the mechanical trip mechanism by subtracting the first time from the second time, and
• transmit the mechanism performance time to the trip unit to enable the trip unit to determine whether or not the circuit interrupter requires servicing based on the mechanism performance time.