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US 4,276,526 AGranted
Miniature current limiting circuit breaker
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsRonald D. Ciarcia, Robert L. Owens
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A miniature current limiting circuit breaker incorporates double break circuit interrupting contacts capable of being abruptly separated by a high fault current responsive solenoid acting to first trip the breaker mechanism and then forcibly effect contact separation. The arc chamber is constructed to achieve enhanced blowout of the arc into the arc chute and to develop gas pressures acting to accelerate contact separation. The circuit breaker is trip-free and includes both thermal tripping and internal common tripping capabilities.
Claims27
A circuit breaker comprising, in combination:
- A. a molded insulative case consisting of a base and a cover;
- B. a manual operating handle mounted within said case for movement between ON and OFF positions;
- C. a mechanism frame positionally mounted in said base;
- D. at least one stationary contact positionally mounted in said base;
- E. at least one movable contact;
- F. an elongated movable contact operating arm movably mounted by said frame, one end of said arm operatively coupled with said movable contact such that movement of said arm in a closing direction propels said movable contact into engaging relation with said stationary contact and movement of said arm in an opposite, opening direction propels said movable contact away from engaging relation with said stationary contact;
- G. a spring continuously biasing said arm for movement in said opening direction;
- H. a latch element carried by the other end of said arm;
- I. an elongated, pivotal latch lever coupled with said handle and having a latching shoulder latchingly engaging said latch element to translate the movement of said handle between its ON and OFF positions into movement of said arm in said closing and opening directions to effect manual breaker operation, said handle cooperating with said frame to vary the pivotal mounting location of said latch lever pursuant to maintaining its angular relationship with said arm essentially constant during manual breaker operation;
- and
- J. trip means acting on said latch lever to disengage said latching shoulder from said latch element in response to current of overcurrent proportions flowing through the engaged stationary and movable contacts, whereby to decouple said handle from said arm and permit opening movement of said arm by said spring independently of said handle.
8 more elements
A circuit breaker comprising, in combination:
- A. a molded insulative case consisting of a base and a cover;
- B. a manual operating handle mounted within said case for movement between ON and OFF positions;
- C. a mechanism frame positionally mounted in said base;
- D. a pair of stationary contacts positionally mounted within said base;
- E. a pair of movable contacts carried by a conductive bridging member;
- F. a shuttle mounting said bridging member and slidingly mounted within said case for reciprocating movement between a closed position with said stationary and movable contacts in respective engaging relation and an open position with said stationary and movable contacts in disengaged relation;
- G. an elongated movable contact arm pivotally mounted intermediate its ends by said frame, one end of said arm operatively coupled with said shuttle such that pivotal movement of said arm in a contact engaging direction propels said shuttle to its closed position and pivotal movement of said arm in an opposite, disengaging direction propels said shuttle to its open position;
- H. a spring continuously biasing said arm in said disengaging direction;
- I. a latch element carried by the other end of said arm;
- J. an elongated latch lever cooperatively pivotally mounted by said handle and said frame, said latch lever having a latching shoulder normally latchingly engaging said latch element to translate the movement of said handle between its ON and OFF positions into pivotal movement of said arm in said engaging and disengaging directions, respectively, to effect manual breaker operation;
- K. a primary trip lever mounted by said frame for pivotal movement from a quiescent position into tripping engagement with said latch lever effective in decoupling said handle from said arm, whereby said arm is pivoted by said spring in said contact disengaging direction;
- and
- L. a trip solenoid having a coil conducting the current flowing through the engaged stationary and movable contacts and a plunger normally biased to an extended position, said plunger operatively coupled with said primary trip lever and said arm such that magnetic retraction thereof in response to the flow of fault current through said coil first pivots said primary trip lever into tripping engagement with said latch lever and then propels said arm in said contact disengaging direction.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.