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US 4,609,898 AGranted
Molded case circuit breaker having a thermoplastic cover
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsRaymond K. Seymour, Roger J. Morgan, Stephen F. Gillette
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A residential circuit breaker design provides heat sink facility to the current carrying members within a thermoset plastic base. A thermoplastic plastic cover is ribbed internally to minimize contact between the interior of the cover and current carrying components. The thermoplastic cover results in a substantial savings in material costs since the thermoplastic waste material is recoverable and re-useable.
Claims7
An electric circuit breaker comprising:
- a molded thermoplastic plastic cover having a first angled arc barrier and a contact blade guide extending perpendicular from a bottom surface;
- a molded thermoset plastic case having a complementary second angled arc barrier extending from a bottom surface for abutting said first arc barrier, to define a contact blade slot;
- first and second barriers defining a load strap slot integrally formed within said case bottom surface for receiving a load strap in pressfit relation to said slot, said load strap being connected with a magnetic trip unit and a bimetal;
- a contact blade pivotally mounted on said base within said contact blade slot and electrically connecting between a movable contact at one end and a fixed contact within said case;
- a contact braid connecting an end of said contact blade opposite said movable contact with said bimetal;
- and
- a cradle pivotally mounted on said base for latchably connecting a hooked end with said trip unit, said cradle being arranged intermediate said thermoplastic cover and said contact braid for heat shielding said thermoplastic cover from said contact braid.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.