Compact current limiting circuit breaker

A current limiting circuit breaker comprising:

• a molded plastic case and cover arranged in a predetermined plane;
• a pair of separable contacts within said case controlled by an operating mechanism;
• a movable contact arm supporting one of said contacts and arranged for driving said one contact to an open position upon the occurrence of a short-circuit condition through said separable contacts;
• an electronic trip circuit within said cover and arranged for articulating said operating mechanism upon occurrence of overcurrent conditions through said separable contacts longer than predetermined time periods to cause said movable contact and said one contact to move to their open positions;
• a magnetic drive device arranged about said movable contact arm and consisting of a stack of U-shaped magnetic laminations having means integrally-formed therein for automatically aligning each of said laminations within said stack, said aligning means comprising a plurality of projections on one surface of each of said laminations and a corresponding plurality of depressions on an opposite surface thereof whereby one of said projections on one of said laminations is received within one of said depressions on another of said laminations;
• a plastic support comprising a U-shaped member having a pair of depending legs joined by a bight and including a pocket formed outboard each of said support legs flexibly retaining said laminations on said support, said laminations comprising a pair of planar legs joined by a planar bight;
• and
• an arc chute arranged proximate said magnetic drive device for receiving an arc generated when said contacts become separated and cooling and extinguishing said arc to completely interrupt circuit current through said contacts.