Switch and circuit breaker combination device

A device for protecting an electrical load from electrical current overload, comprising:

• (a) a housing;
• (b) electrical switching means on the housing and including an actuatable switch element movable between open and closed positions to respectively prevent and enable electrical current to flow through the switching means;
• (c) resettable circuit breaker means in the housing for interrupting current flow to the load in response to a current overload, and for preventing resumption of the current flow until the breaker means is reset, said breaker means being electrically connected in series with the switching means and including a latch element and a resettable trip element, said latch element being movable along a path in response to the current overload from a latched position to a tripped position in which the latch and trip elements are respectively latched and unlatched relative to each other;
• (d) actuator means for resetting the trip element from the tripped to the latched position, and for simultaneously moving the switch element from the closed to the open position to prevent current from flowing to the load during resetting, said actuator means being further operative for moving the switch element from the open to the closed position while maintaining the trip element in the latched position to enable current to resume flowing to the load after resetting, said actuator means including an actuator mounted on the housing for manual displacement;
• (e) means for mounting the switch element on the actuator for joint displacement therewith;
• and
• (f) means for mounting the trip element on the actuator for joint displacement therewith during resetting, said trip element being biasingly urged for displacement relative to the actuator away from said path to the tripped position and maintained at a distance from and out of engagement with, the latch element until the breaker means is reset.