Current limiting circuit breaker

A circuit breaker having a stationary contact, a movable contact, a blade having said movable contact attached at one end, said blade being movable between an open position and a closed position, wherein said movable contact engages said stationary contact when said blade is in the closed position, an operating mechanism for moving said blade between the open position and the closed position, thereby opening and closing said contacts, a main latch for holding the operating mechanism in the closed position, and a trip system for sensing current flowing through the contacts and initiating separation of the contacts by said operating mechanism when the current exceeds a predetermined amount, said trip system comprising:

• a housing;
• a current path within said housing;
• a magnetic adjust cross bar rotationally secured in said housing for adjusting the level of the predetermined amount of current at which said trip system initiates separation of the contacts;
• a trip cross bar rotationally secured in said housing;
• a magnetic circuit comprising a metallic yoke which surrounds said current path and an armature plate physically coupled to said magnetic adjust cross bar and magnetically coupled to said yoke whereby when current flows through said current path a magnetic flux is generated that flows through said yoke and said armature plate generating a magnetic force which pulls said armature plate towards said yoke, as the current flowing through the current path increases and exceeds the predetermined amount the magnetic force increases causing said armature plate to move closer to said yoke and pulling an armature hook, which is attached to said armature plate, into engagement with said trip cross bar thereby causing said cross bar to rotate and thereby actuate said operating mechanism to initiate the separation of the contacts;
• and
• adjustment means for linearly adjusting the amount of predetermined current at which said trip system initiates separation of the contacts.