Manual override mechanism for a remote controlled circuit breaker

A remotely controllable circuit breaker device for interrupting power in a circuit path between a source and a load, comprising:

• a housing;
• a first contact and a second contact cooperatively arranged in the circuit path, and within the housing, so as to provide current from the source to the load and at least one of the contacts being secured to a contact carrier which is moved to interrupt the power provided to the load;
• a motor having a rotatable shaft, said motor being responsive to open and close remote control signals generated from a remote location;
• gear driving means, rotatably responsive to the rotatable shaft, for moving said contact carrier so that the circuit path may be interrupted or established, in response to the remote control signals;
• a coupling arrangement, having a first part coupled to said contact carrier and a second part coupled to said gear driving means, operating in a normal mode which is responsive to said gear driving means so that the circuit path is interrupted and established in response to the open and close remote control signals, respectively;
• a slide mechanism, coupled to said gear driving means, which is movable between a fixed position, which renders said coupling arrangement responsive to the remote control signals, and a non-fixed position, which allows free movement thereof and renders said coupling arrangement nonresponsive to the remote control signals;
• a manually operated member supported in said housing and movable between (i) a first position wherein said manually operated member engages and activates said slide mechanism to said fixed position thereby rendering the coupling arrangement responsive to the remote control signals, and (ii) a second position wherein manually operated member is disengaged from and activates said slide mechanism to said non-fixed position, thereby rendering the coupling arrangement non-responsive to the remote control signals;
• and
• releasable holding force means for holding said manually operated member in a forced engagement with said slide mechanism, thereby holding said slide mechanism in said fixed position until the releasable holding means is released, said releasable holding force means forcing said manually operated member to separate from said slide mechanism when said releasable force means is released thereby placing said slide mechanism in said non-fixed position;
• wherein said contact carrier does not move while said slide mechanism moves in response to rotation of said rotatable shaft so that the circuit path is not interrupted and established in response to the remote control signals when said slide mechanism is in said non-fixed position.

In a circuit breaker panelboard having a plurality of circuit breakers arranged to interrupt respective circuit paths feeding respective loads, at least one circuit breaker comprising:

• a housing having an access port;
• a first contact disposed in the housing;
• a second contact, disposed in the housing, movable between at least one open position and a closed position, the second contact being spaced from the first contact in the open position, and the second contact being in contact with the first contact in the closed position;
• movement means, disposed in the housing, for causing the second contact to move between the open position and the closed position;
• a circuit board assembly, disposed in the housing, having circuitry for providing status information to the access port;
• and
• terminal means, disposed in relation to the access port of the housing, for providing communicative access to the circuitry of the circuit board assembly.

A circuit-monitoring arrangement, comprising:

• a circuit breaker for interrupting the current flow in a circuit path between a source and a load, including
• a housing having an access port,
• a first contact disposed in the housing,
• a second contact, disposed in the housing, movable between at least one open position and a closed position, the second contact being spaced from the first contact in the open position, and the second contact being in contact with the first contact in the closed position,
• movement means, disposed in the housing, for causing the second contact to move between the open position and the closed position,
• a circuit board assembly, disposed in the housing, having interface circuitry for providing status information to the access port, and
• terminal means, disposed in relation to the access port of the housing, for providing communicative access to the circuitry of the circuit board assembly;
• and
• a microcomputer means, coupled to the terminal means, for receiving the status information.