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AssigneeSquare D Company
InventorsJames Arthur Heise, Duane Lee Turner, Dennis William Fleege
Estimating the term…
A remotely controllable circuit breaker device for interrupting current in a circuit path between a source and a load includes local and remote monitoring capabilities and a gear mechanism for reliable remote control of the interruption mechanism. The device includes a first contact and a second contact cooperatively arranged in the circuit path so as to provide current from the source to the load. At least one of the contacts is disposed on a contact carrier which is movable for interrupting the current provided to the load. The gear mechanism includes a motor with a rotatable shaft which responds to open and closed control signals generated from a remote location, and a gear, rotatably responsive to the rotatable shaft, for controlling the contact carrier so that the circuit path is interrupted and established, respectively. The gear mechanism controls the contact carrier using a coupling arrangement, which has a first part coupled to the contact carrier and a second part coupled to the gear. A manual override mechanism is utilized to render the coupling arrangement non-responsive to the motor. The manual override mechanism includes a manually operated member interlocked to a slide mechanism which is coupled to the gear. The slide mechanism and gear being in one position to enable the remote control mechanism to be responsive to remote control signals and in another position to disable the remote control mechanism to render it non-responsive to the remote control signals. The manually operated member is biased by a spring so that when it is released from a fixed position it pulls the slide mechanism and thusly the gear into a position where the gear no longer will move the contact carrier in response to rotation of the motor shaft.
A remotely controllable circuit breaker device for interrupting power in a circuit path between a source and a load, comprising:
A remotely controllable circuit breaker device for interrupting power in a circuit path between a source and a load, comprising:
A remotely controllable circuit breaker device for interrupting power in a circuit path between a source and a load, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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No related US applications are recorded in the indexed filing history.
Protective switches, e.g. circuit-breaking switches, or protective relays operated by abnormal electrical conditions otherwise than solely by…:…
Mechanisms for operating contacts: lubricating means structurally associated with the switch
Electric switches
Term ended 23 Aug 2016 (estimated)
USPTO file history isn’t available for this patent, so only indexed dates are shown.
The subject matter of this application is related to a circuit breaker as disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/701,896 entitled "Trip Flag Guide for a Circuit Breaker", U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/703,330 entitled "Coupling Member for Securing a Spring to a Rotatable Motor Shaft" and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/697,383 entitled "Improved Calibration Means for a Circuit Breaker" filed on even date herewith. The above applications have the same assignee as the present invention and are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
The present invention relates generally to remote control circuit breakers and, more particularly, to improvements in the control of remotely controlled circuit breakers.
Remote control circuit breakers are commonly used for temporary interruption of electrical service during peak use hours and for programmable lighting control of industrial locations. By opening and closing on demand from a remote location, these circuit breakers provide a significant improvement over manually operated circuit breakers in terms of convenience.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a remote controlled circuit breaker device according to the present invention, illustrating a housing and a cover;
FIG. 2 is a side view of the circuit breaker of FIG. 1 with the cover removed, showing the circuit breaker in the CLOSED position;
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, a specific embodiment thereof has been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the invention to the particular form described, but, on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Turning now to the drawings and referring specifically to FIGS. 1-5, there is illustrated a remotely controllable circuit breaker device 8 according to the present invention. The circuit breaker device 8 includes an electrically insulative body or housing 10 closed at one face by a detachable cover 12, a line terminal 14 and a load terminal 16 for completing the circuit between the source and load (not shown). More specifically in FIG. 2, the circuit path beginning at the line terminal 14 carries current through stationary and movable contacts 18 and 20 and through a flexible copper conductor 22, which is attached between a contact carrier 24 and a bimetal member 28. A conductive calibration plate 29, which is attached to the bimetal member 28, carries current from the bimetal member 28 to the load terminal 16 via a second flexible copper conductor 23, which is attached between the conductive calibration plate 29 and the load terminal 16.
The above-described current path is controlled remotely and locally by a number of different components, some of which are similar in structure and operation to the corresponding components described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,859, entitled "Remote Control Circuit Breaker" and U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,302 entitled "Automatic Miniature Circuit Breaker With Z-Axis Assemblable Trip Mechanism" which are assigned to the same assignee as the present application and the disclosures therein are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. For example, local control of the circuit breaker device 8 is provided using an external operating handle 30 pivotally mounted about an axis 32 in the housing 10 to control the contact carrier 24. The upper end of the contact carrier 24 is rotatably secured to the bottom of the operating handle 30 so that the contact carrier 24 can be rocked clockwise and counterclockwise using a toggle spring 34. The toggle spring 34 is secured to the bottom of the contact carrier 24 and to an equilibrium position on a trip lever 36 so as to urge the contact carrier 24 toward the handle 30. The trip lever 36 is rotatable about a pin 38 at one end and has a latching surface 36a at its other end.