Circuit breaker

A circuit breaker comprising:

• a current path having two contacts connected in series;
• an open-close mechanism disposed in common to said two contacts, said open-close mechanism including two transmission portions for opening and closing said two contacts, respectively, and a driving portion for providing an operating force to said transmission portions, said driving portion being selectively connectable to at least one of said transmission portions;
• an overcurrent trip device for detecting an overcurrent in said current path, said overcurrent trip device, upon detecting the overcurrent, feeding a trip signal to said open-close mechanism;
• and
• an insulative container for housing therein said current path including said contacts, said open-close mechanism and said overcurrent trip device.

A circuit breaker comprising:

• a current path having a first contact and a second contact arranged in series;
• an open-close mechanism connected to the first contact, said open-close mechanism releasing energy stored therein in response to a reset operation to thereby open the first contact;
• an electromagnet connected to the second contact, said electromagnet opening and closing said second contact in response to a control signal;
• an overcurrent trip device for detecting an overcurrent in said current path, said overcurrent trip device, upon detecting the overcurrent in said current path, feeding a trip signal to said open-close mechanism and said electromagnet;
• an insulative container for housing therein said current path with the first contact and the second contact, said open-close mechanism, said electromagnet and said overcurrent trip device;
• and
• an intermediate tap disposed on said insulative container for connecting an external device, said intermediate tap being situated between said first contact and said second contact.