Switchgear assembly with front accessible slide-in fixed power switch

A switchgear assembly comprising:

• a cabinet having a front opening;
• bus members mounted in said cabinet spaced rearward of said front opening;
• at least one power switching having a housing and power conductors projecting rearward from said housing with terminal sections extending vertically beyond said housing;
• mounting means mounting said at least one power switch inside said cabinet between said front opening and said bus members, with said terminal sections of said power conductors accessible through said front opening for manual connection to said bus members with said circuit breaker positioned in said cabinet;
• and
• wherein said mounting means comprise mounts engaging sides of said housing.

A method of mounting a power switch in a front compartment of a switchgear cabinet having a front opening and connecting the power switch to buses extending forward into the forward compartment said methods comprising the steps of:

• installing terminal sections on a first set of power conductors at a rear face of the power switch so that they extend vertically above the housing;
• inserting the power switch into the front compartment of the switchgear cabinet through said front opening;
• and
• connecting said terminal sections on said first set of power conductors to said buses by access through said front opening.

A switchgear assembly comprising:

• a cabinet having a front opening;
• bus members mounted in said cabinet spaced rearward of said from opening;
• at least one power switch having a housing and power conductors projecting rearward from said housing with terminal sections extending vertically beyond said housing;
• mounting means mounting said at least one power switch inside said cabinet between said front opening and said bus members, with said terminal sections of said power conductors accessible through said front opening for manual connection to said bus members with said circuit breaker positioned in said cabinet;
• wherein said cabinet has a forward compartment having a plurality of vertically stacked cells including an upper cell in which said at least one power switch is mounted and a bottom cell in which a bottom power switch is mounted, said cabinet further having a middle compartment behind said forward compartment and a rear compartment behind said middle compartment, said bus members including a first set of bus members extending vertically in said middle compartment and having extensions extending forward with terminal sections extending vertically upward for engagement with upwardly extending terminal sections of a first set of power conductors on said at least one power switch and on said bottom power switch, and said bus members including sets of runbacks with a first set of runbacks extending from said rear compartment, through said middle compartment into said forward compartment and having vertically downwardly extending terminal sections which engage a vertically downwardly extending second set of power conductors on said at least one power switch which extend below the housing of said at least one power switch, and a second set of runbacks secured to a second set of power conductors on a rear of said bottom power switch and insertable with said bottom power switch to extend through said middle compartment and into said rear compartment for connection in said rear compartment to a set of power cables.

A switchgear assembly comprising:

• a cabinet having a front opening;
• bus members mounted in said cabinet spaced rearward of said front opening;
• at least one power switch having a housing and power conductors projecting rearward from said housing with terminal sections extending vertically beyond said housing;
• mounting means mounting said at least one power switch inside said cabinet said front opening and said bus members, with said terminal sections of said power conductors accessible through said front opening for manual connection to said bus members with said circuit breaker positioned in said cabinet;
• and
• wherein said cabinet further includes at least one of air arc shield and a wiring tray mounted above said power switch and said mounting means includes means for inserting and removing at least one of said arc shield and wire tray through said front opening to provide access to said terminal.