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US 8,008,585 B2Granted
Switching apparatus comprising a plurality of switching assemblies, and associated method
AssigneeEaton Corporation
InventorsPatrick Wellington Mills, Peter Lee Nerstrom, James Michael McCormick
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An improved electrical switching apparatus comprises a plurality of electrical switching assemblies in a ganged configuration. A bridging device mechanically connects together the actuator devices of the electrical switching assemblies to cause the simultaneous tripping of all of the electrical switching assemblies when an overload or an arc fault is detected on any electrical switching assembly of the gang.
Claims16
An electrical switching apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of electrical switching assemblies each comprising:
- a housing,
- separable contacts,
- an operating mechanism structured to open and close the separable contacts,
- an elongated actuator device translatable along its direction of elongation between OFF and ON positions and cooperating with the operating mechanism to open and close the separable contact,
- an indicator that is deployable from a first position hidden from view to a deployed second position, and
- a trip assembly cooperating with the operating mechanism to trip open the separable contacts and to deploy the indicator;
- a connection assembly structured to mechanically connect together the electrical switching assemblies;
- and
- a bridging device structured to mechanically connect together the actuator devices.
7 more elements
An electrical switching apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of electrical switching assemblies each comprising:
- a housing,
- separable contacts,
- an operating mechanism structured to open and close the separable contacts,
- an elongated actuator device translatable along its direction of elongation between OFF and ON positions and cooperating with the operating mechanism to open and close the separable contact, and
- a trip assembly cooperating with the operating mechanism to trip open the separable contacts;
- a connection assembly structured to mechanically connect together the electrical switching assemblies;
- a bridging device structured to mechanically connect together the actuator devices;
- wherein each electrical switching assembly further comprises a biasing element structured to bias the actuator device toward the OFF position;
- and
- wherein each electrical switching assembly further comprises a fastener structured to fasten the electrical switching assembly to a support, the fastener and the biasing element being coupled together.
8 more elements
An electrical switching apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of electrical switching assemblies each comprising:
- a housing,
- separable contacts,
- an operating mechanism structured to open and close the separable contacts,
- an elongated actuator device translatable along its direction of elongation between OFF and ON positions and cooperating with the operating mechanism to open and close the separable contact, and
- a trip assembly cooperating with the operating mechanism to trip open the separable contacts;
- a connection assembly structured to mechanically connect together the electrical switching assemblies;
- a bridging device structured to mechanically connect together the actuator devices;
- and
- wherein each electrical switching assembly further comprises an illumination element, and wherein the connection assembly comprises at least a first spacer formed of an at least partially translucent material and structured to be disposed adjacent one of the illumination elements.
7 more elements
An electrical switching apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of electrical switching assemblies each comprising:
- a housing,
- separable contacts,
- an operating mechanism structured to open and close the separable contacts,
- an elongated actuator device translatable along its direction of elongation between OFF and ON positions and cooperating with the operating mechanism to open and close the separable contact, and
- a trip assembly cooperating with the operating mechanism to trip open the separable contacts;
- a connection assembly structured to mechanically connect together the electrical switching assemblies;
- a bridging device structured to mechanically connect together the actuator devices;
- and
- wherein the trip assembly of each electrical switching assembly is structured trigger the operating mechanism to trip open the separable contacts at a nominal predetermined load, and wherein the nominal predetermined load of at least one of the electrical switching assemblies is different from the nominal predetermined load of another of the electrical switching assemblies.
7 more elements
A method of interrupting at least a portion of a circuit with an electrical switching apparatus that includes a plurality of electrical switching assemblies each including:
- a housing,
- separable contacts,
- an operating mechanism structured to open and close the separable contacts,
- an elongated actuator device translatable along its direction of elongation between OFF and ON positions and cooperating with the operating mechanism to open and close the separable contact, and
- a trip assembly cooperating with the operating mechanism to trip open the separable contacts;
- the electrical switching apparatus also including a connection assembly structured to mechanically connect together the electrical switching assemblies;
- and
- the electrical switching apparatus further including a bridging device structured to mechanically connect together the actuator devices;
- the method comprising:
- triggering with the trip assembly of one of the electrical switching assemblies its operating mechanism to trip open its separable contacts and to translate its actuator device toward its OFF position;
- employing the bridging device to move the actuator devices of the other electrical switching assemblies toward their OFF positions and to open their separable contacts;
- and
- wherein the trip assembly of each electrical switching assembly is structured trigger its operating mechanism to trip open the separable contacts at a nominal predetermined load, and wherein the nominal predetermined load of one of the electrical switching assemblies connected with one circuit is different from the nominal predetermined load of another of the electrical switching assemblies connected with another circuit, and further comprising interrupting with the electrical switching apparatus the one circuit and the another circuit.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.