Compact dual feeders for circuit breakers and related buckets and motor control centers (MCCs)
AssigneeEaton Corporation
InventorsStephen William Oneufer, Robert Allan Morris, Daniel Boyd Kroushl
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Dual starters and/or feeders are positioned in a unit housing to be offset from one another in a front to back direction to provide a compact configuration for a MCC cabinet. The dual starters or feeders can communicate with a respective external handle attached to an inwardly oriented shaft. The handles can be rotary handles that connect to a respective gear assembly that transforms rotational input to linear input.
Claims20
A bucket assembly, comprising:
- a unit housing having a front and a back and left and right sides extending between the front and back;
- a first starter or feeder in the unit housing;
- and
- a second starter or feeder in the unit housing, wherein the second starter or feeder is longitudinally offset from the first starter or feeder, in a front to back direction, to reside closer to the front or the back of the unit housing than the first starter or feeder, wherein the first starter or feeder and the second starter or feeder are spaced inward a distance from the back of the unit housing, and wherein the unit housing comprises a laterally extending internal wire path that is one of behind the first starter or feeder, behind the second starter or feeder, or behind both the first and second starter or feeder.
A bucket assembly, comprising:
- a unit housing having a front and a back and left and right sides extending between the front and back;
- a first starter or feeder in the unit housing;
- a second starter or feeder in the unit housing, wherein the second starter or feeder is longitudinally offset from the first starter or feeder, in a front to back direction, to reside closer to the front of the unit housing than the first starter or feeder;
- a first inwardly extending shaft in the unit housing in communication with the first starter or feeder;
- and
- a second inwardly extending shaft in the unit housing and being laterally spaced apart from the first inwardly extending shaft and in communication with the second starter or feeder, wherein the first shaft has a length that is between about 1.5 times to about 5 times greater than the second shaft,
- wherein the first and second starters or feeders comprise molded case circuit breakers, wherein the bucket assembly further comprises first and second external handles having a defined ON position associated with conduction and a defined OFF position associated with non-conduction, and wherein an inner portion of the first and second shafts cooperably engage a respective first and second operator mechanism that then engage a respective lever or switch of the first and second starters or feeders.
A compact bucket assembly comprising:
- a unit housing;
- and
- right and left side molded case circuit breakers in the unit housing, wherein the molded case circuit breakers have substantially the same size and shape, and wherein one of the right side circuit breaker or the left side circuit breaker resides closer to the front of the unit housing and is mounted to a bracket that is attached to a rear of the unit housing,
- wherein the right and left side molded case circuit breakers are both spaced inward a distance from a rear of the unit housing, and wherein the unit housing comprises a laterally extending internal wire path that is either behind the right side molded case circuit breaker, behind the left side molded case circuit breaker, or behind both the right and left side molded case circuit breakers.
A motor control center (MCC) cabinet with vertically stacked buckets, at least one bucket having a left side lever or switch of a circuit breaker and a right side lever or switch of a circuit breaker, wherein the left side lever or switch is laterally adjacent and longitudinally offset from the right side lever or switch, in a front to back direction, to reside closer to the front or rear of the unit housing than the right side lever or switch,
- wherein the cabinet comprises a right side vertical wireway, wherein the at least one bucket comprises a right side molded case circuit breaker as the circuit breaker with the right side lever or switch and a left side molded case circuit breaker as the circuit breaker with the left side lever or switch, each of the right and left side molded case circuit breakers having substantially the same size and shape and adjacent inner sidewalls that are laterally spaced apart a distance that is between about 0.5-3 inches and longitudinally offset in a front to back direction between about 0.5-5 inches, and wherein the bucket further comprises conductors attached to terminals of a right side of the left side circuit breaker and that travel behind the right side circuit breaker to the right side vertical wireway.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.