Patent Application
20120211339
This application claims the benefit of Korean Utility Model Application No. 20-2011-0001490, filed on Feb. 22, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a circuit breaker, and particularly, to a circuit breaker capable of interrupting a circuit in the occurrence of an over-current or an abnormal current.
2. Background of the Invention
Generally, a circuit breaker is installed in a distribution board among distribution equipment such as factories and buildings. In no load state, the circuit breaker serves as a switching apparatus for supplying power to a load side or interrupting power supplied to the load side. In a load state, the circuit breaker serves as a breaker for interrupting power supplied to a load side from a power side in the occurrence of an over-current on a circuit.
The circuit breaker is configured to have variable structures due to a difference of a frame size, the number of poles, an operation manner, etc. Generally, the circuit breaker includes basic components such as a mold case, a contactor, a trip mechanism, a switching mechanism extinguishing device, a terminal, etc.
In an ‘on’ state of a circuit breaker implemented by using a switching handle 15, the circuit breaker may be tripped by a trip button 3 as follows. As shown in the arrow of
As a result, the nail 7 hinge-coupled to a load side end of a side plate 8 is clockwise rotated about a hinge shaft 6a, thereby being in a state shown in
The circuit breaker is provided with an external device at a body. The external device may include an auxiliary device such as an auxiliary switch or an alarm switch, an under voltage trip device (UVT) which operates when a voltage of a circuit becomes low, a shunt trip coil for remotely tripping the circuit breaker, etc.
The external devices should be mounted to the circuit breaker in an ‘off’ state or a trip state. If a user performs an operation to mount the external device to the circuit breaker in an ‘on’ state by mistake, accidents may occur and the nail may be damaged due to interference between a mechanical part of the nail and the external device.
Therefore, an aspect of the detailed description is to provide a circuit breaker capable of being automatically turned off once an external device is coupled thereto even in an ‘on’ state.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of this specification, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a circuit breaker, comprising: a main case; a switching mechanism accommodated in the main case, and having a mechanical part for opening and closing a circuit; a trip mechanism configured to trigger the switching mechanism to an interrupting position upon detection of an abnormal current on a circuit; and an external device detachably mounted to the main case, wherein the circuit breaker has an interrupting means configured to interrupt the switching mechanism by contacting at least a part of the external device when the external device is mounted to the main case.
The interrupting means may be configured to forcibly interrupt the switching mechanism by contacting a part of the external device when the external device is mounted to the main case.
The circuit breaker may further comprise a latch included in the switching mechanism, and configured to maintain a circuit connected state; a latch holder configured to restrict or release a movement of the latch; and a nail rotatably mounted to the trip mechanism, and configured to restrict or release the latch holder according to a rotation direction.
The interrupting means may include a protrusion portion integrally formed at the nail, and a lever formed at the external device.
The protrusion portion may be configured to rotate the nail in a releasing direction by contacting the lever when the external device approaches to a mounting position of the main case, and configured not to contact the lever when the external device has been disposed at the mounting position.
The mounting position may mean a position of the external device having been completely coupled to the main case.
The protrusion portion may protrude from one side of the nail.
The lever may be formed on a side surface of the external device. When the external device has been disposed at the mounting position, the lever may be disposed below the protrusion portion.
The protrusion portion may upward extend from one side of the nail in a slant manner.
The present disclosure may have the following advantages.
Even if the external device is coupled to the circuit breaker in an ‘on’ state of the circuit breaker by a user's mistake, the circuit breaker may be automatically turned off. This may prevent the occurrence of accidents, and mechanical damages of components such as the nail may be prevented.
Further scope of applicability of the present application will become more apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the detailed description.
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.
In the drawings:
Description will now be given in detail of the exemplary embodiments, with reference to the accompanying drawings. For the sake of brief description with reference to the drawings, the same or equivalent components will be provided with the same reference numbers, and description thereof will not be repeated.
Referring to
Between the auxiliary covers 106, a handle 110 is provided to allow a user to manipulate the circuit breaker therethrough. A pair of fixed contactors 112 and 113 are disposed below the handle 110. A movable contactor 114 is provided so as to be movable to a position for contacting the fixed contactor, or to a position for being separated from the fixed contactor. The movable contactor 114 performs a trip operation by a trip mechanism. An operation of the trip mechanism is well-known, and thus its detailed explanations will be omitted.
A pair of side plates 120 are disposed at right and left sides of the handle 110, and serve as a base for supporting each component of the trip mechanism. At a rear side of the side plate 120 (right side in
The nail 130 includes a hinge shaft 132 fixed to the side plate 120, and first and second arms 134 and 136 which extend from two ends of the hinge shaft 132, respectively. A protrusion portion 138 which upward extends in a slant manner is formed on a side surface of the end of the first arm 134. The protrusion portion 138 interworks with a lever formed on a side surface of an external device, thereby rotating the nail 130 and thus turning off the circuit breaker.
Referring to
As shown in
More concretely, since an upper surface of the protrusion portion 138 is formed as an inclination surface, the lever 142 is slide along the inclination surface. As a result, the nail 130 is counterclockwise rotated to release the latch and to turn off the circuit breaker. Then, once the external device is disposed at the mounting position, the lever 142 passes through a rear end of the upper surface of the protrusion portion 138. As a result, the contacted state between the lever and the protrusion portion is released, and thus the nail 130 returns to the original position.
In the case that the external device is disposed at the mounting position, the lever 142 is disposed below the protrusion portion 138. This may prevent a contact between the protrusion portion and the lever even if the nail rotates.
In the present disclosure, even if the external device is coupled to the circuit breaker in an ‘on’ state of the circuit breaker by a user's mistake, the circuit breaker is turned off by the nail due to a reciprocal operation between the lever and the protrusion portion. This may prevent the occurrence of accidents, and minimize damages of the nail.
The foregoing embodiments and advantages are merely exemplary and are not to be construed as limiting the present disclosure. The present teachings can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. This description is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The features, structures, methods, and other characteristics of the exemplary embodiments described herein may be combined in various ways to obtain additional and/or alternative exemplary embodiments.
As the present features may be embodied in several forms without departing from the characteristics thereof, it should also be understood that the above-described embodiments are not limited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unless otherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within its scope as defined in the appended claims, and therefore all changes and modifications that fall within the metes and bounds of the claims, or equivalents of such metes and bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20-2011-0001490 | Feb 2011 | KR | national |
