This disclosure relates to a surge protector, and more particularly to a release mechanism and a base of the surge protector.
A surge protector is generally applied in an electric circuit and used at home, office, or factory to prevent electric equipment's from being damaged by transient overvoltage. When the electric circuit or a communication circuit produces a peak current or voltage by external interference, the surge protector is capable of conducting shunt current in a very short time to avoid electric surge from damaging other equipments in the circuit.
In general, a surge protector includes a metal oxide varistor (which is one kind of the varistors), and the varistor may be aged after a long time of use and generate heat easily. To prevent accidents such as a fire caused by the rise of temperature, the surge protector usually comes with a release mechanism connected in series with the varistor, so that when the temperature rises, the varistor is released and disconnected from the circuit. As disclosed in P.R.C. Pat. Application No. 201420368586.2, a conventional release mechanism comprises a box body, a semiconductor ceramic chip, a ceramic shielding body, and a release electrode plate. A plane of the release electrode plate is attached to one side of the semiconductor ceramic chip, and the other side of the semiconductor ceramic chip is attached to the left electrode pin. A convex side of the release electrode plate is installed into a positioning hole of the box body. The rotating hole of the ceramic shielding body is sheathed on a shaft of the box body. An edge of a soldering hole of the ceramic shielding body and the periphery of the soldering hole are covered by a solderable metal layer. The solderable metal layer is soldered with a convex side of the release electrode plate. The right electrode pin of the box body passes through the conductive wire and is soldered with the solderable metal layer. A pushrod of the spring device is installed into a slide slot. The ceramic shielding body is pushed or pulled under the effect of the elasticity of the spring. The ceramic shielding body is rotated to drive the conductive wire of the release electrode plate and the right electrode pin to move, so as to shield the electric arc. A turning block on the pushrod is used to trigger a warning switch.
However, the conventional release mechanism has the following problems: (1) The convex side of the release electrode plate is installed into the positioning hole of the box body, so that after the soldering point is disconnected, the ceramic shielding body and the release electrode plate are moved together. If the moving distance is too short, the wiring cannot be cut off completely. (2) The right electrode pin and the release electrode plate are coupled with each other by the conductive wire and the solderable metal layer, so that the connecting structure is very complicated, and occupies a large space, thus the failure rate increases.
In view of the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art, the disclosure of this disclosure conducted extensive research and provided a feasible design to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art.
Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention overcome the aforementioned problems of the prior art by providing a release mechanism and a base used for a surge protector. The bridge bracket of the release mechanism remains unmoved with respect to the internal box body and will not be rotated or moved together with the function rotating member. After the varistor is released, the function rotating member is rotated between the pin of the varistor and the bridge bracket so as to cut off the electric arc and the soldering wiring between the pin of the varistor pin and the bridge bracket and achieve a complete quick release, while providing a status indication and a remote function.
To achieve the aforementioned and other objectives, this disclosure provides a base applicable for a single-stage surge protector and a multi-stage surge protector, and the base adopts a mechanical connecting structure with different independent linkages, and just one micro switch and one slider are used, and each level has the linkage of the remote linkage rod and the slider. After the release mechanism of a surge protector of any level is released, the remote device will issue a signal to assure an effective feedback to a control system for each time of release, so as to achieve the effects of improving the safety and reliability of the surge protector, providing a simple mechanism with a small quantity of components, a stable connection, a convenient production, and lowering the cost.
This disclosure further provides a release mechanism of a surge protector, and the release mechanism comprises an internal box body, a function rotating member, an elastic driving device, a first electrical connection pin, a second electrical connection pin and a bridge bracket accommodated in the a varistor, and the first electrical connection pin and the second electrical connection pin being plugged into the internal box body, and the varistor's second electrode and the first electrical connection pin being soldered, and the internal box body having a fixed column, and the function rotating member having an arc shield plate and a soldering window, and the function rotating member being sheathed on the fixed column and disposed between the varistor and the bridge bracket, and the elastic driving device having an end coupled to the function rotating member and the other end fixed to the internal box body, wherein an end of the bridge bracket directly fixed and coupled to the second electrical connection pin, such that when the varistor is situated at a normal status, the function rotating member is situated at a first position, and the other end of the bridge bracket is passed through the soldering window and soldered with a varistor's first electrode at low temperature, and when the varistor is situated at a release status, the elastic driving device drives the function rotating member to rotate around the fixed column, so that when the function rotating member is rotated to a second position, the arc shield plate provides a shielding effect between the bridge bracket and the varistor's first electrode.
In the release mechanism of this disclosure, an end of the bridge bracket is fixed and coupled to the second electrical connection pin directly, and when the varistor is situated at a normal status, the function rotating member is situated at the first position, and the other end of the bridge bracket is passed through the soldering window and soldered with the varistor's first electrode at low temperature, and when the varistor is situated at a release status, the elastic driving device drives the function rotating member to rotate around the fixed column, so that when the function rotating member is rotated to the second position, the arc shield plate provides a shielding effect between the bridge bracket and the varistor's first electrode to break open the wiring and the electric arc. Since the bridge bracket is fixed and coupled to the second electrical connection pin directly, the bridge bracket is fixed with the internal box body to skip the conductive wire coupled between the bridge bracket and the electrical connection pin. When the function rotating member is rotated, the bridge bracket will not be rotated with the function rotating member, so that the wiring is cut off completely to prevent the ceramic shielding body and the release electrode plate of the conventional surge protector from moving together. If the distance between them is too short, the wiring cannot be cut off completely.
Preferably, the soldering window has a shear slope disposed on a side of the soldering window, and the internal box body has a panel, and the panel has a varistor's first electrode passing hole (2K) aligned precisely with the soldering window, and the varistor's first electrode passing hole has a shear plane, so that when the function rotating member is rotated, the shear slope and the shear plane of the soldering window are moved with respect to each other, so as to cut off the wiring more quickly and completely.
Preferably, when the function rotating member is moved to a second position, an inner wall and the shear plane of the varistor's first electrode passing hole, the arc shield plate of the function rotating member, and a surface of the varistor's first electrode form a closed area which eliminates the electric arc more completely.
Preferably, the release mechanism has an external box body, and the external box body has a monitoring hole, and the internal box body has a failure status indicating area, and the function rotating member has a normal status indicating area, and the color of the normal status indicating area and the color of the failure status indicating area are different, and the function rotating member is situated at a first position, and the normal status indicating area is exposed from the monitoring hole, and the function rotating member is rotated to a second position, so that the failure status indicating area is disposed at and exposed from the monitoring hole, so as to achieve the release indicating function.
Preferably, the elastic driving device is a spring, and when the varistor is situated at a normal status, the function rotating member is situated at a first position, and the spring is situated at an stretched status, and when the varistor is situated at a release status, the spring is contracted, and the function rotating member is rotated from the first position to the second position around the fixed column under the effect of the spring. By using the spring to drive the function rotating member to rotate, a simple structure and an easy implementation can be achieved.
Preferably, both of the function rotating member and the internal box body are made of a temperature resisting, insulating, and flame retardant material, so that the surge protector has the temperature resisting, insulating, and flame retardant properties.
This disclosure further provides a surge protector comprising at least one varistor, a base, and at least one release mechanism.
Preferably, the base comprises a remote device, and the remote device has at least one remote linkage rod, and the function rotating member has a remote linkage rod contact wall and a remote linkage notching, and when the function rotating member is situated at a first position, the remote linkage rod is pressed down by the remote linkage rod contact wall, and when the function rotating member is rotated from the first position to a second position, the function rotating member is rotated from the remote linkage rod contact wall to the remote linkage notching with respect to the point of action of the remote linkage rod to release the remote linkage rod, so as to achieve the remote function.
Preferably, the remote device has a seat, at least one remote linkage rod spring and a micro switch, and the seat has a slide slot, a slider, at least one slider spring, and at least one spring placement hole, and the micro switch is installed in the seat and disposed under the slider, and the remote linkage rod spring is sheathed on the remote linkage rod and installed together with the remote linkage rod into the spring placement hole, and the slider is installed onto the slide slot, and at least one slider spring has an end coupled to the slider and the other end abutting against the seat sidewall; and when the function rotating member is situated at the first position, the remote linkage rod spring is situated at a maximum compression status, and the slider is stopped at an end of the slide slot by the remote linkage rod, and the slider has no action to the micro switch; and when the function rotating member is situated at a second position, at least one of the remote linkage rods pushes the slider to move along the slide slot under the pushing effect of the remote linkage rod spring, so that the slider presses the micro switch to indicate the status of the surge protector.
Preferably, the remote linkage rod has a driving slope, and the slider has a driven slope, and when the function rotating member is situated at the first position, the driven slope of the slider is stopped by the driving slope of the remote linkage rod, and when the function rotating member is rotated to the second position, the driving slope pushes the driven slope, and the slider moves along the slide slot to press down the micro switch, wherein the driven slope and the driving slope are provided for the remote linkage rod to drive the slider to slide more stably.
Preferably, the resultant force of all slider springs is smaller than the elasticity of the single remote linkage rod spring to guarantee that after a surge protector of any level is released, the remote device issues a signal to achieve the effects of providing a feedback to a control end effectively for each time of release, improving the safety and reliability of the surge protector, and reducing the quantity of components.
Preferably, the base is a pluggable base, and the base has a cover, and the cover has an U-shaped plug slot, and an inner sidewall of the U-shaped plug slot has a latch slot, and the external box body of the release mechanism has a lock, and when the release mechanism is plugged into the base, the lock is latched to the latch slot formed on an inner sidewall of the U-shaped plug slot, so that the base can be connected to the release mechanism more conveniently and quickly to prevent the release mechanism from being loosened or falling off and improve the product safety.
Preferably, the base has an electrical connection member, and the electrical connection member has a metal claw and a conductive strip, and the metal claw and the conductive strip are soldered and coupled to each other, and the metal claw and the first electrical connection pin and the second electrical connection pin of the release mechanism are clamped and coupled to form a conducting channel.
Preferably, the seat has a limit point, and the remote linkage rod has a bump, such that when the remote linkage rod is set into the seat, the bump and the limit point are latched with each other, so as to assure that the remote linkage rod will not be popped out by the spring after installation.
This disclosure further provides a base.
The technical contents of the present invention will become apparent with the detailed description of preferred embodiments accompanied with the illustration of related drawings as follows. It is noteworthy that the preferred embodiments are provided for illustrating this disclosure rather than restricting the scope of the disclosure.
Preferred embodiments of the release mechanism, the base and the surge protector of this disclosure will be described and illustrated according to the accompanied drawings as follows.
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
In
In
The function rotating member 3 is made of an insulating, temperature resisting, and flame retardant material, installed in the function rotating member placement slot 2A, and sheathed on the fixed column 2B, and the function rotating member 3 is installed between the varistor 5 and the bridge bracket 8 and coupled to the elastic driving device 4, wherein the elastic driving device 4 is preferably a spring 4. The spring of the elastic driving device 4 has an end coupled to the spring connecting ring 3B and the other end coupled to the spring fixing column 2F of the internal box body. A fixing end 8B of the bridge bracket 8 is fixed and coupled to the second electrical connection pin 7 directly. The bridge bracket 8 is preferably pivotally coupled to the second electrical connection pin 7 in order to save the conductive wire coupled between them, so as to simplify the structure and reduce the quantity of components.
With reference to
When the varistor 5 is situated at the release status, the elastic driving device 4 drives the function rotating member 3 to rotate around the fixed column 2B. In other words, the spring is contracted to its original status, and the function rotating member is rotated counterclockwise around the fixed column 2B under the effect of the spring of the elastic driving device 4, and the function rotating member 3 is rotated to the second position, so that the failure status indicating area 2N of the internal box body 2 is situated at the monitoring hole 1A and exposed from the monitoring hole 1A to indicate that the varistor 5 is situated at the release status, and the function rotating member 3 is rotated from the remote linkage rod contact wall 3D to the remote linkage notching 3H with respect to the point of action of the remote linkage rod 9, so as to release the remote linkage rod 9. The bridge bracket 8 will not rotate with the function rotating member 3, and the arc shield plate 3F provides a shielding effect between the bridge bracket 8 and the varistor's first electrode 5A, so that the wiring can be cut off more completely to prevent the conventional ceramic shielding body and release electrode plate from moving together. If distance between them is too short, the wiring cannot be cut off completely.
Preferably, the shear plane 2M is disposed on the varistor's first electrode passing hole 2K, and the shear slope 3E of the function rotating member 3 is matched with the shear plane 2M of the varistor's first electrode passing hole 2K and rotated with the rotation of the function rotating member 3 to produce a shear movement, so as to cut off the soldering wiring more completely and quickly. When the function rotating member 3 is rotated to the second position, the inner wall and the shear plane 2M of the varistor's first electrode passing hole 2K, the arc shield plate 3F of the function rotating member 3, and a surface of the varistor's first electrode 5A form a closed area, so that the electric arc can be eliminated more completely and quickly.
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
In summation of the description above, the release mechanism of this disclosure is capable of cutting off the electric arc and the soldering wiring between the varistor pin and the bridge bracket completely and quickly, while providing a status indication and a remote function.
The base of this disclosure simply adopts a micro switch and a slider component, such that when a surge protector of any level is released, the remote device will issue a signal to improve the safety and reliability of the surge protector.
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