Remote-Controlled Circuit Breaker

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a remote-controlled circuit breaker and more particularly to a remote-controlled circuit breaker having improved durability and reliability.

2. Description of the Related Art

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional driving circuit for a three-phase induction motor M. An A.C. voltage is applied to the motor M through electric power lines (not shown) via a conventional circuit breaker 1 and a magnetic contactor 2 connected in series with each other. The circuit breaker 1 is provided primarily to protect the motor M and connection wires 4 from heat damage caused by a short-circuit or an overload. Since the rated lifetime of the contacts of a conventional circuit breaker is generally under 10,000 switching cycles, the circuit breaker 1 is not suitable for making/breaking its contacts with high frequency. Further, it is difficult to effect remote-control operation of a conventional circuit breaker such as the circuit breaker 1.

On the other hand, the magnetic contactor 2 is suitable for making/breaking its contacts with fairly high frequency. If only the magnetic contactor 2 were used to drive the motor M, however, without the series-connected circuit breaker 1, welding of contacts in the magnetic contactor 2 could occur when a large current flows through the contacts as a result, for example, of a short circuit, rendering the magnetic contactor useless. For the above-mentioned reasons, the circuit breaker 1 and the magnetic contactor 2 are connected in series with each other, thereby realizing both a breaking function in response to an excessive current and a high-frequency making/breaking function susceptible to remote control.

As shown in FIG. 12, both the circuit breaker 1 and the magnetic contactor 2 are conventionally fixed to a common casing 3 to constitute a protection and control unit.

However, since the circuit breaker 1 and the magnetic contactor 2 are separate devices, many interconnecting wires 4 are necessary in the casing 3. In order to provide sufficient space to accommodate both devices (the circuit breaker 1 and the magnetic contactor 2), the interconnecting wires 4, and various wire connecting devices, the casing 3 must unavoidably be large.

A second shortcoming in an arrangement such as that shown in FIG. 11 is that there is no coordination or cooperation between the operation of the circuit breaker 1 and the magnetic contactor 2. Since these devices are in series, however, it is possible that the magnetic contactor 2 might operate needlessly to try turn the motor on and off when the circuit breaker 1 has already cut off power. The resultant useless motion of the electromagnet of magnetic contactor 2 causes unnecessary mechanical shock resulting in needless wear which shortens the service life of the overall protection and control unit.

An object of the present invention is to offer an improved remote-controlled circuit breaker which can prevent unnecessary motion of the electromagnetic unit when an operation handle of the circuit breaker in an OFF position.

A related object is to provide a remote-controlled circuit breaker having breaking ability for large current which is coordinated with an ability for making/breaking contact with high frequency for the ordinary current within a small-sized single integrated casing therefor, and, in particular, in a molded case circuit breaker.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects, the remote-controlled circuit breaker of the present invention comprises:

a casing;

a fixed contact fixedly mounted to said casing;

a movable contact movably mounted to said casing to move in and out of contact with said fixed contact;

an electromagnetic unit comprising an electromagnetic coil and a fixed iron core which are fixedly mounted to the casing and a movable iron core movably mounted to the casing to be attracted to the fixed iron core;

a control lever which is pivotally mounted to the casing to actuate the movable contact into and out of contact with the fixed contact;

operation means, including an operation handle, for releasably holding said control lever, said operation means forming a toggle and holding said control lever in a position for moving said movable contact out of contact with said fixed contact when said operation handle is in a first position and releasing said control lever to allow a predetermined rotation thereof when said operation handle is in a second position;

an overcurrent tripping unit for causing said operation means and said control lever to actuate to move said movable contact out of contact with said fixed contact when a current greater than a predetermined value flows through said circuit breaker; and,

a switch which is connected in series with the electromagnetic coil, and linked to said operation handle in a manner to open when the operation handle is thrown to an OFF position, and to close when the operation handle is thrown to an ON position.

While the novel features of the invention are set forth particularly in the appended claims, the invention, both as to organization and content, will be better understood and appreciated, along with other objects and features thereof, from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional side view showing a remote-controlled circuit breaker with an operation handle 50 in its OFF-position and wherein a remote control command commands an OFF state.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the circuit breaker with its front cover 5a removed.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the circuit breaker with its rear cover 5c partially removed.

FIG. 4 an internal side view showing main parts of the circuit breaker with the operation handle 50 in its AUTO-position and wherein the remote control command is for an OFF state.

FIG. 5 an internal side view showing main parts of the circuit breaker with the operation handle 50 in the AUTO-position and wherein the remote control command an ON state.

FIG. 6 is an internal side view showing main parts of the circuit breaker in a trip state.

FIG. 7 a perspective view showing components of an electromagnetic unit 200 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a movable conductor 10, a tension spring 15, a holder 13 and a crossbar 14 of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 are schematic illustrations showing the operation of limit switch 45.

FIG. 11 schematic diagram of a conventional driving circuit for a three-phase induction motor.

FIG. 12 a plan view of the circuit breaker 1 and the magnetic contactor 2 which are mounted onto the casing 3.

It will be recognized that some or all of the Figures are schematic representations for purposes of illustration and do not necessarily depict the actual relative sizes or locations of the elements shown.

Hereafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional side view showing a remote-controlled circuit breaker with an operation handle 50 in its OFF-position and wherein a remote control commands an off state. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the circuit breaker with its front cover 5a partially removed. FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the circuit breaker with its rear cover 5c partially removed. FIG. 4 is an internal side view showing main parts of the circuit breaker with the operation handle 50 in its AUTO (automatic)-position and wherein the remote control command is for the off state. FIG. 5 is an internal side view showing main parts of the circuit breaker with the operation handle 50 in the AUTO-position and wherein the remote control command commands an on state. FIG. 6 is an internal side view showing main parts of the circuit breaker in a trip state.

In FIG. 1, a casing 5 comprises a front cover 5a, a base 5b and a rear cover 5c. A terminal 6 of power-source side is fixed in the base 5b and has a screw 7 thereon. A fixed conductor 8, one end of which is connected with the terminal 6 by a screw 7a, is held under the base 5b as a power-source side conductor. A fixed contact 9 of the power-source side is fixed on the other end of the fixed conductor 8. A movable conductor 10, which is movably mounted on the casing 5, has a pair of movable contacts 11 and 12. The movable contact 11 is disposed to make contact with the fixed contact 9, and the movable contact 12 is disposed to make contact with a fixed contact 16 which is fixed to a fixed conductor 17 of load-side.

The movable conductor 10 is held by a holder 13 which is made of insulating material. A crossbar 14 is disposed to traverse the movable conductors 10 of all phases, thereby straddling over the movable conductors 10. The holder 13 is slidably fit in a groove 14a of the crossbar 14. A compression spring 15, which is mounted in a hole 5d formed in the rear cover 5c, urges the movable conductor 10 upward, thereby to make contact between the fixed contacts 9, 16 and the movable contacts 11, 12, respectively.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing detailed construction of the movable conductor 10, the holder 13, the crossbar 14 and the compression spring 15.

In FIG. 1, arc extinguishing chambers 18A and 18B are provided in a right-hand side and a left-hand side of the holder 13, respectively. Each of the arc extinguishing chambers 18A and 18B comprises a pair of insulating sheets 18a (FIG. 3), an exhaust sheet 18(FIG. 3) and plural grids 18c encircled by the insulating sheets 18a and the exhaust sheet 18b. The grids 18c are made of magnetically soft (low coercivity) substance such as iron sheet. An exhaust passage 19 (FIGS. 1 or 3) formed by the base 5b and the rear cover 5c communicates with a pair of vents 20 which are formed in right and left ends of the base 5b in FIG. 1. A metal finger 21, which is slidably held by the rear cover 5c, is urged by a spring 22 rightward in FIG. 1.

The above-mentioned parts 8-17 constitute a contact part in a space partitioned by the base 5b and the rear cover 5c. The crossbar 14 is actuated by a control lever 63 and an overcurrent tripping part 400 within a space 23.

In the front part of the power-source side of the circuit breaker, an electromagnetic unit 200 is fixed on the base 5b by a screw 24. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing components of the electromagnetic unit 200. An assembling procedure for the electromagnetic unit 200 is described with reference to FIG. 7. First, an electromagnetic coil 26 is inserted into a channel-shaped magnet frame 25. Next, leg numbers 28a, 28b and 28c of a fixed iron core 28 are inserted into an opening 25b, an opening 26a, and an opening 25a, respectively. Each of the leg members 28a and 28c has a shading coil 27 at an end part thereof. An elastic element 29 such as a spring is provided between a projecting part 28d of the fixed iron core 28 and the magnet frame 25 to prevent the fixed iron core 28 from coming out of the magnet frame 25 and to absorb any shock caused by attracting a movable iron core 30. The movable iron core 30 is fixed to a holder 31 by a stopper 32. A pair of bearing members 31a are provided at both ends of the holder 31, and these bearing members 31a are rotatably held by a pair of bearing members 34a of a transmission lever 34 with a pair of pins 33. The transmission lever 34 is held by the magnet frame 25 with a shaft 35. A pair of tension springs 36 are extended between respective projections 34b of the transmission lever 34 and respective projections 25c of the magnet frame 25 to thereby move the movable iron core 30 away from the fixed iron core 28.

A pair of auxiliary switches 37 and 38 are secured to the magnet frame 25 by screws 39 and 40. A pair of projections 31b of the holder 31 are disposed to engage with actuator 37a and 38a, respectively. In response to the movement of the movable iron core 30, the respective actuators 37a and 38a are actuated, thereby making/breaking contact in the auxiliary switches 37 and 38.

A terminal block 41 has plural terminals 42 inserted thereto, and plural screws 43 for connecting external wires (not shown) are provided. Some of the terminals 42 are connected to the auxiliary switches 37 and 38 via lead wires 44 (FIG. 1), and the other terminals 42 are connected to the electromagnetic coil 26 directly and via a limit switch 45. That is, the limit switch 45 and the electromagnetic coil 26 of the electromagnetic unit 200 are connected in series with each other as shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10. FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 are schematic illustrations showing the relation of the operation handle 50, the limit switch 45, and the electromagnetic coil 26. The limit switch 45 is fixed to the magnet frame 25 by screws 46. The screws 43 are accessible through an opening 47 (FIG. 1) in the front cover 5a to enable connection to external wires. The terminal block 41 is fixed on the magnet frame 25 by leg members 41a. The terminal block 41 is usually covered with a terminal cover 48 (FIG. 1) to prevent accidental contact.

An operation mechanism unit 300 is located in the front-mid part of the circuit breaker in FIG. 1. A frame 49 is fixed to the base 5b by a screw 49a. The operation handle 50, which projects out of an opening 52, is rotatably held to the frame 49 by a pin 51. An inner protuberance 50a of the operation handle 50 is connected with one end of a link 54 by a pin 53, thereby constituting a toggle link mechanism. A roller 55 is pivotally mounted on the other end of the link 54. A lever 56 is pivotally mounted to the frame 49 by the pin 51. A lower end of the lever 56 is engaged with a latch 57. The latch 57 is pivotally mounted to the frame 49 by a pin 58 and is biased to rotate counterclockwise by a torsion spring (not shown). A trip bar 59 is pivotally mounted to the frame 49 by a pin 60 and is urged to rotate clockwise by a torsion spring (not shown), thereby engaging with the latch 57. A pusher plate 61 is movably mounted in each of holes 49b of the frame 49 in the up and down direction. The pusher plate 61 is biased to move upward by a tension spring 62. The roller 55 rides on a upper end of the pusher plate 61, and the lever 56 is engaged with the roller 55. A projection 61b formed on the pusher plate 61 is disposed to engage with an actuator 45a of the limit switch 45 when the pusher plate 61 is moved down, as shown in FIG. 10. The control lever 63 is pivotally mounted to the frame 49 by a pin 64.

In FIG. 5, one end 63a of the control lever 63 is engaged with the crossbar 14, and the other end 63b thereof is engaged with an engaging member 34c of a transmission lever 34. A bearing surface 63c of the control lever 63 is disposed between contacting surfaces 61a of the pusher plate 61 so that the control lever 63 is allowed to rotate only within a predetermined angular range. In the state of FIG. 1, namely in the OFF-position of the operation handle 50, the right end 63b of the control lever is lifted by the tension spring 62 via the pusher plate 61. Since urging force applied to the movable conductor 10 by the tension spring 62 is larger than that by the compression spring 15, the control lever 63 is held in a state of FIG. 1. Therefore, both the movable contacts 11 and 12 are separated from the fixed contacts 9 and 16, respectively. At that time, there is a gap between the end 63b of the control lever 63 and the engaging member 34c of the transmission lever 34 as shown in FIG. 1.

Towards the front of the load-side of the circuit breaker, an overcurrent tripping unit 400 having a bimetal and a plunger-shaped electromagnet is provided. The fixed conductor 17 of the load side is secured to an end 65a of a first yoke 65 by a screw 66, and the first yoke 65 has the bimetal 67 welded thereto and an adjusting screw 68. In a bobbin 69, a hollow core 70 secured to the first yoke 65 and a plunger 71 are provided. The plunger 71 is urged to move upward by a compression spring 72. An upper end part 71a of the plunger 71 is engaged with a hole 59a of the trip bar 59. When the plunger 71 is attracted to the core 70, the trip bar 59 is rotated against the torsion spring (not shown). A rod 73 is disposed to pass through a hollow of the core 70 and an opening 74 of the base 5b. When the plunger 71 is attracted to the core 70, the rod 73 lowers through a groove 14a of the crossbar 14 and hits the holder 13, thereby breaking contact between the contacts 9 and 11 and between contacts 16 and 12. A second yoke 75 is secured to the first yoke 65. One end of the coil 76 is connected to an upper end part of the bimetal 67 via a flexible copper wire 77 and the other end thereof is connected to a terminal 78 of the load side. The terminal 78 has a screw 79 for securing an external wire (now shown). An actuator 80 is pivotally mounted to the first yoke 65 by a pin 81 and is urged to move counterclockwise by a spring (not shown). An arm member 80a of the actuator 80 is provided to engage with the trip bar 59. Delay time for tripping the circuit breaker is adjusted by varying the width of a gap A between the upper end part of the bimetal 67 and the opposing actuator 80. The gap A is made larger or smaller by turning the adjusting screw 68.

Next, operation of the above-mentioned circuit breaker is described.

In the off state of the circuit breaker as shown in FIGS. 1-3, the pusher plate 61 is positioned at the upper position. Thus, the limit switch 45 is actuated to break its contact as shown in FIG. 9. When the operation handle 50 is pushed to the right to thereby set it in the AUTO-position, the link 54 and the operation handle 50 are disposed on an approximately straight line as shown in FIG. 4. The pusher plate 61 is thereby lowered against a force of the spring 62 (FIG. 1), and the bearing surface 63c of the control lever 63 relatively comes into a high position between contacting surfaces 61a of the pusher plate 61. Accordingly, the control lever 63 is released from a state in which clockwise rotation is restricted by presence of the contacting surface 61c, which is the lower of the contacting surfaces 61a. As a result, the control lever 63 receives the force of the spring 15 via the crossbar 14 and is thereby rotated clockwise. When the control lever 63 abuts on the transmission lever 34, rotation of the control lever 63 is stopped by the tension spring 36 which urges the transmission lever 34 to rotate clockwise. This is because the force due to the spring 36 is selected to be greater than that due to the spring 15. At that time, the movable conductor 10 is allowed to rise slightly due to the above-mentioned clockwise rotation of the control lever 63. As a result, a distance between the fixed contact 9 (or 16) and the movable contact 11 (or 12) decreases a little from the state shown in FIGS. 1-3.

In the AUTO-position of the operation handle 50, the projection 61b of the pusher plate 61 is moved down to press the actuator 45a of the limit switch 45. Thus, the limit switch 45 is actuated to open its contact as shown in FIG. 10.

In the AUTO-position shown by FIG. 4, the limit switch 45 (FIG. 7) is actuated by receiving motion of the pusher plate 61, thereby making contact therein. When a voltage is applied to the terminal 42 (FIG. 1), the coil 26 is excited, and the movable iron core 30 is attracted by the fixed iron core 28. As the movable iron core 30 moves, the transmission lever 34 rotates counterclockwise against the force of the tension spring 36, thereby releasing the control lever 63. Therefore, the movable conductor 10 rises by expansion of the compression spring, and the movable contacts 11 and 12 make contact with the fixed contacts 9 and 16, respectively. This state is shown by FIG. 6. Under this state, a pair of the projections 31b (FIG. 7) of the holder 31 push the actuators 37a and 38a (FIG. 7) thereby actuating contacts in the auxiliary switches 37 and 38, respectively. At the time when the movable iron core 30 impacts upon the fixed iron core 28, shock is absorbed by the elastic member 29.

In FIG. 5, when the voltage supplied to the terminal 42 (FIG. 1) is removed, the movable iron core 30 detaches from the fixed iron core 28 by the force of the tension spring 36. Further, the control lever 63 is rotated counterclockwise by receiving torque of the transmission lever 34 which is biased by the tension spring 36. Since the force to rotate the control lever 63 is larger than the force by the spring 15 to raise the movable conductor 10, one end 63a of the control lever 63 pushes the crossbar 14, thereby breaking contact between the fixed contacts 9 and 16 and the movable contacts 11 and 12, respectively. Thus, the circuit breaker returns to the state shown by FIG. 4.

According to the above-mentioned operation, opening/closing of contacts may be carried out by the remote control (i.e., according to whether a voltage is supplied or not) through repetition of the states shown by FIGS. 4 and 5 without any operation of the operation mechanism unit 300.

In the state shown by FIG. 5, current flows from the terminal 6 (FIG. 1) of the power-source side to the terminal 78 (FIG. 1) of the load side through the fixed conductor 8, the fixed contact 9, the movable contact 11, the movable conductor 10, the movable contact 12, the fixed contact 16, the fixed conductor 17, the first yoke 65 (FIG. 1), the bimetal 67 (FIG. 1), the flexible copper wire 77 (FIG. 1) and the coil 76 (FIG. 1), in this order.

Next, tripping operation from the state (remote-on) of FIG. 5 to the state (trip) of FIG. 6 is described. When an overcurrent flows through the circuit breaker under the state of FIG. 5, the bimetal 67 (FIG. 1) bends rightward and pushes the actuator 80 (FIG. 1). The trip bar 59 is thereby rotated counterclockwise against the force of the torsion spring (not shown), and the latch 57 is rotated clockwise against the force of the torsion spring (not shown). When the lever 56 is disengaged from the latch 57 by rotation of the latch 57, the roller 55 and the lever 56 are permitted to move leftward. Therefore, the pusher plate 61, which is pulled upward by the tension spring 62 (FIG. 1), pushes the roller 55 and the lever 56 aside and rises, thereby causing counterclockwise rotation of the control lever 63 against the force of the compression spring 15. Accordingly, the movable contacts 11 and 12 separate from the fixed contacts 9 and 16, respectively. The resultant state is shown in FIG. 6. In this state, a distance between the fixed contact 9 (or 16) and the movable contact 11 (or 12) is larger than that in the state of FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 6, the operation handle 50 is positioned at an intermediate position after the trip operation, thereby informing the operator of occurrence of trip in the circuit breaker.

When the pusher plate 61 rises, the limit switch 45 (FIG. 7) is actuated and breaks its contact. Excitation of the coil 26 is thereby lost, and the ordinary opening operation is carried out as a result. That is, the movable iron core 30 separates from the fixed iron core 28, and the control lever 63 rotates to break contacts between the fixed contacts 9 and 16 and the movable contacts 11 and 12, respectively, via rotation of the transmission lever 34. As a result, two forces of the tension springs 62 and 36 are applied to the movable conductor 10. The movable contacts 11 and 12 are detached from the fixed contacts 9 and 16 by extremely strong force against the force of the compression spring 15, respectively.

When a short-circuit current flows through the circuit breaker shown in FIG. 5, the coil 76 (FIG. 1) is excited and the plunger 71 (FIG. 1) is instantaneously attracted to the core 70 (FIG. 1). The trip bar 59 is thereby rotated counterclockwise against the force of the torsion spring (not shown). Thereafter, tripping operation is carried out in the same way as that caused by the bending of the bimetal 67, thereby breaking contact of the circuit breaker. At the same time, as shown in FIG. 6, the rod 73 connected with the plunger 71 directly hits the holder 13, thereby detaching the movable contacts 11 and 12 from the fixed contacts 9 and 16, respectively. By breaking contact, arcs are generated between the movable contacts 11, 12 and the fixed contact 9, 16, respectively. These arcs move between the movable conductor 10 and the fixed conductors 8 and 17, respectively. Further, the arcs move to between a pair of arc runners 92, 93 (FIG. 1) and the fixed conductors 8, 17, respectively. The arcs are thereby divided and extinguished as a result. Hot gas generated in the arc extinguishing chambers 18A and 18B is exhausted out of the vents 20 through holes (not shown) of the exhaust sheets 18b and the exhaust passage 19.

When the operation handle 50 is pushed to the left to put it in the OFF-position from the trip state (FIG. 6), the lever 56 pushes the roller 55 rightward. The roller 55 thereby gets onto the pusher plate 61, and the lever 56 is engaged with the latch 57. Resetting operation is thus completed.

As aforementioned, the limit switch 45 is actuated to close or open its contact by the operation of the pusher plate 61 which is moved up and down. And, the limit switch 45 and the electromagnetic coil 26 of the electromagnetic unit 200 are connected in series with each other. When the operation handle 50 is put in the AUTO-position, the limit switch 45 is actuated and shuts its contact, as shown in FIG. 10. The electromagnetic unit 200 is therefore operated when the coil 26 is excited. When the operation handle 50 is put in the OFF-position, the limit switch 45 is actuated and breaks contact, as shown in FIG. 9. Therefore, the electromagnetic unit 200 is not operated even when a voltage is applied to the terminal 42. That is, useless or unnecessary operation of the electromagnetic unit 200 is eliminated, so that the life-time of the electromagnetic unit 200 is extended.

Moreover, in the present invention, the limit switch 45 is driven through a projection 61b which is linked via a third member, e.g. spring 62 (FIG. 1 and FIG. 2). Accordingly, if an overload or short circuit occurs when the operation handle 50 is in its ON (manual) position, the switching of the limit switch 45 is not restricted simply because the operation handle 50 is locked in its ON position, and can trip freely (That is, the device is "trip-free"). As a consequence, the indication agrees with the tripping state.

If the limit switch 45 were linked directly to the operation handle 50, and the operating handle were locked in its ON position, the limit switch would not move even in the event of tripping, so that the electromagnetic coil could still be excited and a false indication of operating state could occur.

Although the invention has been particularly described in terms of preferred forms, it is understood that variations in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.