JP2000215783A - Circuit breaker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a circuit breaker capable of facilitating a fitting work in the case of putting a cover on a body without requiring another member for putting it on. SOLUTION: A cover 16 is to be put on an upper face opening of a body 1 where terminal devices 17a, 17b, 18a, 18b, a contact part and a switching mechanism part are arranged, and an opening window 52, for exposing a handle 5 so that the handle 5 can be operated from the outside, is formed on the central part thereof, and thin leg pieces 53 are projected integrally on the lower ends of both side walls. When the cover 16 is put on the body 1, the leg pieces 53 are lowered along recess planes 54 formed on the outer faces of both side walls of the body 1, and engaging projections 55 formed integrally on the recess planes 54 are engaged in engaging holes 56 formed on the leg pieces 53 by using elasticity of the leg pieces 53 and upper end inclined faces 55a of the engaging projections 55, to thereby fix the cover 16 on the body 1 at a single operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a circuit breaker which is mounted on a distribution board or on a wall by inserting mounting screws from both sides.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a circuit breaker of this kind, Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 61
Conventionally, there is a circuit breaker as disclosed in JP-A-45337.

In this conventional example, as shown in FIG. 10, a cover 101 is attached to a body 100 having an opening / closing mechanism so as to cover the opening / closing mechanism.
1 and is connected to the body 100 by a caulking pin.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned structure of the prior art, it is difficult to connect the cover 101 and the body 100, and an extra member called a caulking pin is required.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to make it easy to attach a cover to a body and to provide a separate cover for attaching the cover. An object of the present invention is to provide a circuit breaker that does not require any members.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a pair of input / output terminal devices is provided and interposed between the pair of input / output terminal devices. A body having an upper surface opening that houses an opening / closing mechanism that opens and closes a contact portion with a handle, and that has mounting screw insertion holes at both ends corresponding to a direction connecting a pair of input / output terminal devices, and the handle. And a cover having a lower surface opening attached to an upper surface opening of the body having an operation opening window for rotating the body, wherein the body is mounted when the cover is attached to the body. The protrusions having through holes having a diameter larger than the thread of the mounting screw to be inserted and smaller than the head of the mounting screw are provided at both ends of the cover, respectively, and the both ends of the body are connected to the insertion holes. Orthogonal to the direction of A leg that covers a part of both side walls in the direction and has a locking part that is locked to the body is provided on both sides of the cover, and the locking part is locked to the both side walls of the body. A part is formed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the positions of both side walls of the body corresponding to the legs of the cover are recessed so as to be substantially the same as the thickness of the legs of the cover. Features.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the protrusion of the cover is provided with a catch recess for attaching a terminal cover for covering each of the terminal devices. I do.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

The body of the circuit breaker of the present embodiment is a body 1
And a cover 16, and both ends of the body 1 exposed to the outside when the cover 16 is attached to the body 1 are provided on both sides of the body 1.
Terminal arrangement part 19 in which 18a and 17b, 18b are arranged
a, 19b, 20a, and 20b are provided so as to be separated by partition walls 25a and 25b. A storage recess 35 for storing the opening / closing mechanism is provided in the center of the body 1, and a pair of terminal devices 17a, 18a and a pair of terminal devices 17b at both ends are provided.
A contact portion composed of the movable contact 12 and the fixed contact 24 is provided between 18b. The cover 16 is attached to an opening on the upper surface of the body 1 provided with the terminal devices 17a, 17b, 18a, 18b, the contact portion and the opening / closing mechanism.
An opening window 52 for exposing the handle 5 is provided at a central portion thereof so that the handle 5 can be operated from the outside, and thin leg pieces 53, 53 are integrally protruded from lower ends of both side walls.
Then, when attached to the body 1, the leg pieces 5 extend along the concave flat surfaces 54, 54 formed on the outer surfaces of both side walls of the body 1.
The locking projections 55, 55, which are locking portions, which are integrally formed on the concave flat surface 54 by hanging down the hooks 3, 53, are formed in locking holes 56, 56, which are locking portions formed on the leg piece 53. The elasticity of the piece 53 and the locking using the upper end inclined surface 55 a of the locking projection 55 can be fixed to the body 1 with one touch. Further, since the thickness of the leg piece 53 and the depth of the concave plane 54 are substantially equal, as shown in FIG.
3 and the outer surface of the body 1 are flush with each other.

The cover 16 is formed integrally with projections 57 mounted on the partition walls 25a and 25b of the body 1 from the walls on both ends, respectively. When the cover 16 is attached to the body 1, A through hole 58 formed in the protruding portion 57 and an insertion hole 59 penetrating the partition walls 25a and 25b through the outer bottom portion of the body 1 communicate with each other. The mounting screw 60 shown in FIG. By inserting the circuit breaker into the body 1
Can be fixed to a lower mounting member (not shown). Therefore, the cover 16 can be prevented from falling off even by the arc gas pressure generated by the opening of the contact when an excessive current occurs. The inner diameter of the through hole 58 is larger than the outer diameter of the screw portion of the mounting screw 60, and smaller than the outer diameter of the head of the mounting screw 60.

Terminal device 17 exposed at both ends of body 1
a, 17b and 18a, 18b to cover
It is necessary to attach separate terminal covers 61, 61 as shown in FIG. 3, but on the ceiling portions of the terminal covers 61, 61, locking pieces 6 hanging down along both side surfaces of the projecting portion 57 of the cover 16 are provided.
2 and 62 are formed, and the locking claw 63 at the tip of the locking piece 62 is locked to a terminal cover mounting recess 64 formed on both side surfaces of the projecting portion 57 so that the terminal cover is formed. 61 is fixed. When the terminal cover 61 is fixed to the mounting member using mounting screws 65, a through hole 67 of a cylindrical rib 66 provided at the center of the outer edge of the terminal cover 61 is used.

Next, the configuration of the switching mechanism and the contact portion of the circuit breaker of the present embodiment will be described in more detail.

First, in FIG.
a, terminal devices 17a, 17 for input provided in
b denotes a terminal plate 21 having one end placed on the terminal disposition portions 19a and 19b and the other end extended through a step onto the body 1 covered with the cover 16; It penetrates from the upper surface of one end to the lower surface side through a washer 28 composed of a group of washers including a spring washer, and is provided with a terminal arrangement portion 19a,
A fixed contact 24 is attached to the other end of the terminal plate 21 in an upward direction.

In FIG. 1, the right terminal disposing portion 20
The output terminal device 18b disposed on one of the terminals 20a and 20b has one end disposed on the terminal disposed portion 20b.
A terminal plate 27 having the other end extended onto the body 1 covered with the cover 16, and a terminal penetrating from the upper surface of one end of the terminal plate 27 to the lower surface through a washer 28 similar to the above, is provided. And a terminal screw 22 screwed into a nut 23 disposed in a concave portion 26 of the portion 20b.
One end of the movable spring plate 30 </ b> A is overlapped with one end of the movable spring plate 30 </ b> A by passing a fixing screw 31 through the one end, the other end, and the bottom surface of the body 1 and screwing to a nut 32 disposed on the outer bottom of the body 1. Together with the body 1.

Further, an output terminal device 18a disposed in the terminal disposition portion 20a has one end disposed on the terminal disposition portion 20a, the other end bent in an L shape, and covered with the cover 16. A terminal plate 33 extending onto the body 1 to be covered;
And a terminal screw 22 that penetrates from the upper surface of one end of the terminal via the same washer 28 to the lower surface side and is screwed into a nut 23 disposed in the concave portion 26 of the terminal arrangement portion 20b. One end of a braided wire 34 is welded to the tip of the portion. The other end of the braided wire 34 is welded to one end of the bimetal 10.

The bimetal 10 has a movable spring plate 30B at one end.
And one end of the bimetal 10 and the movable spring plate 3
A fixing screw 31 ′ is passed through one end of OB and the bottom surface of the body 1 and screwed and fastened to a nut 32 ′ arranged on the outer bottom surface of the body 1 to be fixed to the body 1 together with the movable spring plate 30 </ b> B. The bimetal 10 is bent in a substantially inverted L-shape from the fixed portion and is inclined upward.

The movable spring plates 30A, 30B are arranged on both sides of the body 1, are bent obliquely upward from the middle part, and have movable contacts 12, 12, which contact and separate from the fixed contacts 24, 24 at their free ends. Each is fixed downward.

The body 1 between the partition walls 25a and 25b will now be described.
A storage recess 35 for storing the frame 4 that supports the switching mechanism of the circuit breaker is provided in the upper central portion.

The frame 4 is mounted on the bottom surface in the storage recess 35 and has fixing screws 38 penetrated from the outer bottom of the body 1.
And a pair of side pieces 3 extending upward from the sides of the body 1 from both sides of the fixed piece 2. A shaft hole 40 for receiving a handle pin 14 for rotatably supporting the handle 5 is provided at an upper end portion thereof, and a pin 13 for rotatably supporting the release plate 8 to one side slightly below the shaft hole 40. A shaft hole 36 is formed, and an arc-shaped hole 41 is formed at the center to allow the upper shaft 6A of the U-shaped link 6 to freely move in both ends of the body 1, and a lower shaft 6B of the link 6 is vertically moved. A long hole 42 communicating with the upper end of the circular hole 41 at a position near the one end (the left end in FIG. 1) is formed.

The terminal devices 18a, 18 of the side pieces 3, 3
At the lower end surface on the side b, hooking projections 43, 43 each having a tip bent downward project from the hooking opening 44 provided at the bottom of the storage recess 35 as shown in FIG. Stop,
The frame 4 can be firmly fixed to the body 1.

The handle 5 is disposed above the frame 4, and has pin insertion holes 37 provided near the bases of a pair of leg pieces 11 which hang down from both lower sides along the outer surfaces of the side pieces 3, 3 of the frame 4. The handle pin 14 is inserted through the shaft holes 40 of both side pieces 3 of the frame 4 and is rotatably supported so as to straddle the frame 4. In addition, a link insertion hole 47 provided at the lower end of one leg 11 passes through the arc-shaped hole 41 of the side piece 3 of the frame 4, and a link insertion hole 47 provided at the lower end of the other leg 11 above the link 6. The shaft 6A is inserted. The outside of the leg piece 11 is closed by a closing portion (not shown) so that the tip of the upper shaft 6A does not protrude outside, and the link insertion hole 47 provided in the other leg piece 11 is closed.
Is insulated and isolated from the charging part near the bimetal 10 and the charging part including the movable spring plate 30A near the leg 11 on the opposite side.

The handle 5 has one end locked to the lower surface of the handle 5, the other end locked to the partition wall of the storage recess 35, and the ring portion opened by a torsion spring 45 fitted to one end of the handle pin 14. It is always biased in the (OFF) direction.

Here, by positioning the leg pieces 11, 11 of the handle 5 outside the side pieces 3, 3 of the frame 4,
It is possible to make the space between the side pieces 3 and 3 of the frame 4 narrower, so that the width of the storage recess 35 can be reduced. As a result, in the present embodiment, the thickness of the partition surrounding the storage recess 35 is increased to increase the thickness of the frame 4. Has been firmly fixed. Handle 5
The size seen from the operation surface (upper surface in FIG. 1) is set to a size that can cover and hide the lower frame 4 to insulate the frame 4.

An operating plate 7 is provided between the side pieces 3 and 3 of the frame 4.
And the tripping plate 8 are disposed respectively, and the operating plate 7
Is inserted through a long hole 42 of one side piece 3 into a shaft hole 46 provided at a substantially central portion, and a lower shaft 6B of a link 6 whose tip is inserted into the long hole 42 of the other side piece 3 penetrates. Inserted handle 5
Are connected via a link 6 and are driven by a turning operation of the handle 5.

On the other hand, the tripping plate 8 is bent in reverse L and has a shape in which the tip of the central portion 4a, which is a lateral piece, is extended laterally, and a frame hole is formed in a shaft hole 48 formed near the base of the central portion 8a. 4 is inserted through the shaft hole 36 of one side piece 3 and inserted into the shaft hole 36 of the other side piece 3, and is rotatably supported by the frame 4. A locking step 49 for locking one end 7a of the operating plate 7 is formed on the inner surface of the vertical piece 8b, and a coil spring 50 is arranged between the outer surface of the vertical piece 8b and the partition 25b by compression. A force for rotating the release plate 8 in the locking direction is received. The lateral extension piece 8c extending from the distal end of the central portion 4a of the tripping plate 8 is further extended and parallel to the lower surface of the distal end of the bimetal 40, and the reaction piece 51 which receives a downward force when the bimetal 40 is bent and deformed by heat. Is provided.

A driver 9 is disposed between the other end 7b of the operation plate 7 and the bottom surface of the body 1 so as to be vertically movable. Both ends of the driver 9 project toward both sides of the storage recess 35. The movable spring plate 30 disposed on both sides of the storage recess 35 in the L-shaped projection 9a integrally formed on the lower surface of both ends thereof.
A. The movable spring plates 30A and 30B are elastically contacted with the lower surfaces of the both ends by inserting the vicinity of the free end of 30B, thereby being urged upward.

Thus, the terminal devices 17a, 17b,
18a, 18b, the movable spring bodies 30A, 30B, and the bimetal 10, and the frame 4 incorporating the components of the opening and closing mechanism is disposed in the storage recess 35, and the cover is mounted on the body 1 in which the components have been assembled. When the circuit breaker 16 is attached, the circuit breaker of the present embodiment is completed, and the terminal cover 16 is attached as necessary.

Next, the operation of the circuit breaker of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIGS. 7A and 7B show the off state. In this state, the handle 5 is biased by the torsion spring 45 around the handle pin 14 as shown in FIG. 7B. A counterclockwise rotational force is applied to the position shown in the OFF state. At this time, the upper shaft 6 of the link 6
A moves to the right end of the arc-shaped hole 41, and the lower shaft 6B moves to the upper end of the long hole 42, and pulls the operation plate 7 upward. The tripping plate 8 is in a state where the lower end of the vertical piece 8b is pressed by the coil spring 50 and a clockwise rotational force is applied around the pin 13 in the figure.

In this state, the vertical piece 8 of the release plate 8 is
One end 7a of the operating plate 7 is disengaged from the locking step 49 of b, and the driving body 9 is in a state of being pushed upward by the movable spring bodies 30A and 30B on both sides. And the movable spring body 3
The movable contacts 12A, 12A of 0A, 30B are separated from the fixed contacts 24, 24 facing each other and are in an open (off) state.

Next, in the off state shown in FIG.
When the operation surface located on the upper side is pressed downward, the handle 5 rotates clockwise about the handle pin 14 against the bias of the torsion spring 45, and the rotation of the leg 11 The upper shaft 6A of the link 6 penetrating the lower part moves the arc-shaped hole 41 from the right end to the left end. At the same time, the lower shaft 6B of the link 6 moves down the long hole 42 and pushes down the operation plate 7. The movement of the operation plate 7 causes the operation plate 7 to move.
When the one end 7a of the operating plate 7 hits the locking step 49 of the vertical piece 8b of the release plate 8 and further pushes the operating surface of the handle 5 downward, the operating plate 7 moves the other end 7b downward around the one end 7a. Rotate in the direction. By this rotation, the other end 7b
Pushes down the driving body 9. The driving body 9 pushes down the free ends of the movable spring bodies 30A and 30B at both ends thereof against the bias of the spring by the downward movement. By this depression, the movable spring 30
A, 30B movable contacts 12, 12 will eventually become fixed contacts 2.
4 and 24, and the upper shaft 6A of the link 6 is
When the handle 5 is operated to reach the left end of the arc-shaped hole 41 beyond the position 2, the movable spring bodies 30 </ b> A, 30 </ b> B are bent by the pressing of the driving body 9, and the movable contacts 12, 12 and the fixed contacts 24, 24 are displaced. A contact pressure is generated between them. Further, the spring force of the movable spring bodies 30A and 30B, the return force of the torsion spring 45 for urging the handle 5 to rotate, the spring force of the coil spring 50 pressing the vertical piece 8b of the release plate 8, the link 6, One end 7a of the operation plate 7 is locked to the engaging step 49 of the vertical piece 8b of the release plate 8 due to the mutual relationship between the release plate 8, the driving body 9, the operation plate 7, and the handle 5. Will be balanced. This state is shown in FIGS.
In the ON state shown in FIG. In this ON state, the upper surface of the central portion 8a of the trip plate 8 separated from the pivot point of the pin 13 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), since the rotation of the tripping plate 8 is restricted by contacting the lower end of the handle pin 14, the tripping plate 8 always stops at the same position, so that the tripping characteristics are hardly affected. It has become.

Next, when returning from the on state to the off state by manual operation, the operation surface above the handle 5 may be pushed down.

That is, the handle 5 is rotated counterclockwise in the figure around the handle pin 14 by this pressing down, and the upper shaft 6A of the link 6 inserted through the lower end of the leg piece 11 moves rightward in the arc-shaped hole 41. The lower shaft 6B of the link 6 moves upward in the elongated hole 42 with this movement, and pulls the operating plate 7 upward. By this lifting, the equilibrium state is broken, and the engagement state between the engagement step portion 49 and the one end 7a of the operation plate 7 is released, and the movable spring plate 30
A. 30B moves the free end upward while pushing up the driving body 9 by the spring force, and separates the movable contacts 12, 12 from the fixed contact 24. On the other hand, the return force of the torsion spring 45 causes the handle 5 to rotate at a stretch, and this rotation causes the upper shaft 6A of the link 6 to move to the right end of the arc-shaped hole 41 and the lower shaft 6B to move to the upper end of the elongated hole 42, FIG. 7 (a)
The state returns to the off state shown in FIG. In this case, the other end 7b of the operation plate 7 is connected to both sides of the frame 4 corresponding to the other end 7b such that one end 7a of the operation plate 7 is at a position where it can be engaged with the engagement step 49 of the release plate 8. It comes into contact with a pair of positioning projections 15, 15 integrally protruding from the side edges of the piece 3.

In the on state shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, when an excessive current flows through the load circuit connected to the power supply via the circuit breaker, the terminal device 18a,
Excessive current flows in the electric path of the braided wire 34, the bimetal 10, the movable spring plate 30B, the movable contact 12, the fixed contact 24, and the terminal device 17a, and the bimetal 10 generates heat by itself. Due to this heat, the bimetal 10 is displaced in a direction to move its free end downward, and the driven piece 51 of the trip plate 8 arranged in parallel with the free end is moved by the drive shaft 29 as shown in FIG.
Push down as shown in the figure. When the tripping plate 8 receives a downward force on the reaction piece 51, it rotates counterclockwise about the pin 13 in FIG. 8B. By this rotation, the vertical piece 8b of the tripping plate 8 is moved to the position shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the coil spring 50 is moved in a direction to compress, and as a result, one end 7a of the operation plate 7 and the locking step 4
9 is released. As a result, an upward force acts on the other end 7b of the operation plate 7 via the driving body 9 by the spring force of the movable spring bodies 30A and 30B, and the operation plate 7 is centered on the lower shaft 6B of the link 6 as shown in the figure. As a result, the movable contacts 12, 12 at the free ends of the movable spring bodies 30A, 30B are separated from the fixed contacts 24, 24 to cut off the current.

The return force of the torsion spring 45 causes the handle 5 to rotate counterclockwise about the handle pin 14 and return to the off state shown in FIG. 7B as in the manual off operation. .

On the other hand, since no current flows through the bimetal 10, the bimetal 10 returns to the original state and the depression of the reaction piece 51 of the tripping plate 8 is released, and the state shown in FIG. Since the release plate 8 has no pressing force against the reaction piece 51, the release plate 8 rotates clockwise around the pin 13 from the position shown in FIG.
It will return to the position of (b).

As described above, the circuit breaker of the present invention can be turned on / off by the manual operation of the handle 5 with the same operational feeling as a wave switch, and when an excessive current flows in the load circuit, the opening / closing mechanism is operated by the bimetal 10. The part trips, and the trip operation forcibly opens the contact part to cut off the current.

[0039]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an opening / closing mechanism for providing a pair of input / output terminal devices and for opening / closing a contact portion interposed between the paired input / output terminal devices with a handle. It has a body with an upper surface opening that is provided with insertion holes for mounting screws at both ends corresponding to the direction in which the input and output terminal devices to be stored and connected are connected, and an opening window for operating the handle to rotate. And a cover having a lower surface opening attached to the upper surface opening of the body, wherein the mounting screw is connected to the insertion hole of the body when the cover is attached to the body, and the mounting screw is inserted therethrough. Protrusions having through holes larger than the threaded part and smaller in diameter than the head of the mounting screw are provided at both ends of the cover, and a part of both side walls in a direction orthogonal to the directions of the both ends of the body. Cover and engage the body Leg portions having locking portions to be provided are provided on both sides of the cover, and locked portions for locking the locking portions are formed on both side walls of the body. It can be attached with a single touch by the locking part, so that the work of attaching the cover is easy and does not require any members for attachment.In addition, it can be inserted from the through hole of the protrusion of the cover to the insertion hole of the body. The mounting screw can be penetrated and attached, and there is an effect that the cover can be prevented from falling off due to the arc gas pressure when an excessive current flowing through the contacts occurs with the mounting screw attached.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the positions of both side walls of the body corresponding to the legs of the cover are recessed so as to be substantially the same as the thickness of the legs of the cover. When the cover is attached, the side surface of the cover is flush with the side surface of the body, which has the effect of improving the appearance. .

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the projection of the cover is provided with a hooking recess for attaching a terminal cover for covering each of the terminal devices. Has the effect that it can be easily attached.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view showing a state where the cover is removed.

FIG. 3 is a front sectional view of the same.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the same.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing a state in which the terminal cover is removed.

FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway front view showing a state where the terminal cover is mounted.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an operation in an off state according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 8 is an operation explanatory diagram of the above-described ON state.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of an operation at the time of a trip of the above.

FIG. 10 is a side sectional view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Body 5 Handle 10 Bimetal 12 Movable contact 16 Cover 17a, 17b, 18a, 18b Terminal device 24 Fixed contact 30A, 30B Movable spring plate 52 Opening window 53 Leg piece 54 Concave flat surface 55 Locking projection 56 Locking hole 57 Projection 58 Through hole 59 Insertion hole

[Explanation of symbols]

Claims (3)

[Claims] A pair of input / output terminal devices are provided, and an opening / closing mechanism for operating a contact portion interposed between the pair of input / output terminal devices with a handle is housed. A body having an upper surface opening provided with mounting screw insertion holes at both ends corresponding to a direction connecting the output terminal device, and an upper surface opening of the body having an opening window for operating the handle to rotate. A cover having a lower surface opening attached to the body, wherein when the cover is attached to the body, the mounting screw communicates with an insertion hole of the body and is larger than a screw portion of the mounting screw to be inserted. Protrusions having through holes with a diameter smaller than the head of the body are provided at both ends of the cover, respectively, and cover a part of both side walls of the body in a direction orthogonal to the directions of the both ends to engage with the body. With locking parts to be stopped A circuit breaker, characterized in that leg pieces are provided on both sides of a cover, and locked portions for locking the locking portions are formed on both side walls of the body. 2. The circuit breaker according to claim 1, wherein positions of both side walls of the body corresponding to the legs of the cover are recessed so as to be substantially the same as the thickness of the legs of the cover. 3. The circuit breaker according to claim 1, wherein said projecting portion of said cover is provided with a catching recess for attaching a terminal cover for covering said terminal devices.