JP4372596B2 - breaker - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a breaker that opens an electric circuit that connects the load circuit and a power source when the load circuit is overloaded, overcurrent, or when leakage occurs.

  A breaker is installed between the load circuit and the power supply to prevent the load circuit from affecting the load circuit and other load circuits connected to the power supply if an overload, overcurrent, or electrical leakage occurs. Connected.

  For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses an earth leakage breaker that opens an electric circuit at the time of earth leakage.

  The earth leakage breaker described in Patent Document 1 includes a fixed contact, a movable contact, and an electric circuit for an operator to open and close a portion of an electric circuit (hereinafter referred to as an internal circuit) wired in the breaker. And an open / close mechanism that drives the movable contact so that the movable contact supported by the movable contact contacts and separates from the fixed contact provided on the fixed contact.

  The opening / closing mechanism includes an urging means for separating the movable contact from the fixed contact, and a link mechanism for bringing the movable contact into contact with the fixed contact against the urging means. Is also used as an overload trip drive means made of bimetal that is thermally deformed by self-heating during overload and separates the movable contact from the fixed contact.

  The link mechanism includes a handle that is rotated by an operator within a predetermined range, a trip bar that is movably supported by the case of the breaker, and a position where a base end portion is separated from the rotation center of the handle by the handle. A link that is rotatably supported at the other end and is rotatably received by the trip bar, abuts against the bimetal from the side opposite to the fixed contact, and moves the movable contact in conjunction with the handle via the link. An opening / closing member that contacts and separates from the fixed contact; and a latch member that is restrained by the trip bar and locks the opening / closing member at a position where the opening / closing member contacts the movable contact with the fixed contact.

The earth leakage breaker is provided with trip driving means for driving the trip bar to release the restraint of the latch member when the earth leakage occurs and separating the movable contact from the fixed contact.
JP-A-8-203212

  As described above, the conventional link mechanism requires five parts, that is, an opening / closing member, a handle, a link, a latch member, and a trip bar. Therefore, the number of parts and assembly man-hours are large, the cost is increased, and the breaker is expensive. There is a problem of becoming.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a breaker that can solve the problems of the prior art and can be manufactured at low cost.

  To achieve this object, the present invention provides an opening / closing member whose base end is rotatably supported by a case and whose distal end is in contact with the movable contact from the opposite side of the fixed contact, and the movable contact described above. A handle for opening and closing the child and a base end portion are rotatably supported at a position away from the rotation axis of the handle, and a distal end portion is provided at an intermediate portion of the opening and closing member from the side opposite to the movable contact. A link to be brought into contact with and disengageable from, and supported by the case so as to be rotatable about a rotation axis of the opening and closing member, and a movement of the link moving along the opening and closing member toward the opening and closing member leading side. A technical means including a trip member that checks at a predetermined position and trip driving means that drives the trip member to release the check on the link is adopted.

  According to the present invention, in terms of function, the opening / closing member, handle, link and trip driving means of the present invention correspond to the prior art opening / closing member, handle, link and trip driving means, and the prior art latch member and trip. Instead of two parts called bars, the present invention provides one part called a trip member. That is, the number of parts is reduced by one, and as a result, the number of assembly steps and cost are reduced.

  As described above, according to the present invention, instead of the conventional two parts of the latch member and the trip bar, one part called the trip member having these functions is provided, so the number of parts, the number of assembly steps and the cost are increased. Can be reduced.

  Hereinafter, a breaker according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, FIG. 1 is a side view of a breaker according to an embodiment of the present invention in an off state. In FIG. 1, the front-rear direction is the front-back direction of the page, the front side is the front side, and the back side is the rear side. Also, the vertical and horizontal directions are as shown by arrows in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, this breaker is provided with, for example, two power connection terminals 2 to which a power supply side electric wire is connected at the right end portion of the case 1 made of an insulating synthetic resin. Load connection terminals 4 for connecting a load circuit are provided before and after the left end of the core 3.

  An internal circuit for connecting the power connection terminal 2 and the corresponding load connection terminal 4 is arranged on each side of the core 3 before and after the core 3, and a fixed contact 5 fixed to the case 1 is fixed to each internal circuit. By interposing a movable contact 6 that is brought into contact with and away from the contact 5 and bringing the movable contact 6 into contact with the fixed contact 5, each internal circuit is closed, and the movable contact 6 is moved upward from the fixed contact 5. Each internal circuit is opened by being separated from each other.

  In addition, the breaker is provided with an opening / closing mechanism 7 that is operated by an operator to open and close each internal circuit at the same time, and when the overload occurs, an overload trip driving means 8 for opening each internal circuit, overcurrent generation Sometimes, an overcurrent trip driving means 9 for opening each internal circuit and a leakage trip driving means 10 for opening each internal circuit when a leakage occurs are provided.

  FIG. 2 is a side view of the opening / closing mechanism 7 in an off state in which each internal circuit is opened.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the fixed contact 5 includes a support member 11 formed by punching a metal plate and a fixed contact 12 fixed to the right end of the support member 11. The load connection terminal 4 is fixed.

  The movable contact 6 includes a floating member 14 made of a metal strip elastically supported by the core 3 through an urging means 13 and a movable contact 15 fixed to the left end portion of the floating member 14. .

  In the OFF state shown in FIG. 2, the right end portion of the floating member 14 biased by the biasing means 13 is restrained to a predetermined height by a right restraining portion 3 a provided in the core 3, and the floating member The intermediate portion near the left end of 14 is received from the top by the tip of the opening / closing member 16 of the opening / closing mechanism 7.

  The opening / closing member 16 is supported by the case 1 and the core 3 at the base end portion via the first fulcrum shaft 20, and in the off state, the tip end portion is restrained from above by the left restraining portion 3 b provided on the core 3. Yes. As a result, the movable contact 6 biased by the biasing means 13 is held at an off position spaced above the fixed contact 5.

  The opening / closing mechanism 7 includes a handle 17 operated by an operator, a link 18 and a trip member 19 in addition to the biasing means 13 and the opening / closing member 16.

  The handle 17 protrudes from the outer peripheral surface of the boss portion 22 to the outside of the case 1 through the second fulcrum shaft 21 and rotatably supported by the case 1 and the core 3. The lever portion 23 is wound around the paragraph portion 24 formed on the boss portion 22, one end is engaged with the locking portion 3 c provided on the core 3, and the other end is engaged with the boss portion 22. It is urged counterclockwise by a return spring 25 comprising a held torsion coil spring.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the case 1 is provided with an off-position restraining surface 1a for receiving the lever portion 23 from the left side and an on-position restraining surface 1b for receiving the lever portion 23 from the right side. Is rotated between an off position received by the off position check surface 1a and an on position received by the on position check surface 1b.

  The link 18 has a shape obtained by bending a wire having a circular cross section into a U-shape, and as shown in FIG. 2, a base end portion 26 composed of the upper side thereof is freely rotatable on the outer peripheral portion of the boss portion 22 of the handle 17. Supported by Further, the end portion 27 of the link 18, that is, the lower side portion of the U-shape is brought into contact with the upper surface of the opening / closing member 16, that is, the surface opposite to the movable contact 6.

  The trip member 19 includes a central portion 28 that is rotatably supported by the case 1 and the core 3 via the first fulcrum shaft 20, and a hook that extends from the central portion 28 to the upper side of the opening / closing member 16. The hook portion 29 is provided with a tip portion 30 that protrudes toward the opening / closing member 16. When the handle 17 is normally operated to open and close the internal circuit, the tip portion 30 is provided. The tip portion 27 of the link 18 moves between the center portion 28 and the center portion 28.

  FIG. 3 is a side view of the breaker according to one embodiment of the present invention in the ON state, and the front and rear, top and bottom, and left and right directions in FIG. 3 are the same as those in FIG.

  Switching from the off state shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 to the on state shown in FIG. 3 is realized by the operator rotating the handle 17 from the off position to the on position.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the off state, the base end portion 26 of the link 18 is located on the right side of the straight line connecting the second fulcrum shaft 21 and the distal end portion 27 of the link 18. When rotated in the clockwise direction (clockwise direction), that is, in the direction of the ON position, first, the tip portion 27 of the link 18 slides on the upper surface of the opening / closing member 16 and moves toward the tip portion 30 of the trip member 19. .

  After the distal end portion 27 of the link 18 is received by the tip portion 30, when the handle 17 is further moved in the direction of the on position, the second fulcrum shaft 21, the proximal end portion 26 and the distal end portion 27 of the link 18 are obtained. As the rotation angle of the handle 17 increases, the distance between the second fulcrum shaft 21 and the tip end portion 27 of the link 18 increases until the opening / closing member 16 and the trip member 19 are in the first state. The movable contact 6 rotates downward about the fulcrum shaft 20 in the left downward direction (counterclockwise direction), and is pushed downward.

  The movable contact 6 pushed down by the opening / closing member 16 is first lowered downward with the right check portion 3a as a fulcrum until the movable contact 15 is received by the fixed contact 12, and the movable contact 15 is received by the fixed contact 12. After that, the right side is lowered with the fixed contact 12 as a support.

  In the critical state, the distance between the second fulcrum shaft 21 and the distal end portion 27 of the link 18 is maximized, and the movable contact 6 is pushed down to the lowest. When this critical state is exceeded, the proximal end portion 26 of the link 18 is moved to the second fulcrum shaft. The biasing means 13 pushes back the movable contact 6, the opening / closing member 16 and the link 18 upward, and overcomes the biasing force of the return spring 25 to move the handle 17. Rotate clockwise.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when the lever portion 23 is moved to the ON position received by the ON position restraining surface 1b of the case 1 with the movable contact 15 supported by the fixed contact 12, the attachment Due to the urging force of the urging means 13, the handle 17 is locked in the ON position, and the ON state in which the movable contact 15 is pressed against the fixed contact 12 with the tip of the opening / closing member 16 as a fulcrum is maintained.

  On the other hand, when the operator rotates the handle 12 from the on position to the off position, it is switched from the on state to the off state in the reverse order.

  By the way, the breaker operates when the overload trip driving means 8 operates when an overload occurs in the load circuit, and when the overcurrent occurs when the overcurrent occurs in the load circuit. Alternatively, when an electric leakage (short circuit) occurs in the load circuit, the trip driving means 10 at the time of electric leakage is activated, and the check of the link 18 by the trip member 19 is released.

  The release of the check of the link 18 by the trip member 19 is called a trip. When the trip is realized, the breaker instantaneously returns from the on state to the off state as follows.

  FIG. 4 is a side view of the breaker when tripped due to overload. The front and rear, top and bottom, and left and right directions in FIG. 4 are the same as those in FIGS. 1 and 3.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the overload trip drive means 8 is made of bimetal, and includes a base end portion 8a fixed to the core 3 and an operation portion 8b raised from the base end portion in an L-shape. The base end portion 8a is connected to one power connection terminal 2. The intermediate height portion of the operating portion 8 b is connected to the load connection terminal 4 through the movable contact 6 and the fixed contact 5.

  The trip member 19 is provided with an overload passive portion 31 extending obliquely downward to the right from the center portion 28. In normal times, the overload trip drive means is located to the right of the overload passive portion 31. The upper ends of the eight operating portions 8b face each other with a predetermined distance.

  When an overload occurs in the load circuit, the portion between the point of connection of the actuating portion 8b to the movable contact 6 and the base end portion 8a (energized portion) is thermally deformed due to self-heating, and the overload occurs. When the load is applied, the passive portion 31 is pressed to the left, and the tip portion 30 of the trip member 19 is lifted from the opening / closing member 16.

  When the tip 30 is lifted from the opening / closing member 16 to be larger than ½ of the wire diameter of the link 18, the check of the link 18 by the trip member 19 is released, and thereafter, the tip of the link 18 is moved to the opening / closing member 16. The upper surface slides and moves in the tip direction of the trip member 19, and the restraint by the link 18 and the handle 17 against the lifting of the opening / closing member 16 and the movable contact 6 is released. The opening / closing member 16 and the movable contact 6 released from the restraint are biased until the right end of the movable contact 6 is received by the right restraint 3a and the tip of the opening / closing member 16 is received by the left restraint 3b. 13 is pushed back upward, thereby opening the internal circuit.

  Further, when the tip of the link 18 slides on the upper surface of the opening / closing member 16 and moves toward the tip of the trip member 19, the urging force of the urging means 13 against the handle 17 is released. The return spring 25 moves to the off position. In conjunction with the return of the handle 17 to the OFF position, the distal end portion 27 of the link 18 is pulled back toward the proximal end portion of the opening / closing member 16 and the central portion 28 of the trip member 19.

  The overload trip drive means 8 stops self-heating when the internal circuit is opened, and is naturally cooled to return to the off-shape, and the operating portion 8b of the overload trip drive means 8 moves to the right. As it returns, the tripping member 19 rotates in a direction in which its tip part 30 descends toward the opening / closing member 16 by the elastic force of the return spring built in the trip drive means 10 at the time of electric leakage, The center portion 28 returns to the off state in which the end portion 27 of the link 18 is positioned between the opening / closing member 16 and the hook portion 29.

  FIG. 5 is a side view of the breaker in a state where a trip is started due to overcurrent. The front, rear, top, bottom, left and right directions in FIG. 5 are the same as those in FIGS.

  The trip member 19 includes an overload passive portion 32 that extends downward from the central portion 28. When an overcurrent flows in the load circuit, the overcurrent trip drive means 9 causes the overcurrent passive portion to operate. 32 is pushed to the left, and the check of the link 18 by the trip member 19 is released.

  FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the overcurrent trip driving means 9. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the overcurrent trip drive means 9 includes an electromagnet 33 supported by the core 3 and a drive piece 34 driven by the electromagnet 33.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the drive piece 34 is formed by press-molding a single metal plate, and a portion to be attracted 35 to be magnetically attracted to the electromagnet 33 and an upper edge of the attracted portion 35 are partially formed. The engaging portion 36 is formed by bending it into a square shape, and the drive portion 37 is formed by extending the upper edge of the attracted portion 35 partially upward.

  The electromagnet 33 includes an adsorption member 38 obtained by bending a ferromagnetic metal plate such as iron or steel into a U-shaped groove shape, and an end face of the long groove side wall of the adsorption member 38 constitutes an adsorption surface 38a that adsorbs the drive piece 34. . Then, an insulating tube 39 made of, for example, a synthetic resin and a part of an internal circuit inserted through the insulating tube 39 are inserted into the groove 38c formed inside the suction member 38.

  Here, an internal circuit portion for connecting the overload trip driving means 8 and the right end of the movable contact 6 is inserted.

  The attracting member 38 of the electromagnet 33 includes an end surface 38b that intersects the attracting surface 38a, for example, at a right angle, and the attracted portion 35 of the drive piece 34 is on a ridge line 40 where the attracting surface 38a and the end surface 38b intersect slightly. By engaging a bent recess 41 formed in a bent portion between the engaging portion 36 and the engaging portion 36, the drive piece 34 is supported by the suction member 38 so as to be rotatable about the ridgeline 40 as a fulcrum.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the drive piece 34 has a lower end portion of the drive piece 34 provided on the core 3 by a presser spring 42 formed of a plate spring that urges the engaging portion 36 downward to the right. It is urged | biased in the clockwise direction, ie, the direction which separates the to-be-adsorbed part 35 of the drive piece 34 from the said adsorption surface 38a until it is received by the check part 3d. As a result, when the magnetic force generated by the electromagnet 33 (the force for attracting the drive piece 34) is smaller than the biasing force of the presser spring 42, that is, the current of the electromagnet 33 is less than a certain value or there is a sudden current fluctuation. If the attracted portion 35 of the drive piece 34 is separated from the attracting surface 38a when there is not, and the magnetic force generated by the electromagnet 33 is greater than the biasing force of the presser spring 42, that is, an overcurrent exceeding the certain value, or When the sudden current fluctuation occurs, the attracted portion 35 is attracted to the attracting surface 38a.

  When the attracted portion 35 of the driving piece 34 is attracted to the attracting surface 38a, the driving portion 37 of the driving piece 34 pushes the passive portion 32 in the overcurrent of the trip member 19 to the left, and the trip member 19 The check of the link 18 is released.

  Thereafter, the operation of returning the breaker to the OFF state is that the electromagnetic attracting force of the electromagnet 33 disappears when the internal circuit is opened, and the driving piece 34 is returned to the OFF position by the biasing force of the presser spring 42. It is the same as that at overload.

  FIG. 7 is a side view of the breaker in a state in which a trip is started due to electric leakage.

  The trip member 19 is provided with an earth leakage passive portion 43 that extends from the central portion 29 to the upper right.

  The leakage trip driving means 10 includes a solenoid 44 and a plunger 45 driven by the solenoid 44, and the plunger 45 is inserted into the leakage electromagnetic passive unit 43 so as to advance and retreat. The plunger 45 includes a head 46 that receives the electromagnetic leakage passive portion 43 from the left side opposite to the solenoid 44, and is biased toward the head 46 by a return spring (not shown).

  The leakage is detected by the current detecting means 47 detecting the current in the internal circuit portion connecting the power connection terminal 2 and the overload trip driving means 8 and the mounted printed wiring board based on the current detected by the current detecting means 47. The leakage determination circuit formed in 48 determines the presence or absence of leakage. When the leakage determination circuit determines that there is a leakage, the solenoid 44 is energized, and the head portion 46 of the plunger 45 sucked by the solenoid 44 drives the passive portion 43 to the right when the leakage occurs, thereby linking the trip member 19. 18 checks are released.

  Thereafter, the operation of returning the breaker to the OFF state is performed by stopping the suction of the plunger 45 by the solenoid 44 by opening the internal circuit, and by the elastic force of the return spring built in the trip drive means 10 at the time of electric leakage. Except for the fact that 45 is pushed to the left and the trip member 19 returns to the off state, the operation is the same as the operation of returning from the trip to the off state during an overload or overcurrent.

  As described above, in this breaker, since the opening / closing mechanism 7 includes the urging means 13, the handle 17, the link 18, and the trip member 19, the conventional opening / closing mechanism including the handle, the link, the latch member, and the trip bar is provided. The number of parts is one less than that of the mechanism. As a result, according to this breaker, it is possible to reduce the number of assembling steps and to obtain effects such as cost reduction.

It is a side view of this invention in an OFF state. It is a side view of the opening-and-closing mechanism of the present invention in an OFF state. It is a side view of this invention in an ON state. It is a side view of this invention at the time of the trip by overload. It is a side view of this invention at the time of the trip by an overcurrent. It is a disassembled perspective view of the trip drive means at the time of overcurrent of this invention. It is a side view of this invention at the time of the trip by electric leakage.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Case 5 Fixed contact 6 Movable contact 8 Trip drive means at the time of overload 9 Trip drive means at the time of overcurrent 10 Trip drive means at the time of earth leakage 16 Opening / closing member 17 Handle 18 Link 19 Trip member

Claims (1)

An opening / closing member whose base end is rotatably supported by the case and whose tip is in contact with the movable contact from the side opposite to the fixed contact;
A handle for opening and closing the movable contact;
A link whose base end is rotatably supported at a position away from the rotation axis of the handle, and whose tip is in contact with the middle part of the opening / closing member so as to be able to contact and separate from the opposite side of the movable contact; ,
A trip member that is supported by the case so as to be rotatable around a rotation axis of the opening / closing member, and that restrains the movement of the link that moves along the opening / closing member toward the opening / closing member tip side at a predetermined position;
A breaker comprising trip driving means for driving the trip member to release the restraint on the link.

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