JP4597793B2 - Circuit breaker - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a circuit breaker such as a circuit breaker for wiring and a leakage breaker, and more particularly to a circuit breaker having a manual trip button for testing a trip function of an opening / closing mechanism.

  The circuit breaker has a function of opening and closing an electric circuit by operating an operation handle provided in the circuit breaker, that is, not only a switch function but also a burnout of an electric wire and a load device due to an overcurrent flowing in advance. It plays a big role of cutting off the electric circuit to prevent it. This so-called overcurrent interruption involves an overcurrent trip device and an opening / closing mechanism that are installed in the casing of this circuit breaker. Naturally, it is necessary to know these operations from the outside. I can't. Therefore, for example, an electric administrator or the like tries to check the operation state by adding an alarm switch or an auxiliary switch to the circuit breaker and connecting a buzzer or a lamp to these switches. By the way, since the auxiliary switch is linked to the operation of the operation handle, it is easy to check the operation of the circuit breaker and the sequence circuit including the buzzer, but the alarm switch actually carries an overcurrent. Is necessary and not realistic. As a solution to this, a circuit breaker is provided with a trip button for tripping the circuit breaker (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  On the other hand, the overcurrent tripping device is divided into those that utilize heat and magnetic flux generated by overcurrent, and those that use a current transformer in the housing and utilize the output voltage obtained by this current transformer. Can be separated. The former is generally called a mechanical type, and as is clear from Patent Document 1, considering that the trip button is a kind of structural member, the engagement is easily performed. However, as can be seen from the latter, which is generally called an electronic type, the circuit breaker is externally connected to the overcurrent tripping device and the trip button with some contrivance, specifically via a linkage member. It is known to make a trip from (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

JP-A-11-306952 (page 5, left column, lines 23 to 42) JP-A-6-260074 (page 4, right column, lines 9 to 22)

  With conventional circuit breakers, it is necessary to secure a certain amount of travel stroke when the trip button is pressed. In some cases, a load was required. This contributed to the unification of the members related to the trip button, that is, the standardization of parts, and also caused the cost reduction.

  As a countermeasure, the configuration that the operating force of the trip button is not directly transmitted to the trip bar as shown in Patent Document 2, that is, the trip button itself has a short stroke and a low load. It is possible in theory, but as a result, the structure becomes complicated, which may lead to an increase in cost.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and is a circuit that does not complicate a device related to a trip operation by pressing the trip button while being a short stroke / low load trip button. The purpose is to obtain a circuit breaker.

  In the circuit breaker according to the present invention, an open / close mechanism configured to be able to open and close the movable contact and the fixed contact by the operation handle, and an overcurrent pull that causes the trip bar to trip the open / close mechanism using a current exceeding a predetermined value. A housing that houses the removing device, the opening / closing mechanism and the overcurrent tripping device, and has the operation handle protruded to the front side, and is arranged so that it can be manually tripped from the outer surface of the housing. In the circuit breaker provided with a trip button, a trip bar tripping mechanism for transmitting a travel stroke by pressing the trip button for trip operation to the trip bar is configured in the housing. .

  In addition, when a voltage trip device that applies a voltage from the outside and also performs a trip operation is added to the side surface of the circuit breaker, the voltage trip device and the trip button are configured to work together.

  As described above, according to the present invention, a circuit breaker having excellent cost resistance can be obtained by standardizing parts. In addition, by adopting a short stroke / low load trip button, the voltage trip device added to the side of the circuit breaker can be standardized, and a circuit breaker with excellent cost resistance can be obtained. .

Embodiment 1 FIG.
1 is a perspective view of a circuit breaker according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a trip button as viewed from the direction A in FIG. FIG. 3 is a side view schematically showing a trip bar tripping mechanism which is a main part of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, a cover 1 and a base 2 constitute a casing 3 of a circuit breaker 101, and are each formed of a synthetic resin material. The housing 3 accommodates an opening / closing mechanism (not shown), and a handle 4 interlocking with the opening / closing mechanism is projected from the handle window hole 1a of the cover 1 to the surface of the cover 1, and is externally provided. As is well known, it can be operated by hand. Since the illustrated S side is the power supply side terminal and the L side is the load side terminal, it can be seen from the position of the handle 4 that the circuit breaker 101 in FIG. In this state, if an overcurrent tripping device (not shown) housed in the base 2 operates, that is, if an overcurrent is generated in a state where it is connected to a power source and a load, the handle 4 rotates clockwise in the illustrated state. And stops approximately halfway between the closed and open states. The stop position of the handle 4 can inform the outside that the circuit breaker 101 has tripped.

  This trip operation is arranged, for example, on the front surface of the cover 1, as is well known, even when it is not connected to the power source and the load, that is, not connected to the electric wire of the power source load as shown in FIG. There is a circuit breaker that can generate a trip operation in a simulated manner by pressing the test trip button 5 that has been set. The trip button 5 has a shape shown in FIG. 2, that is, a manual pressing portion 5 a for manual operation from the outer surface of the housing 3, a latch engagement portion 5 b that engages with a latch described later, and a voltage trip device described later. It comprises an actuating lever engaging portion 5c that engages with the actuating lever. Therefore, the trip button 5 operates the trip bar tripping mechanism 102 (see FIG. 3) by pressing the manual pressing portion 5a, that is, by the pressing stroke. Since the trip bar tripping mechanism 102 is a main part of the present invention, it will be described in detail below.

  In FIG. 3, reference numeral 102 denotes a trip bar tripping mechanism, which is provided adjacent to the known trip bar 11. A trip button 5 is provided to engage with the trip bar tripping mechanism 102. The trip bar tripping mechanism 102 includes a latch 6, a rod 7, a latch spring 8, a rod spring 9, and the like. One end of the latch 6 is rotatably supported and is urged in the direction of arrow E by a latch spring 8. The rod 7 is provided with a return lever portion 7 a, and the return lever portion 7 a is normally locked to the latch 6 with the rod spring 9 being compressed. The trip bar engaging portion 7 b at the tip of the rod 7 is disposed so as to face the trip bar 11. In the drawing, one end of the latch spring 8 and the rod spring 9 is held by a part of the base 2.

  The trip button 5 is normally urged in the direction of the arrow H by the trip button spring 10, and when the manual pressing portion 5 a is pressed, the latch engaging portion 5 b at the tip engages with the latch 6 and the latch 6 is moved. Turn in the direction of arrow F. By this rotation, the engagement state of the return lever engaging portion 6 a and the return lever 7 a is released, and the rod 7 projects in the direction of arrow G by a predetermined dimension by the urging force of the rod spring 9. Due to this protrusion, the trip bar 11 rotates in the direction of the arrow T to operate the opening / closing mechanism (not shown), and the circuit breaker 101 is brought into a trip state.

  From this trip state, the reset lever portion 7a adapted to engage with the handle 4 or the opening / closing mechanism portion (not shown) in accordance with the reset operation, that is, with the rotation of the handle 4 to the OFF position, Move in the direction. Since the tip of the return lever engaging portion 6a is inclined due to the movement in the R direction, the rod 7 is temporarily returned to the original position (state shown in FIG. 3) while rotating the latch 6 in the arrow F direction. If it returns, the latch 6 is rotated in the direction of arrow E by the latch spring 8, so that the return lever engaging portion 6a and the return lever 7a are engaged again. Therefore, it is possible to prepare for the next press of the trip button 5 by this reset operation.

  As described above, since the travel stroke caused by pressing the trip button 5 is not directly transmitted to the trip bar, the trip button 5 needs only a short stroke and a low load. Can be expected, and as a result, the cost of the product can be reduced. Moreover, since the transmission described above is realized by the simplified trip bar tripping mechanism 102, it is possible to suppress the cost increase of the product as much as possible.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a side view schematically showing a trip bar tripping mechanism as a main part in the second embodiment of the present invention. That is, in the second embodiment, the rod 7 is provided with the trip button through hole 7c so that the rod 7 does not interfere with the travel stroke of the trip button 5, and the latch 6 and the trip bar 11 in the first embodiment are integrated. The trip bar 11 was provided with a latch portion 11a and a return lever engaging portion 11b. Note that the trip operation and the reset operation are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  According to the second embodiment, the trip bar 11 is expected to rotate to a certain degree in accordance with the rotation of the latch portion 11a. Therefore, the respective operation forces of the trip bar 11 and the trip bar tripping mechanism 102 are effectively used. It can be used, and the trip bar tripping mechanism 102 can be miniaturized and cost reduction can be expected by reducing the number of parts.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
In Embodiments 1 and 2, the manual trip operation has been described. However, a voltage trip device 103 for applying a voltage from the outside to the circuit breaker 101 to perform a trip operation is mounted, and tripping with the voltage trip device 103 is performed. A method of engaging the button 5 is also known. This so-called electric trip operation will be described as a third embodiment. 5 is a perspective view of a circuit breaker equipped with a voltage trip device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a perspective view before the voltage trip device is installed, and FIG. 7 is a voltage trip device. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG.

  In FIG. 5, a voltage trip device 103 is mounted on the circuit breaker 101 on the paper surface, on the left side, that is, on the side where the trip button 5 is provided. The voltage tripping device 103 is provided with a voltage supply terminal 13 for supplying power to an electromagnet unit 12 described later. In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, as a so-called “joint type” mounting in which the dovetail 103 a (see FIG. 7) of the voltage trip device 103 is slid from the upper side of the paper into the dovetail groove 1 b provided in the cover 1. However, the present invention is not limited to this method, and a method of mounting with a mounting screw or a locking metal fitting may be used.

  In FIG. 8, when a voltage is applied to the voltage supply terminal 13 (see FIG. 5) by a signal line from an operation place (not shown), the electromagnet unit 12 is driven based on the supplied voltage, that is, the magnetic flux generated in the coil 14 is generated. By interlinking with the yoke 15, the plunger 17 is driven to suck against the urging force of the push spring 16, and the operating lever 18 fixed to the plunger 17 moves in the direction of arrow C. By this movement, the interlocking piece 18a (see also FIG. 7) of the operating lever 18 is always engaged with the operating lever engaging portion 5c (see also FIG. 2) of the trip button 5, so that the operating lever engaging portion 5c , That is, as in the first embodiment, the latch engaging portion 5 b rotates the latch 6. Since the subsequent movement of each part is the same as that of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  Thus, by combining the trip button 5 described in the first embodiment (or 2), that is, the short stroke / low load trip button and the voltage tripping device 103, the suction driving force of the plunger 17 can be changed according to the applied voltage, Or it can be expected that there is no need to change by model. As a result, combined with the unification of the position of the trip button 5, it is possible to share the voltage trip device 103, and the cost reduction of the product, especially the downsizing of the voltage trip device 103 of a large model, The effect appears remarkably.

It is a perspective view of the circuit breaker in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a perspective view of a trip button. It is the side view which represented the trip bar tripping mechanism simply. FIG. 10 is a side view of a trip bar tripping mechanism in a second embodiment. It is a perspective view of the circuit breaker equipped with the voltage tripping device in the third embodiment. It is a perspective view of a circuit breaker before mounting a voltage tripping device. It is a perspective view of a voltage trip device. It is sectional drawing which follows the line BB in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

3 Housing 4 Handle 5 Trip button 5a Manual pressing portion 5b Latch engaging portion 5c Actuating lever engaging portion 6 Latch 6a Return lever engaging portion 7 Rod 7a Return lever portion 7b Trip bar engaging portion 8 Latch spring 11 Trip bar 12 Electromagnet 18 Actuating lever 101 Circuit breaker 102 Trip bar tripping mechanism 103 Voltage tripping device

Claims (4)

  The movable handle and fixed contact can be opened and closed by the operation handle, and the open / close mechanism that trips when the trip bar operates, and the overcurrent trip that activates the trip bar when a current exceeding the specified value is detected. The device, the opening / closing mechanism and the overcurrent tripping device are housed, and the casing with the operation handle protruding to the front side is disposed, and the trip operation can be manually performed from the outer surface of the casing. In a circuit breaker having a trip button, a latch that engages and operates with the trip button when the trip button is pushed down, and is normally locked by the latch, and when the latch operates, the latch And a trip bar tripping mechanism having a rod that is separated and protruded by a spring. Circuit breaker, characterized in that serial trip bar is adapted to operate.   The circuit breaker according to claim 1, wherein the trip bar and the latch are integrally formed.   The circuit breaker according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a return lever for returning the rod and the latch to the engaged state is provided on the rod.   The trip button is provided with an operating lever engaging portion that engages with an operating lever that responds to the biasing of the electromagnet portion of the voltage tripping device mounted on the outer surface of the casing. Item 4. The circuit breaker according to any one of items 3 to 4.

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