US1209445A - Service switch and fuse mechanism. - Google Patents

Description

J. A. IESSEN.

SERVICE SWITCH AND FUSE MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED JULY 16. I914. 1,209,445. Patented Dec.19,1916.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A. JESSEN, OF WINTHROP, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE PALMER ELEC- TRIO & MAN UFACTUBING COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 19, 1916.

Application filed July 16, 1914. Serial No. 851,295.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN A. JESSEN, a subject of the King of Denmark, and a resident of I'Vinthrop, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Service Switch and Fuse Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

The object'of this invention is to produce a combination switch and thermal cutout or fuse mounted in a box or casing adapted to be closed or secured by a seal to prevent unauthorized access to the current-carrying parts, and in which, without breaking the seal, the switch may be manipulated to open or close the circuit or the fuses may be exposed for inspection or replacement without breaking the seal, or, by breaking the seal, the switch and fuse members may be inspected in the normal position they occupy when the switch is closed and the fuses are actively in circuit with the electrical connections of the box.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device in which the opening of the switch does not necessarily expose either the fuses or any part of the switching mechanism, thus preventing an accumulation of dust in the box when the switch is left in an open position.

In the embodiment of my invention as illustrated on the drawings and hereafter described, in detail, when the fuses are brought to the position in which they may be inspected or replaced without exposing any current-carrying parts, the movable switching members and fuse contacts are entirely disconnected from the fixed contacts which connect with the main and load terminals, making it impossible under these conditions for an operator to come in contact with any current-carrying parts and preventing access to current-carrying parts by persons who have no authority to break the protecting seal of the box.

\Vhen the switch has been opened, the fuses may be exposed by the movement of a shield or door which must be moved to conceal the fuses before the switch is again. closed. When the seal cover has been removed, it is impossible to replace same with the shield or door occupying a position that would permit access to the fuses while in active position.

On the accompanying drawings,-Figure 1 represents a plan view of a switch and fuse box embodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents a similar view with the cover removed. Fig. 3 represents a side elevation of the same. Fig. 4 represents a section on the line 14 of Fig. 1. section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 represents a longitudinal section on the line 66 of Fig. 1. Fig. 7 represents a cross section with the movable switch removed. Fig. 8 shows the cOVer in perspective.

I desire to have it understood that theinvention is capable of many embodiments, and that there is no intention, by the following description of the details of construction of the switch and fuse box illustrated in the drawings, to limit the invention to such details.

The main body ofthe box orcasing 10 i may be'of any suitable shape and made of any desirable material. As shown, it is made of sheet metal and is rectangular in plan view, with a bottom wall 11, side walls 12, 12 having apertures for receiving con duits and bushings for the main and branch circuit conductors, and end walls 13, 14. The box is closed by a cover 15, which is shown as wholly removable, though it might be hinged at one edge if desired. As illustrated, the cover has marginal flanges overlapping the side and end walls of the box. An aperture 16 is formed in the flange at one end of the cover to receive a pin 17 riveted to the end wall 13 of the box, and an aperture 18 is formed in the cover to receive an upstanding ear or lug 19 formed on or secured to the end wall 1 1 of the box. A sealed wire 20 passed through the lug or ear 19 securely locks or seals the cover against removal by unauthorized persons.

In the box I place parallel separated blocks 21, 21 of insulating material on which are mouted the stationary contacts 22, 23, 24 and 25 of any convenient or desirable design. The contacts on one block are electrically connected with the meter or load circuit and may be called branch contacts, while the main contacts on the other block are connected with the main circuit. A movable carrier or switch, carrying contacts complemental to those hereinbefore referred to, is located in the box. It comprises a block 26 of insulating material arranged to slide Fig. 5 represents a cross' lid between the blocks 21, 21. As shown, it may with convenience be secured upon a slide 2'? resting upon the bottom plate of the box and limited in its sliding movement by headed screws 28, 28 passed through a longitudinal slot therein. The block is secured to the slide in any convenient way, the face thereof are secured the movable contacts 29, 30, 31 and 32, those at 29 and 30 being complemental to those at 22 and 23 and those at 31 and 32 being complemental to those at 24 and 25. Electrically connected to the contact 25 is a socket 33 for a fuse plug, there being a like socket 34 connected to the contact 30. To the contacts 31 and 29 are electrically connected metallic strips 35, 36 beneath the sockets to be engaged by the v ends of the fuse blocks. lhe insulating slide the slide. formed of resilient -moved to the left in Fi depress the knob 46,

or carrier 26 is formed integrally or provided with an upstanding flange or wall 40 of insulating material for inclosing the fuse plugs 41 and 42, and the exterior of which is oblong in plan view. These plugs are separatedfrom each other by a partition 43' extending across the recess in the inclosing wall d0. When the switch is in its closed position, as shown in Fig. 2, an electric circuit is afi'orded from the stationary contact 22 to the stationary contact 23 through the movable contacts 29 and 30 and the associated fuse 42. In like manner, a circuit is closed from contacts 24: to 25 through contacts 31, 32 and the associated fuse 4:2.

A handle 44: is secured to the slide 27 and projects through an aperture 45 in the end wall 13. 0n Its projecting end the handle has a knob 46 by which it may be manipulated, and it carries'inside of the box a stop 47 for limiting the outward movement of The handle 44: is preferably material and it is curved u wardly'as shown in Fig. 4:, being provlded with a shoulder or latch 48 which normally engages the wall 13 at the end of the slot 45, thereby to lock the switch in closed position. Bydepressing the handleuntil the latch 48 is disen aged from the end wall of the slot, the handle may be 4 to 0 en the switch. ll preferably provi e means or preventing the switch from being moved to partially closed position. Said means comprises a spring 50 interposed between the slide 27 and the end wall 14 of the box. For convenience, said spring is coiled about a horizontal post 51. In order to open the switch therefore it is merely necessary to whereupon the spring 50 will automatically open the switch, but said spring will also automatically return the switch to open position unless it be moved inwardly far enough for the latch 48 on the handle 44: to interlock with the end wall of the box.

As indicated in the first part of this speciand upon neonate fication, 1 provide a shield or door which prevents access to the fuses when the switch is closed, but which may be moved to expose the fuses when the switch is open, Said shield is so arranged and mounted that the switch cannot be closed until the shield has been moved to closed position to render the fuse plugs inaccessible. To this end, the cover 15 is provided with an aperture 52 so located as to register with or be directly above the fuses when the switch is open, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. Beneath the opening, there is arranged a sliding shield or door 53. Transverse guideways 54, affixed to the under side of the box cover 15 and underlapping theends of the shield, guide said shield in its lateral movement to close and open the aperture. Said shield is provided with an upstanding post 55, which, when the seal is closed, is in close proximity to the upstanding ear or lug on the cover near the side wall of the aperture 52. The

parallel with the adjacent side of the wall 40 of the carrier which incloses the fuses, and that, when the switch is closed, the said wall lies in the path of the said member so that the shield cannot be opened. When the switch is moved to open position, however,

as shown in Fig. .6, the wall 40 is moved a short distance out of the path of the member so that the slide may be freely moved to the right in Fig. 1. 'When the slide is open, however, the said member is located directly in the path of the switch,-that is, is so placed as to be engaged by the end of the part 40, whereby the switch cannot be closed until the shield has been first returned to its closed position.

From this description, it will be apparent that an inspector or a duly authorized person may, by breaking the seal 18,- remove the main cover 15 and inspect the fuses in their working positions without breaking the circuit. When, however, the main cover is closed and sealed, it is impossible for anyone to obtain access to the current-carrying parts at any time and impossible to obtain access to the fuses without first opening the switch, and, after the switch is open and the fuses have been inspected or replaced, it is impossible to close the switch without first closing the shield. I thus provide the cover and the switch with whereby the shield cannot be opened without previously opening the switch, and the switch cannot be closed without previously closing the shield.

interlocking means fuses, I may employ link fuses and that various other changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus explained the nature of my said invention and described a way of making and using the same, although without attempting to set forth all of the forms in which it may be made or all of the modes of its use, what I claim is:

l. A box, a movable carrier, a fuse thereon and movable by the carrier fromelectrically active position to electrically inactive position, a movable shield for the fuse registering with the fuse only when said fuse is in said active position, and means for locking said shield against movement when the fuse is in electrically active position, and unlocking said shield when the fuse is in said inactive position.

2. A box, a cover therefor, a fuse, a fuse carrier movable to locate the fuse in active and inactive positions, said cover having an opening for exposing said fuse, a movable shield normally closing said opening, and interlocking means between said carrier and said shield to lock the shield against movement except when the fuse is in its inactive position.

3. A box, a cover therefor, a fuse, a fuse carrier movable to locate the fuse in active and inactive positions, said cover having an opening for exposing said fuse, a movable shield normally closing said opening, and interlocking means between said carrier and said shield to lock the shield closed when the fuse is in active position and to lock the fuse carrier with the fuse in inactive position when the shield is in open position.

4. A switch box, a cover therefor having 0 an opening, a sliding shield for closing the opening, a switch and an associated fuse movable into open andclosed positions, and a member on said shield arranged to engage the switch and hold the shield closed when the switch and fuse are in active position.

5. A switch box, a cover therefor having an opening, a sliding shield for closing the opening, a switch and an associated fuse 5o movable into open and closed positions, and a member on said shield arranged to stand in the path of closing movement of the switch when said shield is open, to prevent closing of the switch when the shield is open.

6. A switch box, a cover therefor, stationary contacts in said box and rendered inaccessible by said cover, a movable carrier, contacts and an associated fuse on said carrier,

means for moving said carrier to open and closed positions, said cover having an opening for permitting access to the fuse, a movable shield supported by the cover for closing the opening therein, and means by which the carrier locks the shield shut when the WM. L. HATFHILD G. W. PUTNAM.

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