Electricity: circuit makers and breakers – Electric switch details – Cases and bases
Reexamination Certificate
2000-10-31
2002-09-03
Luebke, Renee (Department: 2833)
Electricity: circuit makers and breakers
Electric switch details
Cases and bases
C439S716000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06444931
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to circuit breaker housings. More particularly, and not by way of any limitation, the present invention relates to a customizable, modular circuit breaker housing assembly with compact form factor for use with telecommunications equipment and other electrical equipment.
2. Description of Related Art
A common requirement of electrical equipment, including telecommunications equipment, is that the components thereof be standardized yet be customizable or configurable with relative ease for accommodating various field applications, customer-specific arrangements, et cetera. This is especially true with respect to mass-produced components such as, e.g., circuit breakers, circuit breaker housings, etc. used for protecting the equipment.
Another requirement of today's densely populated rack-mountable equipment is form factor compliance. Because of ever-increasing demand for better performance, improved capacities and capabilities, and the concomitant increase in the complexity of equipment design, space has become a precious resource that needs to be optimized in every possible way. Stringent form factor constraints exist, accordingly, with respect to almost all components of the equipment.
It is well known that modularization and component-level integration have been effective for addressing overall equipment-related form factor requirements. It is also well known, however, that unless the individual components are also of an optimum form factor, such approaches as component-level integration may not be feasible or may be sub-optimal only. In the field of equipment power distribution and circuit protection, for example, there exists a need to integrate components such as power distribution panels (PDPs), universal fuse alarm panels (UFAPs), universal fuse power panels (UFPPs), etc. into a single Integrated Power Assembly (IPA) or Integrated Power Distribution Panel (IPDP). However, the existing circuit breaker housing modules are too large, less economical, or both, for integrating such components effectively. Furthermore, as circuit breakers become bulkier to include bus bars (rigid conductors serving as a connection for two or more circuits) that are capable of operating at sufficient ampacity, design constraints are being imposed on the circuit breaker housing modules resulting in even larger sizes in order to accommodate bus routing. Thus, while the conventional circuit breakers are typically about 4 in. in height, the housing modules are often 6 to 9 in. or more. Those skilled in the art should appreciate, accordingly, that in the rack-mountable equipment, such an increase in the vertical height gives rise to less rack space (or fewer racks) for the components with core functionality.
In addition to being less space-efficient, the current circuit breaker housing modules do not provide ergonomic accessibility to the cable connections associated therewith. Because the breaker modules are typically provided at the back of the equipment cabinet to accommodate the size, the connections are accessible from the rear only. Accessing the breakers or breaker housings for maintenance, repair, replacement, upgrades, etc. is rather cumbersome, giving rise to increased downtime. Moreover, the conventional circuit breaker housing modules are not connectorized for grouping multiple modules into assemblies and for grouping multiple assemblies together in order to provide customizable expandability.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention advantageously provides a highly customizable, modular circuit breaker housing assembly that is adaptable for numerous applications including, for example, telecommunications equipment, residential and light commercial applications, et cetera, yet is comprised of an optimized compact form factor that provides considerable space savings. Because of the compact form factor realized, the modular circuit breaker housing assembly makes it possible to consolidate existing PDPs, UFAPs, UFPPs, etc. into a single Integrated Power Assembly (IPA) or Integrated Power Distribution Panel (IPDP). Also, the circuit breaker housing assembly of the present invention provides front access cable connections for better accessibility.
The housing assembly is preferably comprised of an interlocked arrangement of individual housing portions coupled at one end to an end housing portion, and to an end panel portion at an opposite end. The end housing and end panel portions, and the individual housing portions are preferably formed of injection-molded plastics. Each of the end housing and individual housing portions includes a load bus chamber and a line bus chamber for receiving or accepting load and line bus members, and one or more alarm contact member receptacles for receiving at least one alarm contact member.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the line bus member and the alarm contact members may be provided as individually segmented members, wherein each housing portion houses separate line and load bus members and alarm contact members. In other exemplary embodiments, the individual housing portions may include pass-through slots for inserting a common line bus bar, pass-through apertures for common contact members, or both.
Preferably, the line and load bus members are formed of extruded metallic members (e.g., copper bars, aluminum bars with a nickel plating, etc.) having substantially the same cross-sectional surface. Mounting snaps are provided on the end housing and individual housing portions for coupling the modular circuit breaker assembly to a mounting panel of the equipment.
In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a method of assembling a customizable modular circuit breaker housing assembly for telecommunications equipment. An end housing portion having interiorly thereto a load bus chamber and a line bus chamber is provided, wherein the end housing portion includes at least one interlocking receptacle formed therein. A load bus member and a common line bus bar are installed in the respective chambers formed in the end housing portion. Preferably, at least one common alarm contact member is also installed in the end housing portion. Thereafter, a plurality of individual housing portions are installed, wherein the individual housing portions interlock with each other by means of interlocking connectors and interlocking connector receptacles formed on each individual housing portion. Each individual housing portion is provided with an individual load bus chamber for placing an individual load bus member therein and a line bus chamber with a pass-through slot for placing the common line bus bar. Also, the individual housing portions further include at least one pass-through aperture for accepting an alarm contact member. A first terminal individual housing portion couples to the end housing portion. The modular circuit breaker housing assembly is enclosed at the other end by coupling an end panel portion having at least one interlocking member formed thereon to a second terminal individual housing portion of the plurality of individual housing portions.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3702457 (1972-11-01), Fujita
patent: 4190749 (1980-02-01), Erickson et al.
patent: 4542953 (1985-09-01), Iwamoto et al.
patent: 5451729 (1995-09-01), Onderka et al.
Bartek David A.
Johnson Edward D.
Melane Marcus L.
Alcatel USA Sourcing L.P.
Danamraj & Youst P.C.
Luebke Renee
Mysliwiec Richard A.
Sevell V. Lawrence
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