Electricity: circuit makers and breakers – Gear driven
Patent
1999-11-19
2000-09-26
Gellner, Michael L.
Electricity: circuit makers and breakers
Gear driven
219719, H01H 340
Patent
active
061245585
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a rotation activated circuit breaker, in particular a motor circuit breaker or power circuit breaker having a leading auxiliary switch, with the auxiliary contacts of the auxiliary switch being actuated before the main contacts when the circuit breaker is closed. Such a leading interaction between auxiliary contacts and main contacts may be used for advance querying about additional closing conditions, for example, querying about a previous emergency shutoff of an electrical system via an undervoltage fuse.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
German Patent No. 43 17 656 C2 describes a key-actuated circuit breaker having a leading auxiliary switch, in which the auxiliary switch is arranged as a pre-switch between the turn-on key and the switching contact, with an increased opening path compared to the stroke of the turn-on key being achieved for the main contacts using a rocker or transfer lever for the auxiliary contacts. This method cannot be used for rotation activated circuit breakers, in which the main contacts are actuated by a rotary actuating mechanism via a breaker mechanism. In such circuit breakers, there is also the danger of creeping contact actuation of the auxiliary switch, which may result in uncontrollable contact overlaps between main contacts and auxiliary contacts when interacting with an undervoltage fuse, for example.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is therefore to ensure leading actuation of the auxiliary switch for all applications without having to take into consideration the
The present invention provides a rotation activated circuit breaker comprising a leading auxiliary switch, an actuating element, a breaking element, and an actuator element disposed between the actuating mechanism and the breaking mechanism. The actuator element includes: a drive pinion having a first tooth pitch, the drive pinion being rotatably actuated by the actuating mechanism; a first gear rack having a second tooth pitch, the first gear rack being longitudinally maneuverable in a closing direction, and engageable with the drive pinion, the first gear rack being capable of actuating the auxiliary switch; a second gear rack having a third tooth pitch, the second gear rack being longitudinally maneuverable in a closing direction, the second gear rack connected to the first gear rack so as to lag behind the first rack in the closing direction; and an output pinion having a fourth tooth pitch engageable with the second gear rack, the output pinion being connected to a drive shaft for the breaking mechanism; the third and fourth tooth pitches being greater than the first and second tooth pitches so that a respective total angle of rotation of each of the drive pinion and output pinion is equal over a full closing motion of the actuating mechanism.
The first gear rack directly actuated by the auxiliary switch is immediately moved longitudinally by the closing motion of the drive pinion, while the second gear rack, due to the fact that it lags behind and has a greater tooth pitch, drives the output pinion with a time lag and also with a higher rotation speed with respect to the drive pinion. Thus, in a first angular section of the closing motion, only the auxiliary switch is actuated, leading with respect to the breaker mechanism of the circuit breaker, and in the remaining angular section the entire closing motion of both of these angular sections is transmitted to the breaker mechanism with a certain transmission ratio. The method according to the present invention achieves closing of the auxiliary switch clearly before the breaker mechanism, with the entire actuating angle being available again for the subsequent closing of the breaker mechanism and switching of the main contacts. Thus no changes are required in the breaker mechanism, i.e., the main contact drive.
A well-defined initial position of the gear racks and thus of the actuating element in the opening position is, for example achieved be a spring means, in particular
REFERENCES:
patent: 5129272 (1992-07-01), Irvin
patent: 6057533 (2000-05-01), Ahn
Baujan Guenter
Baumeister Rudolf
Willerscheidt Peter
Gellner Michael L.
Moeller GmbH
Nguyen Nhung
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