CN219873382U - Moving contact assembly and circuit breaker - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a moving contact assembly and related circuit breaker. The moving contact assembly includes: an insulating support (51); a moving contact finger (52) mounted on the insulating support (51); and a moving contact connection shaft (54) mounted on the insulating support (51) and configured to be coupled with a linkage mechanism (4) for the moving contact assembly (5), wherein the moving contact assembly (1) is adapted to rotate under the action of the linkage mechanism (4) by means of the coupling of the moving contact connection shaft (54) with the linkage mechanism (4); wherein the movable contact connecting shaft (54) is of a structure formed by integrally molding metal and plastic.

Description

Moving contact assembly and circuit breaker

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of circuit breakers, and more particularly to a moving contact assembly and a circuit breaker including the same.

Background

The circuit breaker is a switching device capable of closing, carrying and breaking a current under a normal circuit condition and closing, carrying and breaking a current under an abnormal circuit condition within a prescribed time, and has a wide application in an electric field.

With the continuous change of the application environment of the circuit breaker, the higher voltage requirement is beneficial to reducing loss and saving energy. However, the environment of use of high voltages has a higher requirement for the insulating properties of the circuit breaker.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present disclosure to provide an improved moving contact assembly and related circuit breaker.

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a moving contact assembly is provided. The moving contact assembly includes: an insulating support; the movable contact finger is arranged on the insulating support piece; and a moving contact connection shaft mounted on the insulating support and configured to be coupled with a link mechanism for the moving contact assembly, wherein the moving contact assembly is adapted to be rotated by the link mechanism by means of coupling of the moving contact connection shaft with both of the link mechanism; wherein the movable contact connecting shaft is of a structure formed by integrally molding metal and plastic.

It will be appreciated that by designing the moving contact connection shaft with metal and plastic integrally formed, the creepage distance of the circuit breaker can be effectively increased once the moving contact assembly of the present disclosure is applied to the circuit breaker.

In some embodiments, the movable contact connecting shaft is formed by a metal shaft and a plastic piece at least coated on a first end of the metal shaft, wherein the first end is one end of the metal shaft far away from the connecting rod mechanism. In this way, it is possible to simply form a plastic member at the first end of the metal shaft to increase the creepage distance.

In some embodiments, a second end of the metal shaft opposite the first end is not covered by the plastic piece and is configured to couple with the linkage mechanism. In this way, a rigid connection of the second end of the metal shaft to the linkage mechanism may be facilitated.

In some embodiments, the plastic member is formed with at least one groove perpendicular to an extending direction of the metal shaft, the groove not penetrating the plastic member. By this design of the trench, the creepage distance can be further increased.

In some embodiments, each of the grooves is in a ring-like structure.

In some embodiments, the plastic piece at the first end of the metal shaft rests via a spring against a wall plate located laterally of the insulating support. By this design of the spring, the assembly of both the metal shaft and the linkage can be facilitated.

In some embodiments, the linkage includes a distal link member having a through hole disposed therein, the second end of the metal shaft being adapted to pass through the through hole.

In some embodiments, the insulating support is further formed with a slot disposed near the second end of the metal shaft, the slot configured to at least partially receive the terminal link member.

In some embodiments, during assembly of both the movable contact assembly and the terminal link member, the plastic member is adapted to be operated by an external force to move the second end of the metal shaft in a direction away from the slot so that the second end can avoid the slot to allow the terminal link member to enter the slot, and in the event that the external force is released, the second end of the metal shaft is adapted to pass through the through hole on the terminal link member positioned within the slot under the restoring force of the spring.

In some embodiments, the moving contact assembly may further include: the stirring piece is configured to be assembled with or integrated with the plastic piece and is suitable for being stirred by external force so as to drive the plastic piece and the second end to move along a direction away from the slotted hole. Through the design of the toggle piece, the movable operation on the metal shaft can be facilitated.

In some embodiments, the insulating support further comprises an operating aperture sized to allow insertion of a screwdriver to operate the toggle.

In some embodiments, the spring is a compression spring.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a circuit breaker is provided. The circuit breaker comprises a moving contact assembly according to the first aspect described above.

It should also be appreciated that the descriptions in this summary are not intended to limit key or critical features of embodiments of the disclosure, nor are they intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. Other features of embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description.

Drawings

The above and other features, advantages and aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, wherein like or similar reference numerals denote like or similar elements, in which:

fig. 1 illustrates an overall structural schematic diagram of a circuit breaker according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2 illustrates an overall structural schematic diagram of a moving contact assembly according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional structure of a moving contact assembly of a circuit breaker of a conventional design;

fig. 4 illustrates a schematic cross-sectional structure of a moving contact assembly of a circuit breaker according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure; and

fig. 5 illustrates a partial structural schematic view of a moving contact connection shaft mounted by means of a spring according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While certain embodiments of the present disclosure have been shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the present disclosure may be embodied in various forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein, but are provided to provide a more thorough and complete understanding of the present disclosure. It should be understood that the drawings and embodiments of the present disclosure are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

As previously mentioned, circuit breakers have a wide range of applications in the electrical field. In particular, higher voltages are beneficial for loss reduction and energy conservation. The use environment of high voltage has higher requirements on the insulation performance of the circuit breaker. However, the inventors found that: for certain high voltage environments, the creepage distance in circuit breakers of existing designs may be inadequate.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide an improved moving contact assembly for a circuit breaker, which can increase a creepage distance from a power source end of the circuit breaker to each part of a panel of an operating mechanism, thereby improving insulation performance of the circuit breaker, so that the circuit breaker meets the requirement of the insulation performance under higher rated operating voltage. Particularly, the technical scheme of the present disclosure can optimize only the moving contact assembly on the basis of not changing the product structure of the circuit breaker of the existing design, and has the advantages of low cost, reliable performance, convenient assembly, etc.

To more clearly understand the structure of the circuit breaker of the present disclosure, fig. 1 illustrates an overall structural schematic diagram of the circuit breaker according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure, and fig. 2 illustrates an overall structural schematic diagram of a moving contact assembly according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

It is first noted here that the structure of the circuit breaker of the present disclosure is substantially identical in overall layout and overall appearance to circuit breakers of prior designs, differing only in the connecting shaft of the moving contact assembly and its associated components. Accordingly, for brevity, the overall structure and appearance of the circuit breaker and moving contact assembly of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described below only in outline. It should be understood that this summary description applies equally to circuit breakers of existing design. Furthermore, emphasis is placed on the description of the connection shaft and its associated components in the moving contact assembly.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the circuit breaker 1 of the present disclosure typically includes an operating mechanism 2, a link mechanism 4, a moving contact assembly 5, and a stationary contact, not shown. It will be appreciated that the circuit breaker 1 of the present disclosure is particularly suitable as a low voltage circuit breaker.

Typically, the operating mechanism 2 may comprise an operating button 3. The moving contact assembly 5 may include at least one set (e.g., three or four sets) of moving contact assemblies 5, wherein each set of moving contact assemblies 5 may be connected to each phase line of a multi-phase circuit (e.g., three or four phases). The connecting rod structure 4 is coupled between the at least one set of moving contact assemblies 5 and the operating mechanism 2, so as to realize linkage operation of the at least one set of moving contact assemblies 5.

It will be appreciated that by means of operation of the operating mechanism 2 (e.g. by pressing the operating button 3), the above-mentioned switching on and off between the moving and stationary contacts in the at least one set of moving contact assemblies 5 can be achieved via the linkage mechanism 4.

The difference of the moving-contact assembly of the present utility model from the moving-contact assembly of the conventional design will be further described with reference to fig. 3 and 4 in conjunction with fig. 1 and 2, wherein fig. 3 shows a schematic cross-sectional structure of the moving-contact assembly of the conventional design circuit breaker, and fig. 4 shows a schematic cross-sectional structure of the moving-contact assembly of the circuit breaker according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in fig. 1 to 4, each set of moving contact assemblies 5 may include an insulating support 51, a moving contact finger 52, a conductive member 53, and a moving contact connection shaft 54' (corresponding to fig. 3) or 54 (corresponding to fig. 4).

The insulating support 51 mainly functions to support various electrical components disposed thereon, including but not limited to the moving contact finger 52, the conductive member 53, and the moving contact connection shaft 54' or 54 described above. Typically, the insulating support 51 is made of an insulating plastic member.

The moving contact finger 52 is installed at one side of the insulating support 1 to be in contact with or separated from a stationary contact (not shown) along with the movement of the moving contact assembly 51 when the circuit breaker 1 is closed or opened. The conductive member 53 is mounted on the other side of the insulating support 51, and is used for electrically connecting the movable contact assembly 51 with an external circuit.

The movable contact connecting shafts 54' or 54 in fig. 3 and 4 are each mounted on the insulating support 51 for effecting the coupling with the above-described link mechanism 4. Typically, the above-described movable contact connecting shaft 54' or 54 is laterally arranged on the insulating support 51 (i.e., arranged in the width direction thereof). Further, the end link of the link mechanism 4 is coupled with the moving contact connecting shaft 54' or 54 from a side of the moving contact assembly 5 opposite to a side of the stationary contact, so that the link mechanism 4 can operate the entire moving contact assembly 5 to rotate in a longitudinal direction perpendicular to the transverse direction, so as to realize closing or opening of the moving contact with the stationary contact.

However, the inventors found that: the moving contact connection shaft 54' of the existing design is typically made entirely of metal, which may be disadvantageous for limiting the creepage distance from the circuit breaker power supply end (e.g., moving contact fingers) to various parts of the panel of the operating mechanism via the link mechanism as metal.

In view of the above insight, the present disclosure contemplates that the corresponding creepage distance is increased by modifying the above-described moving contact connecting shaft 54' to be a structure in which metal and plastic are integrally formed (i.e., the moving contact connecting shaft 54).

Specifically, in some embodiments, as shown in fig. 4, the moving contact connecting shaft 54 may be formed of a metal shaft 57 and a plastic member 58 that is wrapped around at least a first end of the metal shaft. As will be explained further below, this allows the creepage distance from the power supply end (e.g. moving contact fingers) of the circuit breaker to various parts of the panel of the operating mechanism 2 via a typically metallic linkage to be increased due to the presence of the plastic piece 58.

Here, by way of example only, only the first end of the metal shaft 57 (i.e., the end remote from the connection point of the link mechanism with the movable contact connecting shaft 54) may be covered with the plastic member 58, thereby exposing the second end of the metal shaft 57 itself opposite to the first end to the outside, thereby facilitating the coupling of the second end of the metal shaft 57 with the terminal link member (not shown) of the above-described link mechanism 4. In particular, the end link member of the above-described link mechanism 4 may be provided with a through hole so as to allow the second end of the metal shaft 57 to pass through the through hole at the time of assembly, thereby achieving connection of both the metal shaft 57 and the end link member. It should be understood that the above-described partial coating of the metal shaft 57 by the plastic member 58 is only an example, and in other embodiments, it is also possible that the metal shaft 57 in the moving contact connecting shaft 54 is completely coated by the plastic member 58, which may further increase the creepage distance.

Further, in some embodiments, at least one groove 581 perpendicular to the extending direction (length direction) of the metal shaft 57 may be formed on the plastic member 58, and the grooves 581 are arranged so as not to penetrate the plastic member 58, i.e., not to allow penetration of the groove but to contact the metal shaft wrapped in the plastic member. As an example, each of the at least one groove 581 may have a ring-shaped structure. It will be appreciated that with the design of the trench 581 described above, the creepage distance may be increased due to the increase in creepage length over the trench 581.

To facilitate assembly between the moving contact connecting shaft 54 and the end link in the link mechanism 4. In some embodiments, the movable contact connecting shaft 54 may be movably operable, while the insulating support 51 may also be formed with slots 59 disposed near the second end of the metal shaft 57, the slots being adapted to at least partially receive the terminal link members. In this case, at the time of assembly, the moving-contact connecting shaft 54 may be first operated to avoid the above-described slot 59, then the distal link member may be allowed to enter the slot 59, and then the above-described second end of the moving-contact connecting shaft 54 may be passed through the through-hole in the distal link member to effect the assembly connection of both the moving-contact connecting shaft 54 and the distal link member.

In particular, the above-described design of the movable contact connection shaft 54 for movable operation can be realized by a spring. Fig. 5 illustrates a partial structural schematic view of a moving contact connection shaft mounted by means of a spring according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

As can be seen in connection with fig. 4 and 5, in some embodiments, the plastic part 58 covering the first end of the metal shaft may rest via springs 60 against a wall plate 61 located laterally of the insulating support 51. The spring 60 may be, for example, a compression spring. Further, at the time of assembly, the movable contact connecting shaft 54 or the plastic member 58 may be operated by an external force, so that the movable contact connecting shaft 54 as a whole moves toward the wall plate 61 or away from the slot 59. In this way, the second end of the moving-contact connecting shaft 54 can be made to avoid the above-described slot 59, and then the terminal link member is allowed to enter the slot 59. Then, in the case where the external force is released, the second end of the metal shaft 57 may pass through the through hole on the above-mentioned end link positioned in the slot 59 by the restoring force of the spring 60.

As an example, the spring 60 may be a compression spring. In the case of a compression spring, one end of the compression spring may be mounted on the plastic member 58 and the other end may abut against a wall plate 61 located laterally of the insulating support 51 via a mounting seat 62. Typically, wall plate 61 is also made of metal. In some examples, mount 62 may be secured between wall plate 61 and insulating support 51.

In still other embodiments, the movable operation of the movable contact connection shaft 54 may be operated by providing a toggle 63. In some examples, toggle 63 may be assembled or integrated with plastic 58 described above. A recess may be provided on the top surface of the toggle 63. Further, the insulating support 51 is also provided with an operating hole 64 at a position corresponding to the striking member 63, the latter being sized to allow a tool such as a screwdriver to be inserted to reach the recess on the striking member 63, thereby operating the movement of the striking member 63. For example, in the structure of fig. 4 and 5, the toggle 63 may be operated by a tool such as a screwdriver to drive the moving-contact connecting shaft 54 as a whole to move toward the wall plate 61, thereby finally achieving the assembly of both the moving-contact connecting shaft 54 and the end link member of the link structure 4.

The arrangement and connection of the moving contact connecting shaft 54 of the present disclosure and its related components have been described in detail above. It should be appreciated that other structures (including the spring 60 and the wall plate 61 described above) than the moving contact connecting shaft 54' in the prior art design of fig. 3 are substantially identical to those of fig. 4.

However, by comparing the creepage path from the wall plate 61, which is typically a metal material, the mount 62, the spring 60, the moving contact connecting shaft 54' or 54, the link mechanism 4, the button 3 of the operating mechanism 2 of fig. 3 and 4, it can be found that: since the moving contact connection shaft 54 of the present disclosure has a structure of integrally formed metal and plastic, the presence of the plastic member can improve the creepage clearance and creepage distance, as compared to the moving contact connection shaft 54' of the conventional design of fig. 3. For example, in one example, the electrical clearance may be increased from the original 25.4mm in fig. 3 to 34.09mm, while the creepage distance may be increased from the original 27.1mm in fig. 3 to 42.1mm without changing other structures and arrangements of fig. 3 other than the moving contact connecting shaft 54'. In particular, both the creepage distance and creepage gap after improvement may meet the class I standard in the international electrotechnical commission IEC (i.e., a creepage gap of at least 18mm, a creepage distance of at least 25mm is required), while the creepage gap of the present disclosure may also meet the class II standard in the international electrotechnical commission IEC (i.e., a creepage gap of at least 33mm, and a creepage distance of at least 50mm is required).

Various embodiments of a circuit breaker according to example embodiments of the present disclosure, particularly a structure in which a moving contact is connected to a shaft, have been described above in detail. It will be appreciated that with the solution of the present disclosure, the creepage distance and creepage clearance between the buttons from the power end to the operating mechanism can be effectively improved.

While the utility model has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, such illustration and description are to be considered illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive; the utility model is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed utility model, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims.

In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements, and the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. A single element or other unit may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain features are recited in mutually different embodiments or in dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these features cannot be used to advantage. The scope of the utility model encompasses any possible combination of the features recited in the various embodiments or the dependent claims without departing from the spirit and scope of the present utility model.

Furthermore, any reference signs in the claims shall not be construed as limiting the scope of the utility model.

Claims (13)

1. A moving contact assembly, comprising:

an insulating support (51);

a moving contact finger (52) mounted on the insulating support (51); and

a moving contact connecting shaft (54) mounted on the insulating support (51) and configured to be coupled with a link mechanism (4) for the moving contact assembly (5),

wherein by means of the coupling of the moving contact connection shaft (54) with both the link mechanism (4), the moving contact assembly (5) is adapted to rotate under the action of the link mechanism (4);

wherein the movable contact connecting shaft (54) is of a structure formed by integrally molding metal and plastic.

2. The movable contact assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the movable contact connecting shaft (54) is formed by a metal shaft (57) and a plastic piece (58) at least covering a first end of the metal shaft (57), the first end being an end of the metal shaft (57) remote from the link mechanism (4).

3. The movable contact assembly according to claim 2, characterized in that a second end of the metal shaft (57) opposite to the first end is not covered by the plastic piece (58) and is intended to be coupled with the linkage mechanism (4).

4. The movable contact assembly according to claim 2, characterized in that the plastic member (58) is formed with at least one groove (581) perpendicular to the extending direction of the metal shaft (57), the groove (581) not penetrating the plastic member (58).

5. The movable contact assembly according to claim 4, wherein each of the grooves (581) has a ring-like structure.

6. A moving contact assembly according to claim 3, characterized in that the plastic piece (58) at the first end of the metal shaft (57) rests via a spring (60) against a wall plate (61) located sideways of the insulating support (51).

7. The movable contact assembly according to claim 6, characterized in that the link mechanism (4) comprises a terminal link member provided with a through hole, through which the second end of the metal shaft (57) is adapted to pass.

8. The moving contact assembly according to claim 7, characterized in that the insulating support (51) is further formed with a slot (59) provided near the second end of the metal shaft (57), the slot (59) being configured to at least partially house the terminal link member.

9. The movable contact assembly according to claim 8, characterized in that during assembly of both the movable contact assembly (5) and the terminal link member, the plastic member (58) is adapted to be operated by an external force to move the second end of the metal shaft (57) in a direction away from the slot (59), such that the second end can avoid the slot (59) to allow the terminal link member to enter the slot (59), and in case the external force is released, the second end of the metal shaft (57) is adapted to pass through the through hole on the terminal link member positioned in the slot (59) under the effect of the restoring force of the spring (60).

10. The movable contact assembly of claim 9, further comprising:

and a toggle member (63) configured to be assembled or integrated with the plastic member (58) and adapted to be toggled by an external force to move the plastic member (58) and the second end in a direction away from the slot (59).

11. The movable contact assembly according to claim 10, characterized in that the insulating support (51) further comprises an operating hole (64), the operating hole (64) being dimensioned to allow the insertion of a screwdriver to operate the toggle member (63).

12. The movable contact assembly according to any one of claims 7-11, characterized in that the spring (60) is a compression spring.

13. Circuit breaker, characterized by comprising a moving contact assembly (5) according to any one of claims 1-11.