EP1671342B1 - Protective circuit breaker - Google Patents

Abstract

A protective circuit breaker, particularly a fault current protective circuit breaker, comprising a first display (1) of a circuit state. The aim of the invention is to enable a quicker and simpler fault search. For this reason, a second tripping-type display (2) is provided.

Description

The invention relates to a circuit breaker, in particular fault current circuit breaker, with a first indication of the switching state, wherein a second display of the type of triggering is provided, the first display and the second display are simultaneously visible, and the first display, a first pivot element and the second display comprise a second pivot member, and the first pivot member and the second pivot member are arranged on a common pivot axis.

In known such circuit breakers with a first indication of the switching state is immediately apparent whether two corresponding terminals of the circuit breaker are electrically connected in the circuit breaker. This allows a quick and easy determination of whether a line is connected to a power supply, which in particular maintenance and / or installation work can be carried out safely. Such circuit breakers can be switched off substantially in two ways, on the one hand manually by means of an actuating lever and on the other hand electrically by responding to the circuit breaker. The disadvantage here is that e.g. for subsequent maintenance and / or repair is not apparent whether the circuit breaker was triggered manually or electrically.

From the EP 0 657 909 A An electrical switch with fault trip is known. The switch has two, about the same axis rotatably mounted, designed as a pivot elements, display elements, one of which indicates the position of the switch contacts and one of the visualization of the fault triggering is used. There are two embodiments of an electrical switch in the EP 0 657 909 A described. In the first embodiment, the contacts are actuated by means of a plunger, which is controlled by the lever of the handle. The switching device has an indication of the switching position and an indication of the type of triggering, which are both visible at the same time. In the second embodiment described further, the switch contacts are arranged on a rotatable shift drum. In a recess of the shift drum engages an extension of a rotatable switch position display. In addition, a, not designed as a pivoting element, trigger indicator is provided, which is visible through a separate window.

A disadvantage of a switching device according to the EP 0 657 909 A is that a separate return mechanism for the display of the switching contact position and for the display of Type of triggering is provided, whereby the already complicated structure of such a switching device is even more complex and expensive in design, construction and manufacture.

The DE 199 19 418 A describes a circuit breaker with switch position display, which is designed such that each one display element is provided for the open position of the contact and one for its closed position. Such a switch ensures a safe indication of the operating state even with a trip-free.

From the EP 0 954 002 A is known a thermomagnetic circuit breaker comprising a display device for selective display of the cause of the trip. Independently actuable trip shafts include both a trip function and a display function. The two displays are designed as pivoting elements, which are arranged on a common pivot axis and behind a common viewing window.

A circuit breaker with two pivotable about the same axis display elements is further from the EP 0 299 440 A known, wherein one of the display elements of the display of the switching position (ON / OFF) and another of the display of a trip (TRIP) is used. When the fuse is triggered, the indicator pushes in front of the ON / OFF indicator with TRIP and covers it.

The EP 0 651 416 A describes a circuit breaker with a viewing window in which the position of the switch is displayed. When triggered, the switch is in a middle position and thus gives an area in the window can freely swing in the indicator flag and thus indicate the type of trip, so overload or ground fault. A disadvantage of such a device is that in case of an error in which there is a welding of the contacts, a switch according to the EP 0 651 416 A continues to display ON. In this state, therefore, no error is displayed.

The US 4,739,291 A. further relates to a magnetic vacuum circuit breaker with a pivotable display, which only indicates the switching position. The display element is connected via a rotatable cam directly to the manual rotary switch 15. The disadvantage of such a display is that it also indicates manual switch actuation TRIP.

The US Pat. No. 6,239,677 B1 describes a thermo-magnetic switching unit for use in circuit breakers with an indication of the cause of the tripping on indicator flags which are lifted by a linkage in front of a window. This indicates whether the switch has tripped due to an overload current or due to a short circuit.

The US 4,796,154 A also describes a circuit breaker with a series of viewing windows through the different colored indicator areas are visible, which are integrally attached to the switch knob. A disadvantage of such a display concept is that only the position of the switch knob is displayed, which is visible anyway, and is not directly related to the position of the switch contacts and to trigger the switch. If the contacts are welded or the knob is locked, the display is wrong.

A switch position indicator for remote controlled electrical apparatus is in the GB 690 495 A described. A two-part display comprising two elements is described, wherein the first element is arranged above the second element. On the first element is provided the indication for OFF, as well as an opening, whereby through the opening the second element becomes visible, which exhibits the indications for ON as well as TRIP.

The US 5,822,168 A describes an electronic protection relay with internal current sensors and various options for control and communication. A protective relay according to the US 5,822,168 A only has an indication of the cause of the trip.

The EP 0 226 530 A describes a display device for the trip status of a low-voltage circuit breaker. In a recess of a corresponding switching device, a display unit can be used, which performs both trigger functions and display functions. About LEDs, the type of triggering can be displayed. A display device according to the EP 0 226 530 A can indicate an impending trigger situation. The display can be plugged into a switching device, which is connected via contact pins with the switching device. An ad according to the EP 0 226 530 A should be suitable by their structure by means of two seven-segment displays to indicate the switching position and the type of triggering independently. However, that describes EP 0 226 530 A no such application. The switching position is rather realized by the flashing or the continuous lighting of the LED of the two seven-segment displays, which together form a display.

The object of the invention is to provide a circuit breaker of the type mentioned, in which the known disadvantages are avoided, which allows the subsequent detection of the type of triggering, which has a very compact design and is easily manufacturable.

According to the invention this is achieved in that the first pivot member comprises a driver element and the second pivot member has a cooperating with the driver element stop.

Thereby, the return of the second display when turning on the circuit breaker can be ensured, with the triggering of the circuit breaker, a relative movement of the first display relative to the second display is possible. This has the advantage that it can be determined in a simple manner, whether the circuit breaker was triggered manually or electrically, which in particular maintenance work can be made more efficient.

In continuation of the invention can be provided that the first display and the second display are associated with a common window of a housing of the circuit breaker. This arrangement allows a compact design, in which at the same time the state of the circuit breaker and the type of tripping can be determined.

In a further embodiment of the invention can be provided that the first pivot element is designed as a lever with a link, wherein a connected to a shift drum slider engages the link. By coupling the first pivot element with the shift drum, a reliable display of the switching state can be ensured.

According to another embodiment of the invention can be provided that the second pivot member is biased by a spring element, whereby the kinetic energy for the pivoting of the second pivot member is provided by the spring element.

According to a further embodiment of the invention can be provided that a triggering device is provided, that the triggering device has a with a catch of the second pivot member engageable extension, and that the extension by means of an actuating element with the catch can be disengaged. By means of the actuating element, a pivoting of the second pivoting element can be achieved, wherein only the catch must be released.

In this context, it can be provided in a development of the invention that the triggering device is pivotable about an axis of rotation. This represents a particularly simple embodiment of the triggering device.

Another feature of the invention may be that the spring element is supported on the triggering device. In this way, the triggering device and the second pivot member are loaded by means of the spring element against each other, whereby the latched position is stabilized and the reliability of the second display is increased.

According to another embodiment of the invention can be provided that a switching mechanism is provided with a pawl, and that on the pawl acting on an actuating element engaging element is formed. It can be provided that the engagement element comes in an electrical, but not in a manual release of the circuit breaker with the actuating element in contact, whereby a selective release of the actuating element can be ensured in a simple manner.

According to a further embodiment of the invention can be provided that the first pivot member, the second pivot member, the spring element and the triggering device are arranged in a display module, wherein the display module is prefabricated in the circuit breaker can be introduced. This allows a particularly simple and cost-effective production, in which the display module is manufactured separately and then inserted into the circuit breaker.

• Fig. 1 eine Schrägansicht auf Bauelemente eines erfindungsgemäßen Schutzschalters, welche eine erste Anzeige, eine zweite Anzeige, ein Schaltschloss und eine Schaltwalze umfassen;
• Fig. 2 eine Seitenansicht auf die Bauelemente nach Fig. 1;
• Fig. 3 und 4 jeweils eine Schrägansicht auf die Bauelemente nach Fig. 1, wobei das Schaltschloss und die zweite Anzeige entfernt wurden;
• Fig. 5 bis 7 jeweils eine Schrägansicht auf ein Anzeigemodul und ein Befestigungsmodul;
• Fig. 8 und 9 jeweils eine Explosionsdarstellung des Anzeigemoduls und des Befestigungsmoduls nach Fig. 5;
• Fig. 10 eine Schrägansicht auf das Anzeigemodul nach Fig. 5 mit einer Klinke und einem Schieber;
• Fig. 11 und 12 das Anzeigemodul und die Klinke nach Fig. 10 bei entfernter erster Anzeige;
• Fig. 13 und 14 die erste Anzeige, die zweite Anzeige, die Auslösevorrichtung und den Schieber;
• Fig. 15 eine Draufsicht auf das Anzeigemodul;
• Fig. 16 den Schnitt AA des Anzeigemoduls nach Fig. 15;
• Fig. 17 bis 20 die erste Anzeige, die zweite Anzeige, die Auslösevorrichtung und den Schieber in unterschiedlichen Stellungen; und
• Fig. 21 eine Schrägansicht auf einen erfindungsgemäßen Schutzschalter.

The invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments are shown. Showing:

• Fig. 1 an oblique view of components of a circuit breaker according to the invention, comprising a first display, a second display, a switch lock and a shift drum;
• Fig. 2 a side view of the components after Fig. 1 ;
• 3 and 4 in each case an oblique view of the components Fig. 1 with the switch lock and the second display removed;
• Fig. 5 to 7 each an oblique view of a display module and a mounting module;
• 8 and 9 each an exploded view of the display module and the mounting module according to Fig. 5 ;
• Fig. 10 an oblique view of the display module after Fig. 5 with a pawl and a slider;
• FIGS. 11 and 12 the display module and the latch after Fig. 10 with the first display removed;
• FIGS. 13 and 14 the first indicator, the second indicator, the triggering device and the slider;
• Fig. 15 a plan view of the display module;
• Fig. 16 the section AA of the display module after Fig. 15 ;
• Fig. 17 to 20 the first display, the second display, the triggering device and the slide in different positions; and
• Fig. 21 an oblique view of a circuit breaker according to the invention.

In Fig. 1 components for a circuit breaker are shown, wherein the circuit breaker may be in particular a residual current circuit breaker. The circuit breaker has a first display 1 of the switching state, which are preferably viewed through a window of the upper shell of the circuit breaker in the assembled state of the circuit breaker can. On the basis of the first display it is immediately apparent whether contacts in the circuit breaker are closed and corresponding terminals of the circuit breaker are conductively connected together. As a result, the switching state of the system can be determined quickly, easily and reliably in a control box. This is especially useful in maintenance and / or installation work to determine if a line is connected to a power supply or if it is de-energized.

In a circuit breaker according to the invention, a second indicator 2 of the type of triggering is further provided. The second display 2 indicates whether the triggering is done manually by means of an actuating lever 92 or electrically. Thereby it can be determined in a simple and reliable way, whether the circuit breaker due to an electrical fault, in particular a fault current, or manually, e.g. od by a sabotage act. Like., Was triggered. If a manual triggering is detected, it is often not necessary to consult an electrician, but the circuit breaker can be switched on again immediately.

For maintenance involving multiple electricians, it is obvious to anyone whether a circuit breaker has been tripped manually or electrically. If a circuit breaker is electrically triggered by one of the lines on which one of the electricians works, the risk is reduced that an incorrect circuit breaker is mistakenly switched on and another electrician is endangered.

If several circuit breakers are arranged in a system and the other circuit breakers are triggered by default as a precautionary measure, the second display 2 can be used to determine in a simple and reliable manner which the circuit breaker has triggered electrically, thereby considerably simplifying troubleshooting.

At the in Fig. 1 In the embodiment shown, the first display 1 and the second display 2 are arranged side by side and adjacent to one another. This makes it possible to assign the first display 1 and the second display 2 to a common window 91 of the housing of the circuit breaker, wherein the common window 91 can be arranged in particular in the upper shell. An embodiment of the shared window 91 is shown in FIG Fig. 21 seen.

The first display 1 comprises a first pivoting element 11 and the second display 2 comprises a second pivoting element 21. The pivoting elements 11, 21 can be easily stored and face elements causing a translational displacement of the first display 1 and / or the second display 2 , a simpler design. A Particularly simple and compact design can be achieved when the first pivot member 11 and the second pivot member 21 are arranged on a common pivot axis 41.

In Fig. 2 are the components after Fig. 1 shown in side view and 3 and 4 show an oblique view of the components Fig. 1 In particular, a switching mechanism and the second display 2 have been removed to better illustrate the operation of the first display 1.

The first pivoting element 1 is formed as a lever 12 with a link 13, in which engages a connected to a shift drum 52 slide 51. By rotating the shift drum 52 contacts of the terminals are opened and closed in a conventional manner. Furthermore, a rotation of the shift drum 52 causes a movement of the slider 51 and a pivoting of the first display first Fig. 3 shows the shift drum 52 in a position in which the contacts are closed and Fig. 4 in a position with open contacts, wherein in the common window 91 of the housing of the circuit breaker different areas of the display 1 can be seen.

In this embodiment, the first display 1 is actuated by a movement of the shift drum 52 and not by a movement of the actuating lever 92, whereby the display 1 reliably indicates the state of the shift drum even in case of failure of the operating lever 92.

The second pivot element 21 is prestressed by means of a spring element 42. This is especially true in the FIGS. 11 and 12 seen.

Furthermore, a triggering device 3 is provided which has a catch 32 which can be brought into engagement with a catch 22 of the second pivoting element 21. At the in Fig. 12 illustrated position, the extension 32 inhibits the pivoting of the second pivot member 21, wherein the spring element 42 causes a force on the second pivot member 21 in the direction of the extension 32.

The triggering device 3 further comprises an actuating element 31, with which the extension 32 with the catch 22 can be disengaged. If the extension 32 releases the catch 22, then the spring element 42 causes the second pivoting element 21 to pivot, whereby the area of the second display 2 visible through the common window 91 is changed.

A simple storage of the triggering device 3 can be achieved if it is pivotable about an axis of rotation 34. Furthermore, the spring element 42 at the Triggering device 3 to be supported. This will in the in Fig. 12 shown latched position not only the catch 22 against the extension 32, but also the extension 32 pressed against the latch 22, whereby the stability of the latched position is increased and the reliability of the second display 2 is improved. In this case, the second display 2, a first spring support 23 and the triggering device 3, a second spring support 33 have.

It can be provided that the actuating element 31 is actuated in an electrical release of the circuit breaker, but not in a mechanical release. In this case, it is further provided that the extension 32 is brought into engagement with the catch 22 when the circuit breaker is switched on.

A selective actuation of the actuating element 31 can be achieved in a simple manner, if in the circuit breaker, a switching mechanism 6 od. Like. Is provided, which has different motion sequences compared to a mechanical triggering in an electrical triggering. If the actuating element 31 is arranged in one of the trajectories with electrical tripping, but not in one of the trajectories with mechanical triggering, a pivoting of the second pivot element 21 is effected only when electrically triggered. In the illustrated embodiment, this is accomplished by the provision of an engagement member 62 on a pawl 61 of the switch latch 6.

In other embodiments of the circuit breaker according to the invention, the actuating element 31 can also be actuated only with a mechanical release.

When turning on the circuit breaker, the extension 32 can be brought by means of the first pivot member 11 with the catch 22 into engagement, as in particular Fig. 16 making a cut along the line AA in Fig. 15 shows, can be seen. The first pivoting element 11 comprises a driving element 14 and the second pivoting element 21 has a stop 24 cooperating with the driving element 14. The first display 1 with the driver element 14 is in particular in Fig. 3 seen.

Referring to the in Fig. 16 shown position, the second pivot member 21 is moved in a counterclockwise rotation of the first pivot member 11 due to the driver element 14 and the stopper 24. If the first pivot member 11 is pivoted clockwise, then the catch 22 and the extension 32 engage and in a further pivoting of the first pivot member 11, the second pivot member is not further pivoted.

In the switched-on state of the circuit breaker in the illustrated embodiment, the first display 1 and the second display 2 in the in Fig. 10 shown positions. After a mechanical release, the first display 1 and the second display 2 are in the in FIGS. 17 and 18 shown position and after an electrical release, the first display 1 and the second display 2 in the in FIGS. 19 and 20 shown position. As a result, the operating state and optionally the type of triggering can be reliably detected in a simple manner, in particular in the common window 91.

The arrangement of the first display 1 and the second display 2 in the common window 91, the above-described interaction of the pivot elements 11, 21 can be achieved, whereby a simple structural configuration is given.

Furthermore, this arrangement makes it easier to arrange the first pivoting element 11, the second pivoting element 21, the spring element 42 and the triggering device 3 in a display module 71, wherein the display module 71 can be introduced into the circuit breaker in a prefabricated manner and can be arranged in a module housing 73.

In the Fig. 5 to 7 different views of an embodiment of the display module 71 and a mounting module 72, in which the slider 51 is received, shown. The display module 71 can be manufactured and assembled separately and placed in the assembled state in the circuit breaker, whereby a simple production of the circuit breaker can be ensured.

In other embodiments, the mounting module 72 and the display module 71 may be combined to form a larger display module 71, which is prefabricated in the circuit breaker can be introduced.

In the FIGS. 13 and 14 the first display 1, the second display 2, the triggering device, the spring element 42 and the slider 51 are shown, whereby the operation of the first display 1 and the second display 2 and the interaction between the displays 1, 2 is clearly visible. The structure of the individual elements in the illustrated embodiment is in particular from the 8 and 9 can be seen, in which an exploded view of the display module 71 and the mounting module 72 is shown.

In other embodiments of the circuit breaker according to the invention, the components can also be designed differently and the claims are not limited to this specific embodiment.

Claims (9)

1. A protective circuit breaker, especially a residual-current circuit breaker, comprising a first display (1) of the switching state, with a second display (2) of the kind of triggering being provided, with the first display (1) and the second display (2) being simultaneously visible, and the first display (1) comprises a first pivoting element (11) and the second display (2) comprises a second pivoting element (21), and the first pivoting element (11) and the second pivoting element (21) are arranged on a common pivot axis (41), characterized in that the first pivoting element (11) comprises a driver element (14) and the second pivoting element (21) comprises a stop (24) cooperating with the driver element (14).
2. A protective circuit breaker according to claim 1, characterized in that the first display (1) and the second display (2) are associated with a common window (91) of a housing of the protective circuit breaker.
3. A protective circuit breaker according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the first pivoting element (11) is arranged as a lever (12) with a link (13), with a slide (51) connected with the control cylinder (52) engaging in the link (13).
4. A protective circuit breaker according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the second pivoting element (21) is pretensioned by means of a spring element (42).
5. A protective circuit breaker according to one of the claims 1 to 4, characterized in that a triggering apparatus (3) is provided, that the triggering apparatus (3) comprises a projection (32) which can be brought into engagement with a latch (22) of the second pivoting element (21), and that the projection (32) can be brought out of engagement with the latch (22) by means of an actuating element (31).
6. A protective circuit breaker according to claim 5, characterized in that the triggering apparatus (3) can be pivoted about a pivot axis (34).
7. A protective circuit breaker according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the spring element (42) rests on the triggering apparatus (3).
8. A protective circuit breaker according to claim 5, 6 or 7, characterized in that a latching mechanism (6) is provided with a pawl (61) and that an engagement element (62) which cooperates with the actuating element (31) is formed on the pawl (61).
9. A protective circuit breaker according to one of the claims 5 to 8, characterized in that the first pivoting element (11), the second pivoting element (21), the spring element (42) and the tripping apparatus (3) are arranged in a display module (71), with the display module (71) being introducible into the protective circuit breaker in a prefabricated way.

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