JP3764351B2 - Circuit breaker - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a circuit breaker, and more particularly to an improvement in a link mechanism for turning on and off a movable contact by operating an operation handle.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In a circuit breaker, a link mechanism having a structure shown in FIG. 4 is known as an on / off operation of a movable contact in conjunction with a handle operation. In FIG. 4, 15 is an operation handle, 16 is a movable contact, 17 is a link, 18 is a crossbar, 19 is a base constituting the lower part of the circuit breaker housing, and 21 is an overcurrent detection means (not shown). The link 17 is connected to the operation handle 15 and is configured to reciprocate in a substantially vertical linear path in accordance with the on / off turning operation of the operation handle 15. The movable contact 16 disposed under the trip arm 21 is operated.
The movable contact 16 is arranged in the left-right direction orthogonal to the link operation direction so that the operation of the lower end portion of the link 17 is efficiently transmitted.
With this arrangement and configuration, the crossbar 18 moves up and down in accordance with the operation of the link 17 and moves the movable contact 16 in the up and down direction to a fixed contact (not shown) arranged further below. The contact / dissociation operation is performed.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the case of the above-described conventional configuration, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, when the direction of movement of the movable contact 16 is different from the direction of movement of the link 17, the movement direction of the crossbar 18 is different from that of the link 17. Therefore, it is necessary to add the action changing member 20 that changes the action direction from the link 17.
For this reason, when the operation directions of the members such as the link 17 and the movable contact are changed in different directions for effective use of the internal space of the housing, miniaturization, etc., the arrangement of the members around the mechanism portion is restricted. However, there are cases where additional members are required in order to avoid the restrictions, and effective use of the space in the housing cannot be expected.
Then, this invention makes it a subject to provide the circuit breaker which changed the operation direction of the movable contact with respect to the operation direction of a link, without adding a member in view of the said problem.
[0004]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention of claim 1 includes a link coupled to the operation handle, and a crossbar that contacts / dissociates the movable contact with the fixed contact in response to the operation of the link. In a circuit breaker in which a movable contact is turned on / off by an on / off operation of an operation handle, an operation angle of the movable contact that contacts / separates from the fixed contact differs from an operation direction of the link. The guide bar is formed in the circuit breaker housing in accordance with the curvature shape of the cross bar, and the cross bar is engaged with the guide groove to move the cross bar around the center of curvature. It is performed on a circle having a fixed position, and the tip of the cross bar is operated in accordance with the operation direction of the movable contact .
[0005]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory side view of a link mechanism which is a main part of a circuit breaker according to the present invention. 1 is an operation handle, 2 is a link, 3 is a crossbar, 4 is a movable contact, and 5 is a fixed contact. It is.
[0006]
The base of the link 2 is pivotally attached to the lower part of the operation handle 1, and the lower end of the link 2 is moved in the vertical direction in the figure by turning the operation handle 1 on and off. Further, the link mechanism holding member 8 erected on the base side of the circuit breaker housing 7 is provided with a longitudinal long hole 9 to guide the vertical movement of the link 2.
[0007]
The movable contact 4 is disposed obliquely at an operation angle at which the movable contact 4 makes contact / separation with the fixed contact 5 unlike the operation direction of the link 2 which is the vertical direction. The crossbar 3 is fixed in a circular arc shape from the upper link engaging portion so that the lower movable contact contact portion is substantially equal to the operation direction of the movable contact 4 in accordance with the arrangement direction of the movable contact 4. It is curved with a curvature.
[0008]
And the guide groove 10 matched with the curvature of the crossbar 3 is formed in the right-and-left wall surface of the circuit breaker housing | casing 7 so that the crossbar 3 may move on the circumference centering on the curvature center. FIG. 2 shows one inner wall surface of the circuit breaker housing 7 in which the guide groove 10 is formed. The guide groove 10 is formed by protruding the peripheral wall portion of the guide groove 10 from the inner wall surface.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the crossbar 3 of FIG. 1. The upper end of the crossbar 3 is engaged with the link 2 so that the crossbar 3 can be moved in substantially the same direction and the lower end is movable. It is made to contact | abut to the element | child 4, and it is made possible to operate | move in the substantially the same direction as a movable contact. Reference numeral 3a denotes a guide piece formed at the end of the cross bar 3 to guide the movement of the cross bar.
[0009]
In this way, even if the movement direction of the link and the contact / separation movement direction of the movable contact are different, the crossbar is bent and the crossbar is moved according to the curvature, so one end is adjusted to the link action direction. And the other end can be operated in accordance with the moving direction of the movable contact, and it is not necessary to separately provide a direction changing member between the link and the crossbar.
As a result, it is possible to operate without increasing the number of members without disposing a movable contact in the operation direction of the link, and it is possible to eliminate restrictions on member arrangement and to effectively use the internal space. Member arrangement can be easily implemented. Moreover, even if it arrange | positions in that way, since an additional member is not required, it does not increase a cost, and since internal space can be used effectively, it can contribute greatly also to size reduction of a circuit breaker.
[0010]
The above embodiment shows the case where the movable contact is arranged obliquely. However, even if the link and the movable contact shown in FIG. Even when the link and the movable contact as shown in FIG. 5 are arranged substantially in parallel, if the crossbar is formed with a curvature corresponding to it, it can be handled without providing an action changing member.
[0011]
【The invention's effect】
As described above in detail, according to the first aspect of the present invention, even if the operation direction of the link and the operation direction of the movable contact are different, the crossbar is curved and the crossbar is operated in accordance with the curvature. There is no need to separately provide a direction changing member between the link and the cross bar.
As a result, it is not necessary to increase the number of members without arranging the movable contact in the link operation direction, the restriction of the member arrangement can be eliminated, and the member arrangement that can effectively use the internal space can be easily implemented. . Moreover, even if it arrange | positions in that way, since an additional member is not required, it does not increase a cost and it can contribute greatly also to size reduction of a circuit breaker by utilizing an internal space effectively.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an explanatory side view of a link mechanism as an essential part of an example of a circuit breaker according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the inner wall surface of the circuit breaker housing of FIG. 1, showing the shape of the guide groove.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the crossbar of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is an explanatory side view illustrating a link mechanism of a conventional circuit breaker.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory side view of the main part of the circuit breaker when the operation directions of the conventional link mechanism and the movable contact are different.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 ... Operation handle 2 ... Link 3 ... Cross bar 4 ... Movable contact 5 ... Fixed contact 7 ... Housing 10 ... Guide groove

Claims (1)

A link connected to the operation handle, and a crossbar that contacts / dissociates the movable contact with the fixed contact in response to the operation of the link. The on / off operation of the operation handle turns the movable contact on / off. In the circuit breaker that operates off,
The operating angle of the movable contactor contacting / separating from the stationary contact is different from the operation direction of the link, the crossbar is curved with respect to the operation direction, and the curvature of the crossbar is formed in the circuit breaker housing. A guide groove that matches the shape is provided, and the cross bar is engaged with the guide groove so that the cross bar is moved on the circumference with the center of curvature as a fixed position . A circuit breaker that operates according to the direction of operation .

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