Remote operated circuit breaker

摘要

A circuit breaker having a movable contact arm for opening and closing the circuit which is controlled separately by a circuit breaker mechanism for circuit protection and by a switch lever mechanism which does not require actuation of the circuit breaker mechanism to function. The switch lever may be activated by a solenoid or other suitable means, and various interlocking mechanical states exist among the elements that provide added safety features.

主权项

1. A circuit breaker comprising:
a first contact; a second contact which is moveable between a closed position relative to the first contact and an open position relative to the first contact, and which is disposed to contact the first contact only in the closed position; a contact arm and lever assembly pivotable about a pivot point, said contact arm and lever assembly having a first end on which said second contact is mounted and a second end, with the pivot point being disposed on said contact arm and lever assembly between the first end and the second end; a handle manually manipulatable by a user between an on position and an off position; a circuit breaker linkage mechanism having a tripped state and an untripped state, which is disposed to change the position of the contacts when the circuit breaker linkage mechanism changes state, said circuit breaker linkage mechanism being operably connected between the handle and the contacts, such that manual manipulation of the handle causes movement of the circuit breaker linkage mechanism, thereby causing movement of the contacts; and an actuator having an on state and an off state, which is disposed to change the position of the contacts without changing the state of the circuit breaker linkage mechanism and without changing the position of the handle when the actuator changes state, said actuator being directly connected to the second end of said contact arm and lever assembly such that said actuator changes the relative position of the contacts by pivoting the contact arm and lever assembly about the pivot point thereof and such that only a single portion of the circuit breaker is caused to pivot about a single pivot point when the actuator changes state in order to change the relative position of the contacts.