Title of Invention

AN AUXILIARY UNIT FOR INDICATING THE STATE OF CIRCUIT BREAKERS

Abstract

57)Abstract:- AN AUXILIARY UNIT NOTABLY FOR INDICATING THE STATE OF CIRCUIT BREAKERS The invention relates to an auxiliary unit notably for indicating the state of circuit breakers. This auxiliary unit (B) is designed to be coupled laterally to a circuit breaker unit (1) to monitor the state of the circuit breakers or to detect the presence of a fault in their operation. It is formed by a case (2) comprising on the one hand a main part (8) comprising auxiliary contacts (3) controlled by the mechanism of the circuit breaker unit (1), and on the other hand a connection part (9) comprising on one of its sides connection studs (4) for connecting the auxiliary contacts (3) to an annunciation switchboard, and on its opposite side a recess (10) designed for the passage of the teeth (7a) of a comb (7) providing the power supply of the circuit breakers. This connection part (9) is mounted able to be oriented on the main part (8) to two different positions enabling the distribution comb (7) to be fitted respectively line-side or load-side of the circuit breaker unit (1). This invention applies notably to auxiliary units associated with circuit breakers. PRICE: THIRTY RUPEES

Full Text

The present invention relates to an auxiliary unit notably for indicating the state of circuit breakers. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Auxiliary units laterally coupled to a set of circuit breakers adjoined by their side faces are known in the art, said units being used for example for monitoring the state of the circuit breaker's or to detect the presence of a fault in their operation (overcurrent, short-circuits, etc.). These auxiliary units are constituted, in their most usual form, by a monobloc case comprising on the one hand contacts called auxiliary contacts controlled by the circuit breaker mechanism and electrically connected by connection studs provided in one of the sides of the case to an annunciation switchboard, whereas the opposite side of the case presents a recess designed to allow the passage of one or more teeth of a distribution comb performing the power supply of the circuit breakers. Connection of the comb connector howeverr is performed either line-side or load-side of the circuit breakers depending on the countries in which these circuit breakers are intended to be used. This results in it being necessary to have two types of auxiliary units available enabling the comb connector to be fitted respectively load-side or line-side of the circuit breakers. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes this problem and proposes an auxiliary unit notably for indicating the state of circuit breakers, of simple design, and able to be used for both line-side or load-side assembly of the comb connector with a view to increased standardization. For this purpose, the object of the present invention is to achieve an auxiliary' unit notably for indicating the state of a circuit breaker, said auxiliaiy unit being formed by a case containing auxiliary' contacts mechanically operated by the circuit breaker unit mechanism, and electrically connected to connection tenninals arranged on one of the sides of the case, whereas the opposite side of the case comprises a recess designed to allow the passage of one or more teeth of a distribution comb providing the electrical power supply of the circuit breaker unit, this unit being characterized in that the case is equipped with two distinct parts comprising a main part fixed to tlie circuit breaker unit and housing tlie auxiliary contacts, and a second connection part comprising connection studs for connection of the auxiliary contacts and said recess, and that the second part is mounted able to be oriented on the main part to two different positions enabling the distribution comb to be mounted respectively line-side or load-side of the circuit breaker unit. It can already be seen that due to the invention the connection part simply has to be oriented in such a way that the recess arranged in said part is facing the comb. According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the connection part is mounted rotating around an axis appreciably perpendicular to the plane of the teeth of the comb connector, switching from one of the above-mentioned positions to the other being achieved by a 180" rotation of the connection part around said axis. According to a particular feature, the connection part comprises a housing designed to receive the lower part of conjugate shape of the main part, around which the connection part is mounted in rotation. According to anotherr feature, the main part and the connection part comprise means for limiting the rotational travel of the connection part to 180°. According to an alternative embodiment, the main part comprises a groove in which a part of conjugate shape of the connection part is inserted and secured. According to a particular feature, the connection studs are connected to the above-mentioned auxiliary contacts by means of conducting wires passing through two orifices provided respectively in the connection Fart and the main part. According to an alternative embodiment, the connection studs are connected to the auxiliary contacts by means of friction contacts provided on each side of the main part cooperating with conducting parts connected to the above-mentioned studs. Advantageously, the unit comprises three connection studs and three auxiliary contacts forming a cliangeover switch. According to another feature, the main part comprises a part of appreciably rectangular shape and two arms extending perpendicularly to the side faces of said rectangular part, said arms bearing respectively on a C-shaped part or an opposite staggered part housing the connection studs of the connection part. Accordingly the present invention provides an auxiliary unit for indicating the state of a circuit breaker, designed to be laterally coupled and adjoined to a circuit breaker unit, said auxiliary unit being formed by a case containing auxiliary contacts mechanically operated by the circuit breaker unit mechanism, and electrically connected to connection terminals arranged on one of the sides of the case, whereas the opposite side of the case comprises a recess designed to allow the passage of one or more teeth of a distribution comb providing the electrical power supply of the circuit breaker unit, characterized in that the case of the auxiliary unit B is provided with two distinct parts comprising a main part fixed to the circuit breaker unit and housing the auxiliary contacts and a second connection part comprising at least one connection studs for connecting the auxiliary contacts and said recess and that the second part is mounted and able to be oriented on the main part to two different positions enebling the distribution comb to be mounted respectively line-side or load-side of the circuit breaker unit. But other advantages and features of the invention will become more clearly apparent firom the following detailed description which refers to the accompanying drawings given as non restrictive examples only and in which I Figure 1 is a schematic top view of an auxiliary unit according to the invention, associated with a circuit breaker unit fomed by three adjoined circuit breakers. Figure 2 is a front view of an auxiliary unit according to a first embodiment of the invention. Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view along A-A of figure 2. Figure 4 is a similar view to figure 2, the connection part having being oriented in such a way as to enable assembly of the comb load-side of the circuit breakers. Figure 5 is a front view of an auxiliary unit according to a second embodiment of the invention. Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view along B-B of figure 5. Figures 7 and 8 are front views of a third embodiment of the invention. DET.AILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In figure 1, an auxiliary unit B can be seen adjoined by one of its side faces to a circuit breaker unit 1 formed by several circuit breakers la, lb, Ic coupled laterally and supplied by a distribution comb 7 connected to a three-phase busbar (not represented), this auxiliary unit B is of the type of units used for monitoring the open or closed state of the circuit breakers or for detecting a tault such as an overcurrent or short-circuit. Referring to figures 2 to 6 which describe two different embodiments of the invention, it can be seen that the auxiliary unit B is fonned by a case 2 con.stituted by two distinct parts respectively called main part 8 and connection part 9. The main part 8 comprises an appreciably perpendicular part 22 and two anns 23, 24 extending perpendicularly to the side walls of this part 22. The connection part 9 is formed by an appreciably C-shaped lateral part 25, a staggered opposite lateral part 26 and a connecting part 27 joining the latter two parts 25, 26. The internal walls of these lateral parts 25, 26 and connecting part 27 form a housing 11 for the lower part 12 of the above-mentioned main part 8 whose two arms 23, 24 bear respectively on the upper faces of the above-mentioned lateral parts 25, 26. The main part 8 comprises three contacts called auxiliary contacts 3 forming a changeover switch, these three contacts 3a, 3b, 3c being connected on the one hand mechanically to the mechanism of the circuit breakers to which the auxiliary unit B is associated, and on the other hand by means of conducting wires 13, 30 respectively to three connection studs 4 located inside the above-mentioned staggered lateral part 26 of the connection part 9, said studs 4 being designed to be electrically connected to an annunciation switcliboard (not represented) connected for example to a control desk. The C-shaped lateral part 25 of the connection part 9, opposite the staggered lateral part 26, comprises a recess 10 designed to allow the teeth 7a of the distribution comb 7 to pass. According to these embodiments of the invention, the connection part 9 is mounted rotating by suitable means around the main part 8, and around an axis X appreciably perpendicular to the plane P of the teeth 7a of the abovementioned comb 7. Referring more particularly to figures 2 and 3, it can be seen that according to a first particular embodiment of the invention, the above-mentioned auxiliary contacts 3 are connected to the connection studs 4 by conducting wires 13 passing through two orifices 15, 14 provided respectively in the lower wall of the main part 8 and the upper wall of the joining part 27 of the connection part 9. The main part 8 comprises on one of its sides a spur 33 designed to come into contact against two opposite stops 30, 31 formed in the connection part 9, when rotation of the connection part 9 takes place around the main part 8. These two stops 30, 31 enable the rotational travel of the connection part 9 to be limited to 180° in order to prevent shearing of the conducting wires 13. According to another embodiment described in figures 5 and 6, the three above-mentioned connection studs 4 are connected to the three auxiliary contacts 3 by three contacts called friction contacts. Three contact strips 16 to 18 and 19 to 21 are thus provided on each side of the main part. The three contact strips 16 to 18 and 19 to 21 located on each side are connected respectively by three conducting wires 31a, 31b, 31c and 3 Id, 3 le, 31 to the three auxiliary' contacts 3a, 3b, 3c. Refening to figures 7 and 8, another embodiment of the invention can be seen according to which the connection part 29 is mounted on the main part 28 in such a way as to be able to be turned and thus enable the comb 7 to be fitted line-side or load-side of the circuit breaker. According to this embodiment, the main part 28 comprises a rectangular part 22 and two anns 23, 24, the rectangular part 22 comprising a groove 28a in which there is fixed by suitable means a part called joining part 29a joining the C-shaped part 25 and staggered part 26 of a connection part 29 as described previously. It can be noted that connection of the studs 4 to the auxiliary-contacts 3. although not illustrated in these figures, can be achieved for example by means of conducting wires passing through two orifices provided in the main part of the connection part, or by means of friction contacts such as those described previously. Assembly of the connection part 8, 28 onto the main part 9, 29 will be described briefly hereafter for the different embodiments of the invention. According to the embodiment described in figures 2 and 3, switching the connection part 9 from a position enabling the comb 7 to be fitted line-side as illustrated in figures 2 and 3 to a position enabling the comb 7 to be fitted load-side of the circuit breakers (figure 4) is achieved by performing a relative rotation of the connecticn part 9 through 180" with respect to the main part 8. This movement brings the spur 39 up against the second stop 31 provided on the connection part 9. Thus, the opposite movement, moving from the load-side assembly position to the line-side assembly position, will be achieved by a new 180 rotation of the connection part 9 in the opposite direction from before with the purpose, as already previously indicated, of not shearing the conducting wires 13. According to the embodiment described in figures 5 and 6, switching the connection part 9 from one position to the other is achieved in the same way as for the previous embodiment. Thus, in figures 5 and 6, the studs 4 are electrically connected to the contact strips 16 to 18 enabling the distribution comb 7 to be fitted line-side. After a 180" rotation of the connection part 9 in either direction, the studs 4 will be electrically connected to the contact strips 19 to 21, which will enable the comb 7 to be fitted in the load-side position. In this embodiment, the rotational travel is not limited to 180°, this being due to the fact that there is no risk of the conducting wires 13 being sheared, as is the case in the previously described embodiment. This results in two successive 180° rotations of the connection part 9 in the same direction being able to be performed. According to the embodiment described in figures 7 and 8, switching from a position enabling the comb 7 to be fitted line-side (figure 7) to a position enabling the comb 7 to be fitted load-side (figure 8) is achieved by disengaging the main part 28 from the connection part 29.This disengagement is achieved by disengaging the connection part 29 from the groove 28a. Then this connection part 29 is turned and then engaged again and secured in the groove 28a (figure 8). the invention has therefore enabled an auxiliary unit of simple design to be acliieved notably for indicating the state of a circuit breaker, able to be used in many different countries since it allows the distribution comb to be fitted either line-side or load-side of the circuit breakers. The invention is naturally in no way limited to the embodiments described and illustrated which have been given as examples only. On the contrary, the invention includes all the technical equivalents of the means described, as well as their combinations if the latter are achieved in accordance with the spirit of the invention. WE CLAIM: 1. An auxiliary unit for indicating the state of a circuit breaker, designed to be laterally coupled and adjoined to a circuit breaker unit, said auxiliary unit being formed by a case containing auxiliary contacts mechanically operated by the circuit breaker unit mechanism, and electrically connected to connection terminals arranged on one of the sides of the case, whereas the opposite side of the case comprises a recess designed to allow the passage of one or more teeth of a distribution comb providing the electrical power supply of the circuit breaker unit, characterized in that the case (2) of the auxiliary unit B is provided with two distinct parts (8,28; 9,29) comprising a main part (8, 28) fixed to the circuit breaker unit (1) and housing the auxiliary contacts (3), and a second connection part (9, 29) comprising at least one connection studs (4) for connecting the auxiliary contacts (3) and said recess (10), and that the second part (9, 29) is mounted and able to be oriented on the main part (8, 28) to two different positions enabling the distribution comb (7) to be mounted respectively line-side or load-side of the circuit breaker unit (1). 2. The auxiliary unit according to claim 1, wherein the said connection part (9) is mounted rotating around an axis (x) perpendicular to the plane (P) of the teeth (7a) of the comb connector (7), switching fix>m one position to the other by a 180' rotation of the connection part (9) around said axis (x). 3. The auxiliary unit according to claim 2, wherein the said connection part (9) comprises a housing (11) designed to receive the lower part of conjugate shape (12) of the main part (8), around which the connection part (9) is rotatably mounted. 4. The auxiliary unit according to any one of the claims 1 to 3, wherein the said main part (8) and the said connection part (9) have means for limiting (30, 3a) the rotational of the connection part (9) to 180®. 5. The auxiliary unit according to claim 1, wherein the said main part (28) comprises a groove (28a) in which a part of conjugate shape (29a) of the connection part (29) is inserted and secured. 6. The auxiliary unit according to any one of the preceeding claims wherein the said connection studs (4) are connected to the auxiliary contacts (3) by means of conducting wires (13) passing through two orifices (14, 15) provided respectively in the said connection part (9) and the said main part (8). 7. The auxiliary unit according to any one of the claims 1 to 5, wherein the said connection studs (4) are connected to the auxiliary contacts (3) by means of friction contacts (16 to 21) provided on each side of the main part (8) cooperating with conducting parts (30) connected to said studs (4). 8. The auxiliary unit according to any one of the pending claims, wherein said three connection studs (4) and three said auxiliary contacts (3a, 3b, 3c) are provided to form a changeover switch. 9. The auxiliary unit according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the main part (8, 28) has a rectangular shaped part (22) and two arms (23, 24) extending perpendicularly to the side faces of said rectangular part (22), said arms (23, 24) bearing respectively on a C-shaped part (25) or an opposite staggered part (26) housing the connection studs (4) of the connection part (9, 29). 10. An auxiliary unit for indicating the state of a circuit breaker substantially as herein above described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Documents:

0763-mas-95 abstract.jpg

0763-mas-95 abstract.pdf

0763-mas-95 claims.pdf

0763-mas-95 correspondence-others.pdf

0763-mas-95 correspondence-po.pdf

0763-mas-95 description (complete).pdf

0763-mas-95 drawings.pdf

0763-mas-95 form-1.pdf

0763-mas-95 form-26.pdf

0763-mas-95 form-4.pdf

0763-mas-95 others.pdf

0763-mas-95 petition.pdf