Circuit breaker

Abstract

A circuit breaker includes: a main body having a static contact and a moving contact, the moving contact being movable to contact with or separate from the static contact; the tripping assembly is assembled to the main body, the tripping assembly can move between a normal position and a triggering position, and when the tripping assembly moves from the normal position to the triggering position, the tripping assembly triggers the moving contact to be separated from the static contact; when the tripping assembly is in the normal position, no current flows through the tripping assembly.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a circuit breaker, and more particularly, to a circuit breaker with better tripping performance and lower cost. Background Art

[0002] The circuit breaker controls the conduction and disconnection of the circuit by switching between the closed state and the open state. If an abnormal condition occurs in the circuit and the current is overloaded, the trip component triggers the circuit breaker to switch from the closed state to the open state in response to the excessive current to protect the circuit.

[0003] In the prior art, current typically flows through a trip assembly, enabling it to sense the current intensity in the circuit in real time and, based on the current intensity, determine whether to trigger the circuit breaker to open. However, the current flowing through the trip assembly requires some of its components to have high insulation properties. Furthermore, the current flowing through the trip assembly generates heat within the assembly, requiring some of its components to have high heat resistance. In summary, the current flowing through the trip assembly limits circuit breaker performance and increases costs.

[0004] Therefore, it is desired to provide a circuit breaker to improve the above-mentioned defects in the prior art. Summary of the Invention

[0005] According to one aspect of the present invention, a circuit breaker is provided, comprising: a main body having a stationary contact and a movable contact, the movable contact being movable to contact or separate from the stationary contact; and a trip assembly assembled to the main body, the trip assembly being movable between a normal position and a triggered position, wherein when the trip assembly moves from the normal position to the triggered position, the trip assembly triggers the movable contact to separate from the stationary contact; wherein the trip assembly has a current sensing portion, the current sensing portion being located near the stationary contact and being configured to move based on the intensity of current flowing through the stationary contact.

[0006] According to this solution, the trip assembly triggers a trip operation based on the current flowing through the stationary contacts of the circuit breaker body, as sensed by a current sensing unit, rather than based on the current flowing through the trip assembly as in the prior art. Because no current flows through the trip assembly, the trip assembly does not need to have high insulation properties or high heat resistance to prevent damage from heat generated by the current. This improves the circuit breaker's tripping performance and reduces the manufacturing cost of the circuit breaker.

[0007] In some embodiments, the current sensing part may be an attraction core, and a static iron core may be provided near the static contact. The attraction core can move between a release position and an attraction position. When the attraction core is in the release position, the attraction core is separated from the static iron core and the tripping assembly is in a normal position. When the attraction core is in the attraction position, the attraction core is in contact with the static iron core and the tripping assembly is in a triggering position.

[0008] According to this solution, when the current flowing through the main body is too large, the static iron core near the static contact generates a large magnetic field to attract the attraction core to move toward the static iron core, thereby completing the triggering of the trip assembly.

[0009] In some solutions, the trip assembly may further include an elastic member having a first end fixed and a second end opposite to the first end connected to the trip assembly to bias the trip assembly toward a normal position.

[0010] According to this solution, when the current flowing through the main body is not large enough, the trip assembly is in a normal position under the bias of the elastic component, and does not trigger the circuit breaker to open.

[0011] In some aspects, the elastic member may be a torsion spring.

[0012] In some embodiments, the trip assembly may further include an adjusting component having a plurality of grooves, wherein the first end of the torsion spring is selectively fixed to one of the plurality of grooves to adjust the angle between the first end and the second end of the torsion spring.

[0013] According to this scheme, the force applied by the torsion spring to the trip assembly can be adjusted by adjusting the initial bias degree of the torsion spring, thereby adjusting the threshold magnetic field force between the static iron core and the attracting iron core that can overcome the force of the torsion spring on the trip assembly and cause the trip assembly to move, thereby adjusting the current intensity threshold that can trigger the circuit breaker to disconnect.

[0014] In some aspects, the trip assembly may be designed such that when the current flowing through the main body is greater than a predetermined threshold, the pull-in core overcomes the force of the torsion spring and moves into contact with the static core.

[0015] According to this solution, when the current flowing through the main body is greater than a predetermined threshold, the trip assembly is triggered under the action of the attracting iron core to disconnect the circuit breaker.

[0016] In some embodiments, the trip assembly may further include: a pull rod, a first end of the pull rod being connected to the attraction core and capable of being driven by the attraction core to move linearly; a trip rod, a first end of the trip rod being connected to a second end of the pull rod opposite to the first end and capable of being driven by the pull rod to rotate, and the second end of the trip rod opposite to the first end is connected to the moving contact to drive the moving contact to move.

[0017] In some solutions, the main body may further include a transmission assembly, which is respectively connected to the second end of the trip rod and the moving contact, so that the movement of the trip rod can drive the moving contact to move.

[0018] In some embodiments, the main body may include two cavities separated by a middle partition, each of the two cavities is provided with a static contact, and the trip assembly includes two attraction cores, which are attracted or released by the static core near the corresponding static contact.

[0019] In some solutions, a limiting portion may be provided in the trip assembly, and the limiting portion is configured so that at least a portion of the static iron core is clamped between the limiting portion and the static contact to fix the static iron core.

[0020] According to this solution, during the operation of the trip assembly, the limiting portion can keep the static iron core and the attraction iron core aligned at all times, so as to ensure the attraction between the static iron core and the attraction iron core.

[0021] In some solutions, the middle partition may be provided with a mounting hole, and the trip assembly is assembled to the main body through the mounting hole. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] Figure 1 A schematic side view of a circuit breaker according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0023] Figure 2 A schematic top view of a circuit breaker according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0024] Figure 3 A schematic front view of a circuit breaker according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0025] Figure 4 A schematic diagram showing a main body of a circuit breaker according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a trip assembly of a circuit breaker according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0027] Reference numerals:

[0028] 10 Circuit Breaker

[0029] 100 main body

[0030] 110 static contact

[0031] 120 static iron core

[0032] 130 transmission components

[0033] 140 cavity

[0034] 150 middle partition

[0035] 152 mounting holes

[0036] 160 limiter

[0037] 200 Trip Assembly

[0038] 210 attracting iron core

[0039] 220 elastic components, torsion springs

[0040] 222 First End

[0041] 224 Second End

[0042] 230 Adjustment components

[0043] 232 First Groove

[0044] 234 Second Groove

[0045] 236 Third Groove

[0046] 240 tie rod

[0047] 242 First End

[0048] 244 Second End

[0049] 250 Trip Rod

[0050] 252 First End

[0051] 254 Second End

[0052] 260 mounting holes DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0053] In order to make the purpose, scheme and advantages of the technical solution of the present invention more clear, the technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings of specific embodiments of the present invention. Unless otherwise specified, the terms used herein have the common meanings in the art. The same reference numerals in the drawings represent the same components.

[0054] Figure 1 、 Figure 2 and Figure 3Schematic side views, top views, and front views of a circuit breaker 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention are shown, respectively. The circuit breaker 10 primarily comprises a main body 100 and a trip assembly 200. The main body 100 includes a stationary contact 110 and a movable contact (not shown). The movable contact is movable to contact or separate from the stationary contact 110 to place the circuit breaker 10 in a closed state or an open state, respectively. The trip assembly 200 is assembled to the main body 100. In response to a current overload in the main body 100 (e.g., exceeding a predetermined current intensity threshold), the trip assembly 200 triggers the circuit breaker 10 to switch from the closed state to the open state. Specifically, the trip assembly 200 is movable between a normal position (corresponding to normal circuit operation and no overload) and a triggered position (corresponding to abnormal circuit operation and an overload). When an unexpected event causes a current overload in the circuit, the trip assembly 200 moves from the normal position to the triggered position, triggering the movable contact to separate from the stationary contact 110, thereby disconnecting the circuit and protecting it.

[0055] In conventional circuit breakers, the trip assembly senses the current intensity in the circuit by the current flowing through it. However, the current flowing through the trip assembly requires higher electrical insulation performance for the trip assembly. Furthermore, because the current flowing through the trip assembly generates heat within the trip assembly, it also requires higher heat resistance, which is detrimental to the tripping performance and cost of the circuit breaker. Therefore, in the circuit breaker 10 of the present invention, no current flows through the trip assembly 200. To achieve the tripping function, the trip assembly 200 must be able to sense the magnitude of the current flowing through the circuit breaker 10. In the absence of current flowing through the trip assembly 200, the present invention arranges an attracting core 210 within the trip assembly 200 to sense the magnitude of the current flowing through the main body 100 of the circuit breaker 10. The details are described below.

[0056] A static iron core 120 is arranged near the static contact 110. The static iron core 120 can generate a magnetic field related to (for example, proportional to) the current intensity flowing through the main body 100 of the circuit breaker 10. The static iron core 120 is used to attract the attraction core 210 in the trip assembly 200 to move toward the static iron core 120. The magnitude of the attraction between the static iron core 120 and the attraction core 210 is related to (for example, proportional to) the current intensity flowing through the main body 100 of the circuit breaker 10. When the current flowing through the main body 100 of the circuit breaker 10 does not become abnormally large, the static iron core 120 does not generate a sufficiently large magnetic field and does not attract the attraction core 210 to move toward the static iron core 120. At this time, the attraction core 210 is in the released position (the attraction core 210 is separated from the static iron core 120) and the trip assembly 200 is in the normal position; when the current intensity flowing through the main body 100 of the circuit breaker 10 is large enough, the magnetic field generated by the static iron core 120 is large enough to attract the attraction core 210 to move toward the static iron core 120. At this time, the attraction core 210 is in the attracted position (the attraction core 210 is in contact with the static iron core 120) and the triggering of the trip assembly 200 is completed (the specific triggering process is described in detail below).

[0057] Preferably, the trip assembly 200 may further include an elastic component 220, wherein a first end 222 of the elastic component 220 is fixed, and a second end 224 opposite to the first end 222 is connected to the trip assembly 200 (for example, connected to the pull rod 240 described below) to bias the trip assembly 200 toward a normal position, and the biasing force of the elastic component 220 counteracts the attraction between the static iron core 120 and the attracting iron core 210.

[0058] When the current flowing through the main body 100 of the circuit breaker 10 is not large enough, the attraction between the static iron core 120 and the attraction core 210 is not sufficient to overcome the bias force of the elastic component 220 and cause the attraction core 210 to move toward the static iron core 120. At this time, the trip assembly 200 is in a normal position under the bias force of the elastic component 220 and does not trigger the circuit breaker 10 to disconnect; when the current flowing through the main body 100 of the circuit breaker 10 is large enough, the attraction between the static iron core 120 and the attraction core 210 is sufficient to overcome the bias force of the elastic component 220 and cause the attraction core 210 to move toward the static iron core 120. At this time, the trip assembly 200 moves from the normal position to the trigger position under the attraction between the attraction core 210 and the static iron core 120, thereby triggering the circuit breaker 10 to disconnect.

[0059] Alternatively, the elastic component 220 may be a torsion spring. It should be understood that the present invention is not intended to limit the specific type of the elastic component, and the elastic component 220 may also be any other suitable device capable of generating a restoring force.

[0060] Preferably, the trip assembly 200 may further include an adjustment component 230 having a plurality of grooves 232, 234, and 236. The first end 222 of the torsion spring 220 is selectively secured to one of the grooves 232, 234, and 236 to adjust the angle between the first end 222 and the second end 224 of the torsion spring 220. By adjusting the initial bias of the torsion spring 220, the force applied by the torsion spring 220 to the trip assembly 200 can be adjusted, thereby adjusting the threshold magnetic field force between the static iron core 120 and the pull-in iron core 210 that can overcome the force of the torsion spring 220 on the trip assembly 200 and cause the trip assembly 200 to move. This allows the current intensity threshold that can trigger the circuit breaker 10 to trip according to different application requirements.

[0061] For example, if the circuit breaker 10 needs to have a low-grade current intensity threshold, the first end 222 of the torsion spring 220 is fixed to the first groove 232. In this configuration, the angle between the first end 222 and the second end 224 of the torsion spring 220 is small, and the biasing force generated by the torsion spring 220 is small. Therefore, the threshold attraction between the attracting iron core 210 and the static iron core 120 that can overcome the biasing force of the torsion spring 220 and move the attracting iron core 210 toward the static iron core 120 is small, so that the threshold current is small. If the circuit breaker 10 needs to have a high-grade current intensity threshold, the first end 222 of the torsion spring 220 is fixed to the first groove 232. The first end 222 is fixed to the third groove 236. In this configuration, the angle between the first end 222 and the second end 224 of the torsion spring 220 is large, and the biasing force generated by the torsion spring 220 is large. Therefore, the threshold attractive force between the attracting iron core 210 and the static iron core 120, which can overcome the biasing force of the torsion spring 220 and move the attracting iron core 210 toward the static iron core 120, is large, resulting in a large threshold current. Similarly, if the circuit breaker 10 needs to have a mid-range current intensity threshold (i.e., between high and low ranges), the first end 222 of the torsion spring 220 is fixed to the second groove 234. It should be understood that the number of grooves (i.e., the number of gears) is merely exemplary, and the adjustment component 230 may also have two, four, or any other suitable number of grooves to accommodate the current threshold adjustment requirements in different application scenarios.

[0062] Alternatively, as Figure 5 As shown, the trip assembly 200 may further include a pull rod 240 and a trip rod 250. The first end 242 of the pull rod 240 is connected to the attraction core 210 and can be driven by the attraction core 210 to move linearly. The first end 252 of the trip rod 250 is connected to the second end 244 of the pull rod 240 opposite to the first end 242 thereof and can be driven by the pull rod 240 to rotate. The second end 254 of the trip rod 250 opposite to the first end 252 thereof is connected to the moving contact to drive the moving contact to move. It should be understood that the term "A is connected to B" means that A is associated with B, and does not necessarily mean that A is directly connected to B. Figure 1 In the case shown, when the trip assembly 200 moves from the normal position to the trigger position, the pull rod 240 moves downward toward the static iron core 120 under the action of the attraction iron core 210, and the trip rod 250 rotates clockwise under the action of the pull rod 240 (i.e., the first end 252 moves downward and the second end 254 moves upward).

[0063] Alternatively, as Figure 4 As shown, the main body 100 may further include a transmission assembly 130 , which is connected to the second end 254 of the trip rod 250 and the moving contact respectively, so that the movement of the trip rod 250 can drive the moving contact to move.

[0064] Optionally, the main body 100 may include two cavities 140 separated by a central partition 150, each containing a static contact 110. The trip assembly 200 includes two pull-in cores 210, which are attracted or released by the static cores 120 near the corresponding static contacts 110. During a tripping operation, the two pull-in cores 210 respectively pull downward two corresponding pull rods 240, and the two pull rods 240 together actuate a trip rod 250. It should be understood that the present invention is not intended to limit the number of cavities accommodating the static contacts 110. The main body 100 may also include, for example, three, four, or even more cavities accommodating the static contacts 110.

[0065] Preferably, a stopper 160 may be provided within the trip assembly 200. The stopper 160 is configured to sandwich at least a portion of the static iron core 120 between the stopper 160 and the static contact 110 to secure the static iron core 120. During movement of the trip assembly 200, the stopper 160 can ensure that the static iron core 120 and the pull-in iron core 210 remain aligned, thereby ensuring the pull-in action between the static iron core 120 and the pull-in iron core 210.

[0066] In addition, the intermediate partition 150 may be provided with a mounting hole 152, through which the trip assembly 200 is assembled to the main body 100. For example, the mounting hole 260 on the trip assembly 200 is aligned with the mounting hole 152, and a screw is passed through the mounting hole 260 and the mounting hole 152 to assemble the trip assembly 200 to the main body 100.

[0067] This document describes in detail several exemplary embodiments of the present invention with reference to preferred embodiments. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations may be made to the above-mentioned specific embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and that the various technical features and structures proposed in the present invention may be combined without exceeding the scope of protection of the present invention, which is determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A circuit breaker, characterized in that: include: a main body having a stationary contact and a movable contact, the movable contact being movable to contact or separate from the stationary contact; a trip assembly assembled to the main body, the trip assembly being movable between a normal position and a trigger position, and triggering the movable contact and the static contact to separate when the trip assembly moves from the normal position to the trigger position; The trip assembly has a current sensing portion, which is located near the stationary contact and is configured to be movable based on the intensity of current flowing through the stationary contact.

2. The circuit breaker according to claim 1, wherein: The current sensing part is an attraction iron core, and a static iron core is provided near the static contact. The attraction iron core can move between a release position and an attraction position. When the attraction iron core is in the release position, the attraction iron core is separated from the static iron core and the tripping assembly is in the normal position. When the attraction iron core is in the attraction position, the attraction iron core is in contact with the static iron core and the tripping assembly is in the trigger position.

3. The circuit breaker according to claim 2, wherein: The trip assembly further includes an elastic member having a first end fixed and a second end opposite to the first end connected to the trip assembly to bias the trip assembly toward the normal position.

4. The circuit breaker according to claim 3, characterized in that The elastic component is a torsion spring.

5. The circuit breaker according to claim 4, characterized in that The trip assembly further includes an adjusting component having a plurality of grooves. The first end of the torsion spring is selectively fixed to one of the plurality of grooves to adjust the angle between the first end and the second end of the torsion spring.

6. The circuit breaker according to any one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that: The trip assembly is designed such that when the current flowing through the main body is greater than a predetermined threshold, the attraction core overcomes the force of the torsion spring and moves to contact the static core.

7. The circuit breaker according to any one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that: The trip assembly further includes: a pull rod, a first end of which is connected to the attraction core and can be driven by the attraction core to move linearly; A trip rod, wherein a first end of the trip rod is connected to a second end of the pull rod opposite to the first end thereof and can be driven by the pull rod to rotate, and a second end of the trip rod opposite to the first end thereof is coupled to the moving contact to drive the moving contact to move.

8. The circuit breaker according to claim 7, characterized in that The main body further includes a transmission assembly, which is connected to the second end of the trip rod and the moving contact respectively, so that the movement of the trip rod can drive the moving contact to move.

9. The circuit breaker according to any one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that: The main body includes two cavities separated by a middle partition, and a static contact is respectively provided in the two cavities. The trip assembly includes two attraction cores, and the two attraction cores are attracted or released by the static core near the corresponding static contact.

10. The circuit breaker according to claim 9, characterized in that A limiting portion is provided in the trip assembly, and the limiting portion is configured so that at least a portion of the static iron core is clamped between the limiting portion and the static contact to fix the static iron core.

11. The circuit breaker according to claim 9, wherein: The middle partition is provided with a mounting hole, and the trip assembly is assembled to the main body through the mounting hole.

Images