Release system for circuit breaker and circuit breaker equipment

Abstract

The utility model discloses a release system for a circuit breaker and circuit breaker equipment. The release system includes: a thermal release mounted to a housing of the circuit breaker and configured to perform a release action in response to a current in the circuit breaker exceeding a first threshold; the magnetic tripper is installed on a shell of the circuit breaker and is configured to perform tripping action in response to the situation that current in the circuit breaker exceeds a second threshold value, the second threshold value is larger than the first threshold value, the tripping speed of the thermal tripper when the current exceeds the second threshold value is smaller than the tripping speed of the magnetic tripper when the current exceeds the second threshold value, and the tripping speed of the magnetic tripper when the current exceeds the second threshold value is smaller than the tripping speed of the thermal tripper when the current exceeds the second threshold value. The thermal release and the magnetic release are configured to be capable of performing a release action independently of each other.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to a trip unit system for a circuit breaker and a circuit breaker device. BACKGROUND

[0002] The trip unit is the brain of the circuit breaker, the component that issues the trip command, and is critical to the circuit breaker. When the trip unit is used as backup protection, it is often required to act quickly, but when the trip unit is used as ordinary thermal-magnetic protection, it is required to have a threshold that can be adjusted and to trip accurately. These two often have conflicting places, and it is difficult to balance in engineering.

[0003] Thermal adjustment and magnetic adjustment are huge investments for production, and production efficiency is difficult to improve, often becoming a bottleneck post in production efficiency. It is also a difficult problem to improve the production efficiency of this part. CONTENT OF THE INVENTION

[0004] The present application provides a trip unit system for a circuit breaker, comprising:

[0005] a thermal trip unit mounted to a housing of the circuit breaker and configured to trip in response to a current in the circuit breaker exceeding a first threshold value;

[0006] a magnetic trip unit mounted to the housing of the circuit breaker and configured to trip in response to the current in the circuit breaker exceeding a second threshold value, the second threshold value being greater than the first threshold value,

[0007] wherein the thermal trip unit trips at a speed less than a speed at which the magnetic trip unit trips when the current exceeds the second threshold value,

[0008] wherein the thermal trip unit and the magnetic trip unit are assembled together via a linkage rod, the linkage rod being translatable through a first frame of the magnetic trip unit, the thermal trip unit tripping via the linkage rod,

[0009] wherein the thermal trip unit and the magnetic trip unit are configured to trip independently of each other.

[0010] Advantageously, the magnetic trip unit comprises:

[0011] a static core fixedly mounted to the first frame;

[0012] a dynamic core slidably mounted to the first frame and configured to move relative to the static core between a first position, in which the dynamic core is distanced from the static core, and a second position, in which the dynamic core is proximate to the static core;

[0013] a trip bar rotatably mounted to the first frame and operably coupled to the moving iron such that, upon movement of the moving iron from the first position toward the second position, the moving iron causes the trip bar to rotate into abutment against a first portion of a breaking mechanism of the circuit breaker such that the breaking mechanism of the circuit breaker breaks.

[0014] Advantageously, the trip unit system further comprises:

[0015] a first striker rotatably mounted to the first frame and configured to rotate in the first direction from a first initial position to a first tripped position,

[0016] the thermal trip unit comprises:

[0017] a second frame mounted to a housing of the circuit breaker;

[0018] a second striker rotatably mounted to the second frame and configured to rotate in the first direction from a second initial position to a second tripped position upon a tripping action of the thermal trip unit,

[0019] wherein, upon rotation of the second striker toward the second tripped position, the second striker is configured to abut against and cause translation of the linkage bar, the translation of the linkage bar abutting against the first striker causing the first striker to rotate from the first initial position toward the first tripped position, which in turn abuts against a second portion of the breaking mechanism of the circuit breaker different from the first portion such that the breaking mechanism of the circuit breaker breaks.

[0020] Advantageously, the first frame has a shaft, the first striker has a body and a first leg and a second leg extending from the body, the first leg and the second leg clamping the shaft such that the first striker is rotatable about the shaft.

[0021] Advantageously, a recess is provided between the body and the first leg of the first striker, upon reset of the magnetic trip unit after tripping, a mechanism handle of the circuit breaker is rotated to abut against the body of the first striker causing the first striker to rotate in a second direction opposite to the first direction toward the first initial position, a portion of the mechanism handle extending into the recess after the first striker rotates to the first initial position.

[0022] Advantageously, a reset spring is provided between the moving iron and the first frame.

[0023] Advantageously, the moving iron has a mating portion, an attraction portion, and a sliding portion connected between the mating portion and the attraction portion, the sliding portion being slidably mounted to the first frame, the mating portion being configured to cooperate with the trip bar to cause the trip bar to rotate upon movement of the moving iron from the first position toward the second position.

[0024] Advantageously, the trip bar has a rotation shaft rotatably mounted to the first frame and a first bar extending from the rotation shaft, the first bar extending into the opening of the mating portion.

[0025] The application also provides a circuit breaker device comprising the trip unit system as described above and a circuit breaker. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0026] The above and other features and advantages of the exemplary embodiments of the present application will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:

[0027] Figure 1 A schematic view of a circuit breaker device according to the present application is shown.

[0028] Figure 2 An exploded view of a magnetic trip unit of a trip unit system of a circuit breaker device according to the present application is shown.

[0029] Figure 3 A perspective view of a magnetic trip unit of a trip unit system of a circuit breaker device according to the present application is shown, at this time, the moving iron core is in the first position.

[0030] Figure 4 A perspective view of a magnetic trip unit of a trip unit system of a circuit breaker device according to the present application is shown, at this time, the moving iron core is in the second position.

[0031] Figure 5 A perspective view of a magnetic trip unit of a trip unit system of a circuit breaker device according to the present application is shown, at this time, the moving iron core is in the second position.

[0032] Figure 6 A first frame of a magnetic trip unit of a trip unit system of a circuit breaker device according to the present application is shown.

[0033] Figure 7 A partial top view of a circuit breaker device according to the present application is shown, showing different parts of the trip unit system and the breaking unit being hit by the magnetic trip unit and the thermal trip unit, respectively.

[0034] Figure 8 A partial enlarged view of a circuit breaker device according to the present application is shown, showing the state just after the reset of the thermal trip unit has started.

[0035] Figure 9 A partial enlarged view of a circuit breaker device according to the present application is shown, showing the state after the reset of the thermal trip unit has been completed. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the technical solutions of the present disclosure clearer, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely below in combination with the accompanying drawings of the embodiments of the present disclosure. The same reference signs in the drawings represent the same components. It should be noted that the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the described embodiments of the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative labor fall within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0037] Compared with the embodiments shown in the drawings, the feasible implementation solutions within the protection scope of the present disclosure can have fewer components, have other components not shown in the drawings, have different components, have differently arranged components or have differently connected components, etc. In addition, two or more components in the drawings can be implemented in a single component, or a single component shown in the drawings can be implemented as a plurality of separate components.

[0038] Unless otherwise defined, technical terms or scientific terms used herein should be understood as their common meanings in the field of the present disclosure. The terms "first", "second" and similar terms used in the specification and claims of the present disclosure do not necessarily mean any order, number or importance, but are only used to distinguish different components. When the number of components is not specified, the number of components can be one or more; similarly, the terms "one", "the", "said" and the like do not necessarily mean a quantity limit. The terms "include" or "contain" and the like mean that the elements or objects before the term cover the elements or objects listed after the term and their equivalents, without excluding other elements or objects. The terms "upper", "lower", "left", "right" and the like only represent the relative positional relationship of the device in use or the positional relationship shown in the drawings, and when the absolute position of the described object changes, the relative positional relationship may also change accordingly.

[0039] Figure 1A circuit breaker apparatus according to the present application is shown, for the sake of clarity, only a portion of the circuit breaker is shown, the operation of the circuit breaker is well known to those skilled in the art, and therefore, will not be described herein. The circuit breaker apparatus includes a circuit breaker and a trip unit system. The trip unit system includes a magnetic trip unit 1 and a thermal trip unit 2. The magnetic trip unit 1 and the thermal trip unit 2 are mounted to a housing of the circuit breaker, the thermal trip unit 2 is configured to trip in response to a current in the circuit breaker exceeding a first threshold. The magnetic trip unit 1 is configured to trip in response to the current in the circuit breaker exceeding a second threshold, the second threshold is greater than the first threshold. The thermal trip unit 2 trips at a speed that is less than the speed at which the magnetic trip unit 1 trips when the current exceeds the second threshold. The thermal trip unit 2 and the magnetic trip unit 1 are configured to trip independently of each other. In other words, when the current exceeds the first threshold, the thermal magnetic trip unit 2 trips, while the magnetic trip unit does not trip; when the current exceeds the second threshold, the magnetic trip unit 1 trips before the thermal trip unit 2 trips, and then the thermal trip unit 2 trips, it should be appreciated that at this time, the trip of the thermal trip unit 2 can be a "dummy" trip, i.e., does not produce any trip action.

[0040] As shown in Figure 2 The magnetic trip unit 1 includes a first frame 11 mounted to the housing of the circuit breaker, a static core (not shown) fixedly mounted to the first frame 11, a moving core 12 slidably mounted to the first frame 11 configured to move relative to the static core between a first position, in which the moving core is away from the static core, and a second position, in which the moving core is close to the static core.

[0041] A trip bar 13 is rotatably mounted to the first frame 11 and operably coupled to the moving core 12, such that when the moving core moves from the first position toward the second position, the moving core brings the trip bar to rotate to abut against a first portion of a breaking mechanism of the circuit breaker, such that the breaking mechanism of the circuit breaker trips. For the trip bar to abut against the first portion of the breaking mechanism to trip the breaking mechanism, those skilled in the art are well aware of the operation process, the present application focuses on how the trip bar abuts against the breaking mechanism, and therefore, the operation of the breaking mechanism will not be described herein.

[0042] Figure 3 The moving core of the magnetic trip unit is shown in the first position, Figure 4The moving iron of the magnetic trip unit is shown in the second position. The moving iron 12 has a mating portion 121 for cooperating with the trip bar to cause the trip bar to rotate when the moving iron is moved from the first position towards the second position, a pull-in portion 122 and a sliding portion 123 connected between the mating portion and the pull-in portion, the sliding portion 123 being slidably mounted to the first frame 11. In one example, the sliding portion 123 is in the form of two elongate legs, but it will be appreciated that other forms are possible.

[0043] The trip bar 13 has a rotating shaft 131 rotatably mounted to the first frame 11 and a first bar 132 extending from the rotating shaft 131, the first bar 132 extending into an opening of the mating portion 121. In the first position of the magnetic trip unit, the mating portion 121 of the moving iron does not abut against the first bar 132. Figure 3 When the magnetic trip unit is tripped, the moving iron slides from the first position shown in Figure 3 towards the second position shown in Figure 4 so that the mating portion 121 abuts against the first bar 132 to cause the trip bar 13 to rotate to abut against the first portion of the breaking mechanism.

[0044] The trip unit system further comprises a linkage bar 3, which is translatable mounted to the first frame of the magnetic trip unit, and a first striker 4, which is rotatably mounted to the first frame and configured to be rotatable in the first direction from a first initial position to a first tripped position, the linkage bar 3 and the first striker 4 acting as described below. The thermal trip unit is assembled with the magnetic trip unit via the linkage bar 3, and the thermal trip unit trips via the linkage bar, that is, the linkage bar 3 acts as a force transmission component when the thermal trip unit trips.

[0045] The thermal trip unit 2 comprises a second frame, which is mounted to the housing of the circuit breaker, and a second striker 21, which is rotatably mounted to the second frame and configured to be rotatable in the first direction from a second initial position to a second tripped position when the thermal trip unit trips. How the second striker 21 is rotated in the first direction from the second initial position to the second tripped position when the thermal trip unit trips is well known to those skilled in the art, and thus will not be described herein.

[0046] When the thermal trip unit trips, the second striker 21 is rotated from the second initial position towards the second tripped position so that the second striker 21 abuts against the linkage bar 3 and causes the linkage bar 3 to translate, the translation of the linkage bar abutting against the first striker 4 to cause the first striker 4 to rotate from the first initial position towards the first tripped position, and abutting against a second portion of the breaking unit of the circuit breaker, which is different from the first portion, to cause the breaking mechanism of the circuit breaker to break.

[0047] As shown in Figure 6 the first frame 11 has a shaft 111, as shown in Figure 5 and Figure 8As shown, the first firing pin 4 has a body 41 and a first leg 42 and a second leg 43 extending from the body. The first leg and the second leg clamp the shaft 111, so that the first firing pin 4 can rotate around the shaft 111.

[0048] like Figure 8 and 9 As shown, a recess 44 is provided between the body 41 of the first striking pin and the first leg 42. When the magnetic trip unit is reset after tripping, the circuit breaker's mechanism handle 5 is rotated to abut against the body 41 of the first striking pin, as shown. Figure 8 As shown, the first firing pin 4 rotates towards the first initial position in a second direction opposite to the first direction. After the first firing pin rotates to the first initial position, a portion of the mechanism handle extends into the recess, as shown. Figure 9 As shown. Thus, there is a clearance design after the mechanism handle is in place to prevent the mechanism handle from being jammed.

[0049] like Figure 7 As shown, the magnetic trip unit 1 and the thermal trip unit 2 are respectively configured to abut against the first part S1 and the second part S2 of the disconnection mechanism when performing the tripping action. The two are independent of each other and do not interfere with each other.

[0050] A reset spring 14 is provided between the moving iron core and the first frame to reset the moving iron core.

[0051] Although the present invention has been described in the specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings with reference to various embodiments, those skilled in the art will understand that the above embodiments are merely preferred embodiments, and some technical features in the embodiments may not be necessary for solving specific technical problems, so these technical features may be omitted or omitted without affecting the solution to the technical problem or the formation of the technical solution; moreover, the features, elements and / or functions of one embodiment may be appropriately combined, combined or coordinated with the features, elements and / or functions of one or more other embodiments, unless such combination, combination or coordination is obviously not feasible.

Claims

1. A trip unit system for a circuit breaker, characterized by, The trip system includes: a thermal trip mounted to a housing of the circuit breaker configured to trip in response to a current in the circuit breaker exceeding a first threshold; a magnetic trip mounted to the housing of the circuit breaker configured to trip in response to the current in the circuit breaker exceeding a second threshold greater than the first threshold, wherein the thermal trip trips at a speed less than a speed at which the magnetic trip trips when the current exceeds the second threshold, wherein the thermal trip is assembled with the magnetic trip via a link rod that is translatable through a first frame of the magnetic trip, the thermal trip tripping via the link rod, wherein the thermal trip and the magnetic trip are configured to trip independently of each other.

2. The trip unit system of claim 1, wherein, The magnetic trip includes: a static core fixedly mounted to the first frame; a dynamic core slidably mounted to the first frame configured to move relative to the static core between a first position in which the dynamic core is distanced from the static core and a second position in which the dynamic core is proximate to the static core; a trip lever rotatably mounted to the first frame and operably coupled to the dynamic core such that as the dynamic core moves from the first position toward the second position, the dynamic core rotates the trip lever into abutment against a first portion of a breaking mechanism of the circuit breaker such that the breaking mechanism of the circuit breaker breaks.

3. The tripper system of claim 2, wherein, The trip system further includes: a first striker rotatably mounted to the first frame configured to rotate in a first direction from a first initial position to a first tripped position, The thermal trip includes: a second frame mounted to the housing of the circuit breaker; a second striker rotatably mounted to the second frame configured to rotate in the first direction from a second initial position to a second tripped position when the thermal trip trips, wherein as the second striker rotates toward the second tripped position, the second striker is configured to abut against and translate the link rod, the translation of the link rod against the first striker rotating the first striker from the first initial position toward the first tripped position, which in turn abuts against a second portion of the breaking mechanism of the circuit breaker different from the first portion such that the breaking mechanism of the circuit breaker breaks.

4. The tripper system of claim 3, wherein, The first frame has a shaft, the first striker has a body and first and second legs extending from the body, the first and second legs gripping the shaft such that the first striker is rotatable about the shaft.

5. The tripper system of claim 4, wherein, A recess is provided between the body and the first leg of the first striker, when the magnetic trip is tripped and reset, a mechanism handle of the circuit breaker is rotated to abut against the body of the first striker such that the first striker rotates in a second direction opposite the first direction toward the first initial position, after the first striker rotates to the first initial position, a portion of the mechanism handle extends into the recess.

6. The tripper system of claim 2, wherein, A reset spring is provided between the dynamic core and the first frame.

7. The tripper system of claim 2, wherein, The dynamic core has a mating portion, an attraction portion, and a sliding portion connected between the mating portion and the attraction portion, the sliding portion is slidably mounted to the first frame, the mating portion is used to cooperate with the trip lever to rotate the trip lever when the dynamic core moves from the first position toward the second position.

8. The tripper system of claim 7, wherein, The trip bar has a rotation shaft rotatably mounted to the first frame and a first bar extending from the rotation shaft, the first bar extending into the opening of the engaging portion.

9. A circuit breaker apparatus comprising the trip unit system of any one of claims 1 to 8 and a circuit breaker.

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