Power switch unit

Abstract

To provide a smaller and thinner power switching unit than an existing power switching unit.SOLUTION: The power switching unit includes: a switching unit body; a fixing contact for a first power source system and a fixing contact for a second power source system; a movable contact connected to the fixing contacts in a switch-possible manner; and a cross bar in which the movable contact is set and a longer shaft extended in parallel to a set surface of the switch unit body is rotatably supported by the switch unit body. Both fixation contacts are arranged in one side of a surface which includes the longer shaft of the cross bar and is vertical to the set surface of the switch unit body.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a power switch used when switching between two power sources, and particularly to a power switch having a thin switch body.

Background Art

[0002] There is a need to switch between two power sources, for example, a normal power source and an emergency power source. For example, when a power outage occurs while power is being supplied from the normal power source to a load, it is desirable to immediately switch to an emergency power source such as self-generation. In addition, as a demand for decarbonization, the utilization of systems using solar power or storage batteries is required. In particular, recently, the installation of solar power generation systems in existing factories and business establishments has also increased. However, in power generation using solar power or wind power, the amount of power generated is easily affected by the climate, and there is also a need to switch the power source for stable power supply.

[0003] Generally, a power switch is often installed so as to be incorporated into a part of the building's power distribution equipment called a distribution board. There are also those that open the door of the distribution board for an operator to perform power switching operations, or those that automatically detect a power outage and immediately perform switching (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] By the way, when installing a power switch for switching between two power supplies, conventionally, it was sufficient to be able to install it in a somewhat large switchboard called a self-supporting cubicle, and the installable size was, for example, a device height of about 350 mm, which is smaller than the depth of the cubicle, and it could be sufficiently arranged. However, in recent years, the demand for power switching has been increasing even in small businesses, apartment buildings, and private houses. Considering the power distribution facilities in such small business premises, etc., it is preferable to arrange the power switch even in a switchboard size with a smaller depth of about 100 mm, and the use of a smaller and thinner power switch has been desired.

[0006] Also, when the switch is incorporated into the switchboard, in the case where the electric wires wired to the A power terminal and the B power terminal are connected at the assembly factory and the load terminal is connected by the construction contractor at the on-site installation site, in the conventional structure, since either the A power terminal or the B power terminal and the load terminal are in a stepped front-back relationship, the power terminal that was once overlapping was removed, and after connecting the electric wire of the load terminal, the power terminal that was removed was reconnected.

[0007] Therefore, the power switch of the present invention aims to provide a power switch that is smaller and thinner compared to conventional power switches and can also suppress rewiring of terminals during installation work.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] In order to solve the above technical problems, the power switch of the present invention includes a switch body, fixed contacts of a first power system and a second power system, a movable contact that is switchably connected to the fixed contacts, and a crossbar that is provided with the movable contact and has a long axis extending parallel to the installation surface of the switch body and is rotatably supported by the switch body. The two fixed contacts are arranged on one side of a plane including the long axis of the crossbar and perpendicular to the installation surface of the switch body.

[0009] By arranging each fixed contact on one side of a plane perpendicular to the installation surface of the switch body, the rotation operations of the crossbar and the movable contact for switching can be made to occur only on one side of the axis. Thus, the height size of the device can be reduced, and the entire switch can be made thinner. Also, since the terminals are arranged on one side, the power terminals do not interfere with the wiring of the load terminals during installation work, so unnecessary re-wiring of the terminals can also be suppressed.

[0010] Such a power switch according to the present invention can have a structure having a toggle mechanism that rotates coaxially with the crossbar to operate the rotation of the crossbar. The drive handle grip portion of the toggle mechanism can, for example, selectively rotate and move on both sides of a plane including the major axis of the crossbar and perpendicular to the installation surface of the switch body to switch between the first power supply system and the second power supply system. Also, a biasing means for biasing the movable contact can be formed on the crossbar so as to hold the contact between the selected fixed contact and the movable contact, and the toggle mechanism can be mounted together with a rotation mechanism having a solenoid as a drive source.

[0011] Also, the power switch according to the present invention can have a structure in which each fixed contact of the first power supply system and the second power supply system is connected to a terminal portion formed in a stepped shape on one side surface of the switch body, and a terminal portion for a load that is electrically connected to the movable contact can be formed on the other side surface of the switch body.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012]

Figure 1

Figure 2

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Figure 12

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0013] Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, a power switch of a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described. The power switch of this embodiment is a device capable of switching between two power systems. For example, it is a device that uses the A-side power source as the normal power source and the B-side power source as the emergency backup power source to be used during a power outage. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the switch body 10 of the switching device has an A power terminal 12A, a B power terminal 12B, and a load terminal 14. Inside the device, at a position closer to the bottom surface than the installation surface of the switch body, a crossbar 16 extending parallel to the installation surface is provided. The crossbar 16 is generally a cylindrical rotating body and can rotate around a driving rotation shaft 18 provided so as to penetrate the crossbar 16 as a rotation center. The switch body 10 of the switching device has a main terminal portion 20 provided with main terminals 12A and 12B, and a driving mechanism portion 22 provided with an electric mechanism such as a solenoid and a toggle mechanism. The crossbar 16 extends from the main terminal portion 20 to the driving mechanism portion 22.

[0014] In the driving mechanism portion 22, a manual lever 40 interlocked with the rotational position of the crossbar 16 is provided as desired from a notch formed in the switch body 10. Also, on the upper surface of the switch body 10, control signal input portions 42 and 44 for inputting signals for power switch operation are formed. Although not shown in the figure, the manual lever 40 has a hole at the top, and a handle rod can be inserted into the hole to perform a switching operation. In this embodiment, the vertical direction refers to the direction perpendicular to the installation surface of the device, and the horizontal direction is described as being parallel to the installation surface of the device. For example, when the power switch is installed on the vertical surface of a switchboard, the installation surface of the device is also a vertical surface, and the thin type indicates the depth in the direction towards the device.

[0015] As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, a movable contact 24 made of an L-shaped metal plate or the like common to three poles is provided on the crossbar 16 so as to protrude from the peripheral surface of the crossbar 16 at the portion of the main terminal portion 20. The movable contact 24 protrudes from the peripheral surface of the crossbar 16 in the outer diameter direction from the drive rotation axis 18 of the crossbar 16 that rotates. At the tips of both sides of the plate-like movable contact 24, contact portions 26a and 26b for contacting the fixed contacts 28a and 28b are provided at the tips, respectively. A connection wire 32 is electrically connected to the base end side of the movable contact 24 via a screw 30, and this connection wire 32 is connected to the load terminal 14 via a rivet 34. The movable contact 24 is held by the other end of a spring 36 whose one end is supported inside the crossbar 16. As will be described later, in an intermediate position where the movable contact 24 is not connected to either of the fixed contacts 28a and 28b, the movable contact 24 is held on the spring 36. However, when the movable contact 24 is connected to the fixed contact 28a and when the movable contact 24 is connected to the fixed contact 28b, the movable contact 24 abuts against the locking plate 38 while resisting the repulsive force of the spring 36, and the movable contact 24 is urged by the elastic force of the spring 36 to contact the fixed contacts 28a and 28b, respectively.

[0016] The positions of the fixed contacts 28a and 28b are shifted to one side of a plane P0 perpendicular to the installation surface of the switch body 10, rather than having one on each side of the perpendicular plane P0 as in a conventional switching device. The contacts of the fixed contacts 28a and 28b with the movable contact 24 are positioned separately in the vertical direction when the installation surface of the switch body 10 is horizontal. The movable contact 24 rotates approximately 20 degrees upward from the horizontal direction to connect to the fixed contact 28a, and conversely, the movable contact 24 rotates approximately 15 degrees downward from the horizontal direction to connect to the fixed contact 28b. By making the rotational movement of the movable contact 24 for power switching in the vertical direction and shifting it to one side of the plane P0 perpendicular to the installation surface of the switch body 10, it is possible to make the overall device thin without the need to extend components in the vertical direction. Also, since the fixed contacts 28a and 28b are shifted to one side, during installation work, the wiring work of the load terminals does not interfere with the power terminals, eliminating the need to reattach the terminal wiring and the like.

[0017] As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the toggle mechanism 50 has a rotation center 54 coaxially arranged on the rotation axis of the crossbar 16 and link arms 52 arranged around the rotation center 54. Sets 56 and 58 of a telescopic link and a coil spring extend from the tip of each link arm 52 across the V-shaped locking portion 59 of the switch body 10. One of the sets 56 and 58 of the telescopic link and the coil spring is in the upper position and the other is in the lower position, stabilizing the rotation angle of the rotation axis of the crossbar 16 at two angles. During power switching, the crossbar 16 is rotated by the operation of an electric mechanism such as a solenoid or the operation of the manual lever 40, which will be described later, to switch the fixed contacts 28a and 28b with which the movable contact 24 contacts.

[0018] An electric mechanism such as a solenoid has a structure in which a plunger 76 is disposed in the hollow portions of a pair of left and right electromagnetic coils 80 and 82 as shown in FIGS. 9 to 11. By switching the current applied to the pair of left and right electromagnetic coils 80 and 82, the plunger 76 can be slid left and right to move. A cylindrical boss 84 is provided so as to protrude from the central portion of the plunger 76, and this boss 84 engages with a generally rectangular notch formed in the connecting member 72. The rotating member 74 interlocked with the connecting member 72 has a rotation center at a position lower than the position of the plunger 76, and this rotation center is connected to the rotation axis of the cross bar 16. As the boss 84 moves with the horizontal movement of the plunger 76, the rotating member 74 rotates around the rotation center, and this rotation operation can rotate the cross bar 16 around the rotation axis.

[0019] This electric mechanism is provided with microswitches 81 and 83 for cutting off the exciting current of the electromagnetic coils 80 and 82 after the switching operation so as to be interlocked with the operation of the plunger 76. The pair of microswitches 81 and 83 are provided on the bottom surface of the switch so as to sandwich the rotating member 74 interlocked with the connecting member 72, and the switch levers 97 and 98 can be selectively pushed in by the contact member 70 of the rotating member 74 to cut off the current flowing through the circuit. Therefore, in this electric mechanism, the constant power consumption can be made zero by cutting off the current by these microswitches 81 and 83 interlocked with the plunger 76, which has an advantage in terms of energy saving.

[0020] A power switch having generally the above-described structure can be made into a thin device as a whole because when switching between the A power supply and the B power supply either by signal operation or manually, the movable contact 24 is rotationally moved selectively to the fixed contacts 28a and 28b that are shifted to one side of the plane P0 perpendicular to the installation surface of the switch body 10, and thus can be attached to a small-sized switchboard. The toggle mechanism shown in FIGS. 6 to 8 and the motor mechanism shown in FIGS. 9 to 11 are those in which the existing mechanisms are housed in a thin form, and since the operations of these mechanisms are well known in particular, the description thereof is omitted. In the conventional switching device, the toggle mechanism and the motor mechanism have the direction perpendicular to the installation surface as the neutral position and are controlled at the same rotation angle as the terminal portion, but in the power switch of the present embodiment, the contact structure of the fixed contacts 28a and 28b and the movable contact 24 of the terminal portion, the toggle mechanism, and the motor mechanism have a neutral position at a direction (angle) 90 degrees different, and due to this 90-degree twist, the entire device can be made small and thin.

[0021] In the cross section of the contact mechanism shown in FIG. 3, the contact portion 26a above the tip of the movable contact 24 disposed on the cross bar 16 contacts the fixed contact 28a, and the movable contact 24 is urged by the elastic force of the spring 36 to contact the fixed contact 28a. The cross bar 16 is rotated at an angle of about 25 degrees from the horizontal, but the movable contact 24 contacts the fixed contact 28a at an angle of about 20 degrees, and from there, the movable contact 24 is urged by the elastic force of the spring 36 to the fixed contact 28a with the contact between the movable contact 24 and the locking plate 38 as the fulcrum. This biasing force also prevents the contact from coming off and prevents chattering and the like.

[0022] Next, when switching to use the B power supply, finally it is switched as shown in FIG. 5, but during the extremely short transition time in the middle, the contact mechanism becomes the state shown in FIG. 4. In the state shown in FIG. 4, as a state during the movement of the solenoid plunger or during manual switching, the movable contact 24 extends horizontally from the cross bar 16 and is not in contact with either of the fixed contacts 28a and 28b. At this time, the spring 36 also holds the movable contact 24 from below in a state where it is not expanded or contracted.

[0023] Next, in the cross-section of the contact mechanism shown in FIG. 5, the contact portion 26b below the tip of the movable contact 24 disposed on the crossbar 16 contacts the fixed contact 28b, and the movable contact 24 is urged by the elastic force of the spring 36 to contact the fixed contact 28b. That is, the crossbar 16 is rotated by about 25 degrees in the direction opposite to that in the case of the A power supply at an angle from the horizontal, but the movable contact 24 contacts the fixed contact 28b at an angle of about 15 degrees, and from there, the movable contact 24 is urged by the elastic force of the spring 36 to the fixed contact 28b with the contact point between the movable contact 24 and the locking plate 38 as a fulcrum. This biasing force prevents the contact from coming off and also prevents chattering. The contact points between the movable contact 24 and the locking plate 38 are different on the inner and outer sides in the radial direction of the locking plate 38 when connecting to the A power supply (FIG. 3) and when connecting to the B power supply (FIG. 5), and the biasing to both terminals is realized with a small number of parts.

[0024] The power switch of the present embodiment has, for example, the circuit configuration shown in FIG. 12. The circuit configuration is an example, and in the present embodiment, for example, control signal input parts 42 and 44 that receive an external command are provided so as to constitute an AC uninterruptible switching device, and it has a varistor 94, a rectifier 92, and a thermal fuse 96 connected thereto, and is connected to a pair of electromagnetic coils 80 and 82 that constitute a solenoid. In the main terminal part, an A power supply terminal 12A and a B power supply terminal 12B are provided, and they have a structure that is selectively connected to a load terminal. The power switch of the present embodiment is an instantaneous excitation type switching electromagnetic contactor and can switch between the A power supply and the B power supply according to a signal from the control circuit. The thermal fuse 96 can prevent the coil from overheating abnormally and being damaged in case of a failure. Also, since the microswitches 81 and 83 of the present embodiment are also interlocked, the power consumption at all times can be suppressed.

[0025] As described above, the power switch of the present embodiment can be made into a thin device as a whole without the need to extend components in the vertical direction by setting the rotational movement of the movable contact 24 for power switching in the vertical direction and shifting it to one side of the plane P0 perpendicular to the installation surface of the switch body 10. Therefore, it can be arranged not only in a somewhat large switchboard called a self-supporting cubicle but also in a smaller distribution board or the like, making it a power switch with an extremely wide range of applications. Further, according to the power switch of the present embodiment, since the load terminals and the power source terminals are shifted to one side each when viewed from a plane perpendicular to the installation surface, there is no need to remove the power source terminals, connect an electric wire to the load terminals, and then reconnect the power source terminals that have been removed again, providing a smooth installation operation.

Explanation of Signs

[0026] 10 Switch body 12A A power source terminal 12B B power source terminal 14 Load terminal 16 Crossbar 18 Drive rotation shaft 20 Main terminal part 22 Drive mechanism part 24 Movable contact 26a, 26b Contacts 28a, 28b Fixed contacts 30 Screw 32 Connecting wire 34 Rivet 36 Spring 38 Locking plate 40 Manual lever 42, 44 Control signal input part 50 Toggle mechanism 52 Link arm 54 Rotation center 56, 58 Set of telescopic link and coil spring 59 Locking part 70 Contact member 72 Connecting member 74 Rotating member 76 Plunger 80, 82 Electromagnetic coil 81,83 Microswitch 84 Boss 94 Varistor 92 Rectifier 96 Thermal fuse 97,98 Switch lever

Claims

1. A switch body, each fixed contact of the first power supply system and the second power supply system, a movable contact that is switchably connected to the fixed contact, having a crossbar on which the movable contact is disposed and a long axis extending parallel to the installation surface of the switch body is rotatably supported by the switch body, wherein both of the fixed contacts are arranged on one side of a plane including the long axis of the crossbar and perpendicular to the installation surface of the switch body. A power switch characterized by this.

2. The power switch according to claim 1, further comprising a toggle mechanism that rotates coaxially with the crossbar to operate the rotation of the crossbar, and a drive handle grip portion of the toggle mechanism selectively rotates and moves on both sides of a plane including the long axis of the crossbar and perpendicular to the installation surface of the switch body to switch between the first power supply system and the second power supply system. A power switch characterized by this.

3. The power switch according to claim 2, wherein biasing means for biasing the movable contact to maintain contact between the movable contact and the selected fixed contact is formed on the crossbar. A power switch characterized by this.

4. The power switch according to claim 2, wherein the toggle mechanism is mounted together with a rotation mechanism having a solenoid as a drive source. A power switch characterized by this.

5. The power switch according to claim 4, wherein a contact structure portion having the fixed contact and the movable contact is installed at an angle different from that of the toggle mechanism and the rotation mechanism. A power switch characterized by this.

6. The power switch according to claim 1, wherein each fixed contact of the first power supply system and the second power supply system is connected to a terminal portion formed in a stepped shape on one side surface of the switch body. A power switch characterized by this.

7. The power switch according to claim 6, wherein a terminal portion for a load that is electrically connected to the movable contact is formed on the other side surface of the switch body. A power switch characterized by this.

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