Insulative Retainers for Circuit Breaker Overhead Retention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Circuit breaker assemblies face retention issues when the cover member is removed for maintenance or diagnosis, particularly in overhead configurations, as existing solutions do not effectively retain circuit breakers with the manual operator facing downward.
Innovation Solution
The use of insulative retainers structured to retain circuit breakers with the manual operator facing downward, which include a base and an elongated portion with apertures and conduits, providing electrical insulation and retention, and are made from materials like liquid silicone rubber to ensure secure engagement of male and female terminals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a plate member (face plate or cover member) is used to retain circuit breakers, then circuit breakers can be retained when the cover is installed, but circuit breakers cannot be retained when the cover is removed for maintenance or diagnosis
Solution Approach 1:
The retention function is segmented from the cover member and assigned to separate insulative retainers that are independently mounted on the mounting panel. This allows the retainers to provide continuous retention without relying on the cover being installed, while still permitting easy access during maintenance by simply removing the circuit breaker from the retainer.
Solution Approach 2:
Insulative retainers are introduced as intermediary components between the mounting panel and the circuit breakers. These retainers provide the retention function while also offering electrical insulation and protection, solving the problem of how to retain circuit breakers securely without requiring the cover member to be in place.
2Reliability
If insulative retainers are added to provide retention and insulation, then circuit breaker retention and electrical protection are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The insulative retainers are designed to perform multiple functions simultaneously: they provide mechanical retention for circuit breakers in overhead configurations, offer electrical insulation between conductive elements, and protect against environmental factors. By combining these functions into a single component, the patent avoids adding multiple separate parts, thereby reducing overall device complexity while improving reliability.
Data Source
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AI summary
A circuit breaker assembly (2;36;70) includes a housing (4), an electrical bus structure (6) within the housing, a number of first plug-in members (8) coupled to the bus structure, and a number of insulative retainers (10) coupled to the bus structure. A corresponding one of the number of insulative retainers is operatively associated with a corresponding number of the number of first plug-in members. Each of a number of circuit breakers (12) includes a manual operator (14) and a number of second plug-in members (16) disposed opposite the manual operator. The number of second plug-in members electrically engage a number of the number of first plug-in members. The corresponding one of the number of insulative retainers is disposed about the corresponding number of the number of first plug-in members, in order to insulate the corresponding number of the number of first plug-in members, and to retain the number of second plug-in members.