DE10129498C1 - Multi-pole electrical switching device with switch lock - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a multi-pole switching device with switch position indicator. The switching device (2) contains a multi-pole contact system (17) with a common switching shaft (16) and a switch lock (18). The switching lock (18) contains a non-positively mounted drive lever (28), a toggle lever mechanism with a spring force accumulator and a support lever (58) between the fixed side panels (19). The drive lever (18) is equipped with a rigid counter-stop (66) which, after a triggering process with contacts (34, 36) that are not properly opened, hits a stop (32) of the selector shaft (16) under the force of the spring-loaded mechanism.

Description

The invention relates to multi-pole switching devices for low voltage with a switch connected with switch position indicator according to the generic terms of the independent An sayings, in particular circuit breakers or switch disconnectors.

From the publication EP-0462769-A2 is a circuit breaker for low voltage known whose actuating handle move within a certain angular range is. The switching device contains a housing in which a switch lock, connection medium, a contact system and a trigger system are arranged. The multipole Contact system includes fixed contact arrangements and movable contacts orders connected across all poles by a transverse shift shaft and by the key switch in and out of connection with the fixed con Clock arrangements can be brought, whereby a continuous electrical connection manufactured or separated between the opposite connection means becomes. The key switch consists of a drive lever that can be tilted in fixed side panels is mounted and with an operating handle from a Opening of the housing protrudes from a toggle mechanism with an upper one Toggle, a lower toggle and a spring mechanism, the knees lever are articulated together via a toggle lever axis, the spring energy storage between the toggle lever axis and drive lever attacks and the lower Knee lever is articulated to the shift shaft, and from one between the Side plates pivoted support lever, one with the upper Knee lever is articulated and on the other hand in connection with a Verklin tion mechanism can be brought, whereupon the support lever against the Verklin supporting mechanism. The latching mechanism is operatively connected with an electronic trigger system that the flowing through the switching device Pole currents detected and a delayed when exceeding adjustable limit values or instantaneous release of the support lever causes what is under the influence of the Spring energy store to trigger the switch lock and thus open the Contact system leads. The key switch is designed so that the drive lever a clear on position with the contact system closed and one of them on assumes clearly distinguishable off position when the contact system is open. The  lower toggle lever is equipped with an extension, which when trying to connect drive lever in the event of a not from its associated fixed contact arrangement separable movable contact arrangement - for example when welding due to a short circuit - to move to the off position Switch shaft strikes. This will result in a violent transfer of the drive lever blocked in the off position, in particular to lock the operating handle in the off position if the contacts are not properly opened. The disadvantage of this solution is, on the one hand, that of the actuating lever on the Switching shaft transmitted small force to break the improperly open contacts and the other that by the movement limitation of the Drive lever with improperly opened contacts with the actuator connected motor or solenoid drive Risk of damage to take. The electronic trigger system may be apparent to those skilled in the art be replaced by a thermomagnetic release system.

The document DE-33 36 207-C3 discloses a circuit breaker with a fixed con clock and with movable contacts, by corresponding, via a switch wave rigidly connected arms carried and in the on position of the Switch of contact pressure springs are pressed against the fixed contacts, as well with a drive lever that has at least one of the toggle lever systems Arms is connected to the arms by force springs abruptly in either position in which the contacts are either closed or open. With the positively mounted drive lever is a part rigidly connected to the ver welded contacts against a corresponding stop element of one of the arms strikes at an intermediate point in the opening path of the drive lever and here prevented by moving the drive lever to the off position. The To Impact element consists of a profile attached to the corresponding, a movable Contact supporting arm is attached and includes a leg on which the Kon clock pressure springs are anchored, which move the movable contacts against the fixed ones Press contacts. The leg is on the shift shaft on the moveable Chen contact remote side of the arm. With this solution it is force transmitted to the selector shaft to break welded contacts higher than in the aforementioned solution, but remains as a disadvantage that ver welded contacts a motor or electric connected to the operating handle magnetic drive runs the risk of being damaged.  

From the publication US-3614685-A is a generic circuit breaker with known a multi-pole contact system. The key switch consists of a Tiltable drive lever in fixed side panels with one actuator handle, from a toggle mechanism with an upper toggle, one lower toggle and a spring mechanism, and one between the be pivoting support lever. The toggle levers are over one knee jointed jointly. The spring mechanism intervenes Toggle lever axis and drive lever on. The lower toggle is articulated with one Switching shaft connected. The selector shaft carries movable contact arrangements against the effect of contact pressure springs within the so-called stroke swiveling one-armed movable contacts. The support lever is with the upper one Knee lever articulated. After a triggering process, the key switch is resettable by moving the support lever beyond by moving the drive lever beyond its off position in a supporting and under the action of the spring energy storage connection with one in operative connection with release means to bring standing latch mechanism. The selector shaft is with a rigid stop element. If after a triggering process at least If the contacts in one pole do not open due to welding, the support will Bel released by the latch mechanism and the drive lever remains still in its on position. The drive lever can only because of it non-positive storage caused by the spring force accumulator when welded Contacts are forcibly moved towards its off position. It succeeds in in this case, however, the support lever is again in engagement with the latch system because when trying to force the drive lever over the To transfer from the out position, the movement of the support lever by striking is limited to the stop element. After releasing the forcibly operated Handle returns the drive lever to the on position. With this Lö solution can switch off a Mo connected to the operating handle Gate or electromagnetic drive in the case of contact welding in the switchgear be carried out without damage to the drive. The disadvantage is that that when the drive lever is forced into the off position only one low force to break the welded contacts on the selector shaft will wear.  

From the publication DE-198 41 685-A1 there is also a switching device with overcurrent Tripping known that a switchgear housing, a multi-pole contact system and has a key switch. The key switch mounted in the side panels exists from a drive lever which can be actuated by an actuating handle and which is operated by means of a Spring force accumulator acts on a toggle mechanism, which is an active connection extension between a selector shaft and via a support lever to a latch mechanism produces. A locking lever is located on one of the side panels. The locking lever is at one end on a satellite axis of the shift shaft and articulated at its other end to a fixed pin. The pen is on attached to the side panel and in an elongated hole formed in the locking lever guided. At the slot end of the locking lever, a projection is formed, the can be brought into engagement with a receiving section formed on the drive lever. Through the interaction of the locking lever and drive lever, the overpass of the operating handle in the off position when the contact is blocked. At the Attempt to move the operating handle to the off position anyway is made via the Impact chain drive lever, locking lever and satellite axis only a slight turn transmit torque to the selector shaft. One disadvantage of this solution is the small force transmitted from the actuating lever to the selector shaft Breaking the blocked contact and on the other hand the risk that the specified drive lever a connected to the operating handle motor or Electromagnetic drive is damaged.  

The above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art also occur if the solutions described are equipped with or without release agents Switch disconnectors are transferred.

The invention is therefore based on the object when not properly opened Contacts, both a high opening force on these contacts and a forced to be able to wisely transfer the drive lever from the on position.

Starting from a switching device of the type mentioned, the task he according to the characterizing features of the independent claims solved to ent advantageous developments during the dependent claims are take.

The direct connection between the lower toggle lever and the selector shaft means that depending on the degree of wear of the contacts of the drive lever depending on the switching state the switchgear a precise on position or a precise off position. The Precision of the on and off positions is particularly important with contact systems from Vor part, which are equipped with contact bridges as movable contacts, because of the associated double switching distance only a halved opening stroke is brought and thus only relatively small query paths for the drive lever against are available via the moving contacts. Should after a forced not all switch off attempts (with or without a previous triggering process) Open contacts properly, then the counter stop of the drive lever hits on the stop of the selector shaft, which means that in light cases break open welded contacts. In serious cases, at least one account remains clock pair unopened, whereupon the drive lever a clearly from the off position un maintains a divisible position. When the drive lever is forcibly transferred in the off position in the case of improperly opened contacts Spring-loaded mechanism due to the non-positive connection in the side panels drive lever overstretched and thus an increased force to forcibly open the improperly opened contacts via the counter stop of the actuator transfer the lever to the stop of the selector shaft. If the opening attempt is unsuccessful, especially when unsuccessful breaking of welded contacts after releasing the operating handle of the drive lever under the action of the Fe the energy storage clearly visible the off position. The non-positive, i.e. H. by Generous storage of the drive lever preserves with appropriate dimensioning  a motor or electromagnetic drive connected to the operating lever Destruction.

The solution according to the invention can be used both in switching devices that trigger a have the key switch with a pivoting support lever, as well Use switchgear with a fixed support lever. To the first The group of switchgear includes circuit breakers and switch disconnectors Tripping means, switch disconnectors belong to the second group of switching devices without trigger.

An advantageous development of the invention consists in the formation of the connection ges or or and the counter-stop as a lever arm. For one thing the point of impact of the stop and counter-stop in the course of the forced Define transfer of the drive lever and on the other hand a cheap force on the selector shaft for forced opening of improperly opened Make contacts. It is convenient to move the drive lever beyond Limit off position by a stop of the side panels.

An advantageous further development also consists in the fact that, in the case of a forced point transfer of the drive lever in the off position entering elastic Form fit between the drive lever and the switchgear housing, in particular open the cover part, an additional one via counter stop and stop force is exerted on welded contacts.

An advantageous embodiment is that the multi-pole contact system with a number of double-break contacts corresponding to its number of poles bridges, in particular rotary contact bridges, is equipped. Another beneficial one Training is that the shift shaft from shift shaft sections and there between existing connecting elements, which at least partially with are connected to the lower toggle.

Further details and advantages of the invention result from the following, exemplary embodiment explained with reference to figures. Show it

Figure 1 shows an inventive switching device in an exploded perspective shear representation.

Fig. 2 switch lock and center pole of the contact system of the switching device of Figure 1 in a composite perspective view.

Fig. 3 key switch and center pole in the on position in a partially broken side view;

Fig. 4 switch lock and middle pole in the tripped position with properly opened contacts in a partially broken side view;

Fig. 5 to Fig 4, but with welded contacts and with a released operating handle.

Fig. 6 as Fig. 5, but with up to the off position forcibly transferred actuation handle.

According to Fig. 1, designed as a low-voltage power switch three-pole switching device 2 is provided with a dual housing. Each of the three poles is assigned a fixed contact arrangement with two fixed contact rails 4 and 6 , a movable contact arrangement 8 in the form of a rotationally symmetrical pivotable contact bridge and two arc quenching chambers 10 , which are arranged together in a switch chamber housing, consisting of an upper part 11 and a lower part 12 , Each movable contact arrangement 8 is mounted in a Schaltwel lenabschnitt 14 , which in turn is stored in the switching chamber housing 11 , 12 . The three pivotable about a selector shaft axis 13 of control shaft portions 14 (see also Fig. 2) are non-rotatably via two connecting members 15 together and to the verbun. The three selector shaft sections 14 and the two connecting pieces 15 form a selector shaft 16 common to all poles. The fixed Kontaktanordnun conditions 4 and 6 , the movable contact arrangements 8 and the switching shaft 16 form the three-pole contact system 17 of the switching device 2nd The structure of such a contact system and its installation and storage in such a switch chamber housing is described in detail in EP 1037239 A2. The switching shaft 16 is coupled to a switch lock 18 , which is used to close, open and trigger the switching device 2 and is arranged above the central pole. The lower part 12 , the upper part 11 and the switching mechanism 18 are connected to one another via common fastening means in the form of screws 20 and threaded receptacles 21 which are arranged in bilateral side panels 19 of the switching mechanism 18 . The switching chamber housing 11 , 12 and the switching lock 18 are arranged in a switching device housing consisting of a base part 22 and a cover part 24 . The cover part 22 is seen with a recess 26 , through which a drive lever 28 provided with an arcuate cover 29 of the switching mechanism 18 protrudes with an actuating handle 30 to the outside. In Fertigzu stood the switching device 2 , the bottom part 22 is screwed to the cover part 24 , the panel 29 being located below the cover part 24 .

Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the control shaft 16 is permitted with a fixed stop 32, the extended as hebelarmartiger projection on one of the connecting pieces 15 is formed. The supported by the switching shaft sections 14 movable contact assemblies 8 are equipped at both ends with movable contacts 36 which rest under the action of contact pressure springs 39 on fixed contacts 34 of the contact rails 4 and 6 . At the transition of the switching device 2 from on to the off state, before the actual opening of the contacts 34 , 36 of the switching shaft section 14, the so-called through-stroke D has to be overcome until the striking surfaces 37 of the switching shaft section 14 on the opposite striking surfaces 38 of the movable Make contact arrangement 8 . The throughput D ver decreases with increasing wear of the contacts 34 , 36 and is set by the contact pressure springs 39 .

The U-shaped drive lever 28 of the key switch 18 is provided opposite the actuating handle 30 with a U-shaped cutouts 40 with which the drive lever 28 under the action of a spring force accumulator 42 in the form of a helical tension spring on trunnions 44 , which blind on the fixed sides 19 are attached, non-positively and tiltably mounted. The drive lever 28 receives at closed contact system 17 is an on position and with an open contact system 17 an off position or a tripped position, which are offset with respect to the embodiment shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 on position clockwise. The key switch 18 contains a toggle lever mechanism with the spring force accumulator 42 and an upper toggle lever 46 and a lower toggle lever 48 arranged on both sides of the spring force accumulator 42 . The toggle levers 46 , 48 are articulated to one another via a toggle lever axis 50 . The spring force accumulator 42 engages on the one hand on the toggle lever axis 50 and on the other hand on the drive lever 28 below the actuating handle 30 . The lower toggle levers 48 are each articulated via a first joint axis 52 to one of the connecting pieces 15 and thus to the shift shaft sections 14 (see also FIG. 1). The switching lock 18 further includes a latching mechanism 54 that is operatively connected to release means, not shown, and a support lever 58 that is pivotably mounted between the side panels 19 on a bearing axis 56 . The support lever 58 is articulated to the upper toggle levers 46 via a second hinge axis 60 . Under the force of the spring force accumulator 42 , the support lever 58 is supported via its latching surface 62 against a latch 64 of the latching mechanism 54 . The drive lever 28 is equipped in the area of the U-shaped cutout 40 with a rigid counter-stop 66 designed as a lever arm.

In FIG. 4 is shown how after the occurrence of an error in the to the switching device 2 connected to the load circuit, for example due to an overload or a short circuit, the switching mechanism is passed into the tripped state 18 and all the contacts 34, 36 of the contact system 17 properly have been opened. By the triggering operation, the support lever 58 has been released from the latch mechanism 54 . The released support lever 58 pivots under the action of the spring energy store 42 counterclockwise around its bearing axis 56 , whereupon the toggle lever system is torn upwards. This has the result that on the one hand by the upwardly moved lower toggle lever 46, the Schaltwel lenabschnitte 14 are pivoted clockwise about their shaft axis 13 and on the other hand, the drive lever 28 with its actuating handle 30 by tilting around the bearing pin 44 assumes the tripped position shown located between the on and off position. By pivoting the shift shaft section 14 , the respective movable contact arrangement 8 is separated from the associated fixed contact arrangement 4 , 6 after initially overcoming the stroke D (see FIG. 3). When the contact system 17 is opened properly, there is no contact between the counter-stop 66 of the drive lever 28 and the stop 32 of the control shaft 16 .

In Fig. 5 it is shown how, after the occurrence of a short circuit in the load circuit connected to the switching device 2 , no proper opening of the contact system 17 takes place as a result of welding between the contacts 34 , 36 . After actuation of the drive lever 28 in the direction of the off position, ie when the drive lever 28 pivots clockwise around the trunnion 44 , the toggle lever system tries to pull the lower toggle lever 48 upwards under the action of the spring force accumulator 42 . The same sequence of movements takes place after the release of the support lever 58 as a result of a triggering process. However, the lower toggle lever 48 can be pulled upwards by the movable contact arrangement 8 , which is held in place as a result of the contact welding, but only until the overlap is achieved (see FIG. 3) by the switching shaft section 14 . By applying an external torque M in the direction of the off position, for example by an operator or a motor drive, the drive lever 28 acts with its counter-stop 66 on the stop 32 of the selector shaft 16 . This can meet with slight contact welding to open the contacts 34 , 36 and thus a proper opening of the contact system 17 . In the other case, the drive lever 28 remains with its actuating handle 30 in the position shown, which still differs sufficiently from the off position.

FIG. 6 shows the case when, starting from the situation shown in FIG. 5, by applying a force F, the drive lever 28 is forced over the position shown in FIG. 5 clockwise into the off position. The force F can be applied either manually by an operator or by a drive means connected to the drive lever 28 . In this forced movement of the drive lever 28 is supported by the lever-like counter stroke 66 against the lever-like stop 32 of the control shaft 16 , whereby the drive lever 28 with its U-shaped cutouts 40 is lifted against the force action of the spring force accumulator 42 from the journal 44 . The sides cover 19 form a limit stop 68 , which limits the forced transfer of the drive lever 28 beyond the off position. In the course of the forced transfer of the drive lever 28 to the off position, the sen-shaped aperture 29 comes into increasing mechanical contact with the underside of the cover part 24 . As a result of the elastic deformation of the cover part 24 that occurs , an additional force effect is exerted on the serve 32 via the drive lever 28 by the counter stop 66 , which may possibly cause the welded contacts 34 , 36 to break open.

The described flexibility of the switch lock 18 causes two things: On the one hand, a drive means connected to the drive lever is prevented from being destroyed when attempting to switch off the switching device 2 , which is afflicted with welded contacts 34 , 36 . On the other hand, the force effects acting on the drive lever 28 , which are caused on the one hand by the spring force accumulator 42 and on the other hand by the elastic form fit between the cover part 24 and the panel 29 , via the counter-stop 66 , the stop 32 and the switching shaft 16 on the movable contact arrangement 8 transmitted, which in many cases can lead to the breaking of the welded contacts 34 , 36 and thus proper opening of the contact system 17 . The torque exerted on the movable contact arrangement 8 increases with the progressive forced transfer of the drive lever 28 into the off position. After releasing the actuating handle 30 of the drive lever 28 which is forcibly moved into the off position, this returns under the action of the spring force accumulator 42 and the elastic reshaping of the cover part 24 into the position according to FIG. 5, so that the incorrect opening of the contact system 17 is clearly visible is signaled. Devices are known, for example according to document EP 0450699 A2, with which the closure of a switching device is prevented when the contacts are not properly opened.

With a between the side panels 19 fixed by an additional mounting axis 57 support lever 58 (see Fig. 3) there is an inventive Schaltge advises, the switch lock can not be triggered, the release means and Ver latching mechanism are unnecessary. With this solution too, when the contacts 34 , 36 are not opened properly, both a high opening force is achieved and a forced transfer of the drive lever 28 from the on position to the off position is made possible.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above limited, but also includes all equivalent in the sense of the invention Aus management forms. For example, the invention can be modified to by a linearly movable contact bridge as a movable contact arrangement or a one-armed swiveling contact arm is used.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

2

switchgear

4

.

6

fixed contact arrangement

8th

movable contact arrangement

10

Arc chamber

11

.

12

Switching chamber housing

13

Shift shaft axis

14

Switching shaft section

15

joint

16

shift shaft

17

Contact system

18

switch lock

19

side panels

20

.

21

fastener

22

.

24

Switchgear enclosure

26

recess

28

drive lever

29

cover

30

operating handle

32

attack

34

fixed contact

36

moving contact

37

;

38

stop surface

39

Contact pressure spring

40

neckline

42

Stored energy

44

pivot

46

upper toggle

48

lower toggle

50

Toggle axis

52

first joint axis

54

latching mechanism

56

bearing axle

57

mounting axis

58

support lever

60

second hinge axis

62

latching surface

64

pawl

66

counterstop

68

limiting stop
D lift
F force
M torque

Claims (8)

1. Multi-pole electrical switching device, such as circuit breakers or switch disconnectors with tripping, with
a switchgear housing consisting of a lower part ( 22 ) and a cover part ( 24 ),
a multi-pole contact system ( 17 ), consisting of fixed contact arrangements ( 4 , 6 ) with fixed contacts ( 34 ), one with a common control shaft ( 16 ), which is equipped with a rigid stop ( 32 ), and of the control shaft ( 16 ) supported movable contact arrangements ( 8 ) with contacts ( 36 ) pivotable against the action of contact pressure springs ( 39 )
and a key switch ( 18 ), consisting of a drive lever ( 28 ), which is provided on the one hand with an actuating handle ( 30 ) and on the other hand, under the action of a spring force accumulator ( 42 ) in fixed side panels ( 19 ) essentially non-positively, and when the contact system is closed ( 17 ) an on position, on the other hand assumes an off position when the contact system ( 17 ) is open, a toggle mechanism with at least one upper toggle lever ( 46 ), at least one lower toggle lever ( 48 ) and the spring force accumulator ( 42 ), the toggle lever ( 46 , 48 ) are articulated via a toggle lever axis ( 50 ), the spring force accumulator ( 42 ) engages between the toggle lever axis ( 50 ) and drive lever ( 28 ) and the lower toggle lever ( 48 ) is articulated to the selector shaft ( 16 ), and a in the sides (19) pivotally mounted support lever ( 58 ) which is articulated to the upper toggle lever ( 46 ) and under the action of the spring mechanism raftspei chers ( 42 ) can be brought into a supporting connection with a latching mechanism ( 54 ), which in turn is operatively connected to release means,
characterized in that
the drive lever ( 28 ) is equipped with a rigid counter-stop ( 66 ) which, when the contacts ( 34 , 36 ) are not properly opened and when the force lever ( 42 ) acts contrary to the force acting upon it, the drive lever ( 28 ) is transferred into the extension Position hits the stop ( 32 ) of the selector shaft ( 16 ). 2. Multi-pole electrical switching device, such as switch disconnector without tripping, with
a switchgear housing consisting of a lower part ( 22 ) and a cover part ( 24 )
a multi-pole contact system ( 17 ), consisting of fixed contact arrangements ( 4 , 6 ) with fixed contacts ( 34 ), one with a common control shaft ( 16 ), which is equipped with a rigid stop ( 32 ), and of the control shaft ( 16 ) supported movable contact arrangements ( 8 ) with contacts ( 36 ) pivotable against the action of contact pressure springs ( 39 )
and a key switch ( 18 ), consisting of a drive lever ( 28 ), which is provided on the one hand with an actuating handle ( 30 ) and on the other hand, under the action of a spring force accumulator ( 42 ) in fixed side panels ( 19 ) essentially non-positively, and when the contact system is closed ( 17 ) an on position, on the other hand assumes an off position when the contact system ( 17 ) is open, a toggle mechanism with at least one upper toggle lever ( 46 ), at least one lower toggle lever ( 48 ) and the spring force accumulator ( 42 ), the toggle lever ( 46 , 48 ) are articulated via a toggle lever axis ( 50 ), the spring force accumulator ( 42 ) engages between the toggle lever axis ( 50 ) and drive lever ( 28 ) and the lower toggle lever ( 48 ) is articulated to the selector shaft ( 16 ), and a support lever ( 58 ) fixed between the side panels ( 19 ) and articulated to the upper knee lever ( 46 ),
characterized in that
the drive lever ( 28 ) is equipped with a rigid counter-stop ( 66 ) which, when the contacts ( 34 , 36 ) are not properly opened and when the force lever ( 42 ) acts contrary to the force acting upon it, the drive lever ( 28 ) is transferred into the extension Position hits the stop ( 32 ) of the selector shaft ( 16 ). 3. Switching device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the stop ( 32 ) and / or the counter-stop ( 66 ) is formed like a lever arm. 4. Switching device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the side panels ( 19 ) form a limit stop ( 68 ) for the Antriebshe bel ( 28 ) to limit its transfer beyond the off position. 5. Switching device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the drive lever ( 28 ) during the forced transfer into the off position comes into mechanical contact with the elastically deformable cover part ( 24 ) and the elastic counterforce emanating from the cover part ( 24 ) Stops ( 32 ) transmits. 6. Switching device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the movable contact arrangements ( 8 ) are designed as contact bridges. 7. Switching device according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the contact bridges are pivotally mounted in the switching shaft ( 16 ). 8. Switching device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the switching shaft ( 16 ) from each pole assigned switching shaft sections ( 14 ) and arranged between them, with the lower toggle lever ( 48 ) verbun which connecting pieces ( 15 ).