JPH0969331A - Breaker and its usage - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To break a electric path by the same operation as that at the time of overcurrent at occurrence of earthquake by providing a breaker with a vibration sensor, an output relay, a microcomputer for judgment of vibration level, a setting switch, etc. SOLUTION: A breaker 1 has a vibration sensor 3, a microcomputer 7, etc. The vibration sensor 3 is an electrostatic volume type sensor The microcomputer 7 judges the level of vibration of the earthquake, based on the detection output of the vibration sensor 3, and when it is the vibration level not less than the vibration level being set in advance by a setting switch 4, it breaks the electric path by controlling the operation mechanism 5 consisting of a coil, a mobile iron piece, etc. Moreover, an output relay 6 gives corresponding relay output to outside, being controlled. And, the computer 7 is reset to the initial condition by the reset switch 8.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a breaker for breaking an electric circuit in the event of overcurrent or short circuit of wiring, and a method of using the breaker.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, there have been frequent earthquakes in various places including the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, and disaster prevention measures such as prevention of secondary disasters at the time of earthquake occurrence are increasing.

In particular, in general households and various factories, electricity continues to be supplied even if the building is tilted or collapsed due to the occurrence of a large earthquake. For example, in an iron or an electric stove, the electricity continues to be supplied. A fire may occur due to the heat generated by the building, or the cord covering may be damaged by a collapsed building, causing a fire. 2
There is a risk of the next disaster.

[0004]

Therefore, it is desirable to prevent the occurrence of secondary disasters by cutting off the supply of electricity when a large earthquake occurs.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a breaker capable of immediately cutting off the supply of electricity when an earthquake occurs and a method of using the breaker.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is configured as follows.

That is, the breaker of the present invention is
A breaker that cuts off an electric circuit at the time of electric leakage or a short circuit is provided with a vibration sensor for detecting vibration, and a judging unit for judging a vibration level based on a detection output of the vibration sensor to cut off the electric circuit.

The determining means shuts off the electric circuit when it is determined that the vibration level is equal to or higher than a predetermined seismic intensity level, and the predetermined seismic intensity level may be set by the seismic intensity level setting means. .

Further, there may be provided an output relay for providing an output corresponding to the vibration level equal to or higher than the predetermined seismic intensity level based on the judgment output of the judging means.

Further, the breaker of the present invention may be provided with a power input terminal for supplying power to a required circuit portion such as the judging means.

Further, based on the judgment output of the judgment means, an emergency light may be provided which is turned on when the vibration level is equal to or higher than the predetermined seismic intensity level, and a battery for supplying power to at least this emergency light at the time of power failure is provided. It may be built in.

In the method of using the breaker of the present invention, a plurality of breakers are installed at required locations, and a predetermined seismic intensity level by the seismic intensity level setting means is set in correspondence with the location where the breakers are installed.

According to the breaker of the present invention, the level of vibration such as an earthquake can be detected and the electric circuit can be cut off. Therefore, when an earthquake occurs, the supply of electricity can be cut off to prevent a secondary disaster from occurring. Become.

Moreover, since the seismic intensity level of the earthquake for cutting off the electric line can be arbitrarily set by the seismic intensity level setting means,
It is possible to select and set the seismic intensity level at which the electric circuit should be interrupted according to the type of load.

Further, the output relay makes it possible, for example, to turn off the power source of an external device or drive an alarm buzzer or the like when an earthquake of a predetermined seismic intensity level or higher occurs.

Further, since the emergency light is turned on when an earthquake of a predetermined seismic intensity level or higher occurs, it becomes possible to calmly evacuate by the illumination of the emergency light when an earthquake occurs at night, and the battery is also used. Since the emergency light is turned on by, it is especially effective in the event of a power failure.

According to the method of using the breaker of the present invention, a plurality of breakers are installed at required places such as a building and a factory,
Since the predetermined seismic intensity level is set by the seismic intensity level setting means in correspondence with the breaker installation location, the predetermined seismic intensity level can be selected and set according to the type of load energized by the breaker at the required location. .

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a breaker 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The breaker 1 is, like the breaker of the conventional example, for breaking an electric circuit by an overcurrent, a short-circuit current or the like. A switch knob 2 for manually restoring the interrupted circuit is provided on the front of the switch knob 2.

In the breaker 1 of this embodiment, when a large earthquake having a predetermined seismic intensity level, for example, an seismic intensity of 5 or more occurs, the electric circuit is cut off, and thereby a secondary disaster caused by continuing the energization is caused. To prevent this, a seismic function having the configuration described below is built in.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of the main part of the breaker 1 of FIG.

The breaker 1 of this embodiment determines a vibration level on the basis of a vibration sensor 3 for detecting vibration and a detection output of the vibration sensor 3, and detects a vibration level equal to or higher than a seismic intensity level preset by a setting switch 4. When the vibration level is reached, the operating mechanism 5 including a trip coil and a movable iron piece, which will be described later, is controlled to cut off the electric circuit, and the output relay 6 is controlled to provide a corresponding relay output to the outside. Microcomputer 7 with functions
And a reset switch 8 for resetting the microcomputer 7 to the initial state.

As shown in FIG. 3, the vibration sensor 3 of this embodiment has a fixed electrode 9 and a movable electrode 10 which face each other.
And are built in the case 11 and are capacitance type sensors that detect vertical movement of the movable electrode 10 due to vibration as a change in output frequency.

The microcomputer 7 includes a vibration sensor 3
The frequency change of is converted into a vibration change and the vibration pattern is analyzed to determine whether it is an earthquake vibration pattern or a vibration pattern due to other impacts, and when it is an earthquake vibration pattern, The vibration level is judged and the seismic intensity level of the corresponding earthquake is calculated. Further, it is judged whether or not the calculated seismic intensity level is equal to or higher than the seismic intensity level set by the setting switch 4 as the seismic intensity level setting means, and when the seismic intensity level is equal to or higher than the set seismic intensity level, the operating mechanism 5 is controlled. To cut off the electric circuit and control the output relay 6 to give a corresponding relay output.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a schematic structure inside the insulating housing of the breaker 1, and FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a schematic structure inside the insulating housing of the breaker 1, and FIGS. Corresponding parts are designated by the same reference numerals.

The first trip coil 1 is provided between the first breaker terminal 12 on the power source side and the second breaker terminal 13 on the load side.
4, an electric path is formed through the arm 16 having the movable contactor 15 and the fixed contactor 17, and a load (not shown) is energized.

The breaker 1 of this embodiment is provided with an operating mechanism for shutting off the electric path between the first breaker terminal 12 on the power supply side and the second breaker terminal 13 on the load side in the case of overcurrent, as in the conventional case. ing.

This operating mechanism is such that the movable iron piece 18
A first trip coil 14 that attracts
A rotatable engaging member 19 that engages with and disengages from the stopper 18a of the movable iron piece 18, a link mechanism including three first to third links 20 to 22, and first and second biasing members that bias in the required directions.
The second torsion springs 23 and 24 are provided.

One end of the first link 20 is pin-coupled to the lower portion of the switch knob 2, and the other end of the first link 20 is pin-coupled to one end of the second link 21.
It is pin-coupled to one end of the third link 22. The other end of the second link 21 is pin-coupled to the arm 16, and the other end of the third link 22 is pin-coupled to the engaging member 19.

The first torsion spring 23 has a switch knob 2
Is wound around a rotary shaft 25, one end of which is locked to a step portion 26 in the housing, and the other end of which is locked to a coupling pin 27 of the switch knob 2 and the first link 20. ing. The second torsion spring 24 is wound around a rotation shaft 28 of the arm 16, one end of which is locked to a protrusion 29 in the housing, and the other end of which is the arm 1.
6 is locked in the locking recess 16a.

In the operating mechanism having such a structure, when an overcurrent flows through the first trip coil 14, as in the conventional case,
The movable iron piece 18 is the coil 1 as shown by the arrow in FIG.
4, the stopper 18a of the movable iron piece 18 and the engagement member 19 are disengaged from each other, and the first and second
By the biasing force of the torsion springs 23 and 24, the engaging member 19
When the first and second links 20 and 21 are bent, the arm 16 is rotated so that the movable contactor 15 is separated from the fixed contactor 17 and the electric path is cut off, and the switch knob 2 Also rotates.

From the state where the electric circuit shown in FIG. 6 is cut off, the switch knob 2 is moved to the first and second torsion springs 23,
By manually rotating against the biasing force of 24, it is possible to return to the state of FIG. 4 and energize the load.

In this embodiment, in order to cut off the electric circuit based on the output of the microcomputer 7 when an earthquake of a predetermined seismic intensity level or more occurs by utilizing the above operating mechanism at the time of overcurrent, As shown in FIG. 5, a second trip coil 30 is provided adjacent to the above-mentioned first trip coil 14. The second trip coil 30 is energized based on the output of the microcomputer 7 to attract the movable iron piece 18 when an earthquake of a predetermined seismic intensity level or higher is generated, and the second trip coil 30 operates in the same manner as the above-described overcurrent to form an electric circuit. Cut off.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
A setting switch 4 consisting of a DIP switch for setting the seismic intensity level that cuts off the electric circuit is provided in the insulating housing, and it is possible to set any of four seismic intensity levels of seismic intensity 3, 4, 5, and 6. There is.

Further, a reset switch 8 for setting the microcomputer 7 to the initial state is provided in the vicinity of the setting switch 4, and after the electric circuit is cut off by the occurrence of an earthquake, the switch knob 2 is used as described above. Upon restoration, the reset switch 8 is operated to set the initial state.

Further, the breaker 1 of this embodiment has a power supply terminal 31 for AC input adjacent to the first breaker terminal 12 in order to supply power to required circuit parts such as the vibration sensor 3 and the microcomputer 4. Equipped with 32,
The above-mentioned output relay 6 is adjacent to the second breaker terminal 13.
The three output terminals 33 to 35 are provided. The AC input from the power supply circuits 31 and 32 is rectified and smoothed by a power supply circuit (not shown) and supplied to each part. Further, for example, a buzzer or an emergency light (not shown) is connected to the output terminals 33 to 35, and when an earthquake of a predetermined seismic intensity level or higher occurs, the buzzer can be activated by the relay output or the emergency light can be turned on. Is configured.

In the breaker 1 having the above structure, when an earthquake of a predetermined seismic intensity level or higher occurs, the second trip coil 30 is energized to cut off the electric path and to provide a corresponding relay output. It is possible to effectively prevent secondary disasters such as the occurrence of fire due to
Further, by turning on an emergency light or the like, at night, it becomes possible to calmly evacuate or take a required action by the lighting.

Even when a short circuit occurs, the electric circuit is cut off by the same structure as the conventional one.

Although the emergency light is connected to the output terminals 33 to 35 in the above-described embodiment, the emergency light may be built in as another embodiment of the present invention. May have a built-in battery for lighting the emergency light even in the event of a power failure.

As another embodiment of the present invention, the power supply terminal 3
It is also possible to connect the terminals 1 and 32 to outlets as plug-in terminals projecting to the back side of the breaker 1 so that power can be supplied to required circuit parts.

Further, as another embodiment of the present invention, the power supply terminals 31 and 32 may be omitted, and the power of a required circuit may be supplied by a built-in battery.

Further, the output relay 6 and the corresponding output terminals 33 to 35 may be omitted.

In the method of using the breaker of the present invention,
A plurality of breakers 1 having the above configuration are installed on each floor of a high-rise building, or installed in each compartment such as a kitchen or living room in a general home, depending on the degree of danger due to continuous energization of load, The seismic intensity level may be set by the setting switch 4 of the corresponding breaker 1.

That is, in the breaker 1 for energizing a high-risk load such as an iron or an electric stove, it is necessary to shut off the electric circuit even in the case of an earthquake with a low seismic intensity level, and to hold a lighting device and data. For example, in an earthquake with a low seismic intensity level, the electric circuit should not be cut off unnecessarily.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, each breaker 1 is reset to the initial state by the reset switch 8 of the breaker 1. However, as another embodiment of the present invention, the breaker 1 is provided with a reset terminal, For example, when it is necessary to set a plurality of breakers 1 to the same seismic intensity level and reset all of the plurality of breakers 1, the reset terminals should be connected in common and reset at one location. The reset of a plurality of breakers 1 may be remotely controlled by operating a switch.

Although the capacitance type sensor is used as the vibration sensor in the above embodiment, a steel ball type vibration sensor may be used as another embodiment of the present invention.

[0047]

As described above, according to the breaker of the present invention, the level of vibration such as an earthquake is judged and the electric line is cut off. Therefore, when an earthquake occurs, the supply of electricity is cut off and a secondary disaster due to a fire occurs. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of.

Moreover, since the seismic intensity level of the earthquake for shutting off the electric path can be arbitrarily set, the seismic intensity level for shutting off the electric path can be selected and set according to the type of load and the like.

Further, the output relay makes it possible to turn off the power supply of the external equipment or drive the alarm buzzer or the like when an earthquake occurs.

Further, since the emergency light is turned on when an earthquake occurs, when an earthquake occurs at night, it is possible to reduce the anxiety of the occurrence of the earthquake by the emergency light illumination and calmly evacuate. Since the emergency light is turned on by the battery, it is especially effective during a power failure.

According to the method of using the breaker of the present invention, a plurality of breakers are installed at required places such as buildings and factories,
Since the predetermined seismic intensity level is set by the seismic intensity level setting means corresponding to the breaker installation location, it is possible to select and set the predetermined seismic intensity level according to the type of load energized by the breaker at the required location. For continuous loads, such as computer systems that require data retention even if the seismic intensity is low for a high risk of fire, even if the earthquake is low.
The circuit can be prevented from being unnecessarily interrupted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a breaker according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a main part of the breaker shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vibration sensor.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of the inside of the breaker of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a plan view corresponding to FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 4 in a state where the electric path is cut off.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Breaker 3 Vibration Sensor 4 Setting Switch (Seismic Intensity Level Setting Means) 6 Output Relay 7 Microcomputer (Judgment Means) 31, 32 Power Supply Terminal 33-35 Output Terminal

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A breaker for interrupting an electric circuit when an overload, an electric leakage or a short circuit occurs, and a vibration sensor for detecting vibration, and a judging unit for judging a vibration level based on a detection output of the vibration sensor and interrupting the electric circuit. A breaker characterized by comprising. 2. The breaker according to claim 1, wherein the determining means disconnects the electric circuit when it is determined that the vibration level is equal to or higher than a predetermined seismic intensity level. 3. The breaker according to claim 2, further comprising seismic intensity level setting means for setting the predetermined seismic intensity level. 4. The breaker according to claim 2, further comprising an output relay that provides an output corresponding to the vibration level equal to or higher than the predetermined seismic intensity level based on the judgment output of the judgment means. 5. The breaker according to claim 1, further comprising a power input terminal for supplying power to a required circuit unit such as the determination unit. 6. The breaker according to claim 2, further comprising an emergency light that is turned on when the vibration level is equal to or higher than the predetermined seismic intensity level based on the judgment output of the judgment means. 7. The breaker according to claim 6, further comprising a battery for supplying power to at least the emergency light in the event of a power failure. 8. The power supply input terminal and the output terminal of the output relay are arranged adjacent to the breaker terminals on the power supply side and the load side, respectively, and at least the vibration sensor, the determination means, and the output relay are provided. The breaker according to any one of claims 5 to 7, which is built in an insulating housing of the breaker. 9. The breaker according to claim 5, wherein the power input terminal is a pluggable terminal. 10. A plurality of breakers according to claim 3 are installed at required locations, and a predetermined seismic intensity level by the seismic intensity level setting means is set corresponding to the location where the breakers are installed. How to use the breaker.