TWM672463U - Remote switch interlock - Google Patents

Abstract

The primary objective of this invention is to improve upon the deficiencies and inconveniences found in conventional switch safety lock mechanisms. Traditional devices lack the ability to perform long-distance locking operations via electrical actuation, resulting in the inconvenience of manually replacing keys over extended distances. Furthermore, the need to retrofit existing equipment with locking mechanisms on-site adds complexity. This invention also addresses the issue wherein manufacturers worldwide adopt different technical solutions to lock circuit breakers in various positions, leading to increased production costs and burdensome management due to the need to produce a wide variety of products. The key technical feature of this invention lies in the design of a locking/unlocking selector switch and an externally mounted electrically controlled locking device, enabling remote locking and unlocking operations of low-voltage circuit breakers in both closed and open states.

Description

Remote control switch safety lock

The main purpose of this creation is to improve the lack and inconvenience of the switch safety lock device in the knowledge and technology, and the inability to achieve the remote long-distance locking function by electrical drive, improve the inconvenience caused by the problem of personnel pulling and replacing keys over long distances, and add locking devices to the existing equipment on site, and solve the problem that manufacturers around the world have to adopt different technical means to lock various positions of circuit breakers and must manufacture various different types of products, resulting in increased production costs and management burdens. Its main technical features are the design of a lock and unlock selection switch and an external electric control lock device to lock and unlock the low-voltage circuit breaker in the closed and open states.

Based on the enthusiasm for improving industrial safety and the experience of field implementation, the applicant of this invention has a series of new and innovative products related to motor switches and power supply management. More than a dozen of the results of such research and development have been applied for and approved. In particular, the applicant of this invention has provided a series of practical motor switch locking device creations, which can be used in combination with motor switches of various brands and models with good results. The reason why the applicant of this invention has this series of new and innovative products related to motor switch safety is that many electrical accidents at home and abroad in the past occurred in the maintenance of motor machinery, mainly due to the lack of practical motor switch locking devices. However, there is no solution to the improvement of locking devices that can be applied to various states.

In the "Electrical Safety Technical Data" published in 1999 by the Labor Safety and Health Research Institute of the Executive Yuan Labor Council, a research report led by Su Wenyuan pointed out: "Electric shock accidents have always been one of the main causes of accidental injuries to workers and should be avoided as much as possible to protect the safety of workers. The main reason for electric shock accidents is that businesses and workers lack awareness of electrical safety, resulting in unsafe environments and unsafe behaviors at work. Potential hazards such as unsafe environments and unsafe behaviors." There are two main common types of electrical safety disasters. The first is from mechanical equipment that uses electricity, and the second is negligence in electrical operations. In order to remedy the lack of knowledge of electrical safety among businesses and workers and prevent hazards from electrical operations, Article 45 of the "Labor Safety and Health Facilities Rules" further stipulates that employers must equip electrical machinery with safety facilities. That is, for machines that use power and are significantly dangerous, an emergency brake device with obvious signs should be installed at an appropriate location to immediately cut off the power and connect with the brake system to quickly stop the operation of the machine in an emergency. In addition, to prevent hazards from electrical work, when working during a power outage, Article 254 of the "Labor Safety and Health Facilities Rules" stipulates that when an employer is engaged in laying, constructing, inspecting, repairing, painting, etc. of a circuit, circuit support, or work near the circuit after the circuit is open, the employer should take the open circuit switch of the circuit after confirming that the circuit is open, and should "lock" or mark "power supply prohibited", "power outage in progress" or set up monitoring personnel for monitoring during the operation. The first type of disaster from mechanical equipment using electricity is caused by the fact that most people do not have enough knowledge of the principle of electrical safety power cutoff. Although Article 254 of the "Labor Safety and Health Facilities Rules" further stipulates that the circuit should be "locked" during operation when the circuit is open, so far, the "locking" regulations are often empty talk and have not been actually implemented.

According to the international electrical regulations NEC.422.31.(430.102)(440.14), the branch switch or circuit breaker used as an isolation device should have a locking device. The isolation device is located within the visual range of the electrical appliance or can be locked when the circuit is open. The locking device mechanism should be placed in an appropriate position. The regulatory principles and purpose are to prevent mis-transmission and reverse transmission of power (without affecting public safety!):

1. Private indoor distribution panels do not need to be locked.

2. Electricity in public places must be locked.

3. The motor centralized control panel can be locked using the switch handle.

4. Do not lock the switch if there is a dangerous situation after locking it! The locking device is to prevent the wrong power transmission, reverse power transmission, etc. Because there are invisible conditions to the eyes, it may be dangerous, so it is hoped that the switch will be locked during maintenance to ensure safety. In view of this, switch manufacturers in the world all produce related products. These include external hanging type, internal key type, etc. There are also mandatory regulations and penalties in OSHA, fire law regulations, etc.

In special places, there are different requirements for switches. For example, in many dangerous places, such as chemical plants, powder depots, gas and liquid plants, military facilities, etc., some electrical switches must be closed during power transmission. They must not be accidentally touched or operated to disconnect the switch, causing serious losses. For example, the furnace core is melting high-temperature and high-pressure liquids, which will cause irreparable consequences. Therefore, in some special places, the switch must be locked in the power-on (closed) ON state. Because of the above reasons, manufacturers of circuit breaker switches around the world also have a device that locks in the power-on (closed) ON state on the switch lock device, and produce another product.

In special environments, some special functions are required. For example, in many unmanned machine rooms, the circuit breaker switches in certain circuits must be prevented from being tripped by external forces, causing power outages and even accidents. However, when an accident occurs in the circuit, whether it is overload, fault current, ground fault, etc., the circuit breaker must be tripped to avoid damage to the equipment or even fire! Therefore, the requirements for the above-mentioned locking device are different from the above two states. One is forced to lock in the power-on state, and the other is forced to lock in the power-off state. In the event of a fault, the circuit breaker must be able to trip to isolate the accident.

In many cases of actual power systems, there are many situations in which low-voltage circuit breakers with power circuits must have a locking function in existing low-voltage distribution boards due to industrial safety requirements or current regulations. In such cases, there is no space to use, which makes it impossible to complete it with an electric operator. In addition to the lack of space of more than ten centimeters next to the low-voltage circuit breaker to set it up, there is also no larger space above to place the locking device. The above problems have always existed, and the current knowledge and technology cannot solve the above problems.

This invention also improves the inconvenience and shortcomings of the M318184 patent for the lock device without fuse switch. Although it can only lock the tripped position, it meets the requirement of the lock device that must be able to lock when the power is off during maintenance, but it is not universal for the above-mentioned situations with different functional requirements. In the knowledge and technology, countries around the world have two ways of locking: closing ON and starting OFF. Different ways require different locks and components, resulting in multiple safety lock implementations, which will increase production costs, increase the burden of product management and troubles for owners. The above problems have existed for a long time, and domestic and foreign operators have not been able to properly solve these problems to improve the safety of electrical equipment and operations.

The main purpose of this creation is to improve the lack and inconvenience of the switch safety lock device in the knowledge and technology, and the inability to achieve the remote long-distance locking function by electrical drive, improve the inconvenience caused by the problem of personnel pulling and replacing keys over long distances, and add locking devices to the existing equipment on site, and solve the problem that manufacturers around the world have to adopt different technical means to lock various positions of circuit breakers and must manufacture various different types of products, resulting in increased production costs and management burdens. Its main technical features are the design of a lock and unlock selection switch and an external electric control lock device to lock and unlock the low-voltage circuit breaker in the closed and open states.

To achieve the above purpose, the invention of remote control switch safety lock can improve the knowledge and technology to lock the circuit breaker in the closed and opened state, which can be achieved by electrical drive and meet the requirements of the user's electrical equipment installation rules and regulations in the Electricity Industry Law. A lock and unlock selection switch and an external electric control locking device can be set. When the lock and unlock selection switch is actuated, the external electric control locking device can be actuated to perform the lock operation function in the closed and opened state.

To achieve the above purpose, the invention of remote control switch safety lock can be provided with an external electric control locking device to improve the knowledge and technology for the circuit breaker that cannot be electrically locked in the closed or opened position and achieve the positioning function. The external electric control locking device is provided beside or above the circuit breaker and actuated outside the circuit breaker without affecting any function inside the circuit breaker. The electric motor used by the external electric control locking device can be an electric telescopic motor, a stepping motor or a servo motor. When the external electric control locking device is actuated to the closed or opened position, the positioning locking function can be achieved.

A remote control switch safety lock includes: a lock/unlock selection switch and an external electric control lock device; the lock/unlock selection switch is electrically connected to the external electric control lock device, and when the lock/unlock selection switch is actuated, the external electric control lock device is actuated; the external electric control lock device includes: an external power input unit, an electronic drive control device and an electric telescopic motor, the external power input unit is electrically connected to an external power source to provide power to actuate the external electric control lock device, and the electronic drive control device actuates the external electric control lock device according to the lock/unlock selection switch. The switch is selected to be actuated by the power provided by the external power input unit, and a locking or unlocking actuation information is issued to electrically connect the electric telescopic motor. The electric telescopic motor actuates an electric telescopic motor telescopic rod of the electric telescopic motor according to the actuation information of the electronic driver control device. When the electronic driver control device issues a locking actuation information, the electric telescopic motor actuates the electric telescopic motor telescopic rod to limit an operating handle of a low-voltage circuit breaker to an ON position or an OFF position to achieve the locking function. When the electronic driver control device issues an unlocking actuation information, The electric telescopic motor actuates the electric telescopic motor extension rod to release the restriction of the operating handle of the low-voltage circuit breaker, and the operating handle can be closed and opened normally; wherein the external electric control locking device of the remote control switch safety lock can be arranged beside or above the low-voltage circuit breaker, when the locking and unlocking selection switch is actuated in the locking position, the external electric control locking device is powered by the external power input unit to actuate the electronic drive control device, and the electronic drive control device sends a locking actuation information to the electric telescopic motor, and the electric telescopic motor of the electric telescopic motor is actuated. The telescopic rod is actuated, and the telescopic rod of the electric telescopic motor limits the operating handle of the low-voltage circuit breaker to achieve the function of closing and locking or starting and closing the lock. When the lock/unlock selection switch is actuated in the unlock position, the external electric control locking device is powered by the external power input unit to actuate the electronic driver control device, and the electronic driver control device sends an unlocking actuation information to the electric telescopic motor, and the telescopic rod of the electric telescopic motor is actuated. The telescopic rod of the electric telescopic motor releases the restriction of the operating handle of the low-voltage circuit breaker to achieve the function that the operating handle can be closed or started.

1: Remote control switch safety lock

10: Lock and unlock selection switch

20: External electric control locking device

21: External power input unit

22: Equipped with electronic drive control device

23: Electric telescopic motor

24: Electric telescopic motor telescopic rod

30: Low voltage circuit breaker

31: Operating handle

32:ON position

33: OFF position

[Figure 1] is a schematic diagram of the configuration of the first embodiment of a remote control switch safety lock of this invention

The first embodiment of the remote control switch safety lock 1 of the present invention is shown in FIG1. A remote control switch safety lock 1 comprises: a lock/unlock selection switch 10 and an external electric control locking device 20; the lock/unlock selection switch 10 is electrically connected to the external electric control locking device 20, and the lock/unlock selection switch 10 is activated. , the external electric control locking device 20 is actuated; the external electric control locking device 20 comprises: an external power input unit 21, an electronic drive control device 22 and an electric telescopic motor 23, the external power input unit 21 is electrically connected to an external power source to provide power to actuate the external electric control locking device 20, the electronic drive control device 22 and an electric telescopic motor 23 The sub-driver control device 22 is actuated by the external power input unit 21 according to the lock/unlock selection switch 10, and sends a lock or unlock actuation information, and is electrically connected to the electric telescopic motor 23. The electric telescopic motor 23 moves an electric telescopic motor of the electric telescopic motor 23 according to the actuation information of the electronic driver control device 22. When the telescopic rod 24 is actuated and the electronic actuator control device 22 sends a locking actuation information, the electric telescopic motor 23 actuates the electric telescopic motor telescopic rod 24 to limit an operating handle 31 of a low-voltage circuit breaker 30 to an ON position 32 or an OFF position 33, thereby achieving the locking function. The electronic actuator control device 22 When the unlocking actuation information is issued, the electric telescopic motor 23 actuates the electric telescopic motor telescopic rod 24 to release the restriction of the operating handle 31 of the low-voltage circuit breaker 30, and the operating handle 31 can be closed and opened normally; wherein the external electric control locking device 20 of the remote control switch safety lock 1 can be arranged beside or on the low-voltage circuit breaker 30 When the lock/unlock selection switch 10 is actuated in the lock position, the external electric control lock device 20 is powered by the external power input unit 21 to actuate the electronic drive control device 22, and the electronic drive control device 22 sends a lock actuation information to the electric telescopic motor 23, and the electric telescopic motor 23 is actuated. The retractable motor rod 24 is actuated, and the electric retractable motor rod 24 limits the operating handle 31 of the low-voltage circuit breaker 30 to achieve the function of closing the lock or starting the lock. When the lock/unlock selection switch 10 is actuated in the unlock position, the external electric control locking device 20 is powered by the external power input unit 21 to actuate the electronic actuator. The control device 22, which is equipped with an electronic driver, sends an unlocking actuation information to the electric telescopic motor 23, and the electric telescopic motor telescopic rod 24 of the electric telescopic motor 23 is actuated, and the electric telescopic motor telescopic rod 24 releases the restriction of the operating handle 31 of the low-voltage circuit breaker 30 to achieve the function that the operating handle 31 can be closed or started.

In summary, this creation, a remote control switch safety lock, further improves the stability and safety of low-voltage circuit breakers in power supply systems and has great industrial applicability. Moreover, after checking the relevant products on the market and the approved patent announcements, there are no products with the same technical features as the actual creation, which also meets the statutory patent application requirements of novelty and advancement. Therefore, a patent application is filed in accordance with the law, and we sincerely request that the review committee grant the patent for this case as soon as possible to ensure the rights and interests of the applicant. However, what is disclosed in this case is only a better implementation example of this creation, and it cannot be used to limit the scope of rights of this creation. All equivalent changes or modifications made in accordance with the spirit of this creation are still covered by the scope of the patent application for this creation.

1: Remote control switch safety lock

10: Lock and unlock selection switch

20: External electric control locking device

21: External power input unit

22: Equipped with electronic drive control device

23: Electric telescopic motor

24: Electric telescopic motor telescopic rod

30: Low voltage circuit breaker

31: Operating handle

32:ON position

33: OFF position

Claims (1)

A remote control switch safety lock, comprising: a lock/unlock selection switch and an external electric control locking device; The locking/unlocking selection switch is electrically connected to the external electric control locking device. When the locking/unlocking selection switch is actuated, the external electric control locking device is actuated; The external electric control locking device comprises: an external power input unit, an electronic drive control device and an electric telescopic motor. The external power input unit is electrically connected to an external power source to provide power to actuate the external electric control locking device. The electronic drive control device is actuated by the external power input unit according to the actuation of the lock/unlock selection switch, and sends a locking or unlocking actuation information, and is electrically connected to the electric telescopic motor. The electric telescopic motor is actuated according to the actuation information of the electronic drive control device. An electric telescopic motor retractable rod of the electric telescopic motor is actuated. When the electronic driver control device sends a locking actuation message, the electric telescopic motor actuates the electric telescopic motor retractable rod to limit an operating handle of a low-voltage circuit breaker to an ON position or an OFF position, thereby achieving the locking function. When the electronic driver control device sends an unlocking actuation message, the electric telescopic motor actuates the electric telescopic motor retractable rod to release the restriction on the operating handle of the low-voltage circuit breaker, and the operating handle can be closed and opened normally; The external electric control locking device of the remote control switch safety lock can be arranged beside or above the low-voltage circuit breaker. When the lock/unlock selection switch is actuated in the lock position, the external electric control locking device is powered by the external power input unit to actuate the electronic driver control device. The electronic driver control device sends a locking actuation information to the electric telescopic motor, and the electric telescopic motor retractable rod of the electric telescopic motor is actuated. The electric telescopic motor retractable rod limits the low-voltage circuit breaker. The operating handle achieves the function of closing or starting the lock. When the lock/unlock selection switch is actuated in the unlock position, the external electric control locking device is powered by the external power input unit to actuate the electronic driver control device. The electronic driver control device sends an unlocking actuation information to the electric telescopic motor, and the electric telescopic motor retractable rod of the electric telescopic motor is actuated. The electric telescopic motor retractable rod releases the restriction of the operating handle of the low-voltage circuit breaker to achieve the function of the operating handle being able to close or start.

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