US2003686A - Circuit breaker - Google Patents

Description

Patented June 4, 1935 y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CIRCUIT BREAKER Charles V. Giai'mo,- Irvington, N. J., assignor to The Lionel CorporationNew' York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 26, 1931, Serial No. 525,363

4 Claims. (Cl. 20G-106) The present invention relates to circuit break- I5. It has an open side opposite the wall I4, this rs and is more particularly directed toward open side being closed by a plate of insulating circuit breakers adapted for use in controlling the material 20, which is held in'place by screws 2| circuit for toy railroad operation. and 22, threaded into lugs 23 and 24 formed in- 5 Toy railroads are operated at low voltage obside of the housing. 5

tained from a transformer, or batteries or a cur- This insulating panel 2D supports the operative rent reducer. The third rail of the track layout parts for the circuit breaker and the binding is connected to one side of the supply source while posts for connecting the device into the circuit. the track rails form the return and are connected One binding post is indicated at A while the other l0 by a wire with the other side of the current source. binding post is indicated at B. The binding post 10 The third rails and track rails are exposed so that A is held in place by a screw 25. This screw and accidental short circuits may readily occur should a rivet 26 support a spring Contact 2l on the ina car be derailed or some other conductor acciside face of the insulating block. The binding dentally come in Contact with the third rail and post B is held in place by a screw indicated at 28 the grounded track rail. Any such short circuit which also supports a strap 29, which extends 15 will draw excessive current and will stop the operdownwardly to be opposite the lug 24 whereby the ation cf the train, binding post B can be grounded vto the housing The present invention contemplates a circuit of the circuit breaker when the parts are asbreaker particularly adapted for use in the opersembled.

ation of toy trains, the circuit breaker being The insulating plate 2% also carries the frame 20 placed in series with one of the leads and adapted or chassis member 3! which is secured in place to carry the normal operating current of the track by three rivets as indicated at SI, 32 and 33. layout without acting to open the circuit. It, This ChaSSS member iS provided with a lower however, operates an overload or short circuit rearward extension 34, which supports a solenoid 25 to open the circuit thereby protecting the battery coil 35. The armature 35 for the solenoid is 25 or transformer. It is preferably arranged so that supported by a link 3l' carried on the rear end a warning light will be illuminated when the cirof the lever 38 pivoted at 39 in a rearward excuit breaker is opened, this warning light to retension 40 of the frame 39. main lighted as long as the short circuit con- The frame SSO has a' rear eXtBllSOn n- 30 tinues. The invention also contemplates an overicated at 4l in which is mounted a lever 42 30 load circuit breaker for the purposes above readapted to act as the movable contact of the ferred to, which is capable of manual operation to Switch. The lower end 43 of this lever is Oppoopen and close the circuit, site the fixed contact 2l while its upper end 44 The accompanying drawing shows, for purposes is notched as indicated at 45 to receive a lug of illustrating the invention, one of the many 45 O11 the flOIlt 6nd Of the leV 33- A Spring 4T 35 possible embodiments in which it may take form, HEICODHGCS Darts 38 and 4| 3S ndated, UhS it being understood that the drawing is illus- Spring Cling t0 11015 the lug 45 Il the Ilot/3h 45 trative of the invention rather than limiting the When the SWCh iS C1OS and '60 dlW the mOV- same. able contact away from the fixed contact when 40 In the drawing: the solenoid acts on the lever 38 to release the 40 Figure l is a front elevational view of a commOVablo Contact. plete circuit breaker; A warning light I0 is carried at the upper part Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of 5 Of the hOUSIlg- This lamp iS threaded into Figure l, parts being shown in circuit closing a socket indicated at 1I, one side of which is position in full lines and in circuit opening posigrounded. The other side of the socket is con- 45 tion in dot and dash lines; nected by a wire 12 with the screw 25. This Figure 3 is a sectional View on a broken line 3-3 lamp will be lighted when the circuit breaker of Figure 2, the parts being shown in circuit is open and connection is made in the track circlosing position in full lines and in circuit opencuit. It will, therefore, indicate the existence of ing position in dot and dash lines; and a short circuit which caused the operation of the 50 Figure 4 is a diagrammatic View with supercircuit breaker. posed wiring diagram. It is obvious that the invention may be em- In the drawing the housing or casing for the bodied in many forms and constructions within u circuit breaker is indicated at ID. It has a base the scope of the claims, and I wish it to be under- 53 II, three side Walls I2, I3 and I4, and top wall stood that the particular form shown is but one of the many forms. Y changes being possible, I' do not otherwise limit Various modifications and Vmovable switch contact i3 to close the switch so that the lug e6 enters the notch l5 to holdv the switch closed. It is also engageable With this lug to release the latch so that the switch 'is snapped open by the spring 47.

The chassis frame 3e levers Si! and 50 mayr be made out of sheet steel or other magnetizable material while the movable switch contact G3 is preferably made out of brass or other non'- magnetizable material.

One end of thecoil 35 is connected by wire indicated at with .the screw 2S While the other end is grounded to the chassis as indicated at El. When the circuit is closed the current Will Y flow from the transformer or other current source T, indicated in Figure 4, to the binding post A through the contacts 2l and i3 to the chassis frame 3Q and then through the coil 3e, lead 66 to binding post B. This binding post and the other side of the transformer may be connected to the track layout as indicated. Should a short circuit or overload occur in the track layout an excessive current will flow through the coil which will release the latch mechanism and allow the spring fil' to open the circuit.

V/'hat is claimed is:

l. A circuit breaker adapted `for loW ,voltage circuits comprising an insulating plate, a conducting frame securedto one face of the plate, a contact secured adjacent the frame, a solenoid coil supported from the frame and connected at one end to the frame, an armature core movably carried in the coil, a switching member pivotally secured to the frame and having a free end engageable with the contact to complete a circuit from the contact through the switching member, frame and coil, a manually operable lever pivotally carried by the frame for actuating the switching member, a latching lever connected to the armature and cooperable with the switching members to hold it in closed position, and a spring between the switching member and the latcliing lever, the spring holding the latching lever in position to hold the switching member in closed position and pulling the switching member away from the contact. y

2. A circuit breaker as claimed in claim l, wherein the frame is made of sheet metal, the pivoted members are secured to rearwardly bent lugs, and the coil is supported on a rearwardly extending platform formed by bending the frame. 3. ln'a circuit breaker for controlling low voltage circuits,a fixed contact, a sheet metal frame insulated from the fixed contact, a coil carried by the frame, an armature for the coil actuating a lever pivoted to the frame, a bar pivoted to the frame, one end of the bar being engageable with the xed contact and the other end being adjacent the lever, a spring interconnecting the bar and lever and tending to moveV the link away from the xed contact, the adjacent ends of the bar and lever having interengageable latching means releasable by the armature to allow the spring to open the circuit breaker, and a manually operable lever for operating the bar to circuit-opening or circuit-closing position.

Ll. A circuit breaker for toy railroads and the like comprising a metal housing open atone side; a circuit breaker unit including a mounting plate of insulating material for closing the open side of the housing, fixed and movable contacts car.

ried by the plate inside the housing the Xed contact'being connected to an external terminal, a solenoid supported from the plate and connected at one side to an external terminal carried by the plate and at the other side to the movable contact, a spring for biasing the movable contact toward open position, an armature for the solenoid, an externally accessible manually operable switch opening and closing means, and a latch member operable by the solenoid for releasing the movable contact.

CHARLES V. GIAIMO.

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