Trip latch assemblies for circuit breakers and related circuit breakers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9472359-B2
Application number	US-201414260898-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 24, 2014
Priority date	Apr 24, 2014
Publication date	Oct 18, 2016
Grant date	Oct 18, 2016

Abstract

Circuit breakers that include and/or a trip latch assembly that is configured to maintain open and closed energy status of the breaker. The trip latch assembly can include: a first stop cam held on a cam shaft; a second stop cam held on the cam shaft axially spaced apart from the first stop cam; a drive cam held on the cam shaft; a trip-open latch held on a trip latch shaft, (typically above) in cooperating alignment with the first stop cam; a trip-close latch held on the trip latch shaft above and in cooperating alignment with the second stop cam; a follower residing below and in communication with the drive cam; and a linkage attached to the follower and to a main shaft to open and close the breaker responsive to the position of the drive cam.

First claim

That which is claimed:

1. A trip latch assembly for a circuit breaker, comprising:
a cam shaft;
a drive cam attached to the cam shaft adapted to communicate with a follower that directs an actuator to move between open and close positions of a circuit breaker;
at least one stop cam on the cam shaft, and
at least one latch member in cooperating alignment with a respective at least one stop cam, wherein the latch member cooperates with the stop cam to maintain the actuator in the open position and/or close position to thereby maintain open and closed energy status of the circuit breaker, wherein the at least one latch member comprises a trip-open latch and/or a trip-close latch held by a trip latch shaft to be above and in cooperating alignment with a corresponding one of the at least one stop cams, the trip-open latch and/or trip-close latch having a downwardly extending leg that can tilt from vertical on the trip latch shaft.

2. The trip latch assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least one stop cam includes a first stop cam and a second stop cam held on the cam shaft, and wherein the at least one latch member includes a first latch member as the trip-open latch and a second latch member as the trip-close latch, the first latch member in cooperating alignment with the first stop cam and the second latch member in cooperating alignment with the second stop cam.

3. The trip latch assembly of claim 2 , wherein the first and second stop cams have the same size and perimeter shape.

4. The trip latch assembly of claim 2 , wherein the first stop cam and the first latch member and the second stop cam and the second latch member have self-recovery configurations to thereby automatically move through a sequence of positions to be reset for a subsequent trip event.

5. A trip latch assembly for a circuit breaker, comprising:
a cam shaft;
a drive cam attached to the cam shaft adapted to communicate with a follower that directs an actuator to move between open and close positions of a circuit breaker;
at least one stop cam on the cam shaft, and
at, least one latch member in cooperating alignment with a respective at least one stop cam, wherein the latch member cooperates with the stop cam to maintain the actuator in the open position and/or close position to thereby maintain open and closed energy status of the circuit breaker,
wherein the at least one stop cam comprises a perimeter profile with first and second ledges extending radially outward from a segment with a smaller radius to define respective holding points sized and configured to releasably receive a latch member.

6. The trip latch assembly of claim 5 , wherein the first and second ledges are diametrically opposed.

7. The trip latch assembly of claim 5 , wherein the at least one stop cam perimeter profile further comprises first and second fins that are circumferentially spaced apart with one of the holding points separating each side of the fins.

8. The trip latch assembly of claim 7 , wherein the first and second fins are diametrically opposed.

9. A trip latch assembly for a circuit breaker, comprising:
a cam shaft;
a drive cam attached to the cam shaft adapted to communicate with a follower that directs an actuator to move between open and close positions of a circuit breaker;
at least one stop cam on the cam shaft, and
at least one latch member in cooperating alignment with a respective at least one stop cam, wherein the latch member cooperates with the stop cam to maintain the actuator in the open position and/or close position to thereby maintain open and closed energy status of the circuit breaker,
wherein the at least one stop cam includes a first stop cam and a second stop cam held on the cam shaft with the drive cam therebetween or with the drive cam positioned on a left or right side of the first and second stop cams, wherein the first and second stop cams comprise a perimeter profile with (a) first and second ledges extending radially outward from a segment with a smaller radius to define respective holding points sized and configured to releasably receive a latch member and (b) first and second fins defining recovery points that are circumferentially spaced apart with one of the holding points separating each side of the fins.

10. The trip latch assembly of claim 9 , wherein the first and second ledges are diametrically opposed.

11. A trip latch assembly for a circuit breaker, comprising:
a cam shaft;
a drive cam attached to the cam shaft adapted to communicate with a follower that directs an actuator to move between open and close positions of a circuit breaker;
at least one stop cam on the cam shaft, and
at least one latch member in cooperating alignment with a respective at least one stop cam, wherein the latch member cooperates with the stop cam to maintain the actuator in the open position and/or close position to thereby maintain open and closed energy status of the circuit breaker,
wherein the at least one stop cam comprises a first stop cam and a second stop cam, wherein the at least one latch member comprises a trip-open latch and a trip-close latch both held by a trip latch shaft to be above the first and second stop cams, with the trip-open latch in cooperating alignment with the first stop cam and the trip-close latch in cooperating alignment with the second stop cam, wherein the trip-open latch and the trip-close latch have an inner facing arm and a respective downwardly extending leg that can tilt from vertical on the trip latch shaft.

12. A trip latch assembly for a circuit breaker, comprising:
a cam shaft;
a drive cam attached to the cam shaft adapted to communicate with a follower that directs an actuator to move between open and close positions of a circuit breaker;
at least one stop cam on the cam shaft, and
at least one latch member in cooperating alignment with a respective at least one stop cam, wherein the latch member cooperates with the stop cam to maintain the actuator in the open position and/or close position to thereby maintain open and closed energy status of the circuit breaker,
wherein the at least one stop cam includes a first stop cam and a second stop cam held on the cam shaft with the drive cam therebetween, and wherein the trip latch assembly further comprises a trip-open latch and a trip close latch, each held by a trip latch shaft so that the trip-open latch resides above and in cooperating alignment with the first stop cam and the trip-close latch resides above and in cooperating alignment with the second stop cam, the trip-open and trip-close latches having a respective downwardly extending leg that can tilt from vertical on the trip latch shaft, wherein the trip-open and trip-close latches are configured to cooperate with the first and second stop cams to hold and release closing and opening energy of an operator mechanism, wherein the trip latch assembly has a self-recovery configuration such that the trip-open latch and first stop cam and the trip-close latch and the second stop cam automatically move to reposition the trip-open latch and first stop cam and the trip-close latch and second stop cam to respective ready positions for a next trip event after respective trip events.

13. The trip latch assembly of claim 12 , further comprising a follower residing against the drive cam, and a main shaft in communication with the follower configured to maintain open and closed energy status of the circuit breaker via an operator mechanism using the trip latch assembly.

14. A circuit breaker, comprising:
a drive cam held on a cam shaft;
a follower in communication with the drive cam;
a linkage attached to (i) the follower

Assignees

• Eaton Corp

Inventors

• Ding Caiying
• Yang Chao
• Yu Li
• Devries Wilbert Arthur Henrik

Classifications

• H01H3/3015

  using cam devices · CPC title

• H01H2235/01

  Spiral spring · CPC title

• H01H9/20 Primary

  Interlocking, locking, or latching mechanisms · CPC title

• H01H71/10

  Operating or release mechanisms · CPC title

• H01H3/3042

  using a torsion spring · CPC title