Compact dual feeders for circuit breakers and related buckets and motor control centers (MCCs)

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9871355-B2
Application number	US-201615149900-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 9, 2016
Priority date	Mar 6, 2014
Publication date	Jan 16, 2018
Grant date	Jan 16, 2018

Abstract

Dual starters and/or feeders are positioned in a unit housing to be offset from one another in a front to back direction to provide a compact configuration for a MCC cabinet. The dual starters or feeders can communicate with a respective external handle attached to an inwardly oriented shaft. The handles can be rotary handles that connect to a respective gear assembly that transforms rotational input to linear input.

First claim

That which is claimed is:

1. A bucket assembly, comprising:
a unit housing having a front and a back and left and right sides extending between the front and back;
a first starter or feeder in the unit housing; and
a second starter or feeder in the unit housing, wherein the second starter or feeder is longitudinally offset from the first starter or feeder, in a front to back direction, to reside closer to the front or the back of the unit housing than the first starter or feeder, wherein the first starter or feeder and the second starter or feeder are spaced inward a distance from the back of the unit housing, and wherein the unit housing comprises a laterally extending internal wire path that is one of behind the first starter or feeder, behind the second starter or feeder, or behind both the first and second starter or feeder.

2. The bucket assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first starter or feeder and the second starter or feeder each have a primary body, wherein the primary body of the first starter or feeder resides laterally spaced apart a distance of between about 1-3 inches from the primary body of the second starter or feeder, measured from adjacent inwardly facing sides extending in the front to back direction.

3. The bucket assembly of claim 1 , wherein the unit housing has a longitudinally extending centerline that extends in the front to back direction, aligned with a center power stab extending out the back of the unit housing, and wherein an inward facing wall of a primary body of the first starter or feeder resides closer to the center power stab than an inward facing wall of a primary body of the second starter or feeder.

4. The bucket assembly of claim 1 , wherein a primary body of the first starter or feeder resides spaced apart in the front to back direction from a primary body of the second starter or feeder so that a rear surface of the primary body of the first starter or feeder is a distance of between about 1-3 inches from a front surface of the primary body of the second starter or feeder.

5. The bucket assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first starter or feeder is a right side starter or feeder and the second starter or feeder is a left side starter or feeder, each comprising respective load side terminals, and wherein the right side of the unit housing has an open portion providing an exit access path for (a) conductors from the first starter or feeder to a right side vertical wireway and (b) conductors from the second starter or feeder that are routed first through the laterally extending internal wire path to the right side vertical wireway.

6. The bucket assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first starter or feeder is a right side feeder and the second starter or feeder is a left side starter or feeder, and wherein the left side starter or feeder resides closer to the front of the unit housing than the right side starter or feeder.

7. The bucket assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first starter or feeder is a right side feeder and the second starter or feeder is a left side starter or feeder, and wherein the right side starter or feeder resides closer to the front of the unit housing than the left side starter or feeder.

8. The bucket assembly of claim 1 , wherein a respective primary body of the first and second starters or feeders have substantially the same size and shape and are positioned in the unit housing to be laterally offset a distance of between 0.5-3 inches and longitudinally offset in the front to back direction between about 0.5-5 inches.

9. The bucket assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first starter or feeder and the second starter or feeder are each held by a respective first and second bracket attached to a rear wall of the unit housing, and wherein the first and second brackets each provide a laterally extending wireway space, the laterally extending wireway space of the first bracket defining the laterally extending internal wire path behind the first starter or feeder.

10. The bucket assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first and second starters or feeders have load side terminals facing a common vertical wireway, the bucket assembly further comprising a first bracket attached to a rear surface of a primary body of the first starter or feeder, and wherein the first bracket is configured to define the laterally extending wire path behind the first starter or feeder that routes conductors attached to the second starter or feeder to the vertical wireway.

11. The bucket assembly of claim 1 , further comprising:
a first inwardly extending shaft in the unit housing in communication with the first starter or feeder; and
a second inwardly extending shaft in the unit housing and being laterally spaced apart from the first inwardly extending shaft and in communication with the second starter or feeder, wherein the first shaft has a length that is between about 1.5 times to about 5 times greater than the second shaft.

12. The bucket assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a first bracket attached to a back of the unit housing and a primary body of the first starter or feeder and a second bracket attached to the back of the unit housing and a primary body of the second starter or feeder, and wherein the second bracket defines a laterally extending wireway space in the unit housing extending behind the second starter or feeder for conductors attached to the primary body of the first starter or feeder to a right or left side vertical wireway, and wherein the second bracket has a greater depth dimension in the front to back direction than the first bracket.

13. A bucket assembly, comprising:
a unit housing having a front and a back and left and right sides extending between the front and back;
a first starter or feeder in the unit housing;
a second starter or feeder in the unit housing, wherein the second starter or feeder is longitudinally offset from the first starter or feeder, in a front to back direction, to reside closer to the front of the unit housing than the first starter or feeder;
a first inwardly extending shaft in the unit housing in communication with the first starter or feeder; and
a second inwardly extending shaft in the unit housing and being laterally spaced apart from the first inwardly extending shaft and in communication with the second starter or feeder, wherein the first shaft has a length that is between about 1.5 times to about 5 times greater than the second shaft,
wherein the first and second starters or feeders comprise molded case circuit breakers, wherein the bucket assembly further comprises first and second external handles having a defined ON position associated with conduction and a defined OFF position associated with non-conduction, and wherein an inner portion of the first and second shafts cooperably engage a respective first and second operator mechanism that then engage a respective lever or switch of the first and second starters or feeders.

14. A compact bucket assembly comprising:
a unit housing; and
right and left side molded case circuit breakers in the unit housing, wherein the molded case circuit breakers have substantially the same size and shape, and wherein one of the right side circuit breaker or the left side circuit breaker resides closer to the front of the unit housing and is mounted to a bracket that is attached to a rear of the unit housing,
wherein the right and left side molded case circuit breakers are both spaced inward a distance from a rear of the unit housing, and wherein the unit housing comprises a laterally extending internal wire path that is either behind the right side molded case circuit breaker, behind the left side molded case circuit breake

Assignees

• Eaton Corp

Inventors

• Oneufer Stephen William
• Morris Robert Allan
• Kroushl Daniel Boyd

Classifications

• H02B1/48

  Mounting of devices therein · CPC title

• H02B1/32 Primary

  Mounting of devices therein · CPC title

• H02B1/36 Primary

  with withdrawable units · CPC title