DRAWER-TYPE CIRCUIT BREAKER ARRANGEMENT

Abstract: A drawer-type circuit breaker arrangement of the type adapted to be disposed in an engaged and disengaged position within a housing (14) and a disengaged position outside said housing (14) on extendable support rails (16) is provided with latches (17) which will prevent the exten­ sion of the guide rails (16) until the circuit breaker (12) is moved from the engaged position to the disengaged posi­ tion within the housing (14). The movement of the circuit breaker (12) to the disengaged position operates the latches (17) to permit extension of the support rails (16) while still preventing movement of the circuit breaker (12) onto the support rails (16). Movement of the support rails (16) to the fully extended position allows the latches (17) to be released by movement of the circuit breaker (12) to allow the circuit breaker (12) to be withdrawn out of the housing (14) onto the support rails (16). Actuating levers (23) for engaging and disengaging the circuit breaker are provided on opposite sides of the circuit breaker (12) for movement in respective slots (14a) and notches (14b) to smoothly and efficiently carry out the engaging and disengaging operation while preventing undesirable vertical movement of the circuit breaker (12) relative to the housing (14).

Description: Drawer-type circuit breaker arrangement The present invention is directed to a drawertype circuit breaker arrangement comprising: a housing means; circuit breaker means being movably supported by roller means within said housing means; extendable support rail means on said. housing means for supporting said circuit breaker means by means of said roller means; and latch means for initially preventing extension of said support rail means when said circuit breaker means is in a first position within said housing means. Such a circuit breaker is disclosed in US-A3 288 956 and US-A-4 012 610. The above prior art devices have the disadvantage of providing a relatively short outward movement during disconnection which gives inadequate access to the circuit breaker. Japanese Patent 50-25460 granted July 31, 1975 discloses a drawer-type circuit breaker wherein the circuit breaker 2 is supported for rolling movement on at least one support rail 6. A latch lever 8 is pivoted to the support rail 6 and is normally biased for engagement by a stop member 11 on the circuit breaker 2 by means of a spring 10 to prevent withdrawal of the circuit breaker from the housing. An extension rail 7 is provided with a projection 15 which allows the extension rail 7 to be supported in alignment with the support rail 6 by means of pins 12 and 13 on the support rail 6. When the extension rail is secured in place a protrusion 13a on the end of the projection engages the latch lever 8 to bias the same out of blocking position relative to the stop member 11 against the force of the spring 10 thereby allowing the circuit breaker 2 to roll outwardly from the housing onto the extension rail 7. When not in use the extension rail 7 is completely disconnected from the circuit breaker assembly and is therefore susceptible to being misplaced and therefore unavailable when needed. The U.S. Patent to Powell 3,663,773 granted May 16, 1972 is directed to a switch gear draw-out apparatus with a clutch interlock. A pair of support rails are pivotally mounted on the circuit breaker housing on opposite sides of the circuit breaker for movement between a vertical stored position and a horizontal operative position for supporting the circuit breaker on rollers during a drawing operation. A manually operated lever is also pivotally mounted on one side of the circuit breaker housing for controlling the movement of a cam which in turn controls the; initial disconnecting movement of the circuit breaker during withdrawal and the final connection of the circuit breaker upon insertion thereof. A clutch is operatively associated with the lever and cam to prevent the operation of the cam when the circuit breaker contacts are in the closed position. In addition to requiring a complex assembly of springs and levers to operatively clutch and unclutch the lever to the cam member, a reverse movement must be applied to the lever after the initial disconnecting movement to unlatch the circuit breaker from the housing to permit the same to be drawn outwardly onto the support rails. An object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved drawer-type circuit breaker having extendable and retractable support rails and associated latch means which in a simple manner prevents the support rails from being extended until the circuit breaker is disconnected an then subsequently prevents movement of the circuit breaker outwardly on the support rails until said support rails have been fully extended. According to the invention the circuit breaker defined in the introductory paragraph of this specification is characterised in that said roller means are provided on said circuit breaker means; and said latch means is pivotally mounted on said housing means for engagement with said roller means and said support rail means and is operable by said roller means upon movement of said circuit breaker means to a second position within said housing means to allow extension of said support rail means and to prevent further outward movement of said circuit breaker means until said support rail means are fully extended. Preferably, said housing means has a pair of side walls with respective horizontally disposed slots in which said roller means extend. Preferably, said latch means comprises a latch lever having a first arm extending into a path of said roller means and a second arm having a laterally extending flange underlying said support rail means; said support rail means is provided with a notch adjacent one end thereof for receiving said laterally extending flange on said latch means to prevent extention of said support rail means; and upon engagement of said first arm of said latch means pivots out of said notch to bring said flange into engagement with the bottom edge of said support rail means to allow withdrawal of said rail means while still preventing movement of said roller means. Expediently, said support rail means is further provided with a tapered bottom edge adjacent the other end thereof for permitting further pivotal movement of said latch means to allow said circuit breaker means to be drawn outwardly onto said support rail means. Expediently, said support rail means is adapted to be extendably mounted on said housing means by means of a horizontally elongated slot provided therein and a pin secured to said housing means and located in said slot. The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of a preferred embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: Figures 1 is a perspective view of a circuit breaker in the fully engaged position in a housing; Figure 2 is a side elevation view of the circuit breaker in the fully engaged position within the housing and the support rails latched in retracted position; Figure 3 is a side elevation view similar to Figure 1 showing the circuit breaker in the disengaged position within the housing with the support rails' still retracted but unlatc'led; ; Figure 4 is a side elevation view of the circuit breaker with the support rails fully extended and the circuit breaker fully removed from said housing on said support rails; Figure 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the outer end of a support rail and the latch means as so ciated therewith; Figure 6 is an enlarged side elevation view of the arrangement shown in Figure 5 with the circuit breaker in the fully engaged position and the latch means preventing withdrawal of the support rail; Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 6 with the circuit breaker disengaged and the latch means in position -to allow extension of the support rail while preventing removal of said circuit breaker from the housing; ; Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 7 showing the rail in the fully extended position and the latch in a position to allow withdrawal of the circuit breaker from the housing onto the support rails; and Figure 9 is a view similar to Figure 8 showing the relationship of the roller and latch to permit insertion of the circuit breaker. The drawer-type circuit breaker device according to the present invention is comprised of a circuit breaker assembly 12 carried by a frame 10 which in turn is movably mounted within a fixed frame 14. . . . . Identical support means latch means and operating means are provided on opposite sides of the circuit breaker assembly but will only be described with respect to the side of the circuit breaker assembly visible in the drawings. The support means is comprised of a pair of rollers 13a and 13b mounted on the side of - the movable frame 10 of the circuit breaker assembly and an elongated horizontal slot 14a formed in the side of the fixed frame 14. The forward end of the slot 14a is open to allow the circuit breaker assembly to be completely withdrawn from the fixed frame 14 and a vertically extending notch l4b intersects the slot 14a to accommodate an actuating roller 25 as will be described in greater detail here- inafter. The rollers 13a and 13b are grooved and ride on the lower surface of the slot 14a. The upper edge of the slot 14a extends within the grooves on the rollers with limited clearance so as to reduce the vertical movement of the circuit breaker assembly relative to the fixed frame to a minimum while providing for ease of horizontal movement. An extendable support rail 16 is movably mounted on the outside of the side wall of the fixed frame 14 by means of a headed pin 15 secured to the sides of the fixed frame ;4 and located in an elongated closed; horizontal slot 16a. when the support rail 16 is in, its retracted position as shown in Figure 2, the inner end of the support rail 16 will be supported by the pin l5a extending outwardly from the side of the fixed" frame 14. The upper edge of the support rail 16 is coincident with the lower edge of the slot 14a so that the rollers 13Åa and 13b also rest in rolling engage ment on the upper edge of the support rail 16. The lower forward edge of the fixed frame 14 is bent out-; wardly at 14c as best seen in -Figure 5 so as to provide an additional sliding support for the support rail 16. The lower edge of the support rail 16 is provided with a triangular notch 21 adjacent the forward end of the slot 16a as best seen in Figure 6. When the support rail 16 is in the completely retracted position as shown in Figure 6 the rearward end 21a of the notch 21 is spaced forwardly a distance A from the center of the pin 15. A latch member 17 is pivotally mounted on the pin 15 outwardly of the support rail 16. One arm 19 of the latch lever 17 extends above the lower edge of the slot 14 when the latch lever is in the latching position shown in Figure 6 and is provided with a slopping surface 19a which is adapted to be engaged by the roller 13a upon disconnecting the circuit breaker assembly. The other arm of the latch lever 17 is provided with a laterally. extending flange 20 which is adapted to extend beneath the support rail 16. The latch lever 17 is biased in the clockwise direction by a spring 18 connected between the lever 17 and the fixed frame 14. In operation, the latch lever 17 is normally. biased by the spring 18 into the position shown in Figures 1, 2 and 6 when the circuit breaker assembly is fully inserted into the fixed frame 14 and the support rails 16 are fully retracted. In this position, the upper surface 20a of the flange 20 on the latch lever 17 will engage the surface 21b of the notch 21 C, in the bottom edge of the support rail 16 with a force indicated by the arrow F. Therefore, the support rails 16 will be prevented from being moved horizontally into an extended position. Upon disconnection' of the circuit breaker assembly, by means to be described hereinafter, the roller 13a will move into en- gagement with the latch lever 17 as shown in Figures 3 and 7 to pivot the latch lever 17 against the force of the spring 18. The upper surface 20a of the flange 20 of the latch lever 17 will then come into engagement with the horizontal bottom edge of the guide rail 16 to prevent further pivotal movement. Therefore, the arm 19 of the latch lever 17 will still be in position. to prevent further withdrawal of the circuit breaker assembly due to engagement of the roller 13a with the. edge 19a of the latch lever 17. Since the latch no longer engages the notch 21 in the guide rail 16, the guide rails 16 may be extended to the positions shown in Figures 4, 8 and 9. Once the guide rails 16 are extended to their outermost position as determined by the length of the slot 16a, the chamfered surface 16b on the lower rear edge of the rail 16 will be disposed next to the flange 20 on the latch lever 17. Thus, the outward movement of the circuit breaker assembly will now be permitted and the roller 13a will pivot the latch lever 17 in a counterclockwise direction as seen in Figure 8. The circuit breaker assembly can then be withdrawn from the fixed housing 14 to the extent shown in Figure 4 wherein the roller 13a will engage the upstanding stop 16d at the end of the guide rail 16. When it is desired to reinsert the circuitt breaker assembly into the fixed housing 14, the circuit breaker assembly will be moved in the direction of the arrow in Figure 9 and the rollers 13a and 13b will sequentially engage the latch lever 17 with a force indicated by the arrow P to force the latch lever in the counterclockwise, direction thereby permitting passage of the rollers from the extended support, rails into the slots 14a in the sides of the fixed housing 14. In order to engage and disengage the contacts of the circuit breaker assembly as it moves into and out of the fully inserted position, power operated actuacting levers 23 are pivotally mounted at 24 on opposite sides of the movable frame 10 of the circuit breaker assembly. While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

Claims: CLAIMS: 1. A drawer-type circuit breaker arrangement compris ing: a housing means (14); circuit breaker means (12) being movably supported by roller means (13a, 13b) within said housing means (14); extendable support rail means (16) on said housing means (14) for supporting said circuit breaker means (12) by means of said roller means (13a, 13b); and latch means (17) for initially preventing extension of said support rail means (16) when said circuit breaker means (12) is in a first position within said housing means (14), characterised in that: said roller means (13a, 13b) are provided on said circuit breaker means (12); and said latch means (17) is pivotally mounted on said housing means (14) for engagement with said roller means (13a, 13b) and said support rail means (16) and is operable by said roller means (13a, 13b) upon movement of said circuit breaker means (12) to a second position within said housing means (14) to allow extension of said support rail means and to prevent further outward movement of said circuit breaker means (12) until said support rail means (16) are fully extended. 2. A drawer-type circuit breaker arrangement accord ing to claim 1, characterised by said housing means (14) having a pair of side walls with respec tive horizontally disposed slots (14a) in which said roller means (13a, 13b) extend. 3. A drawer-type circuit breaker arrangement accord ing to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that said latch means (17) comprises a latch lever (17) hav ing a first arm (19) extending into a path of said roller means (13a, 13b) and a second arm hav ing a laterally extending flange (20) underlying said support rail means (16); said support rail means (16) is provided with a notch (21-) adjacent one end thereof for receiving said laterally extend ing flange (20) on said latch means (17) to pre Vent extension of said support rail means (16); and upon engagement of said first arm (19) of said latch means (17) pivots out of said notch (21) to bring said flange (20) into engagement with the bottom edge of said support rail means (16) to allow withdrawal of said rail means (16) while still preventing movement of said roller means (13a, 13b). 4. A drawer-type circuit breaker arrangement accord ing to claim 3, characterised in that said support rail means (16) is further provided with a tapered bottom edge (16b) adjacent the other end thereof for permitting further pivotal movement of said latch means (17) to allow said circuit breaker means (12) to be drawn outwardly onto said support rail means (16). 5. A drawer-type circuit breaker arrangement accord ing to claim 4, characterised in that said support rail means (16) is adapted to be extendably mount ed on said housing means (14) by means of a hori zontally elongated slot (16a) provided therein and a pin (15) secured to said housing means (14) and located in said slot (16a).

Inventors: EGUCHI, KIYOSHI C/O MITSUBISHI DENKI, GENBA, YASUSHI C/O MITSUBISHI DENKI, ISHIKAWA, TAKAYOSHI C/O MITSUBISHI DENKI, TAMARU, SHIGEMI C/O MITSUBISHI DENKI
Applicants: MITSUBISHI DENKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1982
Main classification: H02B11
IPC codes: H02B11