Patent Description:
In general, a circuit breaker has a fixed contact and a movable contact that may move to a closing position for closing an alive circuit in contact with the fixed contact and to a breaking (trip) position for opening the alive circuit separated from the fixed contact, and the fixed contact and the movable contact are always in contact with each other to allow current to flow. When overcurrent occurs due to a failure at a predefined position on a line, the circuit breaker quickly disconnects the movable contact from the fixed contact and breaks the current, thereby protecting internal circuits and accessories of electronic devices from the overcurrent. The circuit breaker as described above as a device used for providing/breaking high-voltage electric power, such as in a power plant or a substation, has an actuator that may quickly block/separate contact points of the fixed and movable contacts, which are in contact with each other, from each other when necessary. Schemes for driving the actuator may be divided into a manual manipulation scheme, a solenoid manipulation scheme, and a closing spring manipulation scheme. In this regard, the closing spring manipulation scheme via energy-accumulating unit among the schemes for driving the actuator charges a closing spring to be in a state in which energy thereof may be accumulated by a rotational force. Further, in order to prevent accidents when the overcurrent occurs, the closing spring that has accumulated the energy is relaxed to separate the movable contact from the fixed contact and break the current flow.

However, in the existing circuit breaker, the energy-accumulating unit is disposed in a body, so that, after opening a door of the body, the closing spring is charged manually to be in a re-closing state. In this case, there is a problem that an operator is exposed to high voltage. In order to solve such problem, a structure capable of manually charging the closing spring by inputting the rotational force from the outside of the body via manual energy-accumulating unit was developed.

However, in order to input the rotational force from the outside, gears, for example, bevel gears, of the manual energy-accumulating unit are always engaged with each other inside the energy-accumulating unit. In this case, even when the manual energy-accumulating unit is not used, when an electric motor of the energy-accumulating unit is operated, the bevel gears may be instantaneously in a non-rotatable state depending on machined and assembled states of the engaged bevel gears. Further, when the bevel gears become in the non-rotatable state as described above, the electric motor may also become unable to rotate and may be damaged. As the charging of the circuit breaker becomes impossible, insertion of the circuit breaker in abnormal situations such as the overcurrent becomes impossible.

<CIT> discloses a circuit breaker. The circuit breaker is provided inside a circuit breaker body portion having a door and being connected to an operating mechanism that is rotated by a rotational force transmitted from the outside so that contacts of the stationary contactor and the movable contactor are brought into contact with each other.

A purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a circuit breaker that, even when manual energy-accumulating unit is disposed, may prevent burnout and damage of energy-accumulating unit.

Purposes of the present disclosure are not limited to the above-mentioned purpose. Other purposes and advantages of the present disclosure that are not mentioned above may be understood based on following descriptions, and will be more clearly understood with reference to embodiments of the present disclosure. Further, it will be readily apparent that the purposes and advantages of the present disclosure may be realized using unit and combinations thereof indicated in the Claims.

The purpose of the present invention is achieved by the circuit breaker according to claim <NUM>.

In one implementation of the circuit breaker, the electromotive energy-accumulating unit includes a cam shaft-linked groove connected to the cam shaft, an auxiliary output gear disposed in the cam shaft-linked groove, at least one linkage gear linked with the auxiliary output gear, and an electric motor for rotating the linkage gear.

In one implementation of the circuit breaker, the linkage gear includes an electric motor gear linked with a rotation shaft of the electric motor, a primary gear linked with the electric motor gear, a primary upper gear linked with a rotation shaft of the primary gear, a secondary gear linked with the primary gear, and a tertiary gear disposed between the secondary gear and the auxiliary output gear and linked with the secondary gear and the auxiliary output gear.

In one implementation of the circuit breaker, the manual energy-accumulating unit includes a secondary bevel gear linked with the linkage gear, a primary bevel gear engaged with the secondary bevel gear by the external force, a shaft that is a rotation shaft of the primary bevel gear, a spring support formed on the shaft to be spaced apart from the primary bevel gear, a rotation key protruding from a side face in a length direction of the shaft in an area of an end of the shaft, a bush formed in a cylindrical shape with only one side open as a bottom plate is formed between the primary bevel gear and the spring support, wherein a position of the bush is fixed, and a manual energy-accumulating spring disposed between the bottom plate of the bush and the spring support, wherein the manual energy-accumulating spring provides an elastic force in a direction for separating the primary bevel gear from the secondary bevel gear.

In one implementation of the circuit breaker, the secondary bevel gear is linked with a rotation shaft of an integral gear linked with the primary upper gear, and a direction of the external force is a clockwise direction.

The circuit breaker according to the present disclosure may separate the primary bevel gear and the secondary bevel gear from each other in normal times and allow the primary bevel gear and the secondary bevel gear to be engaged with each other only during the manual energy-accumulating, thereby preventing the damage and the deformation of the energy-accumulating unit.

In addition to the above-described effects, the specific effects of the present disclosure will be described together while describing specific details for carrying out the invention below.

The above objects, features and advantages will be described in detail later with reference to the accompanying drawings. Accordingly, a person with ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present disclosure belongs will be able to easily implement the technical idea of the present disclosure. In describing the present disclosure, when it is determined that a detailed description of a known component related to the present disclosure may unnecessarily obscure gist the present disclosure, the detailed description is omitted. Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment according to the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numerals are used to indicate the same or similar elements.

In addition, it will also be understood that when a first element or layer is referred to as being present "on" or "beneath" a second element or layer, the first element may be disposed directly on or beneath the second element or may be disposed indirectly on or beneath the second element with a third element or layer being disposed between the first and second elements or layers.

Hereinafter, a circuit breaker according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.

<FIG> are schematic perspective views of a circuit breaker according to the present disclosure. <FIG> is a view with a door removed, <FIG> is a view showing the door, and <FIG> is a view with a door cover open and a manual energy-accumulating handle inserted.

As shown in <FIG>, the circuit breaker according to the present disclosure includes a body <NUM>, circuit breaking unit <NUM> disposed in the body <NUM> and in which contact points of a fixed contact and a movable contact are in contact with each other, and energy-accumulating unit <NUM> for accumulating energy of a closing spring that actuates the circuit breaking unit <NUM>.

The body <NUM> accommodates the circuit breaking unit <NUM> and the energy-accumulating unit <NUM> therein, and has a door <NUM> that may be opened and closed on at least one face thereof. Further, the door <NUM> may have a door cover <NUM> that is opened and closed such that a manual energy-accumulating handle C for driving manual energy-accumulating unit <NUM> to be described later is inserted thereinto. In another example, door cover <NUM> may be omitted.

<FIG> is a schematic side view of circuit breaking unit in a circuit breaker according to the present disclosure.

The circuit breaking unit <NUM> is disposed in the body <NUM> and breaks or closes (applies current to) a circuit by a closing spring. Such circuit breaking unit <NUM> includes a drive shaft <NUM> that pivots in a vertical direction by the energy-accumulating unit <NUM>, a drive link <NUM> that performs a vertical reciprocating motion by the drive shaft <NUM>, a drive link <NUM> that pivots in the vertical direction by the vertical reciprocating motion of the drive link <NUM>, a movable contact <NUM> that controls closing (electrical conduction) and breaking of the circuit breaker fixed via a fixed contact <NUM>, and the fixed contact <NUM>. Because of such structure, when an overcurrent or an accidental current occurs in the state in which the energy of the closing spring is accumulated, the closing spring may be released (relaxed) to separate the movable contact <NUM> from the fixed contact <NUM>.

In another example, the mechanical portion according to the present disclosure may not be limited to the above-described structure, and any structure may be applied as long as it is a structure capable of breaking the circuit by being driven by the closing spring.

The energy-accumulating unit <NUM> is for accumulating the energy of the closing spring, and includes main energy-accumulating unit <NUM> for accumulating the energy of the closing spring, and auxiliary energy-accumulating unit <NUM> for accumulating the energy of the closing spring by driving the main energy-accumulating unit <NUM> via an electric motor <NUM> or manual manipulation.

<FIG> is a perspective view of the main energy-accumulating unit in a circuit breaker according to the present disclosure.

The main energy-accumulating unit <NUM> includes a manual handle <NUM>, a cam shaft <NUM> to which the manual handle <NUM> is coupled, a main output gear <NUM> that transmits a rotational force received via the cam shaft <NUM> to a cam shaft, and a main energy-accumulating casing <NUM> that accommodates the main output gear <NUM> therein. Because of such structure, in the main energy-accumulating unit <NUM>, when the manual handle <NUM> pivots to one side, and the cam shaft <NUM> connected to the manual handle <NUM> also rotates. Thus, the main output gear <NUM> may be operated to manually accumulate the energy of the closing spring. That is, in the main energy-accumulating unit <NUM>, the auxiliary energy-accumulating unit <NUM> as well as the manual handle <NUM> are connected, so that not only the energy-accumulating of the closing spring by the electric motor <NUM> of the auxiliary energy-accumulating unit <NUM>, but also energy-accumulating of the closing spring by the manual handle <NUM> and energy-accumulating of the closing spring by the manual energy-accumulating handle C are possible.

<FIG> is a perspective view of auxiliary energy-accumulating unit in a circuit breaker according to the present disclosure.

The auxiliary energy-accumulating unit <NUM> rotates the cam shaft <NUM> (in <FIG>) by the electric motor <NUM> or the manual energy-accumulating handle C to accumulate the energy of the closing spring. For this purpose, the auxiliary energy-accumulating unit <NUM> includes electromotive energy-accumulating unit <NUM> and manual energy-accumulating unit <NUM>.

<FIG> is a perspective view of electromotive energy-accumulating unit in a circuit breaker according to the present disclosure. <FIG> is a front view of electromotive energy-accumulating unit in a circuit breaker according to the present disclosure.

When control power is supplied to the electric motor <NUM>, the electromotive energy-accumulating unit <NUM> causes an auxiliary output gear <NUM> to rotate in response to the operation of the electric motor <NUM>. In this regard, at a position between the electric motor <NUM> and the auxiliary output gear <NUM>, at least one linkage gear for linking the electric motor <NUM> and the auxiliary output gear <NUM> to each other may be disposed.

This embodiment exemplifies a primary gear <NUM>, a secondary gear <NUM>, and a tertiary gear <NUM> as the at least one linkage gear. Further, in this embodiment, when the electric motor <NUM> rotates, the electric motor gear <NUM> rotates, and as the electric motor gear <NUM> rotates, the primary gear <NUM>, the secondary gear <NUM>, the tertiary gear <NUM>, and the auxiliary output gear <NUM> sequentially rotate by being linked to each other. Further, a cam shaft-linked groove <NUM> connected to the auxiliary output gear <NUM> is assembled with the cam shaft <NUM> to enable a closing spring charging operation.

<FIG> is a schematic perspective view of an auxiliary energy-accumulating unit in a circuit breaker according to the present disclosure, and <FIG> is a schematic perspective view of an auxiliary energy-accumulating unit into which a manual energy-accumulating handle is inserted in a circuit breaker according to the present disclosure. <FIG> is a schematic exploded perspective view of manual energy-accumulating unit in a circuit breaker according to the present disclosure.

The manual energy-accumulating unit <NUM> rotates the auxiliary output gear <NUM> manually from the outside, so that the energy of the closing spring is accumulated. More specifically, referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, when the manual energy-accumulating handle C pivots in one direction, for example, in a clockwise direction, the primary bevel gear <NUM> also rotates in the clockwise direction. Further, the secondary bevel gear <NUM> linked with the primary bevel gear <NUM> also rotates. When the secondary bevel gear <NUM> rotates, a gear <NUM> integral with the secondary bevel gear <NUM> also rotates to drive a primary upper gear <NUM>. Accordingly, the secondary gear <NUM>, the tertiary gear <NUM>, and the auxiliary output gear <NUM> rotate to perform the charging operation of the mechanism.

As shown in <FIG>, the manual energy-accumulating unit <NUM> includes the primary bevel gear <NUM> engaged with the secondary bevel gear <NUM> by compression, a shaft <NUM> that is a rotation shaft of the primary bevel gear <NUM>, a spring support <NUM> disposed on the shaft <NUM> so as to be spaced apart from the primary bevel gear <NUM>, a rotation key <NUM> protruding from a side face in a length direction of the shaft <NUM> at an end of the shaft <NUM>, a bush <NUM> having a cylindrical shape with only one side open as a bottom plate is formed, wherein the bottom plate is located between the primary bevel gear <NUM> and the spring support <NUM> and fixed to an auxiliary energy-accumulating casing <NUM>, and a manual energy-accumulating spring <NUM> disposed between the bottom plate of the bush <NUM> and the spring support <NUM>.

The primary bevel gear <NUM> is engaged with the secondary bevel gear <NUM> to rotate the secondary bevel gear <NUM>. In this regard, the present disclosure makes the primary bevel gear <NUM> to be spaced apart from the secondary bevel gear <NUM> when the manual energy-accumulating unit <NUM> is not in operation, and makes the primary bevel gear <NUM> to be engaged with the secondary bevel gear <NUM> only when the manual energy-accumulating unit <NUM> is in operation.

The shaft <NUM> is formed in a shape extending from the rotation shaft of the primary bevel gear <NUM>. The other side of such shaft <NUM> is exposed to the outside of the auxiliary energy-accumulating casing <NUM> through the bush <NUM>, which will be described later, and the shaft <NUM> rotates in engagement with the manual energy-accumulating handle C to rotate the primary bevel gear <NUM> disposed on one side thereof.

The spring support <NUM> is disposed on the shaft <NUM> to support one side of the manual energy-accumulating spring <NUM>. Further, spring support <NUM> is disposed on the shaft <NUM> to be spaced apart from the primary bevel gear <NUM>. This embodiment illustrates an O-ring as the spring support <NUM>. However, the present disclosure may not be limited thereto, and the spring support <NUM> may be formed to extend and protrude circularly from the shaft <NUM> without being coupled to the shaft <NUM> in the form of the O-ring. Further, the present disclosure may support said one side of the manual energy-accumulating spring <NUM> by protruding a protrusion from a side face of the shaft <NUM> like the rotation key <NUM> instead of the O-ring-shaped spring support <NUM>. That is, the present disclosure is not limited in the shape and the structure of the spring support <NUM> as long as it is able to support said one side of the manual energy-accumulating spring <NUM>.

When the manual energy-accumulating unit <NUM> is operated, the rotation key <NUM> is coupled to the manual energy-accumulating handle C to rotate the shaft <NUM>. That is, the rotation key <NUM> serves as a protrusion for rotating the shaft <NUM>, and is disposed on the other side of the shaft <NUM> to protrude in a direction intersecting the length direction of the shaft <NUM>. Further, the rotation key <NUM> is disposed on the other side of the shaft <NUM> to be disposed on the other side of the spring support <NUM>, that is, the primary bevel gear <NUM>, the spring support <NUM>, and the rotation key <NUM> are disposed on the shaft <NUM> in the order.

The bush <NUM> supports the other side of the manual energy-accumulating spring <NUM> and supports the manual energy-accumulating handle C, which is inserted thereinto when the manual energy-accumulating unit <NUM> is operated. To this end, the bush <NUM> has the cylindrical shape having the hollow defined therein with only one side open as the bottom plate is formed on one side as described above, and a hole is defined in the bottom plate to allow the shaft <NUM> to extend therethrough. Further, an inner face of the bottom plate of said one side supports the other side of the manual energy-accumulating spring <NUM>, and the aforementioned spring support <NUM> supports said one side of the manual energy-accumulating spring <NUM>. In this regard, the bush <NUM> is fixed by being coupled to the auxiliary energy-accumulating casing <NUM>, so that the shaft <NUM> equipped with the primary bevel gear <NUM>, the spring support <NUM>, and the rotation key <NUM> may reciprocate through the fixed bush <NUM>. In another example, because the spring support <NUM> is exposed to the outside of the auxiliary energy-accumulating casing <NUM> through the bush <NUM> and a bottom face of the bush <NUM> is located inside the auxiliary energy-accumulating casing <NUM>, the shaft <NUM> equipped with the primary bevel gear <NUM>, the spring support <NUM>, and the rotation key <NUM> does not deviate from the fixed bush <NUM>.

The manual energy-accumulating spring <NUM> is positioned between the bottom plate of the fixed bush <NUM> and the spring support <NUM> disposed on the reciprocating shaft <NUM>. Further, accordingly, the spring support <NUM> is pushed from the bush <NUM>, so that the shaft <NUM> equipped with the spring support <NUM> is also pushed out of the auxiliary energy-accumulating casing <NUM>. Therefore, the primary bevel gear <NUM> disposed on one side of the shaft <NUM> is also pushed out together with the shaft <NUM> to be separated from the secondary bevel gear <NUM>. In another example, when the manual energy-accumulating handle C is inserted into the bush <NUM>, is coupled with the other side of the shaft <NUM> and the rotation key <NUM>, and then applies a pressure to the shaft <NUM>, the manual energy-accumulating spring <NUM> is compressed. Further, when the manual energy-accumulating spring <NUM> is compressed, the spring support <NUM> is moved into the auxiliary energy-accumulating casing <NUM>, and accordingly, the shaft <NUM> coupled with the spring support <NUM> and the primary bevel gear <NUM> disposed on said one side of the shaft <NUM> are also moved together and engaged with the secondary bevel gear <NUM>.

<FIG> is a perspective view of manual energy-accumulating unit before a shaft is compressed in a circuit breaker according to the present disclosure, and <FIG> is a plan view of auxiliary energy-accumulating unit in a state before a manual energy-accumulating handle is inserted to compress a shaft in a circuit breaker according to the present disclosure.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, before the manual energy-accumulating unit <NUM> is operated, that is, before the manual energy-accumulating handle C presses the shaft <NUM>, the manual energy-accumulating spring <NUM> presses the spring support <NUM> to increase a gap between the bush <NUM> and the spring support <NUM>. In this regard, the bush <NUM> is fixed in position, so that only the spring support <NUM> is moved away from the bush <NUM>, and the shaft <NUM> coupled with the spring support <NUM> and the primary bevel gear <NUM> disposed on said one side of the shaft <NUM> are also moved following the spring support <NUM>. Further, accordingly, the primary bevel gear <NUM> may be separated from the secondary bevel gear <NUM>, and the secondary bevel gear <NUM> may rotate without the influence of the primary bevel gear <NUM> when the electromotive energy-accumulating unit <NUM> is operated. That is, the present disclosure makes a distance between the primary bevel gear <NUM> and the bottom plate of the bush <NUM> the same as a distance between the secondary bevel gear <NUM> and the bottom plate of the bush <NUM> when the manual energy-accumulating spring <NUM> is compressed, so that the primary bevel gear <NUM> and the secondary bevel gear <NUM> are engaged with each other only when the manual energy-accumulating spring is compressed.

<FIG> is a perspective view of manual energy-accumulating unit after a shaft is compressed in a circuit breaker according to the present disclosure, and <FIG> is a plan view of auxiliary energy-accumulating unit in a state in which a manual energy-accumulating handle is inserted and compresses a shaft in a circuit breaker according to the present disclosure.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, when the manual energy-accumulating unit <NUM> is operated, that is, the manual energy-accumulating handle C is inserted into the manual energy-accumulating unit <NUM> and compresses the shaft <NUM>, the spring support <NUM> is compressed by the manual energy-accumulating handle C to compress the manual energy-accumulating spring <NUM>. In this case, because the position of the bush <NUM> is fixed, only the spring support <NUM> comes close to the bush <NUM>, and the shaft <NUM> coupled with the spring support <NUM> and the primary bevel gear <NUM> disposed on said one side of the shaft <NUM> are moved along the spring support <NUM>. Accordingly, the primary bevel gear <NUM> is engaged with the secondary bevel gear <NUM>, and the secondary bevel gear <NUM> is also rotated by the primary bevel gear <NUM> that rotates in response to the pivoting of the manual energy-accumulating handle C, thereby accumulating the energy of the closing spring.

As described above, the present disclosure separates the secondary bevel gear and the primary bevel gear from each other in normal times, and allows the secondary bevel gear and the primary bevel gear to be engaged with each other only during the manual energy-accumulating, thereby preventing the damage and the deformation of the energy-accumulating unit.

Claim 1:
A circuit breaker comprising:
circuit breaking unit (<NUM>) including a fixed contact (<NUM>) and a movable contact (<NUM>) whose contact points are in contact with each other; and
an energy-accumulating unit (<NUM>) for accumulating energy of a closing spring for controlling the contact between the fixed contact (<NUM>) and the movable contact (<NUM>),
wherein the energy-accumulating unit (<NUM>) includes:
a main energy-accumulating unit (<NUM>) including a cam shaft (<NUM>), a main output gear (<NUM>) disposed on the cam shaft (<NUM>), and a main energy-accumulating casing (<NUM>) for accommodating the main output gear (<NUM>); and
an auxiliary energy-accumulating unit (<NUM>) including an electromotive energy-accumulating unit (<NUM>) linked with the cam shaft (<NUM>), and a manual energy-accumulating unit (<NUM>) linked with the electromotive energy-accumulating unit (<NUM>), wherein bevel gears inside the manual energy-accumulating unit (<NUM>) are engaged with each other by an external force to transmit the input external force to the electromotive energy-accumulating unit (<NUM>) to accumulate the energy of the closing spring;
wherein the bevel gears comprise a primary bevel gear (<NUM>) and a secondary bevel gear (<NUM>),
characterised in that
the primary bevel gear (<NUM>) and the secondary bevel gear (<NUM>) are arranged to be spaced apart from each other when the manual energy-accumulating unit (<NUM>) is not in operation, and
wherein the primary bevel gear (<NUM>) and the secondary bevel gear (<NUM>) are arranged to be engaged with each other when the manual energy-accumulating unit (<NUM>) is in operation.