Patent ID: 7569784

Claim:
A bearing assembly for an electrical switching apparatus including a housing having a molded cover, a molded base a mating line between said molded cover and said molded base, and an exterior side, a stationary contact assembly disposed on one side of said mating line of said housing, a movable contact assembly, and an operating mechanism including a pole shaft for moving said movable contact assembly into and out of electrical contact with said stationary contact assembly, said bearing assembly comprising: a number of primary bearings structured to pivotably support said pole shaft of said operating mechanism substantially independent of said mating line of said housing, said number of primary bearings being structured to couple said pole shaft to the same one of said molded cover of said housing and said molded base of said housing as said stationary contact assembly of said electrical switching apparatus; an integral bearing section structured to pivotably couple said pole shaft of said operating mechanism to said housing of said electrical switching apparatus; and at least one bearing cover member including a bearing surface and a fastening portion structured to be coupled to the exterior side of said housing of said electrical switching apparatus, wherein when said fastening portion of said at least one bearing cover member is coupled to the exterior side of said housing, said pole shaft of said operating mechanism is pivotably disposed between said integral bearing section and said bearing surface of said at least one bearing cover member on the exterior side of said housing, and wherein said number of primary bearings, said integral bearing section and said at least one bearing cover member are structured to be fixedly disposed with respect to said housing.