Patent ID: 7910850

Claim:
A push-to-trip assembly for an electrical switching apparatus, said electrical switching apparatus including a housing, separable contacts and a trip bar cooperating with an operating mechanism to trip open said separable contacts, said housing including a base, a cover coupled to the base, and an exterior, said push-to-trip assembly comprising: a push-to-trip actuator structured to be movably coupled to the base of said housing, said push-to-trip actuator comprising a first end and a second end disposed opposite and distal from the first end, said push-to-trip actuator being further structured to move among a first position corresponding to said separable contacts being closeable, and a second position corresponding to the second end of said push-to-trip actuator cooperating with said trip bar to cause said operating mechanism to trip open said separable contacts, the first end of said push-to-trip actuator being structured to be accessible from the exterior of said housing to actuate said push-to-trip actuator from said first position to said second position; a biasing element structured to bias said push-to-trip actuator away from the base of said housing toward said first position; at least one cover stop disposed on said push-to-trip actuator, said at least one cover stop being structured to engage a corresponding portion of the cover of said housing to stop movement of said push-to-trip actuator away from the base of said housing; and an overtravel restraint disposed proximate the second end of said push-to-trip actuator, said overtravel restraint being structured to restrain movement of said trip bar.