Description:
The present invention relates to a trip Indicator and more particularly, to the method of trip reset for Latching relay.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A relay is an electrical switch with electromagnet or solid-state devices along with required logic inbuilt to operate the main switch/device for an intended function. In a protective relay, relay is designed to trip the circuit when it detects an abnormal operating condition such as over-current, over-voltage, single phasing, ground fault and phase unbalance fault is detected.
The electronic overload relay (along with contactor) used for protecting the motors from the different types of faults as listed above use a latching relay which is toggled to trip/reset the relay. The relay is required to be showing its status (Healthy/Trip) to understand and act/respond accordingly by the customer. Also, it is required to be manually reset the fault when the relay is in trip condition.
The 202321063889 discloses a slider-crank mechanism for snap motion, includes a slider configured for reciprocating linear motion along a defined path, a double crank assembly, including an input crank and an idler crank, both rotatably coupled to a fixed axis, a crank connected to the slider for controlling its motion, said crank being rotatably coupled to the double crank assembly pin affixed to the idler crank, said pin positioned to engage with the input crank during a specific phase of its rotation, a spring connected to the slider and operable to store and release potential energy, wherein the release of energy from the spring imparts rapid acceleration to the slider, and the double crank assembly and the interaction between the input crank, the idler crank, and the pin are configured to enable precise control over when the slider experiences snap motion. this prior art exhibits a rapid increase in speed during the lower end of its downstroke due to the action of a spring.
The technical problem exists with the available electronic overload relay is that the electronic overload relay’s Trip reset mechanism involves complex mechanism, Costly, not reliable.
Hence there is a need for a device to be developed which is free from the above-mentioned issues.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple trip reset mechanism to reset the fault and depict the state if the relay as – Trip/Healthy with accuracy through color flag indication which helps to reduce assembly time, cost, and to improve reliability of the product.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple trip reset mechanism helps to reset the relay manually and to depict/indicate the status of the relay.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The following disclosure presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the present invention. It is not intended to identify the key/critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concept of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description of the invention presented later.

In one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for resetting a tripped relay after the fault is cleared using reset mechanism, comprising the steps of:
pressing a reset button (6) against a torsion spring (8), wherein the reset button (6) is coupled to a coupler (3);
touching the coupler (3) with the reset button (6), pushing it down to reset a latching relay (1) connected to the relay;
releasing the reset button (6), allowing it to return to its original position due to the torsion spring (8);
observing through a cut-out window in a top cover (9) to view the restoration of the relay to a normal operating condition, indicated by the visibility of a white color section.
In one aspect of the present invention there is provided a fault indication and fault reset system, comprising:
a relay configured to trip in the event of a fault;
a coupler (3) operatively connected to said relay, said coupler (3) configured to move upward in response to the tripping of the relay;
a bell crank (2) configured to rotate upward/clockwise by a suitable angle upon the upward movement of the coupler (3);
a slider linked to said bell crank (2), said slider movable inwards upon rotation of the bell crank (2), causing a red color section to become visible through a cut-out window in a top cover (9), indicating a tripped condition of the relay;
a reset button (6) coupled to said coupler (3) and a torsion spring (8), said reset button(6) manually operable to reset the relay;
wherein, pressing the reset button (6) down against the torsion spring (8) causes the reset button (6) to contact the coupler (3), pushing it down and resetting the latching relay (1);
and wherein, the reset button (6) returns to its original position due to the torsion spring (8), and through the cut-out window, a white color section becomes visible, signifying that the relay is operating normally.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be more apparent in the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates shows the Slider/Trip indicator (4) which is color marked to indicate the state of the relay as either in Healthy/ON condition or in Trip condition.
Figure 2 illustrates shows the Top cover (9) placed on above the slider which has a cut-out window from which the slider and its color marking is seen.
Figure 3 illustrates shows the bell crank (2) component, which attaches itself to the slider on one end and coupler (3) on another end.
Figure 4 illustrates the next component of this mechanism called as the coupler (3).
Figure 5 illustrates the Front and Back view of Latching relay (1).
Figure 6 illustrates depicts how the four components (Slider, Slider support (5), Coupler (3) & Bell crank (2)) assembled to make the bell crank(2) mechanism assembly.
Figure 7 illustrates hows the Reset button (6) which is placed on above the coupler (3).
Figure 8 illustrates the Reset button (6) assembly where the Reset button (6) is guided on the housing which securely encapsulates the reset button.
Figure 9 illustrates the complete assembly with all components.
Figure 10 illustrates the exploded view of the assembly with all its components.
Figure 11 illustrates the Isometric of the assembly with all its components.
Figure 12 illustrates the two different state of the relay and how the mechanism is operating when the state changes.

Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and may not have been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of various embodiments of the present disclosure as defined by the claims and their equivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding, but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the various embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

All terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which various embodiments belong. Further, the meaning of terms or words used in the specification and the claims should not be limited to the literal or commonly employed sense but should be construed in accordance with the spirit of the disclosure to most properly describe the present disclosure.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular various embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of various embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising" used herein specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, members, components, and/or groups thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, members, components, and/or groups thereof.

The present disclosure will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which various embodiments of the present disclosure are shown.

In one embodiment present invention describes about converting vertical motion into horizontal motion and through which indicating the status of the relay.

In one embodiment present invention describes a method for resetting a tripped relay after the fault is cleared using reset mechanism, comprising the steps of pressing a reset button against a torsion spring (8), wherein the reset button (6) is coupled to a coupler (3), touching the coupler (3) with the reset button (6), pushing it down to reset a latching relay (1) connected to the relay, releasing the reset button (6), allowing it to return to its original position due to the torsion spring (8), observing through a cut-out window in a top cover (9) to verify the restoration of the relay to a normal operating condition, indicated by the visibility of a white color section.

According to one implementation of the present invention, the methodology of the Trip & Healthy/Reset using this mechanism will be as follows:

 As indicated before if red color is being shown that indicates that the relay is in tripped condition. And white color indicates that the relay is operating normally or in Healthy condition.

 In normal operating/Healthy condition, the coupler (3) stays in downwards position and the slider stays in outwards/left position such that the White color section is visible from the top cover (9)’s cut-out window.

 In the event of a fault, the relay will trip. This will cause the coupler (3) to move up, causing the bell crank (2) to rotate upwards/clockwise by a suitable angle.

 The rotation of the bell crank (2) then causes the slider to move inwards, i.e., slide towards right such that the red color section is now visible from the top cover (9)’s cut-out window. In this position, the relay is said to be in tripped condition.

 The next step is to reset this relay manually. The reset button (6) is coupled to coupler (3) & a torsion spring (8). In order the reset the relay, the reset button (6) is pressed down against the torsion spring (8). This reset button (6) then goes and touches the coupler (3), pushes it down and causes the latching relay (1) to reset. Due to the presence of spring, the reset button (6) then comes back to its original position. Through the cut-out window, the color visible now is white signifying that the relay is operating normally/healthy.

According to one implementation of the present invention, One end of the coupler (3) and slider are attached with Bell crank (2) mechanism. Another end of the coupler (3) is locked with Latching relay (1) through the knob protruding out from the Latching relay (1). The reset button (6) is placed on above another end of coupler (3). Which means that the operation of reset button (6) can affect the position of coupler (3), but the operation of coupler (3) won’t affect the position of reset button (6). The slider is marked with RED and WHITE color to indicate the status of the relay (Trip/Healthy). A cutout is made on the Top cover (9) to show the status of the relay. RED color indicates the Trip condition and WHITE color indicates the Healthy condition of the relay. During normal operation of the relay the cutout on Top cover (9) shows WHITE color. In the event of a fault, the latching relay (1) trips which brings about a change in position of the coupler (3) (moves up) along with the slider (moves right). The color seen from the top cover (9) also gets changed to RED color correspondingly. To reset the relay, a spring-loaded reset button (6) is actuated, which manually resets the latching relay (1) (since it is placed on above with the coupler (3)) from its tripped position.

According to one implementation of the present invention, the fig. 1 shows the Slider/Trip indicator (4) which is color marked to indicate the state of the relay as either in Healthy/ON condition or in Trip condition. fig.2 shows the Top cover (9) placed on above the slider which has a cut-out window from which the slider and its color marking is seen. Red color seen from the cut-out window indicates that the relay is in trip condition. White color indicates that the relay is in Healthy/ON and functioning properly.

According to one implementation of the present invention, the fig. 3 shows the bell crank (2) component, which attaches itself to the slider on one end and coupler (3) on another end. This component rotates along its axis to bring about change in state of the slider/trip indicator (4). fig. 4 shows the next component of this mechanism called as the coupler (3). This coupler (3) is attached to the bell crank (2) on one end and Latching relay (1) knob on another end.

According to one implementation of the present invention, the Fig. 5 shows the Front and Back view of Latching relay (1). The coupler (3) is connected to the Latching relay Knob protruding out from it. The knob moves Up or Down when there is a change in the state of the Latching relay (1). Fig. 6 depicts how the four components (Slider, Slider support (5), Coupler (3) & Bell crank (2)) assembled to make the bell crank (2) mechanism assembly. The mechanism is created by coupling the bell crank (2) with the slider on one end & coupler (3) on another end. The coupler (3) moves Up/Down (Vertical movement) when the Latching relay (1) changes its state. The slider moves Left/Right (Horizontal movement) when the Latching relay (1) changes its state. The Slider support (5) is used for guiding/supporting the slider to ensure that it moves in Horizontal direction. The Bell crank (2) connected with Slider and Coupler (3) helps to convert the Vertical motion to Horizontal motion. These linkages give the suitable indication of the state of the relay on the Top cover (9) through the cut-out window.

According to one implementation of the present invention, the Fig. 7 shows the Reset button (6) which is placed on above the coupler (3). The Reset button (6) can operate the Latching relay (1) through Coupler (3) to change its state from Trip condition to Healthy/Reset condition. Fig. 8 shows the Reset button (6) assembly where the Reset button (6) is guided on the housing which securely encapsulates the reset button. Reset button (6) is assembled with the housing with the help of a torsion spring (8) to bring it back to its original position once pressed and left. The Reset button (6) is used by customer for manually changing the state of the Latching relay (1) to Reset/Healthy condition when a fault occurs.

According to one implementation of the present invention, the Fig. 9 shows the complete assembly with all components. The bell crank (2) mechanism and Reset button (6) assembly is coupled together to achieve the intended function. fig. 10 shows the exploded view of the assembly with all its components. fig. 11 shows the Isometric of the assembly with all its components. Fig. 12 shows the two different state of the relay and how the mechanism is operating when the state changes.

The invention here talks about an innovative way of achieving following functions:

1) Indicating the Trip/Healthy condition of Relay
2) Resetting the Latching relay (1) manually in an event of a fault

Bell crank (2) mechanism uses following components to indicate the Trip/Healthy condition of Relay:
1) A Bell crank (2) helps to convert the Vertical movement to Horizontal movement
2) A Slider/Trip indicator (4) attached on one side of the bell crank (2)
3) A Coupler (3) attached on other side of the bell crank (2) Reset button (6) mechanism uses following components to Reset the Latching relay manually in an event of a fault:
1) Reset button assembled with housing and is coupled with coupler (3)
2) Housing guides the Reset button (6)
3) Torsion spring assembled with housing and is connected to the reset button (6)

Following component is used to perform the present invention.

Latching Relay (1):
A relay is an electrical switch with electromagnet or solid-state devices along with required logic inbuilt to operate the main switch for an intended function.

Bell Crank (2):
Bell crank (2) connects the slider and coupler (3) together to visibly show the status (trip/reset) of latching relay.

Coupler (3):
Coupler (3) connects the bell crank (2) of the mechanism with the latching relay.

Slider/Trip Indicator (4):
Slider translates (4) to show the state of the relay as trip or healthy/reset with color indication.

Slider support (5)
Slider support (5) helps to guide/support the slider to ensure that it moves in Horizontal direction.

Reset button (6):
Reset button (6) once actuated brings about the change in state of the relay from trip to reset manually.

Reset button housing (7):
Reset button housing (7) helps to guide the Reset button where it securely encapsulates the reset button.

Torsion spring:
Torsion spring helps to bring the Reset button (6) back to its original position once pressed and left.

Top cover (9):
Top cover (9) show the status of the Latching relay (1) whether it is in Healthy or in Tripped condition.

List of parts/components: Refer Images 1-5

1. Latching relay
2. Bell crank
3. Coupler
4. Slider/Trip indicator
5. Slider support
6. Reset button
7. Reset button housing
8. Torsion spring
9. Top cover
, Claims:
1. A method for resetting a tripped relay after the fault is cleared using reset mechanism, comprising the steps of:
pressing a reset button (6) against a torsion spring (8), wherein the reset button (6) is coupled to a coupler (3);
touching the coupler (3) with the reset button (6), pushing it down to reset a latching relay (1) connected to the relay;
releasing the reset button (6), allowing it to return to its original position due to the torsion spring (8);
observing through a cut-out window in a top cover (9) to verify the restoration of the relay to a normal operating condition, indicated by the visibility of a white color section.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the torsion spring (8) is configured to bring the reset button (6) back to its original position.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the red color indicates the relay is in tripped condition and white color indicates that the relay is operating normally or in Healthy condition.

4. A fault indication and fault reset system, comprising:
a relay configured to trip in the event of a fault;
a coupler (3) operatively connected to said relay, said coupler (3) configured to move upward in response to the tripping of the relay;
a bell crank (2) configured to rotate upward/clockwise by a suitable angle upon the upward movement of the coupler (3);
a slider linked to said bell crank (2), said slider movable inwards upon rotation of the bell crank (2), causing a red color section to become visible through a cut-out window in a top cover (9), indicating a tripped condition of the relay;
a reset button (6) coupled to said coupler (3) and a torsion spring (8), said reset button (6) manually operable to reset the relay;
wherein, pressing the reset button (6) down against the torsion spring (8) causes the reset button (6) to contact the coupler (3), pushing it down and resetting the latching relay (1);
and wherein, the reset button (6) returns to its original position due to the torsion spring (8), and through the cut-out window, a white color section becomes visible, signifying that the relay is operating normally.