DESC:Field of the invention
The present invention relates to the electrically operated circuit breakers, and more particularly provides a multi gear electrical operating mechanism and a padlocking arrangement for molded case circuit breakers.
Background of the invention
In the prior art it is generally known, a circuit breaker typically serves two basic purposes first as a switching device for switching On/Off during normal operating conditions for the purpose of operation and maintenance. And second as a protecting device for tripping or isolating by breaking the contacts interrupting the fault current during abnormal conditions such as short-circuit, overload and under voltage.
Circuit breaker consists of one or more electric poles, whose number determined by the application as single pole circuit breaker, two-pole circuit breaker, three-pole circuit breaker and four-pole circuit breaker and so on. They are designed for use in switchboards, control panels, and combination starters in separate enclosures for effective single location distribution and control. Also these are housed inside an enclosure to provide safety to users operating the same.
In the most common type of installation, an operating handle is mounted on the panel door has to be rotated to switch the circuit breaker ON and OFF. For high end operations wherein the electric supply needs to be reinstated in a very short span of time ranging in micro seconds, or while swapping ends between two supplies, a stored energy operating mechanism is mounted on the molded case circuit breaker (hereinafter referred as “MCCB”) and used to release energy required to close the contacts of the circuit breaker and reinstate the supply. The stored energy operating mechanism is one such device which is a combination of mechanisms for accumulating and storing mechanical energy, wherein the energy is used to close the primary contacts of the circuit breaker. The energy can be input to the mechanism manually or by means of a motor. The mechanism includes a series of linkages which function to utilize the energy to close the primary contacts. These linkages also function to maintain the closing force upon the primary contacts, while also functioning to allow rapid contact opening when desired.
Use of electrical devices is well known for making, breaking and to provide safety in a typical electrical distribution system. These devices get mounted inside a board or panel board for added safety to the operator. Most often these devices are required to be operated either from outside or by opening the enclosure/ panel. In view of operator’s safety, remote operation is an alternative way to operate the switching devices. Usually to achieve this, an add-on accessory is mounted over the switching device, which may operate the device when called for.
Also in today’s scenario response time for an electrical switching system to switchover from one desired source to the other is gaining importance. Thus with a view of lesser operational time and remote operation of a switching device, stored energy type of motor mechanism are used.
In current scenario, inventions in the art uses portion of stored energy to close the circuit breaker. Thus, energy is wasted in overcoming resistance introduced by components used in charging systems. Further, if the charging system is manually operated, it can be interrupted or overrun when the charging system is engaged during manual operation of manual charging system. Yet in another scenario, some of inventions use two springs of different stiffness for charging and discharging mechanism in motor operating system for circuit breaker switching operation.
Electrical operating mechanism (hereinafter referred as “EOM”), is mainly used to drive MCCB from a remote location through electrical input. EOM can be of two main types, motor operator and stored energy operator. In case of Motor operator, motor energy is used both ways of closing and opening the MCCB. In case of stored energy operator, the motor energy is used in the direction of ON-OFF movement, which means opening of MCCB, in which the spring assembled in the system is charged and allowed to store energy through various mechanical means. The stored energy is discharged, during the OFF-ON motion, which means closing of MCCB contacts.
Stored energy operator has two modes of operation: Manual and Auto. Manual mode consists of a charging unit and the handle attached to it, so that cranking system provided onto the handle allows customer to drive the MCCB from ON-OFF and a manual OFF button allowing the unit to discharge the energized spring through various linkages mechanically connected. Auto mode consists of motor charging the spring and driving the unit from ON-OFF and input from remote location discharges the energized spring through mechanical linkages connected below.
Stored energy operator serves two basic purposes. As a switching device: On/Off during normal operating conditions for the purpose of operation and maintenance. As a protecting device: Tripping or Isolating by breaking the contacts interrupting the fault current during abnormal conditions such as short-circuit, overload and under voltage. Stored energy electrical operating mechanism (hereinafter referred as “SE-EOM”) is also supposed to meet the standard and Foot print requirements of basic breaker.
MCCB being the governing element, with preset boundary conditions and constraints, SE-EOM has to perform primary, secondary and tertiary functions in a determined manner.

The prior means of operating and achieving the intended function uses larger volume and has higher energy consumption. Prior means of stored energy operating system consists of tension spring for storing and discharging of energy, where the chances of failure in the region of hook are higher. To achieve various functions that needed to perform MCCB operations, require increase energy transmission, increased efficiency, and increased travel accommodation (ON-OFF linear travel).
Further, in existing mechanism, an internal gear has been used for padlocking. The internal gear rotates during time of charging and clears the padlock path but sometimes due to less rotation of internal gear, padlock is not possible in charged condition. Further, the projection provided in the internal gear for stopping the padlock to come up in spring discharged condition has very less overlap area, which sometimes leads to defeat the padlock interlock function.
Therefore, there is a need for an integrated multi-gear electrical operating mechanism and a padlocking arrangement for molded case circuit breaker that overcomes the above mentioned drawbacks of the prior arts.
Objects of the invention
The primary object of present invention is to provide a multi gear electrical operating mechanism assembly for a molded case circuit breaker.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a quick and reliable padlocking arrangement for a molded case circuit breaker operated using an electrical operating mechanism.
Summary of the invention
The present invention provides a stored energy operating assembly with compact padlocking arrangement. The stored energy operating assembly comprises of a padlock module, a lever in connection with the padlock module, a side plate and a charging assembly. The padlock module, capable of padlocking the circuit breaker, is further provided with a receiving portion and a projection being configured thereon. The lever, which can be charged and discharged, is further provided with a projection and a curved portion being configured thereon. Specifically, the projection of the lever engages within the receiving portion of the padlock module thereby restricting vertical outwards movement of the padlock module for padlocking the circuit breaker. In an embodiment, the projection configured on the lever is adapted to being detachable to allow padlocking of the circuit breaker. The side plate is placed adjacent to the padlock module and the lever. The charging assembly is provided below the side plate for charging the lever, and comprises of, a lever support plate disposed below the side plate for supporting the lever, a shaft coupled to the lever support plate, a rack assembly disposed onto the shaft and capable of lateral sliding movement onto the shaft and further having atleast two rack pins, and a pinion with a pinion shaft being disposed onto the rack assembly for rotating and charging the lever. In an embodiment, the lever is charged by sliding the rack assembly onto the shaft causing collision of rack pins with the curved portion of the lever thereby allowing it to rotate, and wherein further rotational movement of the pinion around the pinion shaft causes the lever to rotate and charge.
In one aspect, when the circuit breaker is in ‘OFF’ condition, and while the lever is charging, the projection of the lever disengages with the receiving portion of the padlock module, allowing the padlock module to move vertically outwards for padlocking the circuit breaker in ‘OFF’ condition.
In another aspect, when the circuit breaker is in ‘ON’ condition and the lever is not getting charged but is completely discharged, the projection of the lever engages with the receiving portion of the padlock module restricting vertical movement of the padlock module to restrict padlocking of the circuit breaker in ‘ON’ condition. However, detaching the projection of the lever, in circuit breaker ‘ON’ condition, allows the padlock module to move vertically outwards for achieving padlocking even in the circuit breaker ‘ON’ condition.
Brief description of the drawings
Figure 1 and 2 shows a perspective view of a stored energy operating assembly with compact padlocking arrangement, in accordance with the present invention;
Figure 3 shows a perspective view of a padlock module, in accordance with the present invention;
Figure 4 shows a perspective view of a lever, in accordance with the present invention;
Figure 5 shows a perspective view of a rack assembly, in accordance with the present invention;
Figure 6 shows a front view of the stored energy operating assembly of figure 1, when the lever is discharged and the circuit breaker is in ‘ON’ condition;
Figure 7 shows a back view of the stored energy operating assembly of figure 1, when the lever is discharged and the circuit breaker is in ‘ON’ condition;
Figure 8 shows a front view of the stored energy operating assembly of figure 1, when the lever is charging and the circuit breaker is in ‘OFF’ condition;
Figure 9 shows a back view of the stored energy operating assembly of figure 1, when the lever is charging and the circuit breaker is in ‘OFF’ condition.

Detailed description of the invention
The foregoing objects of the invention are accomplished and the problems and shortcomings associated with the prior art techniques and approaches are overcome by the present invention as described below in the preferred embodiment.
The present invention provides an integrated multi gear electrical operating mechanism assembly and a padlocking module for a molded case circuit breaker (MCCB). The multi gear electrical operating mechanism assembly is adapted to operate the molded case circuit breaker from ‘OFF’ to ‘ON’ position. The padlocking arrangement provides a quick, simple and compact padlocking feature even when the molded case circuit breaker is in ‘ON’ condition.
This present invention is illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings, throughout which reference numbers indicate corresponding parts in the various figures. These reference numbers are shown in bracket in the following description.
Referring now to figures 1-5, there is shown a stored energy operating assembly (100) with compact padlocking arrangement, hereinafter referred to as “the assembly (100)”, in accordance with the present invention. The assembly (100) is used with a circuit breaker (not shown) to actuate or switch the circuit breaker (not shown) to their ‘OFF’ condition or ‘ON’ condition relatively rapidly. The assembly (100) is further adapted to provide padlocking of the circuit breaker (not shown) in its ‘OFF’ condition and also in ‘ON’ condition, if required. In an embodiment, the circuit breaker (not shown) is a molded case circuit breaker (MCCB).
The circuit breaker (not shown) in ‘ON’ condition refers to the connected position of the circuit breaker (not shown) when the primary and secondary contacts of the circuit breaker (not shown) mate with the complementary primary and secondary contacts of the switchboard (not shown)incident to racking movement of the circuit breaker unit (not shown) within the withdrawable unit (not shown) to its innermost, engaged position thereby making the electrical joints requisite to electrically connecting the circuit breaker (not shown) into the switchboard (not shown).
The circuit breaker (not shown) in ‘OFF’ condition refers to the disconnected position of the circuit breaker (not shown) when the circuit breaker (not shown) is electrically disconnected to the switchboard (not shown).
According to the present invention, the assembly (100) is mounted on to a base (110), and comprises of a padlock module (20), a lever (40) in connection with the padlock module (20), a side plate (60) placed adjacent to the padlock module (20) and the lever (40), and a charging assembly (80) disposed just below the side plate (60) for charging the lever (40) thereof.
The padlock module (20) is provided for padlocking the circuit breaker (not shown) in any of its operating condition from among ‘ON’ or ‘OFF’ condition. The padlock module (20) has a receiving portion (20A) and a projection (20B) configured thereon. In an embodiment, the receiving portion (20A) is adapted to control vertical movement of the padlock module (20), whereas the projection (20B) is adapted to decide the vertical movement of the padlock module (20).
The lever (40) is capable of charging and discharging and is provided with a projection (40A) and a curved portion (40B) configured thereon. In an embodiment, the projection (40A) is detachable, and is adapted to engage with the receiving portion (20A) of the padlock module (20). In another embodiment, the projection (40A) is provided to control the vertical movement of the padlock module (20), whereas the curved portion (40B) decides the longitudinal movement of the lever (40). In a preferred embodiment, the lever (40) is a spring. However, it is evident to those skilled in the art that any other means having the capability of charging and discharging can be used. In an embodiment, the lever (40) acts as a stored energy module, which when charged stores the energy as the potential energy, and releases the stored potential energy in the form of kinetic energy, during discharging of the lever (40). The released kinetic energy is then used for movement of the circuit breaker (not shown) from ‘OFF’ condition to ‘ON’ condition. After a cycle of operation of the circuit breaker (not shown), since the total energy is released, the potential energy is again gained and stored by charging the lever (40) using the charging assembly (80).
The side plate (60) is provided and is positioned adjacent to the padlock module (20) and the lever (40).
The charging assembly (80) for charging the lever (40) is positioned below the side plate (60) and comprises of a lever support plate (64), a shaft (68), a rack assembly (72), and a pinion (74) with a pinion shaft (78). The lever support plate (64) is disposed below the side plate (60), and specifically provides support to the lever (40). The shaft (68) is coupled to the lever support plate (64). The rack assembly (72) is configured onto the shaft (68) and is capable of lateral sliding movement onto the shaft (68).The rack assembly (72) is provided with atleast two rack pins (70) configured to engage with the curved portion (40B) of the lever (40) during charging. The pinion (74) with the pinion shaft (78) is disposed onto the rack assembly (72). In an embodiment, the pinion (74) rotates around the pinion shaft (78) thereby causing rotation of the lever (40) for charging the lever (40).
Referring to figure 6 and 7, shown are different views of the stored energy operating assembly (100) when the lever (40) is discharged and the circuit breaker (not shown) is in ‘ON’ condition.
The lever (40) stores energy during charging and releases energy during discharging, wherein the released energy is used for movement of the circuit breaker (not shown) from ‘OFF’ condition to ‘ON’ condition. The lever (40) is completely discharged once the circuit breaker (not shown) reaches to its ‘ON’ condition, and regains energy again by charging the lever (40) using the charging assembly (80). When the circuit breaker (not shown) reaches at its ‘ON’ condition, and the lever (40) is completely discharged, the projection (40A) of the lever (40) is securely engaged within the receiving portion (20A) of the padlock module (20) thereby restricting vertical outward movement of the padlock module (20) and restricting padlocking of the circuit breaker (not shown).In an embodiment, the projection (40A) can be detached from the lever (40) allowing the padlock module (20) to move vertically outwards for securely padlocking the circuit breaker (not shown) in the ‘ON’ condition.
Referring to figure 8 and 9, shown are different views of the stored energy operating assembly (100) when the lever (40) is charging and the circuit breaker (not shown) is in ‘OFF’ condition.
The charging assembly (80) is provided for charging of the lever (40). For charging the lever (40), the rack assembly (72) slides onto the shaft (68) causing collision of the rack pins (70) with the curved portion (40B) of the lever (40) causing it to rotate and get charged. In an embodiment, the pinion (74) rotates around the pinion shaft (78) thereby causing rotation of the lever (40) for charging the lever (40). In an embodiment, the rotational movement of the lever (40)during charging causes the projection (40A) of the lever (40) to protrude out of the receiving portion (20A) of the padlock module (20), thereby allowing vertical outwards movement of the padlock module (20) for padlocking the circuit breaker(not shown) in the ‘OFF’ condition. Specifically, the curved portion (40B) of the lever (40) is adapted to decide the movement of the lever (40) when the atleast two rack pins (70) of the rack assembly (72) hits the curved portion (40B) of the lever (40) during charging. In an embodiment, the charging assembly (80) may be engaged only if the lever (40) is not charged.
The present invention thus provides a stored energy operating assembly (100) with compact padlocking arrangement adapted to padlock the circuit breaker (not shown) in ‘OFF’ condition. The assembly (100) also provides an arrangement that allows padlocking of the circuit breaker (not shown) even in ‘ON’ condition, if required.
Advantages of the present invention
1. The stored energy operating assembly (100) with compact padlocking arrangementallows quick, simple and compact padlocking of the circuit breaker (not shown) in ‘OFF’ condition as well as in ‘ON’ condition.
2. The present invention provides a cost effective, reliable and a compact arrangement utilizing few components and mechanical linkages for providing quick padlocking of the circuit breaker (not shown) in ‘OFF’ condition as well as in ‘ON’ condition, if required.

The foregoing objects of the invention are accomplished and the problems and shortcomings associated with prior art techniques and approaches are overcome by the present invention described in the present embodiment. Detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiment are provided herein; however, it is to be understood that the present invention may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but rather as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed system, structure, or matter. The embodiments of the invention as described above and the methods disclosed herein will suggest further modification and alterations to those skilled in the art. Such further modifications and alterations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

,CLAIMS:We claim:

1. A stored energy operating assembly (100) with compact padlocking arrangement, the stored energy operating assembly (100) being mounted onto a base (110), the stored energy operating assembly (100) for use with a circuit breaker for actuating the circuit breaker to atleast one operating state, the stored energy operating assembly (100) comprising:
a padlock module (20) for providing a padlocking feature, the padlock module (20) having,
• a receiving portion (20A) being configured thereon, and
• a projection (20B) being configured thereon;
a lever (40), capable of being charged and discharged, the lever (40) having,
• a projection (40A) adapted to being detachable and configured thereon to engage within the receiving portion (20A) and
• a curved portion (40B)configured thereon and adapted to control longitudinal movement of the lever (40);
a side plate (60) being placed adjacent to the padlock module (20) and the lever (40);
a charging assembly (80) for charging the lever (40) positioned below the side plate (60), the charging assembly (80)having,
• a lever support plate (64) disposed below the side plate (60), the spring support plate (64) being adapted for providing support to the lever (40),
• a shaft (68)coupled to the lever support plate (64),
• a rack assembly (72)disposed onto the shaft (68) and adapted of lateral sliding movement onto the shaft (68), the rack assembly (72) having atleast two rack pins (70) configured to engage with the curved portion (40B) of the lever (40) during charging, and
• a pinion (74) with a pinion shaft (78) being disposed onto the rack assembly (72) to rotate thereby causing rotation of the lever (40) for charging the lever (40);
wherein the padlock module (20) is configured to move vertically outwards for locking the circuit breaker in ‘OFF’ condition in response to the disengagement of the projection (40A) of the lever (40) from the receiving portion (20A) of the padlock module (20)and the engagement of the curved portion (40B) of the lever (40) with the rack pins (70) of the rack assembly (72) for charging the lever (40) thereby allowing padlocking of the circuit breaker in ‘OFF’ condition.
2. A stored energy operating assembly (100) with compact padlocking arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vertical movement of the padlock module (20) for locking the circuit breaker in ‘ON’ condition is impeded by engagement of the projection (40A) of the lever (40) within the receiving portion (20A) of the padlock module (20) thereby restricting padlocking of the circuit breaker in ‘ON’ condition.

3. A stored energy operating assembly (100) with compact padlocking arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein detaching the projection (40A) from the lever (40) causes vertical movement of the padlock module (20) thereby allowing padlocking of the circuit breaker in ‘ON’ condition.
4. A stored energy operating assembly (100) with compact padlocking arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sliding movement of the rack assembly (72) onto the shaft (68) causes collision of the rack pins (70) with the curved portion (40B) of the lever (40) thereby resulting in rotational movement of the lever (40) for charging the lever (40).

5. A stored energy operating assembly (100) with compact padlocking arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lever (40) functions as a stored energy module that stores energy during charging and releases energy during discharging thereby causing movement of the circuit breaker from ‘OFF’ to ‘ON’ condition by utilizing the energy released during discharging of the lever (40).