EP2061058B1 - Device for controlling electrical switchgear and electrical switchgear including same - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a device for controlling an electric switchgear housed in an insulating housing comprising at least one movable contact (s) carried by a said contact-carrier shaft, said ( s) movable contact (s) being intended (s) to cooperate with at least one contact (s) fixed (s) relative to the housing, a manual operating handle rotatably mounted about an axis of the housing and adapted to move said contact carrier shaft between an open position and a closed position of the contacts, a so-called abrupt closing device comprising a so-called closing shaft, said abrupt closing shaft being intended, at the beginning of the closing maneuver manual operation of the joystick and a certain stroke thereof, to retain the (the) contact (s) mobile (s) in the open position by storing energy, and after this race of the joystick, to release the ( the mobile contact (s) so that the energy stored previously nt causes abrupt closing of the contacts, and signaling means of the welded state of the contacts.

There is known a control device of the kind mentioned above as described in document FR 2717617 . This device does not include a signaling device of the welded contacts of the electrical switchgear.

The document EP-A-0 897 186 discloses a control device of an electrical switchgear according to the preamble of claim 1.

The patent is also known EP 0452230 describing a control mechanism of an electric circuit breaker having a bistable indicator mounted for free rotation on the axis of the handle between an active position and an inactive position. The indicator comprises a first signaling arm equipped with an indicator light and a second control arm movable between two end stops, and having a step cooperating with the nose of the contact carrier to lock the indicator in the inactive position. when the handle is actuated from the closed position to the open position when the contacts are soldered.

Such a device only allows the signaling of two soldered contacts of the same phase. In addition, it requires the use of an indicator that represents an additional piece.

The present invention solves these drawbacks and proposes a device for controlling an electrical breaking device, of simple design and making it possible to create a credible signaling without adding any additional part, the signaling functioning whatever the soldered contacts of the same phase, as well as an electric cut-off device comprising it.

For this purpose, the subject of the present invention is a control device of the kind mentioned above, this device being characterized in that the means for signaling the welded state of the contacts of the same phase are borne in part by the shaft. abrupt closing above and partly by the cam.

According to a particular characteristic, said abrupt closing shaft comprises a first lever cooperating with a cam portion of the handle and at least one second lever cooperating respectively with at least one stop, the said stop (s) being integral with the movable contact (s), respectively, so that the movable contact (s) are (are) retained respectively by the second (s) lever (s) at the beginning of manual closing of the lever and that the cam, after the aforesaid stroke of the handle, acts on the first lever so as to unlock the aforementioned attachment of the second lever (s) ) on the mobile contact (s).

According to another characteristic, these signaling means comprise a hooking means belonging to the abrupt closing shaft, this hooking means being intended to cooperate with a camming portion of the lever, and at least one lever said third, also belonging to the abrupt closing shaft and intended to cooperate respectively with the (the) movable contact (s) so that when the two contacts of the same phase are welded, the engagement of the lever (s) said third (s) on the (the) movable contact (s) prevents the displacement of the abrupt closing shaft and therefore the lever through the engagement of the attachment means with the cam of the joystick.

According to a particular characteristic, the movable contact (s) is (are) mounted respectively in a contact support (s), the said support (s). being mounted in an articulated manner relative to the contact-carrying shaft (s), a contact pressure spring being interposed between each contact support and the contact-carrying shaft.

According to another characteristic, the lever (s) said (s) second (s) cooperate (ent) respectively with a (respectively) stop (s) formed (s) on the (respectively) support (s) of contact.

According to another characteristic, the lever (s) said (s) third (s) cooperate (ent) respectively with a (respectively) abutment (s) formed (s) on the (respectively) support (s) of contact.

According to another characteristic, the (the) support (s) of contact is (are) made (s) of an insulating material.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the aforementioned hooking means comprises a hook formed at the end of (each) lever said third and cooperating with a cam-shaped portion of the joystick.

According to another characteristic, the lever (s) said second (s) and lever (s) said (s) third (s) are one and the same piece.

The present invention further relates to an electrical protection apparatus having the aforementioned features taken alone or in combination.

• La figure 1 est une vue en perspective, illustrant un interrupteur différentiel comportant un dispositif de commande selon l'invention,
• La figure 2 est une vue en plan, illustrant la partie intérieure de l'appareil,
• La figure 3 est une vue en perspective, illustrant un arbre porte-contacts destiné à recevoir des supports de contact et des lames de contact,
• La figure 4 est une vue en plan d'un dispositif de commande selon l'invention, dans une position ouverte des contacts,
• La figure 5 est une vue identique à la précédente, dans une position fermée des contacts, et
• La figure 6 est une vue identique aux figures précédentes, illustrant le dispositif de commande selon l'invention équipé d'un dispositif de signalisation des contacts soudés de l'appareil, en position soudée des contacts.

But other advantages and features of the invention will become more apparent in the detailed description which follows and refers to the accompanying drawings given solely by way of example and in which:

• The figure 1 is a perspective view, illustrating a differential switch comprising a control device according to the invention,
• The figure 2 is a plan view, illustrating the inner part of the apparatus,
• The figure 3 is a perspective view, illustrating a contact-carrier shaft for receiving contact supports and contact blades,
• The figure 4 is a plan view of a control device according to the invention, in an open position of the contacts,
• The figure 5 is a view identical to the previous one, in a closed position of the contacts, and
• The figure 6 is a view identical to the previous figures, illustrating the control device according to the invention equipped with a signaling device of the welded contacts of the device, in the welded position of the contacts.

On the figures 1 and 2 , there is seen a differential switch D comprising mainly, housed in an insulating housing, upstream connection terminals 1, downstream connection terminals 2 and a shaft 3 supporting movable contacts 4, rotatably mounted in the housing between a position in which the movable contacts 4 are in contact with fixed contacts 5 with respect to the housing, and a position in which these movable contacts 4 are remote from said fixed contacts 5.
This apparatus also comprises a control device C comprising a lever 6 for manual operation able to drive the contact-carrying shaft 3 between the two aforementioned positions, said shaft 3 being returned to the open position of the contacts 4,5 by means of a spring (not shown).
It also comprises differential tripping means able to cause the opening of the contacts in the case of the occurrence of a ground fault.
This device also comprises an abrupt closing shaft 7, said abrupt closing shaft 7 being intended, at the beginning of the manual closing operation of the lever 6 and on a certain stroke thereof, to retain the movable contacts 3 in the open position by storing energy, and releasing said contacts after this race of the joystick, said stored energy causing the closure of the contacts with a high speed.

For a more detailed description of the operation of such a device, reference may be made to the French patent FR 2,717,617 .
This abrupt closing shaft 7 is rotatably mounted in the housing of the apparatus, a spring 8 being placed between said shaft 7 and the housing to bias said shaft into a position in which it interferes with the contacts.
As this is illustrated on the figure 3 , the contact-carrying shaft 3 supports contact supports 9 rotatably mounted inside housings 10 provided in said shaft 3, said supports 9 being intended to receive contact blades 11. In order to ensure the contact pressure between each movable contact 4 and the corresponding fixed contact 5, a contact pressure spring 12 (shown in FIG. figure 2 ) is interposed between each contact support 9 and the contact-carrier shaft 3.
This abrupt closing shaft 7 comprises a first lever 13 intended to cooperate with a cam 14 formed in the base of the lever 6, and, for each of the movable contacts 4 and thus of the movable contact supports 9, a so-called second lever 15 intended to to cooperate by its free end, with a stop 16 provided on said contact support 9.
According to the invention, the control device also comprises a device for signaling the welding of the contacts associated with the abrupt closing shaft 7. This signaling device comprises a hook-shaped portion 17 integral with the so-called first lever 13 of the abrupt closing shaft 7, said portion 17 being intended to cooperate with the aforesaid cam 14 of the joystick. This device also comprises so-called third levers, as well as contact supports, these levers being constituted in this particular embodiment by the said second said levers 15, an end portion 18 of these second levers 15 being intended to cooperate with the contact supports 9.

The operation of the control device according to the invention will be described in the following with reference to the figures.
On the figure 4 , the control device is being closed. The open position of the contacts corresponds to a position in which the handle is directed to the right, while the closed position of the contacts corresponds to a position in which the handle is oriented to the left. At the beginning of the closing maneuver, which corresponds to a slight displacement of the lever to the left, the so-called first lever 13 is inside the opening 19 formed by the cam 14 of the lever 6. During this movement of the handle 6, means, not shown in the figures, but known per se, rotate the contact-bearing shaft on its axis, causing rotation in rotation about this axis the contact supports. During this movement of the handle 6, the spring 8 maintains in abutment the sudden closing shaft 7 on the contact supports by means of the levers 15. When the stops 16 of the contact supports come to bear on the levers 15 of the the abrupt closing shaft, the rotation of the contact supports around the axis of the contact-carrier shaft is blocked while the contact-carrier shaft continues to pivot on its axis.
At this stage of the kinematics of the control device the movable contacts are separated from their mutual fixed contact. During the next phase of the movement of the lever 6 to the left, the contact-carrier shaft continues to pivot while the movable contacts are limited in their movements to their mutual fixed contact by the levers 15 resting on the abutments 16 of the supports of contacts. The offset of the axes of the contact supports relative to the axis of the contact-carrier shaft produces in this phase a complex combined movement of translations and rotations of the contact supports. In this phase, maintaining the pivoting of the door shaft causes the compression of the aforementioned contact pressure springs 12. When the closing movement of the joystick continues, as illustrated in FIG. figure 5 , the first lever 13 is tilted by the end of the cam 14 and it drives the quick-closing shaft 7 in the clockwise direction thus releasing the contact supports 9 from their engagement with the second levers 15, which frees the displacement movable contacts 4 to the fixed contacts 5 in a fast movement and practically independent of the speed of operation of the joystick, obtained by the release of the energy stored by the contact pressure springs.
Note that according to the embodiment described and illustrated, the movable contacts are mounted in contact supports.

It will be noted that the offset of the axes of the contact supports with respect to the axis of the contact-carrying shaft allows sliding to the contact of the movable contacts on the fixed contacts.

• Lors d'une séquence d'ouverture, dans le cas d'un fonctionnement normal de l'appareil, l'arbre de fermeture brusque 7 s'efface de la trajectoire de la manette 6 suite au basculement du contact mobile 4 et au fait que l'arbre de fermeture brusque est polarisé par le ressort 8 contre les supports de contact.
• Lors d'une séquence d'ouverture, dans le cas ou l'appareil a au moins deux contacts d'une même phase soudés, le levier dit second 15 étant en appui sur les butées 16 des supports de contact 9, la rotation de l'arbre de fermeture brusque 7 est empêchée. Le crochet 17 de l'arbre de fermeture brusque 7 retient la manette 6 et l'empêche d'être déplacée en position d'ouverture. Ce qui constitue une indication de l'état soudé des contacts.
• On a ainsi réalisé un dispositif de signalisation crédible sans ajout de pièces supplémentaires, cette signalisation fonctionnant quelque soit le contact qui est soudé.
• Selon ce dispositif de commande, la cinématique du déverrouillage pour assurer la fermeture brusque est fiabilisée par le fait que les contacts mobiles sont libérés à une distance maîtrisée des contacts fixes, ceci étant du au fait d'une part, que le bras de levier de l'arbre de fermeture brusque et la came de la manette démultiplient le déplacement de l'arbre de fermeture brusque et d'autre part, par le fait que les dispersion de fabrication des pièces qui interviennent dans le déverrouillage sont réduites.
• La présente invention pourra être utilisée avantageusement dans un interrupteur, un disjoncteur différentiel ou non, un interrupteur commandé, un sectionneur etc....

Another embodiment could consist of providing movable contacts mounted directly in the movable contact bearing shaft this time, and mounted contact pressure springs. respectively between each movable contact and the movable contact shaft. In this case, these contact pressure springs are compressed at the beginning of the rotational stroke of the handle towards the closed position, said springs then ensuring the rapid movement of the movable contacts towards the fixed contacts, after a certain stroke of the handle .
It should be noted that the lever arm of the quick-closing shaft and the cam of the lever increase the displacement of the abrupt closing shaft.
The operation of the contact welding signaling device according to the invention will be described below:

• During an opening sequence, in the case of normal operation of the apparatus, the abrupt closing shaft 7 disappears from the trajectory of the lever 6 following the tilting of the moving contact 4 and the fact that the abrupt closing shaft is biased by the spring 8 against the contact supports.
• During an opening sequence, in the case where the apparatus has at least two contacts of the same welded phase, the second said lever being in abutment on the stops 16 of the contact supports 9, the rotation of the sudden closing shaft 7 is prevented. The hook 17 of the quick-closing shaft 7 retains the handle 6 and prevents it from being moved into the open position. This is an indication of the welded state of the contacts.
• A credible signaling device has thus been made without adding additional parts, this signaling functioning regardless of the contact that is soldered.
• According to this control device, the kinematics of unlocking to ensure the sudden closure is made reliable by the fact that the movable contacts are released at a controlled distance from the fixed contacts, this being due to the fact that on the one hand, the lever arm of the abrupt closing shaft and the cam of the lever reduce the displacement of the abrupt closing shaft and secondly, in that the manufacturing dispersion of the parts involved in the unlocking are reduced.
• The present invention may be advantageously used in a switch, a differential circuit breaker or not, a controlled switch, a disconnector etc ....

Claims (8)

1. An operating device of an electric switchgear apparatus housed in an insulating case comprising at least one movable contact(s) (4) supported by a shaft called contact support shaft, said movable contact(s) (4) being designed to operate in conjunction with at least one stationary contact(s) (5) fixed with respect to the case, a manual operating handle (6) mounted rotating around a pivot-pin of the case and able to move said contact support shaft between an open position and a closed position of the contacts, a device called high-speed closing device comprising a shaft called high-speed closing shaft (7), said high-speed closing shaft (7) being designed to keep the movable contact(s) (4) in the open position by storing energy at the beginning of the manual closing operation of the handle (6) and over a certain travel of the latter, and to release the movable contact(s) (4) on completion of this travel of the handle (6) so that the previously stored energy causes high-speed closing of the contacts (4,5), and means for indicating (14,15,17) the welded state of the contacts,
   characterized in that the means for indicating (14,15,17) the welded state of the contacts for one phase comprise latching means (17) belonging to the high-speed closing shaft (7), these latching means being designed to operate in conjunction with a part forming a cam (14) of the handle (6), and at least one lever (15) called third lever, also belonging to the high-speed closing shaft (7) and designed to operate respectively in conjunction with the movable contact(s) so that, when the two contacts (4,5) of any one phase are welded, engagement of the lever(s) (13,15) called third lever(s) on the movable contact(s) prevents movement of the high-speed closing shaft (7) and therefore of the handle (6) due to engagement of the latching means (17) with the cam (14) of the handle (6) so as to secure the handle in an intermediate position when the contacts are welded, the above-mentioned latching means comprising a latch formed at the end of the (each) lever called third lever and operating in conjunction with a part in the form of a cam (14) of the handle (6).
2. The operating device according to claim 1, characterized in that said high-speed closing shaft (7) comprises a first lever (13) operating in conjunction with a part forming a cam (14) of the handle (6) and at least one second lever (15) respectively operating in conjunction with at least one stop (16), each stop being securedly attached to a movable contact so that the movable contact(s) (4) is (are) respectively secured by the second lever(s) (15) at the beginning of manual closing of the handle (6) and that, after the above-mentioned travel of the handle (6), the cam (14) acts on the first lever (13) so as to release the above-mentioned latching of the second lever(s) (15) on the movable contact(s) (4).
3. The operating device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the movable contact(s) (4) is (are) mounted respectively in one of the contact support(s) (9), said contact support(s) (9) being fitted in articulated manner with respect to the contact support shaft (3), and that a contact pressure spring is fitted between each contact support and the contact support shaft.
4. The operating device according to claims 2 and 3, characterized in that the lever(s) called second lever(s) (13,15) operate in conjunction respectively with a stop (respectively stops) (16) formed on the contact support (respectively contact support(s)) (9).
5. The operating device according to claims 1 and 3, characterized in that the lever(s) called third lever(s) (13,15) operate in conjunction respectively with a stop (respectively stops) (16) formed on the contact support (respectively contact support(s)) (9).
6. The operating device according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the contact support(s) (9) is (are) made from insulating material.
7. The operating device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the lever(s) called second lever(s) (13) and the lever(s) called third lever(s) are one and the same part.
8. An electric switchgear apparatus comprising an operating device according to any one of the foregoing claims.

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