General Electric Company

Ronald D Ciarcia

Luis A Brignoni

Narender Macha

Ananthram Subramanian

Richard E Bernier

Samuel Stephen Kim

Gregory T DiVincenzo

Anantharam Subramanian

Macha Narender

Dennis J Doughty

Joseph G Nagy

Paul Douglas Lafferty

Navin Kumar

Roger N Castonguay

Raymond K Seymour

John James Dougherty

Keith W Klein

James I Smith

Edward E Kim

Lei Zhang Schlitz

Bharat S Bagepalli

David Arnold

Aniruddha Dattatraya Gadre

Kamlesh Mundra

Roger J Morgan

Richard A Menelly

Randall Lee Greenberg

Robert L Owens

Esteban Santos

Christian Daehler

Richard E Saunders

James Edward McGann, Jr

Paul A Raymont

Eladia Pulido

Nilo M Fachini

Gregory T Di Vincenzo

Donald McDonald

Ananthram John F Welch Tech Centre Subramanian

Luis Brignoni

A circuit breaker includes a crank for coupling a rotary arm breaker mechanism to the cradle. The crank has a protrusion which cooperates with a handle yoke to restrict movement of the operating handle when the contacts of the circuit breaker are welded. The crank protrusion is arranged such that it does not interfere with the handle under normal operating conditions.

Circuit breaker handle block

A trip system for a circuit breaker having a support frame, a trip unit, a crossbar, and a trip bar, is disclosed. The trip unit is responsive to an electric current for generating a trip force, the crossbar is directly coupled to the trip unit and to the support frame, and the trip bar is directly coupled to the support frame. The electric current at the trip unit generates a trip force that acts upon the trip bar to trip the circuit breaker. The crossbar remains substantially stationary during the tripping action.

Apparatus and method for circuit breaker trip unit adjustment

An electrically isolated rotor assembly for a cassette assembly of a circuit breaker includes a rotor having a first side and an opposing second side, a first isolation cap disposed on the first side, a second isolation cap disposed on the second side. Each isolation cap preferably includes a centrally located knob with a bushing surrounding each knob, wherein the bushings are sized for securement within apertures within first and second cassette half pieces.

Isolation cap and bushing for circuit breaker rotor assembly

A trip system for a circuit breaker having a calibration system is disclosed. The calibration system includes a retainer, a tripping member responsive to an electric current, an actuator retained by the retainer, a spring adjuster adjustably engaged with the actuator and the tripping member, and a bias spring disposed for biasing the actuator in a first direction. Movement of the spring adjuster absent movement of the actuator and the tripping member results in a change in the bias spring force and no change in the position of the tripping member, and movement of the tripping member absent movement of the spring adjuster results in a change in the position of the tripping member and no change in the bias spring force.

A circuit breaker includes a housing, an operating mechanism, and a cassette. The cassette includes a separable current path having a movable contact arm, two arc receptors each disposed for receiving an electrical arc in response to a short circuit overcurrent condition, and two slot motors each disposed proximate the movable contact arm for magnetically driving the movable contact arm to a blown open position in response to a short circuit overcurrent condition. The slot motors each have two side legs opposing each other and defining a space therebetween for receiving the movable contact arm, each side leg having a magnetic core and an insulative layer and being biased toward the interior of the side walls of the cassette, wherein each side leg is restrained from being magnetically attracted toward the movable contact arm during a short circuit condition.

Apparatus for interrupting a short circuit in a circuit breaker

A molded case, cassette type circuit breaker for a multi-pole electrical distribution circuit includes a number of cassettes equal to the number of poles in the multi-pole electrical distribution circuit and a pin disposed through each cassette. The pin is formed from a dielectric material. The pin may be further disposed through a portion of an operating mechanism for aligning the cassettes and the operating mechanism. Each cassette may include a rotor, a pair of electrical contacts, and a contact arm supported in the cassette by the rotor. In this embodiment, the pin may be a cross pin that extends between each rotor. The dielectric material may include phenolic, melamine, silicone, epoxy, polyester, fiberglass and the like. Alternatively, the pin includes a steel bar coated with the dielectric material, where the dielectric material may include, for example, epoxy, silicon, Teflon, and the like. A pair of end caps may be disposed over end surfaces of the rotor. Pole spacing between adjacent cassettes may be about one inch or less while providing sufficient dielectric integrity to meet requirements of the UL 489 standard.

Phase-to-phase isolation of cassette type circuit breakers

A molded insulator cover for a circuit breaker molded case includes a terminal connector attachable to the strap terminal. The terminal connector is disposed in the circuit breaker molded case and an insulator discrete from the molded case is disposed around the terminal connector. The insulator is trapped into the circuit breaker molded case by attachment of the terminal connector to the strap terminal. The insulator is configured to be used with a plurality of different field installable terminal connectors.

Circuit breaker lug cover and gasket

A multipole cassette assembly having a center pole cassette assembly includes a first side and a second side, a first outer pole cassette assembly having a first side and a second side, a first spacer interlocking receptacle positioned on one of the first side of the center pole cassette assembly and the second side of the first outer pole cassette assembly, and a first interlocking spacer positioned on one of the first side of the center pole cassette assembly and the second side of the first outer pole cassette assembly, wherein the first interlocking spacer is engaged with the first spacer interlocking receptacle. A method for maintaining spacing between poles of the multipole cassette assembly includes providing an interlocking spacer on the first cassette assembly, providing an interlocking receptacle on a second cassette assembly, and engaging the interlocking spacer with the interlocking receptacle.

Interlocking cassettes for dimensional stability

An assembly for interacting with a circuit breaker operating mechanism of a circuit breaker including a housing and a pair of contacts within the housing, the operating mechanism arranged to separate the pair of contacts upon the occurrence of a trip event is disclosed. The assembly includes a plurality of linkages arranged to transmit mechanical energy from the operating mechanism to a plunger of an accessory device for changing a state thereof. The system of linkages is configured to compensate for any over-travel resulting from possible tolerance variations.

Circuit breaker interface mechanism for auxiliary switch accessory

A magnet assembly for actuating a trip latch in a circuit breaker. The magnet assembly includes a core and an armature. The core is disposed around a conductor forming a primary current path in the circuit breaker, and includes an end forming a pole face. The armature is biased by a force acting in a direction away from the pole face. The armature includes a generally planar surface and a projection extending from the generally planar surface toward the pole face. The generally planar surface is separated from the pole face by a first air gap, and the projection is separated from the pole face by a second air gap. The first air gap is larger than the second air gap.

Circuit breaker magnetic trip assembly

A trip system for a circuit breaker includes a current sensor and a stop surface, the current sensor having a contact surface, a first end that is supported, and a second end with a degree of freedom. The current sensor, arranged for receiving an electric current, undergoes a first deflection in response to a first current and a second deflection in response to a second current, the first deflection resulting in clearance between the contact surface and the stop surface, and the second deflection resulting in contact between the contact surface and the stop surface.

System and method for controlling trip unit mechanical stress

Circuit breaker interface mechanism for bell alarm switch

A circuit breaker for a multi-pole electrical distribution circuit includes a cassette associated with each pole in the multi-pole electrical distribution circuit. Each cassette includes a housing, a pair of electrical contacts disposed in the housing, and a thermal and magnetic trip unit supported by the housing. The housing includes a first compartment having the electrical contacts disposed therein and a second compartment having at least a portion of the thermal and magnetic trip unit disposed therein. A wall separates the first and second compartments for isolating the second compartment from gasses generated by separation of the first and second contacts. A duct adjacent to the second compartment allows the gasses to pass to an exterior portion of the housing. The housing includes a pair of opposing slots formed therein for receiving edges of a load terminal. A lever has a first end disposed proximate an end of a bimetallic element and a second end disposed proximate an armature in the magnetic assembly of the trip unit. The lever is rotated by at least one of the bimetallic element and the armature to unlatch an operating mechanism.

Integrated thermal and magnetic trip unit

A current limiting circuit breaker mechanism having two pairs of separable contacts closely spaced for electrodynamic repulsion upon the occurrence of a short circuit overload condition utilizes a pair of arc chute assemblies to cool and extinguish the arc that occurs when the contacts become separated. The arc chute assemblies contain a plurality of arc chute plates supported by side supports. The arc chute plates are aerodynamically designed to facilitate the easy flow of the arc plasma gases into and out of the chute and provide minimal reflection of the arc plasma wave against the contact arm.

Arc chute assembly for circuit breaker mechanisms

A rotary contact arrangement for circuit breakers of the type including a pair of movable contacts (,), one arranged on each end of the rotary contact arm (,), utilizes a single pair of contact springs (,), one spring on each side of the rotary contact arm (,). The springs (,) are aligned to intersect the axis of rotation of the rotary contact arm (,) for automatic uniform contact force adjustment throughout the operating life of the circuit breaker.

Growing community of inventors

Bristol, CT, United States of America

Ronald D Ciarcia