The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 11, 2007
Filed:
Jul. 07, 2005
Douglas C. Marks, Murrysville, PA (US);
Robert M. Slepian, Murrysville, PA (US);
David C. Turner, Imperial, PA (US);
Douglas C. Marks, Murrysville, PA (US);
Robert M. Slepian, Murrysville, PA (US);
David C. Turner, Imperial, PA (US);
Abstract
An opening assist mechanism is for the cradle assembly of a circuit breaker including a housing enclosing separable contacts, and an operating mechanism for opening and closing the separable contacts. The operating mechanism includes a trip bar and a cradle assembly. The cradle assembly includes a first toggle link, a second toggle link pivotally coupled to the first toggle link by a first pivot, and a cradle member pivotally coupled to the second toggle link by a second pivot. The cradle member includes a third pivot and a latching portion structured to engage the trip bar when the cradle assembly is disposed in a position corresponding to the separable contacts being closed or otherwise closeable. The opening assist mechanism comprises an actuator, such as a kicker pin, disposed on the cradle member and structured to engage and move at least one of the first and second toggle links in response to an actuation of the operating mechanism. In this manner, the opening assist mechanism resists the tendency of the first and second toggle links to jam in an over-center configuration.