Circuit breakers with moving contacts having a rocking movement, e.g., heel-toe action, are configured to direct arcing across one of two (first and second) spaced apart contacts on a moving arm to an adjacent arc chute to thereby alleviate deterioration due to arcing and improve conductivity of the first moving contact over time.

A clapping type electromagnetic tripping system comprises an iron core with a U-shaped structure, an armature, a heating element, a bimetallic element and a connecting plate; a bracket extends into a U-shaped groove of the iron core and is fixedly connected with the iron core, and a wire connecting the heating element and the connecting plate surrounds the iron core and the bracket; the bracket twined round by the wire is fixedly connected with the middle part of the heating element, the bottom end of the heating element and the bottom end of the bimetallic element are fixedly connected with a supporting member together, and the armature is hung on the bracket surrounded by the wire; and the armature and the iron core twined round by the wire are arranged oppositely to form a magnetic loop, and one end of the armature is attracted by the iron core so as to swing when short-circuit current is generated. The clapping type electromagnetic tripping system disclosed by the present invention-creation is simple and reasonable in structure and can enable the armature to be attracted reliably.

A circuit breaker includes a trip mechanism having reduced trip movement and an integrated signal flag. The trip mechanism includes a spring-biased trip lever and a latching member for keeping the trip lever in an on or latched position. Upon occurrence of an abnormal current condition, the latching member is moved away from the trip lever to trip the trip mechanism. The latching member also has a catch mechanism designed to catch the trip lever after it is released, thereby halting further progress of both the trip lever and the latching member. As a result, less space is needed within the circuit breaker for trip movement compared to existing solutions. Moreover, the location of the catch mechanism on the latching member is selected such that the halting of the latching member places the integrated signal flag in an optimal viewing position within a viewing window.

An electrical switch is disclosed, especially an electrical circuit breaker, including an overcurrent tripping device which, in the event of an overcurrent situation, switches off the flow of current through the switch; and a thermal tripping device which, in the event of a thermal overload, switches off the flow of current through the switch. In at least one embodiment, the overcurrent tripping device includes a first shaft which is disposed such that, in the event of an overcurrent situation, it is rotated from a first position into a second position and thereby indicates the overcurrent situation; and the thermal tripping device includes a second shaft which is disposed such that, it is rotated in the event of a thermal overload and is also rotated as well in the event of a rotation of the first shaft and when rotated initiates a switching-off of the switch.

A crossbar assembly and a trip assembly comprising same are disclosed. The crossbar assembly according to an embodiment of the present disclosure comprises a crossbar and an instant bar. The crossbar and the instant bar can be rotatably coupled so as to be rotatable around the same rotary shaft. Therefore, the space required for rotation can be reduced to be less than when the crossbar and the instant bar are individually rotated. In addition, the crossbar can move in a longitudinal direction when coupled to the instant bar. Therefore, a metallic bar for movement of the crossbar is unnecessary. Therefore, interference between different-phase currents flowing through the trip assembly can be minimized.

Embodiments of the present technology include a circuit breaker with a tripping mechanism. The tripping mechanism includes a latch and a latch lever, according to some embodiments. The latch lever may be coupled to a toggle via a joint arm in some embodiments. The latch lever may also be coupled to a change lever via a buckled shackle. In some embodiments, the buckled shackle includes a first section, a second section, and a bend between the first section and the second section.

A rotary Thomson coil actuator for use in a multi-pole circuit interrupter is provided and includes: an insulating cylinder, a plurality of pole assemblies, and a number of Thomson coil arrangements. Each pole assembly includes two stationary conductors and one rotating conductive arm. Each stationary conductor includes a stationary contact. The rotating conductive arm is fixedly coupled to the insulating cylinder and includes two movable contacts, with each movable contact corresponding to one of the stationary contacts. Each Thomson coil arrangement includes a conductive plate, a first Thomson coil, and a second Thomson coil. The conductive plate is fixedly coupled to the insulating cylinder, and the two Thomson coils face opposing sides of the conductive plate. The opposing orientations of the two Thomson coils relative to the conductive plate results in the repulsion force exerted by each of the two coils on the conductive plate being additive.

A multi-pole plug-on miniature circuit breaker includes a single operating mechanism. A four bar kinematic linkage used in the operating mechanism simplifies the manufacturing and assembly of the circuit breaker, and reduces the force needed to actuate the operating mechanism. The operating mechanism is operably coupled to the movable conductors of all poles such that the operating mechanism rotates all movable conductors simultaneously when the operating mechanism is actuated. The kinematic linkage is positioned between the lateral boundaries of only one of the pole assemblies, but the trip mechanisms of all of the pole assemblies are mechanically linked to one another, such that actuation of any one of the trip mechanisms actuates the operating mechanism. The operating mechanism is designed such that an operating handle connected to the operating mechanism rotates in a direction opposite the direction of rotation of the movable conductors.

An improved magnetic trip mechanism for a circuit breaker includes a magnetizable U-shaped core and an armature whose shapes are advantageously designed to increase magnetic force within a compact footprint. In particular, the magnetizable U-core comprises step formations that enable the armature to be received at least partially within the U-core, thus enabling the armature to move a greater distance as compared to an arrangement including a non-stepped U-core while maintaining or decreasing the footprint of the circuit breaker. The arms of the U-core can additionally comprise slanted surfaces in order to further increase the surface area of the U-core and thus increase the number of magnetic field lines and magnetic force generated when the U-core is energized.

An electromechanical rotary latch for use in current interruption devices disclosed. In a particular embodiment, a fuse device comprises a rotary latch; a rotatable armature configured to actuate the rotary latch; and a contact configured to change between a set position that allows current flow through the fuse device and a triggered position which interrupts current flow through the fuse device; wherein the fuse device is configured such that when a threshold current level passes through the fuse device, the rotatable armature changes configuration in response to a generated electromagnetic field, which actuates the rotary latch causing the contact to transition to the triggered position.