US1936791A - Distributing panel - Google Patents

Description

Filed Jun 18. 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR 0/2' ver S Jlmings Q. 0 NEY Nov. 28, 1933, o. 5. JENNINGS DISTRIBUTING PANEL Filed June 18. 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 MQQ mm m h. I

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MANN Nb INVENTOR 0/) van 5. Jenni/793 WITNESSES: #Q M ATfORNEY Nov. 28, 1933. o. 5. JENNINGS I DISTRIBUTING PANEL Filed June 18, 192'? 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 lNVENTOR 0/1 ver ,5? Jnm'rzgs ATTORNEY WITNESSES:

f v flaw WA Patented Nov. 28, 1933 DISTRIBUTING PANEL 3 Oliver S. Jennings, Mansfield, Ohio, assignor to Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application June 18, 1927.

Serial No. 199.686

5 Claims. (Cl. 247-40) My invention relates to distributing panels for electrical circuits of apartment houses and like structures wherein controlling means for a plurality of lighting circuits is enclosed within a sheet-metal housing.

One object of my invention is to provide a distributing panel wherein circuit breakers are used for controlling branch-line circuits in place of the usual switch and fuse.

Another object of my invention is to provide a distributing panel of the circuit-breaker type wherein the circuit breakers are enclosed in insulating housings that are provided with sealed covers and constitute, in themselves, complete circuit-breaker units.

Another object of my invention is to provide a distributing panel having the above noted cuit-breaker units.

Another object of my invention is to provide a distributing panel wherein circuit-breaker units are provided with terminal recesses for receiving the conductor terminals and wherein the terminals are confined in such manner that access may not be had thereto through the opening in the panel-housing cover.

These and other objects that will be made apparent throughout the further description of my invention are attained by means of the panel mechanism hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is front elevational view of a circuitbreaker-distributing-panel housing embodying features of my invention,

Fig. 2 is a transverse section through a portion of the housing taken on the line II-II of Fig. 1 disclosing a circuit-breaker unit in section and the circuit breaker in side elevation,

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through a portion of the distributing panel taken on the line III-III of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a wiring diagram of the circuit through a unit of the apparatus.

lieferring to the drawings, the distributing panel comprises a sheet-metalhousing 4 having end walls 5 and 6 and side walls 7 and 8 that are provided with inwardly extending flanges 9 to which a cover or sheet metal trim 11 is attached by means of screws 12. I

The cover is provided with an opening 13 that is closed by a door 14 mounted upon hinges 15 at- 80 tached to the trim 11. The door is provided with offset portions 16 for accommodating the operating handles of the circuit breaker, to be hereinafter described.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3. each circuit-breaker unit comprises an insulating housing 1'7 that is adapted to be mounted upon Z-bars 18 and attached thereto by means of screws 19 which extend through lugs 21 integral with the housing 17. Within the housing, is mounted a circuit breaker comprising a supporting frame 22 that is secured to the bottom of the housing by screws 23 and carries pivot shafts 24 and 25. The circuit breaker is-of a type described and illustrated in a copending application Serial No. 752,336, now Patent No. 1,726,233 issued August 2'7, 1929 to Hubert K. Krantz, and assigned to the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company.

Since no claim is made to the specific form of circuit breaker herein illustrated, a brief descripso tion thereof willsuflice.

A switch-arm carrier 26 of V-shape is pivotally mounted on the shaft 24 and is retained in the closed position shown in Fig. 2 by means of a latch arm 27 that is pivoted on the shaft 25 and is retained against releasing movement or rotation in a counter-clockwise direction by means of a bimetal thermal-element 28 that is secured to one end of the bottom of the housing 17 and carries a latch clip 29 at its free end that is insulated 9o therefrom. by means of insulating strips 31.

The switch-arm carrier is provided with an angular recess 32, and the switch arm 33 is pivoted at 34 in the recess 32.

An operating handle 35 is pivoted upon the frame 22 by a pin 36 and is provided with an arm 37 that carries a tension spring 38 which is pivotally connected thereto at 39 and to the switch arm 33. The spring 38 is an over-center spring and tends to bias the switch arm 33 toward closed or open position and the switch arm carrier 26 always toward the open position. The operating handle 35 is biased toward the closed position shown in full lines when the spring is in position shown in Fig. 2.

The switch arm 33 is provided with a movable bridging contact member 41 that is pivotally mounted in the clip 42 and insulated from the switch arm 33 by an insulating plate 43. The

contact member 41 serves as a bridging switch for connecting stationary contact members 44 and 45 to establish the circuit through the load in the manner illustrated in Fig. 4.

To separate the contact members 41 from the contact members 44 and 45 and to thereby open the circuit, the operating handle 35 is moved to the position A indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2. Such movement causes the outer end of the spring 38 to be moved over a center line coincident with the switch arm 33 which causes the switch arm to be moved to open position wherein the arm rests against the side 46 of the slot or notch 32. To close the switch, the operating handle is moved from the dotted-line position A to the full-line position shown in Fig. 2. The over-center spring 38 is again moved over center and the switch arm caused to move to the position shown in Fig. 2.

In a manner to be hereinafter referred to, the current through the circuit breaker traverses the bimetal thermo-element 28 and, in the event of an injurious overload, causes the bimetal element to heat and to deflect toward the left until the latch 29 clears the tip 47 of the latch 2'7 and thus releases it. The tension of the spring 38 causes clockwise rotation of the switch-arm carrier 26 which forces the latch 2''! to a releasing position, permitting the latch finger 49 of the switch -arm carrier 26 to move clear of the latch. Rotation of the switch-arm carrier in a clockwise direction causes the pivotal point 34 of the switch arm 33 to move over the center line of the spring 38 and thereafter causes the switch arm to move to its open position in engagement with the side 46 of the notch 32 in the carrier 26.

It will be seen from the foregoing that, in response to an overload condition which occurs at predetermined period of time, the switch arm is moved to the open position. The carrier 26 may be returned to the position shown in Fig. 2 and relatched therein by moving the operating handle 35 to the position A shown in dotted lines.

The parts of the circuit breaker are so relatively positioned that, when the circuit breaker is opened in response to an overload or shortcircuit condition and the switch arm carrier has moved to its open position, the operating handle 35 is moved to its intermediate position 3 indicated by broken lines in Fig. 2, thus indicating whether the circuit breaker has been tripped to open position. This feature is of particular importance where a number of circuit breakers are mounted in the same panel housing, because it is necessary to determine which circuit breaker has opened the circuit. The intermediate position of a handle of a circuit breaker thus gives an indication which circuit breaker has opened.

In order to cause the circuit breaker to open instantaneously under such short-circuit conditions an electromagnet 51 is connected in series with the bimetal element and serves to attract an iron armature 52 mounted on the latch clip 29. A sudden surge of current, such as is induced by a short circuit or a very severe overload, attracts the armature 52 toward the electromagnet and releases the circuit breaker. By reason of the attraction of the electromagnet under overload conditions the thermal element will interrupt the circuit within a shorter time interval than would ordinarily be the case. The electromagnet, however, is of such capacity that it does not materially affect the operation of thermal element under ordinary load conditions.

In order to limit the amount of current that can pass through the circuit breaker under shortcircuit conditions, a choke coil 53 is connected in series with the bimetal element and the circuit breaker. The choke coil comprises a coil 54 enclosed within an iron casing 55 that is attached to the innermost end of the insulating housing 1'7, as indicated in Fig. 2. The choke coils serve also to support the bus bars 56 of the feed conductors, the bars being attached to the choke coils by means of the screws 57 that are carried by brackets 58 secured to the choke-coil casing 55. A resistance element may be used instead of the choke coil.

Current enters the circuit breaker through the bus bars 56 and, after passing through the choke coil 54, electromagnet 51, bimetal thermal element 28 and the contact member 41, passes to the conductor 59 through a terminal screw 63.

The conductor 59 extends into a terminal recess 62 provided exteriorly of the housing 17 and is provided with an attaching screw 63 to which the terminal 64 of a conductor 65 of the load circuit is attached. The end of the conductor 65 extends into the recess 62 through an opening 66 provided in the end wall of the housing 17.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be noted that a distributing panel having six circuit-breaker units is illustrated, three of the units being shown in full lines on the left side of the figure. The circuit breakers are arranged into rows, each having three circuit-breaker units. The rows of units are spaced apart to provide a central chamber 67, in which the bus bars 56 and the choke coils 53 are disposed. The chamber 67 is adapted to be sealed by an insulating cover 68 (Fig. 2) that is mounted on the adjacent ends of the circuitbreaker housing and retained in position by means of screws 69 that are threaded into brackets '71 secured to the bottom wall of the panel, the heads of the screws being disposed in counterbores 72 that are filled with sealing wax 73 to prevent removal of the covers 68 by unauthorized persons.

The circuit-breaker housings 17 are provided with insulating covers 74 that are attached to the housings by screws 75 having their ends disposed in counterbores 76 that are sealed with sealing wax '77 to prevent unauthorized access to the circuit-breaker housing. Each cover is provided. with a slot '78 through which the operating handle 35 projects to render it accessible for operation when the cover 14 is opened.

It will be noted that the outer ends of the circuit breaker units are spaced from the side walls 7 and 8 of the panel housing to provide wiring gutters 78' in which the branch-line conductors 65 are assembled within the panel housing.

The circuit-breaker units, when assembled within the housing, serve to entirely close the opening 13 in the trim 11 and, therefore, preclude access to the wiring gutters or the space surrounding the circuit-breaker units by unauthorized persons. In order to gain access to the wiring gutters, it is necessary to remove the trim plate 11. The terminal recesses 62 are also covered by insulating plates '79 that are secured to the housing by screws 81 having their heads disposed in recesses 82 filled with insulating compound 83.

The ends of the branch-line terminals 59 are disposed within the recesses 62 and are protected from contact with foreign materials, and the branch-line conductors .65. cannot engage the terminals of neighboring circuit-breaker units.

Fig. 4 illustrates diagrammatically the circuit connections of the circuit-breaker unit. The

bus bar 56 is connected to a feed conductor and the choke coil 53, electromagnet 51 and bimetal thermal-element 28 are connected in series, one of the terminals of the thermal-element being connected to a contact member 44. The bridging contact member 41 connects the members 44 and 45, and the current flows to the load circuit through the conductor 59 and terminal screw 63. One end of the load circuit is connected to a neutral bus bar 84.

By reason of the circuit-breaker-panel apparatus above described, the use of branch-line fuses is eliminated, and the service can be restored in a circuit that has been opened in response to an overload or short-circuit condition by simply actuating the circuit-breaker operating handle 35 to the closed position. If the short-circuit or severe overload condition prevails when the operating handle is actuated, the circuit breaker will not latch in closed position but will snap open the instant the contacts 41, 44 and 45 engage.

Unauthorized persons cannot gain access to the circuit-breaker mechanism or the wiring connections and, consequently, the circuit breaker cannot be tampered with or its attachments altered nor can the operator come in contact with live conduits.

I claim as my invention:

1. A distributing panel comprising a housing, a cover therefor having an opening therein, a door for closing the opening, and a plurality of enclosed circuit-breaker units disposed within the housing and spaced from the side walls thereof to provide a wiring gutter, the said units having their outer faces adjacent the cover for preclud-= ing access to the wiring gutter through the said opening and the said units each being provided at their outer ends with an external recess for confining the circuit-breaker terminals and a sealed cover for the recess for preventing unauthorized access to the said terminals.

2. A distributing panel comprising a housing, a cover therefor having an opening therein, a door for closing the opening, a plurality of enclosed c rcuit-breaker units arranged in two spaced rows,

their adjacent ends being spaced apart to provide a central chamber for the feeder bus bars and their outer ends being spaced from the side walls of the housing to provide wiring gutters, circuitbreaker terminals extending from their units into the said chamber and the said wiring gutters, current-limiting reactors supported within the chamber upon the said units, bus bars supported on the said reactors and a cover for the chamber for precluding access to the bus bars through the opening in the housing cover.

3. A distributing panel comprising a housing, a cover therefor, having an opening therein, a door for closing the opening, a plurality of enclosed circuit-breaker units having sealed mech= anisms arranged in spaced rows, the adjacent ends thereof providing a central chamber for feeder bus bars, means to seal said chamber, and their outer ends spaced from the side walls of the housing to provide wiring gutters, feeder bus bars within the central chamber, circuit-breaker terminals accessible in the central chamber and in the wiring gutters, current-limiting devices supported between the bus bars and the terminals, the said bus bars being connectible to the circuit breakers and means for precluding access to the space occupied by the bus bar.

4. In a distributing panel, in combination, a housing, a plurality of automatic circuit breakers having mechanism enclosed under seal and having two off positions, said breakers being disposed within the housing, and an operating handle for each circuit breaker accessible from the front of said housing, said handles being disposed to be actuated to an intermediate position when their respective circuit-breaker mechanisms are opened in response to an overload condition thereby indicating which circuit breaker has opened.

5. In a distributing panel, in combination, a housing. a cover therefor having an opening therein, a door for closing the opening, a plurality of circuit breakers having mechanism enclosed under seal disposed within the housing and having two off positions, an operating handle for each circuit breaker accessible when said door is opened, said handles being disposed to be actuated manually to an extreme of! position, or to an intermediate of! position when their respective circuit-breaker mechanisms are opened in response to an overload condition thereby indicating which circuit breaker has opened in response to an overload.

OLIVER 8. JENNINGS.

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