[1]Patented Dec. 1, 1925. 19563,688 UNITED@ STATES PATENT OFFICE. PAUL CI-IARPENTIER, OF :PARIS, I,RAYC-'-,', ASSIGNOR TO FORGFS & ATELIERS DE CONSTRUCTIONS ELECTRIQUES DE JEUIF-Oj%TT, SOCIETE AL@TONYME, OF PARIS, FRANCE. LLECTric-CIRCUIT BREAKER.. Application filed April 17,1924, Seri,,i.1 No. 707,101. Y'o all toltoi?@, it conceiliz., ll'igtire 4 rel)resents by way of exaiiiple a Be it kno,,A,n that I, P@IUL CI-lArPrN'TIER, It modification of the 1-iiechanisiii tettiating the F@ rench citi-zen, and resiOin.-,@ tt 'i -' Botile@;,trd contactlever by the t@vo mov-,,ble armatLLres. 55 I-Ia-Lissinann, -@Flaris, r@ rance, have invented cert,,tiji ne@v and useful Iinproven-ients in Elee,ti-ic-Ciicuit Breakers, of Nvh;eli, the followinq- is ,t specification. Thi,s inven',on relates to ,tn elect-rie eiru' etilt bi-e@iker. the openin of ivhi(,h is pro10 dticecl in ti very sliort time an(I verv sooil af'Ler the iiiollient the cii,,@rent 1-n "Ile cii-eitit to be I)rotected @ittai.Tis ti -,-,tltie. The iiiipi-ove,l eireiiit bre,,ikei- coiiipi-ise,,4 essenti,,tlly an electroma,,Ilet li,@tving its 15 windinf, connectecl in series in the eircuit to be protected and with its pol(@-pieces arranged to attr,,tet tiao movable arma'ulires; one arm,,tture which is of sm,,tll sectional area ,tets ilpon the lever carrvino; the mov20 able contact of the circuit breakei- so as to tend to close the contacts, alnd the other arniature, whicli is of lar,,@er sectional ,trea ,tcts ul)on this same lever in a direction to open the said contacts. 25 One of the charac@lueristic features of the inveiition resides in the fac'c, thtt the, tetion of the section ,trn-iF@ture is rendered pi-eponderant for the lowest vtILies of the current in the eirettit, ivhilst f6r a given 30 excess of ciiiirejit the action of the largesecti6n armature becoines pi@e_t@?llderant; this re,iult is obtained by the jtidicious combination and sliitable 1.)i,opoi-t,ionin(y of the eleetron-l,tgnet, its pole-pi-eces ,ind its two arma35 tures. The iiuproved eireii@i'u breaker comprises nioreover elec'uroinafyneti.c means adapted to recli,tee q-Liiekly the @eltect of the small-seetion arm,,tt-Lires in case of rapid ineiease of 40 the current, such as t,,tkes ljl,,tee in a sh6rt eireiiit. Upon the a,c(.@ompanying drtwing, to ivliieh referenc,-, is made ii-i tl) ti. e descrip on @y,ive@n herein,,tfter:- 45 Fi-'ULre I repi,esent,s di@tgi,an-iinatically a rnl of coiistruction in Itecord, ce u e fo _q ivih th invention. Fio-tires 2 .tnci 3 tre i-ioclific,,ttio-@is comprisi@r,- electi@omt,-netic iiieons intendcl -!or 50 the effect of the sm,,tll-section ai,m@ittive in case o'Ll very suctclen itierease of the current. Fi"ure 5 represents a ftirthe'r modification, constitu@uin@ the pi-eferred construction. In all these figures the san-ie reference le'u-tei's designa'Le the same parts. The circuit breaker repi-esented in Figure 60 I coi_nprises a stationai-y c6litaclu- a and t i-novable contact b. The latter contact is seto a lever c 1.)ivoted at c, upon a bellcm, nk lever It, 7"2 'tself P'Volltl.Y Moiinted tipon ,t stationary spinctle e,: the slid lever 65 c is co@inected by a flexible le,,td cl to the series excitat;-Oii, winding e of the laminated electroi-nagnet On one of the f aces of the pole-pieces of the electromaunet i there is located a lami- 70 nated iron armature g of small sectional area and Lipon the other face of the said 1:)ole-pieces there i-s ,trran ed a la ge-section 9 r armat-Lire 7&; these two arniat'-Lires are coi-ipled together, the small-section armature g 75 being fixed dii-ectly upon the lever c and the lai@ge-section armattire A bein(Y fixed upon the, bell crank lever /t, 762- It ivill be tinderstood that the connection between the armatures and the lever can be 80 effectecl by means of any sliitable deviee, in pai-ticular by any system o-f jointecl lijaks, for ensur;.ng the transmissio,.i of the motion of the armature to the lever. When the circuit breaker is in the el.osed 8,5 position, the parts a b are in contact and the small-section arrnature. g is itself i.R coAtact with the pole-pieces of the electrolaa(ynet f, while an a,',r gap exists I)etween the laro-e-section arinature A and the s,,,id pole- 90 pieces. If the current in the eirellit increases, t.he -,inl)ere-ttirns Nvill inereltse in the series Ni,indi.ng e of tlie electromagnet j,'ancl the 95 mgc,-netic fl-Lix passing tlirotigh the arint tur--s cl and 7@ will i.-iierease 1,.kewise. But by i-eason of the ral)icl satLIra@'ui-on of the mall-section -,.- ,tttire g, the in,,t(yn6tic ViLix s m P")S"@@inu thro-Li@h i@u Will then in-,re-,tse iT-Iry slolvly ,ts also the attrtetion exerte,-l tipoia 100 this arm,,tttire@ (I by the elo@.etro-iiiagnet f; on tl-.e o'cher h@nd, the flu--\ traversi-nr the lai-,e-seet,ioii ,trn-iat-Lire h -v@ill increase ,ilin the same rol)ortion',Sl is the curreiit p
[2]and theref ore the attraction exertecl by the to bring the point of application of the electromagnet i tipop- this armattire It will increase approximately as the square of thig current. The device is so arranged that ivhen a (,iven valiie of the current is reached, the attraction exerted Lipon the 1,.Lr,(Yeseetion arrn,-tture h asstiines the prepondell@tnce. At this moment the armature 7t is drawn to the 10 pole-pieces of the electromagnet f and the previous contact bet-vveen these pole-pieces and the small-section --rmatu,-e g ee,,Lses. The lever c actuated by tiie movement of the arni,,tture It is ptished back tow,,trds the left 15, until its lower end ab,,its against -Lii adjtistable stop s. This movement causes the. contact a to assume an inclined position in relation to the contact b, before the actua,l separation of these eontacts; the bre,,tk can 20 therefore take pl,,Lee oni-y it their upper edge. Thi-s septration is thepeffecte(I by the action of tli-, ),rm,,tt-Lire lb coptiniiiiiits moven-ient wlille the levei- c beai.,s a,),,iin,3t the stop s. 25 Diirinu this operatioii the air (-@-,,ip of tho tn t, small-section arm,,Ltzire g increases rel,,ttively qliieli:ly -,@nd the infl-Lience of this arinature diminishes ier r,,lpidly, whereas y the Letlon of the lar-er -@rmat-Lire 7t ivill inn 30 crease progressively as its air ),ap const,,tnl,Iv decrei,ses; .n these conclitions the disPlacement of the lever c is ,iceelerated rapidly from the very sttrt of the reletsing movement. as The lever c is provided N,7ith a hoolc p which during the release comes into eno-ao-ez@ Z7, ment with a sprin(y catch q at the end of the stroke of the saia lever c. Moreover the device ctn be arran-ed iii stieli a ivay that 40 the centre of gravit-y of the movable system c g h h, h, -,tt the encl of the stroke of the lei,er c remains on tl-ie i-io-ht of the vertical line passing through the axis, of rotation C,. 45 In order once ii-iore to close the ei.rcuit breaker it is only necessary to ,t,ctt7ate the catch q eitlier directly or by means of an electi-oina-net eontrolled from ,t distance, so as to free the hoolc p. The lever c will then 'iO fall by its wn weight into the closed pos'- 0 tion; while the armature It moves away fro,ni the pole-pieces, the triiiatLi[-e g will approach these poles on the other face. ri.r) As soon as the cont,,tots a b touch one - ,Lnother, the current in the cireiiit will ener(,,ize the electroma-net the small section armature g will b6 atti-acted and will calise ,t sliding movement of the contact It over the contact a in such a way rLs to maiiitaiii the co contact surfaces always in good condition. The method of construction represented in ri igure 1 of the dra-,vino, might be modified, without affecting the- resiilt obtained, by arranging the links between the arma6@5 tures g 7t tnd the lever c in such ,t wty as force exerted by the larger armattire below the point of application of the force exerted by the small arn-iature upon the lever c. 70 Also as shown in Figtire 4 of the drawinthe smalli.-section tri-niture g might be s'@e'- cilii'ed i@igidly to the lever c at q,; ill this ease the ,trm,-.t-Lire 7t would be fix'ed upon a bell erlnk lever h, h. pivoted on the levei@ c 75 ,tt a point It, sittiated below the fixing point g,. The lever 76, would then pivot always aroiincl t fixecl axis c,. TI-ils arrangement has for effect to ineve,,,,se the presstire between the contacts a b 80 i-,,hen the current in the circuit rises, and it const;-tiilues a special feati-ire of the invention eminently suited to enstire the preservation of the contacts ).nd to prevent them becoiiiing oi,ei-heated. 85 Til 'U-Iie s,,ime vjty, it iii,,ty be desii-able to sliti,-it tiie sei,ies winding e of tl.ie electroii-ia,,Iiet by ,t parallel eireiiit of higher self indtict-ion ,,.iid lower i-esistince, in sucli a A-vav -,s to objl,,Lin the relevse of the circuit 90 I ],)reiker for a lower value of the total ciliri-ent in the ei-i@-cuit in the case of a sudden slior'c, eireliit thn,n iii the ease of a slowIA7 increlsny overlold. Th;ls la'st conditi-on may also be fulfilled 95 iiiore effic,@leioiisly and moi-e economically by proa,iding the small-section armtture g with a siiicyle coil or a -vvindi-n(y forining a shorteiretilt, as indicatecl in Figure 2 of the drawing. The short-eireliit coil i has nattii-ally 100 no aetion in the case of a slow increase ot the overload, but in the case of -,t sudden shorl--I-eircuit the variation of flux: in the small-section armature g is retarded by the ciii-i-ent indticed in the auxiliary winding i, 105 whether the flux in the armature g be alreidy near to the saturation point as wolild be the case for L short-circuit occurring at flill load, or whether this flux be still vei,y we,,tk, ts ivould liappen in the case of ,t 1-10 sliort-eireiiit tlreaOy existing at the time the eireiiit is closed. In such cise the action of the large-section ariiiattire ;h will then becoiiie prel.)onderatiiig for a value of the tot,,tl etirrent in the circuit lower than that 1"5 @ihich would be necessary in the case of a sudden short-circuit, if the short-circuit winding i did not exist; this effect will be still more accentuated if there happens to 120 be a sliort-eircuit at tl-ic mon-ient when the cireuit is closed. In the modification represented in Figure 3 of the drawing, the release for a loiver vtlue of ihe totil current iii the ease of a slidclen sliort-eircuit than in 125 the case of a slow increase of the overload, is obt,,tined by arranging upon the smallsection ,Lrn-iatui-e r,, a winding j in parallel to the series ivindin,, c which energizes the electroma(ynet This winclin(,, is of coliiparativeiy iiio 'IO
[3]wire and it-,s resistance is much greater than that of the windin- e so th,,it in case of a sloiv inere,,ise of the lotd its ampei-e-tvrns only affect very slightly the maulietization of the stntll armat-Lii@e The direction of the winclinff y is li'loreover solectecl in such ,t -,w,,ty t-if,@t -uhe inaffiietic flux which it prodtices in. the siuallsection armattire g ivill be of opl)osite sense to the flu@.x (renerated in this ,trm,,iture by the series windin,-, c. The -,elf, -ncl-utetio7i of. the shtint. coil being then lo'wer than that of the ivindinu e, it folloivs that in uhe cise of a sudden short-circuit the porII$, tion of the total current shunted into the wii-iding i is much crreater than in the case of ,t slowly inereasin- overlo,,td. '-- t7) In these eonditions, -,,vlien a stidden shortcircuit oceLi@rs,. the ampere-tui-ns of the shtint 2* coil acting in the opposite direction to the fllix pro,-Iiieed in the small armittire g bv the win(ling e, will have for effect to -2educe the force of the attraction of this arinatiire .-rid to, i-encler the attrtetion of the lar(yer '2* ai-iiiatiii-e h iiiiieli more rtpidly prepondera-nt. It may be remarked that in the case iviien a short-eireiiit exists at the moinei-it ivhen t,he'eire-Liit is closed, and when conseqlientlv 10 no eiirrent yet exists in the -,vindin- e at the mon-ientivhen the short-eirciiit first takes 1,@tee) the flux dite to the coil j would at @rl'st exist alone in the small armattire g; but the winding j havi.ng a high resistance 36, the current passing, through it is at each instant only a very small f raction of the tot,%l etirrent in the circuit. The remainder of the current eirculates throuoh the winclin,g e and the flux due to this -kvinding in: the armatlire .g, al,tholigh, ii-icreasing mor e slowly Nvill iievei,theless obtain very ral)idly a value equal to that produced by the shlint coil j. At- this mon-ient the force of attr,tetion of the larger -,ir@m,,tture h existiiig tlone ivill produce the release of the eireiiit breakei-. Nattirally the roleasincy effort for the cii-cuit breaker device can be reiiifo.reed by the action of a sl)ring k acting upon th-, lever c as shown in Figure 3 of the drawing. In this case the re-engagem,-,nt will require the use of a lever or Plectromagnet sufficient to overcome the force o-l@ this spring k. The re-eiigagement which took place under the ,tetion of gi-avity in the example of codstruction pi-eviously describecl @vith reference to Figure 1, can be prodiiced by the action of a spririg I idztpted to return the lever c to the closed position after the release of the 1- iooli: p, as shoivn 'lor example in Fl(,>,tire 4 of thedrawin-. Fi(yui-e, 6 rep--esent,s the p@efei-red arrangeinelit for carryiii, oiit the i.nvention. II.1 this c,,tse the@ tnvo VI ),rmattii-es g 7i ,tre co-.inected to@ the lever c by iiidepencl(@iit nie,@t s at g, and 7t, respectin,ely, as in Fi(rtil-,e 4 and the sm,,tller armature g is provided with ,t shunt coil similar to that shown i-Ti Figure 3. Thus the attraction of the tivo armatures towards the magnet prodii,es ,i 't@O torqtie upon the lever c in a direet'.ion 'Len(,@tinto increase the presstire be'u-,,,,een 'L-he contac@Ls a b as the ciirrent in the coil e i,.Icreases. At the same time the shiint coil prodticin- tn independent f-lux in tlle trratture g, controls the eireLiit brea.@li:er fts previously described in the event of a stid(len short circuit. Havin, thtis described iny in-vention, ivlitt I
