US-12620541-B2 - Insulating-material housing and compact circuit breaker

US12620541B2US 12620541 B2US12620541 B2US 12620541B2US-12620541-B2

Abstract

An insulating-material housing has first and second current path region next to each other and each having a first receiving space for a short-circuit tripping apparatus, a second receiving space for a switching contact and a third receiving space for an arc-quenching apparatus. The two first receiving spaces are arranged in a front side and a respective narrow side of the housing. The two second receiving spaces are arranged centrally between the two first receiving spaces. The third receiving spaces are arranged between a fastening side of the housing and the respectively associated first receiving space. A fourth receiving space for an additional functional assembly is next to the first and/or third receiving space of the first current path region in a normal direction of the broad sides. The compact configuration allows the circuit breaker to be expanded by an additional functional assembly in the fourth receiving space.

Inventors

Wolfgang Leitl
Tobias Sturm

Assignees

SIEMENS AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20220203
Priority Date: 20210208

Claims (9)

1 . A compact circuit breaker, comprising: an insulating-material housing having: a front side, a fastening side opposite said front side, and narrow and wide sides connected between said front side and said fastening side; first and second current path regions disposed next to one another in a width direction and configured to each receive a current path, with each of said current path regions having: a first receptacle space configured to receive a short-circuit tripping device of the circuit breaker; a second receptacle space configured to receive a switching contact of the circuit breaker; a third receptacle space configured to receive an arc-quenching device of the circuit breaker; said two first receptacle spaces being disposed in said insulating-material housing in a region of said front side and in a region of a respective one of said narrow sides; said two second receptacle spaces being disposed in said insulating-material housing centrally between said two first receptacle spaces; said third receptacle spaces each being disposed between said fastening side and the respectively assigned said first receptacle space of the respective said current path region; a fourth receptacle space configured to receive an additional functional group of the circuit breaker; said fourth receptacle space being disposed, in a normal direction of said wide sides, next to said first and/or third receptacle spaces of said first current path region; a first current path in said first current path region that is interruptible by a first switching contact disposed in said second receptacle space of said first current path region; a second current path in said second current path region that is interruptible by a second switching contact disposed in said second receptacle space of said second current path region; a first short-circuit tripping apparatus disposed in said first receptacle space of said first current path region, and a second short-circuit tripping apparatus disposed in said first receptacle space of said second current path region; a first arc-quenching device disposed in said third receptacle space of said first current path region, and a second arc-quenching device disposed in said third receptacle space of said second current path region; and an additional functional group disposed in said fourth receptacle space.
2 . The compact circuit breaker according to claim 1 , wherein said first switching contact and said second switching contact are disposed in an opposing manner and are activatable in an opposing manner.
3 . The compact circuit breaker according to claim 1 , wherein said additional functional group is assigned to the first current path region or to the second current path region.
4 . The compact circuit breaker according to claim 1 , which comprises a further additional functional group disposed in a further fourth receptacle space.
5 . The compact circuit breaker according to claim 1 , which comprises a further fourth receptacle space configured to receive a further additional functional group of the circuit breaker, said further fourth receptacle space being disposed, in the normal direction of said wide sides, next to said first and/or third receptacle spaces of said second current path region.
6 . The compact circuit breaker according to claim 5 , wherein at least one of said fourth receptacle space or said further fourth receptacle space extends at least partially from a region next to said first receptacle space to an adjacent region next to said third receptacle space.
7 . The compact circuit breaker according to claim 5 , wherein said fourth receptacle space is disposed next to said first receptacle space of said first current path region and said further fourth receptacle space is disposed next to said first receptacle space of said second current path region.
8 . The compact circuit breaker according to claim 5 , wherein said further fourth receptacle space assigned to said second current path region is disposed next to said first receptacle space of said first current path region.
9 . The compact circuit breaker according to claim 1 , wherein said fourth receptacle space assigned to said first current path region is disposed next to said first receptacle space of said second current path region.

Description

FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to an insulating-material housing for a compact circuit breaker. The insulating-material housing has a front side, a fastening side, as well as narrow and wide sides that connect the front side to the fastening side, and is divided into a first and a second current path region which in the width direction are disposed next to one another and are configured to receive in each case one current path. Each of the two current path regions here has a first receptacle space which is provided and configured to receive a short-circuit tripping device of the circuit breaker; a second receptacle space which is provided and configured to receive a switching contact of the circuit breaker; as well as a third receptacle space which is provided and configured to receive an arc-quenching device of the circuit breaker. Furthermore, the invention relates to a compact circuit breaker having an insulating-material housing of this type, wherein disposed in the first current path region is a first current path which is able to be interrupted by a first switching contact which is disposed in the second receptacle space of the first current path region, and disposed in the second current path region is a second current path which is able to be interrupted by a second switching contact which is disposed in the second receptacle space of the second current path region. Electromechanical protective switches, for example circuit switches, circuit breakers, earth leakage circuit breakers, as well as arc-protection switches or fire-protection switches serve for monitoring and safeguarding an electric circuit and are used in particular as switching and safeguarding elements in electrical power supply and distribution networks. For monitoring and securing the electric circuit, the circuit breaker is connected to an electrical line of the circuit to be monitored in an electrically conducting manner by way of two or a plurality of terminals so as to interrupt the electric current in the respective monitored line when required. To this end, the protective switch has at least one switching contact which can be opened when a predefined state arises, for example when a short-circuit or an earth leakage current is detected, so as to separate the monitored circuit from the electric grid. Protective switches of this type are also known as row-mounted devices in the low-voltage engineering sector. Circuit breakers are specially designed for high currents. A circuit breaker which is also referred to as a miniature circuit breaker (MCB) in the electrical installation represents a so-called over-current protection and is used in particular in low-voltage networks. Circuit breakers and protective circuit breakers guarantee a reliable shut-down in the event of a short circuit and protect consumers and installations against overload, for example from damage to the electrical lines by excessive heating as a consequence of an excessively high electric current. Said circuit breakers are configured to automatically shut down a circuit to be monitored in the event of a short circuit or when an overload arises, and thus disconnect said circuit from the remaining line network. Circuit breakers and protective circuit breakers are therefore used in particular as switching and safety elements for monitoring and securing an electric circuit in electric power grids. Circuit breakers are in principle known from documents DE 10 2015 217 704 A1, EP 2 980 822 A1, DE 10 2015 213 375 A1, DE 10 2013 211 539 A1, or EP 2 685 482 B1. A single-pole circuit breaker which usually has a width of one pitch unit (corresponding to approx. 18 mm) is typically used for interrupting a single phase line. Three-pole circuit breakers are used for three-phase connections (as an alternative to three single-pole switching apparatuses), which accordingly have a width of three pitch units (corresponding to approx. 54 mm). Each of the three phase conductors is assigned one pole, i.e. one switching point. If the neutral conductor is also to be interrupted in addition to the three phase conductors, reference is made to four-pole apparatuses which have four switching points: three for the three phase conductors, as well as one for the common neutral conductor. There are moreover compact circuit breakers which in a housing width of only one pitch unit provide two switching contacts, each for one connecting line, i.e. either for two phase lines (compact circuit breakers of the type 1+1) or for one phase line and the neutral conductor (compact circuit breakers of the type 1+N). An earth leakage circuit breaker is a protective device for guaranteeing protection against a dangerous earth leakage current in an electrical installation. An earth leakage current of this type, which is also referred to as a differential current, arises when a voltage-conducting part of a line is in electrical contact with the ground. This is the case, for example,