US-12620543-B2 - Solid-state circuit breaker

US12620543B2US 12620543 B2US12620543 B2US 12620543B2US-12620543-B2

Abstract

The present disclosure discloses a solid-state circuit breaker including an electronic switch and a mechanical switch connected in series, the mechanical switch includes: a handle micro-switch, configured to be actuated upon the handle rotating to the on position and released upon the handle leaving the on position; a contact micro-switch, installed to the housing and configured to be actuated upon the movable contact moving to a closed position and released upon the movable contact leaving the closed position. By detecting a state of the handle micro-switch and a state of the contact micro-switch, it is achieved that, upon the solid-state circuit breaker being switched from off to on, the mechanical switch is turned on first, and then the electronic switch is turned on, upon the solid-state circuit breaker being switched from on to off, the electronic switch is turned off first, and then the mechanical switch is turned off.

Inventors

Shunxian Mao
Haijun Zhao
Jiamin Chen
Hongliang Wang
Yu Chen
Hanyi Liu
Ying Shi

Assignees

SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC (CHINA) CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20231121
Priority Date: 20230714

Claims (11)

1 . A solid-state circuit breaker, comprising an electronic switch and a mechanical switch connected in series, wherein the mechanical switch comprises: a housing; a handle, rotatably installed to the housing and rotatable between an on position and an off position; a movable contact and a stationary contact, the movable contact is configured to be movable between an open position and a closed position, in the open position, the movable contact is not in contact with the stationary contact, and in a closed position, the movable contact is in contact with the stationary contact; a movable contact bracket, the movable contact is installed on the movable contact bracket; a transmission assembly, being capable of transmitting a motion of the handle to the movable contact bracket to drive the movable contact to achieve contact and separation with the stationary contact; a handle micro-switch, installed to the housing and configured to be actuated upon the handle rotating to the on position and released upon the handle leaving the on position, so that the handle micro-switch is in an on state of the handle micro-switch upon the handle being in the on position and the handle micro-switch is in an off state of the handle micro-switch upon the handle leaving the on position; a contact micro-switch, installed to the housing and configured to be actuated by the moveable contact bracket upon the movable contact moving to a closed position and released upon the movable contact leaving the closed position, so that the contact micro-switch directly measures a position of the moveable contact independently of a position of the handle, and so that the contact micro-switch is in an on state of the contact micro-switch upon the movable contact being in the closed position and the contact micro-switch is in an off state of the contact micro-switch upon the movable contact leaving the closed position, wherein, by detecting a corresponding state of the handle micro-switch and a state of the contact micro-switch, it is achieved that, upon the solid-state circuit breaker being switched from off to on, the mechanical switch is turned on first, and then the electronic switch is turned on; and upon the solid-state circuit breaker being switched from on to off, the electronic switch is turned off first, and then the mechanical switch is turned off.
2 . The solid-state circuit breaker according to claim 1 , wherein, the movable contact bracket comprises an actuating protrusion, and the contact micro-switch is arranged close to an end point of a motion path of the actuating protrusion during a closing process, so that the actuating protrusion actuates the contact micro-switch to the on state of the contact micro-switch upon the movable contact bracket driving the movable contact to move to the closed position, and the actuating protrusion releases the contact micro-switch to the off state of the contact micro-switch upon the movable contact bracket driving the movable contact to leave the closed position.
3 . The solid-state circuit breaker according to claim 1 , wherein, the solid-state circuit breaker comprises an actuating member, and the motion of the handle between the on position and the off position drives the actuating member to move, and the handle micro-switch is arranged close to an end point of a motion path of the actuating member during a closing process, so that the actuating member is driven by the handle and drives the handle micro-switch to the on state of the handle micro-switch upon the handle moving to the on position, and the actuating member is driven by the handle and release the handle micro-switch to the off state of the handle micro-switch upon the handle leaving the on position.
4 . The solid-state circuit breaker according to claim 1 , wherein, in a case of manually operating the solid-state circuit breaker from off to on: the handle is manually rotated from the off position to the on position, and the motion of the handle is transmitted to the movable contact bracket through the transmission assembly, so as to drive the movable contact to move from the open position to the closed position, upon the movable contact reaching the closed position, the contact micro-switch is actuated to the on state of the contact micro-switch, and the mechanical switch is turned on, meanwhile, upon the handle moving to the on position, the handle micro-switch is actuated to the on state of the handle micro-switch, upon the contact micro-switch being in the on state of the contact micro-switch and the handle micro-switch being in the on state of the handle micro-switch, the solid-state circuit breaker is in a hot standby state, upon the solid-state circuit breaker being in the hot standby state, if the electronic switch is turned on, the solid-state circuit breaker is turned on.
5 . The solid-state circuit breaker according to claim 1 , further comprising a tripping unit being electrically driven, and configured to trip upon being electrically driven so that the transmission assembly is actuated to switch the movable contact from the closed position to the open position.
6 . The solid-state circuit breaker according to claim 5 , wherein the tripping unit comprises: an excitation coil, wrapped with an insulating sheath; and a push rod assembly, driven to trigger tripping upon the excitation coil being energized.
7 . The solid-state circuit breaker according to claim 5 , further comprising an arc extinguishing chamber arranged close to the stationary contact, and the tripping unit is arranged between the transmission assembly and the arc extinguishing chamber.
8 . The solid-state circuit breaker according to claim 5 , wherein, in a case of manually switching the solid-state circuit breaker from on to off: the handle is manually rotated from the on position to the off position, upon the handle leaving the on position, the handle micro-switch is released to the off state of the handle micro-switch, at this time, in response to the off state of the handle micro-switch, the electronic switch is turned off, and then the tripping unit is electrically driven, the transmission assembly is actuated to drive the movable contact to move from the closed position to the open position, upon the movable contact leaving the closed position, the contact micro-switch is released to the off state of the contact micro-switch, upon the movable contact reaching the off position, the mechanical switch is turned off, so that the solid-state circuit breaker is turned off.
9 . The solid-state circuit breaker according to claim 5 , wherein, in a case of electrically driving the solid-state circuit breaker from on to off: the electronic switch is turned off; the tripping unit is driven electronically; the transmission assembly is actuated to drive the movable contact to move from the closed position to the open position; upon the movable contact leaving the closed position, the contact micro-switch is released to the off state of the contact micro-switch; upon the movable contact reaching the open position, (i) the mechanical switch is turned off and the solid-state circuit breaker is turned off, and the transmission assembly is actuated to drive the handle to move from the on position to the off position; and upon the handle leaving the on position, the handle micro-switch is released to the off state of the handle micro-switch.
10 . The solid-state circuit breaker according to claim 9 , wherein the case of electrically driving the solid-state circuit breaker from on to off is triggered remotely or upon a fault occurring.
11 . The solid-state circuit breaker according to claim 1 , further comprising a mechanical synchronization mechanism for multi-level use, wherein the mechanical synchronization mechanism comprises: a transmission linkage, connected to a part of multiple levels of transmission assemblies and configured to interlock the multiple levels of transmission assemblies; and a tripping linkage, connected to multiple levels of tripping units and configured to interlock the multiple levels of tripping units.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a solid-state circuit breaker. BACKGROUND The fast breaking ability of solid-state circuit breakers is favored by more and more new energy applications, and DC solid-state circuit breakers with protection function are also one of the requirements of industrial applications. The solid-state circuit breaker includes an electronic switch and a mechanical switch connected in series, and it is required that under normal circumstances, upon being energized to turn off, the electronic switch is turned off first, and then the mechanical switch (not energized) is turned off; upon being energized to turn on, the mechanical switch is turned on first (not energized) and then the electronic switch is turned on. SUMMARY According to the present disclosure, a solid-state circuit breaker is proposed, which includes an electronic switch and a mechanical switch connected in series, the mechanical switch includes: a housing; a handle, rotatably installed to the housing and rotatable between an on position and an off position; a movable contact and a stationary contact, wherein the movable contact is configured to be movable between an open position and a closed position, in the open position, the movable contact is not in contact with the stationary contact, and in a closed position, the movable contact is in contact with the stationary contact; a movable contact bracket, wherein the movable contact is installed on the movable contact bracket; a transmission assembly, being capable of transmitting a motion of the handle to the movable contact bracket to drive the movable contact to achieve contact and separation with the stationary contact; a handle micro-switch, installed to the housing and configured to be actuated upon the handle rotating to the on position and released upon the handle leaving the on position, so that the handle micro-switch is in an on state of the handle micro-switch upon the handle being in the on position and the handle micro-switch is in an off state of the handle micro-switch upon the handle leaving the on position; a contact micro-switch, installed to the housing and configured to be actuated upon the movable contact moving to a closed position and released upon the movable contact leaving the closed position, so that the contact micro-switch is in an on state of the contact micro-switch upon the movable contact being in the closed position and the contact micro-switch is in an off state of the contact micro-switch upon the movable contact leaving the closed position. By detecting a state of the handle micro-switch and a state of the contact micro-switch, it is achieved that, upon the solid-state circuit breaker being switched from off to on, the mechanical switch is turned on first, and then the electronic switch is turned on, upon the solid-state circuit breaker being switched from on to off, the electronic switch is turned off first, and then the mechanical switch is turned off. By adding the handle micro-switch and the contact micro-switch, the state of the handle and the state of the movable contact can be detected conveniently, and then the solid-state circuit breaker can be controlled conveniently to achieve the function of the solid-state circuit breaker. The solid-state circuit breaker according to the present disclosure may include one or more of the following features. According to an embodiment, the movable contact bracket includes an actuating protrusion, and the contact micro-switch is arranged close to an end point of a motion path of the actuating protrusion during a closing process, so that the actuating protrusion actuates the contact micro-switch to the on state of the contact micro-switch upon the movable contact bracket driving the movable contact to move to the closed position, and the actuating protrusion releases the contact micro-switch to the off state of the contact micro-switch upon the movable contact bracket driving the movable contact to leave the closed position. According to an embodiment, the solid-state circuit breaker includes an actuating member, and the motion of the handle between the on position and the off position drives the actuating member to move, and the handle micro-switch is arranged close to an end point of a motion path of the actuating member during a closing process, so that the actuating member is driven by the handle and drives the handle micro-switch to the on state of the handle micro-switch upon the handle moving to the on position, and the actuating member is driven by the handle and release the handle micro-switch to the off state of the handle micro-switch upon the handle leaving the on position. According to an embodiment, in a case of manually operating the solid-state circuit breaker from off to on: the handle is manually rotated from the off position to the on position, and the motion of the handle is transmitted to the movable contact bracket through the transmission assembly, so as to