THERMAL OVERCURRENT RELEASE OF AUTOMATIC CIRCUIT BREAKER Russian patent published in 1999 - IPC

FIELD: electrical engineering; circuit- opening devices. SUBSTANCE: according to invention, shunt portions abut at one end against different current ducts and at other end overlap each other and lock current-carrying section that functions as energy source in operation. At any size of this section, which is greater than thickness of bimetal strip and smaller than distance between current ducts, current is re- distributed to other sections in the course of heating of shunt parts by load current in operation; this prevents overheating of main section and extends range of rated currents through one bimetal strip from 25 to 65 A. EFFECT: improved reliability of overcurrent release. 6 dwg