Current-limiting circuit breaker

Claim 1

An electric circuit breaker comprising: a. an insulating enclosure. b. a movable contact carrier member in said enclosure, c. a pair of movable contacts mounted in spaced relation on said movable contact carrier member, d. a pair of relatively stationary contacts in said enclosure and adapted to be contacted by said movable contacts respectively, e. manually operable mechanism for moving said movable contact carrier member between open and closed circuit positions, f. each of said relatively stationary contacts being carried by a separate second contact carrier member pivotally mounted in said enclosure, g. resilient means biasing each of said second contact carrier members to a normal position, h. current responsive means for causing automatic opening movement of said movable contact carrier member from said closed to said open circuit position, i. electromagnetic means for rotating each of said second contact carrier members against the bias of said resilient means away from said movable contacts upon the occurrence of predetermined current conditions, j. latch means for latching said second contact carrier members in position away from said movable contacts when moved thereto by said electromagnetic means at least until said current responsive means has operated to cause automatic opening movement of said movable contact carrier.