Circuit breaker with replaceable rating adjuster and interlock means

Claim 1

A circuit breaker comprising a housing, a circuit breaker structure supported in said housing, said circuit breaker structure comprising a pair of contacts operable to open and close an electric circuit, a releasable mechanism, manually operable means manually operable only when said releasable mechanism is in a latched position to open and close said contacts, trip means operating automatically in response to overload current conditions above a predetermined value to release said releasable mechanism whereupon said releasable mechanism automatically moves from said latched position to a tripped position to open said contacts, said manually operable means being operable to move said releasable mechanism from said tripped position to said latched position following release of said releasable mechanism, said trip means comprising an externally accessible replaceable rating adjuster removably supported on said housing, interlock means automatically maintaining said releasable mechanism in said tripped position when said replaceable rating adjuster is removed from said housing, said interlock means comprising a mounting member movably supported in said housing, biasing means biasing said mounting member toward a tripping position wherein said mounting member automatically maintains said releasable mechanism in said tripped position, said mounting member having a tapped opening therein, said replaceable rating adjuster comprising a screw member cooperable with said tapped opening and operable to a securing position to secure said replaceable rating adjuster on said housing during which movement said mounting member is moved to an inoperative position to defeat said interlock means, and upon operation of said screw member to a non-securing position to permit removal of said replaceable rating adjuster from said housing said biasing means automatically moving said mounting member from said inoperative position to said tripping position.