Circuit breaker assembly with improved tripping mechanism

Claim 1

A circuit breaker assembly comprising at least four circuit breakers in side-by-side relationship and including two outer circuit breakers and at least two intermediate circuit breakers between the outer circuit breakers, each circuit breaker including a housing having opposite walls including aligned apertures, the apertures of each housing being registered with corresponding apertures of adjacent housings, each circuit breaker having relatively movable contacts and operating mechanism therefor, each circuit breaker comprising a latch member releasably restraining the operating mechanism and responsive to overload current conditions to release the operating mechanism to trip the breaker, a trip level in each circuit breaker and operatively associated with the operating mechanism, a rotatable tie bar extending through the apertures of the housing of the intermediate circuit breakers and interconnecting the trip levers of the outer circuit breakers, the trip levers of the outer circuit breakers being movable to a trip position upon movement of the latch member of either outer circuit breaker, the trip levers of the intermediate circuit breakers being interlocked and comprising hollow rotatable shafts through which the tie bar extends in a freely rotatable manner, and the trip levers of the intermediate circuit breakers being movable independently of the trip levers of the outer circuit breakers in response to movement of the latch member of either intermediate circuit breaker.