ELECTRICAL SWITCHING APPARATUS AND THERMAL TRIP ASSEMBLY THEREFOR

A thermal trip assembly (100, 200) is for an electrical switching apparatus (2). The electrical switching apparatus (2) includes a housing (4), separable contacts (6, 8) enclosed by the housing (4), an operating mechanism (10) for opening and closing the separable contacts (6, 8), and a number of shunts (16). The thermal trip assembly (100, 200) includes a load conductor (102, 202), a bimetal (130, 230) adapted to cooperate with the operating mechanism (10) to open the separable contacts (6, 8) in response to a trip condition, and a bypass heater element (160, 260) structured to be electrically connected to the shunts (16). The bypass heater element (160, 260) directs the flow of electric current to at least partially bypass the bimetal (130, 230). 本发明公开了一种用于电气开关设备(2)的热跳闸组件(100,200)。所述电气开关设备(2)包括壳体(4)，由所述壳体(4)包封的可分离触点(6,8)，用于打开和闭合所述可分离触点(6,8)的操作机构(10)，以及多个分流器(16)。所述热跳闸组件(100,200)包括负载导体(102,202)；双金属(130,230)，所述双金属适于与所述操作机构(10)配合以响应于跳闸条件来打开所述可分离触点(6,8)；以及旁路加热器元件(160,260)，所述旁路加热器元件被构造成电连接到所述分流器(16)。所述旁路加热器元件(160