INTERLOCKING LOCK IN ORDER TO PREVENT A SWITCH FROM BEING SWITCHED ON

In order to provide a locking mechanism (1) in order to prevent a force store from being discharged in the case of a switch in the field of electrical power distribution having a pushbutton (2) which, when the locking mechanism (1) is in an unlocked position, is coupled by means of a force transmission element (4) to a discharge initiator (10) for discharging of the energy store via an interlock, such that a switching-on movement acting on the pushbutton (2) can be introduced via the force transmission element (4) into the discharge initiator (10) in order to relieve the load on the force store, with the force transmission element (4) being connected to interlock interruption means (9, 17) which are designed to move the locking mechanism (1) to a locked position in which the interlock is cancelled, with the pushbutton (2) and the force transmission element (4) being guided in the unlocked position such that they move in a common longitudinal direction, such that a pushing movement of the pushbutton (2) can be introduced into the switching-on initiator (10) via a longitudinal movement of the force transmission element (4), which locking mechanism (1) is mechanically compact and operates reliably, it is proposed that the force transmission element (4) be mounted such that it can pivot such that, in a locked position, a movement direction of the force transmission element (4) is aligned at an angle to the pushing movement of the pushbutton (2), with the interlock interruption means (9, 17) being coupled to a drive shaft (11) of the switch and/or to an auxiliary switch.