AU707585B2

AU707585B2 - Load connecting block

Info

Publication number: AU707585B2
Application number: AU12200/97A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Kurt Ing. Portschy
Original assignee: SCHNEIDER SCHALTGERATEBAU und
Current assignee: M Schneider Schaltgeratebau und Elektroinstallationen GmbH
Priority date: 1996-01-18
Filing date: 1997-01-16
Publication date: 1999-07-15
Anticipated expiration: 2017-01-16
Also published as: ATA8696A; AU1220097A; DE29622551U1; AT403226B

Description

M. Schneider Schaltgeratebau und Elektroinstallationen Gesellschaft m.bJlT( Switching Equipment and Electrical Installation) Load Connecting Block The invention relates to a load connecting block with housing which has attached to its one end at least three rotatable mounts for fuse inserts in form of parallel guidances, and with rails on both sides of the mounts which hold the sides of the mounts such that they can rotate, where the joints are made up of bolts running in holes.

Such load connecting blocks are previously known from DE 38 12 504 Al and are used to connect leads to bus-bars. These load connecting blocks have fuse inserts attached to their S mounts, where the contact blades of the mounts connect the lead to the corresponding bus-bar.

SWhen closing the contacts of the load connecting bar it is essential that the mounts with the fuse inserts are completely pushed down to give sufficient contact between the contact blades and the corresponding contacts on the housing.

:•oooo This results in the problem that due to the elasticity of the individual components of the load connecting block, which is usually made from plastic, in particular the back mount, as seen in 00 •closing direction, will be insufficiently pushed down, so that the contact blades of the fuse inserts do not make sufficient contact with the corresponding contacts on the housing.

ooss S• DE 35 13 621 Al describes a switchable block with a lid which can be moved relative to a bottom part by means of a lever, where the lever is guided in oblong holes in the bottom part via bolts.

The objective of the invention is to upgrade a load connecting block in such a way that all mounts, in particular those at the back, can be pushed down sufficiently.

This objective is achieved by the fact that at least the back mount, as seen in closing direction, is connected to the rails by means of joints consisting of bolts in oblong holes, that the oblong holes are at an angle to a connecting line to the adjacent link and that the bolts slide inside the oblong holes during the pivoting motion of the mounts.

Because the bolts slide inside the corresponding oblong holes at an angle during the pivoting motion, the back mount, as seen in closing direction, will receive an additional push down, towards the housing, thus ensuring perfect contact of the fuse inserts.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is characterised in that the bolts are attached to the mounts and the oblong holes are located in the rails. The advantage of this embodiment is that it is easy to manufacture and assemble.

Preferably with this arrangement of the pivots and the oblong holes, the load connecting block is constructed such, that the back mounts, as seen in closing direction, are oriented such that S" they drop off at an angle to the longitudinal direction of the rails, thus giving an additional push down towards the housing.

To compensate for or avoid tensions in the rails due to the motion of the mounts not being perfectly parallel, in a preferred embodiment of the invention it is provided that the front mount, as seen in closing direction, is connected to the rails by means of joints consisting of bolts running in oblong holes, and that the bolts slide inside the oblong holes during the pivoting motion, and further that the oblong holes at the front, as seen in closing direction, are oriented parallel to a connecting line to the adjacent joint.

It has been shown that due to the fact that the front mount can also slide inside oblong holes in the rails, undesirable tension of the rail will be prevented to a large extent. To reliably ensure this, in a further embodiment of the invention it may be provided that the maximum axis distance defined by the oblong holes on the rails at the front oblong hole and the minimum axis distance at the back oblong hole are approximately equal to the distance of the joints of the housing.

Further it has been shown that it is sufficient if the front oblong holes are parallel to a connecting line to the adjacent joint (if the bolts are on the mounts and the oblong holes are in the rails, parallel to the longitudinal direction of the rails), the central and the front mount are pushed sufficiently into, respectively against the housing. This is guaranteed by the fact that the central mount usually has a lever, so that the central mount can be manually pushed down firmly. In addition, the lever can be arranged such that it will rest on the front mount when in closed position, thus pushing the front mount firmly against the housing as well.

Alternatively, it may be provided that the front oblong holes are at an angle to a connecting line to the adjacentjoint, which will also result in the front mount being pushed down firmly against the housing.

A description of one embodiment of the invention follows.

Fig. 1 shows a connecting block according to the invention in open state, Fig. 2 shows the connecting block from fig. 1 in closed state, Fig. 3 shows the mechanics of the motion, consisting of the housing, the mounts and the rails, Fig. 4 shows a blow-up of the components shown in fig.3, shows an embodiment of the connection between the pivot and the rails according to the invention, Fig. 6 shows a joint between the central mount and the rails with the cover removed, Fig. 7 shows a view according to fig. 6, but in assembled state, Fig. I to 4 show a connecting block according to the invention consisting mainly of the following components (as far as the switching mechanism is concerned): One rail each on the left and the right hand side, 1' and with the mounts 2, 3, 4 arranged between them.

In the following, mount 4 in closing direction (arrow 9) of the connecting block will be referred to as front mount, mount 2 as back mount.

The central mount 3 is located in bores 6 in the rails 1" via bolts. Back mount 4 is located in oblong holes 7 via bolts 5 and front mount 4 is located in oblong holes 8 via bolts 5. The mounts 2, 3, 4 are also located in the side walls 11, 12 of the housing 13 of the connecting block via joints 10, such that they are pivotable.

Mounts 2, 3, 4 have attached to them fuse inserts 14 with contact blades 15 which plunge between arc extinguishers 16 when the connecting block is closed, and there they contact contacts on the housing which are not shown. On the side of the fuse inserts 14 that is opposite to the contact blades 15, contact blades are arranged which are also not shown and which are also making contact with contacts on the housing whenever the connecting block is closed.

When the connecting block is closed an electrical connection between lead connectors and busbars, also not shown, is generated, where each mount 2, 3, 4, respectively each fuse insert 14 has allocated to it one bus bar and one lead connection.

The extension of the central mount 3 has attached to it a lever 17, by means of which the connecting block can be opened and closed. When the connecting block is closed (arrow 9) side bars 18 of the lever 17 come to rest directly above the front end 19 of the rails as is shown in figure 2. If the lever 17 is pushed down firmly, it will firmly push down the front end 19 of the rails 1" and subsequently the front mount 4, so that the front mount 4 is also pushed down sufficiently firm. As the lever 17 is directly attached to the central mount 3, the latter will also be pushed down sufficiently firm against, respectively into, the housing 13.

Up to now, back mount 2 has been a problem, because due to the elasticity of, in particular, the rails 1" it was not pushed completely against the housing 13, so that the contact blades 15 did not make contact with the contacts on the housing to the desired extent.

To solve this problem, according to the invention the back mount 2 was located in oblong holes 7 by means of bolts 5, where the oblong holes 7 drop off at an angle with reference to a connecting line to an adjacent hole 6, i.e. with reference to the longitudinal direction of the rails 1.

As shown in fig. 3, the bolt 5 of the back mount 2 is positioned approximately in the central section of the oblong hole 7 when the connecting block is in open state. The pivoting motion of the entire arrangement, consisting of the rails the mounts 2, 3, 4 and the housing 13 is mainly determined by the central mount 3, which is located in the housing 13 and the rails 1', 1" such that it cannot be shifted. Front mount 4 is arranged in the back half of the oblong hole 8 in the position shown in fig. 3.

The location of the mounts 2, 3, 4 in the housing 13 is by means of rotary axes 20 and 21, where the rotation at the beginning of the closing process is around the axes 20. Rotary axis 20 is made up of bearing bolts 22 on the mount 2, 3, 4, which are pushed from above into slots normal to the longitudinal direction of the housing 13 in the side walls 11, 12 of the housing until they touch the bottom of the slots.

If the lever 17 is pivoted from its position in fig. 3 in clockwise direction, the mounts 2, 3, 4 will initially be pivoted by 450 around axes 20. Bolt 5 of the back mount 2 commences to slide backwards in oblong hole 7. This is achieved by the fact that the axis distance z2 between rotary axis 20 and bolt 5 of the back mount 2 is smaller than the corresponding axis distance z3 of the central mount 3. In addition, the entire mechanism is dimensioned such that the distance X between rotary axes 20 of the back and the central mount 2 and 3 is slightly shorter than the distance X1 between axis bolt 5 of the back and central mount 2,3 when in the position shown in fig. 3.

During pivoting of the mounts 2, 3, 4 in direction of arrow 9, pilots 23 adjacent to the axis bolts 22 on the mounts 2, 3, 4 slide into correspondingly shaped slots in the side walls 11, 12 of the housing 13 until they touch the end of the circular slot when in the position labelled 24 in fig.

3. From now on the mounts 2, 3, 4 are pivoted around rotary axes 21, which are generated by the pilots 23 in their guiding slots.

It should be emphasised that the transition from rotary axes 20 to rotary axes 21 is not essential for the invention, but that the advantages of the connecting block according to the invention also exist when the pivoting motion is only around one rotary axis, e.g. rotary axis When the mounts 2, 3, 4 and the rails 1" have reached their lowest position as shown in fig.

2 and 3, the bolt 5 of back mount 2 has reached the far end of oblong hole 7. Due to the fact that the oblong holes 7 in the rails 1" drop off backwards, the back mount 2 has moved through a larger pivot angle than mounts 3 and 4, thus compensating for the upward bend of the elastic rails 1" and pushing mount 4 (by means of lever 17, respectively its side bars 18) and mount 2 firmly down, resulting in perfect contact between contact blades 15 and the corresponding contacts on the housing.

To prevent undesirable tensions in the mechanism due to the fact that central mount 3 and back mount 2 do not move parallel to each other and bolt 5 slides inside oblong hole 7, bolt 5 of the front mount 4 is moving inside an oblong hole 8. Thus the motion is mainly determined by central mount 3, while back mount 2 and front mount 4 have a certain freedom of movement inside the oblong holes 7 and 8.

Fig. 5 and 7 show an advantageous embodiment of the joints between rails 1" and mount 3.

Fig. 5 shows an enlarged section of mount 3 in the region of a bore 31 into which bolt 5 can be pressed. Bore 31 has a section 25 with a larger diameter which faces rail Bolt 5 has a mcorrrespondingly shaped outer diameter so that it can only be pushed into the bore 31 of mount S3 to a depth defined by the steps. To prevent rotation of the bolt 5 it is provided with two radial projections 26 which are on opposite sides on the diameter. Bore 31, respectively section 25, has corresponding recesses 27 into which the projections 26 fit. To prevent that the bolt becomes loose from the bore 31, it is firmly push-fitted into it.

Bolt 5 also has radial projections 28 which are transverse to the longitudinal direction of mount 3. These projections 28 have allocated to them perforations 29 in the bore 6 in the rail Bore 6 has bars 32 projecting from its wall into its interior which are arranged on that side of the rail 1" facing mount 3.

To assemble rails 1" and mount 3, they have to be arranged at right angles to each other, as the perforations 29 are in longitudinal direction of the rails In this position the projections 28 can be guided through the perforations 29 behind the bars 32. When mount 3 and rails 1" are then rotated in opposite direction, the projections 28 will engage behind the bars 32 and mount 3 will be firmly attached to rails as shown in figure 7.

The joints between the mounts 2 and 4 and rails are shaped correspondingly, with the exception that of course perforations 29 are not required, as the oblong holes offer sufficient space for guiding projections 28 through.

The arrangement of projections 28 on bolts 5 was selected such that bolts 5 can only be taken out of the holes 6, respectively oblong holes 7 and 8 when mounts 2, 3, 4 and rails 1" are in S• assembly position, i.e. are at an angle of app. 900 to each other. As this position never occurs during normal operation, the maximum angle reached is 70', mounts 2, 3, 4 are reliably fastened t re to rails yet they are easy to assemble and disassemble.

a.

8 THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS: 1. Load connecting block with housing which has attached to its one side at least three rotatable mounts for fuse inserts in form of parallel guidances, and with rails on both sides of the mounts which hold the sides of the mounts such that they can rotate, where the joints are made up of bolts running in holes, wherein at least the back mount, as seen in closing direction, is connected to the rails by means of joints consisting of bolts in oblong holes, that the oblong holes are at an angle to a connecting line to the adjacent joint and that the bolts slide inside the oblong holes during the pivoting motion of the mounts.

2. Connecting block according to claim 1, wherein the front mount, as seen in closing direction, is connected to the rails by means of joints consisting of bolts in oblong holes, that the oblong holes and that the bolts slide inside the oblong holes during the pivoting motion of the mounts.

3. Connecting block according to claim 2, wherein the front oblong holes as seen in closing direction, are parallel to a connecting line to the adjacent joint.

4. Connecting block according to claim 2, wherein the front oblong holes as seen in closing direction, are at an angle to a connecting line to an adjacent joint.

5. Connecting block according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the bolts are on the mounts and the oblong holes are on the rails.

6. Connecting block according to claim 5, wherein the back oblong holes as seen in closing direction, are dropping off at an angle to the longitudinal direction of the rails.

7. Connecting block according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the axis distance of the joint axes of the back mount, as seen in closing direction, is shorter than the axis distance of the other mounts.

Claims

8. Connecting block according to any one of claims 3 to 7, wherein the distance of the joints on the housing is X and that the maximum axis distance on the rails, defined by the oblong holes, at the front oblong hole, as seen in closing direction, and the minimum axis distance at the back oblong hole, as seen in closing direction, are approximately equal to X.
9. Connecting block according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the bolts have radial projections, which when the connecting block is in use engage behind bars in the holes, respectively oblong holes. Connecting block according to claim 9, wherein the bars have perforations through which the projections can be guided when the connecting block is in assembly position.
11. Connecting block according to claim 5 and 10, wherein the projections are approximately transverse to the longitudinal direction of the rails and that the perforations are arranged in approximately the longitudinal direction of the mount.
12. Connecting block according to any one of claims 9 to 11 and 5, wherein o the bolts are push-fitted into bores in the rails.
13. Connecting block according to claim 12, wherein the bolts have radial projections, which engage into correspondingly shaped recesses in the rails. DATED this 1 1th day of May 1999 SCHNEIDER SCHALTGERATEBAU UND ELEKTROINSTALLATIONEN GESELLSCHAFT MBH oa WATERMARK PATENT TRADE MARK ATTORNEYS o o 4TH FLOOR DURACK CENTRE 263 ADELAIDE TERRACE PERTH WA 6000 ABSTRACT Connecting Block A load connecting block has a housing (13) with at least three mounts 3, 4) for fuse inserts (14) in form of parallel guidances attached at one end such, that the mounts can be rotated. On both sides of the mounts 3, 4) are rails holding the other ends of the mounts 3, 4) such that they can be rotated. To prevent that the back mount as seen in closing direction (arrow will be insufficiently pushed down as a result of the elasticity of the individual components of the usually made from plastic connecting block, so that the contact blades of the fuse inserts (14) do not make sufficient contact with the corresponding contacts on the housing, the back mount as seen in closing direction (arrow 9) is connected to the rails by means of joints 7) consisting of bolts running in oblong holes where the oblong holes are at an angle to a connecting line to the adjacent joint The bolts slide backwards and down in the oblong holes during the pivoting motion of the mounts 3, 4), so that the back mount travels through a pivot angle larger than that travelled by the other mounts 4) and thus is pushed firmly against the housing. oeo**