CN212411955U

CN212411955U - Auxiliary contact assembly for contactor and contactor

Info

Publication number: CN212411955U
Application number: CN202021409147.3U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 徐敏; P.拉切尔; D.辛托梅斯; D.劳特
Original assignee: Schneider Electric Industries SAS
Current assignee: Schneider Electric Industries SAS
Priority date: 2020-07-16
Filing date: 2020-07-16
Publication date: 2021-01-26
Anticipated expiration: 2030-07-16

Abstract

An auxiliary contact assembly for a contactor and a contactor. An auxiliary contact assembly is mounted to the contactor, comprising: a housing; a connector mounted on the housing for connecting the auxiliary contact assembly to the contactor; a shaft movably mounted in the recess of the housing and switchable between a locked position and an unlocked position, the shaft being in the locked position via a locking member that is actuated via an outer wall of the contactor when the first end of the shaft is inserted into the contactor in the locked position, thereby releasing the locking of the locking member and switching the locking member to the unlocked position in which the shaft is movable within the recess.

Description

Auxiliary contact assembly for contactor and contactor

Technical Field

The utility model relates to an auxiliary contact subassembly and contactor for contactor.

Background

Today, this is often done with the aid of tools when mounting or dismounting the auxiliary contact assembly to or from the contactor. Further, in order to mount the auxiliary contact assembly to the contactor with the shaft of the auxiliary contact assembly held at the initial position (locked position), a return spring is often used to hold the shaft at the initial position. The return spring, while capable of holding the shaft in the initial position, often needs to overcome the force of the return spring in order for the shaft to move with the operation of the contactor, which requires additional effort and is undesirable for the performance of the contactor.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The utility model provides an auxiliary contact subassembly for contactor, auxiliary contact unit mount to contactor, auxiliary contact subassembly includes: a housing; a connector mounted on the housing for connecting the auxiliary contact assembly to the contactor; a shaft movably mounted in the recess of the housing and switchable between a locked position and an unlocked position, the shaft being in the locked position via a locking member that is actuated via an outer wall of the contactor when the first end of the shaft is inserted into the contactor in the locked position, thereby releasing the locking of the locking member and switching the locking member to the unlocked position in which the shaft is movable within the recess.

Advantageously, the shaft includes a groove in a side thereof, the locking member being pivotally mounted in the groove of the housing such that when the locking member is in the first position, one end of the locking member extends into the groove of the shaft in the groove to prevent movement of the shaft to lock the shaft in the locked position, and a portion of the other end of the locking member is located outside the groove of the housing such that when the shaft is inserted into the contactor in the locked position, the other end of the locking member is urged by the outer wall of the contactor to pivot the locking member to the second position in which one end of the locking member is pivoted out of the groove of the shaft to unlock the shaft to enable the shaft to move within the recess.

Advantageously, the connector comprises a catch configured to be insertable into a corresponding first mating hole in the contact, the catch of the catch facing in a first direction.

Advantageously, the auxiliary contact assembly comprises a button capable of disengaging the catch from the first mating hole when pressed to detach the auxiliary contact assembly from the contactor.

Advantageously, the connector further comprises a hook configured to be hooked in a corresponding second mating hole in the contactor, the hook facing in a second direction opposite to the first direction.

Advantageously, the auxiliary contact assembly further comprises a reference member configured to be inserted into a corresponding positioning hole in the contactor when the auxiliary contact assembly is mounted to the contactor, to provide a reference to the connection member of the auxiliary contact assembly.

Advantageously, a second end of the shaft, opposite the first end, comprises a mounting hole into which the first end of the further shaft of a further auxiliary contact assembly can be inserted, so that two adjacent auxiliary contact assemblies are stacked together and mounted together to the contactor.

The utility model also provides a contactor, it includes as above supplementary contact subassembly.

Drawings

The advantages and objects of the present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the relationship of the various components. In the drawings:

fig. 1 shows a perspective view of an auxiliary contact assembly according to the invention, wherein the rear side of the auxiliary contact assembly is covered by a rear cover.

Fig. 2 shows another perspective view of an auxiliary contact assembly according to the invention.

Figure 3 shows a perspective view of the auxiliary contact assembly according to the present invention with the rear cover removed.

Fig. 4 shows a perspective view of a shaft of an auxiliary contact assembly according to the invention.

Fig. 5 shows a cut-away perspective view of an auxiliary contact assembly according to the invention.

Fig. 6 shows a partial cross-sectional view of one end of a locking element according to the invention inserted into a groove of a shaft.

Fig. 7 shows a perspective view of the auxiliary contact assembly according to the present invention before it is mounted to the contactor.

Fig. 8 shows a perspective view of the auxiliary contact assembly according to the present invention after it has been mounted to a contactor, wherein two auxiliary contact assemblies are shown stacked together and mounted to the contactor.

Detailed Description

Various embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here, it is to be noted that, in the drawings, the same reference numerals are given to constituent parts having substantially the same or similar structures and functions, and repeated description thereof will be omitted. The terms "first direction", "second direction", etc. herein are described with respect to the drawings of the present invention, unless otherwise specified. The term "sequentially comprising A, B, C, etc" merely indicates the order of the included elements A, B, C, etc. and does not exclude the possibility of including other elements between a and B and/or between B and C. The description of "first" and its variants is merely for the purpose of distinguishing between the parts and does not limit the scope of the invention, which can be written as "second" and so on without departing from the scope of the invention.

The drawings in the present specification are schematic views to assist in explaining the concept of the present invention, and schematically show the shapes of the respective portions and the mutual relationships thereof.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to fig. 1 to 8.

As shown in fig. 1 to 3, the auxiliary contact assembly 1 includes a housing 11, and a connecting member and a shaft 12 mounted to the housing 11. The connector is used to connect the auxiliary contact assembly to the contactor. In this embodiment, the connecting member includes a catch 13 that can be caught in a corresponding first mating hole 21 in the contactor 2 and a hook 14 that can be hooked in a corresponding second mating hole 22 in the contactor when the auxiliary contact assembly is mounted to the contactor (see fig. 7). In this embodiment, the latching portion of the latching member faces upward, and the hook portion of the hook member faces downward, so that the auxiliary contact assembly can be better fixed to the contactor. Although a connection member in the form of a snap and a hook is described, it should be understood that any other connection means may be used by those skilled in the art as long as the auxiliary contact assembly can be connected to the contactor. When the auxiliary contact assembly is detached from the contactor, the button 15 arranged on the shell can be pressed to enable the clamping buckle piece to be separated from the matching with the first matching hole, then the hook piece is separated from the hook of the second matching hole, and the auxiliary contact assembly can be detached from the contactor. The auxiliary contact assembly further comprises a reference piece 16 provided on the housing, the reference piece 16 being inserted into a positioning hole 23 on the contactor when the auxiliary contact assembly is mounted to the contactor, to provide a reference for the catch 13 and the hook 14 to be mounted to the contactor.

As shown in fig. 4 to 6, the auxiliary contact assembly further comprises a locking member 19 pivotably arranged in the channel 18, the shaft 12 being located in a recess 17 in the housing and being movable between a locked position and an unlocked position. The shaft 12 is insertable into the contactor and moves within the recess in response to operation of the contactor when in the unlocked position. Specifically, the shaft 12 has a groove 121 in a side thereof, and at least a portion of the first end 192 of the locking member 19 is inserted into the groove 121 in the locking position to block movement of the shaft 12 along the groove to secure the shaft 12 in the locking position. In this locking position a part of the second end 193 of the locking element 19 opposite to the first end is located outside the channel 18, so that when the shaft 12 is inserted into the contactor in the locking position, this part of the second end of the locking element 19 is pushed by the outer wall of the contactor, thereby pivoting the locking element in the channel 18, so that the first end of the locking element moves out of the groove 121, and the locking element switches to the unlocking position. In this position, the locking element is able to move along the groove in response to operation of the contactor.

As shown in fig. 3, with the rear cover 20 removed, it can be seen that the second end of the locking member has a mounting hole 191 into which the first end of another locking member of another auxiliary contact assembly can be inserted, so that two adjacent auxiliary contact assemblies are stacked on top of each other and inserted together into the contactor via the locking member of the first auxiliary contact assembly. In one embodiment, two auxiliary contact assemblies stacked together may be mounted on one side of the contactor, as shown in fig. 8. It is contemplated that two auxiliary contact assemblies stacked together may be similarly mounted on the other side of the contactor, and thus, one contactor may be mounted with four auxiliary contact assemblies.

The auxiliary contact assembly according to the present invention has been described above, and the locking member of the auxiliary contact assembly can effectively hold the shaft at the locking position, overcoming the disadvantage of the prior art in which the shaft is held at the locking position by the return spring, while the auxiliary contact assembly is conveniently and rapidly mounted to the contactor by the connecting members (the latch and the hook).

Moreover, the technical features disclosed above are not limited to the combinations with other features disclosed, and other combinations between the technical features can be performed by those skilled in the art according to the purpose of the invention to achieve the aim of the invention.

Claims

1. An auxiliary contact assembly for a contactor, the auxiliary contact assembly being mounted to the contactor, the auxiliary contact assembly comprising:

a housing;

a connector mounted on the housing for connecting the auxiliary contact assembly to the contactor;

a shaft movably mounted in the recess of the housing and switchable between a locked position and an unlocked position,

wherein the shaft is in a locked position via a locking element, and when the first end of the shaft is inserted into the contactor in the locked position, the locking element is actuated via an outer wall of the contactor, thereby unlocking the locking element and switching the locking element to an unlocked position in which the shaft is movable within the recess.

2. The auxiliary contact assembly of claim 1, wherein the shaft includes a groove in a side thereof, the locking member being pivotally mounted in the channel of the housing such that when the locking member is in the first position, one end of the locking member extends into the groove of the shaft in the channel to prevent movement of the shaft to lock the shaft in the locked position, and a portion of the other end of the locking member is positioned outside the channel of the housing such that when the shaft is inserted into the contactor in the locked position, the other end of the locking member is urged by the outer wall of the contactor to pivot the locking member to the second position, and in the second position, one end of the locking member is pivoted out of the groove of the shaft to unlock the shaft to enable the shaft to move within the recess.

3. The auxiliary contact assembly of claim 2, wherein the connector includes a catch configured to be inserted into a corresponding first mating hole in the contactor, the catch of the catch facing in a first direction.

4. The auxiliary contact assembly of claim 3, wherein the auxiliary contact assembly includes a button that, when depressed, disengages the catch from the first mating aperture to remove the auxiliary contact assembly from the contactor.

5. The auxiliary contact assembly of claim 3, wherein the connector further comprises a hook configured to hook into a corresponding second mating hole in the contactor, the hook facing in a second direction opposite the first direction.

6. The auxiliary contact assembly of claim 1, further comprising a reference member configured to be inserted into a corresponding positioning hole in the contactor to provide a reference to the connection member of the auxiliary contact assembly when the auxiliary contact assembly is mounted to the contactor.

7. An auxiliary contact assembly as in claim 1, wherein a second end of the shaft opposite the first end includes a mounting hole into which a first end of another shaft of another auxiliary contact assembly can be inserted such that two adjacent auxiliary contact assemblies are stacked together and mounted together to the contactor.

8. A contactor, characterized in that it comprises an auxiliary contact assembly according to any of claims 1 to 7.