AU731006B2

AU731006B2 - EIB device for insertion in an installation box

Info

Publication number: AU731006B2
Application number: AU52710/98A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Martin Zochling
Original assignee: Felten and Guilleaume Austria AG
Current assignee: Felten and Guilleaume Austria AG
Priority date: 1997-01-21
Filing date: 1998-01-21
Publication date: 2001-03-22
Anticipated expiration: 2018-01-21
Also published as: DE59812343D1; AU5271098A; EP0854668A3; CZ293541B6; ATE490676T1; AT405998B; ATE284602T1; CZ17998A3; ES2234089T3; EP1437932A3; EP1437932B1; ATA8497A; EP0854668B1; EP0854668A2; EP1437932A2

Description

Our Ref: 673112 P/00/011 Regulation 3:2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT 9* Applicant(s): Address for Service: Invention Title: Felten Guilleaume Austria AG Eugenia 1 A-3943 Schrems

AUSTRIA

DAVIES COLLISON CAVE Patent Trade Mark Attorneys Level 10, 10 Barrack Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 EIB device for insertion in an installation box The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me:- 5020 P:NWPDOCS\CLU\LWT16732I .2.2do-20/12m -1- EIB Device for Insertion in an Installation Box The invention is directed to an EIB device that can be inserted in an installation box, wherein the device includes a bus connector, a power connection, connections for consumers to be selected and/or sensors as well as a control electronic system. The EIB (European Installation Bus) is a bus system designed for the operation of the electrical equipment installed in a building, such as lights, blinds, ventilators, heating, alarm systems and the like. Each consumer and each control element, such as momentary switches, switches, dimmers and the like, is provided with a respective interface module, the bus interconnector, and is connected with the EIB which is designed as a two-wire-bus. With the EIB, each bus participant has its own microprocessor and can thus administer its data on its own and independent of a central processor. If for instance a momentary switch is actuated, which is intended to switch the lighting, the bus interconnector sends a data telegram to the data bus. All participants receive this telegram, however only the control electronic system of the device concerned, that is the lighting, processes these data, 15 actuates a control element and thereby connects the lighting to the voltage supply. The data transmission and the voltage supply to the equipment is performed via a single pair of wires.

By comparison with traditional installation devices, an installation device using the EIB requires significantly fewer lines and is more easily extendable. Also, depending on the desired use, the functions of the EIB can be easily changed by re-programming the signal annunciators and the consumers.

To date, EIB-capable devices have been of relatively large size and were merely designed for insertion in control cabinets or in large cable routes such as are used in S. functional buildings (office buildings, public buildings). This left the EIB, which in itself is advantageous, with the disadvantage of a disproportionately high requirement of space.

In recent times, the miniaturisation of electronic components has facilitated a S* significant reduction in size of the main components of EIB devices, namely bus interconnectors and the respective control element triggering electronic system, so that it is feasible to construct "small" EIB devices which can be inserted into traditional installation boxes.

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5 4 This small size is however associated with the problem that the connections for the data bus conducting low direct current voltage (U 29 V) may be placed at very close proximity to the equipment connections conducting supply voltage (electrical voltage supply lines, switched connections for the consumers to be selected) and that therefore difficulties arise with regard to the spacing of the connections on the bus side from those connections on the mains side, which spacing provides adequate isolation. It is the object of the invention to propose an EIB device of the type mentioned at the outset which provides a particularly effective isolation of the bus side from the mains side.

Accordingly, the present invention is a device for insertion in an installation box, including a bus connection, a mains connection, connections for consumers to be selected and/or sensors and a control electronic system, wherein the device has a first circuit board fixed perpendicular to at least one second circuit board, and that the bus connection is arranged in the first equipment region adjacent to the first side of at least one second o circuit board, and the mains connection and consumer connections are arranged in the second equipment region adjacent to the other side of the at least second circuit board.

Thus, a particularly wide separation of the bus side and the mains side is achievable; in addition the second circuit board acts as partition panel between the bus connections and the mains connections, so that a constructive screening between the bus side and the mains side is ensured.

As a further development of the invention, it can be proposed that the mains connection as well as the consumer connections are configured on a third circuit board, which third circuit board is fixed running essentially vertical to the first circuit board.

This allows fixing the connections at some distance from the first circuit board; in the 5 space thereby becoming vacant between the connections and the first circuit board, further 25 circuit components can be arranged.

S•A particularly preferred embodiment of the invention proposes that the third circuit S- board is lower than the at least one second circuit board.

Thereby a physical separation of the bus side from the mains side is also ensured above the connections.

A further feature of the invention proposes that the mains connection as well as the consumer connections are in the form of spring clips.

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4> a 9 '1 P: WPDCS CLNi\6. 7 112.2.doc-0112/O -3- This allows for a particularly simple wiring of the EIB device according to the invention.

In this context, it can further be proposed to arrange the receiving channels of the spring clips running essentially vertical to the first circuit board.

Traditionally, the EIB device is inserted into the installation box in such a manner that its first circuit board runs parallel to the bottom of the box. Due to the arrangement of the spring clips according to the invention, these are also accessible after the EIB device has been inserted into an installation box.

A further embodiment of the invention proposes that the bus connection is fixed to the first circuit board preferably running essentially vertical to it.

The bus connection is thereby analogous to the spring clips arranged vertical to the first circuit board easily accessible also after insertion of the EIB device into the installation box.

-*It is also an intention of the present invention to propose a housing for an EIB 15 device of the type described above, which, at least in the region of the bus connection, has SO.: a first section running parallel to the first circuit board, which section is provided with at least one opening for the passage of the pins of the bus connection, as well as a second section running parallel to the pins of the bus connection, which second section is provided with a dovetail guide extending across the height of the pins.

Such a housing, which in itself is already known art, is to be designed in such a e* way that a standardised bus connector, provided with a dovetail, to which bus connector the two bus wires are connected, can be engaged with the EIB device in a particularly simple manner.

In accordance with the invention, this is achieved in that the second section extends across the entire height of the second circuit board, and that the dovetail guide runs across the entire height of the second section.

The bus connector can thus be inserted into the dove tail guide in the upper region of the housing, which is easily visible from the outside, and can be guided along it to the pins of the bus connection.

The invention is explained in greater detail by reference to the preferred embodiments shown in the drawings. These show: P:\WPDOCSCL\ L WTtWi6731]12.2.d.o-2 012i -4- Fig. 1 a block diagram of an EIB device in accordance with the invention; Figs. 2a, b, c. front view, top view, side view of the constructive embodiment of the invention; Fig. 3 a housing according to the invention for an EIB device as per Figs. 1 and 2 and Figs. 4a, b the housing as per Fig. 3 in front view and top view.

As can best be seen in Fig. 1, an EIB device comprises the following assemblies: bus connection 1, control electronic system 2 as well as mains connections and consumer connections 3. The control electronic system 2 can be further subdivided into bus interconnector 21 and consumer triggering circuit 22. The bus interconnector 21 constantly controls the bus 4 and as already mentioned at the outset only then passes respective control signals to the triggering circuit 22 if the data packet just received is actually addressed to bus 4. The triggering circuit 22 now has the task of converting the relatively weak electrical control signals of the bus interconnector 21 into actual switching actions.

In the example used to explain the invention, the EIB device is intended to switch on and S off two consumers 5,6 for which relays 7,8 are used.

The connections for the phase conductor L and the neutral conductor N are, on the one hand, connected with the switch contacts of the relays 7,8 and, on the other hand, in each case with a second connection; the phase conductor and the neutral conductor are thereby looped through the EIB device in accordance with the invention. Therefore no additional clips, separate from the EIB device, are required for the connection of further equipment to the voltage supply lines.

It is now intended to build an EIB device with this type of block diagram which is Q I of a size small enough to be able to be inserted into an installation box. To achieve this the assembly according to the invention as shown in Fig. 2 is used. The components of the bus S. interconnector 21 and the triggering circuit 22 are thereby distributed to at least two circuit boards 9, 10. The first circuit board 9 forms more or less the "base plate" of the EIB device, and the at least one second circuit board 10 is essentially arranged at a right angle to the first circuit board 9 and fixed thereto. This fixing is preferably performed by means of the electrical connection lines 20, which are required in any case and which are known art and in the form of right-angle connection pins.

P:%WPDOCSCI\Lnpc6 6.l2.2.doc.20/I2/0 An EIB device according to the invention is inserted into an installation box in such a way that the planar face of circuit board 9 is positioned parallel to the bottom face of the installation box. It is therefore advantageous to design this circuit board 9 corresponding to the shape of the bottom of an installation box. In the assembly illustrated, an adjustment of the outlines of the circuit board 9 to the bottom of a round installation box was achieved in a simple manner by trimming two comers of a right-angle circuit board.

The bus interconnector 21 consists of a compact assembly; all of its components are arranged on a further circuit board 11 not directly connected with the second circuit board 10. The two circuit boards 10 and 11, and thereby bus interconnector 21 and triggering circuit 22, are electrically as well as mechanically connected via connection pins 12.

The components of the triggering circuit 22 with the exception of relays 7,8 which Sao* a 0 9are arranged directly on the base plate 9 below the bus interconnector 21, are arranged on the second circuit board 10. In the assembly chosen to explain the invention, the circuit S• 15 board 10 is provided with a recess 19 which facilitates the arrangement of the relays 7,8 in sections below the circuit board The one second circuit board 10 shown in the drawings can be replaced, if required, 6*4 VJ by a plurality of circuit boards parallel to one another and each on their own fixed to the first circuit board 9. Furthermore, the function of an EIB device according to the invention is not restricted to the one shown in Fig. 1; each EIB device can, independent of its *Woes: function, be assembled in the manner according to the invention. The at least one second o 00circuit board 10 divides the EIB device in a first region 13 adjacent to its first side in S Figs. 2a, b the left side 15 and in a second region 14 adjacent to the second (right) side 16 S: ofthe circuit board The bus connection 1 which, by regulation, must in each EIB device consist of two pins 0 0• 17,18, in accordance with the invention is arranged in the first region 13, the mains -0 connections and consumer connections 3 however are arranged in the second region 14.

Thereby the second circuit board 10 is arranged between bus connection 1 and mains/consumer connections 3. These are not only spaced at the greatest possible distance from one another, but are additionally screened from each other by the circuit board 10. In Sprinciple, it is optional where and how the bus connection 1 and the mains/consumer P:\WPDOCNCLLLrW iciM73 112.2.do.201/2O -6connections 3 are arranged in the regions mentioned above. For instance, they on be arranged directly on the first circuit board 9 or the second circuit board 10 or on further circuit boards. However, according to one embodiment of the present invention, it is preferable to fix the bus connection 1 directly onto the first circuit board 9 in such a manner that its two connection pins 17, 18 run vertical to the first circuit board 9. Mains connections as well as consumer connections 3 are by contrast arranged on a third circuit board 23, which third circuit board 23 is fixed to the first -circuit board 9 in an essentially vertical direction to the first circuit board 9. This third circuit board 23 provides advantages to the assembly in two ways: On the one hand it enables the mains/consumer 10 connections 3 to be spaced at a distance from the first circuit board 9. Since the EIB device in accordance with the invention is inserted into an installation box in such a manner that the first circuit board 9 abuts the bottom of the installation box, the mains/consumer connections 3, which are preferably in the form of spring clips, are moved closer to the opening of the installation box, and are therefore more easily accessible for the assembler and allow for a particularly easy wiring of the EIB device.

The fact that the spring clips, in addition, are fixed on to the circuit board 23 in such a manner that their receiving channels 38 run in an essentially vertical direction to the first circuit board 9, further adds to the simplification of the wiring, as this can also be performed without difficulties even if the EIB device is already inserted in the installation 20 box.

.The second advantage offered by the use of a third circuit board 23 for fixing the mains/consumer connections 3 is that components of the bus interconnector circuitry 22 can be arranged thereon. In the embodiment of the invention shown in the e 0• drawings, this option was chosen, and a glass tube fuse 24, which serves to protect the consumer connections from overcurrent, is provided below the mains/consumer connections 3.

The said third circuit board 23 is designed lower than the at least one second circuit board 10. Thus the second circuit board 10 projects beyond the bus connection 1 as well as the mains/consumer connections 3, thereby providing a particularly effective screening of the bus side from the mains side.

Fig. 3 and Figs. 4a, b show a housing for an EEB device of the type described above. It comprises a bottom plate 28 running parallel to the first circuit board 9 as well as a housing shell 29 joined thereto. In the region of the bus connection 1, the housing has a first section 25 running parallel to the first circuit board 9 with at least one opening for the passage of the pins 17, 18 of the bus connection 1. Adjacent thereto is a second section 26 running parallel to the pins 17, 18 of the bus connection 1I 15 The connection of bus 4 to an ELB device is performed as per regulations via a *connector 3 1, to which the two bus wires are connected. This connector 31 as can best be seen in Fig. 4b has at one of its side surfaces a dovetail 32. The second section 26 of the housing, running parallel to the pins 17, 18, is provided with a dovetail guide which extends at least across the height of the pins 17, 18. In order to engage the connector 3 1, the dovetail 32 must be inserted into the respective guide 33, thereby preventing a polarity reversal of the bus wires.

In accordance with the invention, the second section 26 is designed to run parallel to the second circuit board 10 and extend across its entire height. The dovetail guide 33 whose function has already been described is, according to the invention, designed to run across the entire height of the second section 26. The connector 31 can therefore be engaged into the dovetail guide 33 at the upper end of the housing which is more easily accessible than the pins 17, 18 of the bus connection 1; its jacks are thereby already positioned in exact alignment with the pins 17, 18, so that the connector 3 1 has to be displaced merely along the dovetail guide 33 until it abuts the first housing section -8- The second housing section 26 continues on into a third section 34 running parallel to bottom plate 28. Following on to this is a plate 35 running parallel to the second circuit board which, in its upper region 36 forms the housing wall and with its lower region 37 extends into the housing interior. Thereby, this lower region 37 is placed between the second circuit board 9 and the mains/consumer connections 3 and therewith forms an electrical isolation between the said two components.

Throughout this specification, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or comprising" or the term "includes" or variations thereof, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element or integer or group of elements or integers but not the exclusion of any other element or integer or group of elements or integers.

S• In this regard, in construing the claim scope, an embodiment where one or more features is S added to any of the claim is to be regarded as within the scope of the invention given that the essential features of the invention as claimed are included in such an embodiment.

The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that that prior art forms part of the common S° general knowledge in Australia.

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Claims

3. The device in accordance with claim 1 or 2, wherein the third circuit board is lower o ooo than the at least one second circuit board. 0000
4. The device in accordance with one of the claims 1 to 3, wherein the mains connection and the consumer connections are in the form of spring clips.
5. The device in accordance with claim 4, wherein the receiving channels of the spring clips are arranged running essentially vertical to the first circuit board.
6. The device in accordance with one of the preceding claims, wherein the bus connection is fixed to the first circuit board running essentially vertical to the first circuit board. P:WPDOCSNGLF\Lrnrewn67311s pec.d o-18/1 2)O
7. A housing for the device in accordance with claim 6, wherein, at least in the region of the bus connection, a first section runs parallel to the first circuit board which section is provided with at least one opening for the passage of the pins of the bus connection, and a second section running parallel to the pins of the bus connection, which second section is provided with a dovetail guide extending across the height of the pins, characterised in that, the second section extends across the entire height of the second circuit board and that the dovetail guide runs across the entire height of the second section. *o o
8. The device substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. .11
9. A housing for the device, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 20 DATED this 18th day of December 2000. FELTEN GUILLEAUME AUSTRIA AG By Its Patents Attorneys DAVIES COLLISON CAVE