AU763379B2

AU763379B2 - Enclosure, in particular cabinet, having a back incorporating at least one hole blocked by a plug, in particular for electrical equipment

Info

Publication number: AU763379B2
Application number: AU52607/99A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Pascal Leneutre
Original assignee: Legrand SA; Legrand SNC
Current assignee: Legrand SNC; Legrand France SA
Priority date: 1998-10-01
Filing date: 1999-09-30
Publication date: 2003-07-24
Anticipated expiration: 2019-09-30
Also published as: FR2784247B1; DE69936961T2; DE69936961D1; FR2784247A1; PL335668A1; AU5260799A; PL195840B1; EP0991155A1; BR9907522A; SG87834A1; EP0991155B1; ES2292227T3

Description

r'UUU II 28/5/91 Regulation 3.2(2)

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT 0* Application Number: Lodged: Invention Title: ENCLOSURE, IN PARTICULAR CABINET, HAVING A BACK INCORPORATING AT LEAST ONE HOLE BLOCKED BY A PLUG, IN PARTICULAR FOR ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT The following statement Is a full description of this Invention, Including the best method of performing it known to us

SPECIFICATION

Enclosure, in particular cabinet, having a back incorporating at least one hole blocked by a plug, in particular for electrical eauipment The invention is generally concerned with enclosures of the type used to house and protect electrical equipment of any kind, for example.

An enclosure of this kind has a body and a door, the body comprising four side walls and a back.

The invention is more particularly, although not necessarily exclusively, directed to the situation in which the enclosure is designed to be attached to a support of any kind, for example a wall, in which case it is usually called a cabinet.

In this case at least one hole for a fixing member *of any kind is usually provided in the back, and in practice there is usually one such hole in each corner area of the back.

i::0 However, being designed to accommodate electrical equipment, an enclosure of the above kind must of itself satisfy sealing criteria in the form of indices specified by applicable standards, however it is to be used and, in particular, however it is to be fixed.

S" It is therefore also standard practice for any hole in the back to be initially blocked by means of a plug.

At present, the plug is made of a rigid material 0.0. and it is therefore necessary to remove it if the e corresponding hole is to have a fixing member passed through it.

To make good the seal at the hole in question, it is also necessary to fit an appropriate sealing washer around the fixing member.

This complicates installing the enclosure.

A general object of the present invention is an arrangement which simplifies installation.

Any discussion of documents, devices, acts or knowledge in this specification is included to explain the context of the invention. It should not be taken as an admission that any of the material formed part of the prior art base or the common general knowledge in the relevant art in Australia on or before the priority date of the claims herein.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided an enclosure including a body and a door, the body including four side walls and a back, with at least one hole in the back for a fixing member, wherein said hole is blocked by a plug made from an elastically deformable material, and wherein said plug has a tubular axial part engaged in the hole of the back, a web which blocks the passage formed by the axial part and a radial guard part at one end of the axial part and pressed against the back on its outside surface.

Comprises/comprising and grammatical variations thereof when used in this specification are to be taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components or groups thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof.

Because of the nature of the material from which the plug is made the plug can easily be staved in.

:00060 20 It can therefore remain in place, i.e. there is no need to remove it, if the hole that it blocks must have a fixing member passed through it.

A fixing member can very easily be forced through it, regardless of the direction of insertion, in other words whether it is inserted from the inside of the enclosure towards the outside thereof or in the opposite direction.

Also because of the nature of the material from which it is made, the plug of the invention of itself provides all the necessary seal around the fixing member, there being no need to provide any particular sealing washer specifically for this purpose.

The features and advantages of the invention will emerge from the 30 following description, which is given by way of example and with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which: 2a Figure 1 is a perspective view of an enclosure in accordance with the invention, Figure 2 is a partial perspective view of it, as seen from the rear, and to a larger scale, Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view corresponding to that from figure 2, Figure 4 is a partial view of the enclosure of the invention to a different scale and in cross-section taken along the line IV-IV in figure 2, Figure 5 is a view of the plug of the invention to 0 *00o a larger scale and in axial section taken along the line V-V in figure 3, Figure 6 is a partial view in cross-section derived from that of figure 4 and shows -a first method of fixing the enclosure of the invention, Figure 7 is a partial view in cross-section similar to that from figure 6, for a second method of fixing the enclosure, and Figure 8 is a view in axial section similar to that from figure 5, for a different embodiment of the plug of the invention.

All the figures concern an enclosure 10 comprising a body 11 and a door 12, the body 11 comprising four side walls 13 and a back 14.

Because an enclosure 10 of the above kind is not in itself relevant to the present invention, it is not described in complete detail here.

Only its parts necessary to understanding the invention are described.

Suffice to say that, in the embodiment shown, the side walls 13 of the body 11 together form a surround and that the separate back 14 is attached to the surround by means of a support frame 16 formed by a flange 17 on the side walls 13.

In the embodiment shown, the envelope 10 has a corner member 20 inside it, in each of the corner areas of the back 14, fixed from behind by a screw 21 (see figures 2 and 3) and incorporating, facing a flange 23 pressed against the support frame 16 and incorporating an opening 24, a lug 25 which is initially bent in a U-shape against the flange 23 and can be straightened to expose the opening 24. It has a screwthreaded bore 26 in line with the opening 24 (see figure 4).

There is at least one hole 29 in the back 14 for a fixing member 28, 28' of any kind (see figure 3) and the 4 hole 29 is normally initially fitted in the factory with a plug 30 to provide the seal required at this point.

All this is conventional in itself.

In practice there is a hole 29 blocked by a plug in each corner area of the back 14 and the hole 29 is in corresponding relationship with the opening 24 in the flange 23 of the corresponding corner member 20, which is in turn in corresponding relationship with the screwthreaded bore 26 in the lug 25 of the corner member 20 which is initially in front of the flange 23.

In accordance with the invention, the plug 30 for at least one of the holes 29, and in practice that for each of them, is made from an elastically deformable material and is therefore flexible.

This material is an EPDM thermoplastic elastomer, for example.

In both embodiments shown, the plug 30 of the S. invention has an axial part 31 which is generally tubular and which is inserted in the hole 29 in the back 14, a radial guard portion 32 at one end of the axial part 31 and pressed against the outside surface of the back 14, and a web 33 which blocks the passage 34 formed by the axial part 31.

In both embodiments shown, the axial part 31 forms a snap-fastener bead 35 projecting outwards at the end opposite the radial part 32.

In both embodiments shown the web 33 is in the :'".axial part 31 and, as described in more detail later, at least the peripheral portion of the web 33 is generally concave, with the concave side facing away from the radial part 32.

In accordance with the invention, the radial part 32 of the plug 30 of the invention is compressible in the axial direction.

To this end, in both embodiments shown, the radial part 32 forms a recessed tapered surface 38 concentric with the axis A of the plug around the passage 34 in the axial part 31 on the front face 36 opposite the axial part 31.

The tapered surface 38 is generally frustoconical, for example, as shown here.

In the embodiment shown in figures 1 to 7, the tapered surface 38 of the radial part 32 of the plug of the invention extends as far as the immediate vicinity of the periphery of its front face 36.

In other words, it occupies virtually all of the front face 36.

In this embodiment, the radial part 32 has a groove 41 on the outside of its edge 40 and extending annularly around the axis A of the plug.

As shown here, for example, the groove 41 has a triangular profile in axial section symmetrical about a transverse plane through its bottom and perpendicular to the axis A of the plug.

In the embodiment shown, the flank of the groove 41 .''nearer the tapered surface 38 is substantially parallel to it.

As shown here, for example, the depth P of the groove 41 is less than half the width L of the radial part 32 as measured in the radial direction from the outside surface of the axial part 31, being in practice in the range from one quarter to one half the width L.

In the embodiment shown in figures 1 to 7, the radial part 32 of the plug 30 of the invention forms a plane outside surface 42 substantially perpendicular to the axis A of the plug where it joins onto the axial part 31.

Let D denote the distance between the plane surface 42 and the snap-fastener bead In practice, the distance D corresponds to the thicknesses of two walls, that of the back 14 plus that of the support frame 16, because the snap-fastener bead is required to adopt a position beyond the latter.

In the embodiment shown in figures 1 to 7, the snap-fastener bead 35 has a rounded profile in axial section, to be more precise a semicircular profile.

In this embodiment, the web 33 is at the opposite end of the axial part 31 to the radial part 32, being rooted in the axial part 31 at the level of the snapfastener bead In this embodiment, the web 33 is continuously concave from its peripheral portion to its central portion.

It is generally conical, for example, as shown 15 here.

oeoo As already mentioned above, the enclosure 10 of the invention is initially fitted with a plug 30 in each of the holes 29 in its back 14 in order to guarantee it is sealed.

The plugs 30 are in practice identical from one hole 29 to another.

The envelope 10 can be attached to a support of any kind, for example a wall 44, as shown in figure 6 and 7, by either of the following two methods.

In a first fixing method (see figure the enclosure 10 is attached to the wall 44 by means of lugs there being one lug 45 for each corner area of its back 14.

In this case, each of the lugs 45 is first attached to the enclosure 10 from behind by a fixing member 28, via the corresponding hole 29 in the back 14, and in practice this fixing member is a screw adapted to interengage with the screwthreaded bore 26 in the lug 25 of the corresponding corner member The enclosure 10 fitted with lugs 45 in this way is then attached to the wall 44 by screws or anchor bolts 46 using the lugs In the second fixing method (figure after removing the lug 25 from the corresponding corner member 20, the enclosure 10 is attached directly to the wall 44 from the front, by fixing members 28', via the holes 29 in the back 14, there being one fixing member in each of the holes 29, and in practice these fixing members are screws or anchor bolts.

In either case, a plug 30 of the invention is left in position in each of the holes 29 in the back 14 and the corresponding fixing member 28, 28' is simply forced through it.

In either case, the radial part 32 of the plug 15 is greatly compressed, to the benefit of the seal between eeeo the corresponding hole 29 and the fixing member 28, 28' o* used, as shown in figure 6 for the fixing method using the lugs The compressibility of this radial part 32 of the plug 30 of the invention is clearly due not only to the nature of the material from which it is made but also to its structure.

For example, and without implying any limitation on the invention, good results have been obtained with an angle of the tapered surface 38 of the radial part 32 in the range from 1000 to 1400, for example around 1200, and an angle of the groove 41 of the radial part 32 in the range from 300 to 900, for example around 600.

In the embodiment shown in figure 8, the radial part 32 of the plug 30 of the invention forms a plane surface 48 substantially perpendicular to the axis A of the plug around the tapered surface 38 of its front face 36 facing away from the axial part 31.

As shown here, for example, the plane surface 48 extends more than half the width L of the radial part 32 from its periphery.

In this embodiment, the radial part 32 has no groove on its edge 40 but has an external groove extending annularly around the axis A of the plug where it joins onto the axial part 31.

In the embodiment shown, the radially innermost flank of the groove 50 is cylindrical and is in practice formed by the outside surface of the axial part 31.

The radially outermost flank of the groove 50 is generally frustoconical.

In practice, the distance D between the bottom 51 of the groove 50 and the snap-fastener bead corresponds to the sum of the thicknesses of two walls, as previously.

In the embodiment shown, the snap-fastener bead has a triangular profile in axial section and its flank i at the greater distance from the radial part 32 is less steeply inclined than the other flank.

In the embodiment shown, the web 33 is between the two ends of the axial part 31, substantially half-way along the height of the passage 34 formed thereby.

In this embodiment, the web 33 has a central portion 52 which is also generally concave but whose concave side faces towards the radial part 32.

Accordingly, in this embodiment, the web 33 has two separate annular portions, namely a peripheral portion 53 *whose concave side faces away from the radial part 32, as previously, and a central portion 52 whose concave side faces the opposite way to that of the peripheral portion 53.

The compressibility of the radial part 32 of the plug 30 in the embodiment shown in figure 8 clearly results from the nature of the material from which the plug 30 is made and its structure, as previously.

However, regarding the groove 50, the radial part 32 is to some extent turned back relative to the axial part 31, in a generally U-shaped configuration, which makes the assembly more compact.

Also, and most importantly, the plug 30 of the invention can then advantageously adapt to different wall thicknesses, a great deal, if not most, of the compressibility of its radial part 32 being provided by the portion of the radial part 32 between the bottom 51 of the groove 50 and the snap-fastener bead 35 on the axial part 31.

For example, and without this implying any limitation on the invention, satisfactory results have been obtained with an angle of the radially outermost flank of the groove 50 in the range from 800 to 1200, for example around 1000.

The present invention is clearly not limited to the rr two embodiments shown but encompasses any variant e execution and/or combination of their various component parts.

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Claims

1. An enclosure including a body and a door, the body including four side walls and a back, with at least one hole in the back for a fixing member, wherein said hole is blocked by a plug made from an elastically deformable material, and wherein said plug has a tubular axial part engaged in the hole of the back, a web which blocks the passage formed by the axial part and a radial guard part at one end of the axial part and pressed against the back on its outside surface.

2. An enclosure according to claim 1, wherein the radial part is axially compressible.

3. An enclosure according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the radial part forms a recessed tapered surface centred on the axis of the plug around the passage in the axial part on its front face facing away from the axial part.

4. An enclosure according to claim 3, wherein the tapered surface of the radial part extends as far as the immediate vicinity of the periphery of its front face. oooo An enclosure according to claim 3, wherein the radial part forms a plane surface substantially perpendicular to the axis of the plug around the tapered surface of its front face.

6. An enclosure according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the radial part has a groove on the outside of its edge and extending annularly around the axis of the plug. ooo a.

7. An enclosure according to claim 6, wherein the radial part forms a plane external surface substantially perpendicular to the axis of the plug where it joins onto the axial part. a al a *aea 11

8. An enclosure according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the radial part forms an external groove extending annularly around the axis of the plug where it joins onto the axial part.

9. An enclosure according to claim 8, wherein the radially innermost flank of the groove is cylindrical and the radially outermost flank is generally frustoconical. An enclosure according to claim 9, wherein the radially innnermost flank of the groove is formed by the outside surface of the axial part.

11. An enclosure according to any one of claim 1 to 10, wherein the axial part forms a snap-fastener bead projecting outwards at the end opposite the radial part.

12. An enclosure according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the web is in the axial part.

13. An enclosure according to claim 12, wherein the web is at the end of the axial part opposite the radial part.

14. An enclosure according to claim 12, wherein the web is between the two ends of the axial part. OD An enclosure according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein at least the peripheral portion of the web is generally concave with its concave side facing away from the radial part.

16. An enclosure according to claim 15, wherein the web has a central portion which is also generally concave but whose concave side faces towards the radial part. S17. An enclosure substantially as herein before described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

18. An enclosure as claimed in claim 1 substantially as herein before described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this 1 st day of April 2003 LEGRAND AND LEGRAND SNC WATERMARK PATENT TRADE MARK ATTORNEYS 290 BURWOOD ROAD HAWTHORN VICTORIA 3122 AUSTRALIA RLT/CAG/N H