CH711635A2

CH711635A2 - Energy meter connection block with lock-up device.

Info

Publication number: CH711635A2
Application number: CH01285/16A
Authority: CH
Inventors: Robert Seidl Dr
Original assignee: Robert Seidl Dr
Priority date: 2015-10-07
Filing date: 2016-09-29
Publication date: 2017-04-13
Also published as: CH711635B1; DE102015013012A1; AT517769A3; AT517769A2; AT517769B1

Abstract

The invention relates to an energy meter connection terminal block (1) and a bridging device (2), to which a number of blade contacts are attached for contacting terminals (5) arranged in the terminal block (1). The terminal block (1) consists of an electrically insulated housing (3) in the interior of which a number of the terminals (5) arranged parallel to one another are arranged, which are respectively electrically insulated from each other in chambers separated from one another by partition walls, the contacts being arranged in the connection terminal block 1) are formed as contact slots (14-15) from the metal-conductive side walls of adjacent clamps (5) for contacting the bridging-device-side blade contacts.

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to an energy meter connecting terminal block with bridging device according to the preamble of claim 1.

Terminal block blocks for energy meters are provided for connecting the conductors of a current supply on the one side of the terminal block and to connect the one energy meter to the counter terminal side of the terminal block by means of energy meter connector pins.

[0003] The subject matter of DE 10 216 913 A1 has disclosed a connection terminal block in which the bridging device consists of a bracket on the bottom side of which bridging contacts are formed in the manner of knife contacts which are, however, electrically conductively connected to one another in the housing of the bridging device , And therefore have to absorb high currents in the case of bridging.

The bridging of the energy meter from the connection terminal block takes place in the abovementioned printed text in that the blade contacts (bridging contacts) are plugged into spring contacts which are open at the top, each spring contact being conductively connected to a connection terminal.

Each connection terminal thus has its own separate spring contact, which is designed as a terminal lug, and on the opposite side, a blade contact is assigned in the region of the bridging device.

In the electrical bridging of the energy meter at the terminal block, the current is thus conducted from the one spring contact of the one terminal via the bridging device to the spring contact of the adjacent terminal, and thereby the conductor connection sides of the terminal block are conductively connected to one another because the current flow now passes through the bridging device happens.

A disadvantage of the known connection terminal block is that the current flow from the side of the connection terminal block is directed via spring contacts arranged thereon to the blade contacts of the bridging device and is passed through the bridging device to a spring contact of an adjacent terminal. As a result, the bridging device is placed under high current flow, and the electrical contact safety of such a bridging device is a problem which is difficult to control.

[0008] A further disadvantage is that the overall height of the terminal block is relatively high, since the terminal blocks, which increase the overall height, are also arranged on the terminals in the terminal block, which are opened upwards in the form of contact grommets.

A further disadvantage is that a large number of parts are present, since each terminal is additionally assigned an upwardly open spring contact, which leads to a high production effort. And as is generally known in electrical engineering, each terminal point is a potential source of error.

Furthermore, more contact points are required than comparatively in the case of a bridging device in which the current does not flow through the bridging device, but remains in the connection terminal block.

[0011] DE 10 2011 015 697 A1 discloses a counter circuit block for an electricity meter, in which FIG. 5 a conductive contact slot is shown, which is in each case assigned to a bridging contact in order to facilitate an insertion of the bridging contact. However, the attachment of additional contact slots, which are designed as conductive, separate sleeves, requires an increased production and operating expense. Instead of the arrangement of terminal block blocks, this printed document shows multi-edge bent sheet metal pieces as connecting parts, which is likewise associated with a high production effort. If such a sheet metal part breaks, there is a risk that fragments will lead to short circuits between the connection terminals.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is therefore based on the object of developing an energy meter connection terminal block with a bridging device of the type mentioned in the introduction in such a way that it operates in a more reliable manner with a lower overall height.

[0013] In order to achieve the object set, the invention is characterized by the technical teaching of claim 1.

[0014] A feature of the invention is that the bridging contacts on the terminal block side are formed as contact slots formed between the side walls of the terminals.

With the given technical teaching, the decisive advantage is that, compared to DE 10 216 913 A1, spring contacts which are connected to the terminal block can be dispensed with, and these contacts are formed according to the invention by intermediate spaces between the individual terminals of the connection terminal block.

A further advantage is provided by DE 10 2011 015 696 A1, since it is provided according to the invention that the clamps are designed as block-like, solid metal parts, and therefore the use of break-resistant multi-bent sheet metal bending parts as clamps can be dispensed with.

Due to the freeing-off of the chamber walls in the region of the mass-formed clamps, the advantage is obtained that spring-loaded pretensioning elements which are disadvantageously necessary in DE 10 2011 015 697 A1 are dispensed with. These elements are also subject to breakage and lead to an internal short circuit in the event of a break.

The use of massive clamping blocks (clamps) saves the spring height which increases the overall height, and by the elimination of the upwardly directed spring contacts with their contact tulips, a substantially lower overall height of the terminal block according to the invention can be achieved.

[0019] A further advantage of the invention is that a substantially smaller number of parts is present, since the spring contacts are omitted altogether. They are formed according to the invention by contactors between the individual solid terminals, which was previously unknown.

Accordingly, the electrically conductive side faces of the individual solid clamps arranged next to one another are used in the connection block as contact surfaces for the bridging contacts arranged on the bridging device, which are preferably designed as knife contacts.

A further advantage of the invention is that in the case of bridging, the current flow does not flow over the bridging contacts in the bridging device but remains in the connection terminal block. This results in an electrically conductive connection between the counter input and output, because the adjacent terminals serve on the one hand the connection of the counter input and on the other hand the connection of the counter output.

Thus, it is no longer necessary to conduct a high current flow in the range of 70 to 200 amperes through the bridging device, which is associated with problems of flanging and touch safety. The entire current of the terminal block remains in the terminals themselves and is not passed through the bridging device.

In a preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the individual terminals of the terminal block are held in chambers of a housing which are chambered from one another, each chamber being essentially formed by the opposing side walls of the electrically insulating housing, Partition walls, which are connected in each case to the side walls of the housing on both sides.

In a preferred embodiment, the housing consists of a plastic injection-molded part, in which the partition walls which form the chambers are integrally connected to the side walls in the form of a piece of material, and are optionally also connected to the bottom wall.

[0025] In another embodiment, however, it may also be provided that the respective partition walls are designed to be insertable into the housing. In this case, corresponding receiving grooves into which the partition walls can be inserted would be formed on the side walls and in the bottom wall interior.

The first-mentioned embodiment, in which the partitions are integrally connected to the bottom wall and the side walls, is however preferred.

[0027] It is important with the invention that a part of the respective partition which forms a mutual chambering of the individual chambers in the housing in the horizontal direction is interrupted and is formed by contact slots which are suitable for accommodating the bridging contacts on the bridging-device side.

Accordingly, a part of the partition walls between the chambers is interrupted and the interruption is used as a contact slot, the partition walls then being provided sectionally in the area of the contacts and the bridge bridging contacts being ensured to extend continuously from top to bottom into the region of the contacts Close to the bottom wall of the housing, so that they provide a large-area electrical contact with the complete side wall of the respective terminal arranged there.

In such an embodiment, it is preferred if the bridging contacts in the bridging device are designed as spring contacts according to a first embodiment. That is, they are of double-walled design and have a cavity which ensures that the contacting surfaces are pressed during insertion of such spring contacts And can thus be applied over a large area to the side walls of the respective terminals.

In a further embodiment of the invention it can be provided that the bridging contacts are configured as solid contacts and each have a front solid tip, a constriction narrowed in the width, and a fastening side adjoining the latter, which is arranged in the bracket base Of the bridging device.

[0031] In a third embodiment, it can be provided that the solid contacts are continuously solid, and have profilings which, if appropriate, also form longitudinal profiling.

In all embodiments, it is important that an electrical bridging connection is made between adjacent side walls of electrically conductive clamps by partially removing the clip between the clamps in these regions so that contact slots are formed into which the bridging contacts of the bridging device extend And thus form an electrically conductive connection between opposing and mutually adjacent metallic side walls of the terminals.

[0033] According to a preferred feature of the invention, it is provided that the individual clamps are arranged fixed, ie, non-displaceable, in the associated chambers of the housing. It has proved disadvantageous to store such clamps in a floating manner because due to manufacturing tolerances it is not excluded that the bridging contacts which are introduced have different thicknesses and displacement effects in the housing then occur with respect to the floating clamps, Can be undesirably displaced on one side in the housing and possibly become jammed or jammed.

[0034] For this reason, a form-fitting connection of the individual terminals in the chambers of the housing is preferred, although the invention is not limited thereto.

According to a further feature of the invention, it is provided that the meter-side connection openings in the terminals have a rectangular profile, and the associated counter connecting pins are likewise a rectangular profile, since the guide connection pins are thus guided in the meter connection port openings on the meter connection side and a tilting safety is ensured.

In the state of the art, it is only known to realize round-profile meter-side terminal openings and corresponding round-profile counter terminal terminals, which provide only poor line but no contact with the area, whereas in the case of the invention the rectangular connecting openings on the meter connection side in conjunction with the identically profiled terminal openings, Counter connection pins allow for a flat contact, which was previously unknown. In this way, the clamps in the chambers are also straightened and guided, which requires the clamps to be positively held in the chambers.

The subject matter of the present invention results not only from the subject matter of the individual patent claims, but also from the combination of the individual patent claims.

All the details and features disclosed in the documents, including the summary, in particular the spatial configuration shown in the drawings, are claimed as essential to the invention insofar as they are novel, individually or in combination, as compared with the prior art.

[0039] If individual objects are described as "essential to the invention" or "important", this does not mean that these objects necessarily have to form the subject of an independent claim. This is determined solely by the respectively applicable version of the independent patent claim.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to drawings which illustrate only one embodiment. Further features and advantages of the invention which are essential to the invention are evident from the drawings and their description.

[0041] FIG.

1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of an energy meter connection terminal block with bridging device

FIG. 2: perspective view of the energy meter connection terminal block from the conductor connection side

FIG. 3: perspective illustration according to FIG. 2 from the meter connection side

FIG. 4: the top view of the cover of the housing of the connection terminal block

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the terminal block with the cover removed

FIG. 6 is a sectional view along the line A - A in FIG. 5

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG. 5

FIG. 8: the side view of the section according to FIG. 7

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. 5

FIG. 10: the side view according to FIG. 9

FIG. 11 shows a first exemplary embodiment for a bridging contact. FIG. 12 shows a second exemplary embodiment

FIG. 13 shows a third exemplary embodiment

FIG. 14; FIG. A fourth exemplary embodiment [0042] FIG. 1 generally shows an energy meter connection terminal block 1 to which a bridging device 2 is assigned.

The clamping block 1 essentially consists of an upwardly open housing 3 made of insulating plastic, which is formed by mutually opposing side walls 33, 34, and also by two mutually opposing end walls, which are integrally joined to the side walls 33, 34, The upper side of the housing 3 is covered by a cover 4 which, with its downwardly directed profiled collar 62 (see FIG. 9), engages in an upwardly directed groove 61 on the housing and is tightly welded there.

In the interior of the housing 3, a number of terminals 5 arranged side by side are arranged, each of which consists of a metal-conducting material, since the terminals are designed either as a single terminal or as a double terminal. Such a double clamp is shown in FIG. 1 in the right-hand side of the drawing.

The housing 3 has a conductor connection side 17 on one side, the conductors of an electrical distribution system being inserted through the connection openings 18 of the housing 3 and inserted into the associated terminal connection openings 19 of the individual terminals 5. There is a contacting by means of clamping screws 20, which can be actuated by openings in the cover 4.

The opposing side of the housing 3 is designed as a counter connection side 27, and the connection openings 28 arranged there serve for the introduction of rectangularly shaped counter connection pins.

The bridging device consists essentially of an electrically insulating plastic material, which is shaped as a bracket, which has in its interior a closed through-opening 25 for the hand.

At the side of the bracket 6 opposing latching elements 21 are provided, each latching element 21 being designed as a two-armed, elastically resilient lever which is elastically resiliently connected to the material of the bracket 6 in its lower region. The lower side of the detent element 21 is formed by a detent pawl 22 and the upper, upwardly extended side is designed as a handle 23 by means of which finger-pressure ensures that the detent 22 is disengaged by pivoting below the housing-side groove 61.

It is essential that the bridging device 2 has, on its bracket base 46, a number of bridging contacts 8, 9, 10 which are formed in the region of receptacles 7 in an electrically insulating manner in the bracket base 46 and which are designed as metallically conductive knife contacts.

For the separation of an energy meter from the connection terminal block, the bridging device 2 is therefore placed on the cover 4 so that the bridging contacts 8, 9, 10 pass through the assigned slots 11, 12, 13 in the cover 4 and there an electrically conductive connection in the region Of contact slots 14, 15, 16 in the space between mutually adjacent clamps 5.

[0052] Thus, adjacent terminals are electrically conductively connected through the bridging contacts 8-10 and short-circuited.

A test tip 24 is also formed on the bracket bottom 46 of the bridging device 2, which also engages into the interior of a clamp and is connected there in an electrically conductive manner to the clamp.

2 and 3 show the bridging position of the bridging device 2 when its bracket base 46 is placed on the cover 4 and the locking device is in engagement with the peripheral housing edge in the region of the groove 61.

FIG. 4 shows the plan view of the cover 4 with the slots 11, 12, 13, which are parallel to one another and in the same way.

The clamping screws 20 serve to make contact with the meter connection pins inserted at the meter connection side 27 while the clamping screws 20 located on the opposite side serve to clamp the conductors on the conductor connection side with the terminals 5.

There are also test conductor clamping screws 29, on which additional conductors can be connected for tariff routing.

5 to 10 show that chambers 32 which are electrically insulated from one another are arranged in the housing 3, each chamber being formed on the side wall by the associated soap walls 33, 34 of the housing, and also laterally, in the transverse direction Which are closed in themselves, so that each clamp 5 is accommodated positively and fittingly in the respective chamber 32.

For the better positional securing and form-fitting connection of the respective clamps 5, it is provided that bottom ribs 37 which are directed into the chamber and extend transversely to the housing bottom 43 and which engage in associated, downwardly open longitudinal grooves 38 on the bottom side of the respective clamp 5. Thus, the terminals 5 are held in a secure manner in the respective chamber 32.

In order to make possible a better spacing of the terminals 5 in the respective chambers 32, spacer knobs 31 are also provided, which thicken the chamber wall, each of which bears against the electrically conductive side walls of each clamp 5 and the clamps 5 are secured in the chamber 32 hold.

[0061] It is important that a part of the partition walls 30 is interrupted. These interrupted partition walls are designated as partitions 40, 42, since they are only present in a rudimentary manner.

The partition 42 has approximately half the length of the partition wall 30 and is then interrupted as far as the bottom side, where it forms the contact slot 14, 15, 16.

A rudimentary part of the partition 40, which is designated as a partition 42, is provided opposite the end face 47 of the partition wall 40.

Thus, the partition 40 is sectionally provided and consists of two partition wall parts 40, 42 with a contact slot 14-16 between them, which is arranged in the width of the partition wall.

When the abovementioned bridging contact 8-10 is now inserted into a respective contact slot 14-16, an electrically conductive bridging occurs between the side walls 35, 36 of mutually adjacent, juxtaposed clamps 5, so that they are electrically conductively connected to each other become.

[0066] The partition walls 40, which are only present in the section, also have spacing knobs 41 which are spaced apart, so as to enable the bearing 5, which is supported in the region, to be supported and secured in position in this region as well.

FIG. 6 shows that the partition wall 40 passes through from top to bottom and connects to the housing base 43 in a material-integral manner.

After only being provided in sections, only this section of the still existing partition 40 is integrally connected to the housing base 43 in a material-integrated manner.

[0069] However, the invention is not limited to this. The dividing wall 40, which is only provided in sections, can also be inserted into associated insertion grooves in the region of the housing base 43.

In addition, the partition 40, 42 is also integrally bonded to the side walls 33, 34 of the housing 3, which is also not required for the solution. Inlet grooves can also be provided in this region in order to insert the partition walls 40, 42 which are present in sections.

FIG. 7 shows that the associated bridging contacts 8-10 extend with their base side 45 up to the contact surface on the upper side of the housing bottom 43. This ensures a safety stop.

[0072] The invention is not limited to this. It can also be provided that a stop safety device is formed on the upper side of the cover 4 and the bracket bottom 46 of the bridging device 2.

Furthermore, FIG. 7 shows that the uninterrupted partition walls 30 are connected to the floor 43 of the housing 3 with a floor connection 44 in the form of a material.

FIG. 8 shows schematically a number of bridging contacts 8-10, which extend with their tips (bottom sides 45) up to the upper side of the housing bottom 43.

The same illustration also emerges from FIG. 9, where a view is provided on the respective end face 47 of the partition wall 40, which is only present in sections.

Further details of the illustration according to FIG. 9 can be seen from FIG.

FIGS. 11 to 14 show various embodiments of bridging contacts 8-10 of the bridging device 2.

FIG. 11 shows that a spring contact 50 can have a tip 48 and consists of two electrically conductive metal surfaces which form a cavity 49 between them so that the entire spring contact 50 is resilient.

13 shows that such a bridging contact can also be designed as a solid contact 51 which comprises a tip 52 of enlarged diameter, a consequent reduced constriction 53, and a fastening side 54, which is connected to it, for insertion into the bracket bottom 46 of the Bridging device 2.

Likewise, according to FIG. 14 such a solid contact 55 can also be produced from a continuous solid part.

FIG. 12 shows, as a modification of the bridging contacts 8-10, a bridging contact which is not dependent on the interruption of a partition 30 in the manner of the partition 40, 42. In this case, continuous partition walls 30 can be present in all chambers 32, and the opposing contact lugs 57, 58 present in the double contact 56 are inserted with the cavity 59 formed therebetween via the partition 30 so that each contact lug 56, Side wall 35, 36 of the respective terminal 5, and the currents received thereby are combined by the electrically conductive connection 60. This connection 60 is then formed in the bracket bottom 46 of the bridging device 2 and is held there.

1) Terminal block 2 Bridging device 3 Housing 4 Cover 5 Terminal 6 Bracket 7 Housing (from 2) 8 Bridging contact 9 Bridging contact 10 Bridging contact 11 Slot 12 Slot 13 Slot 14 Contact slot 15 Contact slot 16 Contact slot 17 Wire connection side 18 Connection opening 19 Clamping connection opening 20 Clamping screw 21 Snap-in element 22 ratchet 23 handle 24 test tip 25 through-opening 26 27 counter connection side 28 connection opening 29 test conductor clamping screw 30 partition wall 31 spacer 32 chamber 33 side wall (of 3) 34 side wall (of 3) 35 side wall (of 5) 36 side wall (of 5) 37 floor rib (from 43)

Claims

38 Base groove (from 5) 39 40 Partition (open - top) 41 Distance pillar 42 Partition (open - bottom) 43 Casing base 44 Floor attachment (from 30) 45 Bottom side (from 8-10) 46 Ironing bottom 47 Front side (from 40) 48 Top 49 Cavity 50 spring contact 51 solid contact 52 tip 53 constriction 54 mounting side 55 solid contact 56 double contact 57 contact tab 58 contact tab 59 gap 60 connection 61 groove 62 collar Claims

1. An energy-paying terminal block (1) with bridging device (2), on which a number of bridging contacts (51, 55, 56) are attached for contacting terminals (5) arranged in the connection terminal block (1) An electrically insulated housing (3), in the interior of which are arranged a number of the terminals (5) arranged parallel to one another, which are each electrically insulated from one another by chambers (32) separated from one another by partition walls (30), wherein the bridging contacts in the connection terminal block 1) are formed as contact slots (14-16) from the metalically conductive side walls of adjacent clamps (5), characterized in that,Characterized in that the terminals (5) are designed as block-like solid metal parts, and in that a part of the partition walls (40, 42) which effect the separation between chambers (32) between the adjacent terminals (5) is arranged in the region of the contact slots (14-16) are exposed,

2. The energy meter connection terminal block as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electrically conductive side faces of the individual terminals arranged next to one another form contact surfaces for the bridging contacts arranged on the bridging device.

3. The energy meter connecting terminal block as claimed in claim 1, wherein the partition walls are connected to the interior walls of the housing.

4. The energy meter connecting terminal block as claimed in claim 1, wherein the partition walls can be pushed into the housing.

5. The energy meter connection block as claimed in claim 1, wherein the individual clamps are fixedly arranged in the associated chambers of the housing.

6. The energy meter connecting terminal block as claimed in claim 1, wherein the terminal openings (28) on the meter connection side have a rectangular profile in the terminals (5).

7. The energy meter connecting terminal block as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the line-side connection openings (18) have a round profile in the clamps (5).

8. Bridging device for an energy meter connection block according to claim 1, characterized in that the bridging contacts (8-10) in the base part of the bridging device (2) are electrically insulated from one another.

9. Bridging device according to claim 8, characterized by a manually actuated latching device (21, 22, 23) which can be locked with the housing (3) of the clamping block (1).