DE29806844U1 - Socket with fluorescent lamps - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a socket for fluorescent lamps with a socket head for receiving contact elements and for holding contact pins of the fluorescent lamp/with a socket base part which has fastening elements for securing the socket to a lamp part and at least one insertion opening for electrical connecting cables as well as with a closure piece for covering the contact elements on the base part side, which closure piece comprises conductor insertion openings for the conductor connection ends.

Such a push-through socket of the applicant is shown, for example, in the applicant's main catalogue "BJB 1994/1997" under the name push-through socket G13, type no. 26.253, page 101. Such push-through sockets are inserted through a recess in the lamp plate and attached to it using fastening elements, for example elastic straps. Lamp sockets of this type are used for mechanical mounting and at the same time for electrical contacting of fluorescent lamps.

Postbank Credit and Volksbank eG Commerzbank AG VAT ID No. Eat Wuppertal-Barmen Wuppertal-Barmen VAT No. (Bank code 360 100 43)445 04-431 (Bank code 330 600 98) 301 891 024 (Bank code 330 400 01) 4 034 823 EN 121068676

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pen, whereby two sockets usually hold a fluorescent lamp. The contact pins of the fluorescent lamp are inserted into the respective receptacle in the socket head and then locked there by rotating the fluorescent lamp around its longitudinal axis.

The contact elements for the electrical connection of the lamp contact pins with the connecting cables are inserted into the socket head from the base part of the socket, i.e. from below. A closure piece is then inserted into the socket housing to cover the base part and fix the contact elements, which locks into the socket body.

" Fluorescent lamp sockets have different heights in order to ensure different focal point heights for different applications. Particularly with large heights of push-through sockets of this type, the plastic component is difficult to demold.

In addition, the socket described above has contact elements of different lengths for different socket heights in order to be able to place the closure piece with the conductor insertion openings as close as possible to the insertion opening, i.e. close to the lamp panel. A special pair of contact elements is required for each socket height, and thus a large number of individual parts.

In another such version of the state of the art, which cannot be documented in writing, uniform contact elements are used for sockets with a large construction height.

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similar sockets with a small overall height, i.e. relatively short contact elements are used. However, the locking piece is in the same position in relation to the socket head, and thus in the case of long sockets it is arranged relatively deep in the receiving channel.

When inserting the stripped conductor connection ends, the problem arises that the closure piece inserted into the socket body narrows the clear interior of the socket body into the receiving channel, forming a circumferential step. The conductor connection ends, which are inserted into the terminals by hand through the conductor insertion openings in the closure piece, for example, can hit the step and therefore be hindered during insertion. This can happen in particular with sockets of great height, as it is even more difficult for the user to reach the conductor insertion openings, which are relatively far away from the insertion opening, without being hindered. In addition, the conductor connection ends, which are usually cut at right angles, can have sharp edges and possibly even a burr, and can therefore get caught even more easily on the edge face of the closure piece.

The same problem occurs with so-called plug-in sockets, which are attached from the top of the lamp panel into a cutout in it.

It is the object of the invention to provide a socket for fluorescent lamps according to the preamble of claim 1, which allows the use of uniform contact elements in

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Sockets of different heights are possible without problems occurring when inserting the conductor connection ends.

The invention solves this problem with the features of claim 1, in particular with the features of the characterizing part, according to which the socket base part and the socket head are designed as separate components, wherein the closure piece is integrally connected to the socket base part in a materially bonded manner, wherein the socket base part can be locked to the socket head and wherein guide surfaces are provided for the conductor connection ends, which each extend from wall sections of the socket base part to a conductor insertion opening of the closure piece.

The principle of the invention is therefore to significantly reduce the height of the individual parts by dividing the base body of the socket in the prior art into two parts. This also makes it easier to demold the individual parts. By maintaining an essentially identical external shape of the socket, which is now assembled from two parts, no changes need to be made to the lamp plate. The contact elements known in the prior art can also continue to be used, uniformly and regardless of the height of the socket. In addition, the number of individual parts does not increase, since instead of the two parts required in the prior art - a one-piece socket body and a closure piece - only two parts are provided.

There is also no need for additional assembly work, as the two parts already had to be put together using the current technology. The assembly work is instead reduced.

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reduced because it is relatively difficult with the current state of the art, especially with long installation heights of the push-through socket, to securely grip the closure piece and insert it into the socket body. The socket according to the invention, on the other hand, has wide gripping surfaces on the outer circumference of the socket head and socket base, which simplifies handling and gripping the individual parts during assembly.

The assembly effort for inserting the contact elements is also reduced because the insertion path is shorter and the contact elements therefore offer more easily accessible contact surfaces for gripping tools.

' ^p Furthermore, the frame according to the invention does not require any additional material compared to the prior art.

The inventive arrangement of guide surfaces for the conductor connection ends enables the conductor connection end to be guided safely directly into the conductor insertion opening of the closure piece without the conductor connection end being hindered by projections or getting caught on them. The inventive solution also completely eliminates any bending or even kinking of the conductor connection end during an insertion movement. The inventive arrangement of the guide surface directly on wall sections of the socket base part is only possible because the socket base part and closure piece are made as one piece.

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According to a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the conductor insertion openings are each arranged in corner areas of the socket base part, with each through-opening being assigned at least two guide surfaces that extend from two different wall sections of the socket base part that form the respective corner area. This enables a quasi-automatic guidance of the conductor connection end, such that the conductor connection end is only roughly directed by the user into the desired corner area and then independently and safely finds its way exactly into the desired conductor insertion opening and to the corresponding connection terminal.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are described in more detail in Figs. 3 to 7. In the drawings show:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section through a push-through socket of the prior art, from which the present invention is based,

Fig. 2 is a perspective bottom view of the push-through socket according to Fig. 1 according to view arrow II therein,

Fig. 3 a group of three sockets according to the invention in an oblique view, each with the same socket head and three socket base parts of different heights,

Fig. 4 the push-through socket according to the invention according to Fig. 3 with the socket base part of large height in the assembled state in a sectional view analogous to Fig. 1,

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Fig. 5 the socket base part in bottom view according to arrow V in Fig. 4,

Fig. 6 the socket base in sectional view according to section line VI-VI in Fig. 4, and

Fig. 7 shows the socket base part in a schematic view obliquely from below according to view arrow VII in Fig. 6.

The problems of known push-through sockets will first be explained using Fig. 1 and 2, which show a push-through socket 10 according to the prior art. The push-through socket 10 according to Fig. 1 comprises a socket head 11 and a socket base part 12. The socket head 11 and socket base part 12 are here components of a one-piece, essentially hollow socket body 13. Two contact elements 14 are arranged in the socket head 11 of the push-through socket 10, which were introduced into the push-through socket 10 from below according to Fig. 1. Each contact element 14 comprises holding legs 15 for securing to wall areas 16 of the socket head 11, contact sections 17 for electrically contacting the contact pins (not shown) of the fluorescent lamp base and connection terminals 18 for receiving the conductor connection ends of the electrical connection cables (also not shown).

To cover and secure the contact elements 14, a separate closure piece 19 is provided here, which is inserted into the push-through socket 10 from below after the contact elements have been inserted as shown in Fig. 1. The

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Closure piece 19 has four conductor insertion openings 20 through which conductor connection ends can be passed to the connection terminals 18. Locking elements 21 are arranged on closure piece 19, which, after insertion of closure piece 19 into push-through socket 10, engage in recesses 22 of socket body 13 and lock into place when the desired end position is reached.

The closure piece 19 comprises on its underside edge face sections 23 which protrude clearly into the receiving channel 43 with respect to the inner wall 27 of the socket body 13. When inserting a conductor connection end, the conductor connection end can hit these edge face sections 23 before reaching the conductor insertion opening 20 of the closure piece 19 and get caught on them.

Fig. 3 to 7 show three embodiments of the socket 24 according to the invention. Fig. 3 shows a socket head 25 and three socket base parts 26a, 26b and 26c of different heights. Depending on the application and the desired focal point height of the fluorescent lamp, socket base parts 26a, 26b, 26c of different lengths can be universally plugged together with an identical socket head 25 in order to obtain a socket 24 of selectable overall height. The three different socket base parts 26a, 26b, 26c shown in Fig. 3 represent only one possible variety of socket base parts of different lengths.

The group of socket base parts shown in Fig. 3 also has the special feature that the socket base part 26a shown on the left in Fig. 3 with the

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Socket head 25 forms a push-through socket 24, and the middle and right socket base parts 26b and 26c, each with a socket head 25, form push-in sockets, according to Fig. 3. Different base parts can thus be plugged together with a single universal socket head 25 to form a fluorescent lamp socket 24.

As is particularly clear from a comparison of the push-through socket 24 according to the invention according to Fig. 4 with the push-through socket 10 from the prior art according to Fig. 1, with a comparable total length B of the sockets 10, 24, the socket base part 26a is significantly shorter than the push-through socket 10 according to Fig. 1. The overall length S of the socket base part 26a is approximately the overall length K of the socket head 25 smaller than the overall length B. This makes the socket base part 26a significantly easier to remove from its manufacturing mold.

In the sockets 24 according to the invention according to Figs. 3 to 7, parts that correspond to those of the push-through socket 10 from the prior art according to Figs. 1 and 2 are designated with the same reference numerals.

The socket head 25 of the push-through socket 24 according to the invention accommodates contact elements 14 which are provided in a known manner with holding legs 15 which rest against corresponding wall areas 16 of the socket head 25 and ensure a defined fit of the contact elements 14 in the interior 28 of the socket head 25. The contact elements 14 are inserted into the interior 28 of the socket head 25 from below as shown in Fig. 4.

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The socket base parts 26a, 26b, 26c each comprise an extension 29 on the head side, to which the closure piece 30 is integrally connected. The extension 29 is stepped from the remaining section 31 of the socket base part 26a, 26b and is surrounded by a circumferential annular end face 32.

When contact elements 14 are inserted into the socket head 25, the socket base part 26a, 26b, 26c can be inserted from below with its extension 29 into the interior 28 of the socket head 25 according to Fig. 4. The insertion is made easier by guide bevels 33, which are arranged on the lower front edge 34 of the wall 38 of the socket head 25.

Locking elements 36 are arranged on the side walls 35 of the extension 29, which are designed in the manner of locking lugs and, towards the end of the insertion movement of the socket base part 26a, 26b, 26c into the socket head 25, lock into corresponding recesses 37 on the inside of the wall 38 of the socket head 25. Due to the positive connection of the locking elements 36 with the counter-locking elements 37, the socket base parts 26a, 26b, 26c and the socket head 25 are locked together in a tension-resistant manner. In this position, end face areas 53 of the extension 29 rest against sections 39 of the contact elements 14 and hold the contact elements 14 securely in place. The conductor insertion openings 20 are in this position in alignment with the connection terminals 18 of the contact elements 14.

The outer peripheral surfaces of the socket head 25 and socket base 26a, 26b, 26c are in the assembled

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Condition flush and have essentially the same external shape as the frame 10 of the prior art.

When inserting a conductor connection end through the insertion opening 40 into the receiving channel 43, the conductor connection end is provided with a plurality of guide surfaces 44, 46, 47, as explained below, which guide the conductor connection end safely into the corresponding conductor insertion opening 20".

The socket base part 26a comprises two narrow side walls 41 and two wide side walls 42, which delimit the receiving channel 43 for the conductor connection ends. A continuous guide surface 44 is arranged on each of the narrow side walls 41, which merges into the wall 45 of the conductor insertion opening 20 in the area of the conductor insertion opening 20. In a similar way, each wide side wall 42 has a guide surface 46 on its inside, which tapers the receiving channel 43 in sections in the insertion direction E. In the embodiment (see Fig. 6), behind the guide surface 46 in the insertion direction E, a further sliding surface 48 parallel to the insertion direction E is arranged. This is followed by a funnel-shaped guide surface 47, which at least partially surrounds the conductor insertion opening 20.

Fig. 7 also shows relatively small sliding surfaces 48a arranged on the narrow side walls 41. However, these are not absolutely necessary, but the guide surface 44 can also reach directly up to the funnel-shaped guide surface 47 without such parallel

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Sliding surfaces 48a oriented to the longitudinal axis L are necessary.

In principle, the guide surfaces 44 and 46 can also be designed differently and arranged on other wall sections of the side walls 41, 42. The decisive factor is that they are at an acute angle with respect to the longitudinal axis L of the socket base part 26a, 26b, 26c and are inclined towards the corresponding conductor insertion opening 20. In any case, the conductor connection end is guided without steps or without steps from the insertion opening 40 to the conductor insertion openings 20.

As can be seen most clearly from Fig. 5 and 7, the conductor insertion openings 20 are each arranged in corner areas 49 of the socket base part 26a and separated from one another by material areas 54 of the closure piece 30. A corner area 49 is formed by a section of a narrow side wall 41 and a section of a wide side wall 42. Each conductor insertion opening 20 is assigned a guide surface 44 and a guide surface 46, which are connected to one another via common edges 55. Both guide surfaces 44, 46 extend close to the conductor insertion opening 20 or to the funnel-like guide surface 47. In this way, the conductor connection end can initially be roughly placed in a corner area 49 of the socket base part 26a, 26b, 26c near the insertion opening 40 and then, by moving in the insertion direction E, be guided accurately by sliding along the guide surfaces 44, 46, 47 and along the sliding surfaces 48, 48a into the corresponding conductor insertion opening 20 without hitting anything.

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An alternative embodiment is not shown, in which a partition wall is arranged in the receiving channel 43 approximately along the center plane of the socket base part 26a, designated M in Fig. 5, which forms corner areas similar to sections of the broad side walls 42. Guide surfaces 44 and 46 are then arranged accordingly on the partition wall and on the broad side walls 42 adjacent to it. In a socket of this type, the conductor insertion openings for the conductors are of course also assigned to these corner areas.

The socket according to the invention is in particular a push-through socket of type G5 or G13. However, the inventive principle can of course also be applied to other sockets with different contact pin spacing.

The socket head 25 and the socket base part 26a, 26b, 26c are injection-molded plastic parts.

The three different socket base parts 26a, 26b, 26c shown in Fig. 3 each have different fastening elements 50, 51, 52 for securing the sockets to the lamp plate, depending on the type of socket. Of course, other forms of fastening elements 50, 51, 52 not shown are also conceivable.

Claims (10)

Brökelmann, Jaeger &Busse,;£!HkH &'.Ct> 1 - 14 - Claims 1. Socket (24) for fluorescent lamps with a socket head (25) for receiving contact elements (14) and for holding contact pins of the fluorescent lamp, with a socket base part (26a, 26b, 26c) which has fastening elements (50, 51, 52) for securing the socket (24) to a lamp part and at least one insertion opening (40) for electrical connecting lines, and with a closure piece (30) for covering the contact elements (14) on the base part side, which closure piece comprises conductor insertion openings (20) for the conductor connection ends, characterized in that the socket base part (26a, 26b, 26c) and the socket head (25) are designed as separate components, that the closure piece (30) is integrally connected to the socket base part (26a, 26b, 26c), that the socket base part (26a, 26b, 26c) can be locked to the socket head (25), and that guide surfaces (44, 46) are provided for the conductor connection ends, which each extend from wall sections (41; 42) of the socket base part (26a, 26b, 26c) to a conductor insertion opening (20) of the closure piece (30). 2. Socket according to claim 1, characterized in that the socket base part (26a, 26b, 26c) comprises at least one receiving channel (43) for the connecting lines and that the guide surfaces (44, 46) for the conductor connection ends are arranged in the receiving channel (43) and the receiving channel (43) taper at least in sections towards the closure piece (30). Brökelmann, Jaeger & - 15 - 3. Socket according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the socket base part (26a, 26b, 26c) has a substantially rectangular cross-section, that the conductor insertion openings (20) are each arranged in corner regions (49) of the socket base part (26a, 26b, 26c) and that each through-opening (20) is assigned at least two guide surfaces (44, 46) which extend from two different wall sections (41, 42) of the socket base part (26a, 26b, 26c) forming the respective corner region (49). 4. Socket according to claim 2, characterized in that the receiving channel (43) of the socket base part (26a, 26b, 26c) is at least partially divided by a partition into two chambers. &bull;15 m and the conductor insertion openings (20) are each arranged in corner regions of the socket base part (26a, 26b, 26c) formed by the partition wall and a broad side wall, wherein each through opening (20) is assigned at least two guide surfaces (44, 46) which extend from two different wall sections of the socket base part (26a, 26b, 26c) forming the respective corner region. 5. Socket according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the two guide surfaces (44, 46) of each corner region (49) are each connected to one another to form a common, continuous guide surface. 6. Socket according to one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that each conductor insertion opening (20) is at least partially enclosed along its circumference by a funnel-like &bull;·&igr;&igr;&mdash;&igr;&ldquor; Brokelmann, Jaeger & Buss^jGinJjH &·&sfgr;*) · **· - 16 - Guide surface (47) which is connected to the associated guide surface (44, 46). 7. Socket according to claim 6, characterized in that the guide surfaces (44, 46) are directly connected to the funnel-like guide surface (47). 8. Socket according to claim 6, characterized in that sliding surfaces (48, 48a) are arranged between the guide surfaces (44, 46) and the funnel-like guide surface (47), which are aligned parallel to the longitudinal axis of the socket base part (26a, 26b, 26c). 9. Socket according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the socket base part (26a, 26b, 26c) comprises a step-shaped extension (29) carrying the closure piece (30) for engagement in a corresponding receiving chamber (28) of the socket head (25). 10. Socket according to claim 9, characterized in that locking elements (36) are arranged on the side walls of the extension (29) for engagement in corresponding counter-locking elements (37) on the socket head (25).