DE29902684U1 - Closure for switchgear - Google Patents

Description

Dipi.-lng. KLAUS BERGEN

Patent Attorney
European Patent Attorney · European Trademark Attorney

16.Febr.1999 43 112 B

ELSIC Electrical Safety Equipment and Equipment GmbH
Trompeterallee 210-222, 41189 Mönchengladbach

"Lock for switchgear "

The invention relates to a housing that can be closed by a hood or the like, in particular for a transformer station or parts thereof.

To protect against environmental and other external influences, such as unintentional or unwanted interventions, as well as to protect against contact, electrical switchgear, whether installed outdoors or inside buildings, is enclosed in housings. Such systems must be accessible at all times for maintenance and/or repair purposes, for which purpose doors or similar elements that can be opened, such as hoods, are provided in the housing. Apart from the fact that in many cases the space required for opening is limited or opening by swinging the door or hood leads to obstructions due to the arrangement of the system, for example in the case of transformers, possibly on a mast, and in the open state the hood of systems installed outdoors offers surfaces for wind and weather to attack, so that measures for fixing are required, as is the case for known designs of transformer stations with hinged lids.

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applies, unavoidable, recurring short circuits in such systems represent a major problem for the locking parts, since such short circuits are associated with considerable increases in pressure inside the housing, which the doors or hoods and the like cannot withstand in known designs. On the one hand, the material itself from which the locking parts are made is often not resistant enough and on the other hand, even when using a suitably resistant material, the connections (hinges) between the housing and the doors or hoods or the like provided in the known designs cannot withstand the enormous pressures resulting from a short circuit.

The invention is primarily based on the problem of creating an arc-proof housing with a closure that also allows optimal access to the enclosed parts both outdoors and inside buildings. The solution according to the invention is based on the idea of connecting the closure part, in particular a hood, to the housing in such a way that the connection areas between the closure part (hood) and the housing are enlarged and can withstand extreme pressure due to the locking components being connected behind one another, and also enable opening variants.

The invention, as defined in the appended claims with regard to its essential features, creates the possibility of variable-direction hood movements, namely in a first preferred variant at least three possible pivoting directions of the hood at an angle of 90° to one another, while in a second embodiment, which in particular minimizes the space required during opening and significantly reduces susceptibility to wind when open,

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the combination of lateral and swivel movements during opening and closing is provided.

For certain applications, it may be expedient in the embodiment of the invention to provide a horizontally and/or vertically divided hood, which on the one hand makes it possible to only partially open the housing and on the other hand requires less space in front of the switchgear for the opening movements, be they lateral displacement paths or swivel movements. In addition, the invention makes it possible to either enclose only switchgear parts, e.g. the actual switching and line areas, or to enclose the entire system, including the transformer, for example.

The invention makes it possible in an outstanding way to carry out the opening movements in a variable direction depending on the application and/or installation location, i.e. to the right and/or to the left and/or up and/or down, whereby in the case of a split hood, opening and closing movements for the respective hood parts can also take place simultaneously in opposite directions.

In a first preferred variant, the basic idea of the invention is realized in that the hood itself is designed in such a way that it meets the arc fault resistance requirements not only in terms of the material but also in terms of its structural design, namely in that its edge is flanged, preferably outwardly, in such a way that these edge areas engage behind safety elements on the housing. These safety elements preferably consist of safety rods that are detachably held on the housing and that have protruding

These rods can be pulled out of the tabs and then release the corresponding hood edge.

If, in the case of a rectangular housing opening, tabs are provided on the housing edges of the opening in the horizontal and vertical direction, parallel and aligned with one another, preferably on the upper and the two vertical edges, then in the closed state the hood is connected to the housing in an arc-proof manner via three safety rods, namely by the safety rods being gripped behind by the outwardly flanged hood edge sections, which are provided with slots that correspond to the tabs in the closed position, so that three opening directions are possible: namely firstly upwards, when the two lateral safety rods are removed, the corresponding hood edge sections are thus released and the hood can be pivoted or folded around the upper safety rod with its upper, horizontal flanged edge acting as a bearing; on the other hand, removing the upper, horizontal safety bar opens up the possibility of pivoting or opening the hood secondly to the left or thirdly to the right by optionally removing one of the two vertical safety bars. If the hood is split vertically in the middle, its parts can be pivoted to the right and to the left respectively after removing the upper horizontal safety bar.

This version also offers a very simple locking option for the security bars, so that unwanted opening by unauthorized persons is impossible, for example by locking the cross-bars.

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running safety bar has a length at which it at least partially projects beyond the upper end of the vertically running bars, which are supported on a stop on the underside, and is secured in position at least at one end by a lock that is readily available to the expert.

It is clear that the large-area engagement of the safety rods by the hood edges on the one hand and the absence of any pivoting fittings, such as hinges and their fastening points on the hood and the housing on the other hand, achieves considerable resistance to pressure increases in the event of an arc fault, quite apart from the fact that the invention achieves a quasi "all-round" fastening of the hood to the housing opening, at least on three sides of the housing opening, whereas with conventional designs this is only possible on one side.

A large-area, almost all-round gripping behind, while at the same time avoiding the above-mentioned swivel hinge fittings, is achieved in an excellent manner in a second variant of the invention by providing a rail guide as a connection between the hood and the housing, preferably with at least two parallel guide rails on the edge of the housing opening. Guide rails can be arranged both on the vertical opening edges and on at least one, preferably the upper horizontal opening edge. Here too, the hood edge is given a design that enables gripping behind, for example by flanging, whereby the flanged, preferably flange-shaped areas are mounted in the U-shaped guide rails so that they can be moved longitudinally, or engage with them. This version is a design for...

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create a housing in which only minimal space is required for the opening because, at least initially, there is no pivoting, but rather a displacement in the plane of the housing opening for the purpose of opening and closing.

If, according to a further development of this design, the guide rails are each divided into two partial rails, possibly of different lengths, and the longer partial rail of the guide rail is fixedly connected to the housing, while the shorter partial rail of each guide rail is pivotably mounted on the housing at its end facing away from the longer partial rail about an axis running perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the rail, the hood is prevented from protruding almost completely beyond the housing side walls or the top of the housing by making it possible to pivot the hood backwards as soon as the engagement between the edge of the hood and the guide rail is only present in the area of the pivotable partial rail during the opening process, as will be explained in more detail below using the attached drawings.

Both in the first and in the second variant, a hood division can be implemented with the advantages mentioned at the beginning, whereby for the second variant, a pivoting partial rail is provided at the end at both ends of each guide rail, with the result that displacement followed by pivoting, i.e. a combination of lateral and pivoting movement in all four directions, namely up, down, right and/or left, is possible.

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In all the cases described above, when the hood is closed, a long-distance fastening is achieved that extends from behind at least three sides of the housing opening, in contrast to the prior art, which can only be achieved on one side.

Further advantages and details of the invention are explained in more detail below with reference to the attached drawings, in which preferred embodiments are shown. It should be noted that in the embodiments shown, the inventive measures are only implemented on three opening sides, namely the two vertical sides and the upper horizontal side, which is already a very significant advantage in terms of arc resistance compared to the previously usual one-sided swivel fittings, but that it is also clearly within the scope of protection if the fourth side is also equipped in accordance with the invention, as can prove advantageous, for example, in the case of switching devices, in particular transformer systems, when these are arranged at a distance from the ground on masts, where only partially folding down the cover can make work easier. They show:

Fig. 1 shows a transformer station enclosed according to the invention, in a perspective view;

FtQ. 2 the station shown in Fig. 1 in front view;
Fig. 3 shows the station according to Fig. 2, sectioned along the line AA;
Fig. 4 shows the station according to Figs. 1 to 3 in side view;
Fig. 5 schematically shows the station on the left in closed position prepared for opening and on the right with the station pivoted to the right.

Hood;
Fig. 6 is a representation according to Fig. 5, but opening to the left;

Fig. 7 is a schematic side view of the station, on the left in the closed state prepared for opening and on the right opened by pivoting the hood upwards;

Fig. 8 shows an embodiment of the invention using the example of an enclosed transformer station, in a perspective view;

Fig. 9 shows the station according to Fig. 8 in side view;

Fig. 10 is a plan view of the station according to Figs. 8 and 9, namely of the switchgear part and the cable distribution cabinet respectively;

Figures 11 to 14 are schematic representations of the opening process of a hood which can be moved by a combination of sliding and pivoting;

Fig. 15 shows the front view of a substation with low voltage area (left) and medium voltage area (right);

Fig. 16 is a plan view of the substation according to Fig. 15;

Fig. 17 shows a further embodiment with, in contrast to the one according to Figs. 15 and 16, hood parts that open to the right and left instead of the hood or hood parts that open upwards;

Fig. 18 is a plan view of the design according to item 17 with intermediate positions of the lateral and pivoting movement indicated for the right-hand hood part when opening or closing; and

Fig. 19 shows the side view of a transformer station, wherein the low-voltage and medium-voltage areas are arranged opposite one another and the fastening and guidance of the hoods corresponds to those of the exemplary embodiment according to Figs. 8 to 14.

The housing of a transformer station 1 shown in Fig. 1 has a hood 2, which is attached to the open side of the housing 3 in a manner to be explained in detail below, for example for an invisible transfer

mator. The hood can also have any other suitable door-like shape. At the edge of the essentially rectangular housing opening, tabs are attached to the housing body at a distance from one another. These tabs have continuous, preferably circular holes and are aligned with one another in such a way that the holes of the tabs arranged on one edge are aligned with one another. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the two vertical edges and the upper horizontal edge of the housing opening are covered with tabs 4.

Below the housing there is a base pan 5 which, as shown in Fig. 4, includes an oil collecting pan 5a and a housing part 5b for the cable connection area. The pan 5 rests on a base plate 8.

As can be seen in particular from Fig. 2, in which the hood is in the closed, locked state, the vertical edge areas have stops attached to the housing, preferably in the form of angles or plates 11, one at each of the lower ends of the two vertical edges of the housing opening, parallel to the tabs 4 arranged on these sides. Three rods, 12a, 12b and 12c, which have a multiple function, namely, on the one hand act as locking and securing rods and on the other hand as hinge rods, extend through the tabs 4 attached to the housing on the three opening sides, projecting towards the viewer and provided with preferably circular openings.

The two vertical rods 12b and 12c are supported by the previously mentioned stops 11, while the horizontal rod 12a is supported by the two upper lugs 4. This latter

Rod 12a is of such a length that, when installed, as shown in Fig. 2, it extends beyond the vertical rods 12b and 12c at the end and thus secures them against being removed upwards. In order to also secure this safety and hinge rod 12a with a locking effect against being pulled out (horizontally), a suitable lock or similar locking device 7 is provided at the left end in the present example.

Taking the above statements into account, Figs. 1 to 3 make it clear that in the closed position the hood is held on the housing on three sides, because the edge 14 of the hood 2 is, as can be seen in particular from Figs. 1 and 3, curved outwards in such a way that it engages behind the three rods 12a, 12b and 12c over a large area and over a considerable length. It is clear that an unexpectedly high resistance to fault arcing is achieved in this way.

In order to enable smooth opening and of course also closing of the hood 2 after removing at least some of the safety or hinge rods 12a, 12b and 12c, the hood 2 is provided with slots 13 in the relevant areas of the flanged edge 14 at the points corresponding to the tabs 4 (see e.g. Fig. 2 and 4), into which the tabs 4 protrude in the closed position of the hood 2 in such a way that the rods 12a, 12b and 12c can then be inserted through the tab openings, which are then gripped behind and around by the hood edge 14. This is particularly clear from Fig. 1 and 3.

The opening and closing process for the hood is described in the reverse order of the handling steps in the

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various directional variables are described using Fig. 5 to 7 and is carried out as follows:

In Figures 5, 6 and 7, the hood is shown in the left-hand illustrations in its still closed state, prepared for opening. This assumes the state shown in Figures 1 and 2, in which all of the three safety or hinge rods 12a, 12b and 12c in the illustrated embodiment are inserted.

If the hood is to be opened to the right, the rod 12a (horizontal) and the rod 12b (left vertical) are first pulled out of the tabs 4, if necessary after opening the lock 7, so that the state shown in the left illustration of Fig. 5 is obtained, in which only the rod 12c is still in position. The hood 2 can now be easily opened or pivoted to the right, whereby the interaction of the outwardly flanged edge with the rod 12c creates a hinge that allows the pivoting movement.

In a corresponding manner, in the same station with equipment according to the invention, the hood can optionally be opened or swiveled to the left (see Fig. 6), for which purpose, in preparation, in order to achieve the situation shown in the left illustration, first the transverse safety rod 12a and then the right vertical rod 12c are removed, so that the left vertical rod 12b then takes over the hinge effect in conjunction with the associated hood edge 14.

Finally, Fig. 7 shows a side view of a possible opening movement of the hood in a third direction, namely upwards (on the left in the closed position, on the right in at least partially open position, whereby a support (not shown) that is readily familiar to the person skilled in the art can be provided in this direction, if not the hood is even folded up so far that it can be supported on the top of the housing 3 without additional means). For this opening direction, it is only necessary to prepare for removing the two vertical rods 12b and 12c from their securing position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, for which purpose the horizontal rod 12a must be moved to the right and left to release the rod 12b and 12c respectively. As soon as the rods 12b and 12c have been removed, the folding can take place upwards, whereby the rod 12a then takes over the hinge effect in the manner described above.

As already mentioned, in certain applications it may be advisable to make the opening process even more space-saving in view of the space required, even if the hood is divided vertically and/or horizontally according to the previously described embodiment and can then be opened in half to the side and/or up and down using the appropriate camouflage rod arrangement - if necessary also along the lower, horizontal edge of the housing opening. This further variant of the invention is shown in Figs. 8 to 19 with various possible designs. In this case, identical and equivalent components are designated with the same reference numbers as the corresponding ones in the first variant.

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Fig. 8 is a perspective view of an enclosed transformer station 1, which corresponds in principle to Fig. 1. In contrast to the first variant described above, the hood in the second variant is also secured directly to the housing 3 on multiple sides and over a large area in the closed position, but not by guide elements that optionally also take on a hinge effect, at least not to the full extent, as an embodiment to be described later shows, but according to Fig. 8 by guide rails 4 that are fixed to the edge of the housing opening - in the example according to Fig. 8 one each running vertically on each vertical edge of the opening - which have a U-shaped cross section that is open towards the hood, so that the corresponding hood edge areas that are bent outwards like a flange can engage in the rails.

As is immediately clear, after opening the lock 7, the housing can only be opened by pushing the hood 2 upwards. A corresponding support, not shown here as readily available, can hold or lock the hood in the upwardly pushed open state. This version also offers a high degree of resistance to arc faults due to the simple way in which the rails attached to the housing over the entire length of the opening edge are gripped behind by the associated hood edges.

Of course, in a corresponding modification to the opening, the hood can also be moved sideways, namely by arranging two parallel guide rails in a horizontal direction, one each at the upper and lower horizontal edge of the housing opening.

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If it is now to be avoided that the hood 2 in the open position protrudes laterally or above the housing 3 with almost its entire width or height, either because of the susceptibility to wind in the case of free-standing systems or because of spatial obstructions, then this variant opens up the combination of a lateral movement with a pivoting movement for the hood during the opening and closing process by using extremely simple means, namely in that each of the two guide rails 4 provided for a hood or a hood part is composed of two partial rails 4a and 4b, which are attached in alignment to the housing 3, namely according to Fig. 9, the lower partial rail 4a, which incidentally has a greater length here than the upper partial rail 4b, is fixed in position and the upper partial rail 4b is pivotally movable on a hinge 6 arranged at the end facing away from the partial rail 4a, around which the partial rail 4b can pivot.

The cross-sectional ratios of the guide rails 4 and the edge areas 14 of the cover 2 engaging in them or behind them are clearly shown in Fig. 10, in particular in its enlarged section. This figure also shows symbolically the plug-in terminations 9 for medium-voltage cables and the low-voltage switching devices/cables 10.

To explain the combined lateral pivoting movements of the hood when opening and closing, reference is made below to Figs. 11 to 14. After opening the lock 7, the hood 2 is moved upwards from the position shown in Fig. 11 according to the arrow shown in Fig. 12, until it is only guided and held in the upper part rail 4b with its outwardly beaded edge 14. The hood can now be moved for the rest of the opening movement in engagement with the part rail(s) 4b on both sides according to Fig. 13 and the arrow shown therein around the fastening of the

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The hinges 6 serving for the partial rails 4b are pivoted according to the arrow in Fig. 13 to the position shown in Fig. 14. The closing movement takes place in the reverse order of the previously described steps.

Fig. 15 and 16 show a further possible embodiment of this variant of the invention, namely with a vertically divided hood 20/21, whereby each hood part 20 or 21 can be opened independently of one another in the manner previously explained in connection with Fig. 11 to 14. For the left hood part, a position pushed upwards with a directional arrow is shown in dash-dotted lines in Fig. 15. Fig. 16 shows the corresponding rail guide 4 between the two hood parts 20 and 21, without any further explanation being required in view of the above explanations.

Another possibility for opening a vertically divided hood is shown in Figs. 17 and 18, which make it clear that here the rails or partial rails 4a and 4b are arranged horizontally, namely at the upper and lower edge area of the housing 3. The longer partial rail 4a acts as a guide rail for both hood parts that allows lateral movement; a partial rail 4b is arranged at both ends of each partial rail 4a, which are pivotally mounted on the housing in the manner described with their end facing away from the longer partial rail 4a.

In this embodiment, the two cover parts 20, 21 (Fig. 17 shows a common housing for a low-voltage and medium-voltage system part, each of which is closed with a separate cover part) are first closed in the manner described by a straight-line movement (see the corresponding arrows in Fig. 18) until the

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final engagement with the pivoting partial rails 4b and can then be pivoted until they rest against the sides of the housing.

Finally, Fig. 19 shows another possibility of jointly enclosing a low-voltage and medium-voltage system, namely with hoods 21 and 22 arranged on opposite sides of the housing, each of which can be opened in one of the ways described above, and also in a combined manner, namely that one hood is moved and pivoted horizontally while the other is moved and pivoted vertically, which depends on the local and/or application conditions. The two basic variants - safety hinge rods on the one hand and guide rails on the other - can also be combined in the case of several doors or hoods on one housing.

Claims (27)

- 17- Protection claims: 1. Housing (3) to be closed by a hood (2) or the like, in particular for a transformer station or parts thereof, characterized by at least one safety connection between the hood (2) and the housing (3) allowing directionally variable hood movements, in particular a short-circuit-proof hood fastening. 2. Housing according to claim 1, characterized by at least three possible pivoting directions of the hood (2), of which preferably at least one occurs at an angle of 90° to at least one of the others. 3. Housing according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by a hood fastening allowing lateral and/or pivoting movements. 4. Housing according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by a horizontally and/or vertically divided hood (2). 5. Housing according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the hood (2) consists of GRP (glass fiber reinforced plastic). 6. Housing according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized by a hood edge (14) engaging behind detachable security elements. 7. Housing according to claim 6, characterized by an outwardly flanged edge (14) which engages behind securing hinge rods (12) detachably held on the housing (3). s ease «ce« s &idigr;&idigr;&iacgr;&iacgr;&iacgr;&iacgr; s e-β J a· β ss-4 ssb _i sss &idiag; s - &sfgr;. &bgr; i S i> &iacgr;&id;&idgr; · » - 18- 8. Housing according to claim 7, characterized by tabs (4) projecting towards the front of the hood (2) and extending from the securing rods tt^durct rdn: 9. Housing according to claim 8, characterized in that a plurality of apertures[4] are arranged distributed at least on the upper, transversely extending and the two preferably vertically extending edge parts of the housing opening. 10. Housing according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized by a central locking of the safety connection. 11. Housing according to claim 10, characterized in that the transversely extending safety rod (12a) has a length which at least partially projects beyond the upper ends of the vertically extending safety rods (12b, 12c) supported on the underside on a stop (11) and can be closed in a positionally fixed manner at least at one end (7). 12. Housing according to one of claims 8 to 11, characterized by slots (13) in the hood edge adapted to the dimensions of the tabs (4) at positions corresponding to the tabs (4) in the closed position. 13. Housing according to claim 3 or 5, characterized by a rail guide for the hood (2). 14. Housing according to claim 13, characterized by at least two parallel guide rails (4) at the edge of the opening side of the housing (3). - 19- 15. Housing according to claim 14, characterized in that the Guide rails (4) run vertically. 16. Housing according to claim 15, characterized in that the Guide rails run horizontally. 17. Housing according to one of claims 14 to 16, characterized by a flange-shaped design (14) of the hood edge in the area assigned to the guide rails (4), wherein the flange areas engage longitudinally displaceably in the guide rails (4) which are U-shaped in cross section. 18. Housing according to one of claims 13 to 17, characterized in that each guide rail (4) consists of two mutually aligned partial rails (4a, 4b). 19. Housing according to claim 18, characterized by different lengths of the partial rails (4a, 4b) of each guide rail (4). 20. Housing according to claim 19, characterized in that the longer partial rail (4a) of each guide rail (4) is fixedly connected to the housing (3). 21. Housing according to claim 19 or 20, characterized in that the shorter (4b) partial rail(s) of each guide rail (4) is pivotably mounted on the housing at its end facing away from the longer partial rail (4a) about an axis (6) running perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the rail. 22. Housing according to one of claims 13 to 21, characterized by four parallel guide rails (4) for a two-part hood (20, 21). -20- 23. Housing according to claim 22, characterized in that the Guide rails (4) run vertically when the hood (20, 21) is divided vertically. 24. Housing according to claim 22, characterized in that the Guide rails (4) run horizontally when the hood (20, 21) is divided vertically. 25. Housing according to claim 23 or 24, characterized in that a guide rail (4) is arranged on the left and right or on the upper and lower edge of the housing opening. 26. Housing according to claim 25, characterized in that each guide rail (4) consists of a longer partial rail (4a) fixedly attached to the housing and two partial rails (4b) pivotably mounted at the ends on the housing. 27. Housing according to one of claims 1 to 26 with two hoods (21, 22) arranged on opposite sides of the housing.