EA000360B1 - A case for electrical switchgear - Google Patents

Abstract

1. A case for electrical switchgear comprising: - a first half shell (1) comprising a first side wall (3) and first circumferential walls (4) arranged appreciably perpendicularly to the edge of the first side wall, - a second half shell (2) comprising a second side wall (5) and second circumferential walls (6) arranged appreciably perpendicularly to the edge of the second side wall, and - means for securing the first and second half shells face to face, the first and second circumferential walls being in contact. a case characterized in that the means for securing comprise at least one junction block (10, 11) arranged on an external part of the case to join an external face of the first side wall (3) to an external face of the second side wall (5), said junction block comprising a first part (12) arranged outside the circumferential walls and two securing walls (13, 14) perpendicular to said first part and arranged on the external faces of the first and second side walls. 2. The case according to Claim 1 characterized in that the securing walls of the junction block comprise first latching means (15, 16) cooperating with suitable forms (17) of the side walls to fix said junction block onto the case. 3. The case according to Claim 2 characterized in that the first latching means of the securing walls of the junction block are tabs (15) comprising latching splines (16) designed to cooperate with notches (17) situated in the side walls of the case. 4. The case according to Claim 2 or 3 characterized in that the first and second side walls comprise projections (18) comprising second latching means (19) to fix said side walls onto the first part of the junction block. 5. The case according to any one of the Claims 1 to 4 characterized in that the half shells comprise third latching means (22a-22d, 23a-23d, 24a-24d) arranged on the internal faces of the walls to hold the half shells in their respective positions. 6. The case according to Claim 5 characterized in that the third latching means comprise flexible tabs (22a-22d) provided with latching splines (23a-23d) at their ends and arranged in the extension of circumferential walls, and notches (24a-24d) situated in circumferential walls opposite the tabs to receive the latching splines. 7. The case according to one of the Claims 5 or 6 characterized in that the third latching means comprise at least three points for fixing to the circumferential walls, a first fixing point (22c, 22d, 23c, 23d, 24c, 24d) being situated towards the back plate of the case, a second fixing point (22b, 23b, 24b) being situated towards an up-line side of the case, and a third fixing point (22a, 23a, 24a) being situated towards a down-line side of the case. 8. The case according to any one of the Claims 5 to 7 characterized in that the third latching means are arranged in a manner hardly accessible from the outside of the walls to prevent the case from being opened without the half shells being deformed. 9. The case according to any one of the Claims 1 to 8 characterized in that it comprises a cover (21) forming the front face of said case and fixed by means for fixing by latching onto walls of the half shells, said means for fixing by latching not being able to be plied with from the outside of the case, and the circumferential walls having an opening situated towards the front face of the case 10. The case according to any one of the Claims 1 to 9 characterized in that the junction block comprises recesses designed to receive means for electrical connection (26) cooperating with conductors (27) arranged between the inside and the outside of the case. 11. The case according to Claim 10 characterized in that the junction block comprises means for dielectric separation (29) comprising an edge (30) so as to increase an isolation distance between two terminals (26) of the means for electrical connection, the dielectric separations being in contact with the circumferential walls of the case. 12. An electrical switchgear apparatus characterized in that it comprises a case according to any one of the Claims 1 to 11, an electrical circuit (25) arranged inside said case, and electrical conductors (27) connected to said circuit and passing through the circumferential walls to cooperate with terminals of the means for electrical connection of a junction block 13. The electrical switchgear apparatus according to Claim 12 characterized in that the electrical conductors (27) are made of preformed flat copper connected to a printed circuit (25) arranged in the case, the form of the conductors having a first part (31) connected perpendicularly to the plane of the printed circuit, a second part (32) folded with respect to the first part and a third part (33) extending outside the circumferential wall. 14. The electrical switchgear apparatus according to Claim 13 characterized in that the first part of the conductors comprises two ends able to be connected to the circuit, the second part of the connector being closer to a first end to make the connecting conductor reversible.

Description

The invention relates to an electrical switch with a housing containing:

- the first half of the housing with the first side wall and the first surrounding walls located perpendicular to the edge of the first side wall,

- the second half of the housing with the second side wall and the second surrounding walls located perpendicular to the edge of the second side wall, and

- means of fastening the first and second halves of the case face to face, with the first and second surrounding walls being in contact.

Cases for modular electrical switching equipment, as is well known, contain two halves to be assembled. Typically, these housing halves are located one against the other and then mounted with screws or rivets. Each half of the hull typically contains cylindrical columns extending into the walls of the said half of the hull to be able to insert rivets or screws. (From EP 0456587 and FR 2656464 known housing, assembled from two halves with screws or rivets).

When assembling occurs, the complementary columns of each half of the hull are arranged in the length of their respective axes in order to insert rivets. After they are inserted into each column, the rivets are pressed using a special tool.

Assembly with screws is performed on the same principle. Screws are inserted into the column and screwed into the nuts. It is also possible to screw the screws directly inside the case. In this case, the screws freely pass through the first column having an internal diameter larger than the diameter of the screws. The screws are then screwed into a second complementary column having an internal diameter smaller than the diameter of the screws.

Assembling with rivets or screws requires special tools. This leads to the fact that the assembly takes a lot of time and, moreover, increases the cost of manufacturing a switching device. In addition, these types of fasteners are not applicable in housings that cannot be dismantled. In fact, it is easy to dismantle the case, fastened with screws, or remove the rivet and replace it with another.

The objective of the invention is to provide a housing for an electrical switch that can be mounted quickly without any special tools, as well as an electrical switch comprising such a housing.

According to the invention, the means for fixing the housing comprise at least one connecting unit located on the outer part of the housing for connecting the outer surface of the first side wall to the outer surface of the second side wall, said joining unit comprising a first part located outside the surrounding walls and two fastening walls, perpendicular to the specified first part and located on the outer surfaces of the first and second side walls.

According to a preferred embodiment, the fastening walls of the connecting unit comprise first locking means cooperating with suitable shapes of the side walls for fixing said connecting unit to the housing.

In a preferred embodiment, the first locking means of the fastening walls of the connecting unit are eyelets comprising locking slots for engaging with recesses located in the side walls of the housing.

Advantageously, the first and second side walls comprise protrusions comprising second locking means in order to fix said side walls on the first part of the junction block.

In a particular example of implementation, the housing halves comprise third locking means located on the inner surfaces of the walls to hold the housing halves in their respective positions.

Preferably, the third locking means comprise flexible lugs provided with locking slots at the ends and located in the extent of the surrounding walls and recesses located in the surrounding walls opposite the lugs for receiving the locking slots.

It is advisable that the third fixing means comprise at least three points for attachment to the surrounding walls, with the first attachment point located towards the rear plate of the case, the second attachment point located towards the side of the upper line of the case, and the third attachment point located towards side of the lower body line.

To prevent the body from being dismantled, the third locking means are arranged in such a way that access to them is difficult on the outside of the walls in order to prevent the body from opening, without deforming the body halves.

The housing contains a lid forming the front surface of the said housing and secured by means of locking by snapping onto the walls of the housing halves, it is not possible to use said means of locking by latching outside the housing, and the surrounding walls have an opening in the direction of the front surface of the housing.

For connecting the housing, the connecting unit includes recesses for receiving electrical connection means interacting with conductors located between the inside and the outside of the case.

An electric switch according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention comprises a housing according to the embodiments described above, an electrical circuit located inside the housing and electrical conductors connected to said circuit and passing through surrounding walls to interact with the terminals of the electrical connection means of the junction box.

In particular, in the example implementation of an electrical switch, the electrical conductors are made of pre-compressed flat copper connected to a printed circuit located in a housing, wherein the shape of the conductors has a first part connected perpendicular to the plane of the printed circuit, the second part folded relative to the first part, and a third part extending outside the surrounding wall.

Preferably, the first part of the conductors comprises two ends capable of being connected to the circuit, wherein the second part of the connector is located closer to the first end so that the connecting conductor becomes reversible.

Other advantages and features of the invention will become more apparent from the following description of preferred examples of the invention, which are given as examples, not limiting the essence of the invention, and are presented in the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 represents a first embodiment of a half body according to the invention;

FIG. 2 - an example of the implementation of the second half of the body, complementary to the first half of FIG. one ;

FIG. 3 and 4 are examples of the implementation of connecting blocks for a housing according to the invention;

FIG. 5 shows a cover for the front surface of the housing according to FIG. 1 and 2;

FIG. 6 shows an assembly of an electrical switch comprising a housing according to FIG. 1-5;

FIG. 7 shows an assembled housing containing the elements of FIG. 1-5;

FIG. 8 and 9 are examples of the implementation of connecting conductors for switches comprising a housing according to the invention;

FIG. 10 - location of the connecting conductor between the printed circuit and the terminal.

The modular housing for the electrical switch according to the exemplary embodiment comprises the first housing half 1 and the second housing half 2, which are shown, respectively, in FIG. 1 and 2. The first half of the housing contains the first side wall 3 and the first surrounding walls 4. The second half of the housing 2 also contains the second side wall 5 and the second surrounding walls 6. For assembling the housing, the halves are located face to face and the first and second surrounding walls are inserted into contact to form the contour of the specified enclosure. The formed body comprises a back plate 7 intended to be fixed on the support, and the first side 8 of the upper line and the second side 9 of the lower line perpendicular to the rear plate and to the side walls. The support is preferably a symmetrical bar.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the half-bodies 1 and 2 of the body are fixed by connecting blocks 1 0 and 11, shown in FIG. 3 and

4. Each connecting unit contains the first part 1 2, intended for contact with the side of the upper line or the bottom line of the surrounding walls, and two fixing walls 1 3 and 1 4, perpendicular to the specified first part. Each fastening wall of the connecting blocks is in contact with the outer surface of each side wall to hold the housing halves side by side in their respective positions.

The fastening walls comprise a first locking device for fastening the connecting blocks to the walls of the housing halves. The device preferably contains located on the fastening walls of the ears 1 5 with the locking slots 1 6, designed to interact with the grooves 1 7 located in the side walls of the housing.

For more efficient fastening of the connecting unit, the side walls of the housing halves comprise protrusions 18 containing a second fixing device for fastening said side walls to the first part 1 2 of the connecting blocks. This second locking device contains, for example, flexible lugs 19, cut in the protrusions, and holes 20 located in the first part of the connecting blocks.

When the connecting blocks are installed, to fasten the housing halves, the protrusions 1 8 are moved to the first part 1 2 of the block and the fixing walls 1 4 are moved to the outer surfaces of the side walls 3 and 5. Then, when the movement is completed, when the block is installed, the ears 1 5 are fixed the grooves 1 7 and flexible lugs 1 9 enter into the holes 20 for fastening the junction box to the housing halves.

When two connecting blocks are installed on the sides of the upper line and the lower line, respectively, the two halves of the housing are rigidly connected. Then you can install the cover 21 on the front of the case on 5 against the back plate. The cover 21 is preferably fastened with a latching device. This device, for example, contains locking slots on the edge of the cover and recesses on the edge of the surrounding walls of the housing halves.

The assembly of such a body is very simple and does not require special tools. Essentially, the assembly consists in that the housing halves are installed one against the other and then the connecting blocks of the sides of the upper line and the lower line are installed until the ears retract, after which the cover is fixed by simple pressing.

The housing halves can also be mounted in their respective positions with a third locking device. In the exemplary embodiments of FIG. 1 and 2, these devices, as can be seen, contain flexible lugs 22a-22d located on the inner surfaces of the side walls in the extent of the surrounding walls. These lugs have locking splines 23a and 23d at their ends, respectively. Opposite the lugs, the surrounding walls comprise recesses 24a and 24d or hangers for receiving fixing slots and closing the body tightly.

The housing preferably has at least three attachment points, with the first attachment point corresponding to the first eyelet 22a located on the lower line side and cooperating with the first notch 24a, the second attachment point corresponding to the second eyelet 22b located on the upper line side and interacting with the second notch 24b, and the third attachment point corresponds to the third eyelet 22c or 22d located on the back plate of the housing and cooperating with the third notch, respectively 24c or 24d.

In order to guarantee the operation of a specific electrical switch, the possibility of removing or dismantling the enclosures without damaging them should be excluded. In cases according to this exemplary embodiment of the invention, the lugs are positioned in such a way that they cannot be used to connect the halves of the case, since any attempt to open it will deform the case.

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of an enclosure with a spatial separation of the details of the enclosure according to an example embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 7 shows the same housing when assembled.

In the electric switch according to the example implementation, containing the above-described case, the electrical circuit 25 is located between the two halves 1 and 2.

According to a preferred embodiment, the connecting units comprise recesses for receiving the terminals 26 for electrical connection. These terminals are designed to communicate with the connecting conductors 27 located inside and outside the housing. The terminals are preferably tunnel terminals containing a clamp and a clamping screw for fastening the connecting conductor and the line conductor. Surrounding walls contain holes 28 to allow passage of connecting conductors between the inner side and the outer side of the housing. The junction blocks preferably contain insulating walls 29 located between the terminals. These insulating partitions contain an edge 30 greater than the width of the partition in order to increase the insulating distance between the terminals. When the connecting unit is mounted on the housing, the edge 30 comes into contact with the surrounding walls of the upper line and the lower line to provide continuous electrical insulation and a large insulating distance outside the specified surrounding walls of the housing.

The connecting conductors 27 can be connected inside the housing to printed circuits 25 containing electrical circuits and possibly electronic components. The plane of printed circuits is essentially parallel to the side walls, and these conductors must have special shapes for connecting the output terminals and the specified circuits.

In preferred embodiments, the electrical conductors are made of pre-pressed flat copper and are connected to the printed circuit by soldering or crimping the first end. These conductors shown in FIG. 8 and 9, preferably have a first part 31 located perpendicular to the plane of the printed circuit, a second part 32 folded relative to the first part, and a third part 33 located outside the surrounding walls.

The first part contains solder cuts 34 on the printed circuit with one or more soldering points 35. Said first part preferably has two opposite ends to make the connecting wires reversible, with the second part closer to the first end than to the second end. This type of preferred connecting conductors allows two connecting conductors to be connected in the same output plane when using two adjacent terminals, with the specified conductors arranged as shown in FIG. 8 and 9. Each end of the first part contains cut-outs 34 for soldering on the printed circuit.

FIG. 1 0 shows connecting leads 27 connected to circuit 25 and connected to terminals 26.

The components forming the body described above are preferably made of molded plastic.

The shapes of the halves and connecting blocks may be different when performing the same functions. In particular, the shape of the locking means may differ from the flexible lugs provided with slots.

The lid shown in FIG. 5 and 7, the lid is closed, but in other embodiments, the lid may have openings or comprise means of adjustment, control, or display.

The width of enclosures may be different; for modular enclosures, it is usually equal to multiples of 9 mm, for example, 18 mm, 27 mm, 3 mm or 54 mm. In this case, the connecting blocks have a plurality of adjacent terminals.

Claims (14)

CLAIM one . A housing for an electrical switch comprising: - the first half (1) of the body with the first side wall (3) and the first surrounding walls (4) located perpendicular to the edge of the first side wall, - the second half (2) of the housing with a second side wall (5) and second surrounding walls (6) located perpendicular to the edge of the second side wall, and - fastening means of the first and second halves of the housing face to face, while the first and second surrounding walls are in contact, characterized in that the fastening means comprise at least one connecting block (10, 11) located on the outer part of the housing for connecting the outer surface of the first side wall (3) with the outer surface of the second side wall (5), wherein said connecting block comprises a first part (12) located outside the surrounding walls, and two fixing walls (13, 14) perpendicular to said first part and located on the outer surfaces of the first and second side walls. 2. The housing according to claim 1, characterized in that the mounting walls of the connecting block contain the first locking means (15 and 1 6), interacting with suitable forms (17) of the side walls for mounting the specified connecting block on the housing. 3. The housing according to claim 2, characterized in that the first fixing means of the fastening walls of the connecting block are ears (15) containing locking slots (1 6), designed to interact with recesses (17) located in the side walls of the housing. 4. A housing according to any one of claims 2 or 3, characterized in that the first and second side walls comprise protrusions (18) with second fixing means (19) for fixing said side walls to the first part of the connecting block. 5. The housing according to any one of paragraphs. 1 -4, characterized in that the halves of the housing contain third locking means (22a-22d, 23a-23d, 24a-24d) located on the inner surfaces of the walls to hold the halves of the housing in their respective positions. 6. The housing according to claim 5, characterized in that the third fixing means comprise flexible ears (22a-22d) provided with fixing slots (23a-23d) at the ends and located along the length of the surrounding walls, and recesses (24a-24d) located in the surrounding walls opposite the ears for receiving the locking slots. 7. The housing according to any one of paragraphs.5 or 6, characterized in that the third fixing means contain at least three points for attachment to the surrounding walls, the first attachment point (22s, 22d, 23s, 23d, 24s, 24d ) is located towards the rear plate of the housing, the second attachment point (22b, 23b, 24b) is located in the direction of the upper line side of the housing, and the third attachment point (22a, 23a, 24a) is located in the direction of the lower line of the housing. 8. The housing according to any one of paragraphs.5-7, characterized in that the third locking means are located without access to them from the outside of the walls and thereby opening the housing without deformation of the halves of the housing. 9. The housing according to any one of paragraphs. 1-8, characterized in that it contains a cover (21), forming the front surface of the specified housing and secured by means of fixation by snapping on the walls of the halves of the housing, while these means of fixation by snapping cannot be used outside the housing, and the surrounding walls have an opening located in the direction of the front surface of the housing. 10. The housing according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the connecting unit contains recesses designed to receive means of electrical connection (26) interacting with conductors (27) located between the inner side and the outer side of the housing. 11. The housing according to claim 10, characterized in that the connecting block contains means for dielectric separation (29) containing the edge (30) so as to increase the insulating distance between the two terminals (26) of the means of electrical connection, while the dielectric separators are in contact with the surrounding walls of the housing. 12. An electric switch, characterized in that it comprises a housing according to any one of paragraphs. 1 -11, an electrical circuit (25) located inside the specified housing and electrical conductors (27) connected to the specified circuit and passing through the surrounding walls for interaction with the terminals of the means of electrical connection of the connecting block. 13. The switch according to claim 12, characterized in that the electrical conductors (27) are made of pre-pressed flat copper connected to a printed circuit (25) located in the housing, while the shape of the conductors has a first part (31) connected perpendicular to the plane of the printed circuit, the second part (32) folded relative to the first part, and the third part (33) extending outside the surrounding wall. 14. The switch according to item 13, wherein the first part of the conductors contains two ends capable of being connected to the circuit, while the second part of the connector is located closer to the first end to make the connecting conductor reversible.