EA004504B1 - Device for electrical connection of two electrical apparatuses and an electrical apparatus (variants) - Google Patents

Abstract

1. A device for electrical connection of two electrical apparatuses such as an electrical protection apparatus associated to a controlled switch, said device being designed to electrically connect the output terminal(s) of one of the apparatuses, called the first apparatus, to the input terminal(s) of the other of said apparatuses, called the second apparatus, and comprising conductors housed in an insulating cover, the assembly extending along one of the faces of the two apparatuses, said above-mentioned input and output terminals comprising access openings on said faces, characterized in that the insulating cover (31) comprises a flap (39) designed to prevent access to the input terminal(s) (19, 20) of the second apparatus T when the connection device C is fitted while leaving access to the output terminal(s) (21, 22) of said second apparatus free. 2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that, in the connection position, the flap (39) is designed to prevent access to the actuating means (27, 28) of the input terminal(s) (19, 20) of the second apparatus T and/or to the parts of conductors situated at the level of the opening (23, 24) of said input terminal(s) (19, 20). 3. The device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the flap (39) is mounted articulated with respect to the cover (31). 4. The device according to any one of the claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the cover (31) being made of plastic material, the flap (39) is mounted articulated on the cover (31) by means of an integrated hinge (40) made of plastic. 5. The device according to any one of the claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it comprises clipping means (41) provided in part on the flap (39) and in part on the case of the second apparatus T, said means being designed to perform fixing of the flap (39) on the case of the apparatus. 6. The device according to any one of the foregoing claims, characterized in that it comprises on the one hand a plate (36) comprising conduction paths (32, 33), said plate (36) being able to be moved to face the above-mentioned face (12) of the second apparatus T and to receive the conductors (34, 35) in so far as their part extending facing said face (12) is concerned, the above-mentioned flap (39) being mounted on said plate (36). 7. The device according to claim 6, characterized in that it comprises separate conduction paths (37, 38) able to be moved to face the above-mentioned face (10) of the first apparatus D and to receive the conductors (34, 35) in so far as their part extending facing the first apparatus D is concerned. 8. An electrical apparatus housed in a case comprising a rear face for fixing to a mounting support such as a rail, a front face, two main faces by means of which the apparatus can be adjoined to another apparatus of the same type, and two opposite side faces, said apparatus being able to be connected to another electrical apparatus located up-line on said mounting support by means of a connection device according to any one of the claims 1 to 7, characterized in that it comprises at least one input terminal (19, 20) and at least one output terminal (21, 22), said terminals being situated on the same side of said support R, and that the input terminal(s) (19, 20) on the one hand and the output terminal(s) (21, 22) on the other hand are respectively arranged at two different depth levels of the case of the apparatus and are respectively staggered in the heightwise direction of the apparatus. 9. An electrical apparatus housed in a case comprising a rear face for fixing to a mounting support such as a rail, a front face, two main faces by means of which the apparatus can be adjoined to another apparatus of the same type, and two opposite side faces, said apparatus being able to be connected to another electrical apparatus located up-line on said mounting support by means of a connection device according to any one of the claims 1 to 7, characterized in that it comprises at least one input terminal (19, 20) and at least one output terminal (21, 22), said terminals being situated on the same side of said support R, and at least one control terminal (17, 18) situated on the other side of said support R. 10. The electrical apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that the input terminal(s) (19, 20) on the one hand and the output terminal(s) (21, 22) on the other hand are respectively arranged at two different depth levels of the case of the apparatus and are respectively staggered in the heightwise direction of the apparatus. 11. The apparatus according to claim 8 or 10, characterized in that the input terminal(s) (19, 20) is(are) situated at the rear of the apparatus and at the level of one (12) of the side faces of the apparatus and the output terminal(s) (21, 22) is(are) situated at the front of the apparatus T and set back with respect to said side face (12) of the apparatus T. 12. The apparatus according to any one of the claims 8 to 11, characterized in that the input terminals and output terminals each comprise an access opening (23, 24) and (25, 26) for the conductors, said openings being situated respectively for the input terminals (19, 20) and the output terminals (21, 22) on two parts of lateral surfaces (12a, 12b) staggered in the heightwise and depthwise direction of the case. 13. The electrical apparatus according to any one of the claims 8 to 12, characterized in that the input terminal(s) and output terminal(s) comprise actuating means respectively situated for the input terminals and the output terminals on two parts of front face (4a, 4b) staggered in the depthwise and heightwise direction of the case. 14. The apparatus according to any one of the claims 8 to 13, characterized in that the first apparatus D is a circuit breaker and/or in that the second apparatus T is a remote-controlled switch or a contactor. 15. The apparatus according to any one of the claims 8 to 14, characterized in that the input terminals (19, 20) are staggered with respect to the output terminals (21, 22) in a direction parallel to the width of the case. 16. The apparatus according to any one of the claims 8 to 15, characterized in that the second apparatus is a single-pole remote-controlled switch, the above-mentioned cover only comprising a single electrical path.

Description

The present invention relates to a device for electrically connecting two electrical devices, such as an electrical safety device connected to a controlled switch, said device being designed to electrically connect the output (s) of one of the devices, called the first device, to the input (inputs) of the other one , called the second device, with the specified device contains conductors enclosed in an insulating case, the connection passes along one of the surfaces of two devices, and the above input and output contain windows in these surfaces to provide access to them.

When a circuit breaker and a controlled switch, such as a contactor or a remote control switch, are connected on the same mounting rail, the power leads of the circuit breaker must be electrically connected to the power inputs of the controlled switch. Managed switches typically contain inputs and outputs located respectively on two opposite side surfaces of their casing. This leads to the fact that the electrical connecting device necessary to make the above connection will be long, impractical and expensive.

The present invention solves this problem and proposes a connecting device of simple construction, which allows connecting devices of this type quickly and inexpensively, and an electrical device adapted to this device.

To this end, the present invention is based on the task of creating a connecting device of the type indicated above, this device being characterized in that the insulating body contains a shield designed to prevent access to the inputs (inputs) of the second device when the connecting device is installed while leaving free access to the output (s) of the specified second device.

According to a particular embodiment of the invention, at the junction position, the shield is designed to prevent access to the drive input device (s) of the second device and / or to the conductor parts located at the level of the input window (s).

The problem solved by the present invention is also to obtain an electrical device placed in a housing containing a back surface for attachment to a mounting base, such as a guide, a front surface, two main surfaces with which the device can be connected to another device of the same type, and two opposite side surfaces, while the specified device is able to connect with another electrical device located in front of him in line on the mounting base, using connective o devices containing the above features, applied either alone or in combination, this device containing at least one input and at least one output located on one side of the specified support, and input (s), on the one hand, and the output (s), on the other hand, are respectively located at two different levels along the depth of the instrument case and are accordingly offset along the height of the instrument.

The problem solved by the present invention is also to obtain an electrical device located in a housing containing a back surface for attaching to a mounting base, such as a guide, a front surface, two main surfaces with which the device can be connected to another device of a similar type, and two opposite side surfaces. surface, and the specified device is able to connect with another electrical device located in front of him in line on the specified mounting base, using a connector A device containing the above-mentioned features, applied separately or in combination, with the device containing at least one input and at least one output, the specified input and output are located on one side of the base, and at least one control terminal is located on the other side of the base.

According to a specific feature, the input (s) are located (located) on the back of the device and at the level of one of the side surfaces of the device, and the output (s) are located (located) on the front of the device and are shifted backward relative to the side surface of the device.

According to another feature, each of the inlets and outlets comprises a window for accessing the conductor, said windows being arranged respectively for the inlets and outlets on two parts of the side surfaces displaced in height and in depth of the housing.

According to another feature, the input (s) and the output (s) contain driving means arranged respectively for the inputs and outputs on the two parts of the front surface that are displaced in depth and in the height of the body.

Other advantages and features of the invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are given by way of example only and in which FIG. 1 is a front view illustrating a circuit breaker and a control switch according to the invention, the devices being connected by a connecting device according to the invention; FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing more specifically the lower part of two devices connected by a connecting device according to the invention, FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view illustrating the bottom of the switch only, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating only the connecting device according to the invention.

In Figures 1 and 2, you can see the automatic switch переключатель and the switch T with remote control installed side by side on the same mounting rail I, and the node forms a controlled and protected switch. These two devices are placed in separate modular housings, each of which has a back surface 1, 2 for attaching to the rail I, a front surface 3, 4, two main surfaces 5, 6, 7, 8, which connect the cases of two devices installed alongside, and two opposite side surfaces 9, 10, 11, 12, on which are located the connecting inputs and conclusions 13-22.

The first device Ό, in this case the circuit breaker, is a device of the usual type and has two inputs 13, 14 located in its upper part, and two terminals 15, 16 located in its lower part.

The second device is represented by a remote control switch T and contains, in a known manner, a switching circuit designed to service the circuit used and a control means represented by a control circuit, the control circuit comprising a coil fed by the power conductors of the first device and controlled by a command issuing circuit containing , push button (these diagrams are not shown in the figures).

This device contains in its upper part two control terminals 17, 18, with which the terminals of the above-mentioned coils can be connected to the power conductors of the circuit breaker, and four terminals, called the power terminals, that is, two inputs 19, 20 (neutral and phase, respectively) and two terminals 21, 22 (neutral and phase, respectively) in its lower part (better seen in Fig. 3).

FIG. 3, according to the invention, the inlets 19, 20 and the inlets 21, 22 are located at two different levels along the depth of the instrument case, the depth being defined as the distance separating the surface 4c closest to the front surface of the device T from the back surface 2 device T. Also in FIG. 3, it can be seen that the terminals are also offset by the height of the device, and the height is defined as the distance separating the two side surfaces 11, 12 of the device T. Thus, it can be seen that one 12 of the side surfaces 11, 12 of the device T actually consists of several parts 12a, 12b of the lateral surface, parallel to each other, but displaced in height and depth of the device. The windows 23, 24 of the inlets 19, 20 are open on one 12a of these surfaces 12a, 12b, and the windows 25, 26 of the terminals 21, 22 are open on the other 12b of these surfaces. Similarly, the front surface of the housing contains several parts 4a, 4b, 4c of the front surface, parallel to each other and also offset relative to each other in depth and height of the housing. The drive means 27, 28 of the inlets 19, 20 are open on one of 4a of these parts of the surface, and the drive means 29, 30 of the leads 21, 22 are open on the other part of 4b. It can also be noted that the inputs 19, 20 are also offset relative to the conclusions 21, 22 in a direction parallel to the width of the case, moreover, this width is represented by the distance between the two main surfaces 7, 8 of the case, and this allows the user to run the wiring in the direction corresponding to its mounting to the circuit, without the need, caused by the design of the device, to connect the lower terminals (surface 4a) before the upper terminals (surface 4b).

Returning to FIG. 1, 2 and 4, it can be seen that the terminals 15, 16 of the first device Ό are electrically connected to the inputs 19, 20 of the second device T using a connecting device C according to the invention. This device C contains an insulating body 31 made of plastic material, wherein said body 31 contains two conductive paths 32, 33, respectively, containing two rigid electrical conductors 34, 35. This body 31 is formed by a plate 36, the dimensions of which essentially correspond to the dimensions of the side the surface 12 of the second device T, this plate 36 contains two parts of the conductive paths 32, 33, designed to receive part of the conductors passing in the direction of the second device T. Two separate conductive paths 37, 38, s holding the portion of the conductors facing to the device Ό, depart from this plate 36. Flap 39 is pivotally connected to this plate 36 and is pivotable between a position in which it is located parallel to the plate 36, and a position in which it is perpendicular to this plate. Preferably, the hinge flap 39 is obtained using a plastic strip 40 integral with it. On this flap 39, snap-in hook-shaped means 41 are provided for engaging with the corresponding housing parts 42 (FIG. 3). Each of the two conductors 34, 35 contains a portion 34a, 35a extending along the plate, and two connecting pins 34b, 35b, 34c, 35c, extending perpendicularly to the plane of said plate 36.

When the joining operation is performed, the individual paths 37, 38 and the plate 36 are drawn respectively to the side surfaces 10 and 12 of the devices containing the terminals 15, 16 of the first device Ό and the inputs 19, 20 of the second device T. Connecting pins 34b, 35b and 34c, 35c of conductors then they are inserted into the corresponding terminals 16, 15 and 20, 19 of the instruments, with one conductor 34 connecting the phase terminal 16 of the first device Ό with the phase input 20 of the second device T, and another conductor 35 connecting the neutral terminal 15 of the first device with the neutral input 19 of the second device. FIG. 2, it can be seen that the plate 36 covers the entire lower side surface 12 of the second device T in such a way that access to the conductors and the windows 23, 24 of the terminals at the bottom of the device has become impossible. When the device is installed, the flap 39 is folded over one of 4a of the above-mentioned parts of the front surface and then fixed to the instrument case using the above-mentioned snap-on means 41, 42. In this position, this flap 39, on the one hand, completes the isolation of the windows 23, 24 inputs 19, 20, that is, prevents access from the front side of the device to the connecting part located at the level of these windows, and, on the other hand, covers the drive means 27, 28, that is, the screws, so that it is impossible to manipulate the latter. On the other hand, in FIG. 2, it can be seen that access to windows 25, 26 of pins 21, 22 and to drive means 29, 30 of these pins is free.

Thus, thanks to the invention, a connecting device is obtained, which provides quick and inexpensive connection of two devices, in particular, due to the fact that the connections are short, the bridge part is fully protected, while the output of the second device is open for subsequent connection by the user, and the device allowing apply such a device.

It should be noted that this device can be installed on demand on a controlled switch, or, if it is periodically installed on this switch, it can be removed for more universal use.

The invention is advantageously, but not exclusively, applicable when an electrical device, such as a circuit breaker, is connected to a controlled switch, such as a remote control switch or a contactor or to grounding means, etc.

It should be noted that although the figures show the connection of a circuit breaker with a two-pole switch with a remote control, the invention is equally applicable in the case when the switch with the remote control is a switch of the single-pole type, that is, containing one input and one pin, and in this case insulating the enclosure will contain only one electrical line.

Naturally, the invention is in no way limited to the described and shown variants of its implementation, which were given only as examples.

Thus, for example, the terminals could not be of a screw type, but of a different type.

On the contrary, the invention includes all technical equivalents of the means described, as well as their combinations, if they are made in accordance with the essence of the invention.

Claims (16)

CLAIM 1. A connecting device for electrically connecting at least one output of a first electric device, such as an electrical safety device, and at least one input of a second electric device, such as a controllable switch, the devices being located in housings, each of which contains a back surface for mounting to the mounting base, such as a guide, and the connection between the first and second devices is carried out along the surfaces of their buildings, containing holes I output and enter these devices, and the inputs and outputs are located on one side of the attachment, while the connecting device contains conductors located in an insulating housing (31), which contains a shield designed to prevent access to the input (19, 20) of the second device (T), when the connecting device (C) is installed with the possibility of allowing open access to the output of the second device. 2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that in the connecting position, the shield (39) is designed to prevent access to the driving means (27, 28) of the input (19, 20) of the second device (T) and / or parts of conductors located at the window level (23, 24) of the specified input (19, 20). 3. The device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the shield (39) is installed with the possibility of hinged rotation relative to the housing (31). 4. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the housing (31) is made of plastic material, the shield (39) is installed with the possibility of a hinged rotation on the housing Ί (31) with the help of a plastic strip (40), integral with it. 5. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it comprises snap-on means (41) located on the shield (39) and intended for fixing the shield (39) on the body of the device. 6. Device according to any one of the preceding claims 1-5, characterized in that the insulating body is a plate (36) containing conductive paths (32, 33) facing the surface (12) of the second device (T) on which the above flap (39). 7. The device according to claim 6, characterized in that the insulating body contains separate conductive paths (37, 38) facing the surface (10) of the first device (Ό). 8. An electrical safety device housed in a housing containing a back surface for attaching to a mounting base, such as a guide, two main surfaces that connect the device to another device of a similar type, and two opposite side surfaces; connection with another electrical device, located in front of him in line on the mounting base, using a connecting device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that contains at least one input (19, 20) and at least one output (21, 22), and the terminals of these input and output are located on one side relative to the mounting base (K.) with the possibility of open access to the output terminals while preventing the possibilities of access to the input terminals, while the input terminal (19, 20) and the output terminal (21, 22) are respectively located at two different levels along the depth of the instrument case and are accordingly offset along the height of the device. 9. An electrical safety device housed in a housing containing a back surface for attaching to a mounting base, such as a guide, two main surfaces that connect the device to another device of a similar type, and two opposite side surfaces, said device made electrically connected to another electrical device located in front of it in line on the mounting base, using a connecting device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that it contains at least one input (19, 20) and at least one output (21, 22), the terminals of which are located on the same side relative to the mounting base (K) with the possibility of open access to the output terminals while preventing access to the input terminals, and at least one control terminal (17, 18) is located on the other side of said mounting base (K). 10. The device according to claim 9, characterized in that the input terminals (19, 20) and the output terminals (21, 22) are respectively located at two different levels along the depth of the instrument case and are respectively offset from each other by the height of the device. 11. The device according to claim 8 or 10, characterized in that the input (19, 20) is located on the rear side of the device and at the level of one (12) from the side surfaces of the device and the output (21, 22) is located on the front side of the device (T ) and shifted back relative to the specified side surface (12) of the device (T). 12. The device according to any one of paragraphs.8-11, characterized in that each of the inputs and outputs contains a window (23, 24) and (25, 26) for the access of conductors, these windows are located respectively for the inputs (19, 20) and conclusions (21, 22) in two parts of the side surfaces (12a, 12b), displaced from each other in height and in depth of the body. 13. An apparatus according to any one of claims 8 to 12, characterized in that the input and output comprise driving means, respectively, arranged for inputs and outputs on two parts of the front surface (4a, 4b) that are displaced from each other in depth and in height of the body . 14. The device according to any one of paragraphs.8-13, characterized in that it is a circuit breaker or switch with remote control or contactor. 15. The device according to any one of paragraphs.8-14, characterized in that the inputs (19, 20) are offset relative to the conclusions (21, 22) in a direction parallel to the width of the case. 16. The device according to any one of paragraphs.8-15, characterized in that it is a single-pole switch with remote control and contains only one electric line.