EP0647360B1

EP0647360B1 - A system for an electrical installation and miniature socket and electrical plug therefor

Info

Publication number: EP0647360B1
Application number: EP93913719A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Anders Hansson; Per Harrie
Original assignee: IDEALPLAST AB
Current assignee: IDEALPLAST AB
Priority date: 1992-06-01
Filing date: 1993-05-28
Publication date: 1996-08-14
Anticipated expiration: 2013-05-28
Also published as: SE9201687D0; WO1993024975A1; EP0647360A1; SE9201687L; DE69304069D1; FI945656A0; FI945656A

Abstract

An electrical installation system which includes miniterminals (2) disposed at predetermined intervals throughout a room, and electrical outlets (S1) which can be moved between respective miniterminals. The miniterminals (2) and the conductors (1) that supply power to the miniterminals are placed behind a protective strip (5). The gap (7) formed between the protective strip (5) and the surface on which the miniterminal (2) is mounted is covered by a covering strip (3) which lies flush with a spring-biassed cover flap (8) which functions to cover the contact entrance to the miniterminal (2) when no electrical outlet (S1) is connected to the terminal. The miniterminal (2) will conveniently include a compartment for accommodating antenna and/or telephone cables. This miniterminal is also conveniently provided with latching means (10) which coact with latching elements (6) on the electrical outlet (S1) when the outlet is connected to the miniterminal (2).

Description

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an electrical installation system which includes an optional number of electrical outlets disposed within the room or rooms in which different electrical apparatus are to be connected to the mains network. The electric outlets are detachably connectable to one of the miniterminals at predetermined intervals along the electrical conductors drawn or laid in respective rooms. Each miniterminal and associated conductors are protected by a strip arrangement.

Background Art

Installations systems of this kind are known from US-A 2,647,242, for instance. These known systems often include relatively complicated strip arrangements and profiled sections, which make assembly and installation work and the subsequent fitting of electric outlets (sockets) in desired miniterminals difficult and laborious. The known installation systems are often unattractive from an aesthetic point of view, and the miniterminals included in the system often lack protective means which function to reset the miniterminals automatically to a safe state should an outlet or socket not be connected electrically to a respective miniterminal.

Disclosure of the Invention

The aforesaid drawbacks associated with known installation systems are avoided by means of the present invention, which is characterized in that that part of a respective miniterminal provided with electrical connector means for accommodating an electric outlet is provided with a cover flap which lies flush with the outer surface of the strip when a miniterminal is not used.
The device will conveniently include a protective strip which is secured firmly to the floor, to a wall or to the ceiling of a respective room in which the system is installed, and also a covering strip which extends via and/or between mutually adjacent miniterminals. The cover flap of the miniterminal is therewith intended to coact with the outer surface of the covering strip.
The invention also relates to a miniterminal intended for use in the aforesaid installation system. In this regard, the miniterminal comprises a generally rectangular, flat body and a spring-biassed covering flap which is mounted in one long side of the body and which when inserting an electrical outlet or plug is opened against the action of a spring force, so as to enable the plug to be inserted freely into corresponding electrical contact elements of the miniterminal present beneath the cover flap.
The present invention also relates to an electrical outlet for connection to a miniterminal included in the inventive installation system. The electrical outlet is characterized by a box which is provided with one or more standard outlet contacts and a requisite number of connector pins and at least one latching element for coaction with corresponding means on the miniterminal.
The inventive installation system, miniterminal and electric outlet can be modified in various ways, as will be evident from the following description and the following Claims.

Description of Preferred Embodiments

The inventive installation system will now be described in more detail with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof and also with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

Figure 1: is an exploded view of the preferred embodiment of the inventive system and illustrates the components of said system;
Figures 2a and 2b: each illustrate an example of an electric outlet that can be connected to the miniterminals of the system; and
Figure 3: illustrates part of an inventive installation system, partially in section, and shows an electric outlet connected to a miniterminal.

Figure 1 illustrates the various components of a preferred embodiment of the inventive installation system. Thus, the system includes a plurality of miniterminals 2 connected to electrical conductors 1. The electrical conductors 1 and the miniterminals 2 are housed in a strip arrangement which includes a protective strip 5 which is intended to be fitted on the wall, ceiling or floor surface 11 along which the electrical conductors 1 extend. The gap 7 formed between the protective strip 5 and said surface 11 when the strip arrangement is fitted in position is closed by a covering strip 3. The covering strip 3 is preferably divided into several sections, each extending between two mutually adjacent miniterminals 2. However, the covering strip 3 may consist in a single section or unit which is provided with an aperture for each miniterminal 2.
The purpose of the covering strip 3 is I) to avoid the risk of articles falling behind the protective strip 5, II) to eliminate the risk of the system being damaged by sharp objects, and III) to impart an aesthetic design to the system.
As will be seen from Figure 1, the thickness of the miniterminal 2 is generally equal to the cross-section dimensions of the electric conductor 1. The conductor 1 is connected to the miniterminal 2 at both end-walls 12 of the terminal, and the miniterminal 2 includes the same number of female connectors 13 as the number of wires contained by the conductor or cable 1. In normal use, the female connectors 13 are protected by a covering flap 8, which is appropriately spring-biased towards its closed position.
In the case of the preferred embodiment, the miniterminal 2 includes a slot or recess 14 in which telephone cable(s) and/or antenna cable(s) 9 are accommodated. If desired, the miniterminal 2 may also be provided with female contacts, or sockets, for these cables 9, so as to enable separate connection of a telephone, facsimile machine, radio, television or like apparatus to be made through the miniterminal 2.
The miniterminal 2 of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1 includes two holes 15 (of which only the left hole is visible in the Figure), by means of which the miniterminal 2 can be secured to the wall 11 by means of screws 16. The miniterminal 2 also includes a further hole 17, by means of which the protective strip 5 can be secured with the aid of screw 18. As will be understood, the hole 17 may be a through-penetrating hole, so that the screw 18 will also function to secure the miniterminal 2 to the wall 11 in addition to the protective strip 5. In this case, the screw 18 may replace at least one of the screws 16.
The upper long side of the miniterminal 2, said side carrying the cover flap 8, includes two latching recesses 10 which are intended to coact with a respective latching element 6 provided on the electrical outlet S1-S4 to be connected electrically to the miniterminal 2.
All electrical outlets S1-S4 that are connectable to the miniterminal 2 present a number of connector pins 19 which correspond to the number of female outlets or connections 13, said connector pins being connected to one or more standard female sockets 20. Compare the different embodiments S1, S2, S3 and S4 of the electrical outlet illustrated in Figures 1, 2a, 2b and 3 respectively. The electrical outlets S1-S4 are also provided with latching elements 6 in the form of a latch hook which enables the outlets to be detachably secured in respective latching recesses 10 of a miniterminal 2, see Figure 3. The latch hooks are released from the latching recess by means of a button device belonging to the latching element. When the installation system includes telephone and/or antenna cables 9, the box 4 that accommodates the electric outlets S1-S4 may also accommodate connector pins and standard connections corresponding to said telephone and/or antenna cables so as to enable power/signals to be taken therefrom.
When installing an inventive system, the number of miniterminals 2 required along the conductor 1 fitted in the room are connected-up. The miniterminals 2 are then screwed to the wall, floor or ceiling surface 11 on which the system shall be placed, by means of the screws 16. When appropriate, telephone and antenna cables 9 are inserted and connected to the miniterminal 2. Protective strips 5 of appropriate lengths are fitted so as to cover the conductors 1, 9 and the miniterminals 2, and are secured to the miniterminals with the aid of screws 18. The gap 7 formed between the miniterminals 2 is covered with covering strips 3, which are press-fitted onto the ends of the miniterminals and which, when fitted, have an upper surface 21 which lies flush with the outer surface of the cover flap 8 of respective miniterminals 2 when closed.
An electric outlet S1-S4 is connected to a miniterminal, by pressing the connector pins 19 of the outlet against the cover flap 8, such as to move the flap away against the action of a spring force and therewith enable insertion of the outlet. The tongues of the latching elements 6 are brought into latching engagement with the latching recesses 10 of the miniterminal 2 at the same time.
An outlet S1-S4 is released from its engagement with a miniterminal 2, by pressing a release button provided on the box 4 and coacting with the latching elements 6, therewith causing the tongues of the latching elements to move out of engagement with the latching means 10 and enable outlet S1-S4 to be removed from the miniterminals 2.
Figure 3 illustrates a modified construction of the cover flap 8 of the miniterminal 2, the cover flap 8 of this embodiment being openable in the longitudinal direction of the system. In this case, the cover flap 8 includes a peg 22 with which the cover flap 8 is moved manually sideways from the upper surface plane of the covering strip 3 against a spring force, before inserting an electric outlet S1-S4 into the miniterminal 2. The cover flap 8 will also be restored by said spring force to its covering position, when the outlet S1-S4 is removed from the miniterminal 2.
The embodiment of the miniterminal 2 illustrated in Figure 3 is also provided with a childsafe device in the form of a spring-loaded cover plate 23 mounted over and on top of the female connectors 13, as a safeguard against the fingers of inquisitive children.
When inserting the connector pins 19 of the electric outlet S4, the cover plate 23 is moved away against the action of said spring force, so as to allow the connector pins 19 to be inserted into the female connectors 13. However, it is impossible to move the cover plate 23 unless all (in the illustrated embodiment all three) connectors pins 19 act on the cover plate 23 simultaneously. The cover plate 23 will return to its original position as the electrical outlet S4 is removed, as a result of the action of the spring force which biases the plate towards its closed position.
It will be understood that different embodiments and modifications of the exemplified embodiments are possible within the scope of the invention as defined in the following Claims. For instance, the two parts 3 and 5 of the strip arrangement may have the form of a single unit, suitably of inverted L-shaped cross-section. In this case, miniterminal-accommodating openings are provided at regular intervals in the ceiling (3) of the unit. The invention is thus not limited to the scope of the illustrated and described embodiments thereof and shall therefore be considered to be embraced by those definitions set forth in the following Claims.

Claims

An electrical installation system comprising an optional number of electrical outlets (S1-S4) disposed within the room or rooms in which different electrical apparatus shall be connected to the electric mains, wherein the electrical outlets (S1-S4) are detachably connectable to one of the miniterminals (2) that are mounted at predetermined intervals along and connected electrically to the electrical conductors (1) drawn in said room or rooms, and wherein each miniterminal (2) and the conductors (1) are protected by a strip arrangement (3, 5), characterized in that that part of a respective miniterminal (2) which is provided with connecting means for accommodating an electrical outlet (S1-S4) is provided with a cover flap (8) which lies flush with the outer surface of the strip arrangement (3, 5) when no electric outlet (S1-S4) is connected to said miniterminal (2).
A system according to Claim 1, characterized in that the strip arrangement (3, 5) includes a protective strip (5) which is secured to the floor, a wall or the ceiling of said room, and at least one covering strip (3) which extends via and/or between the mutually adjacent miniterminals (2), the respective cover flaps (8) of said miniterminals being intended to coact with the outer surface of the covering strip (3).
A system according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the cover flap (8) is spring-biassed, wherein the contact pins (19) of an electrical outlet (S1-S4) can be inserted into female connectors (23) provided in the miniterminal (2) against the spring-force of said cover flap (8), said spring-force acting to restore the cover flap (8) to its closed position as the outlet (S1-S4) is removed from the miniterminal.
A system according to any one of the preceding Claims, characterized in that the protective strip (5) houses antenna and/or telephone cables (9), which are intended for connection to a miniterminal (2).
A miniterminal for use in a system according to any one of the preceding Claims, characterized by a generally rectangular, flat body and a spring-biassed cover flap (8) which is provided on one long side of the body and which when inserting an electrical outlet (S1-S4) can be opened against the action of a spring-force so as to enable the electrical outlet (S1-S4) to be fitted freely into electrical connectors (23) located beneath the cover flap (8) in the miniterminal (2) and therewith enable said outlet (S1-S4) to be connected to said connectors (23), wherein the cover flap (8) is restored to its closing position by said spring-force as the electric outlet (S1-S4) is removed from the miniterminal (2).
A miniterminal according to Claim 5, characterized in that the cover flap (8) is manoeuverable by means of the electric outlet (S1-S4).
A miniterminal according to Claim 5, characterized in that the cover flap (8) is constructed so as to be manually movable in a sideways direction when inserting an electrical outlet (S1-S4), so as to expose the female connectors (13) of the miniterminal (2).
A miniterminal according to any one of Claims 5-7, characterized by a childsafe device in the form of a spring-biassed plate (23) mounted across the female connectors (13) of the miniterminal (2), said plate (23) solely permitting access to the female connectors (13) when a predetermined number of connector pins (19) are brought to bear simultaneously on said plate (23).
A miniterminal according to Claim 5, characterized in that the thickness of the flat body (2) corresponds generally to the cross-sectional area of the conductor (1) connected to the miniterminal (2) through openings in the two short sides of said terminal; and in that the long side of the body (2) which lies opposite the long side that includes the cover flap has a compartment for accommodating antenna and/or telephone cables (9).
A miniterminal according to any one of Claims 5-9, characterized by at least one latching means (10) on that long side which includes said cover flap, said latching means being intended to coact with a latching element (6) provided on the electrical outlet (S1-S4), wherein the latching means (10) and the latching element (6) can only be released from their mutually active, latching engagement by carrying-out a predetermined manipulation.
An electrical outlet intended for connection to a miniterminal (2) according to any one of Claims 5-10, characterized by a box (4) provided with one or more standard outlet contacts (20) and a requisite number of connector pins (19) extending from that surface which is intended to coact with corresponding connector elements on the miniterminal (2).
An outlet according to Claim 11, characterized by at least one latching element (6) which extends from the surface containing said connector pins (19) and which engages in a latching means (10) in the miniterminal (2) under the action of a spring force; and in that the box (4) further includes a depressible button by means of which latching engagement of the shouldered tongue of the latching element (6) and corresponding arrestor means in the latching means (10) can be released.