EP0802587A2 - Mounting structure with lamp base for two pin fluorescent tube or similar - Google Patents

Abstract

A lamp holder has a pot-shaped mounting/installation housing (1) with attachments for a plug-in mounting box. Lamp holder contact elements (19) are fed via parts of the mounting housing and/or parts connected to it to the opening edge of the mounting housing. Connectors (25,26) for electrical cables are mounted in the vicinity of the opening edge. The connecting devices contain the contact devices (20) for the contact elements (19).

Description

The invention relates to a lamp holder for two-pin fluorescent lamps or for equipment with two contact pins mounting box with a pot-like attachment housing. Fastening devices are assigned to the attachment housing in the vicinity of its opening edge, which are used to anchor the mounting box which can be inserted with the base pointing outwards into a recess in a wall of a lamp box or the like, from the inside of which. The bottom of the attachment housing carries the lamp holder which is arranged in the interior of the attachment housing and has an insertion slot for the contact pins which is open towards the opening of the attachment housing. The lamp holder also contains contact elements which interact with the contact pins and which protrude into the guide slot and with contact means for Contact at least one electrical conductor to be connected are provided. Such a mounting box is described, for example, in DE-U1-29 50 54 51. It is typically used for recessed ceiling luminaires equipped with fluorescent lamps, the length of which is greater than the length of the luminaire box. It allows the lamp holder and the lamp base to be moved on one side out of the interior of the light box.

In the case of mounting boxes customary in practice, a commercially available lamp holder is usually provided, which is often provided with a rotating body rotatably mounted in its guide slot and is clipped onto the inside of the attachment housing on the base thereof, for example by means of latching hooks or the like. This means that during assembly the lamp holder must be connected to the electrical supply lines outside the attachment housing and then inserted into the attachment housing and fixed there on the floor. The insulated leads, which are often bent in the vicinity of the connection terminals, have to be led out through the interior of the attachment housing, which is annoying and also entails the risk that the line insulation under the influence of the heat emitted by the fluorescent lamp in the vicinity of its base Is affected. Such an assembly box is also unsuitable for automatic wiring of the lamp.

To remedy this, it is known from the aforementioned publication that attachment housing is provided with means for its temporary anchoring at the cutout of the wall of the lamp body in a preassembly position, in which it is predominantly still inside the lamp box. In this pre-assembly position, conductors at the contact points of the lamp holder can be contacted from the outside, through conductor insertion openings provided on the side of the attachment box, whereupon the attachment housing is pressed into its final operating position. The Insulated connection lines lie on the outside of the connection housing, where they are received in corresponding recesses. Alternatively, the arrangement can also be such that the base part of the connection housing that carries the sockets for contacting the connection lines is initially arranged in the region of the opening boundary of the assembled connection housing and then transferred to its final position in the depth of the attachment housing and locked there with its side walls . In this case, however, the connection lines are again inside the connection housing.

Both versions are relatively complex; they also require additional assembly measures to transfer the lamp holder from the pre-assembly position to the final operating position.

The object of the invention is therefore to provide an assembly box which is characterized by simple assembly and contacting and which is suitable for automatic wiring systems with simple, inexpensive production possibilities.

To solve this problem, the assembly box according to the invention is characterized in that the contact elements of the lamp holder are kept in a contact-safe manner by parts of the attachment housing and / or parts connected therewith and are led out to the opening edge of the attachment housing and that connection devices for electrical lines are arranged in the region of the opening edge in which the contact means of the contact elements are included.

The fact that the contact elements, which are generally formed by contact springs, are electrically insulated directly from parts of the attachment housing and are stored so that they are safe to touch, the risk of being impaired by the heat that occurs inside the add-on housing is excluded. Any insulated electrical connection lines routed through the interior of the attachment housing are eliminated. The contacting of the connection lines takes place outside the attachment housing in the connection devices arranged on the front of the assembly box, which are easily accessible in the assembled state. These connection devices can easily be designed so that they are suitable for the automatic wiring of the lamp. An example of such an automatic wiring system, to which the new assembly box is matched, is described in EP-A1-0 57 37 91.

In principle, the lamp holder can have any desired structure and can be fastened to the base of the attachment housing, for example by clipping. Particularly simple conditions result, however, if the lamp socket has a one-piece socket body which is connected to the bottom of the attachment housing and in which the guide slot is formed, the contact elements, with their parts located in the region of the socket body, being received in a contact-safe manner in slot-like depressions in the socket body are. A further simplification can be achieved in such a way that the lampholder body is integrally formed on or molded from the bottom of the attachment housing or, in other words, that the bottom region of the attachment housing is designed directly in the form of a lamp holder.

Expediently, slot-like or channel-like depressions are formed in the add-on housing from the vicinity of the bottom to the edge of the opening, in which the contact elements with their corresponding parts are kept safe from contact. This eliminates the need for additional covers or insulation measures to ensure safe contact.

The connection devices for the lines can be designed in accordance with the respective need. For automatic wiring, however, it is particularly advantageous if the connection devices contain insulation displacement contacts with insulation displacement slots. In order to facilitate wiring through the socket without complicated cable routing, it is expedient for the insulation displacement slots to be aligned with their axes essentially parallel to a plane containing the opening edge of the attachment housing. In this case, a line receiving channel crossing the insulation displacement slot can be formed in the connection devices for each contact element and is open to one side over its length. This line receiving channel also acts as a guide for the line laying tool, for which reference is made to the aforementioned EP-A1-0 57 37 91. In addition, the dimensions of the line receiving channel are advantageously selected such that a line end cut off next to the insulation displacement slot is kept in a contact-safe manner in the line receiving channel without additional insulation measures.

Regardless of the design of the contact points, the connection devices can have molded-on housing parts which contain slot-like depressions in which parts of the contact elements led out of the add-on housing are kept safe from contact.

The contact elements are generally in one piece, but embodiments are also conceivable in which they are constructed in several parts.

Finally, the attachment housing can have openings and / or pot-like depressions in the region of its base, which promote air circulation through the attachment housing and increase the area available for heat exchange with the surroundings.

• Figur 1 einen Montagekasten gemäß der Erfindung in perspektivischer Darstellung,
• Figur 2 den Montagekasten nach Figur 1 in einer Ansicht von vorne auf die Öffnung des Anbaugehäuses,
• Figur 3 den Montagekasten nach Figur 2 in einer Draufsicht,
• Figur 4 den Montagekasten nach Figur 2 in einer Ansicht von unten,
• Figur 5 den Montagekasten nach Figur 2 in einer Seitenansicht,
• Figur 6 den Montagekasten nach Figur 1 in einer Ansicht von hinten,
• Figur 7 den Montagekasten nach Figur 2 geschnitten längs der Linie VII-VII der Figur 2 in der Draufsicht,
• Figur 8 den Montagekasten nach Figur 2 geschnitten längs der Linie VIII-VIII der Figur 2 in einer Seitenansicht,
• Figur 9 den Montagekasten nach Figur 2 geschnitten längs der Linie IX-IX' der Figur 2 in einer Seitenansicht ,
• Figur 10 den Montagekasten nach Figur 2 geschnitten längs der Linie X-X und
• Figur 11 den Montagekasten nach Figur 1 in einer abgewandelten Ausführungsform in einer Schnittdarstellung entsprechend Figur 7.

Exemplary embodiments of the subject matter of the invention are shown in the drawing. Show it:

• 1 shows a mounting box according to the invention in a perspective view,
• FIG. 2 shows the assembly box according to FIG. 1 in a view from the front of the opening of the attachment housing,
• FIG. 3 shows the assembly box according to FIG. 2 in a top view,
• FIG. 4 shows the assembly box according to FIG. 2 in a view from below,
• FIG. 5 shows the assembly box according to FIG. 2 in a side view,
• FIG. 6 shows the assembly box according to FIG. 1 in a view from the rear,
• FIG. 7 shows the assembly box according to FIG. 2 cut along the line VII-VII of FIG. 2 in a top view,
• 8 shows the assembly box according to FIG. 2 cut along the line VIII-VIII of FIG. 2 in a side view,
• 9 shows the assembly box according to FIG. 2 cut along the line IX-IX 'of FIG. 2 in a side view,
• Figure 10 shows the assembly box of Figure 2 cut along the line XX and
• 11 shows the assembly box according to FIG. 1 in a modified embodiment in a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 7.

The assembly box shown in the drawing is made entirely of an electrically insulating plastic, preferably by injection molding. It has a pot-shaped attachment housing 1 with an essentially circular opening 2, a base part 3 and side walls 4. In the area of the opening 2, a flat flange 5 is formed on the add-on box 1, which carries claws 6 which also form molded fastening devices on its rear side. The mounting box is intended to be inserted with its mounting housing 1, which tapers slightly conically on the upper side toward the bottom part 3, into a recess 7 in a wall 8 of a lamp box, which is only indicated in the detail in FIG. 5, and is pushed into the illustrated position from the inside thereof. in which its flange 5 bears against the inside of wall 8 and the assembly box is locked by the two claws 6 received in corresponding holes in wall 8 (FIG. 5).

A lamp holder 9 for a two-pin fluorescent lamp is arranged in the base area 3 in the attachment housing 1. In the embodiment according to FIGS. 1 to 11, the lamp holder 9 is connected in one piece to the attachment housing 1 by the parts being formed directly from the base region 3.

The lamp holder 9 has a circular-cylindrical pin 10 which is coaxial with the opening 2 of the housing 1 and which, as can be seen from FIGS. 7, 8, is designed as a pot-shaped hollow body with a cavity 11 which is open towards the rear and which together with one to at a distance, coaxial annular part 12 defines an annular guide slot 13 for the contact pins of the fluorescent lamp to be used. The annular part 12 is molded onto a lateral conversion part 14 formed from the base part, which in turn is integrally connected to the side wall 4 of the attachment housing 1 via an end conversion part 15. The aforementioned parts 10 to 14 form a unitary Socket body, which, as mentioned, is formed directly from the bottom region 3 of the attachment housing 1.

On the face facing the viewer in FIG. 2 and facing the edge of the opening 2 of the attachment housing, two groove-like depressions 16 are formed in the end wall part 15 on both sides of the pin 10, each of which receives the legs 17, 18 of a contact spring 19 adjoining one another at right angles. The dimensions (width, depth and length) of the slot-like depressions 16 are selected such that the legs 17, 18 of the respective contact spring 19 accommodated therein are kept safe from contact.

Each of the contact springs 19 crosses with its leg 17, in the manner of a secant, through the guide slot 13, as can be seen in FIG. 2. The part of the leg 17 lying within the guide slot 13 forms a contact area in which a transverse, groove-shaped depression 20 is provided, which is used for the spring-elastic latching of the associated contact pin of the fluorescent lamp used.

In the lower region of the add-on housing 1, two longitudinal channels 21 are formed in the region of the opposite side walls 4, which can be seen in particular from FIGS. 1, 6 and 7 and which open out on the rear of the add-on housing 1. The channels 21 are too open in the area lying in front of the end wall part 15. In them run on the legs 18 of the two contact springs 19 molded strip-like connecting legs 22 with which the contact springs 19 forming the contact elements are led out isolated through the opening 2 of the mounting housing 1. The internal dimensions of the channels 21 are selected in the area of the interior of the attachment housing 1 in such a way that the connecting legs 22 of the contact springs 19 are stored in them so that they are safe to touch. At the same time, they guarantee the channels 21 wall parts 23, which are to be limited inwards and are formed from the material of the add-on housing 1, ensure perfect electrical insulation of the bare connecting legs 22. An impairment of the insulation conditions by the heat generated in the incandescent filament area of the fluorescent lamp used is thus ruled out.

The connecting legs 22 of the contact springs 19 are provided with contact means located outside the attachment housing 1 for contacting electrical conductors to be connected. For this purpose, 5 connecting devices for electrical lines are provided on the front of the flange facing the viewer in FIGS. These connection devices have block-shaped housing parts 24 (FIGS. 3, 8) formed on the flange 5, which in turn have axially offset connection parts 25 on their front side relative to the plane containing the edges of the opening 2 of the attachment housing 1. In each of the connection parts 25, a line receiving channel 26 is formed which is aligned on both sides with its plane of symmetry parallel to the plane containing the opening edge and which is open towards the top in the manner of a groove-like recess and has an essentially U-shaped cross section ( see Figure 8). Each of the line-receiving channels 26 is crossed by a section 27 of the connecting leg 22 of a contact spring 9 bent at its end in an L-shape (FIG. 3). In the leg section 27, an insulation displacement slot 28 (FIG. 9) is formed, which lies symmetrically in the associated line receiving channel 26 and forms an insulation displacement contact.

On both sides of the insulation displacement slot 28, the associated line receiving channel 26 is narrowed laterally at 29 (FIGS. 3, 5). The spacing of the ribs forming in these figures is selected such that an insulated electrical line inserted into the further line receiving channel 26 is clamped with its insulation to the constriction is. The dimensions (width, length and depth) of the sections of each line receiving channel 26 lying on both sides of the insulation displacement slot are dimensioned such that a conductor end cut off next to the insulation displacement slot in the wire reception channel 26 is kept safe from contact in the wire reception channel.

The parts of the connecting legs 22 of the contact springs 19 emerging from the add-on housing 1 are also stored in corresponding slot-like depressions 30 of the housing parts 24 in a manner such that they cannot be touched without additional covers or the like being required. At a bend point, as can be seen in particular from FIG. 3, the slot-like depressions 30 are each expanded in a tubular manner at 31, in order thereby to allow access for test contacts. Otherwise, the slot-like depressions 30 adjoin the channel parts 21 which are located inside the mounting housing and are open at the top, as is shown in particular in FIG.

When in use, the assembly box is mounted as a unit in the manner shown in FIG. 5 in the wall 8 of the luminaire box, whereupon the connecting lines are contacted at the contact points formed by the insulation displacement slots 28 using the so-called insulation displacement technology. Automatic wiring of the lamp is also possible, as described in detail in EP-0 573 971, for example. The line receiving channels 26 also serve to guide the line laying tool.

In order to additionally or alternatively also enable a conductor connection according to the plug-in contact technology or the connection of additional equipment, such as capacitors and the like, 24 conductor insertion openings 32 are provided on the front side of the housing parts facing the viewer in FIG. 2, which lead to plug contacts 33 (FIG. 3), which by U-shaped cut tabs are formed in the angled part of the connecting leg 22 of the respective contact spring 19.

It can be seen in particular from FIGS. 6 to 10 that the attachment housing 1 has through openings 34, 35 in its bottom region which facilitate or enable the air circulation through the attachment housing 1. In addition, there are pot-like depressions extending from the rear, as indicated by way of example at 11 and 36, which enlarge the area available for heat transfer with the surroundings and thus also facilitate heat dissipation from the interior of the housing.

The modified embodiment of a new assembly box shown in FIG. 11 differs from the embodiment described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 10 only in that the lampholder body consisting of the parts 10 to 15 explained forms a separate, disk-shaped lamp holder unit 37 made of plastic. which is placed on the flat bottom 38 of the add-on housing 1 and is connected to it via latching hooks 39. The contact springs 19 with their connecting legs 22 led out of the attachment housing 1 are essentially of the same design as in the first-mentioned embodiment. The connection device on the front of the flange 4 is also unchanged.

In all of the exemplary embodiments described, the two contact springs 19 are each formed in one piece. Embodiments are also conceivable in which the contact springs consist of several parts, which are connected to one another in an electrically conductive manner during assembly, for example, are inserted into one another.

Claims (11)

A lamp holder for two-pin fluorescent lamps or for two-pin operating equipment-containing assembly box, with a pot-like attachment housing, near its opening edge fastening devices for anchoring the with the bottom of its attachment housing facing out into a recess in a wall of a light box or the like thereof Insertable mounting box are assigned inside and the bottom of which bears the lamp socket arranged in the interior of the attachment housing, the lamp socket having an insertion slot for opening the opening of the attachment housing for the contact pins and containing contact elements interacting with the contact pins, which protrude into the guide slot and with contact means for Contacting at least one electrical conductor to be connected, characterized in that the contact elements (19) of the lamp holder by parts of the mounting housing (1) and / or d parts connected to it are kept safe from contact to the opening edge of the attachment housing (1) and that connection devices (25, 26) for electrical lines are arranged in the area of the opening edge, in which the contact means (20) of the contact elements (19) are contained. Assembly box according to claim 1, characterized in that the lamp holder has a one-piece socket body (10 to 15; 37) which is connected to the bottom of the attachment housing and in which the guide slot (13) is formed and that the contact elements (19) with their parts (17, 18) lying in the area of the socket body are accommodated in a slot-like manner in slot-like depressions (16) of the socket body. Assembly box according to claim 1, characterized in that in the attachment housing (1) from the vicinity of the floor (3) up to the opening edge, slot-like or channel-like depressions (21) are formed, in which the contact elements (19) with their corresponding parts (22) are kept safe from contact. Assembly box according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the socket body (37) is integrally formed on or molded from the bottom (3) of the attachment housing. Assembly box according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the connection devices contain insulation displacement contacts with insulation displacement slots (20). Assembly box according to claim 5, characterized in that the insulation displacement slots (20) are aligned with their axes substantially parallel to a plane containing the opening edge. Assembly box according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that a line receiving channel (26) which crosses the insulation displacement slot is formed in the connection devices for each contact element and is open to one side over its length. Assembly box according to one of Claims 5 to 7, characterized in that the connecting devices have molded-on housing parts (24) which contain slot-like depressions (30) in which parts (22) of the contact elements are kept safe from contact. Assembly box according to claim 8, characterized in that the housing parts (24) are offset from the plane containing the opening edge in the axial direction of the attachment housing (1) in a direction pointing away from the base (3) thereof. Assembly box according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the contact elements are constructed in several parts. Assembly box according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the attachment housing has openings (34) and / or pot-like depressions (11, 36) in the region of its base (3).

Images