EP1646060A1

EP1646060A1 - Cover for current switch equipped with emergency lighting means

Info

Publication number: EP1646060A1
Application number: EP04425750A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Martino Sandro
Original assignee: Smart Di Martino Sandro
Current assignee: Smart Di Martino Sandro
Priority date: 2004-10-06
Filing date: 2004-10-06
Publication date: 2006-04-12
Anticipated expiration: 2024-10-06
Also published as: DE602004017870D1; ES2318263T3; ATE414983T1; EP1646060B1

Abstract

A cover (1) for current switch (21) is disclosed, comprising emergency lighting means, such emergency lighting means being electrically connected to the current switch (21), by interposing electric connection means (3a) and control means (5a; 7a), in order to be supplied and/or recharged and/or be turned on when the current switch (21) intervenes.

Description

The present invention refers to a cover for current switch equipped with emergency lighting means.
As known, the current switches used for electric safety in home, civil and industrial environments are switches that are generally called "circuit breakers", that, depending on the values of the current to be interrupted and on the desired intervention time, use different operating mechanisms and principles (magneto-thermal ones, magneto-thermal differential ones, etc.), adapted to exclude, in case of power overloads, the user electric system from the electric supply mains, in such a way as to protect the integrity of the user electric system itself and to avoid possible consequent accidents (fires, damages to electric apparatus connected to the electric system, etc.).
At the same time, as known, the above-described switches also intervene in order to avoid, in case of short-circuits or electric system dispersions, dangerous electrocution phenomena to those that inadvertently should, under certain circumstances, get in contact with the live system itself.
It is however evident that, when the current switch intervenes, it can generate a very high number of inconveniences for those that reside in the environments in which suddenly the electric supply is interrupted, such inconveniences obviously being still more troublesome during the night or if the lack of current causes the complete lack of lighting in the environments themselves. It is still more evident that such inconveniences more markedly occur in home environments, in which the safety measures designed to reduce the risks of black-out and to facilitate the electric system re-energising operations, that are typical and largely compulsory in industrial environments, are more rare.
Therefore, when in a house, or in an office, the current switch intervenes, the inconveniences, above all during the night, can be, for example the following:

the rooms remain dark and it is difficult to remember where a flashlight, candles or any other alternative emergency source have been stored and/or to find them;
the rooms remain dark and it is difficult to find the current switch in order to re-energise it or one does not remember where it has been installed.

It is known that, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, there are safety lamps to be applied to any current outlet, that are turned on in case of black-out and allow therefore to be easily located and to be removed in order to be able to use them as flashlights. Such arrangements however do not solve the problem of helping to timely find the current switch and moreover force to occupy in a more or less exclusive way a current outlet that could more advantageously be used to perform other tasks.
The prior art also provides switches equipped with LED or other luminous devices integrated in the switch itself or in its actuating lever. Such arrangements are not emergency lamps, and therefore are not designated to solve the above-described inconveniences, but are used only to visually point out the switch operating status and, moreover, provide that the switch itself is already manufactured during its production stage with such arrangements, thereby preventing their use in a stage following the system creation, unless by completely replacing the pre-existing current switch with the one equipped with LED, this latter solution not being economical at all.
Therefore, object of the present invention is providing a cover for current switch equipped with emergency lighting means that allows easily finding the current switch, in case of its intervention, under dark conditions.
Another object of the present invention is providing a cover for current switch equipped with emergency lighting means that could be installed as replacement of the standard cover for any current switch, thereby avoiding having to replace the whole switch.
Moreover, an object of the present invention is providing a cover for current switch equipped with emergency lighting means that is also preferably equipped with a removable emergency lamp that can be used as flashlight.
The above and other objects and advantages of the invention, as will appear from the following description, are obtained with a cover for current switch equipped with emergency lighting means like the one disclosed in claim 1. Preferred embodiments and non-trivial variations of the present inventions are the subject matter of the dependent claims.
The present invention will be better described by some preferred embodiments thereof, provided merely as a non-limiting example, with reference to the enclosed drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic front view of the cover for current switch equipped with emergency lighting means according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 shows a rear schematic view of the cover for current switch equipped with emergency lighting means according to the present invention; and
FIG. 3 shows a schematic sectional view according to line A-A shown in FIG. 1 of the cover for current switch equipped with emergency lighting means according to the present invention and of a related current switch on which it can be installed.

As known, any current switch is installed in houses usually on a wall, and onto such switch a frame or a cover is applied, both for aesthetic purposes, in order to make the vision of the switch itself more pleasant and to cover wall recesses on its sides, and for functional purposes, in order to avoid accidental contacts and dust deposits.
As already previously mentioned when describing the objects of the present invention, the innovative cover described herein below is proposed to replace the standard cover of a current switch. With particular reference to FIG. 1, it is possible to note that the cover 1 according to the present invention is equipped with an opening 3 adapted to allow accessing the current switch on which it is installed, as occurs for any other standard cover. Possibly such opening 3 can be equipped with a door that can be opened (hot shown) in order to still more efficiently protect the current switch.
The cover 1 is further equipped with emergency lighting means: in general, such emergency lighting means are electrically connected to the current switch in order to be supplied and/or recharged and for possibly turning on when the switch intervenes, for example due to overloads or short circuits.
Preferentially, such emergency lighting means comprise a first emergency lamp 3 of the fixed type; such first emergency lamp 3 is suitably connected to the current switch in such a way as to receive the electric supply therefrom and to be controlled in such a way as to turn on when the switch intervenes, thereby easily guiding a user towards the switch itself for re-energising it.
The emergency lighting means can also comprise a second emergency lamp 7 of the removable type, equipped with its own accumulators (such as alkaline or lithium cells): such second emergency lamp 7, also possibly electrically connected to the current switch in order to allow recharging the accumulators, can be removed from the cover 1, for example by pressing a release pushbutton 9, to be used as a normal flashlight: whether the second emergency lamp 7 turns can be determined by the switch interventions, by its removal from its housing in the cover 1 and/or through its suitable switch (not shown).
The cover 1 can also be equipped with an acoustic alarm buzzer 11 and/or one or more service LED 13 which will be described below.
With reference to FIG. 2, it is possible to note a schematic view of the rear cover 1 side; in such rear side, the cover 1 comprises electric connection means 3a to the current switch adapted to allow that the current switch itself electrically supplies some means for controlling the emergency lighting means and, if present, the acoustic buzzer 11 and the service LED 13; such means for controlling are, as an example, first means 5a for controlling the first emergency lamp 5, second means 7a for controlling the second emergency lamp 7, third means 11a for controlling the acoustic buzzer 11 and fourth means 13a for controlling the service LED 13.
The electric connection means 3a are adapted to suitably connect to the current switch in order to transmit electric energy, for example trough electric connections 4, to the individual control means 5a, 7a, 11a and 13a. The first control means 5a are adapted to electrically supply and to take care of the turning on of the first emergency lamp 5 when the current switch intervenes. It is obvious that the first emergency lamp 5 can be with a fixed or flashing light depending on specific needs, as well as being able to transmit lights with different colours.
The second control means 7a are adapted to supply and recharge the second emergency lamp 7 accumulators. Also such control means 7a can taker care of turning on the second emergency lamp 7 when the current switch intervenes or it can be preferable that the second emergency lamp 7 is automatically turned on when it is removed from its housing in the cover 1, and therefore disconnected from the second control means 7a and is automatically turned off when it is inserted again into its housing in the cover 1, and therefore again connected to the second control means 7a, or it is possible to provide the second emergency lamp 7 with its on-off switch in order to autonomously turn it on and off.
It is further clear that the second emergency lamp 7 can also not be electrically connected to the control means of the cover 1 and can be only inserted in its housing in the cover 1 to be removed and used as a conventional flashlight in case of need.
The cover 1 can also be easily equipped or connected with other additional, wire-controlled or radio-controlled, external safety systems; such systems, as a non-limiting example, can include:

a gas leakages detecting system, that in case of gas detection through a known detector, operates by driving the current switch to intervene in order to avoid explosion dangers (therefore by turning on the first emergency lamp 5 and/or the second emergency lamp 7) and the acoustic buzzer 11 to emit a sound alarm signal;
a flooding detecting system that, by means of a floor detector, operates before water arrives to the lower current outlets to avoid potential short circuits, as described for the above system;
similarly to what is stated above, a smoke detecting system that, through a known optical detector, operates in case of detection of smoke;
an emergency signalling system that alerts a remote receiver (for example, a control console, a telephone sequence switch, al alarm siren) of the current switch intervention.

The intervention of the current switch and/or of a particular additional system can be displayed to a user by means of one of the service LED 13, so that the user, before restoring the current switch, knows the reasons for which it has intervened, thereby giving him the chance of consequently and safely operating.
Activation, supply and control of the acoustic buzzer 11 and the service LED 13 are obviously a task of the third and fourth control means, respectively 11a and 13a.
The first, second, third and fourth control means, respectively 5a, 7a, 11a and 13a, have been described and shown individually for a better explanation clarity, but it is evident that they can mutually interact in order to simultaneously perform many functions or they can be integrated in a single control means (not shown), for example as an electronic board, housed in the lower part of the cover 1 and that oversees all previously-described functionality of the individual control means. Moreover, such individual control means 5a, 7a, 11a and 13a or such single control means can also be equipped with means or slots for operating connections adapted to allow inserting further control means or directly connecting to external systems in order to provide the cover 1 according to the present invention with additional functionality or to allow its connection to external units. The modes for technically making the individual control means 5a, 7a, 11a and 13a or the single control means to perform the above-described functionality are numerous and are evident to a skilled person in the art, and therefore do not need further explanations.
The cover 1 according to the present invention has been described having emergency lighting means comprising a first emergency lamp 5 and a second emergency lamp 7, but it is evident that the number, arrangement and type of such lamps can be, depending on specific needs, different, though remaining within the scope of the present invention.
Always with reference to FIG. 2 and 3, it is possible to further note that the rear cover 1 side is further equipped with universal securing means, that are shown as an example as securing pins 15; in particular, in FIG. 3, a current switch 21 is also schematically shown, in which an armature 23, typically embedded in a wall, the actuation lever 25 and securing openings 27 of a standard cover (not shown) are pointed out. In order to apply the cover 1 according to the present invention onto the current switch 21, it is enough to remove the standard cover and apply the cover 1 by inserting and securing the securing pins 15 into the suitable securing openings 27. Depending on particular shapes and arrangements of the securing openings 27 of the different current switches 21 being marketed, it is possible to provide that the securing pins 15 can be replaceable and/or their positions on the rear cover 1 side can be adequately adjusted by means, for example, of suitable guides or seats already pre-arranged for the different switches 21, in such a way as to allow a universal use of the cover 1 according to the present invention.
Summarising, as previously described, the cover 1 according to the present invention has several advantages:

the installation of the cover 1 is simple and straightforward and does not need masonry works or external raceways; moreover, it can be applied to any current switch being marketed;
the cover 1 can be easily integrated with other numerous functionalities in addition to those that have already been described as an example;
being the current switches generally installed next to the entrance door, above all in a house, the emergency lamp 5 that is fixed on due to the intervention of the switch itself can also advantageously perform the function of an indicator of an exit route in case of extreme need or an impending danger (fire, gas leakage, etc.).

Claims

Cover (1) for current switch (21) equipped with an opening (3) adapted to allow accessing said current switch (21), characterised in that it comprises emergency lighting means, said emergency lighting means being electrically connected to said current switch (21), by interposing electric connection means (3a) and control means (5a; 7a), in order to be supplied and/or recharged and/or be turned on when said current switch (21) intervenes.
Cover (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that said emergency lighting means comprise a first emergency lamp (5) of a fixed type adapted to be turned on when said current switch (21) intervenes.
Cover (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that it is equipped with a second emergency lamp (7) of a removable type, said second emergency lamp (7) being equipped with its own accumulators.
Cover (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that said emergency lighting means comprise a second emergency lamp (7) of a removable type from said cover (1), said second emergency lamp (7) being equipped with its own accumulators.
Cover (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that it comprises at least one acoustic alarm buzzer (11).
Cover (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that it comprises at least one service LED (13).
Cover (1) according to claim 5 or 6, characterised in that said acoustic buzzer (11) and said service LED (13) are supplied by said electric connection means (3a) and controlled by control means (11a; 13a).
Cover (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that said control means are equipped with means for operating connections to external safety systems.
Cover (1) according to claim 8, characterised in that said operating connections are of the radio type.
Cover (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that it comprises universal securing means to said current switch (21).
Cover (1) according to claim 10, characterised in that said universal securing means are securing pins (15) that can be replaced and/or adjusted and are adapted to be secured in securing openings (27) of said current switch (21).