EP3084793B1 - Contact element - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a contact element, which is suitable due to its low installation depth especially for use in control panels or -tableaus with low height and can be combined with different keys.

Such contact elements are used in command and signaling devices such as the Applicant's RMQ-Titan® product line. In this regard, reference is made in particular to the product series M22-Titan and the contact elements M22-K10 or M22-K01. From the European patent application EP 2 645 391 A1 Furthermore, a switching device and a switching contact are known, which have a relatively low height, in which the contact element is cylindrically shaped and parts of the contact element are arranged on a printed circuit board.

From the German patent application DE 33 40 658 A1 a contact element is known in which terminals are mounted obliquely in its base body, whereby the terminals for electrical leads are easily accessible even in the assembled state of the contact element.

The German patent application DE 198 56 678 A1 describes an easy-to-mount contact element for an electrical switching device, in which a plunger is designed for actuation such that a contact bridge mounted in the plunger can be arranged in two different, axially spaced-apart positions on the plunger.

Object of the present invention is therefore to provide a contact element with a relatively small installation depth, in which also the assembly is further simplified.

This object is solved by the subject matters of the independent claims. Further embodiments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

An underlying idea of the present invention is to obtain a compact design of a contact element by an oblique mounting of connection terminals for electrical conductors in the main body of the contact element. Due to the inclination of the terminals, the depth of the contact element over conventional contact elements can be advantageously reduced. For ease of assembly also has a contact bridge carrying ram on its underside on two opposite sides with elongated openings through which each contact ends of the contact bridge protrude, each having a mounting opening for installation of the contact bridge. The mounting apertures may be in the form of small slots which open the elongated openings towards the bottom of the plunger.

An embodiment of the invention relates to a contact element with a base body, two, slanted in the base body terminals for electrical conductors, two, each with one of the terminals electrically connected and extending from the respective terminal to a centrally arranged in the main body bearings busbars, and one in the central Bearing resiliently mounted and movable between a first and a second position plunger, which carries a contact bridge which electrically short-circuits the two busbars in one of the two positions, wherein a protruding from the main body part of the plunger is designed for coupling with a button. Depending on how the contact bridge is mounted in the ram and how the busbars run in the main body to the contact bridge, the contact element can be designed as a normally closed (NC: Normally Closed) or normally open (NO: Normally Open). It is thus not only created a contact element with a small depth, but also one that can be used as an opener or closer due to the structural design of the plunger and the busbars. The protruding from the body and designed for coupling with a key part of the plunger can be mainly formed so that it can be coupled with different keys, in particular by different keys can be plugged. The plunger has a central bore and at least one provided adjacent the central bore side bore, wherein the central bore for receiving and supporting a contact spring which exerts a spring pressure on the contact bridge, and the at least one side bore for receiving and supporting a return spring, the plunger in the first or second contact position presses are provided. The contact bridge is mounted in the central bore and the plunger has on two opposite sides in each case an elongated opening, through which in each case Protruding contact ends of the contact bridge. Due to the elongated openings, the contact bridge can be mounted at different positions in the plunger, whereby the plunger can be set up with the mounted on a corresponding position contact bridge either for a function of the contact element as an opener or closer. The plunger has on its underside on the two opposite sides with the elongated openings each having a mounting opening for installation of the contact bridge. The mounting apertures may be in the form of small slots which open the elongated openings towards the bottom of the plunger. This allows for the assembly of the plunger with the springs and the contact bridge a simple insertion of the contact bridge in the central bore such that their ends can protrude through the elongated openings.

The contact bridge may be resiliently mounted in the plunger, whereby a soft stop of the plunger when operating the same can be achieved for example by a button.

The plunger may have two, arranged symmetrically to the central bore side holes. Thereby, the return spring can be inserted on both sides in one of the side holes on the plunger, so that no correct bearing mounting of the plunger is required.

The main body may each have a latching hook on two of its opposite sides, which allows a clamping attachment of the contact element to a mounting rail or in an opening of a panel.

The contact element may be designed for a front attachment, wherein the protruding from the main body part of the plunger is located on a side facing the same catch hook side of the body. Under the latch hook facing side of the body here is understood the side that is visible in a mounting of the contact element with the latching hooks, so for example when the contact element is provided for attachment to the front panel of a panel or a panel with the latching hooks. Alternatively, the contact element may be designed for a floor mounting, wherein the protruding from the main body part of the plunger is located on a side facing away from the same catch hook side of the body. Here, the bottom mounting is understood to mean the opposite of the front attachment, ie an attachment of the contact element with the latching hooks on the ground, for example, a housing or on a DIN rail.

In particular, the contact element may be formed such that its depth falls below about 30 millimeters, and in particular is about 14 millimeters. Contact elements with such a reduced overall depth can be used for example in panels with low height.

Further advantages and possible applications of the present invention will become apparent from the following description in conjunction with the embodiments illustrated in the drawings.

In the description, in the claims, in the abstract and in the drawings, the terms and associated reference numerals used in the list of reference numerals recited below are used.

• Fig. 1 ein Ausführungsbeispiel eines NC-Kontaktelements gemäß der Erfindung in Schnittdarstellung;
• Fig. 2 ein Ausführungsbeispiel eines NO-Kontaktelements gemäß der Erfindung in Schnittdarstellung;
• Fig. 3 das in Fig. 2 gezeigte NO-Kontaktelement in einer weiteren Schnittdarstellung;
• Fig. 4 eine perspektive Ansicht des Stößels des in den Fig. 2 und 3 gezeigten NO-Kontaktelements in montierter Form;
• Fig. 5 eine Explosionsdarstellung des in Fig. 4 gezeigten Stößels;
• Fig. 6 eine weitere perspektive Ansicht des in Fig. 4 gezeigten Stößels mit montierter Rückstellfeder;
• Fig. 7 eine weitere perspektive Ansicht des in Fig. 4 gezeigten Stößels ohne Federn und Kontaktbrücke;
• Fig. 8-10 verschiedene perspektivische Ansichten des vollständig montierten und in Fig. 1 in Schnittdarstellung gezeigten NC-Kontaktelements;
• Fig. 11 eine perspektivische Ansicht eines Ausführungsbeispiel eines erfindungsgemäßen Kontaktelements mit aufgesetzter Taste, das neben einem herkömmlichen Kontaktelement mit herkömmlicher Bautiefe; und
• Fig. 12 eine perspektivische Ansicht eines weiteren Ausführungsbeispiels eines vollständig montierten Kontaktelements zur Bodenbefestigung.

The drawings show in

• Fig. 1 an embodiment of an NC contact element according to the invention in sectional view;
• Fig. 2 an embodiment of a NO contact element according to the invention in sectional view;
• Fig. 3 this in Fig. 2 NO contact element shown in a further sectional view;
• Fig. 4 a perspective view of the pestle in the FIGS. 2 and 3 shown NO contact element in mounted form;
• Fig. 5 an exploded view of the in Fig. 4 shown ram;
• Fig. 6 another perspective view of the in Fig. 4 plunger shown with mounted return spring;
• Fig. 7 another perspective view of the in Fig. 4 plunger shown without springs and contact bridge;
• Fig. 8-10 different perspective views of the fully assembled and in Fig. 1 shown in section NC contact element;
• Fig. 11 a perspective view of an embodiment of a contact element according to the invention with attached button, in addition to a conventional contact element with conventional depth; and
• Fig. 12 a perspective view of another embodiment of a fully assembled contact element for ground mounting.

In the following description, identical, functionally identical and functionally connected elements may be provided with the same reference numerals. Absolute values are given below by way of example only and are not to be construed as limiting the invention.

The aim of the present invention is to provide a contact element, in particular for a front attachment, which has a construction depth that is as small as possible in comparison to a depth of 45 mm (millimeters) of conventional contact elements, which in particular falls below about 30 mm. With the present invention, a contact element can be created whose depth even has only about 14 mm, whereby a control room can be reduced with the contact element according to the invention of 26.2 mm to about 10.7 mm.

Fig. 1 shows in a sectional view of an inventive NC contact element 10 with lateral latching hooks 52 and 54 for clamping attachment, for example on a mounting rail or in an opening of a control panel or a panel.

In the main body 12 of the contact element 10, a left and a right terminal 14 and 16 are mounted obliquely for electrical conductors. The terminals and busbars on the right and left are the same parts, only mirrored installed. This has the advantage that only one terminal is provided as NO or a terminal as NC. The terminals 14 and 16 can be designed as so-called plug-in terminals with tool-free direct insertion (also called push-in terminal). In such a connection technology can rigid, fine wire conductor with ferrule without Tool are introduced into the terminals, which shortens the wiring time, requires less space than eg Schraubklemmen and less time and material costs in the conductor preparation and usually creates fewer possibilities for errors and requires a lower control effort in operation. For inserting and securing flexible conductors without wire end ferrule in the terminals 14 and 16 operating buttons 68 of the terminals are provided on the underside of the main body 12 of the contact element 10 (see Fig. 10 ), which must be pressed to bias clamping springs 56 and 58 (common parts), thereby opening channels of terminals 14 and 16 for inserting the conductors. Likewise, to remove the conductors from the terminals 14 and 16, the operation buttons 68 must be pressed. The operation buttons 68 are designed so that they can be easily operated with a screwdriver. The advantage of this type of terminals 14 and 16 (spring terminals) is that no special tools such as torque wrench needed and thus reduced errors in connection possibilities.

The compact design of the contact element 10 according to the invention is essentially achieved by the oblique mounting of the terminals 14 and 16 in the base body 12, busbars and the special switching contact mechanism of a spring-mounted and movable between two positions ram, as will be explained in detail below.

Of the two terminals 14 and 16 in the base body 12 each lead a left and a right busbar 20 and 22 (common parts) to a central bearing 18 for a plunger 24. The plunger 24 is movably mounted in the central bearing 18 such that between a first and a second stop position is movable. A return spring 30 pushes the plunger 24 in the first (basic) position in which a provided for coupling with a button and correspondingly trained part 28 of the plunger 24 protrudes completely from the main body 12. The plunger 24 carries a contact bridge, which in Fig. 1 is covered by the plunger 24 and the left and right busbar 20 and 22 at the in Fig. 1 shown embodiment of the contact element 10 as an opener (NC contact element) in the first position of the plunger 24 electrically short-circuits. By pressing on the plunger 24, which can be exercised over a seated on the protruding part 28 of the plunger 24 button, the plunger 24 is pressed down to the second position, against the force of the return spring 30, which is pressed together. As a result, the contact bridge with the plunger 24 is moved downward, so that the electrical connection between the two bus bars 20 and 22 is opened.

Fig. 2 shows in a sectional view an NO contact element 11, which differs from the in Fig. 1 shown NC contact element in the bus bars 21 and 23 (identical parts) and the storage of the contact bridge 26 in the plunger as follows: in Fig. 2 It can be seen that the bus bars 21 and 23, in contrast to the bus bars 20 and 22 at the in Fig. 1 shown contact element 10 are shaped differently, namely shortly before the central bearing 18 make a kink down to end approximately at the lower part of the bearing 18 and extend into this. In Fig. 3 In addition, the plunger 24 is shown in section. Here it can be seen that the contact bridge 26 is resiliently mounted in the lower part of the plunger 24 (a contact spring 32 is located in a central bore 34 (see Fig. 5 ) between the contact bridge 26 and the sack end of the central bore 34 at the upper end of the plunger 24). In the first position of the plunger 24, the contact bridge 26 is therefore in a position in which it can not contact the two bus bars 21 and 23. By depressing the plunger 24 from the first to the second position, the contact bridge 26 is moved with the plunger 24 down and closes from a certain position of the plunger 24 in the central bearing 18, the two bus bars 21 and 23 short, so that the contact element 11 is closed is.

The Fig. 4 to 7 show the structure of the plunger 24 in detail. The plunger 24 is structurally designed so that only one injection mold is necessary for use in an NC or NO contact element. The plunger 24 is also designed so that it can be completely pre-assembled with the contact spring 32, the contact bridge 26 and the return spring 30 as an assembly. Above all, in the plunger 24, the receptacle for the return spring 30 is designed so that it is held over the circumference and 10 and 11 can not fall out during assembly of the assembly in the housing or the base body 12 of the contact element. In addition, the plunger 24 is designed so that the return spring 30 can be inserted into both sides of the corresponding receptacle in the plunger 24, whereby the assembly is simplified because no correct position mounting of the plunger is required

First, the shape of the plunger 24 is now based on Fig. 7 explained, which shows the plunger 24 in a perspective view from below: the approximately cuboid plunger 24 has a Central bore 34 approximately in its center, which is introduced into the bottom 25 of the plunger 24 and ends as a blind hole in the plunger 24. This central bore 34 serves to receive the already mentioned contact spring 32, which serves for the resilient mounting of the contact bridge 26 in the plunger 24. The contact spring 32 can either be clamped between the contact bridge 26 and the end of the central bore 34 in the plunger 24 (as in the in FIGS. 2 and 3 NO contact element 11 shown), or it may be inserted from the outside into the central bore 34 to press the contact bridge 26 against the end of the central bore (as in the Fig. 1 shown NC contact element 10).

Symmetrical to the central bore 34, two side holes 36 and 38 are provided in the plunger 24 for the return spring 30, which are open at the side and are also designed as blind holes, so that the return spring 30 introduced into it finds a stop and not laterally from the side holes 36 and 38th can fall out during assembly of the contact element.

For supporting the contact bridge 26, the plunger 24 on each of its opposite sides in each case an elongated, rectangular opening 40 and 42 of the central bore 34. The two openings 40 and 42 in turn each have mounting openings 48 and 50 in the form of small slots, which open the openings 40 and 42 to the bottom 25 of the plunger 24. Through these mounting holes 48 and 50 can - as in Fig. 5 shown - the flat band-shaped contact bridge 26 are passed for mounting the plunger 24. Contact ends 44 and 46 of the contact bridge 26 then protrude out of the two openings 40 and 42, and the contact bridge 26 can be moved back and forth within the two openings. The arrangement of the contact spring 32 determines - as already explained above - the use of the plunger for a NC or NO contact element 10 and 11 respectively.

The contact bridge 26 may be designed so that it can be used either as NC or NO contact. For this purpose, it only needs to be rotated by 180 ° in the plunger 24 are installed. The usual raised embossing in the middle of the contact bridge 26 for centering the contact spring 32 can be omitted since the guide of the contact spring 32 is taken over by the cylindrical surfaces of the central bore 34 of the plunger 24.

The protruding from the body 12 of the contact element 10 and 11 part 28 of the plunger 24, the two projections in the in the Fig. 4-7 shown embodiment of the plunger 24, can be adapted to currently available on the market contact elements to allow adaptation as a second level to the existing contact elements.

The 8 and 9 show the NC contact element 10 in the assembled state with set on the base body 12 lid 60. In the in Fig. 10 shown view of the contact element 10 from below, the operation buttons 68 for releasing the terminals of the contact element 10 can be seen. Furthermore, the side of the contact element 10 provided cable entries 66 are shown for the electrical conductors, which are guided into the terminals inside the contact element 10. The cable entries 66 are arranged obliquely in order to achieve easy, rapid introduction and accessibility of the connection lines of the contact element 10.

Fig. 11 shows finally the contact element 10 according to the invention, which is arranged directly next to a conventional contact element 70 with a much greater depth, with attached button 72, through which the contact element 10 can be actuated. In this case, the much smaller overall depth of the contact element 10 according to the invention can be clearly seen, which makes it possible to realize panels and panels with a significantly reduced installation depth.

The Fig. 1 to 11 show contact elements which are provided for a front attachment, in which the projecting out of the main body 12 part 28 of the plunger 24 is located on the side of the body, which faces the two equally aligned latching hooks 52 and 54. These contact elements are provided in particular for attachment to control panels and panels, by being pressed into corresponding receptacles, so that the latching hooks can engage with corresponding hooking devices and the part 28 of the plunger can protrude from the control panel or the panel. Fig. 12 on the other hand shows a contact element 13, which is designed for a floor mounting, for example in a housing or on a DIN rail. The internal structure of the contact element 13 essentially corresponds to the internal structure of the contact elements designed for front attachment. Only the plunger is installed so that its protruding from the body protruding part 28, in contrast to the contact elements for the front attachment on the side facing the same aligned latch hook side of the body is located, ie protruding at the bottom of the body, as by comparing the in the Fig. 8-10 shown front fastening contact element with the in Fig. 12 shown Floor mounting contact element can be detected. The contact element 13 is attached, for example, to a top hat rail, so that the latching hooks hook onto the corresponding edges of the hat rail. The part 28 of the plunger now projects, so to speak, away from the latching hooks. The contact element 13 is particularly suitable for applications in which no suitable Einhakmöglichkeiten on the front or front are present, for example, in an installation of the contact element 13 in a housing with a housing cover without Einhakvorrichtungen.

The present invention provides a contact element with a comparatively small overall depth, which can be used instead of conventional contact element with much greater depth, for example, in control panels or panels with less installation depth than conventional panels and panels. In particular, it is possible to provide contact elements with a depth of less than 30 mm, in particular for installation in displays.

reference numeral

10

NC contact element (NC contact)

11

NO contact element (NO contact)

12

Base body (housing) of the contact element 10 or 11

13

Contact element for floor mounting

14

left connection terminal for electrical conductors

16

right connection terminal for electrical conductors (same part as connection terminal 15)

18

central bearing in the main body 12

20

left busbar (normally closed)

21

left busbar (normally open)

22

right busbar (normally closed) (same part as busbar 20)

23

right busbar (normally open) (same part as busbar 21)

24

tappet

25

Driver bottom

26

Contact bridge

28

from the main body 12 outstanding part of the plunger 24th

30

Return spring for the plunger 24

32

contact spring

34

Central bore in the ram 24

36

first side bore in the plunger 24

38

second side bore in the plunger 24

40

elongated opening on the left side of the plunger 24th

42

elongated opening on the right side of the plunger 24 44 contact end of the contact bridge 26th

46

Contact end of contact bridge 26

48

Mounting opening for contact bridge 26

50

Mounting opening for contact bridge 26

52

latch hook

54

latch hook

56

clamping spring

58

Clamping spring (same part as clamping spring 56)

60

Cover of the body 12

62

Auxiliary surface for releasing the contact element

64

Control opening for measuring purposes

66

cable entry

68

actuating button

70

conventional contact element

72

button

Claims (8)

1. Contact element (10) with

   - a main body (12);

   - two terminals (14, 16) for electrical conductors, the terminals being obliquely mounted in the main body;

   - two busbars (20, 22), each electrically connected to one of the terminals and extending from the respective terminal to a bearing (18) arranged centrally in the main body, and

   - a plunger (24) which is spring-mounted (30) in the central bearing and moveable between a first and a second position, the plunger supporting a contact bridge (26) which electrically short-circuits the two busbars in one of the two positions, wherein a part (28) of the plunger protruding from the main body is configured to couple to a button, wherein

   - the plunger comprises a central bore (34), wherein the central bore is configured to receive and mount a contact spring (32) which exerts a spring pressure on the contact bridge (26), wherein the contact bridge (26) is mounted in the central bore (34) and the plunger comprises an elongated opening (40, 42) on two opposite sides, through each of which contact ends (44, 46) of the contact bridge protrude, and wherein the plunger comprises on its underside, on the two opposite sides with the elongated openings, an assembly opening (48, 50) for installing the contact bridge, characterised in that the plunger comprises at least one side bore (36, 38) provided beside the central bore (34) and the at least one side bore (36, 38) is configured to receive and mount a return spring (30) which presses the plunger into the first or second contact position.
2. Contact element according to claim 1, wherein the assembly openings (48, 50) are in the shape of small slits which open the elongated openings (40, 42) towards the bottom (25) of the plunger (24).
3. Contact element according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the contact bridge is spring-mounted (32) in the plunger.
4. Contact element according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the plunger comprises two side bores (36, 38) arranged symmetrically to the central bore (34).
5. Contact element according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the main body comprises a latching hook (52, 54) on two of its opposite sides.
6. Contact element according to claim 5, characterised in that it is configured for front attachment, wherein the part (28) of the plunger protruding from the main body is positioned on a side of the main body (12) facing the latching hooks, which are oriented in the same direction.
7. Contact element according to claim 5, characterised in that it is configured for bottom attachment, wherein the part (28) of the plunger protruding from the main body is positioned on a side of the main body (12) facing away from the latching hooks, which are oriented in the same direction.
8. Contact element according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that it is configured such that the installation depth thereof remains below 30 mm, and in particular is approximately 14 mm.

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