EP3846191B1

EP3846191B1 - Auxiliary contact module, contactor assembly and electrical cabinet

Info

Publication number: EP3846191B1
Application number: EP20306703.8A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Min Xu; Conghui SHI; Yuanzhong WANG; Dorian LAUGT
Original assignee: Schneider Electric Industries SAS
Current assignee: Schneider Electric Industries SAS
Priority date: 2019-12-30
Filing date: 2020-12-29
Publication date: 2023-10-04
Anticipated expiration: 2040-12-29
Also published as: EP3846191A1; ES2967113T3; CN211605053U

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an auxiliary contact module, a contactor assembly comprising the auxiliary contact module, and an electrical cabinet comprising the contactor assembly.

BACKGROUND

EP 2 879 151 A1 discloses a fire protection device for a starter-controller device of an electrical installation, which can make it possible to provide better safety in case of fire outbreak. However, EP 2 879 151 A1 does not discuss dusty operating conditions, nor did it discuss how to improve the performance of auxiliary contacts under dusty operating conditions.
US 2011/169599 A1 discloses fusible switching disconnect modules and devices with multi-function trip mechanism, which may be switched on and off in a convenient and safe manner. However, US 2011/169599 A1 does not discuss dusty operating conditions, nor did it discuss how to improve the performance of auxiliary contacts under dusty operating conditions.
The auxiliary contacts are usually used to control the start and stop of electrical equipment, for example. Usually, the auxiliary contacts are designed to be mainly used to control loop and belongs to loaded application, which accounts for about 80-90% of the auxiliary contact applications. The "load" is, for example, an alternating current inductive load (AC-15), a direct current inductive load (DC-13), etc. The auxiliary contacts in such kind of loaded applications are not sensitive to ingress and deposition of dust.
However, with the development of PLC and VSD technologies, auxiliary contacts are more and more widely used in weak current applications in the power industry, for example, weak current systems in smart buildings. The weak current designs before the 1970s were only telephone and broadcast designs, but after the 1980s, such as fire alarm and linkage control, shared antennas, security monitoring, air conditioning DDC control, etc. were added to the content of the weak current system. The design content of the weak current design is being further expanded. With the development of PLC technology that has become more and more widely used, the reliability of auxiliary contacts has become more and more important in a weak current environment, especially for harsh industrial conditions.
Therefore, it is desirable to develop an improved auxiliary contact module that can still have reliable performance under dusty operating conditions.

SUMMARY

In order to overcome or at least partially alleviate the above-mentioned problems, the present disclosure is proposed. The present invention is set out in the appended claims.
According to the first aspect, the present disclosure discloses an auxiliary contact module, which comprises: a housing; a static contact secured in the housing, the static contact comprises a static contact; a movable contact, comprises a movable contact, the movable contact being mounted on the movable contact bracket, wherein the movable contact bracket being movably disposed in the housing in order to move between a closed position and an open position, wherein, the movable contact and the static contact are electrically connected at the closed position, and the movable contact and the static contact are disconnected at the open position; wherein the auxiliary contact module further comprises an electrically insulating partition wall which extends across opposite surfaces of the housing and defines a closed cavity together with a portion of the opposite surfaces of the housing, wherein the static contact extends into the cavity so that the static contact is disposed in the cavity, and the movable contact and the movable contact bracket are disposed in the cavity, and wherein the partition wall (18) is formed integrally with one (11) of the opposite surfaces, and is connected to the other (12) of the opposite surfaces by ultrasonic welding. By using the partition wall to accommodate the working space of the auxiliary contact in the isolation cavity, dust can be fully prevented from invading the working space, and the reliability of the module is improved.
The partition wall is integrally formed with one of the opposite surfaces, and is connected to the other of the opposite surfaces by ultrasonic welding. By means of ultrasonic welding, the integrity of the isolation cavity can be better ensured, and dust can be further prevented from intruding into the cavity.
Preferably, the auxiliary contact module comprises at least one group of movable contacts and static contacts, wherein each group of movable contacts and static contacts controls the closing and opening of a circuit, and the static contacts of each group are spaced apart along a moving direction of the movable contact bracket, and the movable contacts of each group are disposed on the same movable contact bracket.
Preferably, the auxiliary contact module comprises two or more groups of movable contacts and static contacts, the auxiliary contact module further comprises a cavity partition wall, which divides the cavity into a plurality of sub-cavities, so as to accommodate each group of movable contacts and static contacts in corresponding sub-cavities, respectively. Therefore, a module comprises a plurality of auxiliary contacts, and each auxiliary contact has a corresponding sub-cavity, so that the interference between the auxiliary contacts is minimized, and the reliability of the module is further improved. Preferably, the auxiliary contact module comprises two groups of movable contacts and static contacts, wherein, a first group of movable contacts and static contacts controls the closing and opening of one circuit, and a second group of movable contacts and static contacts controls the closing and opening of another circuit, wherein, the static contacts of each group are spaced apart along the moving direction of the movable contact bracket, and the movable contacts of each group are disposed on the same movable contact bracket. Preferably, the partition wall comprises a first partition wall, a second partition wall, a third partition wall, and a fourth partition wall, wherein the first partition wall is disposed above the static contacts of the first group, the second partition wall and the third partition wall are disposed between the static contacts of the first group and the static contacts of the second group, and the fourth partition wall is disposed below the static contacts of the second group. Preferably, the auxiliary contact module further comprises a cavity partition wall, the cavity is partitioned into a first cavity and a second cavity by the cavity partition wall, wherein, the first group of movable contacts and static contacts are positioned in the first cavity, and the second group of movable contacts and static contacts are positioned in the second cavity, and the movable contact bracket passes through the cavity partition wall and maintains contact therewith, so that the cavity partition wall separates the first cavity and the second cavity.
Preferably, the auxiliary contact module further comprises a snap, and one end of the movable contact bracket comprises a snap-fit structure, and the snap can be snap fitted with the snap-fit structure of the movable contact bracket in order to hold the movable contact bracket at the installation position, and the snap can be released after being mounted to allow the movement of the movable contact bracket. Thus, simple installation can be achieved without the requirement of a return spring.
Preferably, a bottom part of a front surface of the auxiliary contact module is provided with at least two snap-fit positions, a middle part of the front surface of the auxiliary contact module is provided with at least one positioning structure, and a upper part of the front surface of the auxiliary contact module is provided with at least two snap positions. Such a structure can be used to mate with the corresponding structure of another module to mount the auxiliary contact module to the other module. Preferably, the snap-fit position comprises a notch and a protrusion provided in the notch, the positioning structure comprises a positioning hole, and the snap position comprises a notch and a protrusion provided in the notch. Thus, the auxiliary contact module can be easily and reliably mounted with other modules.
Preferably, a corresponding position on the rear surface of the auxiliary contact module is provided with an L-shaped snap-fit member protruding from the rear surface and used to mate with the snap-fit position, a positioning post used to mate with the positioning hole, and a snap used to mate with the snap position. In this way, a plurality of auxiliary contact modules can be reliably mounted together in sequence to form an auxiliary contact module assembly. Preferably, the upper part of the auxiliary contact module comprises an unlock button mounted on the top of the housing by an elastic element, and the snap is integrally formed with the unlock button, and pressing the unlock button down against the elastic force can push the snap to the unlock position. Therefore, when the auxiliary contact module is to be removed from the contactor module, the auxiliary contact module can be easily removed from the contactor module by pressing the button and then opening it.
In the second aspect, a contactor assembly is provided, comprising a contactor and an auxiliary contact module as described in any of the preceding paragraphs mounted to the contactor.
In the third aspect, an electrical cabinet is provided, comprising at least one auxiliary contact module described in any of the preceding paragraphs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to explain the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure more clearly, the drawings that need to be used in the embodiments will be briefly introduced hereafter. It should be understood that the following drawings only show some embodiments of the present disclosure, and therefore should not be regarded as limiting the scope of protection.

Fig. 1 shows a three-dimensional view of an auxiliary contact module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Fig. 2 shows an exploded view of an auxiliary contact module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Fig. 3 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of an auxiliary contact module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Fig. 4 shows a schematic view of an isolation cavity of an auxiliary contact module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and
Fig. 5 shows a schematic rear view of an auxiliary contact module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

REFERENCE NUMBERS

10	auxiliary contact module	32	first cavity
11	main housing portion	43	control lever
12	cover plate	44	L-shaped snap-fit
13	elongated slot	45	positioning post
14	snap-fit recess	46	snap
15	positioning hole	141	notch
16	snap	142	protrusion
17	unlock button	171	elastic element
18	partition wall	181	first partition wall
21	movable contact bracket	182	second partition wall
22	first static contact	183	third partition wall
23	second static contact	184	fourth partition wall
24	spring assembly	185	fifth partition wall
25	first movable contact	221	first static contact
26	second movable contact	231	second static contact
31	second cavity

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Fig. 1 shows a three-dimensional view of an auxiliary contact module according to an embodiment; Fig. 2 shows an exploded view of the auxiliary contact module. The auxiliary contact module 10 comprises a housing. In this embodiment, the housing is divided into a main housing portion 11 and a cover plate 12. The auxiliary contact module 10 has a flat shape. That is, considering from a thickness direction, the housing comprises a cover plate 12 extending perpendicular to the thickness direction, and the main housing portion 11 comprises a bottom plate extending perpendicular to the thickness direction and a side wall erecting around the periphery of the bottom plate. The cover plate 12 together with the bottom plate and side walls of the main housing portion 11 forms an enclosing housing of the auxiliary contact module. The cover plate 12 is also provided with an elongated slot 13 which allows the notch on the movable contact bracket 21 to be exposed, and is used for connecting to a control lever of another module to control the movement of the movable contact bracket 21.
Two snap-fit recesses 14 are provided near both ends of the bottom side of the cover plate 12. The snap-fit recess 14 comprises a notch 141 formed on the cover plate 12 and a protrusion 142 formed on the bottom of the main housing and positioned in the notch 141 at assembled state. An L-shaped snap-fit member 44 is formed at a corresponding position on a back side of the main housing 11 (i.e., a back side of the bottom plate), as shown in Fig. 5. The snap-fit part 14 constructed in this way can mate with the L-shaped snap-fit member 44 on the other module, the snap-fit member 44 extends into the notch at an angle so that the L-shape passes over the protrusion 142, and then the snap-fit member returns to its normal position, so that the L-shaped snap-fit member 44 rotates back and hooks the protrusion 142. In this way, it can be ensured that the snap-fit member 44 cannot be translated outward in the snap-fitted state. To move out the snap-fit member 44, the other module and the housing of the auxiliary contact module must be separated from the top by a certain angle before being able to withdraw from the snap-fit part obliquely (a process opposite to the snap-fit process). Two positioning holes 15 on the left and right are provided in the middle of the cover plate 12, and positioning posts 45 are formed at corresponding positions on the back side of the main housing 11. Therefore, the positioning holes can mate with the positioning posts 45 on the housing of another module during assembly to play a role of positioning. Two snap parts 16 are provided on the upper part of the cover plate 12. The snap part 16 comprises a notch and a protrusion provided in the notch. A snap 46 protruding from the back side of the main housing 11 is formed at a corresponding position on the back side of the main housing 11. In this way, the snap 46 on the housing of another module can be inserted into the notch and be displaced under the action of the protrusion, and then be snapped and locked in place. The snap 46 is integrally formed with a unlock button 17. The upper part of the housing comprises an unlock button 17 mounted on the top of the housing through an elastic element 171. Pressing the unlock button 17 downward against the elastic force can push the snap 46 to the unlock position.
According to an embodiment, the auxiliary contact module 10 comprises two groups of contact assemblies, each group comprising two static contacts and two movable contacts. The two static contacts are connected to the external circuit respectively and comprise static contacts, the two movable contacts comprise corresponding movable contacts, which are used to connect (close) or disconnect the two static contacts. Therefore, each group of contact assemblies can control the closing and opening of a circuit. In other words, the auxiliary contact module 10 comprises two auxiliary contacts, which are two NO contacts in the embodiment shown in Fig. 3. However, this is not necessary, depending on the different arrangements, it can comprise two NO contacts, two NC contacts, or one NO contact and one NC contact.
In this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 2, the first auxiliary contact comprises two first static contacts 22 and two first movable contacts 25. The first static contact 22 is mounted in the housing, and the first movable contact 25 is mounted on the movable contact bracket 21 to move together with the movable contact bracket 21. It can be seen from Fig. 3 that the two first static contacts are symmetrically arranged with respect to the center line of the module, and the two first movable contacts have the same arrangement. Each of the first static contacts comprises a first static contact 221. Each of the first movable contact 25 comprises a movable contact. The second auxiliary contact comprises two second static contacts 23 and two second movable contacts 26. The second static contact 23 is mounted in the housing, and the second movable contact 26 is mounted on the movable contact bracket 21 to move together with the movable contact bracket 21. It can be seen from Fig. 3 that the two second static contacts are symmetrically arranged with respect to the center line of the module, and the two second movable contacts have the same arrangement. In the illustrated embodiment, the first and second static contacts 22, 23 are also fixed in position by a spring assembly 24.
The movable contact bracket 21 is slidably mounted in the housing. Viewed from the perspective shown in the figures, the movable contact bracket 21 can slide up and down in the housing. In the position shown in Fig. 3, the contact of each movable contact is separated from the contact of the static contact, thus the two auxiliary contacts are both in a disconnected state. When the movable contact bracket 21 slides upwards, the movable contact moves upwards with it until the movable contacts on the first and second movable contacts 25, 26 are engaged with the first and second static contacts 221, 231, and both auxiliary contacts enter the closed state.
Fig. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the auxiliary contact module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, a plurality of partition walls 18 are provided in the main housing portion 11. In order to prevent dust from interfering with the device, the partition walls 18 and the bottom plate and cover plate 12 of the housing together enclose a partition cavity in order to separate the working parts of the two auxiliary contacts from the outside and prevent the intrusion of dust. The partition wall 18 is formed of insulating material. According to the invention, the partition wall 18 is formed integrally with the main housing portion 11. The partition wall 18 extends the entire thickness of the auxiliary contact module from the bottom plate of the main housing portion 11 and sealingly engages the cover plate 12. According to the invention, the partition wall 18 is ultrasonically welded to the cover plate 12. As shown in Fig. 4, the partition wall comprises five parts. The first partition wall 181 is positioned above the two second static contacts 23. The first partition wall 181 extends so as to closely approach or contact the upper surface of the static contacts 23. The second partition wall 182 and the third partition wall 183 are respectively formed between the first static contact 22 and the second static contact 23 on the left side and between the first static contact 22 and the second static contact 23 on the right side. The second partition wall 182 and the third partition wall 183 extend respectively so as to closely approach or contact the upper surface of the first static contact 22 and the lower surface of the second static contact 23. The fourth partition wall 184 is positioned below the two first static contacts 22. The fourth partition wall 184 extends so as to closely approach or contact the lower surface of the first static contacts 22. The fourth partition wall 184 also extends to the position below the movable contact bracket 21 to enclose the entire movable contact bracket 21 in the cavity.
Thus, the first, second, third and fourth partition walls 181, 182, 183, 184 together define an isolation cavity. The first static contact 221 and the second static contact 231 are positioned in the cavity. The first movable contact 25 and the second movable contact 26 and the movable contact bracket 21 are positioned in the cavity. A gap between the first partition wall 181 and the second partition wall 182 and a gap between the first partition wall 181 and the third partition wall 183 allow the second static contacts 23 to be inserted into the cavity. A gap between the fourth partition wall 184 and the second partition wall 182 and a gap between the fourth partition wall 184 and the third partition wall 183 allow the first static contacts 22 to be inserted into the cavity. Thus, the working space of the module is separated from the outside, so that dust cannot enter the space, which greatly improves the reliability of the module.
In addition, a fifth partition wall 185 extends from the middle of the second and third partition walls 182, 183 into the cavity, which extends inward until it abuts against a side wall of the movable contact bracket 21. Thus, the fifth partition wall 185 divides the cavity into a first cavity 32 and a second cavity 31. The first cavity 32 and the second cavity 31 are used for the first contact assembly and the second contact assembly, respectively. Thus, the working spaces of the two contact assemblies are separated to further ensure the safety of the module.
The above description describes that the partition wall is close to or in contact with the corresponding static contact, which means that the upper and lower partition walls sandwich the static contact, and there is basically no gap between the partition wall and the static contact to provide a path for dust. This close proximity or contact may be completely air-tight or liquid-tight, or it may not be sealed, and may even leave a narrow gap, as long as it can prevent most of the dust from entering the cavity. The words "closed", "isolated", and "separated" used in the text also refer to a structure that can prevent most of the dust from entering the cavity by structurally approaching, contacting, and abutting each other, rather than sealing, or it indicates that the structure must achieve a certain level of sealing.
In the illustrated embodiment, the first and second static contacts 22, 23 are also fixed in position by a spring assembly 24. But it is not necessary, and the first and second static contacts 22, 23 can also be fixed in place by screws.
In this embodiment, the auxiliary contact module can be assembled with the auxiliary contact module of the same structure, that is, the structure on the outer surface of the cover plate 12 can be assembled with the structure on the outer surface of the bottom plate. However, this is not necessary, the auxiliary contact module can also be assembled with other modules, such as other contactors, interlocking modules, etc., as long as they have similar mating mechanisms.
The scope of the present disclosure is not limited by the above-described embodiments, but by the appended claims.

Claims

An auxiliary contact module (10), comprising:
a housing (11,12);

a static contact (22,23) secured in the housing, the static contact (22,23) comprising a static contact 221,231) ;

a movable contact (25,26) comprising a movable contact, the movable contact mounted on a movable contact bracket (21), wherein the movable contact bracket (21) is movably disposed in the housing (11,12) to move between a closed position and an open position, wherein the movable contact (25,26) and the static contact (22,23) are electrically connected at the closed position, and the movable contact (25,26) and the static contact (22,23) are disconnected at the open position;

wherein the auxiliary contact module (10) further comprises an electrically insulating partition wall (18) which extends across opposite surfaces of the housing and defines a closed cavity (31,32) together with a portion of the opposite surfaces of the housing, wherein the static contact extends into the cavity so that the static contact (22,23) is disposed in the cavity, and the movable contact (25,26) and the movable contact bracket (21) are disposed in the cavity, and characterised in that the partition wall (18) is formed integrally with one (11) of the opposite surfaces, and is connected to the other (12) of the opposite surfaces by ultrasonic welding.
The auxiliary contact module according to claim 1, characterized in that, the auxiliary contact module (10) comprises at least one group of movable contacts and static contacts (25,22;26,23), wherein, each group of the movable contacts and the static contacts (22,23) controls the closing and opening of one circuit, and the static contacts of each group are spaced apart along a moving direction of the movable contact bracket (21), and the movable contacts of each group are provided on the same movable contact bracket (21).
The auxiliary contact module according to claim 2, characterized in that, the auxiliary contact module comprises two or more groups of movable contacts and static contacts (25,22;26,23), the auxiliary contact module further comprises a cavity partition wall (185), which divides the cavity into a plurality of sub-cavities (31,23), so as to accommodate each group of movable contacts and static contacts in the corresponding sub-cavity.
The auxiliary contact module according to claim 2, characterized in that, the auxiliary contact module comprises two groups of movable contacts and static contacts (25,22;26,23), wherein a first group of movable contacts and static contacts (25,22) controls the closing and opening of one circuit, and a second group of movable contacts and static contacts (26,23) controls the closing and opening of another circuit.
The auxiliary contact module according to claim 4, characterized in that, the partition walls (18) comprise a first partition wall (181), a second partition wall (182), a third partition wall (183), and a fourth partition wall (184), wherein the first partition wall (181) is disposed above the static contacts (23) of the first group, the second partition wall (182) and the third partition wall (183) are disposed between the static contacts (23) of the first group and the static contacts (22) of the second group, and the fourth partition (184) wall is disposed below the static contacts (22) of the second group.
The auxiliary contact module according to claim 4, characterized in that, the auxiliary contact module further comprises a cavity partition wall (185) , and the cavity is divided into a first cavity (32) and a second cavity (31) by the cavity partition wall (185), wherein the first group of movable contacts and static contacts (25,22) is positioned in the first cavity (32), and the second group of movable contacts and static contacts (26,23) is positioned in the second cavity (31), and the movable contact bracket (21) passes through the cavity partition wall (185) and maintains contact with the cavity partition wall (185) so that the cavity partition wall (185) separates the first cavity (32) and the second cavity (31).
The auxiliary contact module according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, the auxiliary contact module further comprises a snap, and one end of the movable contact bracket (21) comprises a snap-fit structure, the snap can be snap-fitted with the snap-fit structure of the movable contact bracket to hold the movable contact bracket at a mounting position, and the snap can be released after being mounted to allow the movement of the movable contact bracket.
The auxiliary contact module according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, a bottom part of a front surface of the auxiliary contact module is provided with at least two snap-fit positions (14), a middle part of the front surface of the auxiliary contact module is provided with at least one positioning structure (15), and a upper part of the front surface of the auxiliary contact module is provided with at least two snap positions (16).
The auxiliary contact module according to claim 8, characterized in that, the snap-fit position (14) comprises a notch (141) and a protrusion (142) provided in the notch (141), the positioning structure (15) comprises a positioning hole (15), and the snap position (16) comprises a notch and a protrusion provided in the notch.
The auxiliary contact module according to claim 9, characterized in that, a rear surface of the auxiliary contact module is provided with an L-shaped snap-fit member (44) protruding from the rear surface at a corresponding position to mate with the snap-fit position (14), a positioning post (45) used for mating with the positioning hole (15), and a snap (46) used for mating with the snap position (16).
The auxiliary contact module according to claim 10, characterized in that, the upper part of the auxiliary contact module comprises an unlock button (17) mounted on the top of the housing via an elastic element (171), and the snap (46) is integrally formed with the unlock button (17), and the snap can be pushed to the unlock position by pressing the unlock button downward to overcome an elastic force.
A contactor assembly, characterized in that, the contactor assembly comprises a contactor and at least one auxiliary contact module (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 11 mounted to the contactor.
An electrical cabinet, characterized in that, the electrical cabinet comprises at least one auxiliary contact module (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 11.