EP4109680A1 - Connection cable with connector and lamp - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to an electrical connecting cable for a lamp, comprising a multi-core cable with a plurality of individual electrically insulated cores, and a connecting piece made of an electrically insulating material which grips the cores individually, the cores being covered with insulation on one side of the connecting piece and on one side opposite side of the connector, the wires protrude with ends which are at least partially free of insulation, the wires in the connector being fixed parallel and at defined distances from one another, and the wire ends free of insulation being kept spaced from one another from the connector in order to clamp them in a to be able to introduce the electronic ballast of the lamp.

Description

The present invention relates to an electrical connection line for a lamp and a lamp which has such a connection line.

A multi-core electrical connection cable for a lamp is usually routed through an opening in a lamp housing, e.g. using a cable gland, and is electrically connected to a support terminal in the lamp housing. To do this, the end of the electrical connection cable is stripped after it has been fed through the housing and the bare wire ends are connected directly (if necessary with a wire sleeve) to the support terminals. This mainly happens at the lighting manufacturer, since many customers do not want to carry out this activity themselves. The area around the support clamp must be specially protected with non-conductive materials, as it cannot be ruled out that a single wire could slip out and the individual wires in front of the support clamp are not supported against each other. The space in front of the support clamp must therefore be lined with suitable foils or plastic components. It is also possible to support individual wires against each other using cable ties. However, this means additional work.

Furthermore, when connecting the connecting cable to the support terminal, make sure that the polarity is correct. The cores and the support clamp must therefore be clearly marked.

The internal wiring from the support terminal to the electronic components of the luminaire, in particular to the The ballast of the light (also referred to as "driver" in the case of LED lights) takes place in the case of outdoor lighting using double-insulated individual wires. Each live part must have double protection against electrical flashover, since the outer housing of the light is often not earthed and therefore does not offer any safety when touching the housing.

The plugs between the support clamp and the ballast are preferably also doubly secured, or at least secured with separate cable ties.

In order to rule out errors in the wiring, the light must be checked for electrical errors before delivery.

The whole process of connecting the connecting cable and the internal wiring of the lamp from the support terminal to the ballast is therefore relatively complex and requires many individual parts.

The object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connection line for a lamp and a corresponding lamp in order to reduce the effort involved in connecting the connection line.

The object is achieved by an electrical connection line according to claim 1 and by a lamp with a corresponding connection line according to claim 12.

The connection line according to the invention allows the wires of the connection line to be connected directly to the electronic ballast in the lamp by means of the connecting piece. In particular, there is no need to provide a separate support clamp within the lamp housing. the Cabling from the support terminal to the ballast, as is customary in the prior art, can be completely eliminated because the connecting piece according to the invention allows the connecting cable to be inserted directly with the free wire ends into the terminals of the ballast. This is made possible because the individual wires are kept at a defined distance from one another in the connector. The connecting piece is matched to the corresponding arrangement of the terminals in the electrical ballast, so that the spatial arrangement of the free wire ends is already adapted to the position of the terminals in the ballast. Furthermore, the connector also prevents individual wires from slipping out of the terminals of the ballast, so that separate insulation around the terminals or separate support elements such as cable ties are not required.

According to a preferred embodiment, the connecting piece has an elevation and/or a depression on the side with the wire ends, which is designed to interact positively with an electronic ballast of the lamp, the elevation and/or depression being asymmetrical with respect to the parallel ones Wires is provided on the connector. The position of the connecting piece relative to the ballast is fixed by the positive fit. The asymmetrical design also ensures that the shaped piece cannot be inserted in a mirror-inverted manner. This provides effective protection against reverse polarity. This means that there is no need to check the system. In particular, it is possible to be able to insert the connection line at any point in the production process, possibly even at the very end before packaging.

According to a preferred embodiment, the connecting piece has one or more projections on the side with the wire ends, the wire ends protruding further from the connecting piece than a front end of the projection or projections, so that the front end has a depth stop when inserting the wire ends into the terminals of the electronic ballast of the lamp. The provision of the depth stop on the connector ensures proper insertion depth of the wire ends into the appropriate ballast terminals. Furthermore, the projections can also simultaneously serve as anti-tilt protection for the connecting piece.

According to a preferred embodiment, the cores with insulation outside the connection piece have a common jacket insulation on the side of the connection piece on which the cores with insulation are surrounded. The sheath insulation is used for additional electrical protection and for mechanical protection of the connecting cable. Furthermore, the jacket insulation can also help to attach the connection cable to the lamp by means of a clamp connection.

According to a preferred embodiment, the jacket insulation has a screwed cable connection on the outside, which clamps onto the jacket insulation in the screwed-in state. The cable gland is used to attach the connection cable to the lamp to prevent mechanical stress on the connection between the wire ends and the terminals on the ballast. With this construction, an additional strain relief for the connecting cable is not necessary.

According to a preferred embodiment, in a region between the jacket insulation and the connector there is a protective sleeve arranged. The protective sleeve offers additional mechanical and electrical protection for the wires of the connecting cable in the area in which there is no sheath insulation.

According to a preferred embodiment, a removable protective cap is attached to the core ends free of insulation, the protective cap having sheaths of the respective core ends at the defined intervals. The protective cap advantageously serves to protect the stripped wire ends before the wire ends are plugged into the terminals of the electronic ballast. Since the sheaths for the respective wire ends have the same defined distances as the wire ends after they have been installed in the ballast, this also prevents the wires from bending against one another before the connecting cable is installed.

According to a preferred further development of the previous embodiment, the protective cap is made of an electrically insulating, solid material, which is designed to actuate the push buttons of the terminals on the electronic ballast. In this embodiment, the protective cap also serves as an assembly element when the wire ends are clamped on. Since all wire ends that are held in a connection piece are pushed into the terminals at the same time, an assembly aid in the form of a protective cap is particularly helpful because it enables all the pushers of the several terminals to be pressed at the same time.

According to a preferred embodiment, the connecting piece has grooves on an outside which improve the feel of the connecting piece for tool-free handling and/or which are designed for this purpose corresponding grooves of a further connecting piece to cooperate in such a way that the connecting pieces can be frictionally fitted together. Thanks to the improved feel of the connector, it is possible to assemble it by hand without additional tools. Furthermore, according to the preferred embodiment, the grooves can also serve for a frictional connection with grooves on a further connection piece, so that two connection pieces can be joined together, for example one on top of the other, before assembly. This is particularly helpful because the connectors have to be passed through an opening in the lamp housing and the opening is usually not much larger than the individual connectors, so that the connectors can only be passed through the opening close to one another.

According to a preferred embodiment, the connection line has at least one further connecting piece corresponding to the one connecting piece for each group of cores, with each group comprising at least two of the individual electrically insulated cores. One advantage of several connecting pieces is that when the connecting line is inserted into the housing, they can be joined together more closely than when they are installed in the ballast. According to the preferred embodiment described above, the two mounting pieces can even be held together by friction. This makes it much easier to push the connecting pieces through an opening in the housing.

According to a preferred embodiment, the connection line in the area of the cores with insulation on a contacting aid which surrounds the cores and fastens the connecting pieces to one another in such a way that the connecting pieces are at a defined distance in relation to the Terminals of the lamp are held when plugging in the connectors. The contacting aid ensures that, in the embodiment with two connecting pieces, the position of the connecting pieces is aligned with one another when the wire ends are clamped in the ballast. This simplifies the assembly process. Furthermore, pins, preferably spring-loaded pins, can be provided on the contacting aid in order to open the terminal actuator (e.g. push button) on the terminals on the part of the ballast when inserting the wires into the terminals, so that the forces for inserting the wire ends into the terminals are reduced .

The lamp according to the present invention comprises a connection line according to one of the embodiments described above and also a ballast with a plurality of terminals into which the wire ends of the electrical connection line are plugged.

According to a preferred embodiment, the electrical connection line is led out of a housing of the lamp, the cores being formed continuously from the core ends to a region of the electrical connection line outside of the lamp housing free of interruptions, in particular free of a support clamp interrupting the cores. According to the invention, the support clamp can be dispensed with because the connection line can be connected directly to the ballast by means of one or more connecting pieces.

According to a preferred embodiment, a maximum diameter of the connecting piece in a sectional plane perpendicular to the wires lying parallel in the connecting piece is smaller than a through-opening in a housing of the Luminaire through which the electrical connection cable is routed. In this embodiment, it is possible to pass the connector through the through hole in the housing. The connection cable can therefore be installed on the lamp completely pre-assembled, without the connection cable having to be passed through the through-opening in the housing over its entire length from the free end.

According to a preferred embodiment, the cable gland is clamped to an opening or a section of a lamp housing of the lamp by screwing. As previously described for the cable gland, the electrical connection line is clamped to the lamp housing in this embodiment. For example, the cable gland may define a groove adapted to clamp the cable gland to a wall section around the opening.

Figur 1

zeigt eine Aufsicht in ein Leuchtengehäuse aus dem Stand der Technik.

Figur 2

zeigt eine Aufsicht auf eine Anschlussleitung gemäß einer Ausführungsform der vorliegenden Erfindung.

Figur 3

zeigt eine perspektivische Ansicht der Anschlussleitung nach Figur 1, die in einer Leuchte montiert ist.

Figur 4

zeigt eine der Figur 3 entsprechende Abbildung für eine alternative Ausführungsform mit zwei Verbindungsstücken.

Figur 5

zeigt eine Aufsicht auf die elektrische Anschlussleitung gemäß Figur 4 mit einer Kabelklemme und einem Gehäuseabschnitt.

Figur 6

zeigt die elektrische Anschlussleitung gemäß Figur 5 mit einer Schutzkappe kurz nach dem Abziehen der Schutzkappe.

Figur 7

zeigt eine Aufsicht auf eine elektrische Anschlussleitung mit zwei Verbindungsstücken und einer Kontaktierungshilfe.

Figur 8

zeigt eine Aufsicht auf eine elektrische Anschlussleitung im Bereich des Verbindungsstücks mit einer Schutztülle.

Other advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description given in connection with the accompanying drawings. The drawings show the following.

figure 1

shows a top view of a lamp housing from the prior art.

figure 2

shows a plan view of a connecting line according to an embodiment of the present invention.

figure 3

shows a perspective view of the connection line figure 1 , which is mounted in a luminaire.

figure 4

shows one of the figure 3 Corresponding figure for an alternative embodiment with two connectors.

figure 5

shows a top view of the electrical connection line according to figure 4 with a cable clamp and a housing section.

figure 6

shows the electrical connection line according to figure 5 with a protective cap shortly after removing the protective cap.

figure 7

shows a top view of an electrical connection line with two connectors and a contacting aid.

figure 8

shows a top view of an electrical connection line in the area of the connector with a protective sleeve.

In the figure 1 a connection space in the lamp housing of a conventional lamp from the prior art is shown. A support clamp 1 is provided in the connection space, which is set up to be connected to an electrical connection line (in figure 1 not shown) to be connected. Further internal wiring 2 leads from the support terminal to an electronic ballast 3. To connect the lamp, it is necessary to feed an electrical connection, usually a rubber-sheathed cable, through a cable bushing 12 in the housing and connect it to the support terminal 1. The construction is relatively expensive because the area in front of the cable support clamp 1 must be isolated in the event that a malfunction causes a live wire from the Support clamp 1 slips out and comes into contact with the housing.

The embodiments of the invention make it possible to dispense with the support clamp 1 from the prior art, in which the individual wires of the connecting cable are clamped directly to the ballast 3 . However, this would not be possible without additional stabilization of the wire. The embodiments of the present invention therefore provide a connector which connects the individual wires of the connection cable to one another and holds them in position.

An electrical connection cable with connector is in figure 2 shown.

The connection line comprises a sheathed cable 5 with three individual wires 4 in this example. The wires 4 are individually insulated and also surrounded by a common sheath insulation 5, eg made of rubber. In the area of the end of the connecting line intended for connection in the lamp, the individual cores 4 are held together in parallel by a common connecting piece 6 . The connecting piece 6 is made of an insulated material, in particular plastic. The individual wires 4 are encompassed by the connecting piece 6, including their insulation, and are held parallel to one another. The wires 4 protrude from the connection piece with a stripped end 7, whereby a piece of the insulation of the wires can also protrude from the connection piece, as in figure 2 shown. The wire ends 7 are held in their mutual position so that they can easily be connected to terminals 10 of a ballast, as in figure 3 displayed, can be inserted. The connecting piece 6 serves to stabilize the right flexible veins, where the type of installation requires the use of flexible cores. Furthermore, the connecting piece 6 facilitates the handling of the wire ends 7 provided for connection, because the connecting piece 6 sets the distance to the wires to match the terminals in the ballast, so that all wires can be pushed into the terminal at the same time.

The connecting piece 6 also has a lateral projection 8 which is arranged in such a way that it interacts in a form-fitting manner with an edge section of the ballast in the area of the terminals 10, as shown in FIG figure 3 shown. The projection 8 is provided asymmetrically on only one side of the connector, so that the position of the connector 6 relative to the terminals 10 in the ballast is clearly defined. Polarity reversal by inserting the wire ends 7 in reverse is not possible.

Furthermore, the connecting piece 6 has several shorter projections 9, which serve as a depth stop and tilt protection when plugged into the terminals 10 of the ballast. In the connection piece shown, the projections 9 are each between and to the side of the wires 4, with the wires 4 with the insulation protruding further up to the bare ends 7 than the front end of the projections 9. This ensures that the bare wire ends 7 are completely are pushed into the clamps 10 when the depth stop is reached.

The wire ends 7 are stripped of insulation to bring them into electrical contact with the terminals 10 on the ballast. The wire ends can be bare. Alternatively, the wire ends can also be tinned, hardened or covered with a be provided with a metallic wire sleeve to additionally stabilize it when it is pushed into the terminal.

In particular, it is prevented that a single strand of the wire protrudes. However, the connecting piece 6 alone, which defines the correct spacing of the wires 4 from one another, already ensures that the wire ends 7 that are free of insulation do not touch one another.

the Figures 4 to 7 relate to embodiments of the electrical connection line having a second connector 6' in addition to the first connector 6 as in the previous embodiments. In principle, the second connecting piece 6' is designed in exactly the same way as the first connecting piece 6. In the variant shown, however, the second connecting piece 6' encompasses only two cores 4, while the first connecting piece 6 encompasses three cores 4.

The embodiment with two connecting pieces 6 and 6' has the advantage that the end of the connection line can be guided through a smaller housing opening. Therefore, the connection line does not have to be passed through the openings in the housing with the free end first over the entire length, which can be between six and twelve meters, for example.

The one or more connecting pieces 6 or 6' also have grooves 11 which improve the feel of the connecting piece. This is particularly advantageous when inserting the wire ends 7 into the clamps 10 by hand without additional tools. Furthermore, the grooves 11 are preferably formed in such a way that the two connecting pieces 6 and 6' fit into one another with a friction fit for assembly leave in the way of two lego blocks. This is helpful when passing the two connectors 6 and 6' through an opening in the lamp housing. After passing through, the two connectors 6 and 6' can be separated again in order to plug them into the terminal 10 of the ballast, as in figure 4 shown.

The connection line is preferably clamped in the area of the jacket insulation 5 in a housing opening. For this purpose, a cable gland 12 is provided, which is secured on the inside of the housing with a lock nut. As a result, the cable gland forms a groove which is adapted to clamp a housing section 14, as shown in FIG figure 5 is shown.

In the figure 6 a variant is shown in which the relatively sensitive wire ends 7 are kept in shape by a common protective cap 15 . In figure 6 the protective cap 15 is shown in the already removed state. The protective cap 15 can also be used to simultaneously operate several pushers on the terminals 10 of the ballast. For this purpose, the protective cap 15 is made of a suitably strong material, which makes it possible to actuate several pushers simultaneously over the entire width of the terminal.

In the illustrated embodiments, contours 17 are also provided in one or more connecting pieces 6 and 6′, into which special contacting aids or assembly aids can engage. If there are several connectors, the distance between the contacting aids can also be adjusted. The contacting aid helps to hold one or more connecting pieces when inserting the wire ends 7 into the terminals. Furthermore, spring-loaded pins (see pin 18 in the inset in figure 7 ) as a clamp actuator when inserting the wire ends 7 keep the clamps 10 open, so that the forces for inserting the wire ends 7 into the clamps 10 are reduced. For this purpose, spring-loaded pins 18 are on the contacting aid, as in the slide-in in figure 7 shown, arranged side by side according to the number of terminals 10. When the wire ends 7 are inserted, the pins 18 exert a force on the actuating elements of the terminals 10, so that the clamping force is reduced. This reduces the insertion force required to insert the wire ends 7.

Finally shows the figure 8 a variant in which, in addition to the connecting piece 6 and the end of the jacket insulation 5, a protective sleeve 19 is also arranged. As a result, the cores 4 are additionally protected in the area between the end of the jacket insulation 5 and the connecting piece 6. In further embodiments, it is also possible for the protective sleeve 19 to also extend beyond the connection piece 6 to the stripped wire ends 7 in order to additionally protect the stripped ends and thus offer increased protection for the free wire ends. The protective grommet 19 also offers kink protection or, in other embodiments, can also be intended to define a defined angle between the end of the casing 5 and the connecting piece 6 .

REFERENCE LIST

1

support clamp

2

internal wiring

3

ballast

4

veins

5

sheath insulation

6, 6'

connector

7

wire ends

8th

increase

9

head Start

10

clamp

11

groove

12

cable gland

13

locknut

14

housing section

15

protective cap

17

Contour for assembly aid

18

spring loaded pin

19

protective sleeve

Claims (15)

Electrical connection line for a lamp comprising a multi-wire cable with several individual electrically insulated wires (4), and
a connecting piece (6) made of an electrically insulating material which individually encloses the cores (4),
wherein on one side of the connector the cores (4) are surrounded by insulation and on an opposite side of the connector the cores protrude with ends (7) which are at least partially free of insulation,
wherein the cores (4) in the connecting piece (6) are fixed parallel and at defined distances from one another, and the core ends (7) which are free of insulation are kept spaced apart from one another by the connecting piece (6) in order to connect them to terminals (10) of an electronic ballast of the to introduce the light. Electrical connecting cable according to Claim 1, in which the connecting piece (6) has an elevation (8) and/or an indentation on the side with the wire ends (7), which is set up to interact in a form-fitting manner with an electronic ballast of the lamp, the elevation (8) and/or indentation is provided asymmetrically with respect to the wires arranged in parallel on the connecting piece (6). Electrical connection line according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the connecting piece (6) has one or more projections (9) on the side with the wire ends (7), the wire ends (7) protruding further from the connecting piece (6) than an end face End of the projection or projections (6), so that the front end forms a depth stop when inserting the wire ends into the terminals (10) of the lamp. Electrical connection line according to one of the preceding claims, in which the cores (4) with insulation outside the connecting piece (6) have a common jacket insulation (5) on the side of the connecting piece (6) on which the cores (4) with insulation are encompassed . Electrical connection line according to Claim 4, in which the sheath insulation (5) has a screwed cable connection (12) on the outside which, when screwed in, clamps onto the sheath insulation (5). Electrical connecting cable according to Claim 4 or 5, a protective sleeve (19) being arranged in a region between the jacket insulation (5) and the connecting piece (6). Electrical connection line according to one of the preceding claims, wherein a removable protective cap (15) is attached to the core ends (7) free of insulation, the protective cap (15) having sheaths of the respective core ends (7) at the defined intervals. Electrical connection lead according to claim 7, wherein the protective cap (15) is formed of an electrically insulating solid material which is adapted to operate triggers of a terminal (10) on an electronic ballast. Electrical connection line according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the connecting piece on an outer side Has grooves (11) which improve the feel of the connector for tool-free handling and/or which are designed to interact with corresponding grooves (11) of another connector (6') in such a way that the connectors (6, 6') are frictionally engaged can be plugged together. Electrical connection line according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the connection line has at least one further connecting piece (6') corresponding to the one connecting piece (6) for one group of cores (4), each group having at least two of the individual electrically insulated cores (4) includes. Electrical connection line according to claim 10, wherein the connection line has a contacting aid in the area of the cores (4) with insulation, which surrounds the cores and fastens the connecting pieces (6, 6') to one another in such a way that the connecting pieces (6, 6') are defined Distance in relation to the terminals (10) of the lamp when plugging in the connectors (6, 6 ') are kept. Lamp with at least one electrical connection line according to one of the preceding claims, the lamp having a ballast with a plurality of terminals (10) into which the wire ends (7) of the electrical connection line are inserted. Lamp according to Claim 12, in which the electrical connecting line is led out of a housing of the lamp, the wires (4) being free of interruptions from the wire ends (7) to a region of the electrical connecting line outside of the lamp housing. in particular free of a support clamp that interrupts the wires (4). Lamp according to claim 12 or 13, wherein a maximum diameter of the connecting piece in a sectional plane perpendicular to the cores (4) lying parallel in the connecting piece is smaller than a passage opening in a housing of the lamp through which the electrical connection line is passed. Luminaire according to one of Claims 12 to 14 when dependent on Claim 5, in which the cable gland (12) is clamped to an opening or a section of a luminaire housing of the luminaire by screwing.

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