ES2398631T3 - Electric device with automatic connection terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

Electrical apparatus consisting of a housing (11, 12) in which at least one automatic connection terminal (13, 75) is arranged for a conductor (90) that must be axially connected to itself in said terminal according to a predetermined direction (92), whose automatic connection terminal consists of a spring (13) that bends over the conductor (90) to keep it in the terminal (90) if requested to be removed from the housing (11, 12), characterized because said housing is composed of a body (11) which has an elongated opening (34) along said terminal along said predetermined direction (92); because said terminal is adapted so that said conductor, inserted in said terminal, can, by tilting in a direction parallel to itself, slide out of said terminal (13, 75) and pass through said elongated opening ( 34) to be removed from said apparatus (10); and because said housing also has a cover (12) that admits a closed position 10 in which the said elongated opening (34) is sealed and a removed position in which it releases the said elongated opening (34).

Description

Electric device with automatic connection terminal

Field of the invention

The invention relates to electrical appliances that are composed of at least one automatic connection terminal disposed in a housing.

Technological background

It is known that there are numerous such devices, such as a switch, an outlet or even a strip that forms an electrical and mechanical joint between several conductors.

In general, in such devices, the housing has an insertion opening of an electrical conductor in a predetermined direction to connect the bare end of the conductor to the automatic connection terminal, which is generally composed of a spring that bends over the driver to keep you on the terminal if requested to be removed from the housing.

In some devices, no means are provided to act on the spring in order to allow the removal of a conductor that is placed in the automatic connection terminal.

In other devices, the housing is provided with a push button to act on the spring in order to release the conductor and allow its removal.

French patent application 2 860 346 proposes, for example, that the button be formed by a piece of the housing wall, which has a certain flexibility, and by a rigid appendix, for the benefit of the compactness of the apparatus.

Object of the invention

The invention seeks to provide an electrical apparatus composed of at least one automatic connection terminal that is capable of allowing the removal of a conductor connected in this terminal in a particularly simple, convenient and economical manner.

For this purpose, he proposes an electrical apparatus according to claim 1.

When the cover is in the closed position, the elongated opening is sealed and the conductor cannot be tilted parallel to it and thus remains placed in the automatic connection terminal.

The removal of the conductor out of the device is done simply by lifting the conductor parallel to itself, after having passed the cover to its remote position.

Thus, contrary to known automatic terminal devices, the removal of the conductor is not carried out according to the same movement as the insertion (axially to the conductor), but according to an entirely different movement, (tilting in the direction parallel to the conductor).

Due to the fact that the extraction movement does not correspond to a request of the conductor in axial direction with respect to itself, a request to which the spring of the automatic connection terminal must oppose, but to a movement in which the conductor can sliding in relation to the spring, it is not necessary in any way to act on the spring to move it away from the conductor.

The apparatus according to the invention thus allows the conductor to be removed as comfortably and flexibly as in the apparatus provided with a disconnection button, but without the presence of such a button.

In addition to this, the apparatus according to the invention allows to verify the good placement of the conductor in the automatic connection terminal, by passing the cover to the open position to verify the position of the conductor through the elongated opening; or on the other hand with the lid that remains in the closed position, if the lid is made of transparent material.

According to preferred characteristics due to the quality of the results obtained:

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said body has in the area of said terminal, a transverse notch attached to said elongated opening;

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said cover has a shutter that has a plate to seal said elongated opening and, protruding from said platelet, a flange to seal said cross recess;

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said body and said flange together define, in the closed position of the cover, an insertion conduit of an electrical conductor in said terminal according to said predetermined direction;

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said apparatus has a plurality of said automatic connection terminals, and said body has a counter-flange that is in contact with said flange when the lid is in the closed position, carrying said flange and said counter-flange each one of them a scalloped section that presents an alternate succession of straight portions and curved portions corresponding to each other, such that in a closed position the facing straight portions rest against each other while the opposite curved portions each delimit an aforementioned insertion duct;

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each automatic connection terminal has a spring that has an elastic foil and has a curved wall whose concavity is turned towards said elastic foil, said curved wall being placed in the area of said elongated opening;

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said curved wall has at its distal end a flange while said cover has a rib arranged, in the closed position of the cover, between said flange and a surface of said body;

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The aforementioned automatic connection terminal is double, with the said Ω-shaped spring whose end pins would be inclined to form each one of said elastic lamellae and with a channel-shaped connection portion whose side walls form each of them a cited curved wall; -the aforementioned cover is transparent; and / or said apparatus forms an electrical outlet, with said terminal for each electrical pole.

Brief description of the drawings

The exposition of the invention will now be followed by the description of an exemplary embodiment, given below by way of illustration and not limitation, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

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Figure 1 is a perspective view of an electrical apparatus, here an outlet, where an electrical conductor is placed in one of its automatic connection terminals;

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Figure 2 is an identical view to Figure 1, if it were not because the closing cover of the compartments in which the automatic connection terminals are arranged, is in the withdrawn position rather than in the closed position;

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Figures 3 and 4 are respectively a bottom view and a profile view of the socket in the configuration of Figure 2;

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Figure 5 is a perspective clueless view of the body of the electrical outlet, a spring and a contact unit, the body of the outlet being illustrated by a tear in order to show the arrangement of the compartment in which they must be arranged the spring and the contact unit;

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Figure 6 is another perspective view, showing the body of the outlet with a spring placed in each of its three compartments;

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Figure 7 is a bottom view of the conductor illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 and of the assembly formed by the spring and the contact unit with which the conductor cooperates, as they are arranged relative to each other in the configuration of figures 1 to 4;

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Figure 8 is a perspective view, taken at the same angle as Figures 1 and 2; Y

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Figures 9 and 10 have views similar to Figure 2, showing different positions of the conductor during the extraction of the electrical outlet.

Detailed description of an embodiment example

The power outlet 10 illustrated in the drawings is composed of a body 11, a cover 12 and several assemblies, here in number of three, each consisting of a spring 13 and a contact unit 14.

The power outlet is also composed, in the front, of façade elements not illustrated, in particular by a circular plate that forms the bottom of the receiving hole of a power plug, this plate masking the compartments in which there are the springs and the contact units, with of course a hole for each power plug.

The body 11, the cover 12 and the facade elements not illustrated are made of insulating material, here of plastic material. The contact unit 14 is of conductive material, here of brass or any other metallic material. The springs 13 are also made of metallic material, here made of stainless.

The body 11 is here in one piece. It is composed of a plate 15 and a frame 16 coming out of the plate 15, in the center of the latter, backwards. On each side of the frame 16, the plate 15 has a fixing opening 17, in the form of a keyhole that

It would be curved.

The frame 16 is composed of a receiving portion 18 of a power plug and a portion 19 for housing of the electrical connection and contact elements. Portion 18 extends from plate 15. It is formed by a globally tubular wall 20 that delimits a lateral surface of well 21 (Figures 5 and 6). The portion 19 is formed by a set of walls that delimit a bottom surface of well 22 and three

compartments 25A, 25B and 25C arranged side by side as recessed in relation to the surface of background 22. Now let's describe compartment 25A.

This compartment is globally parallelepipedic. It is bounded by a bottom face 30 and, laterally, by two large faces 31A and 31B, opposite one to the another, and by two small faces 32A and 32B, opposite one from the other.

Over a certain length from the small face 32B, the bottom face 30 is limited to a narrow band 33 a

each side of which a respective elongated opening 34 is located. In the face 32A two respective transverse recesses 35 open. Each elongated opening 34 is connected to a respective recess 35.

From the narrow band portion 33 of the bottom face 30, a protrusion 36 with an eye profile of

lock whose round portion is on the side of face 32A. Between the portion that forms a narrow band 33 and the small face 32B, the bottom face 30 borders a recess blind 37. The recess 37 serves, when a power plug is connected to the socket 10, to receive the end of one of the plugs of this power plug.

Compartment 25C is identical to compartment 25A.The same numerical references have been used

than for compartment 25A. The compartment 25B, located between the compartments 25A and 25C, has a sub-compartment 38 similar to the portion of the compartment 25A into which the openings 34 flow.

To simplify, the same numerical references have been used for sub-compartment 38 as for corresponding portion of compartment 25A. From the side seen above in Figure 6, the sub-compartment 38 joins a sub-compartment 39.

From the side shown below, the sub-compartment 38 joins a sub-compartment 40. Each of the sub-compartments 39 and 40 is joined, from the opposite side to the sub-compartment 38, to a channel respective 41 and 42.

Channels 41 and 42 each act as a recess with respect to the lateral surface 21 and are oriented

according to the axial direction of the portion 18. Sub-compartments 39 and 40 each have a bottom face 43 closer to the surface of bottom 22 than the bottom face 30 of compartments 25A and 25C.

The length over which the sub-compartment 39 extends between the sub-compartment 39 and the channel 41 is more It is shorter than the length over which the sub-compartment 40 extends between the sub-compartment 38 and the channel 42.

Channels 41 and 42 serve to receive a ground contact sheet when the shot is Germanic. The larger length of the sub-compartment 40 allows the ground pin to protrude therefrom when The shot is in Franco-Belgian format.

Now let's describe cover 12.

It is composed of an arm 50 and a shutter 51 arranged as the two arms of a T, with the arm 50 as the central arm.

The arm 50 has, at its opposite end to the shutter 51, two articulation bolts 52 aligned in a direction transverse to the general direction of extension of the arm 50.

Each bolt 52 is embedded in a hole 53, forming a support, each located on a respective fin 54 of the body 11. The fins 54 are slightly flexible in order to allow the bolts to be introduced into the holes 53 by the hooked.

The arm 50 is relatively thick. In the closed position of the cover 12 (Figure 1), the arm 50 is housed in a recess 56 located between two blocks 57 which each serve to delimit the blind recess of the respective compartments 25A and 25C.

The shutter 51 is composed of a plate 60 that extends over the entire width of the portion 19 of the body 11.

When the cover 12 is in the closed position (Figure 1), the plate 60 seals the elongated openings 34 of each of the compartments 25A, 25B and 25C.

A flange 61 protrudes from platelet 60 along the side opposite to that by which platelet 60 joins arm 50.

When the cover 12 is in the closed position (Figure 1) the flange 61 is in contact with a counter-flange 62 that includes the portion 19 of the body 11.

The flange 61 and the counter-flange 62 are each composed of a scalloped section which has an alternate succession of straight portions and curved portions corresponding to each other, such that in a closed position the opposite straight portions support each other. against each other while the opposite curved portions each delimit a conduit 65 for inserting an electrical conductor into the housing that forms the body 11 and the cover 12.

Each duct 65 is in the area of one of the recesses 35.

Thus, a conductor embedded in a conduit 65 joins the corresponding compartment 25A, 25B or 25C as it passes through this conduit and through the corresponding recess 35.

The portion of the recess 35 located between the conduit 65 and the plate 60 is sealed by the flange 61.

In order to allow the interlocking of the cover 12 in the closed position, the shutter 51 has at each end of the plate 60 which are shown to the right and left in Figures 1 and 2, a tab 66 which has a reception window 67 of an interlocking notch 68 that the body has 11.

Now let's describe the springs 13.

Each spring 13 is made with an elastic metal sheet, here made of stainless, cut and folded to have

substantially the shape of an Ω whose end pins would be inclined to form an elastic sheet

70.

In each of the compartments 25A, 25B and 25C, the spring 13 rests on the narrow band face 33 with the portion of the spring 13 located between the sheets 70 surrounding the protuberance 36.

Each sheet 70 has at its distal end an edge 71 intended to be applied against an electric conductor, as explained below.

The contact unit 14 is composed of a connection portion 75 and a contact portion 76 joined by a bridge 77.

The connecting portion is configured in a channel with a central wall 78 that is flat and lateral walls 79 that are curved, with the concavity of each wall 79 being turned towards the other wall 79.

The contact portion 76 is composed of a stirrup 80 and two contact arms 81 and 82.

Stirrup 80 has a central wall 83 and two side walls 84 and 85.

The central wall 83 is arranged transversely to the central wall 78, on the same side as the side walls

79.

Side walls 84 and 85 are located in the area of side walls 78 and 79.

Each of the walls 83, 84 and 85 of the stirrup 80 is flat.

The end of each of the side walls 84 and 85 opposite the wall 83 joins one of the ends of a respective contact arm 81 and 82, which are arranged between the walls 84 and 85 such that the assembly formed by the side walls 84 and 85 and by the contact arms 81 and 82 globally has a shape

in ω whose center would form a cavity 86.

The curved portion of the arms 81 and 82 delimiting the cavity 86 widens on the intended side to be turned forward of the socket 10.

The cavity 86 is intended to receive a plug from a power plug. When the insertion of a plug into the cavity 86 occurs, the arms 81 and 82, including the side walls 84 and 85, are elastically deformed. A plug located in cavity 86 is pressed between arms 81 and 82.

As shown in Figure 5, the contact portion 76 is housed in the cavity 25A or 25B resting on the bottom face 30, the cavity 86 being then aligned with the reinforcement 37.

The connection portion 75 is placed in the compartments 25A or 25C, or in the sub-compartment 38 of the compartment 25D, as shown in Figures 7 and 8: the wall 78 covers the protuberance 36 and the spring 13 while each side wall 79 faces an elastic sheet 70 and in the area of an elongated opening 34.

It will be understood that the non-illustrated contact unit placed in the compartment 25B carries a connection portion identical to that of the portion 75 and that the contact portion 76 is replaced:

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 when the socket 10 is of Germanic format, by two contact tabs that extend from one part and the other of the connecting portion to be accommodated in the sub-compartments 39 and 40 and in the channels 41 and 42; or

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 when the socket 10 is of Franco-Belgian format, by a contact portion that is housed in the sub-compartment 40 and which has an earthing pin that protrudes.

In each of the compartments 25A, 25B and 25C, the spring 13 and the connecting portion 75 or such as the 75 (compartment 25B) form a double automatic connection terminal for two electrical conductors.

The terminal of the compartments 25A and 25C serves to connect the contact portion 76 with an input conductor respectively with the neutral potential and with the phase potential while the terminal of the compartment 25B serves to join the contact portion of this compartment with an input conductor with the ground potential.

The possibility of connecting a second conductor to each terminal allows, if desired, a ringing to another electrical device.

In the drawings, a conductor 90 is shown whose bare end 91 is located in the automatic connection terminal housed in the compartment 25A. The following description of the cooperation between the conductor 90 and one of the locations of this terminal also applies to another location and other terminals.

As seen particularly in Figures 7 and 8, the end 91 is disposed between the spring 13 and one of the side walls 79, with the elastic foil 70 requesting the end 91 of the conductor 90 towards the wall 79.

The positioning of the conductor 90 in this automatic connection terminal has been carried out by a simple adjustment of this conductor axially to itself, that is by sliding in an axial direction, which makes it coincide with the axial direction 92 (Figure 7 ) of the insertion duct 65: in the course of the insertion movement, the end 91 meets the elastic lamella 70 and causes it to deform (flex) so that the conductor can cross the edge of the end 71 and thus achieve an inserted position between the edge 71 and the side wall 79, continuing the progression until reaching the support of the conductor 90 on the central wall 83 of the stirrup 80 (compartments 25A and 25C) or on the wall of the body 11 facing the wall 32A (compartment 2B).

If the conductor 90 is requested to be removed axially from the terminal itself, the lamella 70 is bent so that the conductor is interlocked between the edge of the end 71 and the side wall 79.

It is well understood that the putting into position of a conductor such as 90 is carried out while the cover 12 is in the closed position (figure 1).

If the cover 12 is here of transparent material, the operator can verify, through the cover, the good positioning of the conductor 90 in the automatic connection terminal.

Likewise, this good positioning can be verified by moving the cover 12 to its withdrawn position (figures 2 to 4) by disconnecting the tabs 66 from the locking notches 68 and tilting the cover 12.

The position removed from the cover 12 also allows, if necessary, the removal of a conductor such as 90 out of the socket 10.

To do this, the driver such as 90 is tilted parallel to himself, as shown in Figures 9 and 10.

The recess 35 and the elongated opening 34, which are then released by the cover 12, allow the cable such as 90 to slide between the spring 13 and the side wall 79 and leave the body 11 by the passage formed by the recess 35 and the elongated opening 34.

Each curved wall 79 has at its distal end a flange 95 intended to be retracted with respect to the bare end 91.

During removal of the conductor 90, the side wall 79 against which the end 91 is supported deforms slightly, flexing outwardly, to allow the end 91 to slide out of the terminal formed by the spring 13 and the connection portion 75.

To avoid such deformation of the walls 79 when the cover 12 is in the closed position, the shutter 51 has for each wall 79, a rib 96 protruding from the plate 60.

In the closed position of the cover 12, each rib 96 is disposed between the flange 95 and the facing surface of the portion 19 of the frame 16.

Due to the fact that the edge 71 of each elastic foil 70 is oriented parallel to the tilting plane of the conductor 90 during its extraction, the end 91 of the conductor 90 can slide along the edge 71, thus not preventing the extraction movement .

It will be noted that the edges 71 of the different springs 13 are arranged as the teeth of a rake.

This is different from the arrangement of the edges of the elastic lamellae of the conventional apparatus that are composed of several terminals of automatic connection, in which the edges are arranged in line.

The arrangement of the teeth-shaped edges 71 of a rake allows the same plate 60, and more generally the same shutter 51, oriented transversely to the edges 71, to close the passage by which the conductor such as 91 must be taken out of the socket.

In variants not illustrated, the electrical apparatus which is composed of a plurality of automatic connection terminals is an apparatus very different from an outlet, for example a switch or an electrical link strip of a plurality of conductors; the number of electrical poles is different from three, for example, only one or two; the automatic connection terminals are provided for a number of conductors other than two, for example only one

or more than two; the number of terminals is different from three, for example a single terminal or more than three terminals; and / or the structural arrangement of the terminals is different, with for example the springs that are individual for each conductor.

Numerous other variants are possible depending on the circumstances, and it is recalled in this regard that the invention is not limited to the examples described and represented.

Claims (10)

one.

 Electrical apparatus consisting of a housing (11, 12) in which at least one automatic connection terminal (13, 75) is arranged for a conductor (90) that must be axially connected to itself in said terminal according to a predetermined direction (92), whose automatic connection terminal consists of a spring (13) that bends over the conductor (90) to keep it in the terminal (90) if requested to be removed from the housing (11, 12), characterized because said housing is composed of a body (11) which has an elongated opening (34) along said terminal along said predetermined direction (92); because said terminal is adapted so that said conductor, inserted in said terminal, can, by tilting in a direction parallel to itself, slide out of said terminal (13, 75) and pass through said elongated opening ( 34) to be removed from said apparatus (10); and because said housing also has a cover (12) that admits a closed position in which the said elongated opening (34) is sealed and a removed position in which it releases the said elongated opening (34).

2.

 Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said body (11) has in the area of said terminal (13, 75) a transverse recess (35) attached to said elongated opening (34).

3.

Apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that said cover (12) has a shutter (51) having a platelet (60) for sealing said elongated opening (34) and, protruding from said platelet (60), a flange ( 61) to seal the said transverse recess (35).

Four.

 Apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that said body (11) and said flange (61) together define, in the closed position of the cover (12), a conduit (65) for inserting an electric conductor (90) into the said terminal (13, 75) according to said predetermined address (92).

5.

 Apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that it is composed of a plurality of said automatic connection terminals (13, 75), and that said body (11) has a counter-flange (62) that is in contact with said flange (61) when the cover (12) is in the closed position, said flange (61) and said counter-flange (62) each having a scalloped section having an alternate sequence of straight portions and curved portions in correspondence from each other, in such a way that in a closed position the facing straight portions rest against each other while the opposite curved positions each delimit an aforementioned insertion duct (65).

6.

 Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that each said automatic connection terminal has a spring (13) which has an elastic foil (70) and has a curved wall (79) whose concavity is turned towards said elastic foil (70), said curved wall (79) being located in the area of said elongated opening (34).

7.

Apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that said curved wall (79) has at its distal end a flange (95) while said cover (12) has a rib (96) arranged, in closed position of the lid (12) , between said flange (95) and a surface of said body (11).

8.

 Apparatus according to any one of claims 6 or 7, characterized in that said connection terminal

automatic is double, with the aforementioned spring (13) in the form of Ω whose end pins would be inclined to each form a said elastic foil (70) and with a connection portion (75) configured in a channel whose side walls each form a curved wall (79).

9.

 Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that said cover (12) is transparent.

10.

 Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that it forms an electrical outlet (10), with said terminal (13, 75) for each electrical pole.