FR2718566A1 - Electric appliance with pusher. - Google Patents

Abstract

This is an electrical device of the kind comprising, in a housing, a pusher, which, on the one hand, is mounted movably between two positions, one deployed, the other retracted, under the control of a control button (15) available to the user, and which, on the other hand, is subjected to elastic return means urging him permanently towards his deployed position. According to the invention, a selector (22), accessible from the outside to the user, is also mounted to move between two positions, one of non-interference, for which it allows the push-button to move freely between its two positions. , the other of interference, for which, on the contrary, it interposes on the path of this pusher hooking means (23) capable of maintaining it in a disengageable manner in the retracted position. Application to electrical push-button devices.

Description

The present invention relates to a

  Generally speaking, electrical appliances of the type comprising, in a housing, a pusher, which, on the one hand, is movably mounted between two positions, one deployed, the other retracted, under the control of a control button. the disposition of the user, and which, on the other hand, is subject to elastic means of

  constantly seeking towards its deployed position.

  It may be for example a simple switch designed to allow remote control of any remote switch. For some applications, only the extended position of the pusher must be stable, the latter then systematically abandoning its retracted position when it stops acting on its control button, whereas, for other applications, this retracted position must it also be a stable position, the pusher to remain of itself in this retracted position, or, more precisely, in a retracted position of service close to it, when, after the action on the control button the having led to this retracted position, it is stopped acting on this command button. It is therefore necessary to date to have two different electrical devices, at the cost of duplication

  expensive corresponding fabrications.

  The present invention generally relates to a provision for avoiding such duplication. More specifically, it relates to an electrical appliance of the type concerned pusher and characterized in that it is generally equipped with a selector, which is accessible from the outside to the user, and is also mounted mobile between two positions, one of non-interference, for which he allows the pusher to freely move between its two positions, the other of interference, for which, on the contrary, it interposes on the path of this pusher attachment means able to hold it disengageable in

retracted position.

  Depending on the application envisaged, it suffices for the user

  to place the selector in one or the other of its positions.

  In either case, one fabrication is enough,

at the expense of costs.

  The characteristics and advantages of the invention

  will emerge from the description which follows,

  by way of example, with reference to the appended diagrammatic drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an electrical apparatus according to the invention; Figure 2 is a larger scale, an exploded perspective view relating essentially to the pusher that comprises the electrical apparatus and selector associated with it according to the invention; FIG. 3 is, on a still larger scale, a perspective view of this single selector, shown separately, along arrow III of FIG. 2; Figure 4A is, along the same arrow III, a partial elevational view of the assembly for a first position of the selector; FIG. 4B is a partial elevational view similar to that of FIG. 4A, for the second position of FIG.

selector.

  These figures illustrate, by way of example, the application of the invention to a modular electrical apparatus 10, that is to say to an electrical apparatus 10 whose housing 11 is in the general form of a wafer multiple thickness of a specific module, which allows it to be if necessary arranged side by side on the same support

  with other modular electrical appliances 10 of the same type.

  In the embodiment shown, the housing 11 is formed of a body 11A and a closure flange 11B, but alternatively it may equally well be formed of two shells, substantially equal in importance, and suitably

  confronted and solidarized one to the other.

  Anyway, the housing 11 has, on its edge, on two opposite lateral faces thereof, one or more recesses 12 to provide access to the connection terminals necessary for the serving of the electrical apparatus 10. In the embodiment shown, there are thus two recesses 12 per side face of the edge of the housing 11. The foregoing provisions are well known in themselves, and, not falling within the scope of the present invention, it

  will not be described in more detail here.

  This is moreover the reason why, in the figures, the housing 11 has essentially been only schematized

by its outline.

  Similarly, the electrical apparatus 10, taken in its

  together, will not be described in all its details here.

  Only the elements necessary for

understanding of the invention.

  It will suffice in this regard to indicate that this electrical apparatus 10 comprises, in the housing 11, a pusher 14, which, on the one hand, is mounted to move between two positions, one deployed, the other retracted, under the control of a control button 15 at the disposal of the user, and which, on the other hand, is subjected to resilient return means 13 requesting it

  permanently towards its deployed position.

  In practice, the pusher 14 forms a drawer slidably mounted in the housing 11, and is suitably guided

in translation in this one.

  In the embodiment shown, this pusher 14 generally has a parallelepipedal contour, elongate in the direction of the height of the housing 11, perpendicular to the upper and lower faces of the slice thereof, and

  the control button 15 is integral.

  Its travel direction T in the housing 11, shown schematically in broken lines in FIGS. 1, 2, 4A and 4B, is also perpendicular to the upper and lower faces.

  lower part of the case 11.

  In practice, the control button 15 extends along this direction of path T. It thus projects on the transverse face

top of the pusher 14.

  For the deployed position of the pusher 14, the control button 15 protrudes widely on the upper face of the edge of the housing 11, as shown in solid lines.

in Figures 4A and 4B.

  For the retracted position of the pusher 14, on the contrary, it is more or less depressed in the casing 11, such as

  schematized in broken lines on the single figure 4A.

  Together, in the embodiment shown, and as shown diagrammatically in FIG. 2, the resilient return means 13 associated with the pusher 14 are for example constituted by a simple compression spring, of the coil spring type, which, based on the housing 11 bears on the pusher 14 on the opposite side thereof to its control button 15, and therefore on the transverse face

bottom of this pusher 14.

  For the definition of its deployed position, the pusher 14 comprises, transversely, on at least one of its lateral faces, in the embodiment shown, a shoulder 16 by which it is adapted to abut against a notch 17 provided for this purpose on the closing flange 11B

of the case 11.

  In FIG. 2, only the shoulder 16 of one of the lateral faces of the pusher 14 can be seen, and, on the other hand, the notch 17 of the housing 11 corresponding to

the other of these side faces.

  The electrical apparatus 10 is for example a simple contactor. As shown diagrammatically in FIG. 2, the pusher 14 controls for this purpose a movable contact 18 capable of establishing a connection between two fixed contacts 19 that conductors 20 each respectively connect to connection terminals.

opposites not represented.

  For example, the pusher 14 has a recess 21, in which the movable contact 18 is located under the control of elastic means, not shown, capable of holding it in abutment against the fixed contacts 19, with the necessary support force , when, driven by the pusher

  14, it came into abutment against these fixed contacts 19.

  In the embodiment shown, the pusher 14 has back-to-back, with a certain offset, two recesses 21, for the case where, as is apparent from the foregoing, there are two connection terminals on each of the lateral faces of the edge of the housing 11, and therefore two contacts

  mobile 18 to be controlled in parallel.

  According to the invention, the electrical apparatus 10 is equipped with a selector 22, which is accessible to the user from outside the housing 11, and which is also movably mounted between two positions, one of which 4B, for which he allows the pusher 14 to freely move between its two positions, the other of interference, FIG. 4A, for which, on the contrary, and according to arrangements described in more detail later, it interposes, on the path of the pusher 14, hooking means 23 able to maintain it

  in a disengageable manner in the retracted position.

  In the embodiment shown, the selector 22 is rotatably mounted in the housing 11, about an axis A orthogonal to the path direction T of the pusher 14, and it comprises, at a distance, angularly, hooking means

  23, means of freedom 24 neutral with respect to the pusher 14.

  In practice, the selector 22 is in the general form of a disk of circular contour, which is at least partially encased, in rotation, in a housing 25 of complementary circular contour provided for this purpose in the housing 11, facing of the pusher 14, and on one of the faces of which, in practice that facing the pusher 14, are formed the attachment means 23 and freedom 24 associated with

this pusher 14.

  On the other face of this disc, the selector 22 comprises, axially projecting, for its control in rotation, a hub 26, which surfaces on one of the main faces of the housing 11, in favor of a recess 28. of it,

  Figure 1, and is thus available to the user.

  In practice, this hub 26 extends at best flush with the main face of the housing 11 on which it opens, not to project on it, and to facilitate the control in rotation, it has a diametrically bleeding

  29, in the manner of the head of a screw.

  In practice, too, this hub 26 has, radially projecting, at its free end, two lamellae, FIG. 2, which, arranged in diametrically opposite positions with respect to each other, snap together, for its maintenance. in a countersink 31 provided annularly for this purpose at the outlet of the recess 28 of the housing 11, FIG. 1,

  after their passage in force in this recess 28.

  In the embodiment shown, the hooking means 23 formed by the selector 22 are means of

cam of the genus cam in heart.

  For cooperation with such cam means, the pusher 14 comprises, transversely to its travel direction T, a groove 32 in which is struggling

an attachment pin 34.

  In the bottom of the groove 32 may be provided, if desired, elastic means, not shown, adapted to solicit the hooking pin 34 towards the selector 22. In the embodiment shown, the hooking pin 34, which is generally cylindrical, is shouldered, and thus has, on the one hand, a larger diameter section 34 ', by which it is engaged with the groove 32 of the pusher 14, and, on the other hand, a section of smaller diameter 34 ", by which it is able to cooperate with the means

  cam that form the attachment means 23 associated.

  In practice, these cam means comprise, in a recess 36 that is hollow in the selector 22 and which is also suitable for the movement of the hooking lug 34 of the pusher 14, on the one hand, an island 37, shaped core, which is interposed on the path of this hooking lug 34, and whose tip 38 is, in interference position, directed towards the deployed position of the pusher 14, that is to say towards the button of control 15 thereof, while its depression 39 is directed in the opposite direction, and, secondly, a set of ramps, 41, 42, specified below, which are able to alternately direct the pin of hooking 34 of the pusher 14 towards the depression 39 of the island 37 when, brought into the retracted position, the pusher 14 is released, and to separate this latching lug 34 of the island 37 when, the pusher 14 is thus in the retracted position he is again acting on his

control button 15.

  The island 37 extends in immediate border of the selector 22, with, in practice, its tip 38 flush with the contour of

this one.

  On either side of the island 37, the cavity 36 defines, parallel to the path direction T of the pusher 14, on the one hand, an input E, and, on the other hand, an output S, and when the selector 22 is in the interference position, this cavity 36 is in the extension of a cavity 44, which is formed in the housing 11, and with which is engaged by its smaller diameter section 34 " , the hooking pin

34 of the pusher 14.

  The flanks of this cavity 44 form a dihedral centered on the path direction T of the pusher 14, so that, for the extended position thereof, and as shown in FIG. 4A, the hooking peg 34 is itself systematically centered on this path direction T. On the other hand, the tip 38 of the island 37 is shifted transversely to the side of the outlet S relative to the

  travel direction T of the pusher 14.

  The ramp 40 belongs to the contour of the cavity 36.

  It extends obliquely with respect to the path direction T, beyond the island 37, forming one of the flanks of a lobe 46 of the cavity 36 located in the extension of the entrance E. The depression 39 of the island 37 is globally centered

  on the travel direction T of the pusher 14.

  The ramp 41 forms the flanks of this depression 39 which is on the side of the entrance E. It extends to the right of the lobe 46 of the cavity 36. The ramp 42, finally, belongs, as the ramp 40, to

contour of the cavity 36.

  It extends obliquely on both sides of the path T of the pusher 14, facing the depression 39 of the island 37, and it leads to a lobe 47 of the cavity 36 located in the extension of the output S. It follows from the above that if the pusher 14 is in the deployed position, as shown in solid lines in Figure 4A for its hooking pin 34, it is exerted a pressing action on its button 15, along the arrow F1 of Figure 1, the hooking pin 34 is directed by the island 37 on the input E, along the arrow F2 of the figure

  4A, then, by the ramp 40, on the lobe 46 of the cavity 36.

  The pusher 14 is therefore in a retracted position, which is not exactly its retracted position of

  service, but that is slightly beyond that.

  If the depressing action previously exerted on the control button 15 is released, the pusher 14 tends to return to its deployed position, under the solicitation of

  elastic return means 13 associated therewith.

  But, in view of the foregoing, its hooking lug 34, and more specifically, the smaller diameter section 34 "thereof, then interferes, in its path, with the ramp 41 of the island 37 , until coming to the center of the depression 39 thereof, as schematized in outline

interrupted in Figure 4A.

  The pusher 14 is then held in position

retracted service.

  If a new driving action is exerted on the control button 15, along the arrow F1 of FIG. 4A, the hooking lug 34 of the pusher 14 interferes with the ramp 42 and is directed therefrom towards the lobe 47 of the cavity 36 located in the extension of the outlet S. Thus, when this new action of pressing on the control button 15 is released, the hooking lug 34 can return through the outlet S the cavity 44, following the arrow F3 of FIG. 4A, which allows the return of the pusher 14 into

its initial deployed position.

  In the embodiment shown, the freedom means 24 that comprises the selector 22 together with the attachment means 23 above form hollow on the selector 22, for the latching lug 34 of the pusher 14, a single track in cul-de-sac, which, for the non-interference position of the selector 22, comes to abut the cavity 44 of the housing 11, in the manner of the previous cavity 36, and

place and place thereof.

  Thus, when, for this non-interference position of the selector 22, a driving action is exerted on the control button 15 along the arrow F4 of FIG. 4B, the hooking peg 34 freely follows the track in an ass. -de-sac that form the means of freedom 24 of this selector 22, without any attachment, so that when this driving action is released, the pusher 14 returns freely to its initial deployed position, without being held in position retracted. In the embodiment shown, the freedom means 24 are angularly distant from 90 of the means

hooking 23.

  In other words, it is necessary to rotate the selector 22 from 90 to make it pass from its position of interference

  to his position of non-interference, and vice versa.

  In practice, for a positive definition of one and the other of its positions, the selector 22 comprises, in projection, in the embodiment shown, a finger 50, by which, in a position of noningerrence or in a position of interference, it cooperates in abutment with one or the other of two

  stop shoulders 51 provided for this purpose on the housing 11.

  Preferably, and as shown, there is provided, between the selector 22 and the housing 11, for the stable holding of the selector 22 in one and the other of its positions,

indexing means.

  In the embodiment shown, these indexing means comprise, on the one hand, on the selector 22, on the face thereof opposite to that on which are formed the hooking means 23 and freedom 24, a boss 52, in the form of dihedron, and, secondly, on the housing 11, two housing 54, also shaped dihedral, which respectively correspond to the two positions of the selector 22, and with each of which the boss 52 is adapted to cooperate in interlocking. In practice, the boss 52 of the selector 22 is carried by a tab 55 individualized radially therein by two slots 56, to benefit from a certain elastic play of

the part of this leg 55.

  Preferably, finally, and as shown, there is provided, between the selector 22 and the pusher 14, interlocking means, for the locking in rotation of the selector 22 by the pusher 14 as soon as the pusher 14 is removed from its position

deployed.

  In the embodiment shown, these interlocking means comprise, on the one hand, on the pusher 14, a rib 57, which projects on the face of this pusher 14 turned towards the selector 22, parallel to the direction of travel T, and whose leading end is beveled by a chamfer 58, and, on the other hand, on the selector 22, two grooves 59, which respectively correspond to one and the other of the positions of this selector 22, and which are therefore 90 relative to each other in the embodiment

represented.

  As soon as the pusher 14 is moved away from its deployed position, its rib 57 engages in one or other of the

  grooves 59 of the selector 22, depending on the position thereof.

  The change of position of the selector 22 can not

  intervene only when the pusher 14 is in the deployed position.

  In other words, the change of position of the selector 22 can only occur when, the hooking lug 34 of the pusher 14 being protected in the cavity 44 of the housing 11, away from the path of the selector 22, this selector 22 is not likely to interfere with it during its passage from one of

his positions to the other.

  It is thus avoided that, for any position of the pusher 14 other than its deployed position, a possible unfortunate action on the selector 22 is likely to lead to jamming or even damage to the latching pin 34, and, as a result, a deterioration of

all.

  Of course, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described and shown, but encompasses

any variant of execution.

  In particular, instead of being rotatably mounted, the selector could just as easily be movably mounted in translation. In addition, it can be provided side by side two or more pushers, for reason, for example, one per contact

mobile to order.

Claims (9)

  1. Electrical device of the kind comprising, in a housing (11), a pusher (14), which, on the one hand, is a push-button movable between two positions, one deployed, the other retracted, under the control a control button (15) at the disposal of the user, and which, on the other hand, is subjected to elastic return means (13) constantly urging it towards its extended position, characterized in that it is equipped with a selector (22), which is accessible from the outside to the user, and which is also mounted movably between two positions, one of non-interference, for which he leaves the pusher (14) to struggle freely between its two positions, the other of interference, for which, on the contrary, it interposes on the path of said pusher (14) of attachment means (23) able to hold it disengageably in retracted position.   2. Electrical apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the hooking means (23) are cam means of the camming kind in the heart, the pusher (14) having a transverse groove (32) in which an ergot is struggling. latch (34), and said cam means including, in a cavity (36) also adapted to the displacement of said latching lug (34), on the one hand, a heart-shaped island (37) which is interposed on the path of said latching lug (34), and whose tip 38 is, for the interference position, directed towards the deployed position of the pusher (14), and, on the other hand, a set of ramps (40, 41, 42) which are capable of alternately directing the hooking lug (34) of the pusher (14) towards the depression (39) of the island (37) when, brought into the retracted position, the pusher (37) 14) is released, and to remove said latching lug (34) of said island (37) when, the pusher (14) thus being in the retracted position, it is again acted on his button control (15).   3. Electrical apparatus according to any one of   Claims 1, 2, characterized in that the selector (22)   is rotatably mounted in the housing (11) about an axis (A) orthogonal to the travel direction (T) of the pusher (14), and comprises angularly, at a distance, hooking means (23), means of freedom (24) neutral with respect to said pusher (14).   4. Electrical apparatus according to claim 2 and   3, taken together, characterized in that the means of freedom (24) that comprises the selector (22) form a simple track cul-de-sac for the latching lug (34) of the pusher (14). 5. Electrical apparatus according to any one of   Claims 3, 4, characterized in that the selector (22)   is in the general form of a disc of circular outline on one of the faces of which are formed means   hooking (23) and freedom (24) associated with the pusher (14).   6. Electrical apparatus according to any one of   Claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the selector (22)   projecting a finger (50), in which, in the non-interference position and in the interference position, it cooperates in abutment with one or the other of two stop shoulders (51) provided for this purpose on the housing (11).   7. Electrical apparatus according to any one of   Claims 3 to 6, characterized in that between the selector   (22) and the housing (11), there is provided indexing means (52, 54).   8. Electrical apparatus according to any one of   Claims 3 to 7, characterized in that the means for   freedom (24) are angularly distant from 90 means hooking (23).   9. Electrical apparatus according to any one of   Claims 3 to 8, characterized in that between   the selector (22) and the pusher (14), interlocking means (57, 59), for the rotational locking of the selector (22) by the pusher (14) as soon as this pusher (14) is moved away from its deployed position.