FR2734413A1 - ELECTRICAL SOCKET WITH FRONT CLOSURE AND MOUNTING TOOL - Google Patents

Abstract

Electrical current socket for a supply network, said network comprising several supply cables provided with a conductive core and an insulating sheath, said socket comprising: - a socket body (1) having a front face (2) provided with plugging holes adapted to receive an electrical connection plug, a rear face (3) provided with insulation displacement contacts having insulation displacement slots each adapted to receive a power cable and side faces (28), - a rear frame (4) reportable by fitting on the rear face (3) of the socket body (1), said cover (4) comprising guide means (49) for guiding the power cables in the corresponding insulation displacement slots (33), during the fitting of said cover, the rear cover (4) comprising gripping means (43) accessible from the front face (2) or from the side faces of the gripping body (1) in order to fit the rear cover (4) by interlocking ) on the socket body (1).

Description

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  The present invention relates to an electrical outlet for mounting on a power supply network. The present invention also provides a mounting tool of the socket according to the invention. This is more particularly of the type with insulation displacement contacts and can therefore be implemented on a power bus without having to cut the cables. The electrical contact with the insulation displacement contacts is simply by incision of the insulating sheath to the conductive core of the cables. To do this, the insulation displacement contacts are each formed with one or two insulation displacement slots whose edges are sufficiently sharp to incise the insulating sheath when pushing the cable into the slots. In general, this thrusting action of the cables in the slots takes place when the back cover of the socket is brought to the rear part of the socket where the insulation-displacement contacts are positioned. Indeed, a known model of intake provides that the plug consists essentially of two interlocking elements, namely, a gripping body comprising the front face with its two plug holes and its earth pin, and a nestable rear cover and snap. Closing the socket body with the back cover pushes the cables into the insulation displacement slots and thus makes electrical contact. A

  such catch is known in particular from documents FR-A-2 691 846 and FR-A-2 208 213.

  The closing operation of such takes is usually done with a clamp that captures the plug between the rear face of the cover and the front face of the socket body. Such a clamp is necessary because it takes a considerable force (about 1500 N) to snap the back cover. Indeed, it is necessary not only to overcome the snap force which is

  less, but especially the resistance of insulating sheaths to the incision.

  However, since the sockets are usually inserted into housings integrated in skirting boards, lighters or on the walls, it is not easy to penetrate a

  jaw of the pliers in the case behind the cover.

  This difficulty stems from the fact that the sockets are mounted on a power bus. It is therefore not possible to assemble the socket outside the housing. A power bus offers only a very short excess cable length. Therefore, it is necessary to close the plug, while it is already partially or fully inserted in the receiver box. It is therefore difficult to bring in position. The jaw of the clamp which must press on the rear face of the cache, due to the lack of space at the back of the cache. The closing operation of such outlets is therefore often tedious and makes

waste a lot of time.

  The object of the present invention is to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages of the prior art by defining an electrical outlet whose closure is effected

  easily, regardless of whether the back of the socket is difficult to access or not.

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  To do this, the subject of the present invention is an electrical socket for a power supply network, said network comprising a plurality of power cables provided with a conductive core and an insulating sheath, said socket comprising: a body socket having a front face provided with plug holes adapted to receive an electrical connection plug with plug-in contact pins, a rear face provided with insulation-displacement contacts having self-cutting slots adapted to each receive a power cable by establishing a conductive contact by incision of the insulating sheath to the conductive core, said insulation displacement contacts being electrically connected to connection means for the electrical connection plug, and lateral faces, - a rear cover which can be attached by interlocking on the face rear of the socket body with insulation displacement contacts, said cover having means guide ns for guiding the power cables in the corresponding insulation displacement slots when said cover is interlocked on the rear face of the socket body, characterized in that the rear cover comprises gripping means accessible from the front face or lateral faces of the grip body for interlocking

  back cover on the socket body and thus establish the electrical contact.

  Advantageously, the gripping means comprise at least one gripping member through which the rear cover can be gripped by a tool adapted to effect a translational movement between the rear cover and the gripping body. Preferably, the front face of the engagement body comprises a front housing having a bottom in which are formed the plug holes and a peripheral side wall, said gripping means being accessible from the front housing. Thus, it is no longer necessary to access the back of the cache to close the socket. The entire operation is performed from the front of the socket which can therefore already be permanently mounted in its case even before closing. For the installation of a case of three outlets for example, the three covers can be put in place in the case, then one engages the three bodies of catch on the corresponding caches without nesting definitively. The gripping bodies can be put in place permanently in the housing, then only then the covers can be nested. The installation operation of a socket housing is therefore

greatly simplified.

  According to one embodiment, several gripping members are distributed in

  the peripheral side wall of the front housing of the front face of the grip body.

  Advantageously, the gripping members are in the form of projecting bars in which are formed gripping windows, said peripheral side wall being formed with corresponding receiving lights adapted to

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  receiving said bars, said gripping windows being accessible from the inside of the front housing. The rear cover can thus be forcefully attached to the socket body by pulling the bars fully into the corresponding receiving lights by pressing either on the bottom of the front housing, or on the edge of the front side bordering the front housing. According to another interesting characteristic, the rear cover and the socket body are provided with latching means. Thus, once the cache is fully engaged, it can not

  no longer accidentally disengage from the grip body.

  According to yet another characteristic, at least one insulation displacement contact is offset relative to the other (s), so that the incisions of the insulating members of the various cables are not simultaneous. The force required to incise the cable sheaths is thus reduced because the incisions are made consecutively and not simultaneously. For a three-wire plug, which is usually the case, one of the contacts may be shifted. A

  force of about 1000 N is then sufficient to incise the sheaths.

  The invention also provides a mounting tool for mating a back cover on a socket body of an electrical outlet according to one

  any of the preceding claims, said tool comprising means

  grippers adapted to cooperate with the gripping means of the catch and bearing means adapted to abut against a surface of the front face of the catch, means being provided for moving the gripping means relative to the relative

  the support means so as to bring the cover and to fit on the grip body.

  Advantageously, the gripping means comprise retractable gripping members, said bearing means comprising a movable bearing surface adapted to engage the bottom of the front housing of the gripping body, cam means actuated by a movable handle being provided. for moving the gripping members and the movable bearing surface between a first position in which the gripping members are retracted and located substantially at the same level as the bearing surface, and a second position in which the gripping members are extended towards the outside and offset from the support surface. Thanks to this tool, which offers a reduction effect, the fitting of the cover on the socket body (which includes the incision of the cable sheaths) can be done without effort and without difficulty, since one can not

  works only on the front of the socket, and no longer on its back side.

  The invention will now be further described with reference to the drawings

  appended giving by way of non-limiting example an embodiment of the invention.

  In the drawings: - Figure I is an exploded view of a socket according to the invention, - Figure 2 is a view of Figure 1 taken in the nested state, and - Figure 3 is a perspective view. of a mounting tool of a socket according to the invention. The plug shown in Figure I has been shown in exploded view to make more clearly appear the interlocking and detent members of the socket. As to Figure 2, it shows the socket in the mounted state as it can be found in a housing. Referring more particularly to Figure 1, it is seen that the plug is essentially made up of two elements, namely a socket body generally designated by the reference numeral I and a rear cover designated by the reference numeral 4. These two elements are made of insulating material, usually

molded plastic material.

  The socket body I comprises a front face 2 and a rear face 3. The front face 2 has a front wall 21 in which is formed a front housing 22. The front housing 22 has a circular section and comprises a bottom 24 and a wall 23. The outer side of the peripheral side wall 23 also partially forms the side faces 28 of the socket body 1. The bottom 24 is provided with plug holes (not shown) and a ground pin 26. The front housing 22 is intended to receive a connection plug (not shown) which generally comprises two parallel pins for the phase and the neutral and a ground pin receiving cell. The front wall 21 has a square shape of 4.5 or 5 centimeters on the side. The front wall 21 with its housing 22 constitutes the visible face of the socket once the latter is mounted in a housing. The front wall 21 is provided with

  four outer side walls 27 which extend over a relatively small length.

  Below the front wall 21, adjacent to the side faces 28, there are latching lugs 31 and 32 and guide lugs 34. The latching lugs 31, 32 and 34 all extend vertically to 21 and 32 are provided with detent teeth 310, 311, 320, 321 intended to cooperate with respective snap-in sleeves 46, 47 provided in the rear cover 4 as it is will see below. The rear face 3 of the socket body 1 extends substantially between the tabs 31, 32 and 34. The rear face is provided with insulation displacement contacts formed with insulation displacement slots 33. Only an insulation displacement contact 33 is visible in FIG. it should be understood that the other insulation displacement contacts 33 have an identical configuration. According to an advantageous characteristic of the present invention, the three insulation displacement contacts corresponding to the

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  two plug holes and the ground pin of the plug to be connected are not arranged in one plane. Indeed, the insulation displacement slot of the contact corresponding to the earth pin is slightly shifted either upwards or downwards relative to the other two insulation displacement slots. Thus, the incision of the cable sheaths does not occur simultaneously, but consecutively. The first sheath to be incised is that of the earth cable, then only the other two cables corresponding to phase and neutral

  are incised. This reduces the force required for the incision of the cable sheaths by one-third.

  It is even possible to arrange the three insulation displacement slots of the three contacts at different levels to further reduce the force required for the incision of

  cable ducts. A description of insulation displacement contacts will not be given. For

  more detail, a full description of an insulation displacement contact is given in the

document FR-A-2 691 846.

  The rear cover 4 is formed with a substantially flat rear face 41 intended to form the bottom of the socket and a front face 42 having a relatively complicated molded structure. The front face 42 is provided in its bottom with cable guide means in the insulation displacement slots 33 in the form of ribs (not shown which serve to push the cables in the slots 33. In addition, the front face 42 of the rear cover 4 is formed with a plurality of ratchet sleeves 46 and 47 for respectively receiving the ratchet tabs 31 and 32. Guide channels 48 are also provided for receiving the guide tabs 34. This structure of the cover

  Rear 4 is relatively conventional for this type of grip.

  However, according to the invention, four gripping webs 43 are provided in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

  gripping strips extend vertically from the front face 42 of the cover 4.

  The bars 43 are each formed with gripping windows 44 which pass through them. On the other hand, the socket body 1 is formed with receiving lights

  25 in the peripheral lateral wall 23 of the housing 22.

  Thus, as can be seen in FIG. 2, gripping strips 43 with their windows 44 are accessible from the inside or the outside of the front housing 22. Even when the rear cover 4 is not completely fitted on the gripping body 44, the gripping windows 44 of the bars 43 are still accessible from inside the housing 22. In reality, there is provided a pre-locking position defined by the engagement of the lower teeth 311 and 321 of the legs 31 and 32 in the corresponding ratchet sleeves 46 and 47. In this position, the cover 4 is snapped onto the grip body 1 but not definitively. In this state of pre-locking, the cable sheaths arranged through the rear cover 4 are not

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  The preassembled teeth 311 and 321 associated with the sleeves 46 and 47 serve to provisionally secure the cover and the gripping body before final snapping. Although not shown, in the pre-locking position, the gripping windows 44 are already accessible from the housing 22. Thus, using a suitable tool as shown in FIG. 3 (and which will be described below). after), it is possible to grasp the grip bars 44 and pull them upwards so as to snap the second detent teeth 310 and 320 of the latching tabs 31 and 32 into the corresponding sleeves 46 and 47. Thus , because the gripping strips are accessible from the front face 2 of the gripping body 1, it is possible to close the catch by snap-fitting the rear cover 4 to the gripping body 1 without it It is necessary to access the rear face 41 of the cover 4. To proceed with the closing operation of the plug, it is sufficient to bring the latching tabs 43 into the corresponding receiving slots 25

  support for example on the bottom 24 of the housing 22, or even on the front wall 21.

  While in the prior art, it was necessary to use a clamp that clamps the socket from the rear face of the cover 4, thanks to the present invention, the closing operation is carried out only from the face before 2 of the taking. It is also possible to envisage a socket configuration in which the gripping bars or a similar member are grasped by the lateral faces 28 of the socket and not by the inside of the frontal housing.

  22, without departing from the scope of the invention.

  Another feature of the invention provides that fixing lugs 45 are provided on the outer faces of the gripping strips 43 to secure the grip

  in a housing intended to be mounted in a plinth, a spandrel or even a wall.

  To explain the operation of the mounting tool shown in FIG. 3, a complete assembly operation of a plug shown in FIGS.

now detailed.

  The socket according to the invention is intended to be mounted on a power bus without it being necessary for it to cut the power cables. A location along a power bus is chosen where a receiving box must be installed. For a three-outlet housing for example, the three rear covers 4 are first inserted into the housing and the supply cables are passed through guide channels 49 shown in FIG. 1. Then the intake body 1 is attached. on the corresponding cover 4 and preassembled so as to engage the preassembling teeth 311 and 321 in the ratchet sleeves 46 and 47. It only remains to bring the gripping strips 43 fully into the corresponding receiving slots 25 , which has for

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  effect of incising the insulating sleeves of the power cables. This operation

  definitive ratchet is achieved by means of the tool shown in FIG.

  This tool, generally designated by the reference numeral 5, comprises a fixed handle 51 and a movable handle 52. The movable handle 52 is movable between two extreme positions which correspond to a position for introducing the head of the tool into the housing. 22 and a position of gripping and pulling the bars 43. In the position shown, the movable handle 52 is in the insertion position. With a cam system (not shown), the movable handle 52 acts on gripping teeth 53 which are located at the head of the tool. These gripping teeth 53 are four in number and correspond geometrically to the location of the gripping windows 44 of the bars 43. These gripping teeth are retractable so as to be able to penetrate the head of the tool into the housing 22. In FIG. bringing the movable handle 52 into the position shown in Figure 3, the gripping teeth 53 are retracted into the inside of the head. In addition, the head of the tool comprises a non-visible bearing surface 54 since located below the head. In the insertion position, the gripping teeth 53 and the bearing surface 54 are located substantially at the same level. Thus, the gripping teeth 53, once the head inserted in the housing 22, are located just above the bottom 24 of the housing 22 with the bearing surface 54 in contact with the bottom 24. By bringing the movable handle to the fixed handle 51, the cam system (not shown) has the effect of extending the gripping teeth 53 outward in the gripping windows 44 of the bars 43. Simultaneously, the cam system has the effect of moving the surface 54 relative to the plane in which the gripping teeth 53 are located. This relative displacement of the bearing surface 54 and the gripping teeth 53 has the effect of engaging the gripping teeth 53 with the upper part. gripping windows 44, while the bearing surface 54 abuts the bottom 21 of the housing 22. The rear cover 4 is thus pulled towards the gripping body 1 until the supply cables enter the housing the self-cutting slots s, thus incising their supply ducts. When the movable handle 52 is substantially completely folded over the fixed handle 51, the gripping bars 43 are fully engaged in the corresponding receiving slots 25 and the detent teeth 310 and 320 of the detent tabs 31 and 32 have reached their final position in the corresponding sleeves 46 and 47. To extract the head of the mounting tool 5, simply bring the movable handle 52 in the position shown in Figure 3. The bearing surface 54 then rises to the level gripping teeth 53 which retract back inwards. The head can then be disengaged from the housing 22. The tool shown in FIG. 3 constitutes only one possible model of a tool capable of performing such a function.

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  surgery. Any other tool having gripping members that can be inserted into the gripping windows 44 and a bearing surface making it possible to bear on a portion of the front wall 21 or the bottom 24 of the housing 2 can also be used in

  the scope of the present invention for closing such an outlet ...

  Thanks to the invention, the socket can be closed by incising the insulating sleeves of the cables without worrying about the space available at the back of the cover 4. The entire operation of

  closing takes place from the visible side of the socket.

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Claims (9)

claims   1.- Electrical socket for power supply network, said network comprising several power cables with a conductive core and an insulating sheath, said socket comprising: - a socket body (1) having a face before (2) provided with plug holes adapted to receive an electrical connection plug with plug-in contact pins, a rear face (3) provided with insulation-displacement contacts having self-cutting slots (33) each adapted to receive a cable supplying conductive contact by incising the insulating sheath to the conductive core, said insulation displacement contacts (33) being electrically connected to connection means for the electrical connection plug, and side faces (28), - A rear cover (4) reportable by interlocking on the rear face (3) of the socket body (1) with insulation displacement contacts (33), said cover (4) comprising means guide (49) for guiding the supply cables in the corresponding insulation displacement slots (33), when said cover (4) is interlocked on the rear face (3) of the socket body (1), characterized in that the rear cover (4) comprises gripping means (43) accessible from the front face (2) or the lateral faces (28) of the grip body (1) for inserting the rear cover (4) on the body of the taken (1) and thus establish the electric contact.   2. Electrical power socket according to claim 1, wherein the gripping means comprise at least one gripping member (43) by which the rear cover (4) can be grasped by a suitable tool (5) to perform a movement translational   between the rear cover (4) and the grip body (1).   3. An electrical plug according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the front face (2) of the socket body (1) comprises a front housing (22) having a bottom (24) in which the holes are formed. and a peripheral side wall (23), said gripping means (43) being accessible from the housing frontal (22).   4. An electric plug according to claim 3, wherein a plurality of gripping members (43) are distributed in the peripheral side wall (23) of the   frontal housing (22) of the front face (2) of the grip body (1). 2734413   5.- Electrical power socket according to claim 4, wherein the gripping members are in the form of protruding strips (43) in which are formed gripping windows (44), said peripheral side wall (23) being formed with corresponding receiving lights (25) adapted to receive said bars (43), said gripping windows (44) being accessible from inside the front housing (22).   6.- electrical outlet according to any one of the claims   in which the rear cover (4) and the grip body (1) are provided with   latching means (31, 46, 32, 47).   7.- Electrical socket according to any one of the claims   in which at least one insulation displacement contact (23) is offset relative to the other (s), so that the incisions of the insulating members of the different cables do not are not simultaneous.   8. A mounting tool (5) for inserting a back cover (4) on a socket body (1) of an electrical outlet according to any one of the   preceding claims, characterized in that said tool (5) comprises means   grippers (53) adapted to cooperate with the gripping means (43) of the catch and the bearing means (54) adapted to abut against a surface (24) of the front face (2) of the grip, means being provided for moving the gripping means (53) translational relative to the support means (54) so as to bring back the cover (4)   and to fit on the grip body (1).   9. A mounting tool according to claim 8, wherein the gripping means comprise retractable gripping members (53), said bearing means comprising a movable bearing surface (54) adapted to engage the bottom (24). ) of the front housing (22) of the engagement body (1), cam means actuated by a movable handle (52) being provided for moving the gripping members (53) and the movable bearing surface (54) between a first position in which the gripping members are retracted and located substantially at the same level as the bearing surface, and a second position in which the gripping members are extended outwards and   offset from the bearing surface.