GB1583335A

GB1583335A - Terminal board for electrical equipment

Info

Publication number: GB1583335A
Application number: GB12997/78A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Ellenberger and Poensgen GmbH
Current assignee: Ellenberger and Poensgen GmbH
Priority date: 1977-04-09
Filing date: 1978-04-03
Publication date: 1981-01-28
Also published as: CH628758A5; ATA185978A; DE7711221U1; IT7822021A0; IT1094342B; AT368324B; FR2386899A1; FR2386899B1

Abstract

A terminal board, which consists of insulating material, for retaining especially switches and having associated connecting elements for electrical leads, consists of a plurality of identically constructed terminal board elements (2) which lie in a plane and are plugged onto one another in one direction. Each individual terminal board element (2) contains all the connecting and retaining elements for at least one electrical installation apparatus. The direction in which the individual terminal board elements (2) are plugged together is selected such that subsequent enlargement of such a terminal board is possible by plugging on further terminal board elements (2), even in constricted spatial conditions. The terminal board elements (2) are provided on their side walls (11, 12) with projections (15, 16) and depressions (17, 18) which engage in one another in a dovetail manner and extend over the entire terminal board height. In order to limit the pushing-in depth and in order to ensure that the surfaces of the terminal board elements (2) which are plugged to one another are flush, stepped stops (19, 22) are arranged laterally close to the projections (15, 16) and depressions (17, 18). Arranged laterally close to the projections (15, 16) and depressions (17, 18) and the stepped stops (19, 22) are further latching elements (25, 26) which latch into one another when the stepped stops (19, 22) abut against one another. <IMAGE>

Description

(54) TERMINAL BOARD FOR ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT (71) We, ELLENBERGER & POENSGEN GmbH, a German Body Corporate of, Industriestr. 2-8, 8503, Altdorf, Germany, do hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The present invention relates to a terminal board of insulating material suitable for the mounting of rows of electrical switching devices, such as circuit breakers.

It is known to produce such terminal boards in different sizes depending on whether they are intended for mounting two, four or six cir- cuit breakers. Different moulds are required to produce these different terminal board sizes and the need to stock terminal boards of different sizes also increases the costs of storage.

It is an object of the present invention to simplify the production and storage of such terminal boards and to reduce their cost.

According to the present invention there is provided a terminal board assembly comprising a plurality of interconnected uniform terminal board units of insulating material and adapted for the mounting of a row of electrical devices side by side, each terminal board unit having two lateral side walls running substantially at right angles to the direction of extent of the row and provided with dove-tail type tenons and mortices running substantially perpendicularly to the surface of the terminal board and extending through substantially the whole height of the terminal board whereby adjacent ones of the terminal board units are slidably engaged with each other by means of the respective tenons and mortices, the side walls being provided with stepped abutments limiting the extent of sliding engagement of the dovetail tenons and mortices to define the relative positions of the connected together units in which the top surfaces of the terminal board units are co-planar, locking elements being provided for interlocking the engaged terminal board units together when the abutments are engaged.

The invention is thus based on the idea of creating terminal board assemblies of any desired size by selectively interconnecting identically sized terminal board units. To produce terminal board assemblies of any size it is then only necessary to have the required number of terminal board units. The only costs involved are those for the mould for this terminal board unit. Storage costs are also reduced to those required for storing the required number of terminal board units.

When the connection between units is effected by means of positive-locking, plug-in elements extending perpendicularly to the common plane of the units, it becomes easy to subsequently supplement already installed terminal boards, which are disposed, for example, in recesses or the like, without cramped space conditions impeding or preventing interconnection. The terminal board unit which is to be connected to an already installed terminal board unit, or to a partial assembly, is simply plugged or pushed, in the direction toward the installation surface into engagement with a previously installed terminal board unit.

The terminal board units should be easy to fit, or plug, together. However, in the connected, interlocked, position they should normally not be detachable from one another.

Additional optional preferred features of the invention relate to the design and mounting of the plug-in connectors provided by the ter- - minal board for electrical devices, on the one hand, and for electrical wires, on the other hand, without their design necessarily being bound to the configuration of the terminal board.

In preferred embodiments of the invention each unit is provided with recesses having undercuts for receiving detent projections of an adjacent unit as the locking elements for connecting the units together, and the lateral walls of the recesses have a certain positional elasticity so that they initially spring apart when the plug-in connections are brought together, and then spring back to their desired detaining position. In this connection, a thin-walled design for the recess walls has the additional significance that it produces favorable moulding conditions in the manufacture of parts and conserves material.

The invention will be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the body of a terminal board of a terminal board unit according to the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of a terminal board unit identical to that of Figure 1, which can be connected together with the terminal board unit of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a top plan view showing the cover surface of a completely assembled terminal board unit having the body shown in Figures 1 and 2, with the appearance of a terminal board assembly composed of three connected together terminal board units indicated by dot-dash lines; Figure 4 is a partly cross-sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of Figure 3; Figure 5 is a simplified representation of an electrical device provided with protruding plug pins which is to be plugged into a terminal board unit; Figure 6 is a cross-sectional detail view along the section line VI-VI of Figure 3; Figure 7 is a cross-sectional detail view along the section line VII-VII of Figure 3, with electrical connectors of the board units removed; Figure 8 is a detail view to an enlarged scale taken in the direction of the arrow VIII of Figure 4; and Figure 9 is a front view of a terminal board body taken in the direction of the arrow IX of Figure 3.

Since all of the figures present different views of the same embodiment, the following description will refer to all figures as a group, unless particular figures are specified.

As shown, particularly in Figure 3, a complete terminal board assembly 1 is formed of a plurality, e.g. 3, of individual terminal board units which are connected together in a positive locking manner. Each terminal board unit is composed of a body 2 of insulating material provided with electrical connector pairs, each pair being composed of a screw terminal 6 and a plug connector 7 of conductive material. Each body 2 is formed to present receptacles 5 via which the connector pins 4 of a switching device 3, such as a circuit breaker, shown in Figure 5, can be connected to a respective connector pair. Each of the terminals 6 and connectors 7 presents a bore 8 aligned in a respective receptacle 5 to establish an electrically conductive connection with a respective pin 4 of an electrical device 3 into bores 8. The free ends of terminals 6 can be connected to electrical wires, while the free ends of connectors 7 can be connected to associated receptacles.

The mounting and connecting elements 5-8 for each electrical device 3 are arranged in a row which extends essentially in the direction of arrows 9 of Figure 3, which is at right angles to the direction of arrows 10 of Figure 3, along which the electrical devices 3 are spaced on the terminal board assembly.

As shown in Figures 1-3, each terminal board body 2 is provided with mounting and connecting elements 5-8 for two electrical devices 3.

Each body 2 has two lateral side walls 11 and 12 which extend in the direction 9, approximately at right angles to the direction 10 of a row of units and each side wall is provided with two protruding dovetail tenons 15 and 16 which extend perpendicularly to opposed cover faces 13 and 14. At the locations each side wall 11 and 12 is provided with the two dovetail tenons 15 and 16, the other side wall is provided with two dovetail mortises 17 and 18. Upon connecting together two terminal board bodies 2, the dovetail tenons 15 and 16 on a side wall of one body engage in the mating mortises 17 and 18 of the associated side wall of the adjacent terminal board body 2.

The side wall 11 of each body 2 is provided with a stepped abutment 19 between the two dovetail tenons 15 and 16, which abutment protrudes in the direction 10 and extends perpendicularly to the cover faces 13 and 14.

The stepped abutment 19 is defined between a recessed surface 20, which starts at the level of the first cover face 1 3 and is perpendicular thereto, and a projecting surface 21 which starts at the second cover face 14, surface 21 thus being further than surface 20 from the center of body 2.

The side wall 12 of each body 2 is provided with a stepped abutment 22 which is arranged to cooperate, and mate, with the stepped abutment 19 of an adjacent body 2. The stepped abutment 22 is defined between a recessed surface 23, which starts at the second cover face 14 and is perpendicular thereto, and a projecting surface 24, i.e. a surface which protrudes further from the center of its associated body 2 in the direction 10 of the row and is likewise perpendicular to cover face 13.

When two terminal board units are to be connected together, the stepped abutments 19, 22 permit such connection to be effected in only one direction and limit the extent of relative movement between the units in such a manner that when there is contact between the abutments, all of the cover faces 13 and all of the cover faces 14 of the row of terminal board units are flush with one another, i.e. are arranged in the same plane.

The side wall 12 of each body 2 is provided with two latching tongues 25 which are resiliently movable in the direction 10 of the row. Each tongue 25 is positioned to interact with a respective one of two protruding detent ribs 26 provided on side wall 11 of each body 2.

Latching tongues 25 and detent ribe 26 extend approximately at right angles to the direction 27 in which body 2 of Figure 2 moves relative to body 2 of Figure 1 when these two bodies are being connected together. The detent ribs 26 are positioned at side wall 11 so as to make the latching with tongues 25 effective, during connection together of two terminal board units, as soon as the cover faces 13 and 14 of adjacent bodies 2 are flush with one another.

The detent surfaces between each latching tongue 25 and detent rib 26 are perpendicular to the insertion direction 27 in such a way that they are effective to prevent relative movement opposite to the insertion direction 27 and thus, after completed connection of two terminal board units, normally prevent their detachment from one another.

In order to facilitate plugging together of the terminal board bodies 2, the back of each latching tongue 25 and of each detent rib 26 is provided with an oblique surface 29 or 30 designed in the form of a ramp which is effective in the insertion direction 27. Each latching tongue 25 is formed at the free end of a thinwalled rib 31 which extends in the insertion direction 27. The rib 31 is spaced from the adjacent side wall 12 and is designed so that it can spring back away from side wall 12, in the direction 10, toward wall 11 of the adjacent body 2 when, during insertion, the oblique surface 30 of the cooperating detent rib 26 has slid past the oblique surface 29 of the latching tongue 25.

The side walls 11 and 12 of each terminal board body 2 are designed so that when connected together they are flush against one another in several areas, for example in the region of the surfaces 20, 21, 23, 24 and in their outer regions 32, 33 approximately over the entire height 34 of the terminal board bodies 2. This creates positional stability for the terminal board units once they have been plugged together in that the cover faces 13,14 of the terminal board bodies 2 are in the same plane and can essentially not be pivoted or twisted relative to one another.

The terminal board bodies 2 are made of plastics in one piece with the dovetail tenons 15 and 16, the stepped abutments 19 and 22, the latching tongues 25 and the detent ribs 26.

The mutual coaction of the stepped abutments 19 and 22 and the latching tongues 25 with the detent ribs 26 is shown in Figures 1 and 2 by the arrows 35 and 36, respectively.

When the two terminal board bodies 2 of Figures 1 and 2 are plugged together the dovetail tenons 15 and 16 of the one side wall 11 of one terminal board body are pushed into the mating dovetail mortises 17 and 18 of the other terminal board body in the insertion direction 27 until the stepped abutments 19, 22 abut against one another and at the same time the latching tongues 25 engage behind the detent ribs 26 to thus prevent disconnection of the two bodies. Then the two terminal board bodies 2 take on a highly stable configuration in which they are parallel to one another and their cover faces 13 and 14 are flush with one another.

Where hereabove mention was made of dovetail tenons and mortises, this also includes half dovetail tenons and mortises as well as at least on one side an engagement in the sense of a dovetail fit or dovetail joint, respectively.

The terminals 6 and 7 are designed, as shown in Figures 3, 4 and 8, in leaf form and can each be inserted into the interior of terminal board body from the two free end walls 37 and 38 thereof. Each body 2 is provided for this purpose with insertion slits 39 which are oriented approximately parallel to cover faces 13 and 14.

Each of terminals 6 and connectors 7 is provided along opposed longitudinal edges with detent tabs 40 arranged to engage in corresponding recess 41 that is provided in the terminal board bodies. The detent tabs 40 and recesses 41 have surfaces which face one another in mutual engagement and which are approximately at right angles to the direction 42 (Figure 1) of insertion of each terminal or connector so that these surfaces engage one another to prevent withdrawal of the terminal or connector once it has heen fully inserted.

The open end of each insertion slit 39 opens into a recess 43 which is open to the first cover face 13 and to the adjacent free end wall 37 or 38, respectively, of the terminal board body 2. The body portions defining adjacent recesses 43 at each end of the body are connected together only in the area of the first cover face 13 by means of thin-walled bars 44. The body walls 45 and 46 defining the recesses have a Ushaped cross-sectional profile in a vertical sectional plane extending perpendicular to faces 13 and 14 in the direction 10 and are connected together only in the region of the free ends of the U-shaped profiles by means of horizontal bars 44. The insertion slits 39 are disposed approximately in the center midway between the upper and the lower ends of the U-shaped profiles. The lower horizontal connecting bar 47 between the two arms 45 and 46 of each U-shaped profile borders on the second cover face 14 of the terminal board body 2.

The cross-sectional thicknesses of the arms 45 and 46 of the U-shaped profiles and of their upper and lower connecting bars 44 and 47 are about equal and the arms are given thin walls so that an elastically yielding spring effect is produced to facilitate insertion of terminals 6 and connectors 7.

The recesses 41 for the engagement of the detent tabs 40 lie outside of the regions enclosed by insertion slits 39 and are formed in the lateral walls 45 and 46. The insertion slits 39 lie inside the recesses 43 for at least part of their length and are there designed as grooves 48 and 49 formed in lateral walls 45 and 46.

In order to assure secure contact of the leaf-shaped terminals 6 and connectors 7, the walls 45 and 46 are set inwardly below grooves 48 and 49 so that a step 50 or 51, respectively, is formed between the lower part of each wall 45 and 46 and the part disposed above groove 48 or 49.

In the area of their free ends, the connectors 7 are provided with male plugs 52. In con tradistinction thereto, terminals 6, in the region of their free ends, are provided with connecting screws 53 and conductive clamping pieces for the connection of electrical wires (not shown).

In the inserted position of terminals 6 and connectors 7, bores 8 therein are aligned with the insertion openings 5, as shown in Figure 4, which have been formed in the terminal board body 2 from the first cover face 13, so that the plug pins 4 extend through the plug openings 5 into the terminal board body 2 and into the bores 8 of the oppositely disposed connector and terminal, where they are gripped in the bores 8 in a force locking manner to provide a good electrical and mechanical connection.

Terminals 6 and connectors 7 can be fixed to the terminal board body 2 in a simple manner in that they are simply inserted from the outside into the insertion slits 39 until the detent tabs 40 engage in the recesses 41 in the walls 45 and 46. In the region of their ends 54, facing in the insertion direction 42, as shown in Figure 8, the detent tabs 40 are chamfered so as to form ramps. In view of the fact that the walls 45 and 46 are arranged with their connecting bars 44 and 47 to follow a meander shaped path in the direction 10, and that the insertion slits 39 are disposed in the center of the walls 45 and 46, the latter are deflected slightly apart when the detent tabs 40 are inserted until the detent tabs 40 engage in the recesses 41, whereupon walls 45 and 46 spring together again.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A terminal board assembly comprising a plurality of interconnected uniform terminal board units of insulating material and adapted for the mounting of a row of electrical devices side by side, each terminal board unit having two lateral side walls running substantially at right angles to the direction of extent of the row and provided with dovetail type tenons and mortices running substantially perpendicularly to the surface of the terminal board and extending through substantially the whole height of the terminal board whereby adjacent one of the terminal board units are slidally engaged with each other by means of the respective tenons and mortices, the side walls being provided with stepped abutments limiting the extent of sliding engagement of the dovetail tenons and mortices to defince the relative positions of the connected together units in which the top surfaces of the terminal board units are coplanar, locking elements being provided for interlocking the engaged terminal board units together when the abutments are engaged.

2. An assembly according to claim 1, wherein the stepped abutments are arranged next to the tenons or mortices respectively and the locking elements lie laterally next to the tenons or mortices respectively and the step-wise stops.

3. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein for each terminal board unit the locking elements are comprised by at least one latching tongue on one side wall which is elastically yieldable in the direction of the row of devices, and a detent rib on the other side wall which corresponds with the latching tongue and detent rib or two adjacent connected together units being engaged with one another when the top surfaces of said units are flush with one another.

4. An assembly as claimed in claim 3, where- in the engagement is effective only in the direction opposite to the direction of movement required between the two units when the units are being connected together.

5. An assembly as claimed in claim 4, wherein each latching tongue and detent rib has a rear side provided with an inclined surface defining a ramp that is effective in the engaging direction of movement between two of the units and said one side wall of each unit is provided with a thin-walled rib which extends in such direction of movement and carries a respective latching tongue.

6. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the side walls of the terminal board units are formed such that adjacent side walls of the connected together units rest flush against one another in several regions over the entire extent of the side walls.

7. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein each terminal board unit is provided with mounting and connecting elements for two juxtaposed electrical devices.

8. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein each unit is composed of an integral body formed with portions for connecting adjacent one of the units together.

9. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein each terminal board unit has two end walls extending perpendicularly to the side walls and is provided with insertion slits each extending from one of said end walls into the interior of the terminal board unit and each holding a respective connecting element.

10. An assembly as claimed in claim 9, wherein at least one of the connecting elements is provided with a male connecting prong.

11. An assembly as claimed in claim 9 or 10 wherein at least one of the connecting elements is provided with a screw terminal for connection of an electrical wire.

12. An assembly as claimed in claim 9, 10 or 11, wherein each said connecting element has a flat shape and is provided, at opposed sides, with detent tabs, and each said unit is provided, in the region of each said slit, with a holding recess which engage the tabs of a respec tive connecting element.

13. An assembly as claimed in claim 12, wherein the opposed sides of each said connecting element are provided with detent tabs which extend in the direction of insertion of each connecting element in an associated one of the insertion slits.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. tradistinction thereto, terminals 6, in the region of their free ends, are provided with connecting screws 53 and conductive clamping pieces for the connection of electrical wires (not shown). In the inserted position of terminals 6 and connectors 7, bores 8 therein are aligned with the insertion openings 5, as shown in Figure 4, which have been formed in the terminal board body 2 from the first cover face 13, so that the plug pins 4 extend through the plug openings 5 into the terminal board body 2 and into the bores 8 of the oppositely disposed connector and terminal, where they are gripped in the bores 8 in a force locking manner to provide a good electrical and mechanical connection. Terminals 6 and connectors 7 can be fixed to the terminal board body 2 in a simple manner in that they are simply inserted from the outside into the insertion slits 39 until the detent tabs 40 engage in the recesses 41 in the walls 45 and 46. In the region of their ends 54, facing in the insertion direction 42, as shown in Figure 8, the detent tabs 40 are chamfered so as to form ramps. In view of the fact that the walls 45 and 46 are arranged with their connecting bars 44 and 47 to follow a meander shaped path in the direction 10, and that the insertion slits 39 are disposed in the center of the walls 45 and 46, the latter are deflected slightly apart when the detent tabs 40 are inserted until the detent tabs 40 engage in the recesses 41, whereupon walls 45 and 46 spring together again. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A terminal board assembly comprising a plurality of interconnected uniform terminal board units of insulating material and adapted for the mounting of a row of electrical devices side by side, each terminal board unit having two lateral side walls running substantially at right angles to the direction of extent of the row and provided with dovetail type tenons and mortices running substantially perpendicularly to the surface of the terminal board and extending through substantially the whole height of the terminal board whereby adjacent one of the terminal board units are slidally engaged with each other by means of the respective tenons and mortices, the side walls being provided with stepped abutments limiting the extent of sliding engagement of the dovetail tenons and mortices to defince the relative positions of the connected together units in which the top surfaces of the terminal board units are coplanar, locking elements being provided for interlocking the engaged terminal board units together when the abutments are engaged.

14. An assembly as claimed in claim 13,

wherein each said terminal board unit is provided, in association with each said insertion slit, with two recesses each arranged to receive a respective detent tab of one said connecting element, each tab and each recess being provided with respective surfaces which extend approximately normally to the direction of insertion of the associated connecting element into the associated slit and which engage one another upon completion of insertion of said connecting element for preventing subsequent removal of said connecting element.

15. An assembly as claimed in claim 14, wherein said two recesses associated with each said insertion slit are disposed at least partly outside of their associated insertion slit.

16. An assembly as claimed in claim 14 or 15, wherein the terminal board unit has two opposed cover faces each extending between the end walls and parallel to the plane of orientation of the insertion slits and is provided with further recesses into each of which a respective insertion slit opens and each of which is open to a first one of said cover faces and to that one of the end walls from which its associated insertion slit extends, there being two said further recesses open to one of the end walls, and the portions of the unit delimiting two said further recesses which open to said one end wall are connected together only in the region of said first one of the cover faces.

17. An assembly as claimed in claim 16, wherein each said unit portion delimiting each one of said two further recesses is formed to give its associated further recess a U-shaped cross section in a plane parallel to said one end wall, each said unit includes a bar portion connecting together said portions delimiting said two further recesses, and each said insertion slit is located approximately midway between the top and bottom of the U-shape defining its associated further recess.

18. An assembly as claimed in claim 17, wherein each said unit portion delimiting each one of the further recesses includes a connecting bar defining the base of the associated Ushape and bordering on the second one of the cover faces.

19. An assembly as claimed in claim 18, wherein each said unit portion delimiting a Ushaped further recess and each said bar portion are constituted by thin walls of approximately equal thickness which enable each said unit portion delimiting a respective further recess to be resiliently deformable in the direction of the row of electrical devices.

20. An assembly as claimed in any one of claims 16 to 19, wherein each electrical device is provided with plug pins to be connected to respective connecting elements, said mounting elements for each device include insertion openings formed in each said unit and extending from said first one of said cover faces to respective ones of the insertion slits in the regions thereof remote from their associated end walls, and each said connecting element is provided with a bore aligned with a respective insertion opening for receiving a respective plug pin.

21. An assembly as claimed in claim 20, wherein each said insertion slit lies at least partly in its associated recesses.

22. A terminal board assembly constructed and arranged substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.