GB2500561A - Consumer unit with two earth bars and/or with terminals lining up - Google Patents
Consumer unit with two earth bars and/or with terminals lining up Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- GB2500561A GB2500561A GB1120817.0A GB201120817A GB2500561A GB 2500561 A GB2500561 A GB 2500561A GB 201120817 A GB201120817 A GB 201120817A GB 2500561 A GB2500561 A GB 2500561A
- Authority
- GB
- United Kingdom
- Prior art keywords
- earth
- bar
- live
- neutral
- line
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
Links
- 230000007935 neutral effect Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 17
- 239000004020 conductor Substances 0.000 abstract description 8
- 238000012423 maintenance Methods 0.000 description 3
- 238000009434 installation Methods 0.000 description 2
- 229910001369 Brass Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 101000827703 Homo sapiens Polyphosphoinositide phosphatase Proteins 0.000 description 1
- 102100023591 Polyphosphoinositide phosphatase Human genes 0.000 description 1
- 230000009286 beneficial effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000010951 brass Substances 0.000 description 1
- 231100001261 hazardous Toxicity 0.000 description 1
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000002184 metal Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000002991 molded plastic Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000001681 protective effect Effects 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
- H02B—BOARDS, SUBSTATIONS OR SWITCHING ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE SUPPLY OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
- H02B1/00—Frameworks, boards, panels, desks, casings; Details of substations or switching arrangements
- H02B1/26—Casings; Parts thereof or accessories therefor
- H02B1/40—Wall-mounted casings; Parts thereof or accessories therefor
- H02B1/42—Mounting of devices therein
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
- H02G—INSTALLATION OF ELECTRIC CABLES OR LINES, OR OF COMBINED OPTICAL AND ELECTRIC CABLES OR LINES
- H02G3/00—Installations of electric cables or lines or protective tubing therefor in or on buildings, equivalent structures or vehicles
- H02G3/02—Details
- H02G3/08—Distribution boxes; Connection or junction boxes
- H02G3/16—Distribution boxes; Connection or junction boxes structurally associated with support for line-connecting terminals within the box
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Architecture (AREA)
- Civil Engineering (AREA)
- Structural Engineering (AREA)
- Power Engineering (AREA)
- Breakers (AREA)
- Distribution Board (AREA)
- Patch Boards (AREA)
Abstract
An electrical consumer unit / fuse board has a live bar o, a neutral bar b, an earth bar a and an additional earth connection bar (functional earth bar) d. The earth bars may be joined by a detachable link j. The terminals for an outgoing conductor e are substantially in line with each other and with the output terminal of the appropriate circuit breaker c. The functional earth bar may be used for high integrity earth circuits. The live bar o may be positioned away from the outgoing conductors.
Description
TITLE
Nico Board
BACKROUND
The invention is an Electrical Consumer unit designed for domestic, commercial and industrial use.Current consumer units have significant flaws and all have similar wiring arrangements which can be significantly improved upon for installation, maintenance and safety. Wires often end up crossing each other, live components and causing a hazard for the installer and compromising the safety of the installation.The reason for this is that the earth, neutral and live connections all terminate in different sections of the fuseboard -see Fig 1 for typical example of current fuseboard.
All of these fuseboards also provide only 1 earth terminal for each circuit -you can often have 3 earth wires on one circuit and if you need to remove one for testing, you are forced to remove the others which leaves the circuit in hand without a protective conductor.
STATEMENT OF INVENTION
To overcome the problems outlined above, the Nico Board' has earth, neutral bus bars which all line up with the live outputs of the breakers/ RCBO's or other forms of switch gear installed. Please see Fig 2. The other main difference with the Nico Board is that it includes a Functional earth' bus bar to cnable safcr wiring of high integrity earth circuits and for case of testing see Fig 3.
ADVANTAGES
The advantages of this new design are numerous. The main one would be that it significantly improves on safety and in even the worst case where it is being installed by a cowboy electrician or underqualified persons it would be difficult to wire wrongly and in an unsafe manor.
1. The fact that all the live/neutral/earth terminals line up with each other, makes it obvious where to wire them into and clear to see where they go and come from. This is hugely beneficial when trying to trace where wires come from for testing purposes or wiring in additional circuits.
2. The fact that all the live/neutral/earth terminals line up with each other makes the labbelling of a fliseboard far casier at any stage. It would be vcry easy to identi' circuits even if no labbeling present.
3. The line up of all the bus bars means that the cable entry is from the top -this means that there would be no reason to run wires anywhere near the live bus bar (usually at the bottom of the board). See Fig 3.4.
4. It is not always possible to isolate an entirc fttseboard for maintenance -especially in places such as hospitals where they power life support equipment. This layout and design of the nico board makes it far easier and safer to access components and add additional circuits without isolating panel. The state of many existing fuseboards is so bad that to even open up without isolating supply is very hazardous. Please note: I accept that strictly speaking, all fuseboards and switch gear need to be properly isolated before covers taken off and maintenance undertaken on them, however in reality, little attention is paid to this. The design of the Nico Board ommits many hazards should it be opened up and worked upon in this way. I do not promote or encourage contractors to work on fuseboards while they are live, however offer a safer enviorement to do so should they decide to work in this way (which many contractors inevitably do).
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The Nico Board (see fig 2) is an electrical consumer unit with an easier and safer wiring arrangement internally.
The internal components will comprise of the fbllowing: Main switch Circuit breakers/RCBO'si'RCD Live bus bar Neutral bus bar -Fig 4 Earthbusbar -Fig5 Functional earth bus bar -Fig 6 The main switch! live bus bar and circuit breakers (already standard units) vary in makes but are generally similar to each otheit If patent granted then we will approach companies who manufacture these and arrange a contract to fit that particular switch gear.
The neutral! earth and functional earth bars are designed by myself and their allignment inside fliseboard along with the presence of a thnctional earth bar is the most significant claim for this patent. These are primarily to be manufactured out of brass. The spacing between them and there exact position in the board will vary but they will always generally line up with the live outputs on top of the circuit breakers!RCBO's. See Fig 2!3.
The structural body of the fbseboard is designed by myself and the cable entries are significant to the design. These are preferably to line up with each line of termination'. This reduces the chance of cables crossing ovet See Fig 7.
The body of the fliseboard to be made preferably in moulded plastic or metal but is not limited to these two materials and will vary in size depending on how many circuits it can feed. KEY.
FIG PAGE DESCRIPTION
* FIG 1 1/10 Typical consumer unit with typical earth and neutral bar locations a-earthbar * b-neutral bar _______ c -breakers (mcb/rcbo/rewjrable fuse) FIG 2 2/10 Nico Board -earth/neutral bus bars in line with breakers a-earthbar * b-neutral bar * c -breakers (mcb/rcbo) -_________________________________________ FIG 3. 3/10 Nico Board -as Fig.2 but including functional earth bar a-earthbar.
b-neutral bar.
* c-breakers (mcb/rcbo) * . d-fIjnctjonalearthbar * FIG 3.1 4/10 Nico Board-as Fig.2 but including functional earth bar a-earth bar b-neutralbar : c-breakers(mcb/rcbo) d-fisnctionalearthbar * e -typical. twin and earth cable -internal conductors -neutral, earth, live FIG 3.2 5/10 Nico Board -as Fig2 but including functional earth bar and links a-earthbar * . . . . : . . b-neutralbar. . . . c -breakers (mcb/rcbo) d-fiinctionalearthbar f-main switch.
g -neutral link fixim main switch to neutral bar h -main earth conductors I-3xbondingterminals.
______ _______ j -link between earth bars FIG 3.3 6/10 Nico Board -as Fig.2 but including functional earth bar with armoured cable entry.
a-earthbar. -. -. ---: b-neutralbar. -. . . --c -breakers (mcb/rcbo) d -functional earth bar -. f-main switch. --.
* k -armoured cable 1-earth conductor -. * . . H FIG3.4 7/10. Nice Board--including all items a-earthbar b -neutral bar.
c -breakers (mcb/rcbo) d-fbnctional earth bar.
* e -typical twin and earth cable -internal conductors -neutral, earth, live f-main switch.
g-neutrallink. . . j-tinkbetweenearthbars k-armoured cable / I -earth conductor.
m -live input terminal n -neutral input terminal * o-livebusbar FIG4 8/10 * Neutral bar.
b-neutral bar. . . p-terminal * . ______ q-cable FIG.5 9/10 * EarthBar. . a-earth bar. . . * . p-terminal.
______ ______ q-cable. . -FIG 6 10/10 Functional earth bar ** . * * * .. . . . * * d -functional earth barS p -terminal.
__ q-cabk.: *
Claims (9)
- CLAIMS1. An electrical consumer unit in which the terminals of the earth, neutral and functional earth bars line up directly or closely in line with the live output of the circuit breaker for each circuit.
- 2. The presence of a functional earth bar within the consumer unit with a detachable link to the standard earth bar with all corresponding terminals lining up between them, the neutral bar and the live outputs from the circuit breakers.Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows:CLA I MS1. An electrical consumer unit having earth and neutral bars, and having a functional earth bar distinct from the earth bar.2. A unit as claimed in claim 1, comprising means to form a disconnectable link between the functional earth bar and the earth bar.
- 3. A unit as claimed in claim 2, comprising switchgear with an output live terminal (alternatively called phase terminal) for each of a plurality of consumer circuits and, for each of these circuits, respective terminals of the earth, neutral and functional earth bars which are directly or closely in line with that live terminal.
- 4. A unit as claimed in claim 3, in which the switchgear comprises circuit breaker means.
- 5. An electrical consumer unit having a live terminal (alternatively called pha5e terminal) for each of a plurality of consumer circuits, and having earth and neutral bars with respective terminals that line up directly or closely in line with each such live terminal.
- 6. An electrical consumer unit having a live (alternatively called phase) terminal for each of a plurality of consumer circuits, and having earth, neutral and functional earth bars with respective terminals that line up directly or closely in line with each such live terminal.
- 7. A unit as claimed in claim 6, comprising means to form a disconnectable link between the F". functional earth bar and the earth bar.0
- 8. An electrical consumer unit substantially according to any embodiment hereinbefore (Y) described.(s.,J
- 9. An electrical consumer unit substantially according to any embodiment hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB1120817.0A GB2500561A (en) | 2011-12-05 | 2011-12-05 | Consumer unit with two earth bars and/or with terminals lining up |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB1120817.0A GB2500561A (en) | 2011-12-05 | 2011-12-05 | Consumer unit with two earth bars and/or with terminals lining up |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| GB201120817D0 GB201120817D0 (en) | 2012-01-11 |
| GB2500561A true GB2500561A (en) | 2013-10-02 |
Family
ID=45509117
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB1120817.0A Withdrawn GB2500561A (en) | 2011-12-05 | 2011-12-05 | Consumer unit with two earth bars and/or with terminals lining up |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| GB (1) | GB2500561A (en) |
Citations (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US5747737A (en) * | 1996-02-16 | 1998-05-05 | Keith D. Waehner | Internally connected junction box |
| GB2446841A (en) * | 2007-02-26 | 2008-08-27 | Prem Singh | Split load distribution board/consumer unit |
| CN201570820U (en) * | 2009-08-11 | 2010-09-01 | 王亚新 | Household distribution box |
-
2011
- 2011-12-05 GB GB1120817.0A patent/GB2500561A/en not_active Withdrawn
Patent Citations (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US5747737A (en) * | 1996-02-16 | 1998-05-05 | Keith D. Waehner | Internally connected junction box |
| GB2446841A (en) * | 2007-02-26 | 2008-08-27 | Prem Singh | Split load distribution board/consumer unit |
| CN201570820U (en) * | 2009-08-11 | 2010-09-01 | 王亚新 | Household distribution box |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| GB201120817D0 (en) | 2012-01-11 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| WAP | Application withdrawn, taken to be withdrawn or refused ** after publication under section 16(1) |