MXPA99001632A - Intumed proof box - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a weatherproof enclosure for electric charging centers, switches or electrical components, comprising a main box base, two box end covers, and a cover door hingedly mounted to provide access to the interior of the weatherproof box, wherein: the main box base includes a generally U-shaped member having a bottom and side walls extending longitudinally, opposite, bent upwards from the edges of, and extending orthogonally upwardly from the base, forming a box with an open top, the side walls extending longitudinally and affixed have a flange extending outwardly, orthogonally from the side walls and formed the fold on an upper portion of the walls Lateral, the lateral and lower walls have edges that have ridges bent inwards in each of their exts Each of the two box end caps are placed at one end of the main box base and have a wall with an upper edge and a lower edge and two edges towards their ends to form flanges having an inner face and an outer face, the upper edge being bent over itself to form a laterally extending flange, which extends in a direction opposite to the lateral flanges, the end of the laterally extending flange is bent to form a return flange which is extends orthogonally to the laterally extending flange, the downwardly extending return flange has an end cap hinge bolt aperture for alignment with a cover hinge bolt aperture, correspondingly positioned, the lower edge of the cap end is bent outwardly to form an outwardly extending flange which has a mounting hole to secure the box to a pru It was exposed to the weather in an installation position, the articulately mounted cover door having an outer surface having a generally high rectangular face, substantially parallel to the bottom and connected to a uniform flat margin at two of its edges by projections, and connected to the margin. uniform plane at the third edge by a first flange having a curved shape, the generally rectangular face is connected to a surface gradually inclined at the fourth edge, the first flange is connected on two sides opposite the uniform flat margin by the bosses, the inclined surface it is gradually connected on two of its sides to the uniform plane margin by the projections and is connected on a fourth side by a second inclined surface gradually connected on two of its sides to the uniform flat margin by the projections and connected on a fourth side by the margin flat uniform, the uniform flat margin, bends over itself at its outer edges ores to form two return flanges of the door which extend around the perimeter of the margin, two of the return flanges of the door each have a cover hinge pin opening which is aligned with each of the two end cap articulation bolt openings and through which a rivet extends, the return flanges of the door being dimensioned to overlap the flanges extending outwardly from the side walls of the base and the flanges of the flange. return that extend below the end caps, the cover door additionally has a fixed packing to a lower surface of the margin which extends to the return flanges of the door in order to form a weatherproof seal around of the base and end caps when closing the articulated mounted cover

Description

WEATHER-PROOF BOX FIELD PE A INVENTION The present invention relates generally to the housings of electric charging centers, switches and other electrical components, and more particularly to an improved box which is weatherproof and meets environmental qualifications and standards for residential and indoor 10 commercial use. and outside. awrig.mMSN i PE THE INVENTION Boxes or accommodation for loading centers Electricity, switches and other electrical components suffer from numerous limitations, including resisting loads of environmental forces and the difficulty in passing an environmental qualification test. The boxes are designed to insulate and protect electrical equipment placed within their confines. external environmental conditions such as dust, rain, oil, water directed with a hose and other environmental qualification design bases specified in industry standards and Underwriters Laboratories standards such as UL-50"Standards For Enclosures For Electrical Equipment. ", 1997. The box is also designed to allow the user from the outside of the box to activate, deactivate or otherwise operate the electrical equipment inside it by coupling an internally activated activation or disconnection mechanism (from a position ON to OFF and vice versa). More importantly, the operation of the external handle must not cause operator damage due to a power cut or other abnormal condition caused by a failure of the box's environmental ratings. The externally placed handle which penetrates the wall of the box to engage the internally disconnected mechanism must also withstand the environmental loads mentioned above and the qualification standards. The prior art boxes use a "standard" switchbox and apply gaskets and sealants on the various edges of the box (which constitutes the thickness of the material that is part of the box), in an attempt to environmentally qualify the box . The gaskets must be placed in contact with the cover or door when it is closed in an attempt to prevent contaminants from entering during the lifetime of its design. Therefore, the function of the cover / door in the standard boxes of the prior art is, in part, to provide strength and protection of the elements and contaminants when pressing against a package placed on the edges of the box when the cover / door is closed. However, during the course of conducting a research and development program to develop and manufacture a new and improved weather proof box, the test showed that when the cover / door described above was closed, indentured or coded the package placed on the edges of the layer to such an extent that the elastic limits of the gasket or seal were exceeded and also caused the gasket or seal to "pucker up", i.e. to be displaced or pushed off the edges of either or both of the base and the end caps. Even when the elastic limits of the packaging material were not initially exceeded by the operation of the cover / door, the package nevertheless lost its resilience over time and also shirred upwards out of the edge of the base and the end caps. The edges on which the gasket was stuck would eventually cause it to fail by cutting it during the repeated opening / closing cycles of the cover / door. Additional tests carried out during the research and development program revealed that the use of the "flat" door / cover of the prior art actually promotes the subsequent failure of the prior art cases when subjected to the industry standard test. to influence a water flow from a high pressure hose. These failures occurred regardless of whether the packing material has failed before, or has failed during high pressure hose subjection, or has not failed in any way. More specifically, the cover was flexed or deformed inwards due to the force of the high pressure water flow that impinges on the door / cover, which generates a partial internal vacuum which promotes the entry of water into the box . The environmental failure of the box was caused by the entry of water either through a gap in the package that has failed, or the entry of water around the package that has been shirred upward and outward, or by the entrance of the container. water that has been pulled by the vacuum into the box passing a package that has not failed. A problem related to the prior art case designs described during the research and development program is that the methods for securing the end caps of the boxes to the base of the box are typically the source of the environmental failure of the box. to the entry of moisture and water. In some of the prior art designs the edges of the end caps in the position in which they are mounted to the box are typically welded together and therefore subject to subsequent failure during loading. If only one sealant was used or was used at the same time as the weld, the sealant is placed or applied in a manner that is directly accessible from the inside and / or outside of the box. Being directly accessible, the sealant in this way undergoes a potentially accidental tear or rupture during, for example, the installation of components inside, wiring, maintenance or repair. Therefore, this type of design in the prior art additionally contributes to the environmental failure of the box to prevent the ingress of moisture and water and therefore subjects the internal electrical components to catastrophic failure. Therefore, the designs of the prior art included, some design features, if present, to resist failure due to an environmental load. As is typical of many other prior art designs, as discovered in the research and development program, the cover / door was often not in proper alignment with the box due to several possible causes including misalignment of the hinges due to manufacturing tolerances, inaccuracies in the assembly and riveting or imprecise welding or other mechanical means of fixing the hinges or other mechanisms to the cover / door and / or the box. Sometimes such misalignment resulted in the rejection of the box during manufacturing due to the requirements / standards of quality control, or caused an environmental failure during its useful life. Such failures typically result in and include direct leakage to the interior of the box through spaces between the box and / or the cover / door due to misalignment, and failure of the packing material designed to seal the cover / door due to tearing, sliding or cut due to improper compression from non-uniform pressure that occurred when the misaligned cover / door was closed against the box.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION According to one aspect of the invention, a weatherproof enclosure is provided for electric charging centers, switches or electrical components comprising a main case base, two case end caps, a hinged mounted cover door to provide access to the interior of the weatherproof box, wherein the main box base includes a generally U-shaped member having a bottom and side walls extending longitudinally opposite, bent upwards from the edges of, and which they extend orthogonally upwards from the base, forming a box with an open top, the longitudinally extending side walls, opposite, have an outwardly extending flange, which extends orthogonally from the side walls and is formed from the curvature on an upper portion of the side walls, the side walls and the base have edges that have flange s bent inward at each of their ends, each of the two closing end caps are placed at one end of the main box base and have a wall with an upper edge and a lower edge and two side edges where the side edges are bent at their ends to form the side flanges having an inner face and an outer face. The upper edge is folded on itself to form a laterally extending flange, which extends in a direction opposite to the lateral flanges, the end of the laterally extending flange is bent to form a return flange extending towards below, orthogonal to the laterally extending flange, the downwardly extending return flange has an end cap hinge bolt aperture for alignment with a correspondingly positioned cover hinge pin aperture, the lower edge of the cap at the end is bent outward to form an outwardly extending flange having a mounting hole to secure the weatherproof box to an installation position. The articulably mounted cover door has an outer surface having a generally raised rectangular face, substantially parallel to the bottom and which was connected to a uniform flat margin at two of its boundaries by projections, and connected to the uniform plane margin at a third edge by a first flange having a curved shape, the generally rectangular face is connected to a surface gradually inclined at the fourth edge, and the first flange is connected on two sides opposite the uniform plane margin by the bosses, the inclined surface gradually being connected at two of its sites on the uniform plane margin by the projections is connected to a fourth side by a second inclined surface gradually connected on two of its sides to the uniform flat margin by the projections and which is connected on a fourth side by the uniform flat margin, the uniform flat margin is bent over its outer edges to form the return flanges of the door which is extends around the perimeter of the margin. Two of the door return flanges each have a cover hinge pin opening which aligns each of the end cap hinge bolt openings and through each of which a rivet extends. The door return flanges are dimensioned to overlap the flanges extending outwardly from the side walls of the base and downward, which extends the return flanges of the end caps. Additionally, the cover door has a fixed packing to an inner surface of the margin which extends to the return flanges of the door in order to form a weatherproof seal around the base and the end caps when closes the cover assembled articulately.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a perspective view of a weather-proof box in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is a side view taken along line 2-2 of the weatherproof box shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a bottom view taken along line 3-3 of the weather proof box shown in Figure 1; Figure 4 is an isolated perspective view of the exterior of the weatherproof case cover / door shown in Figure 1; Figure 5 is a perspective view of the weather-proof box shown in Figure 1, with the cover / door open showing the inside of the cover / door and the box; Figure 6 is a perspective view of the base of the weather proof box shown in Figure 1; Figure 7 is an end view of the base shown in Figure 6; Figure 8 is a perspective view of one of the two end caps of the weatherproof box shown in Figure 1; Figure 9 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line 9-9 of the box shown in Figure 11; Figure 10 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 10-10 of the weatherproof box shown in Figure 11; Figure 11 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 11-11 of the weatherproof box shown in Figure 1; and Figure 12 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 12-12 of the weatherproof box shown in Figure 11.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In accordance with the present invention, a new and improved weather proof enclosure 10 is provided which protects the user from the internal electrical components within the enclosure and isolates the components from contaminants such as dust, oil, water and ice. The weatherproof enclosure 10 insulates and protects the electrical equipment placed within its confines from external environment conditions such as dust, rain, oil and water directed by a hose, and other environmental qualifications and design bases specified in the standards of industry and Underwriter Laboratories standards such as UL-50. In accordance with the present invention, and with reference to Figure 1, the weatherproof enclosure 10 comprises a main box base 30, box end caps 60, a cover / door 100 (either with or without a window). ) and shown in Figure 1 without a window. The cover / door 100 also functions as a door to access the interior of the box.

The weatherproof enclosure 10 comprises a flange box design (FIG. 6) coupled with the end caps (figure 8) which seals the inside of the box. With reference to figures 1, 6 and 7, the walls and bottom of the box 10 are formed integrally, forming a base 30 in a "U" shape including a bottom 32 and lateral walls 36 extending longitudinally which are folded upward from the edges of the base 30. Extending outward from the top of each side wall 36 is an outwardly extending flange 38 formed of the fold on the upper portion of the side wall 36. At the edges of the two side walls 36 and base 32 are ridges 40 and 34 folded inward, respectively. These ridges (34, 40) as described more fully below, help provide an environmentally qualified box. The end caps 60 of the box are shown in Figures 1 and 5 assembled to the box base 30. With reference to Figure 8, which is an isolated view, each end cap 60 includes a wall having an interior face 62 and an exterior face 64, the side edges of which are bent to form flanges 70. The flanges 70 they have an inner face 72 and an outer face 74 which, when assembled in accordance with and with the aspect of the present invention at each end of the box base 30 form an environmentally-qualified weather proof box, as described more fully in the following. The upper edge of the end cap 60 bends on itself to form a laterally extending, outwardly extending flange 76, the end of which bends to form a laterally extending, return flange 78 placed downwardly. having an end cap hinge pin opening 80a, 80b for alignment with a correspondingly positioned cover hinge aperture 114a, 114b (Figure 4), as more fully described below. The lower edge of the end cap 60 is bent outwardly to form an outwardly extending flange 66 having mounting holes 68 for securing the weatherproof case to its installed position. According to one aspect of the present invention, the inwardly extending flanges 70 and the inner wall 62 of the end cap 60 overlap the side walls 36, the flange 34 upwardly and the flanges 40 extending toward in. (Figure 9). The overlap of these members, as shown in Figure 9, provides a protected contact area between the box base 30 and the end cap 60 along the entire edge of the entire box base 30. In accordance with the present invention, a sealant 190 was used to seal the end caps to the base in a novel manner to obtain an environmentally qualified weatherproof enclosure. During assembly, the sealant 190 was placed on its relief superimposed between the flanges and the base, and in this way the end cap was sealed to the base. The relative position of the flanges 34, 40, 70 of the end stage 60 and the base 30 provides a barrier which protects the sealant from any mechanical force that may otherwise tear or break the seal. (Figure 9). Such tearing or breaking can occur accidentally in the prior art designs during installation or removal of interior components, wiring, maintenance or repair. Therefore, the end cap extends inwardly the flanges extending to and surrounding and overlapping the U-shaped edges of the base, providing a protective barrier from the outside and the inside along the full end stage. Accordingly, the design prevents environmental failure of the case 30 due to a breakage of either the mechanical component or the sealant 190 between the end caps and the base of the case. According to another aspect of the present invention, the door / cover 100 of the weatherproof enclosure 10 has a particular contour or "cut" that is formed as a result of tests performed on prior art devices during the research program and development. With reference to figures 1 and 4, the cover / door 100 has been designed to withstand the impact of directed water with a high pressure hose to deflect it, away from the cover / door due to the graduated inclination and contour of the cover / door . The "cut" or contour in the cover / door 100 shown in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4 has been selected to improve the resistance to water ingress into the interior of the weather proof enclosure 10 by providing surfaces 102, 103, 104, 105 and 106, which deflect the water incident on the box without distortion or deflection of the cover / door as is typical in the prior art. As previously discussed, the cover / door of the prior art designs were bent or deformed inward, which created a partial internal vacuum which allows water to enter the interior of the box by the flow of water either through a break in an anti-weather package that has failed by vacuum that sucks water by passing the weatherproof packaging into the interior of the box. The "cut" or contour in the cover / door 100 of the present invention diverts the incident water to prevent packing failure between the base and the cover / door and prevented creating a partial vacuum inside the box, as is typical in the prior art. The outer surface of the cover / door 100 has a generally raised rectangular face 103, substantially parallel to the bottom 32 which is connected to a uniform plane margin 110 at two of its edges by the projections 106. The other sides of the face 103 are connected by the flange 102 having a curved shape and which in itself is connected to the margin 110. The other side of the face 103 is connected to a gradually sloping surface 104 which in itself also connects in two of its other edges by the projections 106. A second inclined surface 105 is gradually connected at one of its edges to the surface 104 at two of its edges to the projections 106, and on its last edge to the margin 110. The ends of the cover / door 100 they are folded on themselves to form return flanges 112a, 112b, 112c and 112d which are directed towards the bottom 32 and extend around the outer perimeter of the margin 110 on all four sides. Each of the flanges 112a and 112b has a cover articulation bolt aperture 114a or 114b, respectively. When the cover / door 100 is placed for assembly with the case 30, the cover hinge bolt aperture 114a is aligned with the end cap hinge bolt aperture 80a and a rivet 200 is installed. At the same time, the cover articulation bolt aperture 114b is aligned with the end cap hinge bolt aperture 80b and a rivet 200 is installed. Therefore, in accordance with the present invention, the integrally formed portion of the articulation on the door / cover and the remaining portion integrally formed of the hinge on the end cap of the box ensures precise positioning of the hinge axis and placement of the rivets 200 in the weatherproof box. By integrally incorporating half of the articulation mechanism in the cover / door and integrally incorporating the other half of the articulation mechanism in the housing, the use of welding and riveting operations and other mechanical fastening means is avoided. As stated in the foregoing, the cover / door 100 has a cover hinge bolt aperture integrally included at each of its ends which receive a bolt 200 and around which the cover / door rotates when it is opened or closed . The return flanges 112a and 112b have cover hinge bolt openings 114a and 114b, respectively, which align with each of the corresponding openings positioned in the outer return flange of the end cap, as shown in FIGS. Figures 11 and 12. Since the opening in the door / cover is located, with precision and the openings in the end caps are placed in a similarly accurate manner, a controlled and precise placement of the joint on the cover / door was obtained and the box so that a precise axis of rotation of the cover / door was obtained with respect to the box which is maintained during the operational life of the weather-proof box 10. By providing and maintaining a precise axis of rotation of the bolt extending through the colinearly positioned shaft of the openings in the end caps and the cover / door, adequate compression of the gasket was obtained against the flange area of the gaskets caps. end and the base of the box, when the cover was closed, as will be discussed further in the following. By being able to maintain adequate compression of the package during its duration of operation, the environmental integrity of the weatherproof box was maintained during its design lifetime. By accurately securing the cover / door to the box, the error generated in the welding of the prior art or other means of securing the joint to an otherwise completely formed door was eliminated. Typically, the mounting of the cover / door to the box is carried out in the prior art by, and with the help of manufacturing devices that inherently can not and do not provide the precision necessary to ensure proper placement of the joint. Therefore, when the joint is not precisely aligned according to the design and manufacturing tolerances provided by the prior art, this may result in the fundamentals of the design being suppressed and thus result in failure under environmental loads . For example, too small or too large a degree of deflection of the weatherseal packaging placed on the edges of the prior art design boxes may render the box ineffective or may allow it to fail.

With reference to Figure 5, a package for weather-sealing the cover / door to the box is attached to the interior of the cover / door 100. More particularly, as shown in Figure 5, the packaging material 180 is placed continuously on the inner surface of the margin 110 on the outer face of the cover / door 100 and extends to the shoulders 112a, 112b, 112c and 112d. According to another aspect of the present invention, the flanges 38 and 76 form a continuous surface completely around the perimeter of the walls of the box. This continuous surface provides a compression surface for the package attached to the underside of the cover to provide adequate compression of the package when the cover is closed. In a preferred embodiment, the package 180, which is mounted inside the cover, is made of closed cell neoprene that meets the environmental requirements and standards and that matches the compression surface formed by the flanges 38 and 76 to provide a weather-proof box according to the present invention, when the cover is closed. Although the foregoing description and drawings represent the preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be apparent to those familiar with the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims (9)

1. A weather-proof enclosure for electric charging centers, switches or electrical components, characterized in that it comprises a main box base, two box end caps, a cover door hingedly mounted to provide access to the interior of the box to be weathering, characterized in that: the main box base includes a generally U-shaped member having a bottom and longitudinally extending side walls, opposite, bent upwards from the edges of, and extending orthogonally upwards from the base , forming a box with an open top, the longitudinally extending, opposite side walls have a flange extending outwards, orthogonally from the side walls and formed from the curvature on an upper portion of the side walls, the side walls and the base have edges that have ridges that are bent inward in each from its extremes; each of the two box end caps are positioned at one end of the main box base and have a wall with an upper edge and a lower edge and two side edges where the side edges are bent towards their ends to form flanges having an inner face and an outer face, the upper edge is bent over itself to form a laterally extending flange, which extends in a direction opposite the lateral flanges, the end of the laterally extending flange is bent to form a return flange extending downwardly orthogonal to the laterally extending flange, the downwardly extending return flange has an end cap hinge bolt aperture for alignment with a cover hinge bolt aperture. , correspondingly positioned, the lower edge of the end cap is bent outwardly to form a flange that extends to outside that has a mounting hole to fix the weatherproof box in an installation position; the articulately mounted cover door has an outer surface having a generally raised rectangular face, substantially parallel to the bottom and connected to a uniform flat margin at two of its edges by projections, and connected to the uniform plane margin at the third edge by a first a flange having a curved shape, the generally rectangular face is connected to a surface gradually inclined at the fourth edge, the first flange is connected on two sides opposite the uniform flat margin by the projections, the inclined surface is gradually connected on two of its sides. sides to the uniform flat margin by the projections and is connected on a fourth side by a second inclined surface gradually connected on two of its sides to the uniform flat margin by the projections and connected on the fourth side by the uniform flat margin, the flat margin uniform bends over itself on its outer edges to form two return flanges of the pu Erta which extend around the perimeter of the margin, two of the door return flanges each have a cover hinge pin opening which is aligned with each of the end cap hinge pin openings and through which a rivet extends; the return flanges of the door are dimensioned to overlap the flanges extending outwardly from the side walls of the base and the return flanges extending downwardly from the end caps; the cover door additionally has a fixed packing to a lower surface of the margin which extends to the return flanges of the door in order to form a weatherproof seal around the base and the end caps when closed the cover mounted articulately.

2. The box according to claim 1, characterized in that an adhesive is placed over the shoulders bent inwards at the ends of the base and over the shoulders bent inwards at the ends of the side walls of the box and over the face of the box. end cap.

3. The box according to claim 2, characterized in that an adhesive is placed on the inner side of the side flanges of the end caps in an overlap with the side walls of the main box.

4. The box according to claim 1, characterized in that the adhesive is placed on the inner side of the lateral flanges of the end caps in an overlap with the side walls of the main box.

5. The box according to claim 1, characterized in that the package is placed on the inner surface of the margin so that when the door is closed, the package is pressed against the ridges extending outward from the base and the ridges that are they extend laterally from the end caps.

6. The box according to claim 2, characterized in that the package is placed on the inner surface of the margin so that when the door is closed, the package is pressed against the ridges extending outward from the base and the ridges that are they extend laterally from the end layers.

7. The box according to claim 3, characterized in that the package is placed on the inner surface of the margin so that when the door is closed, the package is pressed against the ridges extending outward from the base and the ridges that are they extend laterally from the end caps.

8. The box according to claim 5, characterized in that the flanges extending outward from the base and the laterally extending flanges of the end caps provide a compression surface for the packing for packing compression when the cover is closed. .

9. The box according to claim 8, characterized in that the package is made of closed cell neoprene material.