SE1530157A1 - Socket-outlet pole and the method to produce it - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract The object of this invention is a socket-outlet pole (l) that composes at least of ahollow body (2) in the shell of which there is an open place (2.l) in the lengthwisedirection, one extension socket-outlet (4) whose plug nests (4.l) are ready to beused in the open place of the body and whose feeding cord (8) reaches outside thebody and one lid part (6) to cover certain part of the open place. Between the body(2) and each extension socket-outlet (4) there has been installed a cradle (3) to fitand support the mentioned extension socket-outlet (4) to the body (2) in a certainplace of this border in right angle of the lengthwise directions of it. The cradle (3)has been supported and fixed to the border (2) with a mutual jointing of the supportsin the body (2) and the f1xing organs of the cradle. The total length of the cradles (3)is less than the length of the body (2). Also the method to produce the mentioned socket-outlet pole is an object of the invention.

Description

SOCKET-OUTLET POLE AND THE METHOD TO PRODUCE IT The object of this invention is a socket-outlet pole that consists at least of a hollowbody in the frame of which there is a lengthwise open place, one extension socket-outlet placed inside the body the socket connections of which are ready to be used inthe open place of the body and a supply lead which reaches outside the body and a lidto cover a certain open part. The socket-outlet pole according to the invention canalso contain at least one case for a minute current outlet and/ or a fault mode currentguard. The object of the invention is also a method to produce the mentioned socket- outlet pole.

The socket-outlet pole according to the invention can be used for instance in offices,business facilities and in all such plants where there is a need to connect many elec-tric devices to the network at the same time and the telecommunication devices, likeADP or telephone through minute current connectors in their own networks. The useof the socket-outlet pole according to the invention facilitates and makes clearer theobtaining of the electricity and telecommunication to different working places. Theuse of the invention is especially favorable when there are a lot of devices to be con- nected in a relatively small area.

In the situations that have been described above, there are nowadays used socket-outlet poles that have a tubular profile bar body of light metal having on its perimeterlengthwise open place through the whole construction and to which mentioned bodythere has been fixed necessary amount of canal socket-outlets equipped with cableclamps and that are connected to each other. It is known that the canal socket-outletscontain two or three outlets and by connecting them together with supply terminals adesired amount of outlets can be obtained to the socket-outlet poles. The socket-outletpoles or a combination of them are equipped with the clamps to prevent the wires toget loose from their connections when an extension strain is present in the feeder ca-ble leading to the socket-outlet pole. The electric cables of the canal outlets of these socket-outlet poles are always fixed individually when producing these socket-outlet poles in the phase of assembling. It is known that it is possible to fix to these socket-outlet poles also minute current connector boxes. The feeder cables of the socket-outlets minute current connector boxes and the socket-outlets are led out of the bodythrough the opening in its end and it is possible that there is an extension tubular socalled cable feed part inside which no boxes are installed but that is only for the ca- bles.

Another known socket-outlet pole is produced so that the light metal body as above isextruded such by its crosscut that it has inside projections that limit inside the body inthe middle of it a whole pole length lengthwise and crosscut wise suitable for somefactory made extension outlet. In this case, it is possible to push into the mentionedspace through the end of the pole an extension outlet that is prewired in the factorywith the feeder cable and the box cables. It is possible to push into the inside spacethe desired amount of the extension outlets and they can be installed lengthwise incertain locations inside the tube and fix to their places using snap-in fasteners that aresuitable for this purpose. The projections inside the tube support the mentioned ex-tension outlets to their places crosswise. Thus it is possible to get the desired amountof the outlet boxes into the socket-outlets. The minute current boxes can be fixed inthis method of the known solution to the body by pressing them into the body and in there to the fixing organs accessing through the open lengthwise opening.

The biggest drawbacks of the first mentioned known technique outlet poles are in thehigh purchase costs of the canal outlets and the work costs of the wire installationconnections. So called armatures for the canal installations must be assembled earlierabout the before mentioned pieces, that is canal outlets, feeder connectors, andclamps and the purchase costs of them become as known manifold in comparisonwith the other known technique example of the socket-outlet pole that was men-tioned. Still additional costs are caused as the boxes and the wires must be connectedas handwork. These drawbacks are essential especially for the canal socket-outletsbecause usually the greatest parts of the armature of the socket-outlet poles are the canal socket-outlets.

The secondly mentioned known technique solution has the clear advantage in com-parison with the firstly mentioned that the factory made extension socket-outlets areused there so that the purchase costs are considerably smaller than when using thecanal socket-outlets. Additional savings are achieved, because the installation costsare left out as the electric connections have already been made in connection of the production.

The biggest drawbacks of this secondly mentioned technique can be seen to be thefollowing things: The projections inside their bodies that are formed in the extruderphase are always all the way of the body length limit inside the body the size of thespace between the extension socket-outlets and so there is very limited space for thefeeder cables of the extension socket-outlets and the feeder cables of the minute cur-rent connections and especially for the minute current connectors themselves. Addi-tionally, these bodies become relatively heavy because of the projections inside beingthe whole length of the bodies. Therefore, the relatively large mass per length unitmeans a great amount of material in the extruding and thus high costs in the produc-tion of the body. The third drawback is that with certain inside projection formationonly one suitable factory made extension socket-outlet can be used. The cross sectionprofile of the extension socket-outlet must be the same as the space 102 inside thebody 100 (fig 7). For every socket-outlet profile there must be produced an own bodypreform the inside projection positioning of which is compatible with a certain pro-file. The fourth drawback of this known technique is that the mentioned projectionslOl inside the body make it many times more difficult to install the standard arma-tures that are used in them, like for instance fault mode current guards. It is then nec- essary to cut pieces away from these projections to make them to fit.

The above firstly described known technique is used in the field commonly and thesecondly described technique is used in the production of the company of this patent applicant. This later has been described in the Finnish utility patent number 9488.

The meaning of this invention is to achieve such a socket-outlet pole and a method toproduce it that the known technique drawbacks Would be avoided. The characteristicfeatures of the socket-outlet pole according to the invention have been presented in the characterizing parts of the claims l and 4.

Basing on the before mentioned, the technique in the utility patent can be consideredthe level of the technique even for the reason that it is economically superior to the technique of the canal socket-outlets usage.

The most important advantage of the invention in comparison With the technique thatis described in the before mentioned utility patent is achieved there that a considera-bly larger room can be gotten inside for different kind of armatures and the Wires ofthese armatures. Another important advantage is achieved by saving in the costsWhen producing the body of the socket-outlet pole. As the projections inside are con-siderably smaller the Weight of the body per length unit is also considerably smallerand the savings in the material consumption give a noteWorthy saving in the produc-tion of the socket-outlet pole according to the invention. A very big advantage is alsoachieved as a certain body profile is not bound only to certain extension socket-outletcross section, but instead it is possible to fit in this kind of body many extensionsocket-outlets With different cross sections of different sizes. A smaller number ofdifferent body preforms are needed and also a smaller number of extruder tools areneeded. It should also be noted that the lightness of the body gives also advantage tothe production of the extruder tools and the handling of the socket-outlet poles. It isknown that the smaller the projections of the preform to be extruded are the fewer problems occur to achieve the accuracy that is demanded in the production of the pre- forms.

In this document the term socket-outlet pole means also such an application of theinvention Where the product according to the invention has been installed or can beinstalled as a panel in a room or a piece of furniture. The term ”cradle” means in this document all such organs With Which the extension socket-outlet can be fit and sup- ported to be a part of the socket-outlet pole. The term ”minute current connector box” means an apparatus having either one or more minute current connectors.

The invention is described in more detail with reference to the enclosed drawings,where f1g l presents one socket-outlet pole according to the invention in 3D, f1g 2 presents a cross section cut of the before mentioned socket-outlet pole right-angled at the point of an extension socket-outlet, lengthwise the socket-outlet pole,that is crosswise cut, f1gs 3 and 4 present the installation of the cradle that operates as a matching section,f1g 5 presents the cross section cut of the before mentioned socket-outlet pole cut atthe point of the minute current connector box, f1g 6 presents the cross section cut of the socket-outlet pole cut at such a place wherethere are no armatures, f1g 7 presents a solution of the level of the technique.

Now the following is one for the invention favorable application composition and structure with the help of an example referring to the before mentioned figures.

In f1g l it has been described one socket-outlet pole l according to the invention thatcomposes of the body 2, a bottom plate 12 fixed to the down end of the body, twoextension socket-outlets 4, minute current connector box 5, between the boxes, underand above situated lid parts 6, a base 7 fixed to the bottom plate and the feeder wires8 coming from the boxes and the plugs 9 at the ends of the extension socket-outletsfeeder wires and the connector 10 at the end of the feeder wire of the minute currentconnector box. Ready to be used socket-outlet pole l is standing on its foot and theplugs 9 are connected to the electrical network and the connector 10 to the communi-cation network. The f1g 2 describes the cross section cut of the before mentionedsocket-outlet pole at the point of the extension socket-outlet 4 and it can be seen therethat there is an open room 2.1 in the shell of the body 2 and that room reaches lengthwise through the body and there is inside the body in the opposite side the open room 2.1 two first supports 2.2 and in the side of the body two more supports 2.3.These supports have been made in the production of the body preform and they aresmall projections and it has been supported and fixed to the first supports 2.2 a cradle3 that adapts the extension socket-outlet box to the body 2 and it has been installedagainst this cradle an extension socket-outlet 4. The feeder wire 8 of the extensionsocket-outlet box has been led out from the body 2 along a space that is inside it and out through the opening at the end of the body.

In this example, the described setting is made so that first the bottom plate 12 is fixedusing screws to the bottom of the body 2 and thereafter the lowest lid 6, minute cur-rent connector box 5 and the second lowest lid are fixed to their places in the way thatwill be presented later in more detail. Thereafter the cradle 3 that is essentially thesame length as the lower extension socket-outlet 4 composing of four socket boxes4.2, the part that has been cut from the extruded light metal body is pushed in the waydescribed in fig 3 sideways through the open place 2.1 of the body inside the bodyand it is fastened and fixed to be an extension of the before mentioned parts to thefirst support 2.2 by turning it at the same time to the usage position shown in fig 4. Inthis example, the cradle projections operate as fixing organs 3.l and their ends fix thecradle to its place so that the left projection in fig 4 settles in the left side hollow sup-port and the right hand side projection gets fixed to the right hand side support so thata lump in the projection gets pressed behind the first support 2.2 in question (under inthe figure). After this the extension socket-outlet 4 is pushed the narrower side 4.lfirst inside the body through its open place 2.1 in such a place of the body wherethere is no cradle 3 and no other armatures either and it is turned so that the socket-outlet 4.2 is in the direction of the open place 2.1 and is pushed upon the cradle sothat the extension socket-outlet 3 settles into its operation position as the foreheadsurface 3.2 of the cradle and side supports 3.3 and the sides 2.4 of the body support itin its place in all the sideways directions of the socket-outlet pole. The edges 2.4 pre-vent the extension socket-outlet box to be pushed through the open room 2.1. Thefeeder wire 8 of the extension socket-outlet box 4 is placed to go along the inner room of the body out through the top end opening. The extension socket-outlet box 4 can also be glided inside the body through its top end opening. After this, the socket-outlet pole is equipped With other armatures and parts to complete it and the last part of these to be put to its place is the top lid part.

The before presented inventive solution gives the end result that the support structureof the extension socket-outlet 4 is only essentially of the same length as the extensionsocket-outlet box and not of the Whole length of the body. Because of this the bodyparts Where there is no extension socket-outlet, a space Without extension socket-outlet support construction is left. This space is utilized When placing armatures likefor instance minute current connector boxes, fault mode current guards and so on and their feeder Wires 8.

In f1g 5, a cross section cut of the socket-outlet pole is presented at the place of a mi-nute current connector box 5. The minute current connector boxes 5 are connected tothe minute current connector 5.l in the socket-outlet pole l according to the inventionin such a Way in this example case that the adapter pieces ll that are used are fixed tothe other support parts 2.3 of the body and they are glided through the open end of thebody along the mentioned supports inside the body to the place of the minute current boxes.

The socket-outlet pole l that has been equipped With a desired amount of the exten-sion socket-outlets 4 and the minute current connector boxes 5 is equipped With anappropriate amount of lids 6 between and in extension of the before mentioned boxes.Fig 6 presents a cross section of the socket-outlet pole at the point of the lid 6. Thelids are installed to their places to cover the open place 2.1 of the body in those placesWhere there is no armature and between the armatures in the points of the discontinui-ty. They also support the armatures to their places in the length Wise direction of thesocket-outlet pole, so they have both structural and visual meaning. Fig 6 presentsone Way to fix the lids 6 to their places and in this case With the help of the beforementioned adapter organs ll so that the lids 6 are pressed to the open place 2.l of thebody When their locking organs 6.l get fixed to the adapter organs ll.

The length of the adapter organs ll is determined by the lengths of the minute currentconnector boxes 5, lids 6 and other armature that is fixed using them. The adapterorgan cannot be located at the place of the extension socket-outlet 4 but its length canotherwise be adopted to the length of an individual minute current connector box 5,other armature or lid 6 or if they are located side by side with their combined length.The extension socket-outlet boxes 4 prevent the cradles 3 to move in the lengthwisedirection of the socket-outlet pole, also when they are standing. The moving of thecradles in the mentioned direction can also be prevented be joining an extensionsocket-outlet box 4 and a cradle 3 together. As an example of this, a solution can bementioned where instant glue is put to the forehead 3.2 of the cradle and the exten- sion socket-outlet box 4 is pressed to that.

A socket-outlet pole l according to the invention can be made as a floor modelequipped with a base 7, table model equipped with a fixing organ or a panel modelfixed to a piece of furniture or certain part of the room. The bottom plate 12 can befixed to the body with for example screws so that the ends of the screws support tothe hollow inside spaces of the first and second supports 2.1, 2.3. It is possible tomake a tapped hole when the base 7 can be fixed to its place with a screw or the socket-outlet pole for instance to a piece of furniture or also with a screw.

The central characteristic of the invention is the use of the cradle 3 when supportingthe extension socket-outlet to its place renders possibility to use different dimensionextension socket-outlets 4 with a certain body profile. All the factory made extensionsocket-outlets that fit to the width w of the open place and by the height h to certainscale belonging extension socket-outlets can come in the question. Then the dimen-sioning of the cradle 3 is adapted to be used with certain extension socket-outlet. Theproduction of different profile bars that are cradle preforms takes the place of produc- tion of different body profiles of the known technique within certain limits.

The length of every cradle 3 that is used can be adapted to the extension socket-outletthat is used in connection with it. The most favorable application for this part can es-sentially be seen to be the length of the extension socket-outlet but the use of the in-vention is not bound only to that. In some cases, the cradle can be somewhat shorteror smaller than the mentioned extension socket-outlet. However, it must always fit tothe other armatures. It is essential that the total combined length of all the cradles 3 isalways less than the length of the body 2. The bigger this difference is the greater is the advantage of the invention.

The cradles 3 can be produced tailor made and in some cases can standard profiles beused. The first supports 2.2 that are to be formed inside the body can be made inmany different ways. The option that these supports are in place of the projectionsinside the body situated surface grooves in not out of question. It is central for thecradle 3 that the cradle can be fixed to its place quickly and firmly and that differentmodel cradles can be used case by case. Differing from the above examples, the cra-dle can be moved inside the body also through the opening of the end of the body.The cradle 3 can be made in the solution according to the invention also composing of more than one part.

Fig 7 presents with the meaning of comparison a solution of the level of the tech-nique. Inside the body 100 there are relatively massive projections l0l all the lengthof the body that support the extension socket-outlets. The cradle removes the need touse the whole body long projections l0l supporting the extension socket-outlets 4and thus additional space is freed inside the body for other armatures and their feeder wires and a noteworthy cost saving is obtained in the production of the bodies.

It is possible to install into the socket-outlet pole l according to the invention a faultmode current guard by machining the body 2 structure. When it is installed to thebody using for instance the before mentioned adaptation parts ll the technique levelprojections l0l will not come to hinder the installation but they get always settled in the area between the cradles.

It is possible to use in addition to light metal any other suitable material as the mate- rial of the body 2, cradle 3, adaptation organ ll and the lid 6.

It should be noticed that even though this explanation has kept to one kind for theinvention favorable solution example this does not by any means Want to limit the useof the invention to be used only in this type of example but instead many Variations are possible in the scope determined in the inventive idea of the claims.

Claims (4)

Claims 11

1. l. Socket-outlet pole (l) that consists at least of: a. b. a hollow body (2) in the shell of which there is an open place (2. l), one extension socket-outlet (4) installed inside the body (2) where the plugnests (4.2) are ready to be used situating in the open place (2. l) and the feed-er cable (8) that reaches outside the body, one lid part (6) to cover certain part of the open place (2. l), between the body (2) and each extension socket outlet (4) placed cradle (3) tofit and support the mentioned extension socket-outlet (4) to the body (2), to acertain place of this body in right angle directions in relation to the length di-rection of this body, characterized in that C. the width of the extension socket-outlet (4) is greater than the open place(2. l) width (w), the cradle (3) has been supported and fixed to the body (2) with a mutualjointing of the supports (2.2) in the body for the f1xing of the extension sock-et-outlet (4) and the f1xing organs (3.l) of the cradle, the extension socket-outlet (4) has been fitted to the combination of the body(2) and the cradle (3) that supports the extension socket-outlet, the total length of the cradles (3) is less than the length of the body.

2. The socket-outlet pole according to the claim l characterized in that the cradle (3) is essentially of the same length as the extension socket-outlet (4).

3. The socket-outlet pole according to the claim l or 2 characterized in that it con- tains at least one minute current connector box (5) and / or a fault mode current guard.

4. The method to produce the socket-outlet pole according to which method at least one extension socket-outlet (4) is installed inside the hollow body (2) so that its 12 plug nests (4.2) become ready to be used in the open place (2.1) and the feeder cable (8) reaches outside the body (2) and a cradle is installed inside the body 2 for the purpose of f1tting and supporting the mentioned extension socket-outlet (4) to the body (2) in a certain place of this body in right angle directions of the length direction of it. characterized in that a. the cradle (3) is moved inside the body (2) through the open place (2.1) orthrough the opening at the end of the body before installing the extensionsocket-outlet (4), . the cradle (3) is supported and fixed to the body (2) with a mutual jointing of the combination of the body supports (2.2) and the fixing organs (3.l) of the cradle before installing the extension socket-outlet (4), . the extension socket-outlet (4) whose width is greater than the width (w) of the open place of the body is fit to the combination of the body (2) and the cradle(3), the cradle (3) is supported in the lengthwise direction of the body either with acontact of the before mentioned supports and fixing organs or by joining the cradle and the extension socket-outlet (4) The method according to the claim 4 characterized in that the cradle (3) and the extension socket-outlet (4) are joined together by glue. The method according to the claim 4 or 5 characterized in that the extension socket-outlet (4) is installed inside the body through the open place (2.1).