US3778746A - Contact rail unit - Google Patents

Contact rail unit Download PDF

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Publication number
US3778746A
US3778746A US00221929A US3778746DA US3778746A US 3778746 A US3778746 A US 3778746A US 00221929 A US00221929 A US 00221929A US 3778746D A US3778746D A US 3778746DA US 3778746 A US3778746 A US 3778746A
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
contact
rail unit
conductors
branches
contact rail
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.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
US00221929A
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English (en)
Inventor
R Valtonen
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Nokia Oyj
Original Assignee
Nokia Oyj
Priority date (The priority date 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 date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Nokia Oyj filed Critical Nokia Oyj
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US3778746A publication Critical patent/US3778746A/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R25/00—Coupling parts adapted for simultaneous co-operation with two or more identical counterparts, e.g. for distributing energy to two or more circuits
    • H01R25/14—Rails or bus-bars constructed so that the counterparts can be connected thereto at any point along their length
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R25/00—Coupling parts adapted for simultaneous co-operation with two or more identical counterparts, e.g. for distributing energy to two or more circuits
    • H01R25/16—Rails or bus-bars provided with a plurality of discrete connecting locations for counterparts
    • H01R25/165—Connecting locations formed by surface mounted apparatus

Definitions

  • ABSTRACT A contact rail unit comprising an elongated body and [30] For i A li ti P i it D t conductors arranged longitudinally within the body.
  • the conductors are provided with mutually spaced lat- Feb. l97l Fmland ..28l /7l e a] a c es and he b y is provided with p g [52] U.S. Cl 339/21 R for each branch each opening being displaced in mg iff d 'f'g longitudinal direction of the body with respect to the 1e 0 care correspondmg branch.
  • contact rails are known that are based on the use of a channel-like current rail which is at one side continuously open and which accommodates a number of uninsulated conductors fastened to the rail longitudinally.
  • a current rail as a matter of fact, provides an almost unlimited possibility of moving the lamps from one place to another, but the open construction of the current rail, however, imposes of security reasons certaim restrictions to the installation position of such rails.
  • certaim restrictions to the installation position of such rails.
  • it is not possible to get accidentally an electric stroke from such a current rail by just inserting the fingers into the rail it is, however, at least theoretically possible that for example when wiping of the dust by means of damp cloth, the cloth may come into contact with current supplying conductors. Therefore a certaim minimum installation height is required for such open current rails, for example in Finland 230 cm.
  • a purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the above disadvantages and to produce a contact rail unit which provides the advantages of contact rails of the latter type in respect of simplicity of construction and of almost unlimited possibilities of current collecting and which is nevertheless not burdened by the above restriction of installation.
  • This purpose is according to the invention obtained by means of a contact rail unit that is characterized in that the conductors are provided with mutually spaced branches extending transversally in respect to the longitudinal direction of the conductor and that openings corresponding to said branches are formed into the body for the insertion of said contact fingers.
  • a contact rail system is obtained in which the current rail consisting of the body and the conductors is completely closed with the exception of several mutually spaced openings for the contact fingers of the current collecting device.
  • said openings can be made so small that unintentional insertion of foreign objects into the openings is almost impossible.
  • the conductor branches are moreover located well protected inside the body alongside the corresponding openings. In this way the current rail can be made even better touch-protected than an ordinary box-like contact rail.
  • the contact rail system is burdened by no restrictions of installation.
  • the branches of the conductors Due to the branches of the conductors, all the openings of the body can be made to lie along the same longitudinal line, for which reason the current rail may be made very narrow and small. Due to the branches, the conductors are also longitudinally locked into the body, and the branches allow for a certain heat elongation of the conductors.
  • the flexible construction of the conductors and the flat shape of the body also enable the entire unit to be wound into a coil, which is a considerable production-technical advantage and simplifies the installation.
  • FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a favourable embodiment of a contact rail unit
  • FIG. 2 shows the interior of the unit
  • FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a current collecting device intended for the unit
  • FIGS. 4 and 5 show the current collecting device as viewed from the top and from the side, respectively.
  • FIG. 6 shows a cross-section view of the unit as arranged into a support rail.
  • the contact rail unit 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 consists of an elongated channel-like body 2 of insulating material. Longitudinal grooves 3 have been formed for uninsulated conductors 4 inside the flanges of the body.
  • the conductors 4 have been formed with mutually spaced curves 5 that extend perpendicularly from the conductor into the interior of the body through openings 6 in the grooves 3 and are pressed against the bottom 2a of the body 2.
  • a through hole 7 has been formed in the bottom of the body. The openings have been located along the same line in the longitudinal direction of the body.
  • each group includes one curve 5 of each conductor 4 and the corresponding openings 7.
  • FIGS. 3 to 5 An embodiment of a current collecting device intended for the unit according to FIGS. 1 and 2 is shown in FIGS. 3 to 5.
  • the current collecting device 8 includes a body 9 of an insulating material, contact fingers 10 which are fastened to the body and provided with wire terminals, an intermediate plate 11, and a spring 12 which presses the intermediate plate outwards from the body.
  • the distance between the contact fingers 10 corresponds to the distance of the openings 7 of each group of openings.
  • the current collecting device is brought into contact with the conductors 4 in such'a way that the contact fingers are first inserted through the openings 7 of the unit and then pushed in the longitudinal direction of the unit. I-Iereby the L-shaped ends of the contact fingers slide into the conductor curves 5. Due to the flexible intermediate plate 11 the contact fingers are reliably pressed into contact with the curves.
  • the ends of the contact fingers of the current collecting device have been formed of different sizes (FIG. 4) and the openings 7 of the unit 1 have been formed of corresponding sizes (FIG. 1) so that the current collecting device can be inserted into the unit 1 only in a certaim position.
  • the unit 1 has been inserted into a separate metallic support rail 13, which gives the unit mechanical rigidity.
  • the unit 1 may be accommodated in the upper casing 13a of the support rail, whereby the lower casing of the support rail can be used as fastening space for example for the holder of a lamp and the current collecting device can be invisibly inserted into the support rail.
  • the contact rail unit according to the invention may vary considerably within the scope of the claims.
  • the unit may, instead of two conductors, be fitted with e.g. four conductors, in which case two conductors are arranged inside each flange of the body and the curves of the lower conductor pair and those of the upper conductor pair are located at different levels parallel with the bottom of the body.
  • the body may be closed by means of a cover 14 (FIG. 6) which has been provided with an earthing conductor 15. lnstead of the curves the conductors 4 may be provided with mutually spaced separate pins which are welded to the conductors to protrude laterally from said conductors.
  • a contact rail assembly comprising an elongate body; a pair of transversely spaced longitudinally extending conductors being positioned along a bottom surface of said body, said conductors each including mutually spaced transversely extending branches; apertures formed in said body adjacent each said branch and longitudinally offset therefrom in predetermined, spaced relationship, along the axis of said body, said conductor branches engaged by the contact fingers of a current collecting device as contact fingers are inserted through said apertures and moved longitudinally along said elongate body into superimposed relationship with said conductor branches.
  • a contact rail unit according to claim 1 characterized in that the conductors 4 are bent into laterally extending curves 5 forming said branches.
  • a contact rail unit characterized in that the body 2 has a channel-shaped section, whereby the conductors 4 are arranged inside the two flanges of the body and the conductor branches 5 are positioned against the bottom 2a of the body.
  • a contact rail unit according to claim 3 characterized in that the inner space ofthe channel-section body 2 is closed by a cover plate 14.
  • a contact rail unit according to claim 4 characterized in that the cover plate 14 is fitted with an earthing conductor 15.
  • a contact rail unit character ized in that the branches 5 of the conductors 4 are ar' ranged in mutually spaced groups so that each group includes one branch 5 of each conductor 4.
  • a contact rail unit characterized in that the openings 7 for different conductors 4 in the body 2 are of different sizes or shapes.
  • a contact rail unit characterized in that the openings 7 of the body 2 are arranged substantially aligned in the longitudinal direction of the body.
  • a current collecting device for a contact rail unit which current collecting device comprises a body 9 and at least two projecting contact fingers 10 fastened to the body, characterized in that the contact fingers 10 are fastened to the body 9 in predetermined spaced relationship, each said contact finger adapted to be inserted through a respective aperture in the contact rail unit 1 so as to contact with the branches 5 of the corresponding conductors 4 upon longitudinal move in the direction thereof.
  • a current collecting device characterized in that the contact fingers 10 are bent to form Lshaped flexible ends adapted to slidingly engage the branches 5 of the corresponding conductors 4 when the collecting device body 9 is moved in the longitudinal direction of the contact rail unit 1.
  • a current collecting device characterized in that the contact fingers 10 are substantially longitudinally aligned.

Landscapes

  • Installation Of Bus-Bars (AREA)
  • Current-Collector Devices For Electrically Propelled Vehicles (AREA)
US00221929A 1971-02-02 1972-01-31 Contact rail unit Expired - Lifetime US3778746A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
FI710281A FI45608C (sv) 1971-02-02 1971-02-02 Kontaktskenelement

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3778746A true US3778746A (en) 1973-12-11

Family

ID=8503886

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US00221929A Expired - Lifetime US3778746A (en) 1971-02-02 1972-01-31 Contact rail unit

Country Status (6)

Country Link
US (1) US3778746A (sv)
DE (1) DE2204580A1 (sv)
FI (1) FI45608C (sv)
FR (1) FR2124333B1 (sv)
GB (1) GB1370842A (sv)
SE (1) SE380406B (sv)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3937544A (en) * 1972-12-15 1976-02-10 Oy Nokia Ab Electric current supply conduit and a method and a device for providing same

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2337451A1 (fr) * 1975-12-31 1977-07-29 Technilec Sarl Conduit pour fils de distribution electrique et de signaux dans les batiments
DE4309453C1 (de) * 1993-03-24 1994-09-15 Modelec Sa Steckdosenbox

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2313452A (en) * 1940-09-10 1943-03-09 Pierce John B Foundation Multiple conductor electric wiring unit
US2708264A (en) * 1954-10-20 1955-05-10 Clarence T Hewitt Continuous electric socket constructions
US3059204A (en) * 1959-02-10 1962-10-16 Porter Co Inc H K Multireceptacle electric system with compound ground
US3391378A (en) * 1966-05-09 1968-07-02 Gen Electric Plug-in type high frequency busway

Family Cites Families (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB555218A (en) * 1942-01-27 1943-08-11 Joseph Francis O Brien Multiple conductor electric wiring unit
GB1070091A (en) * 1965-01-11 1967-05-24 Desmond Stuart Guinness Improvements in or relating to electric conduit
US3336560A (en) * 1965-09-03 1967-08-15 Porter Co Inc H K Multi-outlet wiring device

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2313452A (en) * 1940-09-10 1943-03-09 Pierce John B Foundation Multiple conductor electric wiring unit
US2708264A (en) * 1954-10-20 1955-05-10 Clarence T Hewitt Continuous electric socket constructions
US3059204A (en) * 1959-02-10 1962-10-16 Porter Co Inc H K Multireceptacle electric system with compound ground
US3391378A (en) * 1966-05-09 1968-07-02 Gen Electric Plug-in type high frequency busway

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3937544A (en) * 1972-12-15 1976-02-10 Oy Nokia Ab Electric current supply conduit and a method and a device for providing same

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
FR2124333B1 (sv) 1975-10-24
FR2124333A1 (sv) 1972-09-22
DE2204580A1 (de) 1972-08-17
FI45608C (sv) 1972-07-10
GB1370842A (en) 1974-10-16
SE380406B (sv) 1975-11-03
FI45608B (sv) 1972-04-04

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