EP2242146A2 - Clamp structure and load connecting block or separator with clamp structure - Google Patents

Abstract

The structure has a U-shaped cage bracket with a base section (4) connecting a leg section (2) and another leg section. A cage cell is formed between a cage yoke (5) and the cage bracket. A clamping piece (6) is arranged between the leg sections in the cage cell. A clamping plate (10) is arranged within the cage cell between the cage yoke and the clamping piece. The clamping plate is movable back and forth between an open position and a clamping position, where the cage yoke is removable from the cage bracket. The cage bracket is designed as a stamped flexural part. An independent claim is also included for a load switch block or a separator comprising a sliding insert.

Description

The present invention relates to a clamping structure for connecting cables to connecting rails and load-switching strips or disconnectors with such a clamping structure.

Such a clamp construction is known, for example from the DE 44 35 057 , The clamping structure described there has a closed clamping cage, through the bridge of a pressure pin accesses a pressure piece, so that with the help of the pressure piece after both terminal rail and cable have been arranged in the terminal cage, the cable can be pressed against the terminal rail.

This clamping structure is intended for use on V-shaped connecting rails. It can not be used on flat connecting rails. In addition, the insertion of the cable in the terminal cage is very difficult to accomplish, especially for large cable cross-sections. To connect a cable to the connecting rail, the clamping cage must first be pushed onto the connecting rail or onto the cable. Then the corresponding cable must be brought in the direction of the axis of the connecting rail in the clamping cage. Only then you can clamp the pressure piece with the help of the pressure bolt on the one hand, and connecting rail on the other hand in the clamping cage. However, cables with large cross sections often have a very large bending radius. If these cables have already been assembled and routed, they usually can not be different in the longitudinal direction. Although they can be moved transversely to the cable direction, e.g. However, a longitudinal displacement is usually not possible. Therefore, in order to connect with the aid of the described clamping structure, the cable must first be raised in the transverse direction and then bent accordingly in order to thread the cable end into the clamping cage. This bending, however, is difficult or impossible to accomplish with cables having large cable cross-sections.

Another disadvantage of the known clamping structure is that the axial position of the clamping structure is not fixed. In other words, the clamping structure can be moved in the direction of the busbar axis or the cable axis during assembly. This can cause the terminal structure with other adjacent components comes into undesirable contact or that connecting rail or cable are no longer optimally clamped in the clamping cage. This is the case, for example, with some connection bars for disconnectors or safety edges customary to provide the connecting rail with a V-shaped connecting portion, which adjoins a substantially flat band-shaped portion. Now, if the clamping structure in the axial direction too far moved in the direction of the disconnector or the switching strip, it may happen that already the band-shaped portion of the connecting rail device in the terminal cage, so that the cable no longer securely held in the clamping cage with the help of the pressure piece becomes. If this axial mismatch is overlooked during assembly, this can lead to a high-resistance contact and thus to undesirable heat generation up to discharge sparks in the later use of the safety edge or the disconnector.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a clamping structure for connecting cables to connecting rails, which also allows for cables with a large cable cross-section easy connection of the cable to the connecting rail.

According to the invention, the clamping structure for this purpose has a substantially U-shaped cage bracket, which has two leg portions and a bottom portion connecting the leg portions, a cage yoke which substantially at the side facing away from the bottom portion of the leg portions connects to each other, so that between the cage yoke on the one hand and cage bracket on the other a cage cell is formed, a clamping piece disposed between the two leg portions in the cage cell, and a clamping plate disposed within the cage cell between the cage yoke and clamping piece, the clamping plate being reciprocable between an open position and a clamping position, and wherein the cage yoke from the cage bracket is removable.

The fact that the cage yoke can be removed from the cage bracket, it is now easily possible in particular when connecting cables with a large cable cross-section, after removal of the cage yoke from the cage bracket, the cable from above, i. through the normally closed by the cage yoke opening to bring into the cage cell. This type of assembly also has the advantage that when threading the cable into the cage cell, the clamping structure is generally not accidentally displaced in the axial direction, so that the risk of axial misalignment of the clamping structure is reduced.

In a preferred embodiment, the clamping plate is connected to a threaded pin and the cage yoke has a threaded bore for receiving the threaded pin, so that when recorded in the threaded bore of the cage yoke threaded pin, the clamping plate can be brought by turning the threaded pin from the open position to a clamping position. This measure has the advantage that the clamping plate can be moved perpendicular to the cable axis by simply turning the threaded pin, which may be formed for example as a screw. On the other hand, by connecting the clamping plate with the threaded pin ensures that during disassembly by turning the grub screw in the opposite direction, the clamping plate can be easily detached from the cable. In contrast, for example, in the mentioned in the above DE 44 35 057 described embodiment, the pressure piece is not connected to the corresponding pressure pin, so that the pressure piece from the cable can not be solved by means of the pressure bolt, but must be removed manually during disassembly of this from the clamping cage.

In a further preferred embodiment, a terminal space for receiving a connecting rail is provided between the clamping piece and the bottom portion of the cage bracket. In other words, the clamping piece divides the cage cell into a terminal space and a cable space so that the clamping piece is arranged between the cable and the terminal rail.

For example, the clamping piece may be concave on its side facing the cable, so that the clamping piece better adapts to the outer contour of the cable, while the side facing away from the cable of the clamping piece can be adapted to the shape of the connecting rail.

For example, it is possible with the aid of the clamping structure to fix a cable to a connecting rail, which is originally provided for connection to the cable via corresponding pole shoes, which are screwed to the connecting rail.

In a further preferred embodiment, the two leg portions are formed cranked, so that the two leg sections at the end facing away from the bottom portion each have a projecting in the direction of the other leg portion portion, wherein the distance between the two projecting portions of the leg portions is smaller than the length of Käfigjochs, so that the cage yoke can not be removed or only by a bending apart of the leg portions of the bottom portion away from the cage bracket. This embodiment facilitates for some applications, the assembly and disassembly of the cable to the connecting rails.

In a further preferred embodiment, at least one leg section has a projection on its side facing the other leg section. This projection serves to hold the cage yoke in its substantially opposite to the bottom portion position of the leg portions. The cage yoke can be easily removed if the leg sections are bent slightly outwards.

For example, a leg portion may have a substantially U-shaped through hole surrounding a tongue portion, with the tongue portion toward the other Leg portion is bent and forms the projection. This can be formed in a cost effective manner, the projection. It is possible, for example, to form the cage bracket as a stamped and bent part.

With regard to the load switch bar or the disconnector mentioned above, the object is achieved in that a corresponding terminal structure is provided in the load switch bar or the disconnector.

In this case, the load switch bar or the separator may have a connection rail associated recess into which a push insert is inserted, wherein the push insert has a recess for receiving the clamping structure. In other words, during assembly, the clamping structure is first inserted into the recess of the push insert. Then the push insert is inserted together with the terminal structure in the corresponding recess of the load switch bar or the disconnector. The recess in the connecting rail is designed such that when inserting the push insert, the connecting rail extends into the terminal space of the clamping structure. Now, only the cable must be applied to the clamping piece and the clamping plate are brought into the clamping position. In a preferred embodiment, the push insert on a stop element, which prevents a displacement of the clamping structure relative to the push insert in the direction of the recess or in the opposite direction. Preferably, two stop elements are provided which receive the clamping structure such that a relative movement in the direction of the recess and in the opposite direction is prevented. When inserting the push insert is therefore ensured that the clamping structure is arranged in the exact position with respect to the connecting rail.

In order to prevent accidental displacement of the pusher insert within the recess is provided in a further preferred embodiment that the push insert and / or the recess in the load switch bar or the separator has a movable or deformable locking element and the recess in the load switch bar or the separator and / or the push insert has a recess for receiving the latching element. In other words, the push insert is pushed into the corresponding recess until the locking element engages in the recess. Now the push insert is in the exact position and the assembly can be done.

Figur 1

eine perspektivische Ansicht einer ersten Ausführungsform eines Klemmaufbaus,

Figur 2

eine perspektivische Ansicht einer zweiten Ausführungsform eines Klemmeinsat- zes,

Figur 3

eine perspektivische Ansicht einer Ausführungsform eines Schubeinsatzes,

Figur 4

eine perspektivische Ansicht einer Lastschaltleiste mit entsprechendem Klemm- aufbau ohne Käfigjoch,

Figur 5

eine perspektivische Ansicht einer Lastschaltleiste mit einer Ausführungsform des Klemmaufbaus mit Käfigjoch und

Figur 6

eine Schnittansicht durch die Ausführungsform von Figur 5.

Further advantages, features and applications will become apparent from the following description of some preferred embodiments. Show it:

FIG. 1

a perspective view of a first embodiment of a clamping structure,

FIG. 2

a perspective view of a second embodiment of a Klemmeinsat- ZES,

FIG. 3

a perspective view of an embodiment of a push insert,

FIG. 4

a perspective view of a load switch bar with a corresponding clamping structure without cage yoke,

FIG. 5

a perspective view of a load switch bar with an embodiment of the clamping structure with Käfigjoch and

FIG. 6

a sectional view through the embodiment of FIG. 5 ,

In FIG. 1 a first embodiment of a clamping structure according to the invention is shown. The clamping structure has a substantially U-shaped cage bracket 1, which has two leg sections 2, 3 and a bottom section 4 connecting the leg sections 2, 3. Furthermore, a cage yoke 5 is provided, which substantially at the side facing away from the bottom portion 4 of the leg sections 2, 3 connects to each other, so that between the cage yoke 5 on the one hand and cage bracket 1 on the other hand, a space is formed, which is also called cage cell below. In the cage cell, a clamping piece 6 is arranged between the two leg sections 2, 3. This clamping piece 6 divides the cage cell into a terminal space 7 for a connecting rail and a cable space 8 for receiving the cable. The connection space 7 is essentially limited by the clamping piece 6 and the bottom portion 4, while the cable space 8 is bounded by the clamping piece 6, the two leg portions 2, 3 and the cage yoke 5. The cage yoke 5 has a threaded through bore through which a threaded pin 9 is connected to a clamping plate 10 which is arranged in the cable space 8. By turning the threaded pin 9, the clamping plate 10 can be moved in the direction of the clamping piece 6 or away from it. The two leg sections 2, 3 have two cranked sections 11, 12 at their end facing away from the bottom section 4. These cranked portions 11, 12 are formed such that the distance between them is slightly smaller than the corresponding extent of the cage yoke 5, so that in the in FIG. 1 shown position the cage yoke 5 can not be removed upwards from the cage bracket without the two legs are bent outwards. Furthermore, both legs have an approximately U-shaped recess 13 which surrounds a corresponding tongue portion 14. This tongue portion 14 has been bent in the production something in the direction of the cage cell, so that in the in FIG. 1 shown position the cage yoke 5 on both sides of the corresponding tongue portion 14 is supported. To remove the cage yoke, either the leg sections must be bent slightly outwards, or the cage yoke must be pushed forward (or rearward). It can be seen that the in FIG. 1 shown embodiment is provided for connection to substantially flat connecting rails, therefore, the terminal compartment 7 is formed according to the rail shape.

In FIG. 2 Therefore, another embodiment is shown which differs from the embodiment of FIG. 1 essentially differs in that clamping piece 6 on the one hand and bottom section 4 on the other hand are deviating shaped to receive a substantially V-shaped connecting rail. In both cases, the clamping piece 6 is provided between the connecting rail and cable, so that the clamping piece 6 may be formed concave on its side facing the cable space to adapt to the shape of the cable, and at the terminal space side facing the expected shape of the Connecting rail can be formed.

To connect a cable to a corresponding terminal rail is therefore first of the terminal structure, as he, for example, in FIG. 1 is shown, pushed onto the connecting rail, so that the connecting rail is received in the terminal compartment 7. Then, the cage yoke 5 can be removed, so that the corresponding cable can be easily inserted from above into the gap between the two leg sections 2, 3. Thereafter, the yoke 5 is again in the in FIG. 1 shown position, and by means of the threaded pin 9, the clamping plate 10 is moved in the direction of the clamping piece 6 until the cable is securely held between the clamping piece 6 and clamping plate 10. It can be seen that the clamping piece 6 is movable relative to the cage bracket, so that not only the cable space 8 can be reduced by turning the threaded pin 9, but this happens in the same way with the terminal compartment 7, whereby the terminal rail is firmly held.

In FIG. 3 an embodiment of a push insert is shown. The push insert 15 has a recess 16, in which the bottom portion 4 of the clamping structure can be used. The recess 16 is bounded by lateral cheeks 18, 19 and a front stop surface 17. Furthermore, the push insert on two locking elements 20 which are elastically deformable. Furthermore, the push insert 15 has a recess 21 for receiving a fastening nut. If the push insert together with the in FIG. 1 used clamp construction, so it is not necessary to arrange a nut in the recess 21.

In FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a corresponding switching strip 22 is shown. This switching strip 22 has three connecting rails, which must be connected with appropriate cables. Therefore, refer to the corresponding connection bars in the in FIG. 4 already shown the corresponding U-shaped cage bracket 1, 1 'and 1 "placed FIG. 5 is another perspective view of the switching strip 22 can be seen. In this view, the substantially band-shaped connecting rails 23 are clearly visible. These are already arranged in the corresponding connection space 7 of the clamping structure. In the in FIG. 5 shown position, the cage yoke 5 is mounted on the cage bracket 1. The cables can either be in the in FIG. 5 shown position or in the FIG. 4 Position are introduced into the cage cell. FIG. 6 shows a sectional view through the embodiment of FIG. 5 , Again, it can be seen clearly that the clamping piece 6, the cage cell in a terminal compartment 7 and a cable compartment 8 separates. In the connection space 7, a connecting rail 23 is already arranged. To the terminal assembly 1 in the axial direction, ie perpendicular to the plane of the paper FIG. 6 To position, shear inserts are used as they are in FIG. 3 are shown. For simplified representation, these thrust inserts are in FIG. 6 not shown. First, therefore, the clamp assembly 1 is placed in the corresponding recess 16 of the drawer insert 15. The lateral cheeks 18, 19 and the front stop surface 17 ensure that the clamping structure is properly positioned relative to the push insert 15. The push insert 15 is then inserted into the corresponding recesses 24 of the switching strip 22. The insertion direction is in FIG. 3 marked with an arrow. The corresponding locking elements 20 then engage in corresponding recesses 25 in the recess 24 of the switching strip 22, so that the push insert 15 is positioned relative to the switching strip 22. By this measure it is ensured that the clamping structure has exactly the correct position in the FIGS. 4 to 6 is shown. Now, the cable, if necessary, after previous removal of the cage yoke 5, are easily introduced into the cable space 8. By turning the threaded pin 9, the clamping plate 10 can then be moved in the direction of the clamping piece 6, so that the cable is securely clamped securely in the cable compartment 8 and the connecting rail 23 in the terminal compartment 7.

In some cases, the cables which are to be connected to the switching strip at their ends on pole pieces, which are intended to be screwed to the connecting rail.

In the previously known embodiments of a switching strip then another switching strip must be used, the connecting rails are designed to be used with pole pieces.

In the embodiment shown in the figures, this is not necessary. If pole shoes are to be used, the clamping structure 1 together with the push insert 15 is pulled out of the recess 24. The clamp assembly is removed and a nut inserted into the corresponding recess 21 of the drawer insert 15. Now, the push insert 15 can be inserted again into the corresponding recess 24. The connecting rails 23 already have through holes 26, so that it is easily possible to put the pole pieces on the nut received in the recess 21 and by means of a screw which passes through both pole piece and through hole 26 in the connecting rail 23, with the mother in connect the recess 21 and thus to connect the cable lugs firmly to the connecting rail.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1, 1 ', 1 "

roll cage

2, 3

leg sections

4

bottom section

5

Käfigjoch

6

clamp

7

connecting space

8th

cable space

9

Set screw

10

clamp

11, 12

cranked sections

13

recess

14

tongue portion

15

railable

16

recess

17

front stop surface

18, 19

lateral cheeks

20

locking elements

21

recess

22

Safety Edge

23

connecting rails

24

recesses

25

wells

26

Through holes

Claims (13)

A clamping structure for connecting cables to connecting rails having a substantially U-shaped cage bracket, which has two leg sections and a bottom section connecting the leg sections,
a cage yoke, which essentially connects to one another at the side of the leg sections facing away from the bottom section, so that a cage cell is formed between the cage yoke on the one hand and the cage yoke on the other hand,
an arranged between the two leg portions in the cage cell clamping piece and
a clamping plate, which is arranged within the cage cell between the cage yoke and clamping piece,
wherein the clamping plate between an open position and a clamping position can be moved back and forth and
wherein the cage yoke is removable from the cage bracket. A clamping structure according to claim 1, characterized in that the clamping plate is connected to a threaded pin and the cage yoke has a threaded bore for receiving the threaded pin, so that when recorded in the threaded bore of the cage yoke threaded pin, the clamping plate by turning the threaded pin from the open position into a Clamping position can be brought. Clamping structure according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that between clamping piece and bottom portion of the cage bracket, a terminal space is provided for receiving a connecting rail. Clamping structure according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the two leg portions are formed cranked, so that the two leg portions on the bottom portion remote from the end each have a protruding in the direction of the other leg portion section, wherein the distance between the two projecting portions of Leg portions is smaller than the length of the cage yoke, so that the cage yoke can not or only by a bending apart of the leg portions away from the bottom portion of the cage bracket can be removed. Clamping structure according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that at least one leg portion has on its side facing the other leg portion a projection A clamping structure according to claim 5, characterized in that at least one leg portion has a substantially U-shaped through hole surrounding a tongue portion, wherein the tongue portion is bent in the direction of the other leg portion and forms the projection. Clamping structure according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the cage bracket is formed as a stamped and bent part. Clamp assembly according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the clamping piece is movable relative to the bottom portion of the cage bracket. Clamping structure according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that a captive for the cage yoke is provided, wherein the captive is preferably a thread or wire, which secures the cage yoke on the cage bracket, so that the cage yoke can indeed be removed from the cage bracket, however remains connected with this on the captive. Load bar or disconnector with a clamping structure according to one of claims 1 to 9. Load switch bar or disconnector according to claim 10, characterized in that the load switch bar or disconnector has a connection rail associated recess into which a push insert is inserted, wherein the push insert has a recess for receiving the clamping structure. A power strip or disconnector according to claim 11, characterized in that the push insert has a stop element which prevents displacement of the clamping structure relative to the push insert in the direction of the recess or in the opposite direction. Switch-disconnector or disconnector according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that the push insert and / or the recess in the load switch bar or disconnector has a movable or deformable latching element, and the recess in the load switch bar or disconnector and / or the push insert a recess for receiving the Has locking element.

Images