Catch for fastening to a support rail

Details Catch for fastening to a support rail Catch for fastening to a support rail

2000-09-07

2001-09-25

Ta, Tho D. (Department: 2833)

Electrical connectors

With supporting means for coupling part

Interfitting with channel or double rail

C439S716000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06293820

ABSTRACT:

The present invention relates to a catch for fastening to a support rail.
Such a fastening catch is used for mounting an electrical connection device such as for example a terminal block or a fuse holder on a support rail. When the device to be mounted is relatively small in size, the fastening to the support rail is effected for example by snap-engagement. Such fastening is suitable since the force required to carry out this fastening is relatively small. For electrical devices of larger sizes, a maneuverable latching system also referred to as a fastening catch is used.
The support rails used are profiled rails exhibiting a U-shaped cross section. The free end of the branches of the U is folded back substantially at right angles toward the outside and thus forms two lateral wings. The known fastening catches generally comprise two hooks, one at least of which is moveable, each intended to grasp a lateral wing from below.
The documents EP-0 326 624 and DE-41 08 072 disclose for example a fastening catch.
A drawback of these fastening catches is that they are always prestressed in the latching position. This does not facilitate their mounting on the support rail. With these fastening catches one also has an access problem. Specifically, it is sometimes difficult within an electrical cabinet to access the fastening catch in order to carry out latching or unlatching on the support rail.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a fastening catch allowing latching and unlatching on a support rail easier than for the fastening catches of the prior art.
For this purpose, the fastening catch which it proposes is a catch for fastening an electrical housing to a support rail, comprising two relatively sliding pieces, each piece exhibiting a hook intended to allow latching to the support rail.
According to the invention, a first sliding piece exhibits snap-engagement means and the second sliding piece comprises complementary snap-engagement means so that these snap-engagement means cooperate when the sliding pieces are in the unlatched position and possibly also in the latched position.
In this way, it is possible to retain the fastening catch in the unlatched position without outside intervention. Thus, in order to place the housing in position on the support rail, it is sufficient to offer it to the rail, without worrying about the fastening catch. Likewise, to remove the housing from the support rail, it is sufficient to unlatch the fastening catch and detach it. During these operations, it is entirely unnecessary to act on the fastening catch. Therefore, one can more easily access the support rail, even when the space around the latter is congested.
Retention in the latched position by snap-engagement is optional since a spring or indeed other elastic means may be provided for retention in this position.
The first sliding piece of a fastening catch according to the invention comprises, for example, a second hook mounted elastically in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of the sliding pieces and the second sliding piece then comprises for example two grooves intended to receive the end of the second hook. The hook enters a groove when the catch is in the unlatched position whilst it enters the second groove in the latched position.
In this embodiment, the second hook may be disposed at the end of an elastic dog cut out from the sliding piece.
In a fastening catch according to the invention, provision may be made for two sliding pieces to overlap, for a sliding piece to comprise at one of its ends a recess intended to receive the blade of a screw-driver and for an end of the other sliding piece to exhibit at the height of the recess a raised rim intended to serve as bearing for the screw-driver. In this embodiment, in a single maneuver, one acts simultaneously on the two sliding pieces. One therefore acts in one movement on both sides of the support rail.
To create a force for restoring to the latched position, there may be provided on each sliding piece an elastic blade running perpendicularly to the direction of movement of the sliding pieces toward the inside of the electrical housing and intended to bear against an inside wall of this housing in such a way as to prestress each sliding piece toward the latching position.
Advantageously, the two sliding pieces are identical and they each exhibit the form of two elongate plates disposed one along the extension of the other with a heightwise offset, a lateral notch allowing the nesting of the two sliding pieces being provided substantially in the middle of each sliding piece. This makes it possible very substantially to reduce the cost price of a fastening catch since on the one hand a single type of piece requires to be constructed and on the other hand mounting of the fastening catch is easy to carry out.
In this embodiment, an edge of the notch is advantageously beveled, so that in the mounted state of the catch, the two beveled edges face one another. It is then possible to bring a screw-driver level with these beveled edges so as to act on the sliding pieces. When the housing is mounted on the support rail, it is possible to unlatch the fastening catch via the center rather than via the edges as is the case for the fastening catches of the prior art.
The present invention also relates to an electrical connection device which comprises a fastening catch as described hereinabove. Such an electrical connection device preferably comprises a housing in which is made a central hole substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of the sliding pieces of the fastening catch, this hole allowing access to the fastening catch from the top of the housing.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4878859 (1989-11-01), Haller et al.
patent: 5103373 (1992-04-01), Rusch et al.
patent: 5174767 (1992-12-01), Diekmann et al.
patent: 6146213 (2000-11-01), Yoon
patent: 3225855 (1984-01-01), None
patent: 37 32 434 A1 (1989-04-01), None
patent: 44 09 206 C1 (1995-05-01), None
patent: 197 09 811 A1 (1998-09-01), None

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