Conductor bar

Details Conductor bar Conductor bar

1999-08-05

2001-09-18

Bradley, Paula (Department: 2833)

Electrical connectors

Uninterrupted support rail or uninterrupted contact

C439S094000, C439S121000, C439S209000, C439S216000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06290516

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a conductor rail, in particular for the electrification of furniture, with a section member with a longitudinal channel in which there are arranged at least two leads foreseen for the leading of current and which is accessible via a longitudinal slot in the section member in order to be able to contact the leads at any location with a plug. Furthermore the invention relates to a plug in order to be able to tap the conductor rail at any location.
DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
Nowadays almost every workplace in the office region is equipped with a computer. Also telephones are commonly no longer operated from the current of the telephone connection alone, they must be connected to the electricity network like any other electrical apparatus. Finally for satisfying the individual lighting requirements (that is to say in offices with several workplaces) often an additional table or standing lamp is employed.
Conventionally, an extension cable with a plug socket is laid on the floor, to which the various consumers are directly connected. According to experience this leads to a confusion of cables, which is not satisfactory either for reasons of technical security or aesthetics. (Similar problems occur also e.g. in laboratory regions and in the home.)
It is of course known per se that the electrification becomes much more comfortable when using conductor rails. In DE 40 42 395 A1 there is described by way of example a conductor rail which may be mounted at an angle between two wall surfaces. The electrical leads are embedded into an insulation section which is accommodated in a housing (aluminium section). However the housing is triangular in cross section and as a whole extremely large.
DE 39 24 045 A1 shows a conductor rail with a plug for a lighting body. The conductor rail is formed by a U-shaped section of rubber or plastic. In the insertion cavity which is arranged on a narrow side of the section cross section which is essentially rectangular in cross section, there are accommodated two electrical leads. They are located at the inner sides of the cavity which lie opposite one another. On insertion of the plug this is clamped between the two leads. By way of a rib/flute design the plug is retained in its position.
The largest part of the known conductor rails is foreseen for installation in buildings. Those to be mentioned are conductor rails for lighting and those for placing sockets at freely selectable locations. These arrangements satisfy the applicable safety standards, but are very large. Besides these, conductor rail systems for special applications are known (cf. e.g. DE 39 24 045 A1) which however are mostly not satisfactory with regard to safety.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the object of the invention to specify a conductor rail of the initially mentioned type which is very compact and is suitable for the electrification of furniture.
The solution of this object is defined by the features of claim
1
. According to the invention all leads responsible for conducting the current are arranged sunk in the same lateral wall of the channel.
In this way it is ensured that an object of any type introduced into the channel cannot contact the electrical leads without further ado. (If one of the two leads were at the rear side of the channel then with a straight rod it could easily be contacted, this even being when the lead is sunk.
The measure put forward however also permits a flat and compact design of the section member. The electrical leads are indeed to be arranged at a certain distance from one another for safety reasons. The size of this distance, with the chosen design, does not effect the height, but at the most the width of the section cross section. Finally, also the height may be kept to a minimum in that the two leads are arranged next to one another and not opposite one another. In any case it is indeed necessary that the insulation material which must surround the leads has a certain dimension. With the invention this dimension does not doubly effect the height of the sectioned cross section but only once.
For the electrification of furniture (e.g. desks or general furniture systems) it is desirable that the section member is formed very flat and that the longitudinal slot is arranged on a narrow side of the typically rectangular section. By way of this, on the one hand there results a slim and elegant presentation and on the other hand the possibility of inconspicuously fastening the conductor rail to the lower side of the table surface (without losing substantial leg freedom).
Preferably the current conducting leads are embedded into an insulating member. With this it is the case e.g. of a strip-shaped insert of plastic with several deepenings for the leads. According to the invention the insert is placed on the lateral wall of the longitudinal channel. The insert is kept as thin as possible and may be just as wide as the lateral wall. It may be fixed in the channel with a positive fit or a frictional fit.
The section member may be of metal (steel, aluminium etc.) so that it may be applied as a carrying element of a piece of furniture. This means that with a table, a rolling body, a mobile separating wall or likewise, a leg (or a vertical or horizontal member) may be formed in the manner of the conductor rail according to the invention.
It is however also conceivable that the structured member consists of a non-conducting material (e.g. of a plastic) and that only a suitable metallic earth is mounted in the longitudinal channel.
In order to constantly ensure a good pressure contact with the plug, the electrical leads should be spring mounted. In this context the member may be manufactured of an elastic material. If for certain reasons a non-elastic material is to be used, then the structure of the member is to be created such that there results a spring mounting of the leads (grid or honeycomb structure).
According to a preferred embodiment form, the contact pins of the plug are pressed with a spring force onto the leads of the conductor rail. For this purpose a spring element with a suitable effect may be provided on the plug.
The member with the embedded strip leads may be inserted from the end face of the metal section.
With a section member which is preferably applied, the channel has a cross section which tapers towards the inside from the side of the longitudinal slot. With this the section member may comprise two similar longitudinal channels (in a symmetrical arrangement).
Preferably the side lying directly opposite the longitudinal slot (the rear side of the channel, the rear wall or the displaced forward intermediate wall) is formed of metal. If for the current conducting leads there is provided an insulating member, then on the mentioned rear wall of the free inner space a third lead may be installed as earth. If the plug is introduced into the longitudinal channel, then firstly the mentioned earth lead is touched before contact can be made with the current conducting leads.
Another possibility for earthing lies in the fact that the second lateral wall which lies opposite the first lateral wall equipped with the leads is metallic, in order to be contacted by the plug for the purpose of earthing. It is simplest when the section member consists of metal and the mentioned lateral wall is free of an insulating covering layer (coating or likewise). With a plastic section, a metal coating may be attached at the mentioned location.
Directly next to or behind the longitudinal slot, according to a preferred embodiment form of the invention, there are provided ribs or flutes which serve the retention or locking. The plug therefore also has a shoulder (or a collar or likewise) which may be brought into engagement with the ribs or flutes.
The conductor rail has at its disposal a rigidly mounted connection element for the supply of current. This may not be displaced by the user. The connection element is namely designed for currents which are somewhat higher than those which may be tapped by a plug at any location.

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