Electrical coupling device

Details Electrical coupling device Electrical coupling device

1990-07-10

1992-05-19

Abrams, Neil

Electrical connectors

With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in...

Including movement of coupling part about axis

439701, H01R 450

Patent

active

051143607

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to an electrical coupling device with a blade contact strip fixed to an equipment frame and a socket contact strip contained in a housing, in which the housing can be mounted on pivot pins on the equipment frame at a frontal end, and at the other frontal end, a hook arranged on the housing and a projection assigned to it on the equipment frame can be locked together to attach it.
In known coupling devices of this type, a one-piece socket contact strip with a large number of pre-determined socket elements is arranged in a housing, and it can be coupled with the blade contacts of the equipment frame by pivoting the housing against the equipment frame. It is a disadvantage in these devices that for coupling procedures with a different number of socket contacts, socket contact strips with different components always have to be inserted into the housing, which requires a large expenditure for material and inventory. In addition, a replacement of socket contact strips is, in total, difficult and time-consuming.
It is the task of the invention to create measures for socket contact strips that can be equipped and changed as desired.
According to the invention, it is provided for this purpose that the housing has a frame and that socket contacts set in modular fashion are arranged in the interior of the frame. In this manner, it is possible to set up socket contact strips with a predetermined structure, in the form of a modular system, by inserting modules equipped with a desired number of socket elements and arranging them in the housing. The frame, which remains the same, can hold modules with different components and of varying length, and thereby form socket contact strips with the number of socket contacts corresponding to the requirements in question. Thus it is also possible to use empty modules, between or along with modules with socket contacts arranged in them.
In a version of the coupling device, it is provided that the modules which hold the socket contacts have supporting strips on the end facing away from the blade contacts, which strips can be supported on the longitudinal frame sections, and recesses with contact areas for supporting elements arranged on the longitudinal frame sections at the distance of the supporting strips. In this way, insertion of the modules requires simple plug-in steps, until the supporting strips come up against the longitudinal frame sections, and when the working position of the modules in the frame has been reached, automatic fixation of the modules can also be achieved. Preferably, the supporting elements are formed by projections or molded pieces arranged on the inside of the strip sections cut to be part of the longitudinal frame sections. The strip sections give the advantage that during plug-in steps of the modules, the projections or molded pieces are first automatically moved outward by the module housings, against material stress, and then automatically snap back when the working position of the modules has been reached, over the contact areas. Preferably, the supporting elements are structured at pre-determined distances along the longitudinal frame sections, with the distance of the supporting elements from one another following a grid dimension, especially a variable one.
In a further version of the coupling device, it is provided that the longitudinal frame sections are provided with coding elements on the inside, which mesh with coding recesses of the modules. The coding components present the insertion of incorrect modules into the frame. The coding elements can be formed by strips which extend in the insertion direction of the modules and the recesses of the modules can be formed by corresponding grooves formed in the module housings.
Finally, it is also provided to provide at least one groove/spring arrangement for the modules in the common separation surfaces. The groove/spring arrangement results in an alignment of the modules relative to one another, in the longitudinal direction of the housing. In addition, the groove/spring arra

REFERENCES:
patent: 3042894 (1962-07-01), Fox
patent: 3072340 (1963-01-01), Dean
patent: 3173734 (1965-03-01), Hrtwell
patent: 3668605 (1972-06-01), Albert
patent: 4596436 (1986-06-01), Kraemer et al.

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