Electrical module having coupling means

Details Electrical module having coupling means Electrical module having coupling means

2000-09-14

2001-11-27

Bradley, Paula (Department: 2833)

Electrical connectors

With insulation other than conductor sheath

Insulating body having plural mutually insulated terminals...

C439S406000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06322399

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
A terminal block assembly includes a plurality of terminal blocks arranged in parallel side-to-side relation transversely of a support rail upon which the terminal blocks are mounted, characterized by the provision of latch means for connecting together successive pairs of the terminal blocks, said latch means being automatically disengaged without the use of any latch releasing tool merely by separating one pair of adjacent ends of the terminal blocks.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
It is well known in the patented prior art to mount a plurality of terminal blocks on a common support rail, as evidenced by the to Horn, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,417, Eggert, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,588,881, and Eggert, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,831, among others, and the European patent No. EP 95 113 730 A1. The terminals carried by the terminal blocks serve various functions, said as bus bars for supplying electrical power to the terminal blocks, grounding connections to the grounded support rail, and signal terminals for supplying control signals to and from modules mounted on associated with the terminal blocks.
It has also been proposed in such terminal block assemblies to latch together successive pairs of the terminal blocks, thus improve the rigidity of the assembly and thereby prevent electrical separation of the components upon the application of impact or shock forces to the assembly. In the known latching devices, the use of a release tool inserted through an access opening is often required to disconnect the latch. One drawback to this arrangement is that at certain crowded regions of the terminal blocks, for example, the end portions that contain a large number of terminals, it is not possible to provide access openings for introducing a latch releasing tool.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a terminal block assembly including a plurality of terminal blocks that are adapted for transverse mounting in a parallel side-by-side manner on a support rail, including novel first latch means that serve to fasten together successive pairs of terminal blocks, said latch means being automatically disengaged without the use of any disengaging tool merely by manually separating one adjacent pair of ends of the terminal block pair.
Accordingly, to another object of the invention, the latch means of the present invention may be used in conjunction with conventional tool-released latching means that are arranged between the first latch means and the ends of the terminal blocks that are to be manually separated.
According to a more specific member, each of the first latch members extends from the entrance of a first latch opening through the first terminal block and laterally outwardly from the opposite side of the first terminal block into the entrance of a corresponding latch opening contained in an adjacent second terminal block. The latch member extends into the second terminal block a distance equal to at least one-half the thickness of the second terminal block, said latch member being cammed into latched engagement with a keeper surface on the second terminal block by a cam surface on the latch member of the second terminal block.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4184733 (1980-01-01), Schemeling
patent: 4210379 (1980-07-01), Vachhani et al.
patent: 4591228 (1986-05-01), Vasseur
patent: 4729744 (1988-03-01), Bet et al.
patent: 5411417 (1995-05-01), Horn et al.
patent: 5588881 (1996-12-01), Eggert et al.
patent: 5629831 (1997-05-01), Eggert et al.
patent: 3829421 A1 (1990-03-01), None
patent: 4331212 A1 (1995-03-01), None
patent: 19748530 C1 (1999-02-01), None
patent: 19807710 A1 (1999-09-01), None
patent: 709933 B1 (1999-11-01), None
patent: 1294828 (1972-11-01), None

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