Optical waveguides – With disengagable mechanical connector
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-17
2003-05-27
Sikder, Mohammad (Department: 2874)
Optical waveguides
With disengagable mechanical connector
C385S054000, C385S056000, C385S076000, C385S077000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06568860
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Applicants claim priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of German Application No. 100 40 651.3 filed Aug. 19, 2000.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electronic device that can be pushed onto a support rail, with a housing, with an electronic module that can also be inserted detachably in the housing, and with bus contacts for transmission of data and/or energy to neighboring electronic devices pushed onto the support rail and having identical design, with appropriately designed bus terminals.
The connection of neighboring electronic devices which are pushed or plugged onto a common top-hat rail or support rail via so-called bus connections is known and widely used. The bus connections have electrical and/or optical transmission elements or terminals, which project laterally from the housing of the electronic device, and which can be brought into contact with transmission elements or terminals having complementary shape on the adjacent device. If a plurality of devices is plugged onto a support rail, the bus connections form a common, continuous conductor rail for supplying energy to the devices, as well as a data bus for transmission of data and/or control signals. Normally the direct-current-carrying conductor rail has two poles and the data bus is provided with, for example, eight independent lines. As is known to those skilled in the art, these bus connections have the form among others of blade-and-spring contacts that can be inserted one inside the other, or are designed with optoelectronic fixtures. For this purpose, the bus contacts project beyond the housing wall on one side and, when the neighboring housing is pushed together on the support rail, the contacts are brought into engagement with correspondingly shaped bus terminals. Usable electronic devices include among others, switching, closed-loop control or open-loop control devices, input/output modules, logic components for signal acquisition and processing or other electronic components that can be grouped together on a support rail and brought into electrical contact with one another via the common bus connections. The devices usually have standardized dimensions.
2. The Prior Art
If one of the electrical devices has to be exchanged, for example because it is defective or because it will be replaced by a device with different functions, it has been necessary heretofore to pull all neighboring devices off from the support rail, in order to gain access to the device in question. Certainly there are known snap-on/latching connections with which the housing of the device can be mounted and fixed on the support rail directly from above, but detachment of the device when it is plugged together with neighboring devices is no longer possible, since the contacts of the bus connections project laterally beyond the device, and are engaged in the neighboring device. In order nevertheless to exchange defective devices or to replace them by other devices, it is known that the housing can be constructed in two parts, in order to be able to remove an upper part and to gain access, in the housing interior, to a printed-circuit board or other electronic unit that can be fixed detachably to the lower part of the device. Here, the lower part is pushed onto the support rail and connected with neighboring lower parts via the bus contacts.
It is regarded as a disadvantage in this case, however, that the lower part still remains on the support rail, and so the exchange procedure described in the foregoing must nevertheless be undertaken in the event of a defect in the lower part. Moreover, it is never possible to rule out the risk of damaging the bus contacts projecting laterally beyond the housing, especially during transportation and storage, and great care is needed when pushing the devices onto the support rail, in order not to bend or damage them and thus prevent establishment of contact with neighboring devices.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to design an electronic device that can be pushed onto a support rail so that the terminals and contacts for the bus connections are protected from damage in the unassembled condition of the device, and the device can be exchanged for another without the need to remove neighboring devices from the support rail.
This object is achieved according to the invention by the fact that the bus contacts can be displaced relative to the housing, and the bus contacts can be immobilized via a latching fixture so that, in a latched position, they can be brought into contact in the bus terminals in the neighboring device.
The invention allows the bus contacts to be displaced relative to the housing. The term “bus contacts” is to be understood as all arrangements for establishing optical and/or electrical contact of neighboring devices with one another, and the establishment of contact with the neighboring device is of detachable design. The arrangements can be of any desired type, in particular as electrical contact strips or as optical waveguides, as described hereinafter. The arrangements that establish contact can also be designed as USB contacts, as are known for computers. To immobilize the contacts relative to the housing there is provided a latching fixture, that can be immobilized at least in one position so that they extend laterally beyond the wall of the housing. In the assembled condition on the support rail they are engaged in the terminals of the neighboring device. It is immaterial within the scope of the invention whether each bus contact can be displaced and latched individually or whether, for example, the contacts of the data bus can be displaced together. The nature of the contacts and terminals can be either electrical or optical, or in other words with optical waveguides. The latching fixture can be constructed as desired, or as described hereinafter. In order to ensure establishment of contact of the individual devices with one another, the connection of neighboring housings is made either via further connecting fixtures or, as explained hereinafter, with the same latching fixture. By means of the bus contacts, a continuous or discontinuous bus connection is obtained when a plurality of devices is grouped together. The bus connection to the energy supply of the individual devices is generally designed to be continuous, in order to supply all devices commonly with current. Depending on requirement, the bus connection for data transmission between neighboring devices can also be designed to be discontinuous or, if data transmission between neighboring devices is not desired, to be separated.
The advantage of the invention is that, because of the displaceability of the bus contacts relative to the housing, they can be completely retracted into the housing, and damage thereto is avoided for practical purposes, especially during the assembly of a plurality of devices or during transportation. To establish electrical and/or optical contact, they are pushed laterally out of the housing, and automatically connected to corresponding terminals in the neighboring housing. In order to prevent inadvertent detachment of the connection, there is used the latching fixture, which immobilizes it in contact position. Moreover, it is ensured that the electronic device together with completely retracted bus contacts can be lifted upward from the support rail, on which it had been fixed by a further latching connection, for example. For this purpose, it is only necessary to retract the terminals of the neighboring device. Nevertheless, it is no longer necessary to remove the device itself from the support rail.
Preferably the bus contacts are displaced parallel to the support rail in order to establish contact with the neighboring device to prevent any bending of the terminals during insertion of a contact strip into a spring contact on the neighboring device. One possible embodiment of the bus contacts are the blade-and-spring contacts, which can be inserted one into the other, and which are known t
Kienapfel Udo
Koch Jörg
Lausberg Gerd
Singer Rudi
Stanesby Marc
Collard & Roe P.C.
ERNI Elektroapparate GmbH
Sikder Mohammad
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