Electricity: electrical systems and devices – Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical... – For electrical power distribution systems and devices
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-09
2001-05-29
Tolin, Gerald (Department: 2835)
Electricity: electrical systems and devices
Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...
For electrical power distribution systems and devices
C070S246000, C200S043220, C312S215000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06239966
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a housing with a lock, in particular for electric switchgear and control gear.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Housings for electric switchgear and control gear, with a housing cover that can be attached to a housing base body by a lock, are known. The lock has a blocking element displaceably attached to the housing cover and operable by an operating slide connected to it. In the closed position, the locking element engages with a seating face arranged on the housing base body and thus prevents the housing cover from being removed from the housing base body. Because of their size, these conventional locks are difficult to mount on difficult-to-access locations on the housing. Furthermore, there is the risk that the lock might be unintentionally shifted into an open position because of the forward-projecting operating slide, so that in most cases an additional screw closure must be provided on the housing cover.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to improve on a housing so that the housing provides for a lock that can be opened without a tool and operated even in tight spaces.
According to the present invention, the housing has a lock with an operating slide arranged over a blocking element. In the closed position, the blocking element, which is displaceably attached to the second housing part, rests on a seating face of a means arranged in the recess of the second housing part and prevents the means from escaping from the recess in the second housing part. Since the means is fixedly attached to the first housing part, the second housing part cannot be separated from the first housing part when the lock is in the closed position.
This advantageously leads to a form-fitting lock of the housing that can be operated without a tool even in tight spaces in a vehicle. The lock makes it possible in particular to attach a housing cover to a housing base body by simply manually operating the operating slide from an open position into a closed position. With this compact lock, the interior of the housing can be extremely well protected from environmental effects while nevertheless being rapidly accessible.
According to the present invention, the seating face in the closed position is arranged between the operating slide and the section of the blocking element. This advantageously yields an especially compact lock, because the operating slide is arranged over the blocking element, and therefore the blocking element does not project beyond the lock at the side.
The operating slide is displaceably arranged on the outside of the housing above the recess and is connected to the blocking element by a web, in particular a web passing through the recess. Therefore, the operating slide can be displaced easily by manual force on the outside of the housing, and the blocking element arranged inside the housing prevents unlocking of the means arranged inside the recess.
The operating slide is preferably essentially flat and arranged parallel to the engagement face of the blocking element. Therefore, the operating slide projects only slightly forward on the outside housing wall, so that the risk of unwanted unlocking is reduced. The operating slide, which is designed to be essentially flat, may have two ergonomically shaped recessed grips for manual operation of the lock from an open position into a closed position and vice versa. The bottom side of the locking part arranged inside the housing is designed in a T shape due to the fact that the flat operating slide is arranged parallel to the section of the blocking element designed as an engagement face, and the two are connected by a web.
The second housing part has a slot, arranged at the side of the recess in the housing wall, along which the web is guided in the direction of displacement.
Due to the T-shaped design of the bottom side of the lock, the lock is attached in a form-fitting manner to the housing wall, arranged around the recess and the slot, of the second housing part, in particular of a housing cover, in the open position and during the displacement operation. Due to the fact that the operating slide, which has a flat design and is arranged outside the housing, is in contact with the housing wall on the outside in the area around the recess and the slot, the lock is attached to the second housing part in a manner that prevents it from being lost.
According to the present invention, the at least one means is a hook under which the section of the blocking element is engaged with the seating face on its side facing away from the operating slide of the lock. The open side of the hook with a flat design is arranged perpendicular to the direction of displacement of the lock, so that the blocking element can be brought to the seating face below the hook, engaging there in the closed position and thus preventing removal of the second housing part from the hook. According to the present invention, the narrow web of the lock can be guided past the open side of the hook in the displacement operation, while at the same time the blocking element engages with the hook on the seating face from the side.
In an especially advantageous exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the lock has two blocking elements arranged on a narrow web perpendicular to the seating face and projecting slightly from it at the side. The narrow web passing through the recess is arranged perpendicular to the operating slide and the two blocking elements designed as small plates, with the blocking elements projecting on both sides of the web, and on one side of the web, the engagement face being arranged on the side facing the operating slide, and on the other side of the web, a catch nose being arranged pointing toward the operating slide. The lock is thus in contact with the bottom side of the operating slide and the top side of the blocking element on a housing wall of the second housing part surrounding the recess and it encompasses it, with the catch noses of the blocking elements engaging in a guide groove arranged parallel to the direction of displacement in the housing wall of the second housing part. Therefore, the lock is guided in the guide groove in the displacement operation and ensures optimum functioning of the lock as it is displaced.
The recess in the second housing part has two rectangular openings, with a shape through which the two blocking elements designed as plates can be guided parallel to the web in the closed position. This permits an especially advantageous method of disengaging the lock from the second housing part by displacement out of the guide groove and parallel to the blocking element faces, with the catch noses of the blocking elements sliding out in a direction perpendicular to the guide groove. This disengagement of the lock can preferably take place only in the closed position of the lock. Therefore, the lock can be disengaged from the second housing part only when lock is in the closed position, and the second housing part, in particular the housing cover, has been removed, only if the means of the first housing part is not in the recess between the operating slide and the blocking elements. Since the rectangular openings correspond in shape to the two blocking elements projecting away from the web at the side, the lock in the closed position can be pulled out of the recess parallel to the web by disengagement and horizontal displacement, and thus can be separated from the second housing part.
The first housing part is preferably a housing base body, and the second housing part in particular is a housing cover which is pivotally attached to the housing base body in addition to the locking arrangement. The housing cover can advantageously be suspended on two projecting pins and pivoted into the final position on the housing base body, with the blocking elements being pivotable past the inside of the housing cover in the open position next to the hooks of the housing base body. By adjusting the operating slide in the displacement direction, the blocking element
Fabry Ehrenfried
Thomas Gerhard
Wutz Karl
Kenyon & Kenyon
Robert & Bosch GmbH
Tolin Gerald
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