EP1168550A2 - Current distributor - Google Patents

Abstract

The power distributor (1) described has a power busbar (2), a socket (3) which is connected to the power busbar (2), at least one contact element (4) which consists of an access connection, a consumer tap and an access port and the consumer tap connecting element, there is at least one plug connection for the plug contacts of a circuit breaker (8), which has a socket (3) of the busbar (2) and an access socket of a contact element (4) and two signal lines (9, 0). In order to produce such a power distributor inexpensively and to ensure reliable operation, the invention provides that the contact element (4) consists of a one-piece part. <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to a power distributor with a busbar, at least one socket which is connected to the busbar, at least one contact element which consists of an access connection, a consumer tap and an element connecting the access port and the consumer tap, at least one plug connection for the plug contacts of a Circuit breaker, the plug connection having a socket of the busbar and an access socket of a contact element, and at least two signal lines.

Such a power distributor is known for example from DE 44 40 602. The power distributor serves to provide at least one protected tap from the power busbar. The power distributor is used, for example, in telecommunications technology, especially in 60V DC telephone systems, for use. The power distributor often has a whole series of plug connections for line-mount flat circuit breakers. The individual circuit breakers are connected on the one hand to the busbar via a plug socket and on the other hand connected to a contact element via the access connection. If the circuit breaker is switched on, the contact element is connected to the busbar, so that the busbar can be accessed via the consumer tap of the contact element. Each contact element is individually protected with its own circuit breaker against the busbar.

The neutral conductor or the earth potential can be supplied to the consumers separately. However, it is also possible to provide a second busbar that supplies the earth potential.

The signal lines only serve to report a tripped circuit breaker to a corresponding signaling element, so that it can be read, without having to manually check each individual circuit breaker, whether a circuit breaker has tripped due to an overload. In the embodiment of DE 44 40 602, the signal lines have plug contacts. The circuit breakers are designed so that they have additional knife contacts for the signal lines and an auxiliary switch. If the circuit breaker is triggered, i.e. If the connection between the busbar and the contact element or the consumer connected to the contact element is disconnected due to an overload, the auxiliary switch of the circuit breaker switches at the same time and connects the two signal lines. The resulting short circuit between the two signal lines can be detected at another location. Equipping the circuit breaker with auxiliary switches and equipping the signaling lines of the power distributor with plug contacts represents a considerable effort. In addition, the arrangement of four plug contacts for the circuit breaker must be very precise in order to enable the circuit breaker to be installed. Even small deformations of the blade terminal contacts of the circuit breaker, which are often present, can lead to incorrect assembly and thus malfunction of the component.

The plug connections for the contact elements and the signal lines are combined in the known embodiment on a circuit board. In this embodiment, the contact element is therefore formed from an access connection soldered into the printed circuit board, a consumer tap soldered into the printed circuit board and an element in the form of a conductor track - connecting the access connection and the consumer tap. While the contact element can be loaded with the full load of the consumer, for example with two protective elements connected in parallel, with currents of up to 63 amperes, a current of less than 1 ampere generally flows through the signaling circuit. In the known power distributor, the copper cladding of the substrate of the circuit board must therefore be designed for the full current load. Since the printed circuit board is laminated uniformly or evenly, the copper cladding of the detection circuit is consequently also on the full load, although only a small load can be expected here. The cost of this circuit board is therefore unreasonably high. Since the embodiment of DE 44 40 602 has two consumer taps which extend perpendicularly from the circuit board in opposite directions, the circuit board must also be laminated on both sides. When assembling, it is then additionally necessary for at least one side to be assembled and soldered by hand. The result is high manufacturing costs for the known power distributor. In addition, it has been shown that in the event of a short-term overload due to the development of heat at the contact element, the access connection and / or the consumer tap can be unsoldered before the protective conductor triggers. The result is that this slot cannot be reused for a circuit breaker.

In the known embodiment, a second busbar is provided, which supplies the zero or earth potential. The second busbar has contacts that extend perpendicularly from the busbar in opposite directions. To fasten the connection contacts on the second busbar, the connection contacts have legs which are inserted into bores in the busbar and then soldered. Here too, automatic assembly and soldering is only possible from one side. The other side has to be soldered by hand. In the event of a short-term overload, heat also develops in the area of the connection contacts, which can lead to soldering and subsequent disconnection of the connection contacts from the second busbar before the circuit breaker trips.

The present invention is therefore based on the object of providing a power distributor which can be produced at low cost and which ensures reliable operation, in particular while overcoming the disadvantages described above.

This object is achieved in that the contact element consists of a one-piece part. In other words, the access connection, consumer tap and the element connecting the access connection and consumer tap consist of a single part. This ensures that, for example in the event of a brief overcurrent, unsoldering of the access connection or the consumer tap is prevented. The overcurrent can assume very high values, especially in AC networks. The one-piece design also has the advantage that the copper cladding of the circuit board does not have to be used for the connection of the access connection and consumer tap. The contact element can be placed on the circuit board, but it is preferably completely separated from it. The copper cladding can therefore be chosen much thinner, since it only has to be designed for the load of the signaling circuit, in which only currents below 1 ampere flow. In addition, only one-sided lamination is necessary, which enables automatic assembly and soldering. The manufacturing costs of the circuit board are therefore considerably lower.

For some applications, it can be advantageous for the access connection of the contact element to have a fitted, for example soldered or pressed-in external plug. This enables the contact element to be individually adapted to the circuit breaker used. In addition, an optimal insertion force for the flat contact of the circuit breaker is achieved. AC applications and those in other power distributions, stationary or in vehicles, are also possible.

It is particularly preferred if the access connection is designed as an access socket. In this case, the access socket is also made in one piece with the contact element. This avoids unwanted contact resistance. Also, in the event of a short-term overload, the external plug cannot be unsoldered.

A particularly preferred embodiment provides that the contact element is formed from a stamped and bent part. A stamped and bent part is extremely inexpensive to manufacture. The contact element is therefore, for example, first punched out of sheet metal, preferably with a thickness between 0.4 and 1.2 mm, particularly preferably with a thickness of about 0.8 mm, and then bent into the corresponding shape.

This ensures that the contact element has no contact transitions and has a constant thickness.

An embodiment is particularly expedient in which the contact element in the area of the access socket has two sections which form a receptacle for the plug contacts of the circuit breaker, the two sections being at a distance from one another which is somewhat smaller than the thickness of the plug contact, and the two Sections are elastically movable relative to each other. To connect the circuit breaker to the access socket, the flat contact or the contact blade of the circuit breaker therefore only has to be guided between the two sections. Since the thickness of the contact knife of the circuit breaker slightly exceeds the distance between the two sections, the two sections are slightly bent apart by inserting the contact knife, so that a reliable electrical contact between the two sections of the contact element on the one hand and the contact knife of the circuit breaker on the other hand arises.

For many applications, it is advantageous if the contact element has two consumer taps. The two consumer taps preferably extend approximately perpendicularly from the element connecting the access connection and the consumer tap in opposite directions. This enables two taps on the same protected branch without the two plug connections being physically obstructed.

The neutral conductor or the earth potential can be supplied to the consumers independently of the protected potential lines. A second busbar is particularly preferably provided which has at least two connection contacts, which are preferably designed as flat plugs which extend in opposite directions from the second busbar, at least two connection contacts which extend in opposite directions being formed in one piece. The one-piece design prevents the risk of soldering during a short-term overload. In addition, the 'pair of connection contacts' can be mounted from one side of the second busbar, so that mechanical assembly and soldering is possible.

At least two connecting contacts, which extend in opposite directions, are particularly preferably designed as a stamped and bent part. The design as stamped and bent parts allows, on the one hand, inexpensive production. On the other hand, this ensures that there are no contact points and thus no undesirable contact resistances, and it also ensures that the thickness of the connection contacts is constant.

An embodiment is particularly expedient in which the integrally formed connection contact pairs are riveted to the second busbar. In contrast to the known embodiments, in which the individual connection contacts are soldered into the circuit board or the busbar, the rivets ensure secure and inexpensive fastening of the connection contacts to the busbars. While in the known embodiments for the soldering of the connection contacts, small holes must first be drilled into the busbar so that the connection contacts can be soldered into the holes in a further processing step, holes can first be punched into the busbar in the riveted embodiment according to the invention then the pair of connection contacts is riveted. The punching process is significantly cheaper than the usual drilling process. In addition, the soldering itself is extremely difficult because of the different material thicknesses of flat contacts of the connection contacts and busbars. Because of the high thermal capacity of the busbars, there is a risk of cold solder joints. Two connection contacts can therefore be attached to the busbar in one operation. This can be done automatically. In contrast to this, the connection contacts in the known embodiments have to be individually soldered onto the busbar, at least one side having to be soldered in by hand.

It goes without saying that the one-piece design of the connecting contacts can also be used advantageously in embodiments in which the contact element does not consist of a one-piece part. Rather, it is essential that the load current carrying connections or contacts from one one-piece part. A different number of contact elements can be strung together according to the number of connections required.

In the known power distributor, it is provided that the circuit breaker has, in addition to the load-carrying contact blade, additional connections for the signal lines. Such a circuit breaker is expensive to manufacture, but it is necessary in the known embodiments, since only when the circuit breaker is triggered is a message sent via the message line. The present invention has also set itself the task of simplifying the signaling circuit so that the power distributor can be equipped with simple circuit breakers with only load-carrying contact blades. This object, which can also be achieved independently of the one-piece design of the contact element or the one-piece design of the connection contacts of the second busbar, is achieved in that a first signal line is electrically connected to the first current busbar, and all contact elements each via a diode are connected to the second signaling line. With this wiring any connection contacts of the signaling circuit to the circuit breaker can be avoided. The first signal line is connected directly to the first busbar. The second signal line is connected to each individual contact element by means of a simple diode, which excites a switching relay to signal a tripped circuit breaker. This eliminates the plug contacts for the signaling lines and the associated assembly problems. A diode is also significantly less expensive than the auxiliary switch that was previously integrated in the circuit breaker.

An embodiment is particularly preferred in which the signal lines are arranged on a printed circuit board. This enables easy and, above all, inexpensive mechanical production of the signaling lines.

It is particularly expedient if terminal pads are provided on the circuit board, each of which is assigned to a contact element, the terminal pad being electrically connected to the associated contact element and being connected to the second signal line via a diode. This enables the diode to be connected as soon as the circuit board is mechanically equipped. To connect the contact element, only the contact element has to be connected to the terminal. The connection connections of the diode no longer have to be separated.

An embodiment in which the diode is integrated in the printed circuit board is particularly preferred. The fact that the circuit board already has a diode means that an additional component can be saved. It is therefore only necessary to connect the contact elements to a corresponding connection surface of the printed circuit board, which in turn is connected to the second signal line via the integrated diode.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the diode is designed as an LED, that is to say as a light-emitting diode. In known circuit breakers, you can see from the position of the switching knob whether they are switched on or off. With these you can get a sum signal and see on site which circuit breaker has tripped. You can't see that with a fuse. If, according to the invention, this diode is designed as an LED in a current distributor of the above type with the connection of a signal line via a diode, it can advantageously be seen which fuse has switched because the diode is lit.

For this purpose, the surface of the housing should be provided with a window on the outside. Alternatively, it is proposed to guide an optical fiber from the diode to the housing surface.

Figur 1

eine perspektivische Ansicht einer ersten Ausführungsform des erfindungsgemäßen Stromverteilers,

Figuren 2A und 2B

eine erste Ausführungsform eines Kontaktelements,

Figuren 3A und 3B

eine zweite Ausführungsform eines Kontaktelements,

Figuren 4A und 4B

eine dritte Ausführungsform eines Kontaktelements,

Figuren 5A, 5B und 5C

eine vierte Ausführungsform eines Kontaktelements,

Figuren 6A und 6B

eine fünfte Ausführungsform eines Kontaktelements,

Figuren 7A und 7B

eine Ausführungsform der zweiten Sammelschiene,

Figur 8

eine Ausführungsform des erfindungsgemäßen Stromverteilers ohne Anschlußbuchsen für die Meldeleitungen,

Figur 9

eine perspektivische Detailansicht einer ersten Ausführungsform des erfindungsgemäßen Meldekreises,

Figur 10

eine perspektivische Detailansicht einer zweiten Ausführungsform des erfindungsgemäßen Meldekreis,

Figur 11

eine perspektivische Detailansicht einer dritten Ausführungsform des erfindungsgemäßen Meldekreis.

Further advantages, features and possible uses of the present invention will become clear from the following description of some preferred embodiments and the associated figures. Show it:

Figure 1

2 shows a perspective view of a first embodiment of the power distributor according to the invention,

Figures 2A and 2B

a first embodiment of a contact element,

Figures 3A and 3B

a second embodiment of a contact element,

Figures 4A and 4B

a third embodiment of a contact element,

Figures 5A, 5B and 5C

a fourth embodiment of a contact element,

Figures 6A and 6B

a fifth embodiment of a contact element,

Figures 7A and 7B

one embodiment of the second busbar,

Figure 8

one embodiment of the power distributor according to the invention without connection sockets for the signal lines,

Figure 9

2 shows a perspective detailed view of a first embodiment of the alarm circuit according to the invention,

Figure 10

2 shows a perspective detailed view of a second embodiment of the alarm circuit according to the invention,

Figure 11

a detailed perspective view of a third embodiment of the reporting circuit according to the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a first embodiment of the power distributor according to the invention. The current distributor 1 has a current bus bar 2 and a number of sockets 3 which are connected to the current bus bar 2. Furthermore, a contact element 4 is provided, which consists of an access connection 5, a consumer tap 6 (FIG. 2) and an element 7 connecting the access connection to the consumer tap. In addition, a plug connection for the plug contacts of a circuit breaker 8 is provided. The plug connection has a socket 3 of the busbar 2 and an access socket 5 of the contact element 4. In addition, two signaling lines 9, 10 are provided. All live elements are accommodated in a housing consisting of a lower housing part 12 and an upper housing part 13. The power distributor 1 is connected so that the busbar 2 is live. By inserting protective switches 8 into the corresponding openings in the upper housing part 13, one contact element 4 is connected to the busbar 2 via the protective switch 8. The contact element 4 has two consumer taps 6 to which any load can be connected. The neutral conductor or the earth potential is made available here via a second bus bar 15 which has connecting contacts 19. Corresponding openings are formed in the upper housing part 13, into each of which an access connection 5 and a connection contact 19 protrude. This forms a socket 23 into which a corresponding plug can be inserted. A corresponding load can therefore be connected to the consumer tap 6 and at the same time connected to the earth potential via the connection contacts 19. In the event of an overload, the circuit breaker 8 trips and interrupts the connection between the contact element 4 and the current-carrying busbar 2.

The power distributor 1 makes it possible to provide a large number of consumer taps 6 in a secured manner. In addition, two signal lines 9, 10 are provided, via which the tripping of a circuit breaker can be signaled. For this purpose, for example, special circuit breakers 8 can be used which have additional connection contact blades which engage with the corresponding connection sockets 14 of the signaling lines. If the circuit breaker 8 now triggers, an auxiliary switch is actuated in the circuit breaker 8, which electrically connects the two signal lines 9 and 10. This can be detected at a remote point, so that a corresponding signal can be passed on, which makes it clear that at least one circuit breaker 8 has tripped.

Different embodiments of the contact element 4 are shown in FIGS. 2 to 6.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show two views of a contact element according to the invention. The contact element 4 consists of an access terminal 5, two consumer taps 6 and a connecting element 7, which connects the consumer tap 6 and the access terminal 5. In the access port 5, a foreign connector 16 is soldered or pressed. A better plug-in force is achieved through the soldered-in external contact.

FIGS. 3 to 6 show alternative embodiments of the contact element. In all embodiments, the contact element is designed as a stamped and bent part with a thickness of approximately 0.8 mm. This ensures a current carrying capacity of 10 to 35 amperes. The embodiments of the contact element 4 in FIGS. 3 to 6 have in common that the access connection 5 is designed as an access socket, so that the soldering or pressing in of an external plug 16, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, is not necessary. The contact element 4 and the access terminal 5 have two sections 17 and 18 in the area of the access socket, which form a receptacle for the plug contacts of the circuit breaker, the two sections 17, 18 being at a distance from one another which is somewhat smaller than the thickness of the plug contact is. In addition, the two sections 17, 18 can be moved elastically relative to one another. Therefore, a knife contact of a circuit breaker 8 can be inserted between the two sections 17 and 18, so that due to the elastic bias of the two sections 17, 18 against each other, a firm and, above all, electrically conductive contact is formed between the access terminal 5 and the contact blade of the circuit breaker 8.

The second busbar 15 from FIG. 1 is shown again individually in FIGS. 7A and 7B. The second busbar 15, which acts as a neutral conductor or ground potential, has a number of connection contacts 19 which extend perpendicular to the second busbar in opposite directions. It can be clearly seen in particular in FIG. 7A that in each case two connecting contacts 19, which extend in opposite directions, are formed in one piece as a stamped and bent part. A stamped and bent part thus forms a pair of connection contacts. These pairs are simply riveted to the second busbar 15. For the production, the corresponding parts must first be punched out and bent from sheet metal, for example. Holes are punched into the second busbar 15 so that the connection contact pairs 19 can be fastened to the second busbar 15 with the aid of a rivet 20. This creates a secure electrical connection that is also able to carry a high electrical load.

FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of a further embodiment of the power distributor according to the invention. It can be clearly seen that, in contrast to the embodiment in FIG. 1, the signaling lines 9, 10 have no connection sockets 14 here. However, a switching relay 21 can be seen here. The wiring of the individual signal lines is shown for three different embodiments in FIGS. 9, 10 and 11. In all cases, the first signal line 9 is electrically connected to the busbar 2. Each contact element 4 is connected to the second signal line 10 via a diode 22. Both signal lines 9 and 10 are connected to the switching relay 21. If the circuit breaker 8 is switched on, the two signal lines are 9, 10 at the same potential. This changes when the circuit breaker 8 trips. Then the corresponding contact element 4 pulls the potential of the second signal line 10 to the ground potential. The diodes 22 of the other contact elements 4 ensure that these contact elements 4 remain at the potential of the busbar 2. The potential difference between the two signal lines 9, 10 is detected via the switching relay 21. Thus, even if the circuit breaker 8 does not have additional auxiliary switches, a triggered circuit breaker can be detected without connection sockets having to be provided on the signaling lines.

As shown in FIG. 9, it is sufficient if a diode is simply soldered in between contact element 4 and second signal line 10. An embodiment which is less susceptible to malfunction is shown in FIG. The two signal lines 9, 10 are formed on a circuit board. In addition, there are terminal pads 24 on the circuit board, each of which is assigned to a contact element 4. The connection terminals 24 are each connected to the second signal line 10 via a diode 22. Here only the contact element 4 has to be connected to the terminal 24 in order to achieve the desired wiring of the detection circuit.

A further embodiment of the signaling circuit is shown in FIG. Here, not only the two signal lines 9, 10 are arranged on the circuit board, but also the access connection 5 and the consumer tap 6 of the contact element 4. A connection of the contact element 4 to the second signal line 10 can then be made, for example, by a diode integrated in the circuit board , On the basis of this example it becomes clear that the alarm circuit according to the invention can also be used advantageously in embodiments in which neither the contact element 4 nor the connection contacts 19 of the second busbar 15 are formed in one piece.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1

power distribution

2

Busbar

3

receptacle

4

contact element

5

access port

6

Verbraucherabgriff

7

connecting element

8th

breaker

9

first reporting line

10

second reporting line

11

circuit board

12

Housing bottom

13

Housing top

14

Connection socket for the signal lines

15

second busbar

16

foreign plug

17

first section of the access socket

18

second section of the access socket

19

connecting contacts

20

rivet

21

relay

22

diode

23

socket

24

connection island

Claims (14)

Power distributor (1) with a power busbar (2), at least one socket (3) which is connected to the power busbar (2), at least one contact element (4) which consists of an access connection, a consumer tap and an access connection (5) and element connecting the consumer tap (6), at least one plug connection for the plug contacts of a circuit breaker (8), the plug connection having a plug socket (3) of the busbar (2) and an access socket of a contact element (4), and with at least two signal lines ( 9, 10), characterized in that the contact element (4) consists of an integral part. Current distributor (1) according to Claim 1, characterized in that the access connection (5) of the contact element (4) has a fitted, for example soldered or pressed-in external plug (16). Current distributor (1) according to Claim 1, characterized in that the access connection (5) is designed as an access socket. Current distributor (1) according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the contact element (4) consists of a stamped and bent part, preferably with a thickness between 0.4 and 1.2 mm, particularly preferably with a thickness of approximately 0.8 mm , Current distributor (1) according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the contact element (4) in the area of the access socket (5) has two sections (17, 18) which form a receptacle for the plug contacts of the circuit breaker (8), the the two sections (17, 18) are at a distance from one another which is somewhat smaller than the thickness of the plug contact, and the two sections (17, 18) are elastically movable relative to one another. Current distributor (1) according to one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the contact element (4) has two consumer taps (5). Current distributor (1) according to one of Claims 1 to 6, characterized in that a second busbar (15) is provided which has at least two connection contacts (19), which are preferably designed as knife contacts, which extend in opposite directions from the second The busbar (15) extends, at least two connecting contacts (19) extending in opposite directions being formed in one piece. Current distributor (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that at least two connection contacts (19), which extend in opposite directions, are formed as a stamped and bent part. Current distributor (1) according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the integrally formed connection contact pairs (19) are riveted to the second busbar (15). Current distributor (1) according to one of Claims 1 to 9, characterized in that a first signaling line (9) is electrically connected to the first current busbar (2) and a second signaling line (10) with all contact elements (4) each via a diode ( 22) is connected. Current distributor (1) according to claim 10, characterized in that the signal lines (9, 10) are arranged on a printed circuit board (11). Current distributor (1) according to Claim 11, characterized in that at least one connection island (24) is provided on the printed circuit board (11) and is assigned to a contact element (4), the connection island (24) with the associated contact elements (4) being electrical is connected and is connected to the second signaling line (10) via a diode (22). Current distributor (1) according to one of Claims 11 or 12, characterized in that the diode (22) is integrated in the printed circuit board (11). Current distributor (1) according to one of Claims 10 to 13, characterized in that the diode (22) is designed as an LED.

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