US3538480A - Protectors for electric circuits - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 3, 1970 A. URANI PROTECTORS FOR ELECTRIC CIRCUITS Filed June 26, 1968 I34 F/ 3 & +m o 2 ),O a. e e n 0 6 G v 0 Q 3 United States Patent 3,538,480 PROTECTORS FOR ELECTRIC CIRCUITS Angelo Urani, St. Louis, Mo., assignor to McGraw-Edison Company, Elgin, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 26, 1968, Ser. No. 740,116 Int. Cl. H0111 85/60 U.S. Cl. 337-187 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A stiff support of conductive material has a plurality of openings therein to accommodate terminals of juxtaposed fuse holders; and those terminals are electrically bonded within those openings to enable that support to electrically interconnect, as well as to physically support, these fuse holders.

This invention relates to improvements in protectors for electric circuits. More particularly, this invention relates to improvements in supports for juxtaposed fuse holders.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an improved support for juxtaposed fuse holders.

Juxtaposed fuse holders frequently are mounted in openings in panels; and it is customary to secure each of those juxtaposed fuse holders individuallyeither by bolts which extend through openings in the ears on that fuse holder or by a nut which largely or completely encircles that fuse holder. Where juxtaposed fuse holders are to be secured within an opening in a panel by bolts passing through holes in that panel and through openings in the ears on those fuse holders, a considerable amount of time must be spent in drilling the holes in that panel; and additional time must be spent in aligning the openings in the ears on those fuse holders with the openings in that panel, and in inserting the bolts through those aligned openings. Moreover, once the fuse holders have been secured to the panel, conductors must be attached to the various terminals of the fuse holders; and the attaching of those conductors to those terminals requires still further amounts of time. It .would be desirable to provide a support for juxtaposed fuse holders, that are to be mounted in an opening in a panel, which would reduce the number of holes to be drilled in that panel and which would reduce the number of connections that have to be made to the terminals of those fuse holders. The present invention provides such a .support; and it is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a support for juxtaposed fuse holders,

that are to be mounted in an opening in a panel, which reduces the number of holes that must be drilled in that panel and which reduces the number of connections that must be made to the terminals of those fuse holders.

The support provided by the present invention is elongated, is made of conductive material, and has a number of openings therein. The openings in that support are dimensioned to accommodate terminals of juxtaposed fuse holders; and, when those terminals are electrically bonded within those openings, that support will electrically interconnect, as well as physically support, those fuse holders.

.The connection between the support and each of the fuse 'holders bonded to it is so sturdy and rugged that only two of those fuse holders need be secured directly to a panel the rest of those fuse holders being secured to that panel by means of that support. It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an elongated support which is made of conductive material, which has openings therein to accommodate the terminals of juxtaposed fuse holders, and which has those terminals electrically bonded within those openings.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present 3,538,480 Patented Nov. 3, 1970 invention should become apparent from an examination of the drawing and accompanying description.

In the drawing and accompanying description two preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown and described but it is to be understood that the drawing and accompanying description are for the purpose of illustration only and do not limit the invention and that the invention will be defined by the appended claims.

In the drawing, FIG. 1 is a rear elevational view of a portion of a panel which has two spaced-apart openings therein and which has two groups of juxtaposed fuse holders held within those openings by two of the supports provided by the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a sectional view through the panel and one of the fuse holders shown in FIG. 1, and it is taken along the plane indicated by the line 22 in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a sectional view through the panel of FIG. 1, and it is taken along the plane indicated by the line 33 in FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of one end of one of the supports shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 5 is a rear elevational view of a number of fuse holders that are held in juxtaposed relation by two further supports provided by the present invention, and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view through the two supports shown in FIG. 5, and it is taken along the lane indicated by the line 66 in FIG. 5.

Referring to FIGS. 1-4 in detail, the numeral 20 generally denotes a fuse holder that is mounted within an opening 144 in a panel 142 in juxtaposition to a number of other fuse holders. That fuse holder can be made in different sizes and configurations, but it preferably is identical to the similarly-numbered fuse holder disclosed in Fister Patent No. 3,190,987 for Protectors for Electric Circuits which was granted June 22, 1965. That fuse holder is generally prismatic in configuration, and it has a generally prismatic recess 21 therein. .That fuse holder has ears 22 extending upwardly and downwardly from the upper and lower ends thereof, and those ears have openings 24 therein. A terminal 40 has a portion thereof disposed within the recess 21 in the fuse holder 20, and has a shank 44 which projects through, and extends beyond, an opening in the bottom of that fuse holder. A terminal 48 has a portion thereof disposed within the recess 21 in the fuse holder 20, and has a shank 54 which projects through, and extends beyond, an opening in the bottom of that fuse holder. A terminal 62 has a portion thereof disposed within the recess 21 in the fuse holder 20, and has a shank 63 which projects through, and extends beyond, an opening in the bottom of that fuse holder. The recess 21, the cars 22, the openings 24, and terminals 40, 48 and 62 can be identical to the similarly-numbered components in the said patent.

The numeral 66 generally denotes a fuse carrier which has an ear 68 thereon, and also has a notch 71, a recess 72, and cars 74 and 78. A resiilent, leaf-type contact 86 is mounted on the ear 78, and that contact has an indicator 92 on the free end thereof. A fusible element 102 has one end thereof extending through an opening in the straight portion of the contact 86, and has the other end thereof secured to a terminal mounted on the car 74. That fuse carrier '66 and the cars 68, 74 and 78 thereon, the notch 71 and the recess 72 therein, the contact 86 and its indicator 92, and the fusible element 102 can be identical to the similarly-numbered components in the said patent. The fuse holder 20 and the fuse carrier 66 are used to illustrate the manner of using the support provided by the present invention and are not, per se, parts of that invention.

The numeral denotes a support; and that support is a length of metal which is stiff and which is generally V-shaped in cross section. That support is made of copper or some other material which has low resistivity and which can readily be soldered; and that support has a sufiiciently large cross section to be a very good conductor of electricity. That support has a number of openings 132 therein adjacent the apex of the dihedral angle thereof, and those openings are dimensioned to freely accommodate the ends of the shanks 54 of the terminals 48 of a number of juxtaposed fuse holders 20'. An ear 134, which is displaced ninety degrees from one leg of the support 130, is located at one end of that support; and the car has a threaded opening therein to accommodate a binding screw 136. An ear 138, which is coplanar with the ear 134, is located adjacent the opposite end of the support 130; and that ear has a threaded opening therein to accommodate a binding screw 140. The support 130 is formed and dimensioned so one of the legs thereof will abut the outer face of the bottom of the fuse holder 20 at a point between the shanks 44 and 54, and so the other leg thereof will abut that outer face at a point intermediate the shanks 54 and 63 when the end of the shank 54 extends into one of the openings 132 in that support. The support 130 can be made in any desired lengths; but, for economic fabrication, will usually be made in just a few standard lengths. The supports 130 shown in FIG. 1 are made so each of them can support ten fuse holders 20 in juxtaposed relation. However, if less than ten fuse holders are to be held in juxtaposed relation by a given support 130, it is a simple matter to leave some of the openings in that support unfilled, or to use a pair of nippers or a hack saw to cut off the extra length of that support.

In assembling a number of fuse holders 20' with the support 130, those fuse holders can be :set on a table or other surface in inverted position so the shanks 44, 54 and 63 thereof extend upwardly therefrom. The shanks 44 of the various fuse holders 20 will be aligned with each other, as will the shanks 54 and 63 of those fuse holders; and the sides of those fuse holders will be pressed against each other until those sides are in intimate engagement. At such time, the support 130 will have the openings 132 therein aligned with the aligned shanks 54 of the juxtaposed fuse holders 20; and then that support will be moved toward the outer surfaces of the bottoms of those fuse holders until the openings 132 telescope over the ends of the shanks 54 of those fuse holders, and the bottoms of the legs of that support solidly engage the outer surfaces of the bottoms of those fuse holders. Thereupon, solder or some other electrical bonding material, will be used to fill the Openings 132 and to mechanically-connect and electrically-bond all of the shanks 54 of the juxtaposed fuse holders 20 to the support 130. After the solder, or other electrical bonding material, has hardened, the support 130 will hold all of the fuse holders 20 in assembled relation; and that support and those fuse holders can then be handled as a unit. To mount those fuse holders within the opening 144 in the panel 142, those fuse holders will be disposed rearwardly of that panel with their recesses 21 in register with the opening 144 in that panel. The support 130 can then be moved forwardly to move the juxtaposed fuse holders 20 forwardly until the ears 22 on those fuse holders abut the rear surface of the panel 142; and, thereupon, a pencil or other marking device can be used to mark the location of four holes 148 Which must be made in the panel 142 to accommodate four bolts 150-. As indicated by FIG. 1, the four holes 148 that are to be formed in the panel 142 can be in register with the openings 24 in the ears 22 of the two endmost fuse holders 20 of the juxtaposed fuse holders. However, such an arrangement is not essential; and holes 148 can be formed in the panel 142 in register with any four openings 24 of the various juxtaposed fuse holders 20. Once the locations of the desired holes 148 in the panel 142 have been marked, the support 130 and he fu e ho d 20 secured thereto will be moved away from that panel to facilitate the drilling of those four holes.

Thereafter, the juxtaposed fuse holders 20 will be set in position behind the panel 142 with the forward faces of the cars 22 in engagement with the rear face of that panel and with the recesses 21 in those fuse holders in register with the opening 144 in that panel. Four bolts 150 will then be passed rearwardly through the four drilled holes 148 in the panel 142 and through the openings 24 in the cars 22 in register with those drilled holes; and nuts 152 will be threaded onto the shanks of those bolts to hold the juxtaposed fuse holders 20* in assembled relation with the panel 142. Look washers will usually be interposed between the nuts 152 and the rear face of the panel 142, as shown by FIGS. 2 and 3. The four bolts 150 will actually hold only two of the fuse holders 20 in direct engagement with the panel 142; but the support and the solder in the openings 132 of that support will fixedly hold the other eight fuse holders 20 solidly against the panel 142. Whenever a fuse carrier 66 bolts will actually hold only two of the fuse holders 20, the rearwardly-directed forces which that fuse carrier will apply to that fuse holder will be fully withstood by the support 130. Whenever a fuse carrier 66 is to be withdrawn from the recess 21 in one of the fuse holders 20, the ears 22 on that fuse holder will coact with the opening-defining portions of the panel 142 to keep that fuse holder from moving forwardly relative to that panel.

One end of a conductor 168 can be bared and can be wound around the shank of the binding screw 136. T ightening of that binding screw will then electrically connect that conductor to the support 130, and thus to the shanks 54 of all of the juxtaposed fuse holders 20 which are soldered to that support. As a result, the support 130 will serve to electrically interconnect the shanks 54 of all of the juxtaposed fuse holders 20 as well as to mechanically support those fuse holders.

FIG. 1 shows a second support 130 holding a second group of juxtaposed fuse holders 20 in an opening 146 in the panel 142. A link 170 has an opening therein to accommodate the shank of the binding screw 140 of the left-hand support 130, and has a second opening to accommodate the shank of the binding screw 136 of the right-hand connector 130. By using additional links 170, it is possible to connect any desired number of supports 130 together; and all of those supports and the fuse holders 20 held thereby will receive power from the conductor 168. By using two supports 130, each of which holds ten fuse holders 20, the present invention makes it possible to support all twenty fuse holders by means of just eight bolts. Further, the present invention provides substantially as low a resistance connection between the conductor 168 and the closest of the twenty shanks 54 as it provides between that conductor and the most remote of those shanks. In addition, it eliminates all need of soldering the twenty shanks 54 to a conductor located behind the panel 142.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the numeral 156 denotes supports that are shorter than the supports 130 in FIG. 1. Specifically, each of the supports 156 is made long enough to support fixe juxtaposed fuse holders 20each of those supports having five openings 158 therein adjacent the apex of the dihedral angle thereof. Each of the supports 156 has an car 160 that is offset from the plane of one of the legs of that support; and each of those ears has a slot 162 therein. Also, each of the supports 156 has a threaded opening 164 in that leg thereof which bears the ear 160. The threaded opening 164 in a given support 156 will be in register with the slot 162 in the ear 160 of a second support 156 which is aligned with, and contiguous to, that first support.

In assembling one of the supports 156 with five fuse holders 20, those fuse holders will be placed on a table or other surface with the shanks 44, 54 and 63 thereof extending upwardly from the exposed surfaces of the bottoms thereof. The shanks 44 will be aligned with each other, as will the shanks 54 and 63; and then the confronting sides of the five fuse holders will be pressed into intimate engagement with each other. Thereupon, the support 156 will be moved downwardly until the openings 158 therein telescope over the ends of the shanks 54 and the legs of that support engage the outer surfaces of the bottoms of those fuse holdersone of those legs engaging those outer surface at a point intermediate the shanks 44 and 54, and the other of those legs engaging those outer surfaces at a point intermediate the shanks 54 and 63. Solder will then be used to fill the openings 158 and to mechanically connect and electrically bond all of the shanks 54 of the five fuse holders 20 to the support 156. Thereafter, that support will hold those fuse holders solidly in juxtaposed relation.

If a second support 156 with its five juxtaposed fuse holders 20 is to be set adjacent the first support 156, the ear 160 on the second support 156 will be disposed immediately behind that leg of the first support 156 which has the threaded opening 164 therein. A machine screw 166 will then be passed through the slot 162 in the ear 160 on that second support and threaded into the threaded opening 164 of that first support. Tightening of that machine screw will fixedly lock the two supports 156 in mechanically-locked and electrically-conductive relation, and thus will hold the five fuse holders 20 which are held by the second support 156, immediately adjacent and in juxtaposed relation to the five fuse holders which are held by the first support 156. A binding screw can be set within the threaded opening 164 of the second support 156 to connect a conductor to that support, or a further machine screw 166 can be used to secure the car 160 of a third support 156 to that second support.

If fewer than five fuse holders 20 are to be secured to the second support 156, a pair of nippers or a hacksaw can be used to cut off the unneeded length of that support. Of course, if there is ample room behind the panel, there will be no need of cutting off the unused portion of the second support 156; and hence some openings 158 in that second support will merely be left empty when fuse holders 20 are secured to that second support.

The supports 130 and 156 provided by the present invention mechanically interconnect and electrically bond the shanks 54 of the juxtaposed fuse holders 20. Further, those supports make it possible to handle a group of juxtaposed fuse holders 20 as a unit; and they reduce the number of holes which must be drilled in a panel to accommodate supporting bolts. As a result, those supports materially reduce the time needed to mount a number of juxtaposed fuse holders in an opening in a panel.

Whereas the drawing and accompanying description have shown and described two preferred embodiments of the present invention it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the form of the invention without affecting the scope thereof.

What I claim is:

1. A support for a plurality of juxtaposed fuse holders, that have elongated blade-like terminals, which comprises:

an elongated length of metal of low resistivity that is substantially rigid and unyielding,

said elongated length of metal having a plurality of opening-defining areas spaced along the length thereof,

said opening-defining areas defining openings having transverse dimensions larger than the largest transverse dimensionsof the shanks of some of said bladelike terminals of said juxtaposed fuse holders and being spaced apart distances corresponding to the distances between said some blade-like terminals of said juxtaposed fuse holders to enable said openings to accommodate said shanks of said some blade-like terminals of said juxtaposed fuse holders,

said shanks of said some blade-like terminals of said juxtaposed fuse holders being positionable within said Openings in said elongated length of metal,

said support having a leg thereof physically engageable with the exteriors of the bottoms of said juxtaposed fuse holders to provide physical support for said fuse holders but being spaced from other terminals of said juxtaposed fuse holders,

the metal of said length of metal readily alloying with a bonding material, whereby said bonding material can physically secure and electrically connect said some blade-like terminals of said juxtaposed fuse holders to said length of metal,

said length of metal being adapted to serve as a common conductor for, and being adapted to coact with said bonding material to electrically interconnect, said some blade-like terminals of said juxtaposed fuse holders.

2. A support for a plurality of juxtaposed fuse holders as claimed in claim 1 wherein said elongated length of metal is generally V-shaped to enable said leg and another leg to define an acute dihedral angle and wherein said openings are adjacent the apex of said acute dihedral angle defined by the first said leg and said other leg of said elongated length of metal.

3. A support for a plurality of juxtaposed fuse holders as claimed in claim 1 wherein said elongated length of metal is generally V-shaped to enable said leg and another leg to define an acute dihedral angle and wherein said other leg of sid elongated length of metal also is physically engageable with the exteriors of the bottoms of said juxtaposed fuse holders to provide physical support for said fuse holders.

4. A support for a plurality of juxtaposed fuse holders as claimed in claim 1 wherein said support has an ear thereon connectable to a similar support, said ear being adapted to physically secure said similar support to the first said support and to electrically interconnect said similar support with said first said support, whereby said some terminals of the fuse holders secured to said similar support can be electrically interconnected with said some terminals of the fuse holders secured to said first said support.

5. A support for a plurality of juxtaposed fuse holders as claimed in claim 1 wherein said support has an ear offset from the plane of one of the legs thereof, said ear being adapted to overlie the corresponding leg of a second support to facilitate mechanical locking and electrical connecting said said supports whereby said some terminals of the fuse holders secured to said second support can be electrically interconnected with said some terminals of the fuse holders secured to the first said support.

6. A support for a plurality of juxtaposed fuse holders as claimed in claim 1 wherein said elongated length of metal is generally V-shaped to enable said leg and another leg to define an acute dihedral angle and wherein said shanks of said some terminals are disposed between and protected by said legs of said support.

7. A support for a plurality of juxtaposed fuse holders as claimed in claim 1 wherein said elongated length of metal is generally V-shaped to enable said leg and another leg to define a dihedral angle and wherein the other leg of said elongated length of metal also is physically engageable with the exteriors of the bottoms of said juxtaposed fuse holders to provide physical support of said fuse holders, and wherein at least two of said juxtaposed fuse holders are fixedly secured to a mounting,

said support being held fixed relative to said mounting by said two juxtaposed fuse holders and by said bonding material which secures said shanks of said some terminals of said juxtaposed fuse holders within two of said openings in said support.

8. A support for a plurality of juxtaposed fuse holders as claimed in claim 1 wherein said elongated length of metal is generally V-shaped to enable said leg and another leg to define a dihedral angle and wherein the other leg of said elongated length of metal also is physically engageable with the exteriors of the bottoms of said juxtaposed fuse holders to provide physical support of said fuse holders, and wherein at least two of said juxtaposed fuse holders are fixehly secured to a mounting, said support being held fixed relative to said mounting by said two juxtaposed fuse holders and by said bonding material which secures said shanks of said some terminals of said juxtaposed fuse holders Within two of said openings in said support, said sopport also holding other of said juxtaposed fuse holders fixed relative to said mountmg.

9. The combination which comprises: a plurality of juxtaposed fuse holders Which have terminals with shanks thereon, an elongated support of electrically conductive material which has a plurality of opening-defining areas spaced along the length-thereof to define openings having transverse dimensions larger than the largest transverse dimensions of the shanks of some of said terminals of said juxtaposed fuse holders and being spaced apart distances corresponding tothe distances between said some terminals of said juxtaposed fuse holders to enable said openings to accommodate said shanks of said some terminals, and

bonding material to electrically interconnect, said some terminals of said juxtaposed fuse holders.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Sims et al. 337187 Smidt et al. 337l87 X Morgan et a1. 3l7120 X Jung 337187 X BERNARD A. GILHEANY, Primary Examiner D. M. MORGAN, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

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