This application is a U.S. National Phase application under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Application No. PCT/DE2020/100859, filed on Oct. 5, 2020, and claims benefit to German Patent Application No. DE 10 2019 007 253.7, filed on Oct. 18, 2019. The International Application was published in German on Apr. 22, 2021 as WO 2021/073685 A1 under PCT Article 21(2).
The present invention relates to a molding assembly for establishing an electrical connection between an electrified planar element, which is formed with a peripheral electrical contact, and an electrical device.
Today, there is no standardized common solution for electrically contacting smart glass or functional planar elements or electrified planar elements. Smart glass, for example, can be understood to include glass panes whose appearance can change as a result of physical influences such as UV radiation, heat, or electric current, such as, for example, dimmable glass. For this purpose, a special film is laminated between two glass panes and electrically contacted via electrical contacts leading out of the glass. Contact to the power source is made by soldering or by a connector with cables. The cables must be routed away from the planar element and run such that they are protected. Moreover, they must be connected to a power supply/signal source, which is usually done in a freely wired manner. In general, the invention also relates to less complex applications, as illustrated in document DE 103 60 255 A1, where the same problem arises for a heated window pane in the automotive domain.
Generally, an expert is required to realize power supply to the planar element and electrical contacting thereof. A cable path must be provided in the adjacent components, or at least sufficient installation space, which influences the design of these components. Loose cables complicate the assembly of individual planar elements in the case of a (e.g., segmented) large surface area including a plurality of smaller planar elements. Depending on the particular installation, the cables and contacts are visible, which is of course visually less appealing and gives the impression of an unfinished solution. It is therefore desirable to eliminate these drawbacks and provide a more suitable solution.
In an embodiment, the present invention provides a molding assembly for establishing an electrical connection between an electrified planar element, which is formed with a peripheral electrical contact, and an electrical device. The molding assembly includes a plastic frame element having an electrical conductor. The plastic frame element is adapted to be disposed along a peripheral portion of the electrified planar element that includes the peripheral contact. The plastic frame element extends between two ends. The electrical conductor extends between the two ends of the plastic frame element on a side facing the electrified planar element so that, during attachment of the plastic frame element to the peripheral portion, an electrical connection is automatically establishable between the electrical conductor and the peripheral contact.
Subject matter of the present disclosure will be described in even greater detail below based on the exemplary figures. All features described and/or illustrated herein can be used alone or combined in different combinations. The features and advantages of various embodiments will become apparent by reading the following detailed description with reference to the attached drawings, which illustrate the following:
In accordance with embodiments of the invention, there is provided a molding assembly and a planar element having such a molding assembly, as well as a wall according to an embodiment of the invention.
The planar element used may be, for example, an electrified window pane made, for example, of smart glass or electrochromic glass. An embodiment of the invention includes both single glazing and multiple glazing.
The invention, according to an embodiment, is based on the idea of reducing the assembly effort for electrified planar elements by using as high a proportion of identical parts as possible, which cost-effectively reduce and simplify the effort required for wiring and electrical contacting electrified planar elements.
The approach according to an embodiment of the invention eliminates the disadvantages mentioned and provides a high degree of flexibility, because due to the implementation according to an embodiment of the invention, the molding assembly can be used—independently of the location of the peripheral contact—on planar elements having peripheral contacts at a variety of different positions. A variety of planar elements from different manufacturers can be equipped with the same molding assembly. The inventive molding assembly can be readily produced as a strand by extrusion. It is also conceivable to produce a standard length that can be cut to size and processed by the customers themselves (e.g., miter-cut for the framing of planar elements). Alternatively, specially shaped connecting elements having electrical conductors may be used for connecting moldings.
Preferably, the conductor is implemented using a metal (e.g., stranded wire, solid wire, etc.). This variant has the advantage that the electrical losses in the conductor are minimal and that the conductor can be readily incorporated into the plastic frame element, for example during extrusion of the plastic frame element. This assembly is inexpensive and can be produced in large quantities with minimum cycle times.
Alternatively, the conductor may be implemented using solely an electrically conductive second plastic material which, due to the presence of electrically conductive plastic additives (e.g., carbon black, metal particles, and the like), has an electrical resistance many times lower than the electrical resistance of a first plastic material with which the plastic frame element may be implemented. This variant has the advantage that both the conductor and the frame element can be inexpensively produced in large quantities with just as low cycle times by co-extrusion of the first and second plastic materials.
Further alternatively, the conductor may also be implemented using a combination of the two aforementioned variants, namely from an electrically conductive second plastic material and a metal. In this case, a metallic conductor constitutes the conductor core, which may be overmolded or covered by the second plastic material at least along a portion or portions thereof and at least on the side facing the planar element. The production can be accomplished by co-extruding the first and second plastic materials and simultaneously incorporating the metallic conductor. This approach is just as advantageous as the two aforementioned approaches.
To establish the connection, preferably a plurality of first contact elements, in particular spring contact elements, are provided along the conductor, the conductor and/or the contact elements preferably being formed in one piece. The conductor and the contact elements can thus be readily and inexpensively produced, for example using a strip of sheet metal, which is processed according to an embodiment of the invention in such a manner as to form a continuous conductor with contact springs disposed along the conductor.
As an alternative to the above-mentioned variant, a freely positionable coupling element may be provided along the conductor so as to make the molding configurable. In order to also cover more complex fields of application, a plurality of coupling elements may be provided in conjunction with a plurality of mutually insulated conductors to implement a plurality of connections which are electrically insulated from one another. Examples which may be mentioned in this context include electrified planar segments within a single planar element, which planar segments can be controlled segment by segment, or a wall including a plurality of planar elements which are interconnected by segmented and/or continuous molding assemblies.
Preferably, it is provided that the coupling element include second contact elements for electrically contacting the conductor and/or the peripheral contact, thereby allowing the coupling element to be electrically contacted to the conductor and/or to the peripheral contact as the connection is being established. This has the advantage that all electrical components initially remain electrically insulated from one another until the molding assembly is attached to the planar element. These contact elements are preferably implemented as piercing contacts and/or as cutting contacts. Both variants are suitable for piercing the conductive and/or non-conductive plastic sheath of the conductor at selected points or locally cutting therethrough transversely to the extent of the conductor and such that such piercing or cutting does not occur until during attachment of the plastic frame element to the planar element, so that the conductor is electrically contacted only at the desired positions for establishing a connection.
It is understood that the aforementioned features may also be present in multiples thereof. For example, two or more mutually insulated conductors may be provided and extend along the plastic frame element.
Furthermore, especially in the case of two or more conductors, the peripheral contact may be insulated from one or more of the conductors in defined regions. In this way, only selected conductors may be selectively electrically contacted in a defined region.
An embodiment of the invention also includes connecting elements for connecting individual inventive plastic frame elements with electrical conductors. At the level of the electrical conductors, the connecting elements also have one or more electrical conductors. Depending on the particular shape of the connecting element, these serve to connect two inventive moldings in a longitudinal direction or to connect two moldings at an angle of 90° with respect to each other. However, other angles are also possible and within the scope of the invention. Optionally, a connecting element may also have located therein the electrical supply lead for supplying power to the molding assembly.
It is also understood that the features mentioned hereinbefore and the features in the drawings to be commented on hereinafter may be used not only in the specified combinations, but also in other combinations not explicitly specified here or alone or in isolation without departing from the scope of the present invention. This applies particularly to all features which are shown and/or described in the various embodiments merely for the sake of completeness, but are not essential to the invention; i.e., those which are not absolutely necessary to achieve the effects of the invention.
An embodiment of the invention is hereinafter illustrated in rough schematic form in the drawings with reference to the following exemplary embodiments and briefly described with reference to the drawings. Like or functionally equivalent features are given the same reference numerals unless otherwise specified.
The following
Plastic frame element 101 may be overall more rigid along the periphery than in the groove leg region 111 facing the planar element. This may be implemented by co-extrusion of materials of the same type having different Shore hardnesses or by co-extrusion of different materials having the same Shore hardness or by a combination of different types of materials having different shore hardnesses. For example, a thermoplastic material could be provided at the outer side, and an elastomer 110, for example, a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), could be provided in groove leg region 111. The elastomer 110 could at the same time function as a conductor sheath in the vicinity of conductor 102 and be provided with electrically conductive additives at least in a section or sections thereof.
In the variants of
While subject matter of the present disclosure has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, such illustration and description are to be considered illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive. Any statement made herein characterizing the invention is also to be considered illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive as the invention is defined by the claims. It will be understood that changes and modifications may be made, by those of ordinary skill in the art, within the scope of the following claims, which may include any combination of features from different embodiments described above.
The terms used in the claims should be construed to have the broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the foregoing description. For example, the use of the article “a” or “the” in introducing an element should not be interpreted as being exclusive of a plurality of elements. Likewise, the recitation of “or” should be interpreted as being inclusive, such that the recitation of “A or B” is not exclusive of “A and B,” unless it is clear from the context or the foregoing description that only one of A and B is intended. Further, the recitation of “at least one of A, B and C” should be interpreted as one or more of a group of elements consisting of A, B and C, and should not be interpreted as requiring at least one of each of the listed elements A, B and C, regardless of whether A, B and C are related as categories or otherwise. Moreover, the recitation of “A, B and/or C” or “at least one of A, B or C” should be interpreted as including any singular entity from the listed elements, e.g., A, any subset from the listed elements, e.g., A and B, or the entire list of elements A, B and C.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2019 007 253.7 | Oct 2019 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/DE2020/100859 | 10/5/2020 | WO |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2021/073685 | 4/22/2021 | WO | A |
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10360255 | Jul 2005 | DE |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20230198214 A1 | Jun 2023 | US |