Patent Application
20170013732
The invention relates to the field of technology for the safety and security of medium-voltage and high-voltage installations. In particular, the invention relates to a locking apparatus for a switchgear cabinet. The invention also relates to a switchgear cabinet.
For reasons of operational safety and personal protection when dealing with switchgear cabinets that contain electrical installations, it is normally necessary to close said cabinets securely during the operation of the electrical installation.
Many switchgear cabinets exhibit a plurality of doors. In this case, all the doors should be closed and locked when the electrical installation is in operation.
DE 10 2007 051 511 B3 presents a switchgear-cabinet arrangement with a locking device which unlocks one or more secondary doors when a main door is being opened. In this case a hook element is raised by a push-rod and for the purpose of locking a door is able to fall, due to gravity, into an angular element in order to lock the respective door again.
DE 20 2012 006 108 U1 also presents a fail-safe multi-door lock for a switchgear cabinet, in the case of which several doors can be locked simultaneously. According to FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 of DE 20 2012 006 108 U1, the locking apparatus 100 includes a locking slide 110 which is displaceable between an unlocked position and a locked position, a first blocking element 130 connected to the locking slide 110, and an actuatable second blocking element 120 which is designed to enter into engagement with the first blocking element 130 in the locked position of the locking slide 110. For at least two doors 520, in each instance a door-securing slide 530 is provided which is displaceable along the respective door 520 between an unlocked position and a locked position and which in a closed position of the door 520 has been coupled with the locking slide 110, so that the locking slide 110 and the door-securing slide 530 are displaceable together.
Furthermore, a safety device for a swiveling-lever rod closure for a single switchgear-cabinet door is specified in DE 20 2007 007 723 U1, wherein in
The object of the invention to provide a secure and easy-to-operate switchgear cabinet.
This object is achieved by the subject-matter of the independent claims. Further embodiments of the invention result from the dependent claims and from the following description.
One aspect of the invention relates to a locking apparatus for a switchgear cabinet having a plurality of doors. The switchgear cabinet may contain a medium-voltage or high-voltage electrical installation, such as, for example, components of a frequency converter, which is enclosed by the doors and cover plates on the sides and on the ceiling of the switchgear cabinet. The doors may have been arranged alongside one another on a front side of the switchgear cabinet and, for example, may be opened about a vertical axis.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the locking apparatus includes a locking slide which is displaceable between an unlocked position and a locked position, a first blocking element connected to the locking slide, and an electrically actuatable second blocking element which is designed to enter into engagement with the first blocking element in the locked position of the locking slide and which is designed to release the first blocking element upon receiving an unblocking signal. The locking slide, which is able to hold the doors in a closed position, can in this way be prevented from moving with the blocking elements when the electrical installation inside the switchgear cabinet is energized. The locking slide may have been mounted in the frame of the switchgear cabinet and/or may exhibit an elongated, flat rod as a mechanical base element.
The locking apparatus further includes for at least two doors in each instance a door-securing slide which is displaceable along the door between an unlocked position and a locked position and which has been coupled with the locking slide in a closed position of the door, so that the locking slide and the door-securing slide are displaceable together. The door-securing slide may have been mounted in the respective door of the switchgear cabinet, so that it is displaceable in the door but can be moved jointly with the door. When the door is being closed, the door-securing slide and the locking slide engage one another so they can only be moved together. The door-securing slide may exhibit an elongated, flat rod as a mechanical base element. In other words: the door-securing slide in its locked position engages with the respective closure rod of the associated door in order to prevent a displacement of the respective closure rod, so that in this way the at least one closure rod keeps the respective door closed—that is to say, in its locked position the door-securing slide prevents the displacement of all the closure rods, so consequently all the doors are also kept closed.
The locking apparatus further includes for at least two doors in each instance at least one closure rod which is displaceable along the door between an unlocked position and a locked position, the closure rod being in engagement in its locked position with a frame of the switchgear cabinet. For example, a hook may have been fitted to the frame, which is pushed into an opening in the closure rod when the door is being closed. In the course of the displacement of the closure rod the hook then engages the edge of the opening from behind, so that the door or, to be more exact, the closure rod is held on the hook. The closure rod may exhibit, for example, a U-shaped profile with elongated holes at the base of the U.
In its locked position the door-securing slide engages with the closure rod in order to prevent a displacement of the closure rod. In this way, the closure rods are able to keep the respective door closed. The door-securing slides prevent a movement of the closure rod and are themselves prevented from moving by the locking slide. The locking slide, in turn, is prevented from moving by the two closure elements.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the closure rod is displaceable by a user between the unlocked position and the locked position by a handle being turned. For example, a toothed wheel may have been fastened to the handle, which engages with a toothed rack or with a perforated rod on the closure rod.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the locking apparatus exhibits, for each door, two closure rods which enter into engagement with the frame on opposite edges of the door. Only one of the two closure rods, for example the upper one, can in this case be prevented by the door-securing slide from being displaced. The other closure rod can be indirectly prevented from being displaced via the other closure rod via a common mechanism (such as the handle, for instance).
According to an embodiment of the invention, the closure rod is displaceable parallel to a swivel axis of the door. For example, the closure rod may have been arranged opposite the hinge of the door.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the first blocking element includes a latch which can be received in the second blocking element. The latch may have been fitted on one side of the locking slide. The second, electrically actuatable blocking element may have been fastened to the frame of the switchgear cabinet in an opposing manner.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the locking slide is displaceable in a direction at right angles to the swivel axis of the doors. In just the same way, the door-securing slide may be displaceable in a direction at right angles to the swivel axis of the doors.
According to an embodiment of the invention, at least one of the door-securing slides exhibits a handle via which a user can displace the door-securing slide. For example, the associated door may exhibit a hole in the door leaf, through which the handle protrudes. If all the doors are closed, the door-securing slide together with the locking slide can then be moved with the handle from the closed position into the open position (if this is permitted by the closure elements). In the course of this movement, the door-securing slides of the other doors are moved simultaneously into the open position. In this way, all the closure rods are released. Consequently all the doors can then be opened.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the door-securing slide includes a driving clasp which is designed to latch, in the closed position of the door, into a driving pin fastened to the locking slide. One possibility by which the door-securing slide can be fixed to the locking slide when the door is closed is a clasp fastened to the door-securing slide, which encompasses the driving pin when the door is being closed.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the locking apparatus further includes for at least two doors in each instance a blocking hook connected to the locking slide, which is designed to hold the locking slide in the unlocked position when the door is open, so that only when several doors or all the doors are closed is the locking slide capable of being pushed into the locked position. If all the doors exhibit a blocking hook of such a type, the locking slide can only be pushed into the closed or locked position when all the doors are closed.
The blocking hook may be capable of swiveling about an axis parallel to a swivel axis of the door. For example, the blocking hook may have been fitted on one side of the locking slide and may be designed to encompass a blocking pin which has been fitted to the frame of the switchgear cabinet.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the blocking hook is pressed in the direction of a blocking pin by means of a spring, in order to hold the locking slide in the open position. The blocking pin may have been fastened to the frame of the switchgear cabinet. As a result of displacement of the locking slide into the open position, the blocking hook slides over the blocking pin, and the spring prevents the blocking hook from opening again automatically.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the door-securing slide for the respective door is designed to unlock the blocking hook when the door is being closed. For example, the driving clasp, which also serves to secure the door-securing slide to the locking slide when the door is being closed, can also be used to separate the blocking hook (contrary to the action of force of the spring) from the blocking pin.
A further aspect of the invention relates to a switchgear cabinet with a locking apparatus of such a type.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the switchgear cabinet includes a frame, in which a plurality of doors have been mounted so as to be capable of swiveling, and a locking apparatus such as is described above and below. As a rule, the interior of the switchgear cabinet will have been enclosed by cover plates on the sides and on the ceiling of the switchgear cabinet, which have been fastened to the frame.
The locking slide may be displaceable relative to the frame. For example, the locking slide has been mounted on the frame.
The locking apparatus may serve to close at least two doors (and preferentially all the doors) of the switchgear cabinet when an electrical installation inside the switchgear cabinet is in operation. In this connection the electrically actuatable blocking element may have been adjusted in such a way that during the operation of the electrical installation, when the latter is energized, it holds the locking slide in place so that the doors cannot be opened.
To this end, at least two doors or even all the doors of the switchgear cabinet include, in each instance, a door-securing slide and a closure rod which are displaceable relative to the respective door and are capable of swiveling with the door. In the case of closed doors, the locking slide prevents the door-securing slides from being capable of being displaced. The door-securing slides, in turn, prevent a displacement of the closure rods which keep the doors closed.
Exemplary embodiments of the invention will be described in detail in the following with reference to the attached figures.
The reference symbols used in the figures and their meanings are listed in synoptic form in the list of reference symbols. As a matter of principle, identical or similar parts are provided with the same reference symbols.
Located on the front side of the switchgear cabinet 10 are doors 16 which are each capable of swiveling about a vertical axis 18. Located behind the doors on the top of the switchgear cabinet 10 is a cable duct 20 which has been fastened to the frame 12.
Cover plates that have been omitted in
The locking apparatus 22 includes a locking slide 24 in the form of a rail, which underneath the cable duct 20 is displaceable in a horizontal direction between an unlocked position and a locked position.
Fastened to the locking slide 24 is a first blocking element 26 which includes a latch 28 which can be inserted into a second blocking element 30 when the locking slide 24 is moved (as shown here, for example, to the left) into the locked position.
The second blocking element 30 may be, for example, an electrically actuatable actuator which releases the first blocking element 26 upon receiving an unblocking signal.
Each of the doors 16 includes a door-securing slide 32 which may also exhibit the form of a rail and which is displaceable along the respective door 16 in the horizontal direction between an unlocked position and a locked position. The door-securing slide 32 in this case has been fastened to the door in such a manner that it can be displaced with respect to the door and swiveled together with the door 16 about the swivel axis 18. If the doors 16 are closed, as shown in
Each of the doors 16 includes an upper closure rod 36 and a lower closure rod 38 which are displaceable in a vertical direction along the door 16 between an unlocked position and a locked position. In their locked position the closure rods 36, 38 are in engagement with the frame 12, so that the doors 16 cannot be opened.
Each of the doors 16 further includes a door-closer 40 which, for example, may exhibit a lock and a handle 42 with which a person, for example a maintenance mechanic, can open the respective door 16 and can unlock the door 16 by turning the handle. The handle 42 is connected to the two closure rods 36, 38 via a mechanism, so that the closure rods 36, 38 are moved up and down when the handle 42 is turned.
However, this is only possible if the closure rods 36 are not prevented from doing this by the door-securing slide 32 of the respective door 16, since the door-securing slide 32 of the door in its locked position engages with closure rod 36 (of the same door 16) in order to prevent a displacement of the closure rods 36, 38.
If the switchgear cabinet is in the locked state, the closure rods 36, 38 prevent the respective door 16 from opening, and the respective door-securing slide 32 prevents closure rod 36 from being displaced. Since the doors 16 are closed, the door securing slides 32 are coupled with the locking slide 24 and are consequently prevented by the locking slide 24 from being displaced. The locking slide 24 is prevented from being displaced via the first blocking element 26 and the second blocking element 30.
If the second blocking element 30 receives an unblocking signal (for example, if the electrical installation inside the switchgear cabinet 10 is no longer energized), the second blocking element 30 unlocks itself and releases the first blocking element 26.
A user can then push one of the door-securing slides 32 together with the locking slide 24 into the unlocked position (here, to the right). To this end, one of the door-securing slides 32 may exhibit a handle 44 which protrudes outward through an opening in a cover plate of the door 16 in question. Since the other door-securing slides 32 are also coupled with the locking slide 24, these are also pushed into the unlocked position and they release the closure rod 36.
The user can move the closure rods 36, 38 into the unlocked position and open the respective door 16 by turning the handle 42 of a door.
As can be discerned in
Furthermore, for each door-securing slide 32 in
If the respective door is open, the locking slide 24 is in the unlocked position, and a recess 70 of the blocking hook 58 lies on the pin 68 and prevents the locking slide 24 from being displaced.
As a result of the door 16 being closed, the driving clasp 52 not only encompasses the driving pin 56 but also pushes the blocking hook away from the pin 68. Only when all the doors 16 have been closed can the locking slide 24 again be pushed into the locked position.
In addition, it should be pointed out that “including” does not exclude any other elements or steps, and “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. It should furthermore be pointed out that features or steps that have been described with reference to one of the above exemplary embodiments may also be used in combination with other features or steps of other exemplary embodiments described above. Reference symbols in the claims are not to be regarded as a restriction.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14161088.1 | Mar 2014 | EP | regional |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/EP2015/051734 | Jan 2015 | US |
| Child | 15271638 | US |
