Patent Application
20180166804
The progression of industrial equipment is increasingly reliant upon electrical equipment to provide system information and control. At the same time, industry demands smaller and more cost effective solutions to provide these functions.
A traditional method of populating and connecting industrial electrical equipment is to arrange and mount the various required electrical components (e.g. terminal blocks, relays, circuit breakers, contactors, remote I/O, power supplies, etc.) in logical groupings on one or more standardized mounting rails (e.g. DIN rails) within an industrial enclosure, such as a control panel, which protects the electrical components from the surrounding environment whilst also protecting passers-by from the electrical components. Pathways or ducts for associated wiring are also typically provided in proximity to each standardized mounting rail for routing cables to and from the electrical components that are mounted thereon. This creates a layout that is easy to view, understand and service.
Standardized mounting rails come in a variety of sizes and cross-sectional patterns that are set by a handful of international standards organizations (e.g. the International Standards Organization, or “ISO”), and their use in industrial control panels ensures dimensional uniformity for the mounting of electrical components regardless of their manufacturer, thereby giving the end user the freedom to specify desired electrical components without concern for being committed to a single supplier due to a proprietary mounting configuration. Among the most commonly used worldwide standards for industrial electrical equipment is “DIN”, which is an acronym for “Deutsches Institut fur Normung” or “German Institute for Standardization”. DIN rail is available in several different patterns, including TS-32, TS-35, and TS-15.
In a typical industrial control panel, the standardized mounting rails are arranged and affixed in rows or columns along one interior surface (usually the bottom interior surface) of the panel, and the side walls and cover of the panel are dimensioned so as to accommodate the largest electrical components required to be housed, and to provide access as well as sufficient air space to dissipate heat generated by the electrical components during use. The exterior dimensions of the control panel may also be standardized so as to facilitate the racking or stacking of multiple control panels.
As the amount of electrical equipment that is required to provide increasingly sophisticated system information and control increases, the footprint and/or quantity of the control panels used to house and protect the electrical equipment must also increase. However, control panels having unusually large footprints quickly become unwieldy to handle (and may not fit within the area in which they are intended to be secured), and the racking or stacking of multiple control panels reduces accessibility to (and the ability to easily view) the various electrical components housed therein.
In embodiments of the presently disclosed subject matter, there is provided a support structure configured for the attachment of a secondary, supported standardized mounting rail (such as a DIN rail) in spaced-apart relationship above a primary, supporting standardized mounting rail (e.g. DIN rail) within an industrial enclosure such as a control panel. The support structure is connected directly to the primary, supporting standardized mounting rail (which rail has in turn already been affixed during panel construction along an interior surface of the control panel, or onto a plate installed within the control panel as may be required to conform with certain electrical code regulations), and may be applied either at the time of design/installation of the panel or at a later date, thereby enabling a highly effective and valuable expansion opportunity.
The support structure may comprise a single rail mount in cases where only relatively small and/or light piece(s) of additional electrical equipment are required to be supported upon the secondary, supported DIN rail, but in most cases the support structure will comprise a plurality of rail mounts, with each rail mount connecting the supporting and supported DIN rails (either directly or via an intermediate structure such as a support platform, as discussed in further detail below) at spaced-apart positions along the rails' respective lengths. For example, in cases where a supported DIN rail is the same length or shorter than a supporting DIN rail, rail mounts may be positioned along the length of the supporting DIN rail so as to generally correspond with each end of the supported DIN rail, and one or more supplemental rail mounts may be located at intermediate positions to provide additional strength if needed to bear the weight (as well as any anticipated axial loads) of the electrical equipment to be located on the supported DIN rail.
The support structure is configured and dimensioned so as to hold the supported DIN rail a sufficient height above the supporting DIN rail as needed to provide adequate component clearance to address physical space, electrical isolation and thermal management requirements within the control panel. In cases where additional lateral stability may be required, the rail mounts may further comprise one or more support legs that may be extended into contact with the interior surface of the control panel adjacent to the supporting DIN rail.
Additionally or alternatively, the support structure may be connected to a plurality of adjacent supporting DIN rails, and may support one or more supported DIN rails in an orientation that is the same as or different from that of the supporting DIN rails. By way of example, a support structure may comprise rail mounts connected to two adjacent supporting DIN rails and support a single supported DIN rail in an orientation that is essentially parallel to that of the adjacent supporting DIN rails. In another example, a support structure may comprise rail mounts connected to three adjacent supporting DIN rails and support a single supported DIN rail in an orientation that is essentially perpendicular to that of the adjacent supporting DIN rails. In yet a further example, a support structure may comprise rail mounts connected to two adjacent supporting DIN rails and support three supported DIN rails in an orientation that is essentially perpendicular to that of the adjacent supporting DIN rails. Other examples, including those in which a support structure that maintains the supported DIN rail(s) in an orientation that is somewhere between parallel and perpendicular to the supporting DIN rail(s) are of course also possible, and may be desirable when accommodating unusually-shaped electronic components on either or both of the supporting and supported DIN rails.
The rail mounts may be releasably or permanently affixed to the supporting DIN rail, and may be laterally expandable (in an orientation generally perpendicular to the elongate length of the supporting DIN rail) or longitudinally expandable (in an orientation generally parallel to the elongate length of the supporting DIN rail) in order to facilitate installation thereof onto a pre-installed supporting DIN rail. In other embodiments, snap-fit rail mounts and non-expandable rail mounts that are configured for sliding engagement with the supporting DIN rail are also contemplated. Any of the foregoing general types of rail mounts may be substituted and/or used in combination with one another. In one laterally-expandable embodiment, each rail mount comprises opposing hook elements configured for engagement with opposite lateral sides of a supporting DIN rail, and cooperating slide plates and fasteners for locking the rail mount into an engaged position on the supporting DIN rail. In one longitudinally expandable embodiment, opposing hook elements are configured for engagement with opposite lateral sides of a supporting DIN rail, and for mating engagement with one another. The opposing hook elements of this embodiment are identically configured, and each comprise a flange portion and a corresponding recess, such that the flange of a first hook element fits within the recess of the second hook element, and vice versa in mirror image, when the rail mount is engaged over a supporting DIN rail.
The supported DIN rail may itself be releasably affixed to the rail mounts with removable fasteners such as screws in order to provide access to the electrical components affixed to the supporting DIN rail below without requiring removal of the rail mounts from the supporting DIN rail. In some embodiments, the support structure may further comprise a supported platform situated between the rail mounts and the supported DIN rail. In addition to being suitably configured for the mounting of the supported DIN rail, the supported platform may comprise one or more flange portions to permit the mounting of associated wiring ducts of the sort that are typically provided in conventional control panels.
The supported platform may be held in place on the rail mounts with removable fasteners such as screws to allow the platform (including the supported DIN rail and any electrical components affixed thereto) to be lifted up and out of the way when the fasteners are removed, thereby providing access to the electrical components affixed to the supporting DIN rail below without requiring removal of the rail mounts from the supporting rail. In some embodiments of this sort, the platform may also comprise a clip structure along one or more edges thereof to permit the platform to be temporarily secured to the side wall of the control panel and/or to a rail mount of the support structure. In other embodiments, the support structure may comprise one or more rail mounts permanently affixed to a supported platform, and access to the supporting DIN rail(s) in embodiments of this sort may be enabled by releasable connection of the rail mounts to the supporting DIN rail(s).
In other embodiments, the supported platform comprises a hinge to enable the platform (including the supported DIN rail and any electrical components affixed thereto) to be pivoted up relative to the supporting DIN rail and provide access to the supporting DIN rail below. In alternate embodiments, the axis of rotation of the hinge may be either generally parallel or perpendicular to the elongate length of the DIN rails, and releasable fasteners may be utilized to better secure the supported DIN rail when the hinge is in the closed position. In a typical installation, the hinge is located along a first end of the platform, and fasteners such as screws are used to releasably secure the opposite, second end of the platform to an associated rail mount when the hinge is in the closed position. Of course, the hinge may alternatively be located at an intermediate position along the length or width of the platform (such that only a portion of the platform pivots up relative to the supporting rail), and fasteners may alternatively secure the platform to an intermediate rail mount, or to a rail mount that is adjacent to the hinge.
In further embodiments, the supported platform may comprise a drawer slide mechanism to permit the platform to slide in a telescoping fashion laterally or longitudinally vis-a-vis the supporting DIN rail below. As with the hinged embodiments described above, releasable fasteners may be utilized to better secure the supported DIN rail when the slide mechanism is in a closed position. In yet further embodiments, a single rail mount of the support structure may include a pivot and be used as a pivot point to enable the platform to rotate in-plane. In addition, any of the foregoing methods of platform displacement may be used in combination where desired.
Multiple levels of supported DIN rails and/or supported platforms may also be installed onto one another, thereby permitting yet further packaging of electronic equipment within a control panel beyond what is enabled by a supporting DIN rail and a single supported DIN rail. Each additional level may be installed on the supported DIN rail below it in the same manner as is described for the various embodiments above (i.e. by attaching each upper DIN rail to the DIN rail immediately below it).
The electrical components within a control panel are typically connected to one another and to a power supply by various wiring, and wiring considerations must accordingly be taken into account to enable a supported DIN rail (whether it is associated with a supported platform or not) to be displaced to provide access to the electrical components on the supporting DIN rail below. In preferred embodiments, the electrical components located on the supported DIN rail remain fully wired when the supported DIN rail has been pivoted, slid or lifted up out of the way of the supporting DIN rail in order to permit continued active operation of the complete electrical panel to support troubleshooting. By way of example, in hinged embodiments of the sort described above, wiring bundles (preferably held together with conventional strapping) may be routed through or adjacent to the hinged end of the supported platform. In alternate embodiments, the wiring associated with the electrical components on a supported DIN rail may be releasably coupled with conventional wire connectors to the electrical components on an upper or lower level. In practical terms, such releasable connection enables one to remove the secondary (or tertiary, quaternary, etc.) level and disconnect the wires (via the connector) for service away from the control panel, or to have complete access to the components connected to the supporting rail of the base level of the panel. Of course, this would have to be done with the electrical system of the panel at least partly off-line.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and advantages of the disclosed subject matter, as well as the preferred modes of use thereof, reference should be made to the following detailed description, read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numerals designate like or similar steps or parts.
The following description of preferred embodiments is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses. The support structure of the present invention may take form in a number of different embodiments depending upon the particular requirements of the use.
With reference to
Rail mount 18 may be laterally expandable (in an orientation generally perpendicular to the elongate length of the supporting rail 14) in order to facilitate installation thereof onto a pre-installed supporting rail 14. However, as will be described in greater detail below in relation to alternate embodiments (best seen in
Supported platform 20 of
The present description is of the best presently contemplated mode of carrying out the subject matter disclosed herein. The description is made for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the subject matter and not to be taken in a limiting sense; the described subject matter can find utility in a variety of implementations without departing from the scope of the invention made, as will be apparent to those of skill in the art from an understanding of the principles that underlie the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 62425541 | Nov 2016 | US |
| Child | 15819795 | US |
