Connection system for connecting electrical elements

Description

Field of the Art

[0001] The present invention relates to the assembly for installing functional elements in electrical installations, proposing a connection system facilitating the electrical connection of elements arranged in series to form associated units of said elements in the corresponding installation, allowing said installation to be performed quickly and safely.

State of the Art

[0002] The functional elements of electrical installations such as sockets, switches, etc., incorporate connectors for the connection of power supply cords, for such purpose there being screw connectors which allow establishing connections through tightening, assuring good electrical contact thereof, but requiring the use of tools to perform said tightening; and there are also connectors with pressure elements that do not require screws, whereby connections can be made more quickly since it is not necessary to use tools.

[0003] With said conventional connectors, regardless of whether or not they are screw connectors, when a series of consecutive electrical elements must be installed to form multiple sockets by means of two or more simple sockets electrically associated with one another, for example, the solution usually adopted is to establish, by means of sections of cord, a bridge for electrical connection between independent electrical elements, the sections of cord being attached to the respective connectors of the electrical elements to be associated.

[0004] There are also solutions for the connection between independent electrical elements by means of connecting bridge pieces provided with connecting pins attached to the connectors of the electrical elements, the need to prepare and manipulate sections of cords being prevented with said pieces, allowing a simpler and quicker assembly for installing the electrical elements that must be connected to one another.

[0005] However, to establish connection between the electrical elements, regardless of whether this is done with sections of cords or with bridge pieces prepared for that purpose, the connections are established by the connection sockets for connecting electric cords in the connectors of the electrical elements, so complicated manipulations are required and if the connection between the electrical elements is through their opposing ends, in order to disconnect an intermediate electrical element from a unit of electrical elements arranged in series, it is necessary to move at least one part of the rest of the electrical elements of the unit arranged in series, with the complexity and time that it entails. Other examples of the related art can be found in documents FR 2 928 041, US 4 171 861 and EP 1 389 816.

[0006] Document BE1013740 discloses a connection system according to the preamble of claim 1.

Object of the Invention

[0007] The invention proposes a connection system according to claim 1 that allows establishing electrical connection between independent electrical elements to form associated units of said elements, regardless of the connection sockets for connecting power supply cords to the unit when assembling the corresponding installation.

[0008] This connection system object of the invention is based on providing the electrical elements with connectors for electrical connection provided with sockets for power supply cords and a specific additional socket to establish connection of a bridge piece for electrical connection between independent electrical elements.

[0009] An arrangement which allows establishing electrical connection between independent electrical elements in a simple manner is thus obtained without said electrical connection between the independent electrical elements affecting the connection of the power supply cords, since both connections are made independently in relation to the connection sockets defined in the same connectors, but with a different configuration for each of the connections.

[0010] This connection system therefore allows the assembly for installing the electrical elements according to the
arrangement of the unit to be configured therewith and establishing the connection of the power supply to the unit, for establishing the electrical connection between the independent electrical elements once they are arranged in their installation by means of incorporating corresponding connecting bridge pieces between consecutive electrical elements, each connecting bridge piece being able to be inserted and removed without having to manipulate or move the connected electrical elements, which in turn allows removing and incorporating any intermediate electrical element to/from a unit of electrical elements arranged in series without having to move the other associated electrical elements in the unit, thus facilitating the necessary replacement and/or repair operations.

[0011] Based on the foregoing, the proposed connection system has very advantageous features for the assembly of independent electrical elements in units of electrical elements associated with one another, this connection system acquiring its own identity and preferred character with respect to the known solutions used for connecting independent electrical elements associated with a common power supply in electrical communication.

Description of the Drawings

[0012] 

Figure 1 shows an exploded perspective view of a connection system for connecting electrical elements according to the invention.

Figure 2 is a side view of the unit of the preceding figure assembled.

Figure 3 is a cross-section view of an enlarged detail of area III indicated in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a cross-section view of an enlarged detail of area IV indicated in the same Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of an example of screwless connector provided with independent sockets for power supply cords and for a bridge piece for electrical connection according to the invention.

Figure 6 is a sectioned side view of said connector of the preceding figure.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of an example of a screw connector provided with independent sockets for power supply cords and for a bridge piece for electrical connection according to the invention.

Figure 8 is a side view of said connector of the preceding figure.

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0013] The invention relates to a connection system for connecting independent electrical elements (1) to form a series of said independent electrical elements (1) electrically associated with one another, with a common power supply for the entire unit by means of a single connection of power supply cords (2) with respect to an electrical element (1) of the unit.

[0014] The connection system according to the invention is based on providing the electrical elements (1) with connectors (3) provided with one or more sockets (4) for the connection of power supply cords (2) and with an additional independent socket (5) for the connection of a bridge piece (6) for electrical connection between independent electrical elements (1) .

[0015] Therefore, in order to form an electrically associated unit of electrical elements arranged in series with two or more independent electrical elements (1), such that the entire unit is electrically powered with a single connection of power supply cords (2), the assembly for installing the different electrical elements (1) can be performed in the relative positioning placement between them and the connection of the power supply cords (2) can be established with respect to any of the electrical elements (1); and regardless of said assembly and said power supply connection, the electrical communication between the consecutive electrical elements (1) can be established by means of respective bridge pieces (6).

[0016] To that end, the connectors (3) are configured such that the additional socket (5) thereof is in a perpendicular or inclined position, oriented to the front or to the side in the electrical elements (1) of application, according to the assembly arrangement of said electrical elements in the installation thereof; the bridge pieces (6) being formed by a body (7) made of insulating material and metal parts (8) embedded in said body (7), the pins thereof emerging outwardly. In a non-limiting manner, the metal parts (8) can be U-shaped, for example, and their end branches can emerge outwardly.

[0017] Therefore, the connection for electrical communication between consecutive electrical elements (1) can be done simply and quickly by means of simple insertion of the corresponding bridge piece (6) such that the emerging parts of the branches of the metal parts (8) thereof fit into the additional sockets (5) of the respective connectors (3) of the consecutive electrical elements (1) to be connected to one another.

[0018] The insertion of the bridge piece (6) for connecting two electrical elements (1) therefore does not require manipulating or moving the electrical elements (1) whatsoever when they are arranged in their assembly for installation; the bridge piece (6) also being able to be removed from the installation insertion without manipulating or moving the electrical elements (1) whatsoever, which also facilitates the compulsory maintenance operations, as it allows disassembling any of the electrical elements (1) from the unit of electrical elements arranged in series for replacement or repair without having to move the other electrical elements (1) of the unit of electrical elements arranged in series.

[0019] This connection system object of the invention applies to any type of connectors (3), both to pressure connectors by means of a strap (9) or other equivalent screwless means for the connection of the power supply cords (2), such as the example of Figures 5 and 6, and clamping screw connectors (10) for said connection of the power supply cords (2), as in the example of Figures 7 and 8; each connector (3) having in each case means (11) for connecting with the mechanism of the electrical element (1) of application, said means (11) being able to be a pin, for example, to establish electrical mechanism connection thereon.

[0020] The sockets (4) for the connection of power supply cords (2) can in turn be configured in any orientation position in the connectors (3), so that in the electrical elements (1) of application said sockets (4) are orientated at the end thereof, on the front part or on one side, both in a position perpendicular to those parts of the electrical elements (1) and in inclined positions, to facilitate the insertion of the power supply cords (2) in a comfortable manner in each case of application.

Claims

1. A connection system for connecting electrical elements to establish an electrical connection between independent electrical elements (1) in units of electrical elements arranged in series, wherein the independent electrical elements (1) are provided with connectors (3) comprising several sockets (4) adapted to connect of power supply cords (2); characterized in that each connector (3) further comprises an additional independent socket (5) adapted to connect a bridge piece (6) between consecutive independent electrical elements (1), thereby the electrical connection between independent electrical elements (1) is provided by the bridge piece via the additional independent socket (5).

2. The connection system for connecting electrical elements according to claim 1, characterized in that each bridge piece (6) comprises a body (7) made of insulating material in which metal parts (8) are embedded, pins thereof emerging outwardly.

Ansprüche

1. Verbindungssystem zum Verbinden elektrischer Elemente, um eine elektrische Verbindung zwischen unabhängigen elektrischen Elementen (1) in Einheiten von in Reihe angeordneten elektrischen Elementen herzustellen, wobei
die unabhängigen elektrischen Elemente (1) mit Verbindungsstücken (3) versehen sind, die mehrere Buchsen (4) aufweisen, die angepasst sind, Stromzufuhrkabel (2) zu verbinden; dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass jedes Verbindungsstück (3) weiterhin eine zusätzliche unabhängige Buchse (5) aufweist, die angepasst ist, ein Übergangsstück (6) zwischen aufeinanderfolgenden unabhängigen elektrischen Elementen (1) zu verbinden, wodurch die elektrische Verbindung zwischen unabhängigen elektrischen Elementen (1) durch das Übergangsstück über die zusätzliche unabhängige Buchse (5) vorgesehen ist.

2. Verbindungssystem zum Verbinden elektrischer Elemente nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass jedes Übergangsstück (6) einen Körper (7) aus isolierendem Material, in dem Metallteile (8) eingebettet sind, aufweist, wovon Kontakte heraustreten.

Revendications

1. Système de connexion destiné à connecter des éléments électriques pour établir une connexion électrique entre des éléments électriques indépendants (1) dans des unités d'éléments électriques agencés en série, dans lequel
les éléments électriques indépendants (1) sont pourvus de connecteurs (3) comprenant plusieurs prises (4) adaptées pour connecter des cordons d'alimentation (2) ; caractérisé en ce que chaque connecteur (3) comprend en outre une prise indépendante supplémentaire (5) adaptée pour connecter une pièce de pont (6) entre des éléments électriques indépendants (1) consécutifs, la connexion électrique entre des éléments électriques indépendants (1) est ainsi fournie par la pièce de pont par l'intermédiaire de la prise indépendante supplémentaire (5).

2. Système de connexion destiné à connecter des éléments électriques selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce que chaque pièce de pont (6) comprend un corps (7) constitué d'un matériau isolant dans lequel des parties métalliques (8) sont enchâssées, des broches de celles-ci émergeant vers l'extérieur.

Drawing