ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND CONTACT ELEMENT FOR USE IN AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE

Abstract

An electronic device for mounting on a support rail, has a housing, an electronic unit arranged in the housing, and an elastic contact element that serves in the electrically-conductive connection between the electronic unit and the support rail. The contact element has two contact legs, a connecting area connecting the contact legs to one another, and a contacting section connected to the connecting area for making contact with the electronic unit, and wherein when the electronic device is in the mounted state, the contact legs of the contact element make contact in a clamping manner with a leg of the support rail in-between. The contact element arranged ensures, with small size, good electrical and mechanical contacting of the support rail. The sides of the two contact legs facing one another form a short contact area. The first contact area on is sharp-edged, and the second contact area forms a swivel.

Claims

1. An electronic device that is mountable on a support rail, comprising: a housing, an electronic unit arranged in the housing, and a resilient contact element that forms an electrically-conductive connection between the electronic unit and a support rail when in a mounted state on the support rail, wherein the contact element has two contact legs, a connecting area connecting the contact legs to one another, and a contacting section connected to the connecting area for contacting the electronic unit, and wherein when the electronic device is in the mounted state, sides of the contact legs of the contact element make contact in a clamping manner with a leg of the support rail located between them, wherein, in each case, a contact area is formed on the sides of the two contact legs facing one another, wherein a first contact area, which is made on an upper one of the contact legs, is sharp-edged, wherein a second contact area, which is made on a lower one of the contact legs, is arranged perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the support rail offset to the first contact area, and wherein the second contact area forms a swivel for a lower outer edge of the leg of the support rail.

2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the two contact legs are arranged at least partially opposite to one another, and in wherein the side of the lower contact leg facing the upper contact leg runs at an acute angle ? to the leg of the support rail when the electronic device is in the mounted state.

3. The electronic device according to claim 2, wherein the angle ? between the lower contact leg and the leg of the support rail is less than 30? when the electronic device is in the mounted state.

4. The electronic device according to claim 2, wherein a vertical distance a between the first contact area of the upper contact leg and the opposite area of the lower contact leg is greater than a thickness d of the leg of the support rail.

5. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein a stop is formed on the side of the lower contact leg facing the upper contact leg, which stop together with the second contact area forms the swivel for the lower outer edge of the leg of the support rail.

6. The electronic device according to claim 5, wherein the lower contact leg is made shorter than the upper contact leg, wherein in the state mounted on the support rail, the lower contact leg extends outward, preferably slightly or not at all, over the lower outer edge of the leg of the support rail in the direction of the center of the support rail.

7. The electronic device according to claim 6, wherein in a foot area of the housing, adjacent to the lower contact leg, an insertion surface is formed, on which surface the leg of the support rail rests when the housing is mounted on the support rail.

8. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein a horizontal distance 1 perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the support rail between the first contact area of the upper contact leg and the second contact area of the lower contact leg is greater than a thickness d of the leg of the support rail.

9. A contact element for use in an electronic device having a housing and an electronic unit, and a resilient contact element with two contact legs, a connecting area connecting the contact legs to one another, and a contacting section connected to the connecting area for making contact with the electronic unit, wherein, in each case, a contact area is made on sides of the two contact legs facing one another, wherein a first contact area, which is on the upper contact leg, is sharp-edged, wherein a second contact area, which is made on the lower contact leg, is arranged along a horizontal central axis M of the contact element offset relative to the first contact area and forms a swivel for the lower outer edge of the leg of the support rail.

10. The contact element according to claim 9, wherein the two contact legs are at least partially opposite to one another and wherein the side of the lower contact leg facing the upper contact leg runs at an acute angle ? to the horizontal central axis M of the contact element.

11. The contact element according to claim 10, wherein the angle ? between the lower contact leg and the horizontal central axis M of the contact element is less than 30?.

12. The contact element according to claim 9, wherein a stop is formed on the side of the lower contact leg facing the upper contact leg.

13. The contact element according to claim 12, wherein the lower contact leg is made shorter than the upper contact leg.

14. The contact element according to claim 13, wherein the lower contact leg has only the second contact area and the adjacent stop, the stop together with the second contact area forming a swivel for the lower outer edge of the leg of a support rail.

15. The contact element according to claim 9, wherein the contacting section is pin-shaped and runs essentially perpendicular to the horizontal central axis M of the contact element.

16. The contact element according to claim 9, wherein the connecting area is C-shaped.

17. The contact element according claim 9, wherein the contact element is a one-piece stamped part or a one-piece stamped and curved part.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an electronic device that is snapped onto a support rail,

[0030] FIGS. 2a & 2b show a first embodiment of a contact element in a perspective view and from the side, respectively,

[0031] FIGS. 3a, 3b, and 3c show the contact element according to FIGS. 2a and 2b, in three different positions when snapped onto a support rail,

[0032] FIG. 4 shows the electronic device according to FIG. 1 before it is swung open onto the support rail, and

[0033] FIGS. 5a and 5b show a second embodiment of a contact element in a perspective view and from the side, respectively.

[0034] As electronic device 1, FIGS. 1 and 4 show an overvoltage protector to be mounted on a support rail 2, wherein the support rail 2 has two outward-pointing legs 3, 4. Electronic device 1 has a housing 5, in which an electronic unit is accommodated, which is made in this case from a conductor plate with electronic components arranged thereon. Multiple conductor terminal elements 7 are arranged on the two front sides of the housing 5, which elements are designed as spring-action clamps in the depicted embodiment.

[0035] FIG. 1 depicts the electronic device 1 when it is snapped onto the support rail 2, while in the view according to FIG. 4, the electronic device 1 is first pushed onto one leg 3 of the support rail 2 but is not snapped onto the support rail 2. To do so, the electronic device 1 must be pivoted counterclockwise from the position depicted in FIG. 4 until the housing 5 of the electronic device 1 locks with the second leg 4 of the support rail 2. To achieve an electrically conductive connection between the electronic unit 6 or a strip conductor arranged on the conductor plate and the support rail 2, a metal contact element 9 is arranged in the foot area 8 of the housing 5, which contact element is described more precisely below in particular in connection with FIGS. 2 and 3.

[0036] As can be seen from FIGS. 2a and 2b, the metal contact element 9 has two contact legs 10, 11 arranged at least partially opposite to one another, a connecting area 12, and a contacting section 13 connecting the contact legs 10, 11 to one another, which contacting section serves to contact the electronic unit 6 and is integrally connected via an arm 14 to the connecting area 12. On the sides 15, 16 of the two contact legs 10, 11 facing one another, in each case a shorter contact area 17, 18 is made, which, with the electronic device 1 snapped onto the support rail 2, contacts the leg 3 of the support rail 2 on its top and bottom sides.

[0037] In particular, it can be seen from the side view according to FIG. 2b that the two contact legs 10, 11 are arranged somewhat offset relative to one another and also do not have specifically the same length, so that the two contact legs 10, 11 are not arranged exactly opposite to one another. Moreover, it is evident that the two contact legs 10, 11 are also not arranged parallel to one another, in any case not over their entire length, which occurs due simply to the fact that the first contact area 17, which is made on the upper contact leg 10, is made sharp-edged and thus has a tip 19. The tip serves to penetrate and erode impurity layers, for example an oxide layer, optionally present on the surface of the leg 3 of the support rail 2.

[0038] The second contact area 18, which is made on the lower contact leg 11, is arranged along the horizontal central axis M of the contact element 9 offset to the first contact area 17, as can be seen in particular from FIG. 2b. In addition, the second contact area 18 serves as a swivel for the lower outer edge 20 of the leg 3 of the support rail 2 when the electronic device 1 is snapped onto the support rail 2, as can be seen from FIGS. 3a, 3b, and 3c. For this purpose, a stop 21 is provided on the side 16 of the lower contact leg 11 facing the upper contact leg 10 in the transition to the connecting area 12.

[0039] FIG. 3a shows the position of the contact element 9 on the leg 3 of the support rail 2, when the electronic device 1 according to FIG. 4 is first pushed only with the contact element 9 onto the first leg 3 of the support rail 2. The side 16 of the second contact leg 11 facing the leg 3 or the first contact leg 10 in this case rests on the bottom side of the leg 3 of the support rail 2. As can be seen from FIG. 4, in this case, the electronic device 1 or the housing 5 is tilted counterclockwise around an angle ? relative to its snapped-on position according to FIG. 1 or according to FIG. 3c. When the contact element 9 is pushed onto the leg 3 of the support rail 2, this tilting angle of the electronic device 1 corresponds to the acute angle ? by which the side 16 of the lower contact leg 11 facing the upper contact leg 10 is oriented toward the horizontal central axis M of the contact element 9 (cf. FIG. 3c).

[0040] In addition, it is evident from FIG. 3a that the vertical distance a between the first contact area 17 or the tip 19 of the upper contact leg 10 and the opposite area 22 of the lower contact leg 11 is greater than the thickness d of the legs 3, 4 of the support rail 2. This ensures that the contact element 9 can first be easily pushed onto the leg 3 of the support rail 2 without the tip 19 of the sharp-edged first contact area 17 being pressed against the upper edge of the leg 3 of the support rail 2. As a result, damage to the tip 19 of the sharp-edged first contact area 17 is prevented, so that the sharp-edged first contact area 17, during subsequent pivoting of the electronic device 1, can optimally penetrate and erode impurity layers that are formed on the top side of the leg 3.

[0041] If the electronic device 1 pivots counterclockwise from the position depicted in FIG. 4 into the position depicted in FIG. 1, the contact element 9 is thus also pivoted counterclockwise, as can be seen from a comparison of FIGS. 3a and 3c. In this case, FIG. 3b shows an intermediate position when the contact element 9 has been pivoted around an angle smaller than the angle ?. The pivoting of the contact element 9 results in the desired relative movement of the sharp-edged first contact area 17 relative to the leg 3 of the support rail 2 and thus in severing an impurity layer optionally present on the surface of the leg 3.

[0042] When pivoting the electronic device 1 or the contact element 9, the side 16 of the second contact leg 11 facing the first contact leg 10 lifts from the bottom side of the leg 3 of the support rail 2. In this case, the second contact area 18 acts on the lower contact leg 11 as a pivot point while the contact element 9 pivots. Since the vertical distance c between the first contact area 17 and the second contact area 18 is smaller than the vertical distance a between the first contact area 17 and the opposite area 21 of the second contact leg 11 and also smaller than the thickness d of the leg 3 of the support rail 2, the pivoting of the contact element 9 causes the two contact legs 10, 11 or the connecting area 12 to bend, so that the two contact areas 17, 18 are pressed against the top side or the bottom side of the leg 3 of the support rail 2. As a result, good electrical contact and also stable mechanical fixing of the contact element 9 on the leg 3 of the support rail 2 and thus also secure fixing of the electronic device 1 on the support rail 2 are ensured.

[0043] In the position of contact element 9 depicted in FIG. 3c or FIG. 4, the electronic device 1 is snapped onto the support rail 2. The horizontal central axis M of the contact element 9 then coincides with the extension of the leg 3 perpendicular to the longitudinal extension of the support rail 2. The angle ? at which the side 16 of the lower contact leg 11 facing the upper contact leg 10 runs to the horizontal central axis M of the contact element 9 is preferably less than 20 degrees, in the case of the depicted embodiment, for example, 10 degrees. In addition, the horizontal distance 1 between the first contact area 17 and the second contact area 18 is greater than the thickness d of the leg 3 of the support rail 2.

[0044] FIG. 5a and FIG. 5b show a second embodiment of a contact element 9 in perspective view (FIG. 5a) and from the side (FIG. 5b). In comparison to the first embodiment of the contact element 9 depicted in FIG. 2a and FIG. 2b, in the case of this contact element 9, the lower contact leg 11 is made considerably shorter than the upper contact leg 10. The lower contact element 9 also has no area opposite to the first contact area 17, but rather only the second contact area 18 and the adjacent stop 22, which with the second contact area 18 forms a swivel for the lower outer edge 20 of the leg 3 of a support rail 2.

[0045] Also, in the second embodiment of the contact element 9, the two contact legs 10, 11 are connected to one another via the connecting area 12, and the connecting area 12 is connected to a contacting section 13 via an arm 14, which contacting section serves to make contact with the electronic unit 6. On the sides 15, 16 of the two contact legs 10, 11 facing one another, in each case a shorter contact area 17, 18 is made, which contact area contacts the leg 3 of the support rail 2 on its top and bottom sides when the electronic device 1 is snapped onto the support rail 2. Also, in the case of this contact element 9, the first contact area 17 has a tip 19, so that the contact area 17 is made sharp-edged. The second contact area 18, which is made on the lower contact leg 11, is arranged along the horizontal central axis M of the contact element 9 offset to the first contact area 17 and serves together with the stop 21 as a swivel for the lower outer edge 20 of the leg 3 of the support rail 2 when the electronic device 1 is snapped onto the support rail 2.

[0046] As can be seen from the figures, the contact element 9 is made integral overall and can be produced from a flat metal part simply by punching out and optionally bending. The contact element 9 in this case preferably consists of a copper alloy, which is distinguished by high strength and good spring properties along with good conductivity.

REFERENCE SYMBOLS

[0047] 1 Electronic device [0048] 2 Support rail [0049] 3, 4 Legs [0050] 5 Housing [0051] 6 Electronic unit [0052] 7 Conductor terminal element [0053] 8 Foot area [0054] 9 Contact element [0055] 10, 11 Contact legs [0056] 12 Connecting area [0057] 13 Contacting section [0058] 14 Arm [0059] 15, 16 Sides [0060] 17 First contact area [0061] 18 Second contact area [0062] 19 Tip [0063] 20 Lower outer edge of the leg [0064] 21 Stop [0065] 22 Opposite area [0066] ? Acute angle [0067] a Vertical distance [0068] l Horizontal distance [0069] d Thickness [0070] M Horizontal central axis