ELECTRIC UNIT FOR CONNECTING TO A MOUNTING RAIL, AND CONTACTING ELEMENT

Abstract

The invention relates to an electric unit for connecting to a DIN rail (50), having means for contacting the lines (70) of a busbar (60), said means comprising a rotatable contacting element (30, 40, 50), the outer circumference of which is equipped with contacts (32, 42, 52, 53, 62, 63). A first group of contacts (32, 52, 62) and a second group of contacts (42, 53, 63) are provided, wherein the contacts of the first group are arranged so that, when the contacting element (30, 40, 50) is rotated they contact contact lines (70) extending in a first place (A1), and the contacts of the second group are arranged so as to contact lines extending in a second plane (B1).

Claims

1. An electric unit, in particular a luminaire (1), which is provided for connecting to a mounting rail (50) having an elongated mounting rail profile (55), which together with two lateral walls (56) encloses a receiving chamber, in which at least one busbar (60) having longitudinally extending, contactable lines (70) is arranged, wherein the lines (70) of a busbar extend alternately in at least two planes that are aligned parallel to one another and spaced apart from one another (A1, B1), wherein the electric unit comprises means for contacting the lines (70) of the busbar (60), said means comprising at least one rotatable contacting element (30, 40, 50), on the outer circumference of which are arranged contacts (32, 42, 52, 53, 62, 63), which are pivoted outwardly when the contacting element (30, 40, 50) is rotated and brought into abutment against the lines (70) to be contacted, wherein the contact means comprises a first group of contacts (32, 52, 62) as well as a second group of contacts (42, 53, 63), wherein the contacts of the first group are arranged with respect to an axis of rotation (I) of the contacting element (30, 40, 50) such that they are pivoted outwardly when the contacting element (30, 40, 50) is rotated such that they contact the lines (70) extending in a first plane (A1), and wherein the contacts of the second group are arranged with respect to an axis of rotation (I) of the contacting element (30, 40, 50) such that they are pivoted outwardly when the contacting element (30, 40, 50) is rotated such that they contact the lines extending in a second plane (B1).

2. The electric unit according to claim 1, wherein it comprises two rotatable contacting elements (30, 40), wherein the contacts of the first group (32) are arranged on a first contacting element (30) and the contacts of the second group (42) are arranged on a second contacting element (40).

3. The electric unit according to claim 2, wherein the two contacting elements (30, 40) are arranged longitudinally spaced apart from one another on a supporting element (5) of the unit.

4. The electric unit according to claim 1, wherein the contacts of the first group and the contacts of the second group are arranged on a common contacting element (50).

5. The electric unit according to claim 4, wherein the contacts of the first group are arranged offset from the contacts of the second group by an angle relative to the axis of rotation (I) of the contacting element (50).

6. The electric unit according to claim 1, wherein the contacts of the first group have a greater distance from the axis of rotation (I) of the contacting element (30, 40, 50) than the contacts of the second group.

7. The electric unit according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the contacts (32, 43, 52, 53, 62, 63) is supported on the contacting element (30, 40, 50) in a height-adjustable manner, wherein said contact can only occupy positions corresponding to one of the two groups.

8. The electric unit according to claim 1, the contacting element (30, 40, 50) has contacts opposite to one another with respect to its axis of rotation, which are designed to contact two busbars arranged on both sides of the contacting element (30, 40, 50).

9. The electric unit according to claim 1, wherein it is a bar luminaire.

10. A contacting element for connecting an electric unit to a mounting rail (50) comprising an elongated mounting rail profile (55) that along with two lateral walls (56) encloses a receiving chamber, in which at least one busbar (60) with longitudinally extending, contactable lines (70) is arranged, wherein the lines (70) of a busbar extend alternately in at least two planes (A1, B1) that are aligned parallel to one another and are spaced apart from one another, wherein the contacting element (30, 40, 50) is rotatable, and contacts (32, 42, 52, 53, 62, 63) are arranged on the outer circumference of the contacting element, which contacts are pivoted outwardly by a rotation the contacting element (30, 40, 50) and brought into abutment with the lines (70) to be contacted, wherein the contacting element (30, 40, 50) comprises a first group of contacts (32, 52, 62) as well as a second group of contacts (42, 53, 63), wherein the contacts of the first group are arranged with respect to an axis of rotation (I) of the contacting element (30, 40, 50) such that they are pivoted outwardly when the contacting element (30, 40, 50) is rotated such that they contact the lines (70) extending in a first plane (A1), and wherein the contacts of the second group are arranged with respect to an axis of rotation (I) of the contacting element (30, 40, 50) such that they are pivoted outwardly when the contacting element (30, 40, 50) is rotated such that they contact the lines extending in a second plane (B1).

11. The contacting element according to claim 10, wherein the contacts of the first group have a greater distance from the axis of rotation (I) of the contacting element (50) than the contacts of the second group.

12. The contacting element according to claim 10, wherein the contacts of the first group are arranged offset from the contacts of the second group by an angle relative to the axis of rotation (I) of the contacting element (50).

13. The contacting element according to claim 10, wherein at least one of the contacts (32, 43, 52, 53, 62, 63) is supported on the contacting element (30, 40, 50) in a height-adjustable manner, wherein said contact can only occupy positions corresponding to one of the two groups.

14. A light strip system with a mounting rail (50) comprising an elongated mounting rail profile (55) that together with two lateral walls (56) encloses a receiving chamber, in which at least one busbar (60) with longitudinally extending, contactable lines (70) is arranged, wherein the lines (70) of the busbar extend alternately in at least two planes that are aligned parallel to one another and spaced apart from one another (A1, B1), and an electric unit, in particular a luminaire, provided for connecting to the mounting rail (50) according to claim 1.

15. The light strip system according to claim 14, wherein busbars (60) are arranged on both lateral walls (56) of the mounting rail profile (55).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] The invention will be explained in further detail in the following with reference to the accompanying drawing. The figures show:

[0020] FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a mounting rail of a light strip system having two busbars arranged therein and a luminaire arranged on the mounting rail;

[0021] FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating the positioning of the lines of the busbars as well as the resulting problems with regard to the contacting of the lines;

[0022] FIGS. 3 and 4 are views of an exemplary embodiment of a luminaire, which is designed with contacting means configured according to the invention;

[0023] FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the contacting means of the luminaire of FIGS. 3 and 4;

[0024] FIG. 6 is a view of the contacting possibilities resulting from the solution according to the invention;

[0025] FIG. 7 is a detailed view of the arrangement according to the invention of two contact groups on a common contacting element;

[0026] FIGS. 8 and 9 are views of two different variants of a contacting element designed according to the invention;

[0027] FIGS. 10 and 11 are the configuration of a light strip system as well as an associated luminaire according to a solution known from the prior art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] The view in FIG. 1 basically corresponds to the view of the prior art according to FIG. 10. Thus, a mounting rail 50 of a light strip system with a luminaire arranged thereon is again shown, but a modified guiding for the lines of the busbars is now provided.

[0029] In principle, however, the mounting rail 50 shown in FIG. 1 also initially comprises an elongated mounting rail profile 55, which is approximately U-shaped in cross-section and opens downwards, having two lateral walls 56 and a transverse connecting wall 57, which enclose a receiving chamber that opens towards the bottom. Further, busbars 60 abutting both sides of the receiving chamber on the lateral walls 56 are also provided, each of which comprise a line receiving structure 62, which extends in the longitudinal direction of the mounting rail 50 and is made of an insulating material, comprising elongated channels and grooves in which lines 70 to be contacted are arranged.

[0030] A particular feature of the busbars 60 shown in FIG. 1 is that the line receiving structures 62 are designed such that the lines 70 are no longer all arranged in one plane one above the other, as has previously been customary and can be seen in the view in FIG. 10. Rather, there is an alternating arrangement of the lines 70 such that they are alternately arranged in two planes that are spaced apart from one another and extend parallel to one another. These planes can be seen in FIG. 2 and are designated A1, B1 (for the left busbar) and A2 and B2 (for the right busbar).

[0031] A first part of the lines 70 of the left busbar 60 thus extends in the plane A1 and thus closer in the region of the associated lateral wall 56 of the mounting rail profile 55, whereas the second part of the lines 70 is arranged in the plane B1, which has a greater distance to the corresponding lateral wall 56. The result of this alternating arrangement of the lines 70 is that, with regard to the distances to be maintained for corresponding creep distances, not only the vertical distance between the lines 70 is to be considered, but also the distance between the two planes A1 and B1 (of course, the same applies to the lines of the right busbar, which are located alternately in planes A2 and B2), such that the number of lines 70 can ultimately be increased overall. A comparison to the view in FIG. 10 shows that the number of lines 70 can now be increased at a comparable height of the busbars 60, 110, 120, which ultimately would lead to an increase in the contacting possibilities for units to be connected to the mounting rail.

[0032] However, FIGS. 1 and 2 also show that a merely denser arrangement of the lines 70 of the busbar 60 does not yet mean that a unit to be connected to the system 50 is actually also able to use the additional contacting possibilities. For this purpose, a luminaire 1 is shown in the figures, the contacting element of which is designed to be comparable to that of the luminaire 130 in FIG. 10. It can be seen that the rotatably supported contacting element 10 in turn has contacts 20 on both sides opposite one another, each comprising an outwardly projecting contact element 22, which is retained by a contact housing 21 consisting of an insulating material.

[0033] On the left side, in FIGS. 1 and 2, three contacts 20 overlying one another are shown, which contact lines 70 of the busbar 60 that lie in plane B1. The spacing of these lines 70 to one another in the vertical direction is such that each of these lines 70 can be contacted by a single contact 20 of the luminaire 1 accordingly.

[0034] However, it can also be seen that there is no clearance left between two contacts 20 arranged one above the other for a further contact that would be able to contact in plane A1 the line 70 lying between two lines 70 extending in plane B1. The result of this is that the lines 70 designated with positions C1 and C2 are able to be contacted without problems, but not the vertically intermediate line 70 located in position Dl.

[0035] Because, due to the superimposed arrangement of the contacts 20 for contacting the lines extending in the plane B1, the space available is already substantially exhausted, no increase in the flexibility in the contacting possibilities can be created by a more compact arrangement of the lines 70 of the busbars 60 alone. Instead, a corresponding further development of the components to be connected to the mounting rail 50 is also required, wherein solutions according to the invention are explained in further detail below.

[0036] A first embodiment according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 3-6. FIGS. 3 and 4 show views of an elongated bar luminaire, which is to be connected to the mounting rail 50 in the manner shown in FIG. 1 and comprises contacting elements 30 and 40, respectively, which are in turn rotatably supported for this purpose. FIG. 5 shows an enlarged view of the contacting elements 30, 40. These are arranged distributed along the elongated carrier 5 of the luminaire 1, which, for example, serves to mount the illuminant, an optics 6 used for influencing the light output, and an operating device 7 for operating the illuminant

[0037] Thus far, at least two rotatable contacting elements have also generally been provided for a bar luminaire to be connected to a mounting rail in order to enable a mechanical fastening of the luminaire to the mounting rail profile in the longitudinal direction at two positions. Until now, however, only one of the two contacting elements has been used in order to actually contact lines from the busbars.

[0038] In the solution according to the invention in FIG. 3-5, on the other hand, it is provided that both contacting elements 30 and 40 now support contacts that are provided for contacting the lines of the busbars 60. However, the two contacting elements 30 and 40 are not identical. Instead, the contacts provided thereon are arranged such that the contacts of a contacting element exclusively comprise lines of one of the two planes A1 and A2, whereas the contacts of the further contacting element contact the lines of the other plane B1 and B2.

[0039] This can be seen in FIG. 5, wherein it is shown that the contacts 32 arranged on the left contacting element 30 have internal planes B1 and B2, with respect to the center of the mounting rail, and thus contact the corresponding lines of the busbar, whereas the contacts 42 of the right contacting element 40 contact the outer planes A1 and A2. The contacts 32 of the first contacting element 30 thus form a first contact group in the entirety of all the contacts of the luminaire 1, which group is basically intended to contact lines extending in the inner planes B1 and B2, whereas the contacts 42 of the second contacting element 40 form a second group, which is to contact the lines of planes A1 and A2.

[0040] However, as can be seen from FIG. 1, for contacts 70 arranged one on top of the other, which are only to contact lines of a single plane, sufficient space is available so that they can now be arranged one on top of the other without any problems and can contact all lines that run in one plane, analogously to the arrangement of the contacts 20 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Ultimately, this means that by using the second contacting element 40 to mount further electrical contacts 42, there is the possibility to contact all of the lines 70 of the two busbars 60. Thus, when connecting the luminaire 1 to the mounting rail 50, the full circumference of the lines 70 can now be used for contacting, so that there are a variety of possibilities to connect the luminaire 1 to certain phases of the power supply circuits or certain lines for signal transmission.

[0041] Preferably, the contacts 32 and 42 of the two contacting elements 30 and 40 of the luminaire 1 shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 are identical in design. The two contact groups differ primarily with respect to their arrangement on the contacting elements 30 and 40. For example, because the contacts 42 of the second contacting element 40 are to contact the lines extending in the more outward lying planes A1 and A2, it is necessary that these contacts 42 have a correspondingly greater distance with respect to the axis of rotation I about which the contacting elements 30, 40 are pivoted than is the case for the contacts 32 of the first contacting element 30. Thus, a corresponding modification with respect to the mounting of the contacts 42 must be made in the second contacting element 40 here. Alternatively, it would generally also be conceivable to extend the contact tabs of these contacts 42 accordingly. Furthermore, the contacts 42 are also positioned slightly offset from the contacts 32 in a vertical direction or in a direction parallel to the pivot axis I, because the height-offset arrangement of the corresponding lines in the two planes A1 and B1 must also be taken into account.

[0042] Finally, however, the contacting of busbars can be improved in a relatively simple manner, and in particular the number of lines to be contacted can be increased. As FIG. 6 shows, whose view corresponds to FIG. 1 and in which contacting element 40 that is in the rear when viewed in the longitudinal direction is largely covered by the front contacting element 30, the luminaire 1 can now theoretically contact all of the lines 70 of the two busbars 60.

[0043] In the variant shown in FIG. 3-6, the two groups of the contacts 32, 42 formed according to the invention are arranged on different contacting elements 30, 40, respectively. However, this need not necessarily be the case, as explained below with reference to FIG. 7-9, which show a second exemplary embodiment of a corresponding contacting element 50 according to the invention.

[0044] FIG. 7 shows the top plan view of a subregion of a contacting element 50, which in the illustration carries two contacts 52 and 53, which are to respectively contact two lines 72 and 73 offset from one another. The two lines 72 and 73 are not only arranged side-by-side in the illustrated drawing plane, but also have an offset in a direction perpendicular thereto, as explained in FIGS. 1 and 2. The line 72 thus corresponds to a line extending in plane A1, whereas the line 73 extends in plane B1. Likewise, the corresponding contacts 52 and 53 are also arranged at different heights on the contacting element 50.

[0045] FIG. 7 shows the arrangement in the outwardly pivoted state of the contacting element 50, in which the contacts 52 and 53 thus touch the respective lines 72 and 73. It can be seen that a contacting of the lines 72, 73 can respectively be achieved in a reliable manner, because the contacts 52, 53 are supported on the contacting element 50 such that they are actually also brought into abutment against the corresponding lines 72, 73. In particular, this means that the contact 52 to be contacted by the outer line 72 has a greater distance with respect to the axis of rotation I about which the contacting element 50 is pivoted than the contact 53 provided for contacting the more inward line 73. Furthermore, both contacts 52, 53 are also arranged offset by an angle with respect to this axis of rotation I on the contacting element 50, so that they have a sufficient distance to one another, both vertically and in particular horizontally. Again, according to the arrangement of the contact 52, there is the possibility of arranging a plurality of similarly positioned contacts of this contact group one above the other in order to contact the overlain lines located in plane A1, the same being true for contact 53, which is then to contact the lines of plane B1 with correspondingly positioned contacts. Thus, two groups of contacts are arranged on the contacting element 50, which are each designed to contact the lines of the busbar in one plane.

[0046] It can also be seen in FIG. 7 that it is at least necessary for the contacts of one of the two contact groups that they be arranged somewhat pivoted with respect to a radial axis extending from the axis of rotation. This can be seen in FIG. 7, in particular for the contacts 52 of the first group. While the contacts 53 lying approximately at the height of the axis of rotation I are oriented substantially radially outward, the contacts 52 of the first group with a radial axis extending from the axis of rotation form an angle a. This takes into account that the contacts of the first group 52 do not touch the lines at the height of the axis of rotation I when viewed in the longitudinal direction, but rather offset therefrom, wherein, despite everything, an optimal connection of the lines 72, 73 is present.

[0047] FIG. 8 shows a top plan view of a complete contacting element 50, which is designed as explained in FIG. 7. In this respect, further contacts 62, 63 are provided respectively opposite to the contacts 52, 53, which are provided in an analogous manner for contacting the opposite lines of the second busbar extending in planes A2 and B2. Ultimately, this contacting element 50 is thus theoretically at least able to contact all lines of the busbars arranged on both sides.

[0048] FIG. 9 shows a slightly modified embodiment in comparison to the variant shown in FIG. 8. The difference is that, in the contacting state shown, the outer contacts 52 and 62 lie approximately at the height of the axis of rotation I, when viewed in the longitudinal direction of the busbar. However, the variant shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is preferable, in which the inner contact 53 and the contacts of this corresponding group lie at the height of the axis of rotation I, respectively. Namely, this arrangement results in the contacting element 50 needing to be less strongly deflected in order to interlock or unlock. It can certainly also be provided that the axis of rotation is slightly above the so-called “dead center,” which ultimately results in the contacts 52, 53, 62, 63 pushing against the surfaces of the lines to be contacted with a somewhat stronger force.

[0049] The configurations of the contacting elements according to the invention thus allow that, even in the case of a very compact arrangement of the lines in a busbar, there is theoretically at least the possibility of contacting all lines. In reality, however, a somewhat smaller number of contacts will be selected, wherein some of the contacts are mounted in a height-adjustable manner or can be arranged at different heights on the contacting element in order to select which lines of the busbar are to actually be contacted. As a result, a so-called phase selection can be carried out, or it can be determined via which lines selected for communication a consumer to be connected can communicate with, for example, a control panel of the system.

[0050] It would be advantageous in this situation for the respectively selectable lines or phases of the power supply circuit of a busbar are respectively gathered in one plane. In this way, the corresponding phase selection can then be realized in the manner already known, namely by having a corresponding contact slidably mounted on the corresponding contacting element. However, the contact can only occupy positions assigned to the respective group, so that it is only guaranteed that it contacts the lines extending in a certain plane, regardless of its position.

[0051] Overall, this creates the possibility of making the contacting of busbars even more flexible. This results in a wide range of possibilities for expanding bus bar systems or, generally, light strip systems in terms of their functionality. Furthermore, with a consistent number of lines through a more compact arrangement of the lines, it is possible to make the light strip system flatter overall. An implementation of light strip systems with more lines having the same design size is also possible.