POWER DISTRIBUTOR

Abstract

A power distributor having a first controller and having a number of connection modules which are connected thereto and are intended to be mounted on a supporting rail. The connection module has a number of lateral coupling contacts for the electrical and/or signalling contact connection to at least one further connection module which is attached or can be attached to the particular connection module, wherein a base resistor is connected in each case between two coupling contacts inside the module in such a manner that the base resistors of the attached connection modules form a resistor chain which is connected in series. The connection modules are each equipped or can be equipped with an actuatable circuit breaker. The circuit breakers have a second controller inside the circuit breaker for recording a voltage dropped across the respectively associated base resistor.

Claims

1. A power distributor comprising: a first controller; and at least two of connection modules connected to the first controller and being adapted to be mounted on a supporting rail; wherein at least two connection modules comprises a number of lateral coupling contacts for the electrical and/or signaling contact connection with at least one further connection module, which is attached or can be attached to the respective connection module, wherein inside the module between two coupling contacts in each case a base resistor is connected such that the base resistors of the lined-up connection modules form a series-connected resistor chain, wherein the connection modules are each equipped or can be equipped with an actuatable circuit breaker, wherein said circuit breakers each have a breaker-internal second controller for recording a voltage dropped at the respective, associated base resistor, wherein the second controllers transmit a controller signal to the first controller on the basis of the recorded voltage, and wherein the first controller includes a DC power source for supply of the resistor chain.

2. The power distributor according to claim 1, wherein, for guiding the controller signals, a communication line is provided which is formed by the coupling contacts.

3. The power distributor according to claim 1, wherein the connection module has a contact opening with a split plug base contact for a plug contact of the circuit breaker, and wherein the base resistor is connected between the thus formed partial plug base contacts.

4. The power distributor according to claim 3, wherein the connection module has a ground connection, which on the one hand is in contact or can be in contact with the respective second controller, and on the other hand is in contact or can be in contact with a partial plug contact of the plug contact, and wherein a switching element, actuatable by the second controller, is connected between the ground connection and the partial plug contact.

5. A method of operating a power distributor having a first controller and having at least two attached connection modules inside the module in each case with one base resistor, which forms a series-connected resistor chain with the base resistors of the attached connection modules, the method comprising: providing the connection modules with an actuatable circuit breaker with a breaker-internal second controller; and providing the connection modules with a switching element, which transmits a controller signal, which corresponds to the voltage dropped at the respective base resistor, to the first controller, at which a total resistance value of the resistor chain is determined, and at which based on the total resistance value; and determining a number value corresponding to a number of attached connection modules by the first controller.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein, in response to the controller signals of the second controller, module-specific device addresses are transmitted to the connected second controllers.

7. Method according to claim 6, wherein, as a function of the number value, the device addresses are converted to a set of logical addresses corresponding to the order of the attached connection modules.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein, in the event of a galvanic interruption of the resistor chain, a search process for determining the point of interruption is initiated.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein, at the beginning of the search process, all connected second controllers are set to an ON state, in which the respective switching element is closed.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein, during the search process, the number value for the number of attached connection modules is determined, device addresses are distributed to the connected second controllers, the second controller with the first device address is switched off.

11. The method according to claim 8, wherein the search process is terminated when there is no second controller with the first device address.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0044] The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus, are not limitive of the present invention, and wherein:

[0045] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a power distributor with a supply module, with a signal module, with six intermediate connection modules, and with two equipped circuit breakers,

[0046] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a connection module,

[0047] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a connection module without a housing,

[0048] FIG. 4 is a side view of the connection module without a housing,

[0049] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a plurality of contact elements of the connection module

[0050] FIG. 6 is a perspective view with a view of a rear panel of the contact elements with an intermediate base resistor,

[0051] FIG. 7 is a schematic circuit of the power distributor with a controller and N connection modules connected thereto, each having an equipped circuit breaker, and

[0052] FIG. 8 is a flowchart for a search process of the first controller during failure diagnosis.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0053] As (power distribution) modules, the power distributor 2 shown in FIG. 1 comprises a supply module 4, six connection modules 6 and a signal module 8, wherein the connection modules 6 are shown individually in FIG. 2. Each module 4, 6, 8 includes a housing 10, 12 or 14 that is separate, i.e., separated from the other modules 4, 6, 8. Each module 4, 6, 8 is designed in the form of a modular device and accordingly has a groove-like slot 18 on the rear panel of a housing 16, with which the respective module 4, 6, 8 can be snapped onto a supporting rail 20 for assembly.

[0054] The profile direction of this slot 18and, accordingly, also the profile direction of the supporting rail 20 corresponding to this slot 18 in the assembled statedefine a row direction 22 along which the modules 4, 6, 8 are lined up together. In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1, two circuit breakers 24 are arranged at a respective connection module 6, inside the (module) package formed of the modules 4, 6, 8, wherein the supply module 4 on the one hand and the signal module 8 on the other hand externally flank the connection modules 6 in the row direction 22 as side parts.

[0055] The housing surfaces of each module 4, 6, 8 situated opposite each other in the row direction 22 are referred to as the (housing) end face 26 of the respective module 4, 6, 8. The housing side of each module 4, 6, 8 situated opposite to the rear panel 16 is referred to as the (housing) front side 28 of the module 4, 6, 8. This front side 28 faces a user when the power distributor 2 is mounted in a switch cabinet. The two remaining housing sides of each module 4, 6, 8 areaccording to the conventional assembly position of the module 4, 6, 8referred to as the (housing) top 30 and the (housing) bottom 32, independent of the actual position in the surrounding space.

[0056] The supply module 4 comprises a supply terminal 34 for making electrical contact to a non-illustrated main circuit and thus for feeding an electric current into the power distributor 2. The supply terminal 34 is arranged on the front side 28 of the housing 10 near the top 30, and is configured as a connecting terminal for a wire or stranded conductor of the main circuit. Within the housing, the supply terminal 34 is coupled in an electrically conductive manner to a not-shown coupling contact which is disposed within a groove-like housing slot 36.

[0057] At approximately half the height of the housing 10, the supply module 4 has a ground connection 38 as a negative terminal (DC power) or as a neutral conductor (AC). Within the housing 10, the ground connection 38 is coupled in an electrically conductive manner with a lateral socket for a contact connection to the attached connection module 6, and to a coupling contact which is positioned in a housing slot 40 at the front side 28 inserted centrally at the housing 10.

[0058] The supply module 4 further comprises a return port 42 for making electrical contact to a non-illustrated current return as part of a protective or functional ground. The return port 42 is located near the bottom 32 at the front side 28 of the housing 10, and like the supply terminal 34 and the ground connection 38, is designed as a connecting terminal. The return port 42 is in turn electrically conductively connected to a coupling contact within a housing slot 44, which is arranged in the bottom 32 area.

[0059] The groove-like housing slots 36, 40, 44 are in particular inserted such into the housing 10 of the supply module 4 that they are open towards the front side 28. The housing slots 36, 40, 42 extend in the row direction 22 substantially over the entire housing width, and are thus open towards the two oppositely situated end faces 26 of the housing 10.

[0060] Between the supply terminal 34 and the ground connection 38, three connecting terminals are provided on the housing front side for a signal terminal 46, for a data bus 48 and for an address bus terminal 50. The terminals 46, 48, 50 are reduced in size as compared to the terminals 34, 38, 42, and are preferably designed as switching or communication signals for the feed-in of low currents. The terminals 46, 48, 50 are coupled similarly to the ground connection 38 within the housing 10, each with a lateral socket for contacting with the connection module 6.

[0061] The housing 14 of the signal module 8 comprises three housing slots 36, 40, 44, which are substantially designed identical to those of the supply module 4 but have no coupling contact connection with the housing interior. Between the lower housing slots 40 and 44, four terminals 52, 54, 56 and 58 are arranged as a ground connection 52, a signal terminal 54, a data bus terminal 56 and an address bus terminal 58.

[0062] The terminals 52, 54, 56, 58 are coupled within the housing 14 with contact elements as a coupling contact connection with the connection module 6. The flat plug-like contact elements at least partially project from the housing 14, out of the end face 26 which faces a connection module 6 in the assembled state.

[0063] With reference to FIGS. 2 to 6, the construction of a connection module 6 is explained in more detail below, wherein for example in FIG. 1, only one connection module 6 is provided with reference numerals. The housing 12 of the connection module 6 has three housing slots 36, 40 and 44, which are substantially configured identical to those of the supply module 4, each with a coupling contact 60, 62, 64 inside the housing. Between the housing slots 36 and 40, a front-side plug-in slot 66 is provided for the circuit breaker 24. The plug-in slot 66 has a first contact opening 68 for a first plug contact of the circuit breaker 24 (preferably designed as a flat plug), and a second contact opening 70 for a second plug contact of the circuit breaker 24 (preferably also formed as a flat plug).

[0064] The slot 66 is also provided with five other contact openings 72, 74, 76, 78 and 80 for corresponding signal or communication contacts (preferably designed as flat plugs) of the circuit breaker. As can be seen in particular in FIGS. 3 through 6, the contact openings 68, 70, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80 of the slot 66 are in particular designed as plug base contacts. The contact openings or plug base contacts 68, 70, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80 and the corresponding plug contacts of the circuit breaker 24 are in particular designed complementary to each other in the sense of plug-socket pairs.

[0065] In the upper and lower regions, the slot 66 further includes in each case a hook-like holding element 82 for improved support of an equipped circuit breaker 24. Below the slot 66, two connecting terminals are arranged as load terminals 84 for connection of a consumer or load circuit. Inside the housing, the load terminals 84 are electrically conductively coupled to the contact opening 70 by means of a conductor rail 86. Further, by means of an electrically conductive rail 88, the contact opening 68 is coupled substantially in one piece inside the housing 12 to the coupling contact 60 of the housing slot 36. Thus, in the assembled state, the circuit breaker 24 is connected between the coupling contact 60 and the load terminals 84 for interruption of the load circuit.

[0066] The connection module 6 further comprises four connecting terminals 90, 92, which are arranged between the lower housing slots 40, 44 as two ground connections 92 and two return ports 90. Inside the housing 12, the ground connections 92 are electrically conductively connected at in each case one coupling contact 64 of the housing slot 44, and the return ports 90 are each electrically conductively connected to a coupling contact 62 of the housing slot 40.

[0067] The plug socket contacts 70, 72, 74, 76, 78 are electrically conductively coupled inside the housing to four coupling contacts 94, 96, 98 and 100. The coupling contacts 94, 96, 98, 100 are designed in particular as plug-socket pairs, wherein the plugs hereinafter have the reference numerala and the sockets have the reference numeralb. The sockets 94b, 96b, 98b, 100b are arranged in end-face housing openings, wherein the plugs 94a, 96a, 98a, 100a at least partiallyas shown particularly in FIG. 3project from the opposite end face 26 of the housing 12.

[0068] On the rear panel 16 in the area of the slot 18, the housings 12 of the connection modules 6 haveas shown clearly in FIGS. 3 and 4two detent tongues 102 which project laterally from the respective end face 26. The detent tongues 102 can be latched or snap-fitted with corresponding detent slots 104 for the purpose of facilitated assembly of the modules 4, 6, 8, wherein the detent slots 104 are conveniently disposed on the opposite end face 26 of the detent tongues 102. On the detent-tongue side end face 26, the housings 12 further have two integrally formed joining projections 106 which project beyond the end face 26 to facilitate stringing or plugging the modules 4, 6, 8 together. In the assembled state, the joining projections 106 engage at least partially in corresponding joining slots 108 of the adjacent modules 4, 6 for the purposes of vibration-proof and reliable fastening.

[0069] As shown in particular in FIGS. 3, 5 and 6, the plug socket-like contact opening 80 is designed in particular as a split plug base contact. The partial plug base contacts 80a, 80b thus formed are coupled by means of a circuit board 110 which is arranged on the rear panel of the contact openings 68, 70, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80. Between the partial plug base contacts 80a, 80b, a base resistor 112 is connected to the circuit board 110. The base resistor 112 is connected in series between the coupling contacts 100a and 100b, and the circuit board 110 is connected to the coupling contacts 98a, 98b.

[0070] For assembly of the power distributor 2, according to FIG. 1, a supply module 4 is lined up face side with a number of connection modules 6 that correspond to a number of load circuits to be connected, and a signal module 8. By means of detent tongues 102, the modules 6, 8 are thereby connected (plugged in) in alignment and releasably to each other at the end faces 26 of each housing 12, 14 with corresponding detent slots 104 of the modules 4, 6 on the end face of the respective adjacent module 4, 6, 8. The end faces 26 of the connection modules 6 are thus substantially completely covered by the supply module 4, by adjacent connection modules 6 as well as by the signal module 8. As shown particularly in FIG. 1, the housing slots 36, 40 and 44 of the adjacent modules 4, 6, 8 align with each other, so that in each case a substantially continuous and rectilinear groove-like interspersion of the modules 4, 6, 8 is realized.

[0071] In the context of such a power distributor 2, the supply terminal 34 of the supply module 4 is connected in parallel with the lined-up modules 6 by a non-shown conductor rail being pressed into the aligned housing slots 36, and thus being contacted with the corresponding coupling contacts 60. The conductor rail is in this case dimensioned in length such that it extends over the entire width of all the modules 4, 6, 8 that are to be integrated in the power distributor 2. The connection of the modules 4, 6 thus connected in parallel to an external power source takes place here by means of conventional wiring of the main circuit to the connection terminal of the supply terminal 34.

[0072] Likewise, the ground connections 38, 52, 90 and the return ports 42, 92 of the attached modules 4, 6 are connected in parallel to one another by pressing in each case a further conductor rail into the housing slots 40 and 44, wherein the ground connection 38 is connected in particular with a negative conductor or neutral conductor, and the return port 42 is connected in particular with a protective or functional ground as the return potential. The individual load circuits of the power distributor 2 are then connected to in each case an associated connection module 6 by the respective supply lines of the load circuit being electrically conductively connected to the load terminals 84 of the connection modules 6, and by the return line of the load circuit being electrically conductively connected to the terminals of the return terminals 90 of the connection modules 6.

[0073] In order to close off the housing slots 36, 40, 44 of the modules 4, 8 in a shockproof manner towards the respective end faces 26 that are situated on the outside as viewed in the row direction 22, each housing slot 36, 40, 44as shown in FIG. 1 for the supply module 4is provided on the outside with an insulating cover element 114.

[0074] For operating the power distributor 2, an external controller 116 is provided as a control unit, which is connected to the supply module 4 with the data bus terminal 48 and the address bus terminal 50. Preferably, the circuit breakers 24 each have a breaker-internal controller 118, which is connected to the controller 116 in the assembled state for signaling. The wiring of the controllers 116, 118 as part of a bus functionality is shown schematically and in simplified form in FIG. 7.

[0075] FIG. 7 shows a general power distributor 2 with N aligned connection modules 6, wherein the supply module 4 and the signal module 8 of the power distributor 2 are not shown for reasons of simplicity. The N connection modules 6 are each equipped in the illustrated embodiment with a circuit breaker 24 comprising the controller 118. As can be comparatively clearly seen in FIG. 7, the base resistors 112 of the attached connection modules 6 are connected in series by means of the coupling contacts 100, and form a substantially continuous resistor chain 120 between the address bus terminals 50 and 58.

[0076] The split plug contact of the circuit breaker 24 contacts the plug base contact 80 in such a way that the controller 118 of the circuit breaker 24 is connected substantially in parallel to the base resistor 112 via the partial plug base contacts 80a, 80b. Via the contact opening 76, the controller 118 is connected to a data bus line or communication line 122 formed by the coupling contacts 98. The partial plug base contact 80b is breaker-internally interconnected with the plug base contact 72, wherein the plug base contact 72 is electrically conductively coupled via the coupling contacts 94 in particular to the ground connection 38 of the supply module 4. Between the plug base contacts 80b, 72, a transistor controlled by the controller 118 is connected as a switching element 124 in the circuit breaker 24. By way of example in FIG. 7, only the N-th connection module 6 with the circuit breaker 24 is provided with reference numerals.

[0077] The controller 116 internally comprises a DC power source 126 for supplying the resistor chain 120 with an addressing current I.sub.A. During operation, therefore, the addressing current I.sub.A flows through the resistor chain 120 so that at all base resistors, a respective voltage U.sub.i is dropped, wherein the running index i is selected from 1 to N. The controller 116 is adapted and arranged to determine the number N of the connected connection modules 6 on the basis of a number value A. To this end, the controller 116 records an output voltage U.sub.0 of the DC power source 126. In a known addressing current I.sub.A and the known value of the electrical resistance of a single base resistor 112, the number value A is obtained in a simple manner from the quotient of the output voltage U.sub.0 and the voltage drop across a single base resistor 112.

[0078] When in use, each controller 118 records the module-specific voltage value U.sub.i via the partial plug base contact 80a, wherein with increasing length of the resistor chain 120 between two connection modules 6, the voltage value U.sub.i is always reduced by a voltage drop at the respective base resistor 112. The controllers 118 transmit a controller signal C, which corresponds to the respective voltage U.sub.i, to the controller 116 via the data bus line 122.

[0079] The controller 116 assigns a device address G.sub.i to each connected controller 118 based on the received controller signals C. The respective device address G.sub.i results, for example, in a simple manner from the integer rounded quotient of the respective, recorded voltage U.sub.i and the voltage dropped across a single base resistor 112. As a result, each circuit breaker 24 and each controller 118 is assigned a (physical) device address G.sub.i, which decreases starting from the DC power source 126 along the resistor chain 120. At the N-th connection module 6 at the end of the resistor chain 120, the voltage U.sub.N is equal to the voltage dropped across the base resistor 112, i.e., the N-th connection module 6 is assigned the first device address G.sub.1. Accordingly, the first connection module 6 of the resistor chain 120 receives the N-th device address G.sub.N since the recorded voltage U.sub.1 is substantially equal to the output voltage U.sub.0 of the DC power source 126. The device address G.sub.N is transmitted from the controller 116 to the respective controllers 118 and is stored in an associated data memory of the controller 118.

[0080] For the purpose of improved operability, the controller 116 is adapted and arranged to perform a mapping process that converts the set of device addresses G.sub.i into a set of logical addresses L.sub.i which correspond to the order of the lined-up connection modules 6. The logical addresses L.sub.i are essentially inverted in their order in relation to the device addresses, that is, the controller 118 of the first connection module 6 in the resistor chain 120 has the first logical address L.sub.i, the subsequent controller 118 has the second logical address L.sub.2, etc., and the last controller 8 of the connection module 6 arranged at the end of the resistor chain 120 has the N-th logical address L.sub.N. Thus, the use of the power distributor 2 is made more intuitive for a user.

[0081] The controller 116 is preferably adapted and arranged to automatically start a failure diagnosis in the event of failure. In this context, in particular, a failure is understood to be a galvanic interruption 128 of the resistor chain 120, which is indicated in FIG. 7 only by way of example between the third connection module 6 and the N-th connection module 6.

[0082] The process of the failure diagnosis is explained hereinafter with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 8.

[0083] In the event of an interruption 128, the current flow of the addressing current I.sub.A is interrupted by the resistor chain 120. The controller 116 then initiates a search process in a first method step 130. At the beginning of such a search process, a power-on process 132 is first initiated. In the power-on process 132, the controller 116 transmits a switching signal S to all connected controllers 118 by means of the data bus line 122. Upon reception of the switching signal S, the respective controller 116 closes the respectively associated switching element 124 so that the resistor chain 120 is connected to ground in each case via the plug base partial contact 80b and the plug base contact 72. This way, an addressing current I.sub.A flows through the resistor chain 120 to ground.

[0084] After the power-on process 132, the number of attached connection modules 6 is detected by the controller 116 by determining the number value A in a detection process 134. In a subsequent addressing process 136, the device addresses G.sub.i are allocated and transmitted from the controller 116 to the connected controllers 118. Next, during a query 138, the respective device addresses G.sub.i are sent from the controllers 118 as controller signals C to the controller 116, wherein the controller 116 checks whether the first device address G.sub.1 is present.

[0085] If a controller 116 with the device address G.sub.1 is detected, a shutdown process 140 of the controller 116 is started, in which the controller 116 transmits a switching signal S to the controller 118 with the device address G.sub.1. Upon receipt of the switching signal S, the controller 118 switches off its associated switching element 124 so that the respective base resistor 112 at the partial plug base contact 80b is no longer connected to ground. This way, the respective base resistor 112 is removed from the interconnection of the resistor chain, and the addressing current I.sub.A flows to ground through the base resistor 112 that is connected in the row upstream thereof. Subsequently, in a deletion process 142, the respective controller 118 clears the first device address G.sub.1 stored in the (data) memory and a new detection process 132 of the controller 116 is started.

[0086] The method steps of the search process composed of detection process 134, addressing process 136, query 138, shutdown process 140 and deletion process 142 are repeated until the controllers 118 no longer report a first device address G.sub.1 to the controller 116. After that, the search process is completed with a final process 144. The controller 116 reports in a result process 146 that the interruption 128 is located between the controller 116 that was detected last and the no longer detected connection module 6.

[0087] In a suitable dimensioning, the base resistors 112, for example, all have a resistance value of 1 k so that in a generated addressing current I.sub.A of preferably 1 mA, a voltage U.sub.i of 1 V is dropped at each base resistor 112.

[0088] The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to be included within the scope of the following claims.