System for fitting components on carrier rails in an order-specific manner

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10178795-B2
Application number	US-201515129423-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 31, 2015
Priority date	Apr 3, 2014
Publication date	Jan 8, 2019
Grant date	Jan 8, 2019

Abstract

An installation for equipping DIN rails, according to an order, with components, including at least one of terminal blocks, electrical devices, and end holders, that are intended to be subsequently installed in switch cabinets, includes at least one main cell. The at least one main cell includes at least one supply unit for supplying the components to be fitted; at least one supply unit for supplying DIN rails, the DIN rail being equipped with the components in the main cell; and a writing, device designed to wirelessly transmit data, in order for said data to be saved, to a memory unit that is arranged on each DIN rail equipped with components and has an integrated wireless communications interface, the data containing order-specific information.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An installation for equipping DIN rails, according to an order, with components, including at least one of terminal blocks, electrical devices, or end holders, that are intended to be subsequently installed in switch cabinets, the installation comprising:
at least one main cell comprising:
at least one first supply unit configured to supply the components;
at least one second supply unit configured to supply therein DIN rails with the components; and
a writing device configured to wirelessly transmit data, for saving the data, to a respective memory unit arranged on each DIN rail equipped with the components and having an integrated wireless communications interface, the data containing order-specific information, and

at least one additional cell, to which the fully equipped DIN rails are fed for further processing, the additional cell comprising a reading device configured to wirelessly read the memory unit, the fully equipped DIN rails being processed further in this cell on the basis of the order-specific data read out.

2. The installation according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one main cell comprises a reading device configured to wirelessly read data from the memory unit arranged on each DIN rail equipped with the components.

3. The installation according to claim 2 , wherein the at least one main cell comprises a combined writing and reading device.

4. The installation according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one main cell comprises an apparatus configured to automatically equip the DiN rails with the components.

5. The installation according to claim 1 , wherein order numbers and associated order information are stored at least one of in a control system of the installation or in a local controller of the at least one additional cell, the order number read out from the memory unit on the equipped DIN rail being forwarded to at least one of the control system or to the local controller to obtain the associated order information.

6. A method for equipping DIN rails, according to an order, with components that are intended to be subsequently installed in switch cabinets, the method comprising:
providing, in at least one main cell, a supply of components to be fitted on the DIN rails;
providing, in the at least one main cell, a supply of DIN rails;
fully equipping, in the at least one main cell, a first of the DIN rails with components from the components to be fitted;
wirelessly writing, in the at least one main cell, data to a memory unit arranged on the first DIN rail that is fully equipped with components, the data containing order-specific information;
feeding the fully equipped first DIN rail to at least one additional cell containing a reading device that wirelessly reads the memory unit; and
further processing the fully equipped DIN rail in the at least one additional cell on the basis of the order-specific data read out.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the data include at least one of at least one order number or a location ID for identifying the switch cabinet in which the fully equipped DIN rail is to be installed.

Assignees

• Phoenix Contact Gmbh & Co

Inventors

• Possel-Doelken Frank
• Oblotzki Joerg

Classifications

• H01R9/2683 Primary

  Marking plates or tabs · CPC title

• H05K7/1467

  PLC mounted in a cabinet or chassis · CPC title

• H05K7/183 Primary

  support rails therefor · CPC title

• H01R43/00

  Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing, assembling, maintaining, or repairing of line connectors or current collectors or for joining electric conductors (of trolley lines B60M1/28) · CPC title