Enclosure for electrical network protection element

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10587100-B2
Application number	US-201715845077-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 18, 2017
Priority date	Dec 18, 2017
Publication date	Mar 10, 2020
Grant date	Mar 10, 2020

Abstract

The disclosure generally relates to an exemplary enclosure that can house an electrical network protection element and provide protection to the electrical network protection element against damage in various environments such as when the enclosure is placed in an underground vault that may be flooded during rain, or when a liquid (oil, for example) comes in contact with the enclosure. The enclosure includes a flange attached to the housing and two doors that are hingeably attached to the flange. A wedge projection is provided along the perimeter of the flange and a gasket is provided on three outer edges of each door. The gasket sealingly receives the wedge projection of the flange when the doors are closed. The first door further includes a beveled inner edge that sealingly mates with a gasket in a complementary beveled inner edge of the second door when the doors are closed.

First claim

That which is claimed is:

1. An enclosure comprising:
a housing having an interior portion configured to accommodate an electrical network protection element;
a flange attached to the housing, the flange comprising a first wedge projection that is located all along a perimeter of the flange and projects away from the housing;
a first door hingeably attached to a first vertical side of the flange, the first door including a first gasket that sealingly receives the first wedge projection of the flange when the first door is closed, the first gasket comprising a first section disposed along an upper edge of the first door, a second section disposed along a lower edge of the first door, and a third section disposed along an outer vertical edge of the first door, the first door further including a beveled inner edge, the beveled inner edge comprising a second wedge projection; and
a second door hingeably attached to a second vertical side the flange, the second door including a second gasket that sealingly mates with the first wedge projection of the flange when the second door is closed, the second gasket comprising a first section disposed along an upper edge of the second door, a second section disposed along a lower edge of the second door, a third section disposed along an outer vertical edge of the second door, and a fourth section disposed along a beveled inner edge of the second door, the fourth section of the second gasket arranged to sealingly receive the second wedge projection located in the beveled inner edge of the first door.

2. The enclosure of claim 1 , wherein the flange is one of a square flange or a rectangular flange.

3. The enclosure of claim 2 , wherein the beveled inner edge of the first door is complementarily shaped to the beveled inner edge of the second door.

4. The enclosure of claim 1 , further comprising:
a toggle clamp attached to one of an upper internal surface or a lower internal surface of the first door, the toggle clamp operable to engage with a catch located in the flange for pulling the first door towards the flange and sealingly compress the first gasket of the first door against the first wedge projection of the flange.

5. The enclosure of claim 4 , further comprising:
a wedge block located on an internal major surface of the first door; and
a first door handle on a front external surface of the second door, the first door handle comprising a locking rod coupled to the first door handle, the locking rod configured to move to a horizontal position and engage with a groove in the wedge block when the first door handle is rotated to one of a downwards position or an upwards position for locking the second door after closing the second door.

6. The enclosure of claim 5 , wherein the wedge block has a sloping contact surface that makes contact with the locking rod when the first door handle is rotated to the downwards position or the upwards position, the sloping contact surface configured to provide a continuously incremental amount of pushing force that compressingly pushes the fourth section of the second gasket in the second door against the second wedge projection located in the beveled inner edge of the first door until the locking rod engages with the groove in the wedge block.

7. The enclosure of claim 6 , wherein each of the first gasket and the second gasket is a channel gasket.

8. An enclosure comprising:
a housing having an interior portion configured to accommodate an electrical network protection element;
a flange attached to the housing;
a first door hingeably attached to a first vertical side of the flange, the first door including a first wedge projection along a wedge-shaped beveled inner edge of the first door, wherein the first door does not include a gasket; and
a second door hingeably attached to a second vertical side of the flange, the second door including a first channel gasket along a beveled inner edge of the second door, the first channel gasket of the second door arranged to provide a compression sealing in cooperation with the first wedge projection in along the wedge-shaped beveled inner edge of the first door.

9. The enclosure of claim 8 , wherein the flange has one of a square profile or a rectangular profile and includes a second wedge projection located along each of four sides of the flange, the second wedge projection projecting away from the housing.

10. The enclosure of claim 9 , wherein the first door further includes a second channel gasket that sealingly mates with the second wedge projection on the flange when the first door is closed, the second channel gasket comprising a first section disposed along an upper edge of the first door, a second section disposed along a lower edge of the first door, and a third section disposed along an outer vertical edge of the first door.

11. The enclosure of claim 10 , wherein the second door further includes a third channel gasket that sealingly mates with the second wedge projection on the flange when the second door is closed, the third channel gasket comprising a first section disposed along an upper edge of the second door, a second section disposed along a lower edge of the second door, and a third section disposed along an outer vertical edge of the second door.

12. The enclosure of claim 11 , further comprising:
a toggle clamp attached to one of an upper internal surface or a lower internal surface of the first door, the toggle clamp operable to engage with a catch located in the flange for pulling the first door towards the flange and sealingly compress the second channel gasket of the first door against the second wedge projection of the flange.

13. The enclosure of claim 12 , further comprising:
a wedge block on an internal major surface of the first door; and
a first door handle on a front external surface of the second door, the first door handle comprising a locking rod coupled to the first door handle, the locking rod configured to move to a horizontal position and engage with a groove in the wedge block when the first door handle is rotated to a downwards position for locking the second door after closing.

14. The enclosure of claim 13 , wherein the wedge block has a sloping contact surface that makes contact with the locking rod when the first door handle is rotated to the downwards position, the sloping contact surface configured to provide a continuously incremental amount of pushing force that compressingly pushes the beveled inner edge of the first door against the first channel gasket in the second door until the locking rod engages with the groove in the wedge block.

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Dauzat Thomas Ambrose
• Espinoza Diaz Cecilia
• Sanchez Cabral Luis

Classifications

• H02B1/46

  Boxes; Parts thereof or accessories therefor · CPC title

• H02B1/28 Primary

  dustproof, splashproof, drip-proof, waterproof or flameproof · CPC title

• H02B1/38

  Hinged covers or doors · CPC title