Protective cover for a terminal block assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11616319-B2
Application number	US-202117148061-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 13, 2021
Priority date	Jan 14, 2020
Publication date	Mar 28, 2023
Grant date	Mar 28, 2023

Abstract

A safety electrical assembly includes an electrical apparatus having a connecting zone with a plurality of terminals each connected to a cable, each of the terminals having a connecting opening formed within an insulating housing of the electrical apparatus, a protective cover cooperating with the electrical apparatus in a mounted position, and a main opening for the cables connected to the terminals extending from an exterior area to an interior area of the safety electrical assembly. The interior area is defined between the electrical apparatus and the protective cover. The connecting openings are disposed in the interior area. The main opening is arranged so that a direct trajectory from any point of the main opening oriented toward any point of any connecting opening intersects an obstacle of the safety electrical assembly.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A safety electrical assembly, comprising:
an electrical apparatus having a connecting zone with a plurality of terminals each being connectable to a cable, each of the terminals having a connecting opening formed within an insulating housing of the electrical apparatus;
a protective cover cooperating with the electrical apparatus in a mounted position; and a main opening for cables being connectable to the terminals extending from an exterior area to an interior area of the safety electrical assembly, the interior area defined between the electrical apparatus and the protective cover, the connecting opening disposed in the interior area and facing away from the main opening, the main opening arranged so that a direct trajectory from any point of the main opening oriented toward any point of any connecting opening intersects an obstacle of the safety electrical assembly.

2. The safety electrical assembly of claim 1 , wherein the main opening is the only opening between the interior area and the exterior area configured for passage of at least one cable to be connected to at least one of the terminals of the connecting zone.

3. The safety electrical assembly of claim 1 , wherein a part of the protective cover contiguous to the main opening extends further in a longitudinal direction than the insulating housing.

4. The safety electrical assembly of claim 1 , wherein the protective cover is at least partially transparent.

5. The safety electrical assembly of claim 1 , wherein the main opening is oriented parallel to or obliquely to each connecting opening.

6. The safety electrical assembly of claim 5 , wherein an insertion direction of the terminals is opposed to an inlet direction defined by an inlet channel formed from the main opening and oriented toward the interior area.

7. The safety electrical assembly of claim 1 , wherein the electrical apparatus includes a row of terminal blocks.

8. The safety electrical assembly of claim 7 , wherein each of the terminal blocks has an upper side, the connecting zone is located on the upper sides of the terminal blocks.

9. The safety electrical assembly of claim 1 , wherein the protective cover has an upper wall located in front of the connecting zone.

10. The safety electrical assembly of claim 9 , wherein the connecting openings are oriented transversely to the upper wall.

11. The safety electrical assembly of claim 10 , wherein at least one group of connecting openings has a tilted orientation with regard to another group of connecting openings.

12. The safety electrical assembly of claim 9 , wherein the protective cover has a pair of transverse walls that are linked to an extend transversely from the upper wall.

13. The safety electrical assembly of claim 12 , wherein at least some of the transverse walls of the protective cover cooperate with the insulating housing in the mounted position.

14. The safety electrical assembly of claim 13 , wherein the transverse walls of the protective cover include a pair of opposed side walls and a front connected to the pair of opposed side walls, the pair of opposed side walls and the front wall define the main opening.

15. The safety electrical assembly of claim 14 , wherein the transverse walls of the protective cover include a rear wall transverse to and connecting the pair of opposed side walls.

16. The safety electrical assembly of claim 15 , wherein the pair of opposed side walls are attached to a first part of a fastening mechanism of the safety electrical assembly, the first part of the fastening mechanism cooperates with the insulating housing.

17. The safety electrical assembly of claim 16 , wherein the rear wall is attached to a second part of the fastening mechanism.

Assignees

• Tyco Electronics France Sas

Inventors

• Villardier Yannick
• Villard Romain

Classifications

• H01R13/502 Primary

  composed of different pieces (H01R13/514 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H01H45/06

  having windows; Transparent cases or covers · CPC title

• H01H50/06

  having windows; Transparent cases or covers · CPC title

• H01R13/447 Primary

  Shutter or cover plate · CPC title

• H01R9/26 Primary

  Clip-on terminal blocks for side-by-side rail- or strip-mounting · CPC title