Stackable low-profile electrical contact block

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11837417-B2
Application number	US-202117509118-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 25, 2021
Priority date	Oct 29, 2020
Publication date	Dec 5, 2023
Grant date	Dec 5, 2023

Abstract

A stackable electrical contact block includes a housing, the housing having a top and bottom side and accommodating a first and second electrical terminal, an actuation pusher adapted to move from a resting position to an actuated position to break the contact between the first and second terminals, the actuation pusher having a head protruding from the top side, a clearance below the actuation pusher, and a return spring biasing the actuation pusher towards its resting position, a bottom end of the return spring extending into the clearance. The housing's bottom side is a connection interface with an entrance providing access to the clearance. A central part of the clearance is taken up by the bottom end of the return spring, and a peripheral part is a space for receiving the actuation head of a component connected to the contact block via the connection interface.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A stackable electrical contact block comprising a housing that delimits its volume, wherein the housing has a top side and an opposite bottom side, wherein the following elements are present within the housing:
a first and second electrical terminal;
an actuation pusher adapted to move between a resting position and an actuated position in order to establish or break an electrical contact between the first and second terminals, the actuation pusher having an actuation head, which, in the resting position, protrudes from the housing's top side;
a clearance below the actuation pusher, when the actuation pusher is in its resting position;
a return spring biasing the actuation pusher towards its resting position, a bottom end of the return spring extending into the clearance; and
a mobile electrical contact bridge for establishing and breaking the electrical contact between the first and second terminals,
wherein the contact bridge is accommodated in the actuation pusher,
wherein the return spring extends through the contact bridge,
wherein the housing's bottom side is configured as a connection interface with an entrance providing access to the clearance, for connecting the contact block to another component, and
wherein a central part of the clearance is taken up by the bottom end of the return spring, and a peripheral part of the clearance, which surrounds the central part, is an actuation head receiving space adapted for receiving the actuation head of a component connected to the contact block via the connection interface.

2. The contact block of claim 1 , wherein the actuation pusher has an elongate shape defining a central longitudinal pusher axis, wherein the return spring has a cylindrical shape defining a central longitudinal spring axis, and wherein both axes essentially coincide.

3. The contact block of claim 1 , further comprising a contact spring biasing the contact bridge towards the first and second terminals, wherein the return spring extends through the contact spring.

4. The contact block of claim 3 , wherein the contact spring and the return spring are arranged coaxially.

5. The contact block of claim 1 , wherein the contact bridge has a central through hole, which is traversed by the return spring.

6. The contact block of claim 1 , wherein the entrance comprises two parallel slits adapted for receiving the prongs of a fork-shaped actuation head.

7. The contact block of claim 6 , further comprising a spring supporting section formed in the housing's bottom side for supporting the bottom end of the return spring, wherein the spring supporting section is located in-between the two parallel slits.

8. The contact block of claim 1 , wherein the actuation pusher, when viewed from the side, essentially has the shape of the letter H.

9. The contact block of claim 1 , wherein the actuation head of the actuation pusher is fork-shaped.

10. The contact block of claim 1 , wherein the ratio between the housing's height and length is less than 0.4.

Assignees

• Schneider Electric Ind Sas

Inventors

• Taborsky Isabelle
• Deevarpalli Praveen Kumar

Classifications

• H01H13/503 Primary

  Stacked switches · CPC title

• H01H1/20

  Bridging contacts {(for circuit breakers H01H73/045)} · CPC title

• H01H1/242

  the contact forming a part of a coil spring · CPC title

• H01H13/52

  the contact returning to its original state immediately upon removal of operating force, e.g. bell-push switch · CPC title

• H01H2001/223

  using a torsion spring · CPC title