Grounding element and electrical installation component having a grounding element

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12567513-B2
Application number	US-202117924830-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 11, 2021
Priority date	May 12, 2020
Publication date	Mar 3, 2026
Grant date	Mar 3, 2026

Abstract

A grounding element for electrically grounding an electrical installation component has a steel sheet component that is provided with a coating that constitutes an alloy.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . An electrical installation component comprising:
a housing; and a grounding element located within the housing for electrically grounding an electrical installation component, wherein the grounding element has a steel sheet component that is provided with a coating, wherein the coating is an alloy, and wherein the electrical installation component is intended to be used in explosive atmospheres, and wherein the electrical installation component is a junction box, terminal box, light, or switching distribution system, and wherein the alloy comprises: zinc as the base, 3 to 4 wt. % of aluminum, 2 to 4 wt. % of magnesium.

2 . The electrical installation component according to claim 1 , wherein the housing is designed as an outer insulating housing and the grounding element is arranged at inside walls of the housing, wherein the grounding element is electrically connected to a ground connection of the electrical installation component arranged outside the housing.

3 . The electrical installation component according to claim 2 , wherein the connection between the grounding element located inside the insulating housing and the ground connection located on the outside is designed such that the ingress protection level of the insulating housing is maintained.

4 . The electrical installation component according to claim 1 , wherein the housing is electrostatically dissipative.

5 . The electrical installation component according to claim 4 , wherein the housing has a surface resistance of <10 9 ohms.

6 . The electrical installation component according to claim 5 , wherein the housing has a surface resistance of >10 6 ohms.

7 . The electrical installation component according to claim 1 , wherein the alloy contains zinc and aluminum.

8 . The electrical installation component according to claim 1 , wherein the alloy is applied by means of a hot dip method.

9 . The electrical installation component according to claim 1 , wherein the alloy is applied by means of an electroplating method.

10 . The electrical installation component according to claim 1 , wherein the coating has a layer thickness of 2 to 25 μm.

11 . The electrical installation component according to claim 1 , wherein the coating has a layer thickness of 5 to 10 μm.

12 . The electrical installation component according to claim 1 , wherein the grounding element has a contact resistance of less than 6 mohms.

13 . The electrical installation component of claim 1 ,
wherein the housing is electrically insulating.

14 . The electrical installation component of claim 13 ,
wherein the electrically insulating housing is designed as a synthetic material housing or plastic housing.

15 . An electrical installation component comprising:
a housing; and a grounding element located within the housing for electrically grounding an electrical installation component, wherein the grounding element has a steel sheet component that is provided with a coating, wherein the coating is an alloy, wherein the alloy comprises the following: zinc as the base, 3 to 4 wt. % of aluminum, and 2 to 4 wt. % of magnesium, wherein the electrical installation component is a junction box, terminal box, light, or switching distribution system.

16 . The electrical installation component of claim 15 ,
wherein the housing is electrically insulating.

17 . The electrical installation component of claim 16 ,
wherein the electrically insulating housing is designed as a synthetic material housing or plastic housing.

18 . An electrical installation component comprising:
an electrically insulating housing; and a grounding element located within the electrically insulating housing for electrically grounding an electrical installation component, wherein the grounding element has a steel sheet component that is provided with a coating, wherein the coating is an alloy, wherein the alloy comprises the following: zinc as the base, 3 to 4 wt. % of aluminum, 2 to 4 wt. % of magnesium; wherein the electrically insulating housing is designed as an outer electrically insulating housing and the grounding element is arranged at inside walls of the electrically insulating housing, wherein the grounding element is electrically connected to a ground connection of the electrical installation component arranged outside the electrically insulating housing, wherein the connection between the grounding element located inside the electrically insulating housing and the ground connection located on the outside is designed such that the ingress protection level of the electrically insulating housing is maintained.

19 . The electrical installation component of claim 18 ,
wherein the electrically insulating housing is designed as a synthetic material housing or plastic housing.

Assignees

• Eaton Intelligent Power Ltd

Inventors

• Ott Toni

Classifications

• H05K5/0247

  Electrical details of casings, e.g. terminals, passages for cables or wiring · CPC title

• H01B1/023

  Alloys based on aluminium · CPC title

• C22C21/10

  with zinc as the next major constituent · CPC title

• C22C18/00

  Alloys based on zinc · CPC title

• H01R13/03

  characterised by the material, e.g. plating, or coating materials · CPC title