Electrical panelboard assemblies and methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9748743-B2
Application number	US-201514858066-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 18, 2015
Priority date	Apr 23, 2015
Publication date	Aug 29, 2017
Grant date	Aug 29, 2017

Abstract

A panelboard assembly having common components is disclosed. The panelboard assembly includes base rails, a first bus support extending between the base rails, the first bus support accommodating different thickness buses, buses coupled to the first bus support, and one or more breaker mounting barriers received over top of the buses. In some embodiments, the one or more breaker mounting barriers accommodating different width buses. Methods of assembling the panelboard assembly are disclosed, as are other aspects.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A panelboard assembly, comprising:
base rails;
a first bus support extending between the base rails;
one or more buses coupled to the first bus support; and
one or more breaker mounting barriers received over top of the one or more buses
wherein the panelboard assembly accommodates one or more buses having different widths and/or thicknesses, wherein the first bus support comprises pins extending from a top surface and configured to contact an underside of a thin bus design and to be received adjacent to lateral sides of a thick bus design.

2. The panelboard assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first bus support accommodates one or more buses of different thicknesses.

3. The panelboard assembly of claim 1 , wherein the one or more breaker mounting barriers accommodates one or more buses of different widths.

4. The panelboard assembly of claim 1 , wherein the one or more breaker mounting barriers are coupled to the base rails.

5. The panelboard assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first bus support is coupled on a top of the base rails.

6. The panelboard assembly of claim 1 , comprising a second bus support coupled across the base rails, wherein the second bus support accommodates different thickness buses, and wherein the one or more buses extend between, and couple to, the first bus support and the second bus support.

7. The panelboard assembly of claim 1 , comprising a neutral cross bar assembly:
a neutral barrier coupled across and to a top of the base rails; and
cover supports coupled to the base rails; and
a neutral cross bus positioned on the neutral barrier wherein the neutral barrier does not extend past the cover supports.

8. The panelboard assembly of claim 7 , wherein each end of the neutral barrier is sandwiched between a base rail and an end of the first bus support.

9. The panelboard assembly of claim 1 , wherein the thick bus design comprises side recesses configured to receive the pins.

10. The panelboard assembly of claim 1 , wherein the breaker mounting barrier comprises bracing members configured to interface with bracing features on the one or more buses.

11. The panelboard assembly of claim 1 , wherein the base rails comprise a common cross-sectional shape along a length between where the first bus support and a second bus support are positioned on the base rails.

12. The panelboard assembly of claim 1 , wherein the buses comprise an A-phase bus, a B-phase bus, and a C-phase bus and wherein the buses are identical to one another.

13. The panelboard assembly of claim 12 , wherein the A-phase bus, a B-phase bus, and a C-phase bus are planar along their length.

14. A panelboard assembly, comprising:
base rails;
a first bus support extending between the base rails;
one or more buses coupled to the first bus support; and
one or more breaker mounting barriers received over top of the one or more buses
wherein the panelboard assembly accommodates one or more buses having different widths and/or thicknesses, wherein the first bus support is configured to provide a common location of an upper bus surface for both a thin bus design and a thick bus design.

15. A panelboard assembly, comprising:
base rails;
a first bus support extending between the base rails;
one or more buses coupled to the first bus support; and
one or more breaker mounting barriers received over top of the one or more buses
wherein the panelboard assembly accommodates one or more buses having different widths and/or thicknesses, wherein the one or more breaker mounting barriers comprises a combination of one or more narrow width breaker mounting barrier and one or more wide width breaker mounting barrier.

16. A panelboard assembly, comprising:
base rails;
a first bus support extending between the base rails;
one or more buses coupled to the first bus support; and
one or more breaker mounting barriers received over top of the one or more buses
wherein the panelboard assembly accommodates one or more buses having different widths and/or thicknesses, wherein at least some of the buses include a three-hole pattern, and a spacer is coupled to the bus using one of the holes in the three-hole pattern for anti-rotation and another of the holes in the three-hole pattern for mounting the spacer to the bus.

Assignees

• Siemens Industry Inc

Inventors

• Taylor Michael Joseph
• Koka Prashanti
• Perini Anthony P

Classifications

• H02B1/052 Primary

  Mounting on rails · CPC title

• H02B1/056 Primary

  Mounting on plugboards · CPC title

• H02B1/21

  Bus-bar arrangements for rack-mounted devices with withdrawable units · CPC title

• H02B3/00

  Apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture, assembly, or maintenance of boards or switchgear · CPC title