Door locking mechanism

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9879446-B2
Application number	US-201615179590-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 10, 2016
Priority date	Jun 10, 2016
Publication date	Jan 30, 2018
Grant date	Jan 30, 2018

Abstract

A locking system for an enclosure, including a control bracket mounted to a door of the enclosure and configured to slide in a longitudinal direction along a guide rod running through a pin bracket of the control bracket. The control bracket further includes a latching pin to secure the door of the enclosure. A handle mechanism has a push rod that causes the control bracket to slide along the longitudinal direction, also causing the latching pin to move into a position that secures the door.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A switchgear, comprising:
an enclosure having an enclosure opening on one side,
wherein the enclosure has a locking flange proximate to the enclosure opening, the locking flange having a locking flange through hole extending therethrough;

a door hingedly attached to the enclosure at a side of the enclosure opening;
a control bracket mounted to the door and configured to slide along a control bracket axis;
a handle and a handle mechanism mounted to the door,
wherein the handle mechanism is configured to cause the control bracket to slide along the control bracket axis when the handle is rotated;

a latching pin mounted to the control bracket, and configured to selectively engage the locking flange through hole when the control bracket slides along the control bracket axis;
a two-stage cam mounted to the enclosure, the two-stage cam having a ramp portion leading to a plateau portion;
a roller rotatably mounted to the control bracket and configured to engage the ramp portion and plateau portion of the two-stage cam; and
one or more electrical components located inside the enclosure.

2. The switchgear of claim 1 , further including a guide rod mounted to the control bracket,
wherein the guide rod defines a guide rod axis and wherein the latching pin defines a latching pin axis, and
wherein the guide rod axis is parallel to the control bracket axis and parallel to the latching pin axis.

3. The switchgear of claim 1 , further comprising a gasket mounted along a periphery of the enclosure opening, and wherein the door compresses the gasket when the roller is moved up the ramp portion of the two-stage cam.

4. The switchgear of claim 1 , further comprising a U-shaped bracket mounted to the door, wherein the U-shaped bracket has two parallel flanges that each include two U-shaped bracket through holes extending therethrough.

5. The switchgear of claim 4 , wherein the locking flange is configured to fit between the two parallel flanges of the U-shaped bracket, and wherein the locking flange through hole is configured to align with the two U-shaped bracket through holes.

6. The switchgear of claim 4 , wherein the latching pin is configured to extend through the two U-shaped bracket through holes and the locking flange through hole when the door is closed and the handle is turned.

7. The switchgear of claim 1 , further including a latching indicator that provides a notification that the door is securely closed when the roller is in contact with the plateau portion of the two-stage cam.

8. The switchgear of claim 1 , wherein the control bracket is made from a single piece of formed sheet metal.

9. The switchgear of claim 1 , wherein the control bracket is a first control bracket, and further including a second control bracket and a force transfer bracket, and
wherein a first end of the force transfer bracket is pivotally connected to the first control bracket and a second end of the force control bracket is pivotally connected to the second control bracket.

10. The switchgear of claim 9 , wherein the force control bracket translates a motion of the first control bracket along the control bracket axis of the main body plane into a motion of the second control bracket along a second axis perpendicular to the control bracket axis.

11. The switchgear of claim 1 ,
wherein the latching pin is configured to selectively engage the locking flange through hole when the roller is in contact with the plateau portion of the two-stage cam.

12. The switchgear of claim 1 , further including an indicator that provides a notification to a user corresponding to whether the locking system is fully engaged, partially engaged, or not engaged.

13. The switchgear of claim 12 , wherein the door has a transparent viewing window;
wherein the indicator comprises a first tab located on a first location of the control bracket and a second tab located on a second location of the control bracket;
wherein the first tab is visible through the transparent window of the door when the roller is not in engagement with the two-stage cam,
wherein the first tab and second tab are both partially visible through the transparent window of the door when the roller is in engagement with the ramp portion of the two-stage cam, and
wherein the second tab is visible through the transparent window of the door when the roller is in engagement with the plateau portion of the two-stage cam.

14. The switchgear of claim 12 , wherein the indicator comprises a microswitch having a body portion, a sensor portion, and a communication element, and
wherein the body portion of the microswitch is mounted to the two-stage cam; and
wherein the communication element sends a notification when the sensor portion comes into contact with the roller.

Assignees

• Eaton Corp

Inventors

• Robinson James Darryl
• Boyce Russell Irvin
• BRIDGES Christopher Harris

Classifications

• Y10T292/0824

  Roller · CPC title

• H02B13/025

  Safety arrangements, e.g. in case of excessive pressure or fire due to electrical defect · CPC title

• E05C9/24

  Means for transmitting movements between vertical and horizontal sliding bars, rods or cables {for the fastening of wings}, e.g. corner guides (means for transmitting movements between vertical and horizontal sliding bars, rods or cables, for moving wings into open or closed position E05F7/08) · CPC title

• E05C9/185

  parallel with actuating bar · CPC title

• E05C9/1808

  Keepers · CPC title