EP1359643A1 - Housing for an electrical apparatus with cable input, socket and plug with such an housing - Google Patents

Abstract

The plug (100) cover (101) has a cable sleeve input (104) with a varying strip surface (112,113,114,115) gripping an inner cable. The sleeve has an outer cover (120) in rigid material with slots with strip inputs (112,113) of different lengths for different cable diameters.

Description

The present invention relates generally to envelopes electrical equipment, the power cable entries of which have a certain "tightness" level for a range of cable diameters.

This invention finds a particularly advantageous application for the production of enclosures for small electrical appliances and in particular power plugs.

More particularly, the invention relates to an envelope comprising a sleeve forming an inlet for power cables, this sleeve having an internal face provided with at least two lamellae spaced from each other according to the axis of said sleeve and extending inwardly thereof to apply against the external face of a cable engaged in said entry.

We already know from document US 3,784,961 an envelope of the aforementioned type in which the two blades are rigid and come in formation with the two constituent parts of the sleeve. These two parts are joined to each other by means of assembly screws.

To adapt the diameter of this sleeve to different cable diameters, we screw or unscrew the assembly screws in order to modify the relative position of the two parts of said sleeve.

Such a solution is relatively complex and time-consuming to implement by an installer.

Furthermore, we know the enclosures of electrical equipment including input sleeves can be cut to adapt to cable diameters desired.

Such cut-out sleeves can be made of rigid material. In this case, the sleeve only follows the power cable in one way imperfect without satisfying the desired sealing criteria.

Other cut-out inlet sleeves are made of material flexible. In this case, cutting such a sleeve is all the less easy as the sleeve collapses under the weight of the cutting tool. This results in a cut imperfect sleeve, this cut being both unattractive and sometimes more important than necessary bringing a play around the engaged power cable in said sleeve and degrading the level of sealing.

In order to resolve the aforementioned drawbacks of the state of the art, the present invention provides a new enclosure of electrical equipment including the inlet cable sleeve is easily cut to adapt it to a given cable diameter while perfectly matching the cable engaged in said sleeve providing the desired degree of tightness.

More particularly, according to an essential characteristic of the invention, said sleeve comprises a shell of relatively rigid material provided with at least two slits and a skin of flexible material which extends through said slots and which forms said two lamellae with different lengths so that they are each able to cooperate with a cable of different diameter.

Thus, to adapt the sleeve of the envelope according to the invention to a cable diameter, just cut part of it through the slot corresponding to its rigid material shell which serves as a guide for the tool cutting.

• ladite peau en matériau souple recouvre au moins partiellement ladite coque ;
• la peau en matériau souple recouvre la face externe de ladite coque ;
• la peau en matériau souple recouvre la face interne de ladite coque ;
• ladite coque comporte une pluralité de fentes successives accueillant une pluralité de lamelles de longueurs différentes ;
• ladite peau en matériau souple forme, à l'extérieur et à l'entrée dudit manchon, une lamelle supplémentaire délimitant l'ouverture d'entrée de ce dernier ;
• lesdites lamelles présentent des découpes coaxiales et de sections différentes ;
• lesdites découpes sont arrondies ;
• lesdites lamelles s'étendent selon une direction radiale par rapport à l'axe dudit manchon ;
• lesdites lamelles sont inclinées par rapport à une direction radiale dudit manchon ;
• ladite peau comporte, sur une face externe, entre deux lamelles successives, une rainure marquant l'emplacement de coupe dudit manchon ;
• la coque en matériau rigide comprend deux parties assemblées ;
• une seule des deux parties de ladite coque comporte lesdites fentes et est recouverte de ladite peau en matériau souple, l'autre partie est réalisée en une seule pièce en matériau rigide ;
• les deux parties de ladite coque sont pourvues desdites fentes et sont recouvertes de la peau en matériau souple de façon à former intérieurement des lamelles s'étendant vers l'intérieur du manchon en regard les unes des autres ;
• ladite coque est réalisée d'une seule pièce ;
• lesdites fentes s'étendent sur une partie seulement de ladite coque ;
• ladite peau en matériau souple recouvre seulement ladite partie de la coque pourvue desdites fentes ;
• la coque est entièrement recouverte par ladite peau en matériau souple ;
• lesdites fentes s'entendent sur tout le pourtour de ladite coque et celle-ci est recouverte entièrement par ladite peau en matériau souple pour former à l'intérieur dudit manchon des lamelles annulaires de diamètres intérieurs différents ;
• ledit manchon vient de formation avec ladite enveloppe ; et
• ledit manchon est une pièce indépendante rapportée sur une ouverture de ladite enveloppe.

According to other non-limiting and advantageous characteristics of the envelope according to the invention;

• said skin of flexible material at least partially covers said shell;
• the skin of flexible material covers the external face of said shell;
• the skin of flexible material covers the internal face of said shell;
• said shell comprises a plurality of successive slots accommodating a plurality of strips of different lengths;
• said skin of flexible material forms, on the outside and at the entrance to said sleeve, an additional strip delimiting the entry opening of the latter;
• said strips have coaxial cuts and different sections;
• said cuts are rounded;
• said blades extend in a radial direction relative to the axis of said sleeve;
• said strips are inclined relative to a radial direction of said sleeve;
• said skin comprises, on an external face, between two successive strips, a groove marking the cutting location of said sleeve;
• the rigid material shell comprises two assembled parts;
• only one of the two parts of said shell comprises said slots and is covered with said skin of flexible material, the other part is made in one piece of rigid material;
• the two parts of said shell are provided with said slots and are covered with the skin of flexible material so as to form internally lamellae extending towards the inside of the sleeve facing each other;
• said shell is made in one piece;
• said slots extend over only part of said shell;
• said skin of flexible material covers only said part of the shell provided with said slots;
• the shell is entirely covered by said skin of flexible material;
• said slots extend over the entire periphery of said shell and the latter is entirely covered by said skin of flexible material so as to form, inside said sleeve, annular lamellae of different internal diameters;
• said sleeve comes from formation with said envelope; and
• said sleeve is an independent piece attached to an opening of said envelope.

The invention also relates to a socket and a plug socket outlet comprising a mechanism and an enclosure as mentioned above.

The description which follows with reference to the appended drawings, given at title of nonlimiting examples, will make it clear what the invention consists of and how it can be achieved.

• la figure 1 est une vue en perspective de dessous d'une fiche de prise de courant selon l'invention ;
• la figure 2 est une vue schématique d'un côté en perspective éclatée de la fiche de la figure 1 ;
• la figure 3 est une vue schématique d'un autre côté en perspective éclatée de la fiche de la figure 1 ;
• la figure 4 est une vue de détail d'une partie de la coque de l'enveloppe de la fiche de la figure 1 ;
• la figure 5 est une vue de détail en coupe longitudinale du manchon formant entrée de câbles de l'enveloppe de la fiche de la figure 1 ; et
• la figure 6 est une demi-vue de détail en coupe longitudinale du manchon formant entrée de câbles d'une variante de l'enveloppe de la fiche de la figure 1.

In the accompanying drawings:

• Figure 1 is a perspective view from below of an outlet plug according to the invention;
• Figure 2 is a schematic view of an exploded perspective side of the plug of Figure 1;
• Figure 3 is a schematic view of another side in exploded perspective of the plug of Figure 1;
• Figure 4 is a detail view of part of the shell of the envelope of the plug of Figure 1;
• Figure 5 is a detail view in longitudinal section of the sleeve forming cable entry of the envelope of the plug of Figure 1; and
• FIG. 6 is a detailed half-view in longitudinal section of the sleeve forming cable entry of a variant of the envelope of the plug of FIG. 1.

In Figures 1 to 3, there is shown a plug 100 which includes a mechanism 102 comprising an insulating body housing electrical connection terminals, not visible in the figures, to which are connected electrical conductors from an electrical power cable.

From the front face of the insulating body of said mechanism 102 emerge phase and neutral pins 102A, 102B connected to the connection terminals electric.

In addition, the front face of the insulating body of the mechanism 102 includes a hole 102C for the introduction of a ground pin from a power outlet, not shown, in which the plug 100 is inserted.

These provisions being well known in themselves, they will not be described here in more detail.

In addition, and this is more particularly the object of the present invention, the socket outlet 100 has an envelope 101 housing the mechanism 102.

This envelope 101 comprises a body 103 generally forming two hollow cylinders which extend, on the one hand, along an X axis, and, on the other hand, along a Y axis perpendicular to the X axis.

An end opening of this body 103 is closed by the front face of the insulating body of mechanism 102 from which the phase pins and neutral 102A, 102B of said mechanism.

Here, the body 103 consists of two parts 103A, 103B (two portions cylinder) assembled together using screws for example. The part 103A includes a molded rigid plastic shell overmolded with flexible skin and the part 103B is a molded shell of rigid plastic.

The casing 101 also includes a sleeve 104 connected to a other end opening of the body 103, and forming an entry for cables Power. This sleeve 104 of axis Y here comes from formation by molding with the body 103 of the envelope 101.

Of course, according to a variant not shown, it can be provided that the sleeve 104 forming an inlet for power cables is one piece independent of the body of the envelope attached to said end opening of said body.

As shown more particularly in FIG. 2, the sleeve 104 has an internal face provided with at least two spaced strips 112, 113 one from the other along the Y axis of said sleeve 104.

According to the embodiment shown, the sleeve 104 comprises, internally, a plurality of lamellae 112, 113, 114, 115 spaced apart others along the Y axis thereof.

These strips 112, 113, 114, 115 extend, in width, over approximately the half of the internal surface of the sleeve 104 and, in length, towards the inside of said sleeve sleeve generally in a radial direction relative to the Y axis for apply against the external face of a cable (not shown) engaged in said inlet of the casing 101 for connection to the terminals of electrical connection of the socket outlet mechanism 102.

As shown more particularly in Figures 4 and 5, the sleeve 104 comprises a shell 120 of relatively rigid material provided with at least two slots 122B and a skin 110 of flexible material which covers the external face 102'A of said shell 120 and which extends through said slots 122B for forming said strips 112, 113, 114, 115 with lengths different (see Figure 5) so that they are each able to cooperate with a cable of different diameter.

The shell 120 is produced by molding said material relatively rigid, of the thermoplastic type for example, and is overmolded with the material flexible constituting said skin 110. This flexible material is for example a rubbery elastomer.

According to the preferred embodiment shown, the shell 120 in rigid material comprises two parts 121, 122 assembled.

One of the two parts 121 is made in a single piece of material rigid and comes from formation with the part 103B of the body 103 of the envelope 101 made of rigid material (see Figure 3).

This part 121 of the shell 120 has the shape of a half-sleeve of generally conical shape of axis Y and comprises, on its internal face, ribs 121B, in the form of a half-arch, regularly spaced apart from one another others along the length of said sleeve 104.

This part 121 of the shell 120 made of rigid material comprises, on its external face, between two successive ribs 121B, a groove 121A which extends in an arc from one edge to the other of the part 121 of the shell 120.

The other part 122 of the shell 120, shown more particularly on Figure 4 is a frame having two longitudinal uprights 122C generally extending along the Y axis of said sleeve 104, which support a series of arches 122A regularly spaced along the length of said sleeve 104. Between two successive arches 122A, one of said slots 122B is defined.

According to the embodiment of the envelope shown in FIG. 5, the external face 102'A of this framework constituting the second part 122 of the shell 120 is alone covered with said skin 110 of flexible material. This skin 110 also forms the flexible skin covering the shell of said part 103A of the body 103 of the envelope 101.

It will be noted that this part 103A comprises at the rear a handle 105 in flexible material coming from formation with said part 103A and making it possible to easily remove the plug 100 from the socket into which it was inserted.

The skin 110, which covers the framework, also forms, on the outside and at the inlet of the sleeve 104, an additional strip 111 delimiting the opening inlet 104A of said sleeve 104.

Advantageously, the lamellae 111, 112, 113, 114, 115 have cutouts 111A, 112A, 113A, 114A, 115A, in an arc, which are coaxial and of different sections.

The sections of said cutouts 111A, 112A, 113A, 114A, 115A each correspond to a different cable diameter. They are growing from the inlet opening 104A of the sleeve 104 to its through outlet in the body 103 of the casing 101 so that the cutouts 111A, 112A, 113A, 114A, 115A globally define a conical surface.

Each strip 111, 112, 113, 114, 115 is intended to be applied by its cut 111A, 112A, 113A, 114A, 115A in an arc against the face external of a cable so as to guarantee a good seal between the exterior and the inside of the body 103 of the casing 101 of the socket outlet 100.

In addition, the skin 110 made of flexible material comprises, on its external face, between two successive strips 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, a groove 110A marking the cutting location of said sleeve 104.

In addition, between two successive grooves 110A, the skin 110 has, on its outer face, a marking of the inlet diameter of the sleeve 104.

When the two parts 121, 122 of the shell 120 are assembled, the grooves 110A provided on the external face of the skin 110 come in concordance with the grooves 121A provided on the external face of the part 121 rigid shell 120 (see Figure 1).

Thus, the sleeve 104 forming an inlet for power cables can by cutting be adapted to five different cable diameters. To do this, an installer easily cuts the sleeve 104 by attacking it with one of the grooves 110A of the skin 110 made of flexible material, just below indication of the diameter chosen.

The cutting tool is guided in its cutting along a hoop 122A of the framework forming the second part 122 of the shell so that this tool does not does not slip and remains positioned in the corresponding groove 110A for make a precise cut of said sleeve 104 to a determined inlet diameter.

By cutting out part of the sleeve 104, the installer thus releases the corresponding inner strip of said sleeve 104 which is applied against the cable of determined diameter introduced into the sleeve 104.

In this way, the sleeve 104, by each of its lamellae 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, perfectly fits the power cable engaged in this by providing the desired degree of tightness.

In addition, such a sleeve 104 is easily cut thanks to the association of the skin 110 and the framework forming the second part 122 of the shell 120 made of rigid material.

In Figure 6, there is shown an alternative embodiment of the sleeve 104 according to which the skin 110 of flexible material, which forms said lamellae 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, covers the internal face 122'B of the framework constituting the second part 122 of the shell 120, also extending through of said slots 122B. Here the outer face of the skin 110 is located slightly withdrawal from the external face of the framework so as to form, on this external face, grooves 110A delimited by successive arches 122A apparent from the frame.

These grooves 110A are used for positioning the cutting tool.

Of course, the slats 111, 112, 113, 114, 115 are identical to those of the embodiment of the sleeve 104 shown in FIG. 5 and do not will not be described again.

Of course, the present invention is in no way limited to the modes described and shown, but those skilled in the art will be able to do so any variant according to its spirit.

According to a variant not shown, it can be provided that the skin in flexible material which forms said lamellae extends through the slots of the shell (here of the framework), without covering neither its external face nor its internal face, to be united.

In this case, one obtains a succession of individual lamellae not connected together and attached to said shell.

In addition, it can be provided, according to a variant not shown, that said strips provided on the internal face of the sleeve are inclined by relative to a radial direction of said sleeve to better apply against the power cable inserted through it.

It can also be provided that the two parts of the shell made of material rigid are provided with said slots and are covered with the skin in flexible material so as to internally form lamellae extending towards the inside of the sleeve facing each other.

Said shell of said sleeve can be made in one piece by molding a plastic material with slits which extend over a part only from the hull or on both parts.

When the hull is made in one piece with a part only of the latter provided with said slots, the skin of flexible material then covers only the part of the shell provided with the slots.

Of course, when the shell made in one piece has slots that extend around the periphery thereof, it is completely covered by said skin of flexible material to form, inside said sleeve, annular lamellae of different internal diameters so that each strips are applied against a cable of different diameter.

Claims (23)

Enclosure (101) of electrical equipment (100) comprising a sleeve (104) forming an inlet for power cables, this sleeve (104) having an internal face provided with at least two strips (112, 113, 114, 115 ) spaced from each other along the axis (Y) of said sleeve (104) and extending towards the inside of the latter to be applied against the external face of a cable engaged in said inlet, characterized in that said sleeve (104) comprises a shell (120) of relatively rigid material provided with at least two slots (122B) and a skin (110) of flexible material which extends through said slots (122B) and which forms said two strips (112, 113) with different lengths so that they are each able to cooperate with a cable of different diameter. Envelope (101) according to claim 1, characterized in that said skin (110) made of flexible material at least partially covers said shell (120). Envelope (101) according to claim 2, characterized in that the skin (110) of flexible material covers the external face of said shell (120). Envelope (101) according to claim 2, characterized in that the skin (110) of flexible material covers the internal face of said shell (120). Envelope (101) according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said shell (120) comprises a plurality of successive slots (122B) receiving a plurality of strips (112, 113, 114, 115) of different lengths. Envelope (101) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said skin (110) of flexible material forms, outside and at the entrance to said sleeve (104), an additional strip (111) delimiting the inlet opening (104A) of the latter. Envelope (101) according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that said strips (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) have coaxial cutouts (111A, 112A, 113A, 114A, 115A) and of different sections . Envelope (101) according to claim 7, characterized in that said cutouts (111A, 112A, 113A, 114A, 115A) are rounded. Envelope (101) according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that said strips (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) extend in a radial direction relative to the axis (Y) of said sleeve ( 104). Envelope (101) according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that said strips are inclined relative to a radial direction of said sleeve. Envelope (101) according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that said skin (110) comprises, on an external face, between two successive strips (111, 112, 113, 114, 115), a groove (110A ) marking the cutting location of said sleeve (104). Envelope (101) according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the shell (120) of rigid material comprises two parts (121, 122) assembled. Envelope (101) according to claim 12, characterized in that only one (122) of the two parts (121, 122) of said shell (120) has said slots (122B) and is covered with said skin (110) of flexible material , the other part (121) is made in a single piece of rigid material. Envelope according to claim 12, characterized in that the two parts of said shell are provided with said slots and are covered with the skin of flexible material so as to form internally lamellae extending towards the inside of the sleeve opposite one of the other. Envelope according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that said shell is made in one piece. Envelope according to claim 15, characterized in that said slots extend over only part of said shell. Envelope according to claim 16, characterized in that said flexible material skin covers only said part of the shell provided with said slots. Envelope according to claim 16, characterized in that the shell is entirely covered by said skin made of flexible material. Envelope according to claim 15, characterized in that the said slots extend over the entire periphery of the said shell and the latter is entirely covered by the said skin of flexible material to form inside the said sleeve annular lamellae of different internal diameters . Envelope (101) according to one of claims 1 to 19, characterized in that said sleeve (104) comes from formation with said envelope. Envelope according to one of claims 1 to 19, characterized in that said sleeve is an independent piece attached to an opening of said envelope. Socket comprising a mechanism and a casing according to one of claims 1 to 21. Socket plug (100) comprising a mechanism (102) and an envelope (101) according to one of claims 1 to 21.

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