FR2637131A1 - Assembly to be used with electrical conductors - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a bus assembly having clip-on boxes or caps. The bus 4 includes multiple longitudinal compartments 12, 14 in which are placed conductors such as power conductors 6 and telephone-signal or data-transmission conductors 8. Separate outlet-socket boxes or caps 22, 24, each comprising metal consoles receiving insulating end covers, are mounted, by a clip-on mechanism, onto the bus. The metal consoles have openings allowing access to the compartment of the bus. Field of application: flush-mounting or surface-mounting of electrical power, telephone or data-transmission circuits, etc.

Description

 A pipeline assembly that can be used with power conductors and telephone or computer conductors and that can be mounted either recessed into a wall, or along the surface of a wall or panel. The invention relates more particularly to a socket or a female socket box which can be used with a pipe containing several compartments, each compartment containing a particular set of wires, such as power, telephone or computer conductors.

 Pipelines applied or mounted on the surface are described in a certain number of granted patents including those which follow.

 The patent of the United States of America N 3,404,706 describes pipes comprising a base made up of a profile of rectangular shape having side walls with ends turned inward and curved to engage with a cover. Corner or end fittings are attached to the pipes by separate fittings which are screwed onto both the pipes and the fittings. Mounting plates for sockets, switches and other wiring devices are clamped on the base between the covers so that they cannot be removed by a force directed towards the outside. cover, intended to make a shielding completely protecting from external parasites, comprises a shielding plate having a greater width than a support flange to which it is fixed to achieve a complete shielding when the shielding plate is snapped into position on a pipe base between adjacent hood parts.

 U.S. Patent No. 4,360,705 discloses a corner piece for an aluminum piping system having two insulated wiring compartments in which telephone wiring and electrical power cables can be routed to desktops. A continuity fitting is fixed by screws between the corner piece and pipes located upstream and downstream.

The patent of the United States of America
No. 4,017,137 describes an electrical pipe comprising a cover in the form of a profile having parallel side walls extending so as to engage and lock by cooperation with the base of the pipe, and several sockets mounted in the cover. The ribs on opposite sides of the socket engage with precise projections located on the side walls of the cover to retain the sockets in the assembly with the cover.

 Conventional metal pipelines normally include an aluminum pipeline base on which an aluminum cover is snapped on. Separate compartments extending longitudinally in the pipeline can be defined by separate snap-on or screwed separators or partitions extending from the base of the pipeline. Although the cover extends over most of the length of a conventional pipe, certain means must be provided to establish an interface between the wires in the pipe and external components. Typical pipe assemblies include hoods or lids with double outlet cutouts and hoods or lids with communication or data cutouts.Normally, the cutouts intended for either a dual power outlet or communications in outlet outlets Data outlets, such as modular telephone jacks, are placed in alignment with the appropriate compartment, at the top or bottom of the pipe containing the corresponding electrical cable.

In general, the cutouts of the outlet cover plates are offset because applicable safety standards require that separate compartments containing different conductors must be separated; for example, power conductors must be isolated from the data conductors. Although power, data or telephone outlets can be located in any axial position along the pipeline, the heights of conventional outlet cutouts remain different, which results in an unsightly appearance.

 The invention provides a multi-compartment pipe assembly comprising outlet sockets which can be used on a surface-mounted pipe or which can be used on a pipe housed in a groove formed along a wall, and which allows individual outlets to be placed in the center of the pipeline. Therefore, power sockets, sockets for communication cables and data sockets can all be placed in the center of the pipeline.

 A piping assembly includes a back piping panel, a front or hood panel, and outlet receptacle covers or covers or outlet receptacle boxes for use with electrical profiles in the rear piping panel , which may include at least two compartments extending longitudinally. This outlet cover or outlet socket housing comprises a one-piece element or console forming a housing having a front wall and a rear wall. Sockets or connectors such as double sockets or modular telephone jacks can be fixed to the front wall of the housing or of the monobloc console. The rear wall of the housing or of the monobloc console has an opening extending between opposite ends. , which gives access to the interior of the housing or of the monobloc console. This opening gives access to compartments extending longitudinally in a pipe or a profile so that an interconnection can be made with conductors located in the profile. When the cover or cover of the outlet socket or the housing of the outlet socket of the invention is used with a pipe or a section with multiple compartments, the opening of the rear wall may be in alignment with a compartment. The remaining part of the rear wall covers the other compartment so as to isolate it from the inside of the outlet cover or the outlet socket housing, therefore, when an interconnection can be made with conductors located in the compartment located at the upper part of a pipe, the opening of the rear wall is placed along the upper part of the rear wall. Conversely, when an interconnection must be made with a lower compartment, the opening of the rear wall communicates with the lower compartment. The electrical sockets or connectors used to establish an external interface in the outlet cover or in the outlet socket case are however placed in the center of the outlet cover or the outlet socket case and generally covers at least two compartments in the pipeline.

 In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the outlet cover or the outlet socket housing can be fixed to the front of the pipeline in substantially the same way as a cover or cover extending over the most much of the pipe length. In the advantageous embodiments of the invention, the plug housing is simply snapped onto the upper and lower walls of the body of the pipe. In the advantageous embodiments of the invention, the outlet cover or the outlet boxes are formed from a metal element having a generally uniform cross section with the exception of openings made in the front wall. In these embodiments, the ends of this metal element are open. End caps, which can be insulated, are attached to the ends of the metal elements to completely enclose the interior of the outlet receptacle boxes.

End caps, which can interlock with outlet boxes on opposite sides, can be used so that electrical outlets for different connectors or different sockets can be placed side by side.

The invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of non-limiting example and in which
- Figure 1 is a perspective view with partial section of a pipe accessible from the surface, showing a modular telephone jack and a double power outlet each disposed centrally on the pipe
- Figure 2 is a sectional view along line 2-2 of Figure 1, showing interior compartments of a pipe accessible from the surface, the conductors entering a double power outlet;
- Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view showing elements of power outputs and communication outputs arranged side by side, which can be used with a pipe accessible from the surface or a pipe extending along the surface of a wall or partition;
- Figure 4 is a rear sectional view of the power and telephone outlets of a pipeline, showing the manner in which cable compartments are covered at the rear of an outlet
- Figure 5 is an exploded perspective view showing the elements of a power and communication output that can be mounted on a pipe placed on the surface of a wall or a partition, the configuration of the pipe of Figure 5 differing from that shown in Figure 1 and demonstrating that outputs according to the invention can be used with a number of different fundamental piping systems; and
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a power outlet socket used inside the pipe body shown in FIG. 5.

 The electrical distribution assembly 2 constituting the preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a pipe 4 containing power conductors 6 and telephone conductors 8 in separate compartments. Access to both the power conductors 6 and the telephone conductors 8 can be established at any point along the length of the pipeline by the use of a two-piece outlet hood or cover 10. Line 4 comprises a rear panel 80 in the form of an electrical profile having two separate compartments, a compartment 12 of power conductors and a compartment 14 of telephone conductors. Line 4 with two compartments shown in the preferred embodiments of the invention is indicated only by way of illustration. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that other compartments, such as a compartment for data conductors, can be used, or that pipes having arrangements of different conductor compartments can be used with the cover. 10 output shown here.

Other conductors, in particular low-voltage conductors such as data and signal conductors, which it is not necessary to separate for safety reasons, can also be arranged inside the same compartment.

 In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1, an interconnection can be established between the power conductors 6 and a conventional double output socket 16. The interconnection of the telephone conductors 8 located in the lower compartment can be carried out with a modular telephone jack 18 placed in a cover or outlet cover which is arranged next to the cover or outlet cover containing the double outlet 16. The interconnection of the telephone conductors 8 with the modular telephone jack 18 can be carried out by the use of a conventional modular telephone plug 20 fixed to the ends of the telephone conductors 8.

 Each outlet cover or outlet box comprises a console or a one-piece housing element to which are insulated end caps intended to completely close the interior thereof. Two consoles or housing elements 22 and 24 in one piece are shown in Figure 3. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, each of these consoles is made of metal. Consoles of this shape can be made by extruding a metal such as aluminum, because the cross section of the consoles remains generally constant, with the exception of openings in the front and rear walls, which can be achieved by punching . Two types of insulating end caps can be used. Conventional end caps 26 can be mounted on opposite ends of a console to completely close a single console. When two outlet boxes are to be placed side by side, an end cap 28 with two sides can be used.

 The console 30 in one piece of the power take-off housing 26 has a front wall 32 and a rear wall 34. An upper wall 36 and a lower wall 38 are connected to the front and rear walls 32 and 34 and extend between opposite ends of the power console 30. Mounting ribs 40 and 42 are located on the rear wall 34 in the immediate vicinity of the upper and lower walls 36 and 38. A generally rectangular wire access opening 44 located generally along the top of the rear wall 34 of the power console 30, extends between two reinforcing ribs 45 located at opposite ends of the console 30.

 The reinforcing ribs 45 are arranged along opposite ends of the console and the wire access opening 44 is relatively large so that the wires or strands can be easily drawn from the interior of the console towards the compartment. of the pipe containing wiring wires. The ribs 45 reinforce the mounting ribs 40, 42 in order to fix the console in engagement with the housing. The brackets can be removed by releasing them using a levering tool, such as a screwdriver, but the brackets cannot be inadvertently torn from the pipeline. A generally rectangular opening 46 is formed in the center of the front wall 32 of the power console 30. This rectangular opening is dimensioned so as to receive the front face of a double power output 16. It is understood that the opening 46 can be dimensioned so as to correspond to the configuration of the front face of any standardized power outlet, either a single outlet or a double outlet. Screw holes 48 are machined in the front wall 32 in position to engage and fix the double power socket 16 on the front wall of the console 30.

 The telephone console 50 is similar in many ways to the power console 30. The telephone console 50 can also be produced by extruding a metal such as aluminum and it has front walls 52 parallel to a rear wall 54. The front and rear walls 52 and 54 are connected by upper walls 56 and 58 substantially in the same manner as for the power console 30. The mounting ribs 60 and 62 are similarly arranged along the rear wall 54 in close proximity to the upper wall 56 and the lower wall 58. A cut-out opening 64 The wire access extends generally along the lower part of the rear wall 54 of the telephone console 50. A generally rectangular opening 66 is formed in the central part of the front wall 52. It should be noted that the central axis, in height, of the opening 66 is provided specifically to coincide with that of the opening 46 defined in the front wall of the power console 30. The rectangular shape of the opening 66 of the telephone console 50 is intended to coincide with a rectangular plastic cover in which is housed the modular telephone jack 18. It should be noted that other types of connectors could be used with hoods or covers snapping into openings 66. This plastic cover or cover may have conventional plastic locks along the side, so that the cover containing the modular telephone jack 18 can simply be fitted or snapped into the opening 66 of the telephone console 50.

 The openings 46 and 66 can be dimensioned so that only one type of connector can be received in each of these openings. In other words, a power connector can be inserted in the opening 46 of the power console 30, but not in the opening 66 of the data console 50. Therefore, any reverse wiring in the pipeline is impossible.

 The open ends of the power console 30 and the telephone console 50 are closed by the use of insulating end caps such as the standard end cap 26 and the two-sided end cap 28. The conventional end cap 26 on one side has an end wall 74. The end cap 28 on two sides has an end wall 74 '. Each end cap comprises an outer yeast 78 located along the periphery of the cap and an inner lip 76 spaced from the outer yeast 78 by a distance substantially equal to the thickness of the metal forming the power consoles and the consoles. 50.Therefore, the edges of the consoles adjacent to the ends can be accommodated in the gap formed between the inner yeast 76 and the outer lip 78. The end cap 26 has an end wall on one side only has inner lips and outer 76 and 78 which extend only from one side of an end wall 74. The two-sided end cap having a central wall 74 'has inner lips 76 and outer lips 78 s' extending from its opposite sides.

 Unlike conventional output covers or hoods, the preferred embodiment of the invention is manufactured by first attaching the plug or output connector, such as the dual output plug 16 or the modular jack 18, to the outlet cover or outlet socket 10 before being fixed to the pipe or to the profile 4. As described above, the modular jack can be connected to the telephone console 50 by simply being snapped into a plastic cover plate containing the electrical connector in the opening 66. The double socket 16 is assembled on the power console 30 in a different manner. First of all, the connecting strands 72 are formed on each terminal of the double socket 16, which is then inserted inside the power console 30 by being slid through the open ends of the console 30. power. The socket 16 can then be slid into position inside the opening 46 and the conventional screws can be used to fix the outlet socket 16 on the front wall 32 of the power console 30. Once the output connectors are attached to the front wall of the power consoles, the outlet receptacle boxes can be attached to the front of a pipeline.

 When mounted on the rear panel 80 of the pipeline, the socket housing or the brackets 22 and 24 respectively protrude beyond the panel 84 of the cover or hood of the pipeline. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the depth of the rear panel 80 is not greater than the thickness of a surface wall panel 92, such as a dry wall or a plaster tile. Over most of its length, the pipe 44 therefore does not exceed the surface of the wall. Only the outlet or outlet boxes or consoles 22 and 24 protrude from the surface of the wall.

 The rear panel 80 of the pipe has an upper wall 81 and a lower wall 83, the rear panel 80 being divided into two compartments by a central wall or partition 82. A front lip 85 rises from the central wall 82 on a part of the height of the upper compartment 12 and a front yeast 86 rises from the lower wall 83 to partially and similarly close the lower part of the lower compartment 14. These front yeasts 85 and 86 therefore constitute means intended to retain electrical conductors when 'they are inserted or placed in the respective compartments.

 The hood or cover 84 comprises a flat panel which has an upper mounting rib 89 and a lower mounting rib 90 protruding rearward. These mounting ribs 89 and 90 extend continuously along the rear face of the cover or cover 84, in the same way as the mounting ribs 40, 42, 60 and 62 located on the outlet boxes or consoles 22 and 24. Continuous ribs 87 and 88 protrude from the outer ends of the top wall 81 and the bottom wall 83. Each of the ribs 87 and 88 protrudes toward the center of the rear panel 80 and is configured to snap into place. with mounting ribs 89 and 90 located on the cover 84 and with mounting ribs 40, 42, 60, 62 located on the outlet boxes 22 and 24. The cover or cover 84 and the outlet boxes 22 and 24 can thus be mounted by elastic snapping under pressure with the rear panel 80.

 In the embodiment of Figures 1 to 4, the housing 22 of the power output socket and the housing 24 of the telephone output socket can be attached to the pipeline as follows. In this embodiment, the pipeline comprises a rear panel 80 from which extends an inner central panel 82 of pipeline so as to define an upper compartment containing power conductors 6 and a lower compartment containing telephone conductors 8. A front panel 84 is fixed to the rear panel 80 of the pipeline over the greater part of the length of this pipeline. At the location where an outlet is to be placed on the pipeline, the front panel 34 is cut to a length leaving a opening opening into the two longitudinal compartments of the pipe 4. At this point, a single outlet box or two outlet boxes arranged side by side can be fixed to the pipe 4. When a power outlet box 22 must be fixed, the strands 72 are fixed to the power conductors arranged inside the conductive compartment 12 ers of power. As shown in Figure 2, conventional wire nuts can be used to secure the wire strands 72 to the power conductors. It should be noted that other means can be used to make this interconnection by splicing. This interconnection can be easily carried out because the strand 72 passes through the opening 44. The compartment 14 of telephone conductors is however completely isolated from the inside the housing 22 of the power outlet since the rear wall 34 completely closes the compartment 14 of the telephone conductors.

 A telephone outlet socket box 24, comprising a modular jack fixed to the front wall, can also be secured to the pipeline in a similar manner. Normally, a conventional modular telephone plug 20 is connected to the ends of the telephone wires and this modular telephone plug can be inserted into the modular telephone jack 18 after the telephone conductors 8 have been passed through the opening 64 in the rear wall 54. As shown in Figure 4, the conductors located in the compartments, which must bypass a respective outlet box, are covered by the rear walls 34 and 54 in the corresponding outlet boxes 22 and 24. After the brackets 30 and 50 have been fixed to the rear wall 80 of the pipe by engagement of the mounting ribs 40, 42 and 60, 62, the end caps 26 and 28 can be fixed to the brackets 30 and 50 to completely close the interconnection inside these last.

 Socket boxes, such as the power socket box 22 and the telephone socket box 24, can be used with other pipe configurations, such as the variant embodiments of FIGS. 5 and 6. It should be noted that the dimensions of the outlet boxes 22 and 24 may have to be modified when these boxes are used with other pipes, the operating principles remaining however similar. The variant pipe shown in Figures 5 and 6 comprises a rear panel 80 'to which is fixed a central panel or a partition 82' of pipe intended to divide the pipe of the embodiments of Figures 5 and 6 into two longitudinal compartments. Boxes 22 ′ and 24 ′ of outlet sockets are fixed to the rear panel 80 ′ of the pipeline in cutouts made in the cover or cover 84 ′ of the pipeline, substantially in the same manner as for the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 4. Consequently, the covers or sockets and pipes of the preferred embodiment of the invention are given for illustration only and it goes without saying that numerous modifications can be made to the assembly described. and shown without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (10)

 1. Assembly for use with electrical conductors, characterized in that it comprises a pipe (4) comprising a rear panel (80) having first and second compartments (12, 14) extending longitudinally, and a panel (82 ) cover, first and second electrical outputs, the first outputs (16) being able to be connected to electrical conductors (6) located in the first compartment (12) and the second outputs (18) being able to be connected to electrical conductors ( 8) located in the second compartment (14), first and second outlet socket boxes which can be mounted on the pipeline (4) at locations in which the front of the pipeline is also open, the first housings (22) outlet sockets having a rear wall (34) configured to cover the front of a second compartment (14), the second outlet sockets (24) having a rear wall (54) configured to cover the front of a first compartment (12), the compartments (12, 14) of the pipeline having a front opening communicating with the interior of the respective outlet socket box to allow interconnection of the electrical conductors ( 6, 8) located in each compartment of the pipe, in communication with the interior of the corresponding outlet socket box, with a corresponding electrical outlet (16, 18) located inside it.  2. An assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that each outlet outlet box (22, 24) comprises means for mounting the corresponding electrical outlet (16, 18) in a position for covering the first and second compartments ( 12, 14) of the pipeline so that first and second outlets (16, 18) can be mounted at the same height on the pipeline (4).  3. Assembly according to claim 2, characterized in that each of the boxes (22, 24) of outlet sockets has a front wall (32, 52), respectively, of the openings (46, 66) for mounting the corresponding outlet ( 16, 18) being provided in the front wall of each outlet socket box.  4. An assembly according to claim 3, characterized in that each of the outlet boxes (22, 24) has open ends, the assembly further comprising end caps (26, 28) which can be connected to the open ends of outlet boxes (22, 24).  5. Assembly according to claim 4, characterized in that at least one end cap (28) comprises means (76, 78) which can be connected to first and second outlet boxes (22, 24) so that first and second outlet boxes can be placed side by side, first and second outlets (12, 14) being arranged side by side.  6. Assembly according to claim 4, characterized in that each of the outlet boxes (22, 24) comprises a console in one piece forming a housing, having upper and lower walls connecting the front and rear walls.  7. An assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the pipe (4) comprises means for retaining electrical conductors (6, 8) in the respective compartments (12, 14).  8. An assembly according to claim 7, characterized in that the means for retaining the electrical conductors in the respective compartments comprise a lip (85, 86) rising from the lower part of the respective compartment (12, 24), on a part the height of this compartment.  9. An assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the cover panel (82) and the first and second electrical outlet boxes (22, 24) each comprise continuous ribs (89, 90, 40, 42, 60, 62 ) mounting projecting rearwards in the immediate vicinity of the top and bottom of the hood panel (82) and of the first and second outlet boxes (22, 24), the mounting ribs being able to be engaged with continuous ribs ( 87, 88) located on the upper and lower walls (81, 83) of the rear panel (80) of the pipe to form a snap-fit snap.  10. An assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the depth of the rear panel (80) is substantially equal to the thickness of a wall surface panel (92), so that the rear panel can be placed in a groove formed in the surface panel (92) without this rear panel (80) projecting outwards from the wall surface panel (92), the first and second outlet boxes (22, 24) being connected to the rear panel (80) so that they protrude from the wall surface panel (92).