FR2653929A1 - KEY ACTUATOR MOBILE FOR SAFETY SWITCH. - Google Patents

Abstract

An actuating mobile (8) is fixed on the inner edge of a door (5) pivoting about an axis (7) in order to act on a safety switch (1) fixed to the frame (3) of the electrical cabinet. In the closed position of the door (5), the key (11) enters the corridor (2) and turns on the switch (1). The actuating wheel set (8) can take at will a second configuration in which the key (11) comes out while being rotated by 90 degrees around its longitudinal axis.

Description

The invention relates to a key actuator for actuation

a safety switch

  having a corridor capable of receiving said key. That-

  ci, of elongated shape, has conformations capable of acting, generally indirectly, on the contacts of the switch to close and open these when the key is introduced into the corridor and

extracting the key.

  Safety switches and key-operated mobiles that allow their actuation are frequently used to protect maintenance personnel when, for example, for the maintenance of an installation, this personnel is called upon to open a cabinet door. or electrical box in which

  find energized devices.

  The switch is fixed to the frame of the installation.

  tion to protect, while the mobile is attached to the cabinet door. When the door is opened, the key comes out of the switch, and thus opens activation contacts

  energized from the installation contained in the cabinet.

  As soon as the door is closed, the key is reinserted in the switch and the aforementioned contacts are therefore closed. An actuating mobile is known comprising a base in the form of a support-housing in two parts defining two openings, one of which is lateral and the other is frontal relative to a fixing face of the support-housing. The box is fixed to an interior face of the cabinet door, this door being able to pivot around an axis linked to the body of the cabinet in order to

  clear or close an opening in it

  this. On the plane of the opening of the cabinet body corresponds on the door a joint plane coming to be applied on the periphery of the opening of the cabinet body. The mounting of the support box on the door is carried out in such a way that the free end of the key projects relative to the joint plane of the door and that the axis of this key is perpendicular to it.

joint plane.

  The key is capable of a small angular movement because it is articulated to a yoke around two perpendicular axes, with elastic return to a central angular position of the key by means of a helical compression spring interposed between a central inner face of the clevis and a rear face of the key. The yoke is nestable in the support box in two positions to choose from, in each of which the key comes out of the support box through a respective one of the two openings thereof. When the key comes out of the front opening, the support box can be fixed against the main interior face of the door, which face is parallel to the joint plane. The support box can then be fixed in particular in two orientations separated by a rotation of 90 around the axis of the key, allowing two orientations at 90 from one another for the switch, the orientation selected being a function of

  the space available to house it in the cabinet.

  When the key comes out through the lateral opening of the case-

  support, this can be fixed for example on the inner face of a peripheral edge of the door, along an edge opposite the hinged edge of the door or along an edge adjacent to the hinged edge of the door , depending on the installation possibilities of the housing and the switch. When closing the door, when the key reaches the plane of the opening of the frame and it begins to penetrate the switch, it is not yet perpendicular to the plane of the opening as it will be. end of operation. Its double articulation with respect to the case allows it, whatever the assembly of the case among the various arrangements mentioned above, to tilt slightly, a few degrees, relative to the case around an axis parallel to the axis of pivot the door to align with the keyway in the switch. When the closing movement of the door continues, the key slides in the corridor, while the angle of inclination of the key relative to its central position decreases to cancel out when the

door is closed.

  The known switch has two drawbacks. On the one hand, despite its apparent flexibility of use, certain assemblies are impossible. For example when the key comes out through the lateral opening, it imposes a well-defined orientation of the switch and mounting the switch in this orientation may prove impossible in view of the space available in the cabinet to be fitted . On the other hand, the known device requires that the mobile is fixed to the door at least at a certain minimum distance from the pivot axis of the door. This results from the fact that when the end of the key begins to enter the corridor, the axis of the key makes a certain angle with the axis of the corridor, and this angle must not be greater than the maximum angular movement of a few degrees which is allowed to key by its

  articulation relative to its support housing.

  Finally, with the known device, the minimum distance from the key to the pivot axis of the door, that is to say the minimum value of the turning radius of the key, is approximately 400 mm. For shorter distances, the inclination that the key must take relative to its central position when it begins to enter the switch corridor becomes too large, it can no longer be taken reliably without risk of jamming and the misalignment between the switch lane and the axis of orientation of the key relative to the support box becomes prohibitive at certain stages of the penetration movement. The object of the invention is to propose an actuating mobile giving more flexibility in mounting and making it possible, at least in certain mounting cases, to reduce the minimum admissible distance between the mobile and the pivot axis of the door on which he rode. The subject of the present invention is a key actuating mobile for a safety switch of the type comprising a corridor in which the end of a key can be entered or taken out to open or close the switch, this mobile comprising a base having a face for fixing to a support such as an electrical cabinet door, and with respect to which the key can be mounted in two different orientations in one of which the key extends laterally with respect to the fixing face, the key being connected to the base by means of elastic return means allowing angular movement around a medium position, characterized in that in its other orientation, the key also extends laterally relative to the fixing face , but is rotated 90 around its axis

  longitudinal with respect to this fixing face.

  When the base must be fixed to a door rim perpendicular to the pivot axis of the door, two lateral orientations of the key can be produced on the same door rim, instead of one in the prior art . These two orientations are 90 from each other around the axis of the key. The switch can therefore itself have one of two orientations, which will moreover often be imposed by the degree of bulk of the interior of the cabinet, and in each of them it will be possible to ensure that the mounting face of the base is perpendicular to the pivot axis of the support (such as a door) to which the base is fixed. And it has been found according to the invention that this is particularly advantageous for reasons which will

now be exposed.

  This makes it possible to easily proceed, during assembly, to a precise preorientation of the base around an axis parallel to the pivot axis, therefore perpendicular to the fixing face of the base so that the key has -even a pre-orientation which will reduce the angular difference between key and lane when the key begins to enter the lane. Thus, the distance between the key and the pivot axis of the door can be reduced in either of the two orientations

  side of the key allowed by the invention.

  When the door is closed, there is correlatively an inclination of the key relative to its central orientation; this tilt is allowed

  by the elastic return means of the key.

  The main advantage of pre-orientation is that it makes it possible to reduce in very large proportions the minimum distance between the mobile and the pivot axis of the door, for example from 400 mm to less than 200 mm, which gives the possibility of use the mobile according to the invention in a series of installations where the limitation of the available space would not make it possible to adapt a mobile of the prior art, or else

  on small doors.

  Other features and advantages of

  the invention will emerge from the description below

  relating to a nonlimiting example: In the accompanying drawings: - Figures 1, 3 and 4 are schematic views from above showing the principle of operation of an electrical cabinet equipped with a safety switch and an actuating mobile in accordance with the invention, respectively in the position of beginning of penetration of the key, and, on a larger scale with tearing off, in position of partial penetration and in position of total penetration of the key; - Figure 2 is a schematic front view of the safety switch of Figure 1 shown partially cut away; - Figure 5 is an exploded perspective view of an actuating mobile according to the invention; - Figure 6 is a sectional view of the mobile along the joint plane of the half-housings; Figure 7 is a sectional view along VII-VII of Figure 6; and - Figures 8 and 9 correspond to Figures 1 and 4 respectively, but when the key is in its

another lateral orientation.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a safety switch 1 provided with an actuating corridor 2 of width A is fixed to a frame 3, for example the body of an electrical cabinet which can be closed by a door 5 which pivots around an axis 7 which can be vertical. The door 5 has a flat rim 6 which is perpendicular to the axis 7. A base 9 of an actuating mobile 8 is fixed on the internal face of the rim 6 by a flat fixing face which is applied against the internal face of the rim 6. The base 9 carries an actuation key extending therefrom from the base by an elongated flattened part iLa which can pivot around an axis 4 parallel to the axis 7 of rotation of the door while being returned to a central orientation by an elastic return means 41 which will be described later. The key leaves the base 9 through one of the lateral faces of the latter. The base 9 and the switch 1 are fixed to the door 5 and respectively to the body 3 of the cabinet so that the free end Ilb of the key is located substantially opposite the corridor 2 when the door is ajar with the 'angle t (Figure 1), and that the key can penetrate to a fully inserted position in the corridor 2 when the door 5 is closed (Figure 4). During this movement, a ramp (see FIG. 7) carried by the end llb of the key 11 causes a vertical pusher 10 to be pushed in (FIG. 1), which in turn (see FIG. 2) drives the pushing in. '' a contact carrier 13 against a return spring 13a, then closing the considered safety circuit, by pressing a contact bridge 13b on

two fixed contacts 13c.

  The part 11a of the key extends largely projecting with respect to a joint plane 14 of the door 5. The part 11a of the key 11 has, in the plane of FIG. 1 which is assumed to be horizontal, and perpendicular at axis 7, a width a, slightly less than the width A of the actuating passage 2. When the door is in the closed position (FIG. 4), the key 11 has a

  orientation coinciding with that of corridor 2, that is

  say perpendicular to plane 12 of the opening of

  the cabinet and the joint plane 14 of the door 5.

  During the closing movement of the door 5, when the free end l! B of the key i1 reaches the entrance to the corridor located in this example in plane 12, the key makes a non-zero angle s with the direction of the corridor actuation 2. This angle is less than the angle t then existing between the joint plane 14 and the plane 12, due to a pre-orientation u given to the

  mobile according to the invention.

  We call pre-orientation u the angle formed between the central orientation of the key il (open cabinet, Figure 1) relative to door 5, and the longitudinal direction of the corridor 2 relative to door 5, when this- this is closed. In the example, the longitudinal direction of the corridor 2 is perpendicular to the plane 14

  when the door is closed. Therefore the pre-

  orientation u is the angle between the orientation of the key 11 at rest relative to the door and the normal to the plane of

door seal 14.

We therefore have: t = s + u.

  Thus, in the following movement of penetration of the key 1i in the corridor 2, the key! 1l pivots around the axis 4 so that its longitudinal direction coincides with the longitudinal direction of the corridor 2. To this end, the entrance to the corridor 2 is flared and the end of the key

  11 has bevels. We understand that such a re-

  orientation of the key 11 is only possible if the value s of the required reorientation does not exceed a limit value which is a function of various parameters, in particular the play (Aa) of the key in lane II, the side play of the articulation of the key 11 around the axis 4, the length of the key 11 from the axis 4, the clearance

  in articulation 7 between cabinet 3 and door 5 etc ...

  We also understand that thanks to the pre-

  orientation u of the key 11 relative to the door 5, the reorientation angle s can be relatively small even if the angle t is relatively large, therefore the radius R

  relatively low key turn.

  In practice, we generally take s c t / 2 and u Ä t / 2, and preferably s = t / 2 and u = t / 2. In the example shown, t = 12, u z 7.5 and s = 4, 5 When the key 11 begins to enter the passage 2, it undergoes, relative to the cover, a deflection substantially equal to s. Then, as the cover closes, the key 11 returns to its central orientation and reaches the latter when the angle between the planes 12 and 14 becomes equal to u (FIG. 3). In the course of the closing movement, the key i1 deviates from its central orientation in the direction opposite to the axis 7, that is to say in the direction opposite to that of the deflection from the start of penetration, to when the door 5 is closed, reach a deflection equal to the angle u (FIG. 4) relative to the central orientation. In other words, with reference to FIG. 1 and considering as negative the deflections directed towards axis 7, the key first underwent a deflection equal to s - t / 2, deflection which then varied gradually until 'to reach uzt / 2. Consequently, for a maximum permissible angle tmax between the cabinet 3 and the door 5 at the time of the start of penetration, it suffices that the key 1 has an angular clearance = tmax / 2 on either side of its central orientation around axis 4, and this angular displacement capacity will be fully

exploited in the case where t = tmax.

  In the precise example which is represented, where the axis 7 is set back with respect to the plane 14, u has been chosen a little larger than s so that the distance dl between the axis 7 and the end Ilb of the key in central orientation is little different from the distance d2 between the axis

  7 and the region of the key which is located in plane 14.

  Thus, to ensure that the key is correctly positioned in the corridor 2 in the closed position of the cover 5, it suffices to ensure that the end 1b is just opposite the corridor 2 in the situation shown in the figure 1, which is also desirable for good penetration of the key in the corridor. The choice of u significantly larger than s

  further promotes the onset of penetration.

  The base 9 of the actuating mobile 8 (FIGS. 5 - 7) comprises two identical half-housings 17, 18 each comprising two tapped holes 51 diagonally opposite and two smooth holes 53 opposite along another diagonal. Four screws 50 (Figure 5) each of which passes through a hole 53 in one of the half-housings and is screwed into a hole 51 in the other half-housing used to fix the half-housings to one another. Each half-housing is provided with a fixing wall 25, defining a flat fixing face 25a. The base can be fixed to the rim 6 of the door by applying one or other of the faces 25a against the internal face of the rim 6 and be fixed there by two screws 52 (Figures 3 and 4) each passing through two slots aligned 23 each belonging to one of the half-housings. The lights are elongated along a curved line around the axis 4 to allow the adjustment of the pre-orientation angle u after placement of the screws

52 but before their blocking.

  The two half-housings 17, 18 are connected by planar surfaces 19. The mobile 8 further comprises an assembly formed by the key 11 and a member in the general form of cylinder 27 of axis XX ′. A lic region of the key 11 is engaged in a diametral conduit passing through 28 of the cylinder 27, defined in particular by two parallel planar faces 28a. A pin 33 is engaged in a diametrical bore 32 of the cylinder 22, of axis YY ', perpendicular to the faces 28a, and in a hole 34 of the region 11c, to link the key 11 to the cylinder 27 and allow the key to pivot. 11 relative to the cylinder 27 around the axis YY '. The thicknesses of the conduit 28 and the lic rod are substantially equal with, however, a certain clearance allowing the lic rod to

  slide between the flat faces of the duct 28.

  The duct 28 has, at each end, a flaring marked respectively at 29 and 30, allowing the

  angular movement of the key i1 in the duct 28.

  A pair of half-bearings 26 is formed in two opposite side walls 24 of each half-housing adjacent to the surfaces 19. The assembly forms two bearings

of common axis HH '.

  In addition, the inner face of the fixing wall 25 of the half-housing 17 comprises a bearing 38 constituted by a blind cylindrical housing having for

  axis axis 4 perpendicular to wall 25 (see Figure 3).

  The half-housing 18 has on another internal wall another

  bearing 38 similar to the previous one, also along axis 4.

  The bearings 26 and 38 even have a diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the cylinder 27 and their axes HH 'and 4 are intersecting and perpendicular to each other. During assembly, the cylinder 27 can be mounted as desired in the 11 bearings 26 or in the bearings 38, so as to pivot

  around the axis HH 'or respectively around the axis 4.

  When it pivots around the axis HH ', the axis YY' of pivoting of the key relative to the cylinder 27 coincides with the axis 4 when the cylinder 27 is in the average angular position in the bearings 26. When the cylinder 27 pivots around axis 4, axis YY 'coincides with axis HH' when cylinder 27 is in angular position

average around axis 4.

  Thus, in either orientation of the cylinder 27, the key 11 is movable around the axes HH 'and 4, therefore around any axis located in the plane containing the axes HH' and 4. In the two possible positions of the cylinder 27 in the base 9, the key 11 extends outside the base 9 in a lateral orientation, that is to say parallel to the face 25a, through the same lateral opening 37 as define between them the two half-booters 17, 18 through a side wall 36 parallel to the plane containing the axes HH 'and 4 (see figure

6).

  Thus, the two possible orientations of the crew 11, 27, 33 in the base 9 are essentially distinguished, when the mobile is assembled, in that the key 11 has two orientations at 90 from one another around its longitudinal axis ZZ ', perpendicular to XX' and YY '. These two possible orientations of the key 11 around its longitudinal axis, orientations which are both lateral relative to the fixing faces a of the base 9, allow for a given mounting of the base 9 with the faces 25a perpendicular to the axis 7 two different orientations of the key il and therefore two different orientations of the switch i, namely the orientation shown in Figures 1 to 4 or

  an orientation shown in Figures 8 and 9.

  The switch 1 can still be turned 180 relative to one or other of the above positions, provided that the base 9 is fixed by its other face 25a on

the internal face of the rim 6.

  The opening 37 has a dimension sufficient to allow the passage of the key 11 and its angular movement around the axes XX 'and YY' for both

  possible orientations of cylinder 27.

  When the cylinder 27 is mounted in the bearings 38, it is the pivoting of the cylinder 27 in its bearings 38 which ensures the main pivoting of the key around the axis 4 of FIG. 1. The pivoting of the key 11 in the conduit 28 thanks to pin 33 only serves

  compensate for any inaccuracies in mounting.

  When the cylinder 27 is mounted in the bearings 26, it is the opposite, the main pivoting takes place between the key 11 and the cylinder 27 by means of the pin 33, and the cylinder 27 only pivots in the bearings 26

  to make up for any assembly inaccuracies.

  As already mentioned, the actuating mobile 8 comprises elastic return means of the key 1 towards its central orientation. These means consist of a block of generally parallelepipedal elastomer of form 41, dimensioned to fit into the base 9 so that the bearings 26, 38 are located between the block 41 and

opening 37.

  The block 41 comprises, in its central part, an opening of cruciform section 44 whose entry faces the opening 37 of the base 8. In each orientation of the key 11 around its axis ZZ ', the latter is engaged by its rear end in a respective one of the two branches 46 and 47. When an angular clearance is printed at the outer end lb of the key it around the axis HH 'or 4 and whatever the orientation of the key around its axis ZZ ', the inner end of the key compresses a part of the block 41, and undergoes from the latter a moment of

  reminder to its central orientation.

  Two bosses 41a are provided on either side of the branch 46 which is parallel to the fixing faces a. This increases the stiffness of the block 41 with respect to the movements of the key around the axis 4 when it occupies the branch 46. It thus compensates for the fact that, in this mounting case, the key 11 is supported by its edge, therefore under higher pressure, on the block 41. Two other bosses 41b, whose height increases from the branch 46 to two opposite edges of the block, improve the positioning

of the block in the base 9.

  The rear walls 43 of the half-housings 17, 18 are curved according to a cylinder segment of axis 4

  perpendicular to the fixing face 25a.

  FIGS. 8 and 9 show the case of mounting the cylinder 27 in the bearings 38, respectively in the position of start of penetration of the key (or end of extraction) and in position of total penetration. The successive orientations of the key around the axis 4 are substantially the same as in the example in FIGS. 1 to

4.

Claims (11)

  1. Key actuating mobile (8) for safety switch (1) of the type comprising a passage (2) into which the end of a key (11) can be entered or removed to open or close the switch (1), this mobile comprising a base (9) having a fixing face (25a) to a support such as an electrical cabinet door (5), and with respect to which the key (11) can be mounted in two different orientations in one of which the key extends laterally relative to the fixing face (25a), the key (11) being connected to the base (9) by means of elastic return means (41) allowing an angular movement around a medium position, characterized in that in its other orientation, the key (11) also extends laterally with respect to the fixing face (25a), but is turned 90 around its   longitudinal axis with respect to this fixing face.   2. actuating mobile according to claim 1, characterized in that the elastic return means comprise a block of elastomeric material (41) integral with the base, this block being provided with a   opening (44) in which the key (11) is engaged.   3. Mobile actuator according to claim 1, characterized in that in the base (9) the key is articulated about a first axis (YY ') to a pivoting member (27) which can be mounted in the base with possibility of pivoting around a second axis (XX ') transverse to the first axis (YY') and in that the base (9) internally comprises support means (26, 38) designed to receive the member pivoting (27) as desired in two different positions, the orientations of the first and second axes in the base being, in one of the positions, inverted with respect to their orientations in the other position.   4. Mobile actuator according to claim 3, characterized in that the base (9) comprises two half-housings (17, 18), and the support means comprise in each half-housing a bearing for supporting the pivoting member (27) in one of the positions and two half-bearings (26) for supporting   the pivoting member (27) in the other position.   5. Mobile actuator conforming to one of the   claims 3 or 4, characterized in that the member   pivoting (27) comprises a through conduit (28) in which the key (11) is engaged and retained by a means of lock (33).   6. Mobile actuator according to claim 5, characterized in that the locking means (33) is constituted by a pin allowing the key (11) its movement around the first axis (YY ').   7. actuating mobile according to claim 6, characterized in that the conduit   through (28) has a bi-flared shape.   8. Mobile actuator conforming to one of the   claims 3 to 7, characterized in that the member   pivoting (27) is generally cylindrical.   9. Mobile actuator conforming to one of the   Claims 3 to 8, characterized in that the means for   elastic return comprise a block of elastomeric material integral with the base (41), this block being provided with a cruciform opening (44) defining two substantially flat housings (46, 47), perpendicular to each other, in each of which can penetrate a region   flattened by the key (11c) located in the base (9).   10. Mobile according to one of claims 2   or 9, characterized in that the block of elastomeric material (41) receives a rear end (11c) of the key, the means allowing the angular movement of the key being located between said rear end and a free end (1ia) of the key, intended to enter the corridor (2) of the switch (1).   11. Mobile according to one of claims 1   to 10, characterized in that the base (9) is crossed by two holes (23) for fixing the base to the support (5), at least one of these holes being elongated along a curved line to allow a adjustment in orientation of the base on the support by pivoting about an axis (4)   perpendicular to the fixing face (25a).