MXPA00005260A - Electrical disconnect assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

A disconnect having a switch mounted within an enclosure is presented. The enclosure comprises a base including a rear wall, and first and second sidewalls extending generally perpendicular from opposing side boundaries of the rear wall. The rear wall and first and second sidewalls define an interior compartment of the base for mounting the switch therein. The enclosure further comprises a cover sized to enclose the interior compartment. At least one pair of opposing protrusions extend inwardly from each of the first and second sidewalls. The pair of protrusions abut against opposing ends of the switch to restrain movement of the switch in a generally perpendicular direction and a laterally upward direction to the rear wall of the enclosure, when the disconnect switch is mounted in the disconnect enclosure. A retaining device, e.g., a ground terminal, abuts against the switch and is secured to the rear wall of the enclosure to restrain movement of the switch in a laterally downward di rection.

Description

ELECTRICAL DISCONNECT ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention generally refers to electrical disconnections. More specifically, the present invention relates to a mounting configuration for a disconnect switch assembly in a housing for electrical disconnection. Non-automatic (manual) electrical disconnections are located near the equipment, for example, motors, compressors, motor controls or other electrically driven machinery. The disconnections serve to electrically isolate the equipment from a power supply source, allowing the user to manually activate a disconnect switch and interrupt the circuit that leads the power supply to the equipment. Disconnections protect a user when working on the computer in the course of operations such as; maintenance or replacement of equipment. The disconnections comprise a set of disconnect switch (switch) and related connection equipment, for example; cables, lugs and ground terminals, housed inside a disconnection housing (housing). The switches are presented in a variety of configurations, for example; tilting type and lever type. Disconnections must comply with accepted industry standards, for example, Underwriters' Laboratories standards or National Electrical Code standards, depending on their use. The accommodations for air conditioning disconnections (CA) must comply with Article 430 of the National Electric Code, one of said industry standards. Section 1 of this article stipulates that: "a means of disconnection (disconnection) must be visibly located in the location of the engine and in the location of the driven machinery". This standard ensures that personnel who maintain the air conditioning equipment or refrigeration equipment have complete disconnection control to isolate or reconnect the equipment from the power source. This prevents the equipment from reconnecting to the power source from a remote location while the staff is working on the equipment without your knowledge. Because industrial air conditioning and refrigeration equipment is often located on rooftops or other outdoor locations, the accommodations must be rainproof and environmentally sound so that the components inside the housing can function properly and safely when exposed to various forms of precipitation during external use. During production, disconnections of the prior art are assembled by mounting the disconnect switches in the interior compartment of the housings with a plurality of mounting screws. This method of assembly hardly requires that an inventory of the screws be maintained and controlled for this operation. Additionally, the appropriate production tooling should be used, for example; guns for screws. For these reasons, the use of screws adds significant labor and cost to the production process. Therefore, it is desirable to minimize the number of screws used during assembly. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a disconnection housing for a disconnection is presented. The disconnect has a switch assembly mounted in the housing to manually change the electrical equipment to a source of power supply. The housing comprises a base including a rear wall, first and second side walls extending generally perpendicularly from the opposite lateral limits of the rear wall. The rear wall and the first and second side walls define an interior compartment of the base for mounting the disconnect switch. The housing further comprises a cover sized to house the interior compartment. A first pair of opposed projections extends into the first and second side walls. The first pair of projections abuts the opposite ends of the disconnect switch to restrict movement of the disconnect switch in a direction generally perpendicular to the back wall, when the disconnect switch is mounted on the rear wall. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DIAMETERS Referring now to the drawings in which like elements are similarly numbered in the different Figures: Figure 1 is a front elevational view of an exemplary embodiment of a disconnection of the present invention having a set of rocker switch type; Figure 2 is an exploded view of the disconnection of the Figure 1; Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the disconnection of Figure 1; Figure 4 is an exploded view of an exemplary alternate embodiment of a disconnect in accordance with the present invention having a lever switch type assembly; and Figure 5 is a side elevational view of the disconnection of Figure 4. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION With reference to Figure 1, an exemplary embodiment of a fully assembled disconnect, such as one for air conditioning equipment. or cooling (CA) which is generally shown at 10. Disconnection 10 comprises a swing-away disconnect switch 12 mounted within a disconnection housing 14. Switch 12 serves to isolate the AC equipment from a power supply source , allowing the user to manually interrupt the circuit that carries the power supply to the AC equipment. The disconnection housing 14 comprises a molded plastic base 16 and a cover 18, for example, of a phenylene oxide plastic sold by General Electric under the trademark of "NORLY". The base 16 includes a rear wall 20. A first side wall 22 and a second side wall 24 which extend generally perpendicularly from the upper and lower limits of the rear wall 20 respectively. The rear wall 20, the first side wall 22, the second side wall 24, the top wall 26 and the bottom wall 28 define an interior compartment 30 of the base 16 for mounting the disconnect switch 12 therein. A cover latch 32 is integral with the side wall 24 and extends above it. The cover 18 engages the latch of the cover 32 by the use of a pair of tapered tabs 34 to hold the cover 18 in place. A drive front tab 36 is integral and is positioned in the center line of the bottom wall 28. The tab on the drive front 36 secures a drive front panel 38 (shown in broken line) to the base 16. The panel from the drive front 38 extends from the lower half of the switch 12 to the lower wall 28, thereby covering all exposed components carrying current to protect the personnel from electric shocks when the cover 18 is open. The slot of the capped assembly 40 and the corrugated mounting hole 42 are located in the upper and lower sections of the rear wall 20 respectively to provide a means for mounting the housing 14 to a structural support (not shown).

A plurality of curved members 44 extends outwardly from the side wall 22 to pivotally attach to the cover 18. An upper flange 46 extends outwardly from the top wall 26 to cover the cover 18, when the cover houses the compartment interior 30. The upper flange 46 provides a shield against rain and other forms of precipitation when the AC disconnect 10 is mounted on the outside of a vertical position. A plurality of demountable parts 48 is located in the lower section of the housing 14 to provide electrical access to the interior compartment 30. The cover 18 includes a front panel 50 and a cover flange 52 extending around the periphery of the front panel for coating the walls 20, 22 24 and 26 of the base 16 when the cover is closed and secured to the base. A portion 54 of the front panel is raised to provide a clearance for the disconnect switch 12 when the cover houses the base 16. A latch 56 extends outwardly from the rim 52 and includes an opening 58 for receiving the flange of the cover 32 When the cover 18 is closed, the flange of the cover passes through the latch 56, where the pair of tongues 34 engage the front panel in a press-fit manner to securely release the cover of the base. An axis 60 extends outwardly from an opposite side portion of the rim 52 for pivotally coupling with the curved members 44. The shaft 60 and the curved members 44 form a hinge, which secures and aligns the cover 18 to the base 16.

As best shown in Figure 3, the base 16 includes a plurality of projections 62, 64, 66 and 68 that extend generally perpendicular from each side of the side wall 22 and 24. The projections 62 and 64 they remain in contact with the switch 12 to restrict the movement of the switch in a direction generally perpendicular to the back wall 20, as well as laterally towards the direction of the back wall 20, when the switch 12 is mounted in the housing 14. A terminal 70 earth generally has an "L" shape and is composed • by a flat mounting leg 72 extending along the rear wall 20, and a leg of the terminal 74 extending outwardly from the rear wall. The ground terminal 70 is screwed to the mounting hole 76 by means of a mounting screw 78 through the mounting leg. The leg of the terminal 74 contains a pair of lugs of the terminal 80 for connecting the ground wires therein. The ground terminal 70 functions not only as an electrical ground, but additionally as a • retention device. A lower edge 82 of the switch 12 abuts the mounting leg 72 of the ground terminal 70 for restricting the movement of the disconnect switch 12 in a downward direction laterally to the rear wall 20. Conveniently, the projections 62 and 64 reduce the number of screws needed to mount the switch 12 to the housing 14 between two. Other disconnections of the prior art require two mounting screws (not shown) to secure the switch 12 to the wall 20 through a pair of switch mounting holes 84. The disconnect switch 12, shown in Figure 1, is of the swinging type . The tilt-type disconnect switch 12 comprises a generally rectangular switch base 86, a swing arm 88 having sliding contacts (not shown), a pair of line lugs 90 and a pair of load lugs 92. The current leads of line (not shown) enter the housing 14 through the demountable parts 48 and are connected to ground through the leg of the terminal 74 of the ground terminal 70. When the swingarm 88 is in the "on" position ", the sliding contacts of the rocker 88 provide continuity between the line lugs 90 and the loading lugs 92 respectively. When the swingarm 88 is in the "off" position, the slide contacts of the swingarm 88 interrupt continuity with the lugs 90 and the charging lugs 92 to interrupt the flow of current and provide electrical isolation to the air conditioning equipment and to the cooling. With reference to Figures 2 and 3, the base of switch 86 of switch 12 is generally rectangular in shape. The base 86 has an upper surface 93 in the direction of the upper wall 26, and the lower surface 94 abutting the rear wall 20 when the switch 12 is mounted to the housing 14. The base 86 includes the opposite side surfaces 96 and 98, which extend generally perpendicular to the lower surface 94. A pair of rectangular mounting tabs 100 of the base 86 extend outward from the surfaces 96 and 98 at a predetermined distance to define the total width of the base 86 approximately equal at the distance between the side walls 22 and 24 of the base 16. The tabs of the base 100 have an upper side surface 102 in the direction of the upper wall 26 and the upper surface 104 which is in the outward direction when the switch 12 is mounted to the rear wall 20. The side surface 102 of the mounting tabs 100 abuts the projection 62, and with the upper surface 104 which in turn abuts the projection 64 when the switch 12 is mounted to the housing 14.

The switch 12 is mounted to the housing 14, first placing the lower surface 94 of the switch flush with the lower section of the rear wall 20 of the housing. Then, the switch 12 slides sideways up until the side surface 102 of the tabs 12 engages each projection 62 to restrict any further movement of the switch 12 in a laterally upward direction. Simultaneously, the upper surface 104 of the tabs 100 slides under each projection 64 to restrain some further movement of the switch 12 perpendicular to the back wall 20. The ground terminal 70 is secured to the mounting hole 76 with the mounting screw 78. The mounting leg 72 of the ground terminal 70 abuts on the upper part to the lower edge 82 of the base of the switch 86 to restrict lateral movements in the downward direction of the switch 12, and to securely mount the switch 12 Within the housing 14. The switch 12 is of a prior art design so that it is mounted to other prior art housings by means of mounting screws through the mounting holes 84 of the base 86 switch. projections 62 and 64 of the housing 14 of the present invention conveniently replace the use of the mounting screws through the mounting holes 84 of the i switch. Therefore, the time and labor required to mount the switch 12 to the housing 14 are significantly reduced in relation to the other disconnections of the prior art. With reference to Figures 4 and 5, an alternative exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown using a lever-type disconnect switch 106. The switch 106 generally comprises a rectangular base 108, removable head 1 10, the pair of line lugs 90, and the pair of loading lugs 92. The removable head 1 1 0 has a set of blades (not shown) that function very similarly to the sliding contacts of the swingarm 88. This occurs when the removable head is fully inserted into base 108 in the "on" position, removable blades provide continuity between line lugs 90 and loading lugs 92.

When the removable head is removed, rotated 180E and reinserted into the base 108 (the "off" position), continuity is interrupted between the lugs of line 90 and the • loading lugs 92. The removable base 108 comprises a top surface 1 12, which is in the direction of the upper wall 26, and a lower surface 1 14 which is mounted flush with the rear wall 20. The base 108 further includes a pair of opposite side surfaces 1 16, which extend generally perpendicular to the bottom surface 1 14. A pair of A-shaped mounting tabs 1 18 of the base 108 extend outwardly from the surfaces 1 16 at a predetermined distance to define the total width of the base 108 approximately equal at the distance between the side walls 22 and 24 of the base 16. The flanges 1 18 have a leg vertical 120 extending along the lower edge of the surfaces 1 16, and a horizontal leg 122 extending along the lower edge of the surfaces 98. The horizontal legs 122 have an upper side surface 124 , which are in the direction of the upper wall 26. The vertical legs 120 have an upper surface 126, which is in the outward direction when the switch 106 is mounted to the rear wall 20. The lateral surface 124 of the horizontal leg 122 abuts the projection 66, and with the upper surface 126 of the vertical leg 120 which in turn abuts the ledges 66 and 68 when the switch 106 is mounted to the housing 14.

The detachable switch 106 is mounted to the housing 14 by first placing the lower surface 14 of the switch flush with the lower section of the rear wall 20 of the housing. The switch 106 then slides sideways up until the lateral surface 124 of the horizontal leg 122 engages the projection 66 to restrict any further movement of the switch 106 in a laterally upward direction. Simultaneously, the projections 66 and 68 slide on the upper surface 126 of the vertical leg 120 to restrict any other movement of the switch 106 perpendicular to the rear wall 20. The ground terminal 70 is secured to the mounting hole 76 with the mounting screw 78. The mounting leg 72 of the ground terminal 70 abuts a lower edge 128 of the base of the switch 108 to restrict movement in the laterally downward direction of the switch 106, and securely mount the switch 106 within the housing 14. The switch 106 is of prior art design so that it is mounted to other prior art housings by means of mounting screws through a pair of switch mounting holes 130, located on the vertical legs 120 of the base 108. The projections 66 and 68 of the housing 14 of the present invention advantageously replace the use of the mounting screws through the holes d. and assembling the switch 130. Therefore, the time and labor required to mount the switch 106 to the housing 14 is significantly reduced to prior art AC disconnections. In another alternate exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the upper surface 12 of the lever-type disconnect switch • 106 is mounted flush with the upper wall 26. Because the upper wall 26 serves as a restriction for upward lateral movement, the projection 66 is removed. The projection 68 is located on the upper surface 126 of the vertical leg 120, and restricts the movement of the switch 106 generally perpendicular to the rear wall 26. Additionally, the mounting leg 72 of the • 10 ground terminal 70 abuts the lower edge 128 of the base of the switch 108 to restrict the movements in the laterally downward direction of the switch 106, and to securely mount the switch 106 within the housing 14. In this embodiment, the Outgoing 68 is the only projection required to mount the switch 106 to the housing 14 securely. Similarly, in another alternative exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the mounting holes 84 of the switch • tilting disengagement 12 are eliminated, and upper surface 93 of switch 12 is mounted flush with upper wall 26. A The cause of which the upper wall 26 serves as the restriction for lateral movement upwards, the projection 62 is eliminated. In this embodiment, the projection 64 is the only projection necessary to ensure the mounting of the switch 12 to the housing 14. While the exemplary embodiments apply to the For disconnections having molded plastic housings, those skilled in the art could also recognize that the housing can be constructed of other materials, for example, with metal. In metal housings, protrusions can be formed by such processes as die-cutting and welding. Even though the preferred embodiments have been shown and described, various modifications or substitutions may be made therein, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is understood that the present invention has been described by means of illustrations and not limitations.

Claims (24)

1. CLAIMS 1. A disconnection housing of a disconnection, the disconnection has a disconnection switch mounted in the housing to manually disconnect the electrical equipment from a power supply source; the disconnection housing comprises: a base including, a rear wall, and the first and second side walls which extend generally perpendicularly from the opposite lateral limits of the rear wall, the rear wall and the first and second side walls define an interior compartment of the base for mounting the disconnect switch thereof, each of the side walls, the first and second, having a first pair of opposite projections extending inwards, wherein the first pair of projections abuts with the opposite ends of the disconnect switch for restricting the movement of the disconnect switch in a direction generally perpendicular to the rear wall, when the disconnect switch is mounted in the disconnect housing; and a cover measured to house the interior compartment. The housing of claim 1, wherein the first pair of projections restrain additional movement of the disconnect switch in a laterally upward direction of the rear wall. 3. The housing of claim 1, wherein each of the first and second side walls further includes a second pair of projections extending toward • inside where the second pair of projections abuts the 5 opposite ends of the disconnect switch to restrict movement of the disconnect switch in a direction laterally inward of the rear wall. 4. The housing of claim 3, wherein each of the first and second side walls includes • additionally a third pair of inwardly extending projections wherein the third pair of projections abuts the opposite ends of the second disconnect switch to restrict movement of the second disconnect switch in a direction perpendicular to the rear wall, when the second switch 15 disconnection is mounted in the disconnection housing. 5. The housing of claim 4, wherein each of the first and second side walls further includes a fourth pair of projections extending inwardly wherein the fourth pair of projections abuts the ends 20 opposite of the second disconnect switch for restricting movement of the second disconnect switch in a laterally upward direction of the rear wall. The housing of claim 1, further comprising a retaining device secured to the wall 25, wherein the retention device abuts the disconnect switch to restrict the movement of the disconnect switch in a laterally downward direction of the rear wall 7. The housing of claim 6, wherein the retention device comprises a ground terminal mounted to the rear wall. The housing of claim 1, wherein the base further comprises an upper wall extending generally perpendicular from a boundary of the rear wall, wherein the upper wall restricts the movement of the disconnect switch in a laterally upward direction to the back wall. 9. The housing of claim 4, wherein; the disconnect switch comprises a tilting disconnect switch; and the second disconnect switch comprises a detachable disconnect switch. The housing of claim 1, wherein the housing is formed of at least one molded polymeric material and a metallic material. eleven . A disconnection to manually disconnect the electrical equipment from a power supply source, the disconnection comprises: a disconnect switch; and accommodation that includes: a base that includes; a rear wall having a disconnect switch mounted thereon; and the first and second side walls extending generally perpendicular to the opposite lateral limits of the rear wall, the rear wall, and the first and second side walls define an interior compartment of the base, each of the first and the second. second side walls have a first pair of opposing projections extending inwardly, wherein the first pair of projections abuts the opposite ends of the disconnect switch to restrict movement of the disconnect switch in a direction generally perpendicular to the rear wall, when the disconnect switch is mounted in the housing, and a cover measured to be accommodated in the interior compartment. 12. The disconnect of claim 1, wherein the first pair of projections further restrict the movement of the disconnect switch in a direction laterally upward to the rear wall. 13. The disconnect of claim 1, wherein each of the first and second side walls further includes a second pair of projections extending inwardly; wherein the second pair of projections abuts the opposite ends of the disconnect switch to restrict movement of the disconnect switch in a laterally upward direction of the rear wall. 14. The disconnect of claim 13, wherein each of the first and second side walls further includes a third pair of projections extending inwardly; wherein the third pair of projections abuts the opposite ends of a second disconnect switch to restrict movement of the second disconnect switch in a direction generally perpendicular to the rear wall, where the second disconnect switch is mounted in the disconnect housing . The disconnect of claim 14, wherein each of the first and second side walls further includes a fourth pair of projections extending inwardly; wherein the fourth pair of projections abuts the opposite ends of a second disconnect switch to restrict movement of the second disconnect switch in a laterally upward direction of the rear wall. 16. The disconnect of claim 1, further comprises a retention device to the rear wall, wherein the retention device abuts the disconnect switch to restrict movement of the disconnect switch in a laterally downward direction of the wall later. The disconnect of claim 16, wherein the retaining device comprises a ground terminal mounted to the rear wall. 18. The disconnect of claim 1, wherein the base further comprises an upper wall extending generally perpendicular from an upper limit of the rear wall, wherein the upper wall restricts movement of the disconnect switch in a laterally upward direction of the back wall. 19. The disconnect of claim 14, wherein the disconnect switch comprises a swing disconnect switch; and the second disconnect switch comprises a detachable disconnect switch. The disconnect of claim 1, wherein the housing is formed of at least one molded polymeric material and a metallic material. twenty-one . The disconnect of claim 1, wherein the disconnect switch further includes: a base of the switch that includes a pair of mounting tabs extending outwardly from the base of the switch to a predetermined distance, the tabs having a first surface to abut the first pair of projections to restrict movement of the disconnect switch in the generally perpendicular direction from the rear wall of the base. 22. The disconnection of claim 13, wherein the disconnect switch further includes: a base of the switch that includes a pair of mounting tabs that extend outwardly from the base of the switch to a predetermined distance, the tabs have a first surface to abut the first pair of projections for restricting the movement of the disconnect switch in the generally perpendicular direction from the rear wall of the base, and having a second surface to abut the second pair of projections to restrict movement of the disconnect switch in the laterally upward direction . The disconnect of claim 14, wherein the second disconnect switch further includes: a base of the switch that includes a pair of mounting tabs extending outwardly from the base of the switch at a predetermined distance, the tabs having a first surface to abut the third pair of projections to restrict movement of the second disconnect switch in the generally perpendicular direction from the rear wall of the base. 24. The disconnect of claim 15, wherein the second disconnect switch further includes: a pair of mounting tabs extending outwardly from the base of the switch at a predetermined distance, the tabs having a first surface to abut the third pair of projections for restricting the movement of the second disconnect switch in the generally perpendicular direction from the rear wall of the base, and having a second surface for abutting the fourth pair of projections to restrict movement of the second disconnect switch in the lateral direction upwards. RESU MEN A disconnection is presented that has a switch mounted in a housing. The housing comprises a base including a rear wall, and first and second side walls extending generally perpendicular from the opposite lateral limits of the rear wall. The rear wall and the first and second side walls define an interior compartment of the base to mount the switch. The housing further comprises a cover measured to house the interior compartment. For the At least one pair of opposing protrusions extend into each of the first and second side walls. The pair of projections that abut the ends of the switch to restrict the movement of the switch in a generally perpendicular direction and a laterally upward direction 15 of the rear wall of the housing, when the disconnect switch is mounted in the disconnect housing. A holding device, for example; a ground terminal, abuts the switch and is secured to the rear wall of the housing to restrict the movement of the switch in a 20 direction laterally downwards. * ** «" ^ - ^ - * - - '"-