DE20119837U1 - Strain relief unit for heavy, high-voltage flat cables, comprises saddle clipping over top hat mounting rail, with recess to accommodate cable. - Google Patents

Abstract

The saddle holder (6) clips over the support rail (5), which is especially a top hat rail. The holder includes a recess accommodating the flat cable (2). It grips around the cable which lies against the rail, relieving stresses acting on the cable.

Description

Strain relief device, especially for ribbon cables

The invention relates to a strain relief device, in particular for ribbon cables.

In the case of ribbon cables, in particular heavy ribbon cables for transmitting high voltage, which preferably have several individual conductors arranged next to one another in a row or several individual cables arranged in a row, each with several conductors, which are combined to form an overlapping ribbon cable by means of an overlapping insulation, there is a need for a strain relief device with a simple design.

The object of the invention is therefore to create a structurally simple strain relief device for ribbon cables.

The invention solves this problem by the subject matter of claim 1.

It provides a strain relief device for ribbon cables on mounting rails, with a retaining bracket that can be attached to the mounting rail, in particular a top hat rail, wherein the retaining bracket has locking means for locking onto the mounting rail and a slot that points towards the mounting rail in the mounted state and is designed to accommodate a

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Registration text dated 05.12.2001 Page 2

Flat ribbon cable recess which overlaps the flat ribbon cable placed on the mounting rail and clamps it to the mounting rail.

The invention makes it possible to easily repair ribbon cables - and in particular ribbon cables that have already been laid - even after

The strain relief device has a simple design and consists of a retaining bracket with a recess that fixes the ribbon cable directly to the mounting rail in a strain-relieving manner.
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The retaining bracket is conveniently provided with spring bars that protrude towards the mounting rail to clamp the ribbon cable more firmly to the mounting rail.

Advantageously, the contact pressure of the spring bars on the ribbon cable can be adjusted using a screw.

Particularly preferably, the retaining bracket is provided with means, in particular recesses, for attaching functional elements.

According to another variant of the invention, an attachment part is designed in such a way that a ribbon cable can be placed and fixed on it when it is snapped onto the mounting rail.

The attachment part expediently has a recess which is formed on the outer side of the retaining bracket facing away from the support rail and which extends perpendicular to the support rail in such a way that the ribbon cable can be inserted into the recess perpendicular to the plane of the support rail.

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Registration text dated 05.12.2001 Page 3

Preferably, one or more inserts are inserted into the recess in order to easily adapt the recess to a given cable geometry.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention can be found in the subclaims.

The invention is described in more detail below using exemplary embodiments with reference to the figures. It shows:
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Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first

Strain relief device which secures a ribbon cable to a

DIN rail;

a perspective view of the strain relief device from Figure 1 without modules inserted into it;

a view of the strain relief device from Figure 1 rotated by 180° compared to Figure 2a, together with modules inserted into the strain relief device;

a second strain relief device according to the invention, which fixes a ribbon cable to a top-hat rail;

a perspective view of the strain relief device from Figure 3 a, rotated by 180°;

Figure 4 shows a third embodiment of a strain relief device;

Figure 5 a, b a section through and a side view of the

Strain relief device from Figure 4;

15 Figure 2a Figure 2b 20 Figure 3 a 25 Figure 3b

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Registration text from 05.12.2001

Figure 6 a, b two different views of a

strain relief device;

fourth

Figure 7, 8

different views

strain relief device;

one

fifth

Figure 9 Figure 10

the swivelling of the bracket from Fig. 3 onto a mounting rail when attaching a ribbon cable;

a view of the strain relief device from Fig. 1 with inserts.

Figure 1 shows a strain relief device 1 for securing a cable, in particular a ribbon cable 2, to a support rail 5. The ribbon cable has a plurality of individual cables 3 arranged next to one another in at least one row, each of which has a cylindrical cross-section and can each consist of a plurality of individual lines 4. The entirety of the individual cables is surrounded by an external insulation 10.

Such a heavy ribbon cable is used, for example, to transmit electrical energy in the high-voltage range.

According to Figure 1, the ribbon cable 2 rests directly with one of its two main outer sides on the support rail 5 designed as a top hat rail. According to Figure 1, the ribbon cable is aligned perpendicular to the support rail 5 with regard to its longitudinal extension. It rests flat on both fastening legs 5a and 5b of the support rail 5.

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Registration text dated 05.12.2001 Page 5

The ribbon cable 2 resting on the support rail 5 is covered by a retaining bracket 6 which - as can be seen particularly well in Figure 2 - is essentially U-shaped, wherein the recess 7 formed between the two longitudinal legs 6a and 6b and the base leg 6c is designed to accommodate the ribbon cable 2.

In the area of the ends of its two longitudinal legs 6a and 6b (see also Figure 2), the retaining bracket 6 is provided with two locking recesses 8a and 8b, which serve to fix the longitudinal legs 6a and 6b of the retaining bracket 6 twice to the two opposite locking legs 5a and 5b of the top hat rail 5.

The base leg 6c is provided with webs 9 on its side facing the mounting rail 5, which press into the outer insulation 10 of the ribbon cable 2 and thus increase the clamping effect on the mounting rail 5.

A particular advantage of the strain relief device 1 according to the invention is that it can be easily retrofitted even to ribbon cables 2 that are already installed in the control cabinet, without the ends of the ribbon cable 2 having to be loosened. It is only necessary to lay the ribbon cable 2 on the support rail 5 and then put the strain relief device 1 with the retaining bracket 6 over the ribbon cable 2 and lock the two spring-loaded locking recesses 8a and 8b on the two legs 6a and 6b of the retaining bracket 6 on the support rail 5.

An additional special feature of the strain relief device 1 according to Figure 1 is that the retaining bracket 6 is advantageously provided on its upper side with recesses 11 for receiving a frame part 12, which is designed to receive additional functional elements independent of the strain relief device 1.

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Registration text dated 05.12.2001 Page 6

According to Figures 1 and 2, the frame part 12 is intended to be used for inserting two module elements 13, 14, which can be parts of connectors or other electrical modules, for example. The particular advantage of this idea is that the space used for the strain relief on the support rail 5 in the control cabinet can be used not only for attaching the strain relief device 1, but also for accommodating additional functional elements such as connector parts, module elements and the like.

Figure 3 shows a variant of the invention in which the strain relief device 1 does not have the option of attaching additional functional elements.

Here, a simple U-shaped retaining bracket 6, which can be designed as a plastic injection-molded part or, particularly simply, as a sheet metal stamped/bent part, is placed over the ribbon cable 2 and locked to the support rail 5 with its four locking recesses 8a and 8b, two of which are provided on each longitudinal leg 6a and 6b.

On its side facing the mounting rail 5, the retaining bracket 6 is provided with two spring bars 15, 16, which can be punched out of the retaining bracket 6 and press the ribbon cable 2 against the mounting rail 5 by their spring action.

Fig. 9 illustrates the easy and uncomplicated pivoting of the retaining bracket 6 “with just one hand movement” onto a support rail.

The embodiment of Figure 4 corresponds in terms of its basic structure to that of Figure 3, i.e. it again has a retaining bracket 6 preferably designed as a sheet metal stamped/bent part, whereby, however, the two longitudinal legs 6a and 6b of the retaining bracket 6 are additionally connected to the base leg of the

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Registration text dated 05.12.2001 Page 7

The top hat rail 5 is provided with projections 17 which rest on the top hat rail 5 and which each have a screw hole 18 to which the retaining bracket 6 can be screwed immovably to the mounting rail 5 or directly to a wall. In addition, the base leg 6c of the retaining bracket 6 is provided with projections 19, 20 on its two outer sides which are perpendicular to the connecting line of the longitudinal legs 6a and 6b, which are bent by 180° in the direction of the mounting rail 5 after the retaining bracket 6 has been punched out, so that they in turn form spring legs 21 for securing the ribbon cable 2 to the mounting rail 5. By means of a screw 22, which passes through the base leg 6c of the retaining bracket 6 and rests on the bent projections 19, 20, the contact pressure of the projections 19, 20, which in turn serve as spring legs, on the ribbon cable 2 can be increased (see also Figure 5).

The embodiments of Figures 6 and 7 have a different structure.

According to Figures 6 and 7, an attachment part 28 is provided instead of the retaining bracket 6, which is first placed directly on the support rail 5 and locked there with locking recesses, whereupon the ribbon cable 2 is then placed on the attachment part 28 and screwed or locked there using a terminal block 23 and screws 24. In addition, fastening can be achieved using clamping bands 25, which grip both recesses 26 of the attachment part 28 and the ribbon cable 2 and fix it to the attachment part 28.

A similar embodiment is shown in Figure 7. Here, however, the ribbon cable 2 does not lie perpendicularly on the attachment part 28, but the attachment part 28 has a recess 27, which enables the heavy ribbon cable 2 to be aligned not only perpendicularly to the direction of the support rail extension, but also at an angle, in particular perpendicular to the support rail plane. The ribbon cable 2 or the row of individual cables of the ribbon cable 2 arranged next to one another is thus perpendicular to the support rail plane. The attachment to the attachment part 28 is again preferably carried out by means of clamping bands 25 or other, not shown here,

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Registration text dated 05.12.2001 Page 8

According to Figures 6 to 8, the attachment part 28 is preferably designed as a plastic injection-molded part.

Fig. 10 shows that the retaining brackets 6 of the various designs, in particular the retaining brackets of Fig. 1, can be used for ribbon cables of different dimensions. If the recess 7 is a little too large for a ribbon cable, it is advisable to reduce the space of the recess 7 by one or more inserts 29 that can be inserted or plugged into the recess 7 in order to achieve optimum adaptation to the respective cable geometry. The inserts 29 can be plate-shaped or have a geometry adapted to the geometry of the ribbon cable.

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Registration text from 05.12.2001

Reference symbol Strain relief device 1 Ribbon cable 2 Single cable 3 Single lines 4 Support rail 5 Mounting leg 5a and 5b Retaining bracket 6 Longitudinal leg 6a and 6b Base leg 6c Recess 7 Recesses 8a and 8b Bridges 9 insulation 10 Recesses 11 Frame part 12 Module elements 13,14 Spring bars 15,16 Projections 17 Screw hole 18 Projections 19,20 Spring leg 21 screw 22 Terminal block 23 Screws 24 Clamping bands 25 Recesses 26 Recess 27 Attachment part 28 Insert 29

Claims (12)

1. Strain relief device, in particular for ribbon cables, with a retaining bracket ( 6 ) which can be fastened to a support rail (S), in particular a top hat rail, and which has locking means ( 8 ) for locking to the support rail ( 5 ) and a recess ( 7 ) which, in the assembled state, points towards the support rail (S) and is designed to receive the ribbon cable ( 2 ), which engages over the ribbon cable ( 2 ) placed on the support rail ( 5 ) and fixes it to the support rail ( 5 ) in a strain-relieving manner. 2. Strain relief device according to claim 1, characterized in that the retaining bracket ( 6 ) has a substantially U-shape in cross section. 3. Strain relief device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the retaining bracket ( 6 ) is designed as a plastic injection-molded part or as a sheet metal stamped and bent part. 4. Strain relief device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the inner side of the retaining bracket ( 6 ) facing the support rail ( 5 ) is provided with webs ( 9 ) for clamping the ribbon cable ( 2 ) to the support rail ( 5 ). 5. Strain relief device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the retaining bracket ( 6 ) is provided with spring bars ( 15 , 16 ) projecting towards the support rail ( 5 ) for clamping the ribbon cable ( 2 ) to the support rail ( 5 ). 6. Strain relief device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the contact pressure of the spring bars ( 15 , 16 ) on the ribbon cable is adjustable by means of a screw ( 22 ). 7. Strain relief device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the retaining bracket ( 6 ) is provided with means, in particular recesses ( 11 ) for placing, in particular latching, functional elements. 8. Strain relief device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the functional elements which can be snapped onto the retaining bracket ( 6 ) have a frame part ( 12 ), in particular for receiving module elements ( 13 , 14 ). 9. Strain relief device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the retaining bracket ( 6 ) is provided with means for screwing the retaining bracket ( 6 ) to the support rail ( 5 ). 10. Strain relief device, in particular according to one of the preceding claims, with an attachment part ( 28 ), characterized in that the attachment part ( 28 ) is designed such that a ribbon cable ( 2 ) can be placed and fixed on it - in the state latched onto the support rail ( 5 ). 11. Strain relief device according to claim 10, characterized in that the attachment part ( 28 ) has a recess ( 27 ) which is formed on the outside of the retaining bracket ( 6 ) facing away from the support rail ( 5 ) and which extends perpendicular to the support rail ( 5 ) in such a way that the ribbon cable ( 2 ) can be inserted into the recess ( 28 ) at an angle, in particular perpendicular to the plane of the support rail ( 5 ). 12. Strain relief device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that one or more insert pieces ( 29 ) are inserted into the recess ( 7 ) in order to adapt the recess ( 7 ) to a predetermined cable geometry.