Support assembly for an electrical terminal housing

US4878859A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• C. A. Weidmuller GmbH & Co. · DE

Inventors

• Bernd Haller · Rastede, DE
• Ernst Herkner · Lemgo, DE
• Peter E. Murray · Detmold, DE
• Volker Riesenberg · Detmold, DE
• Michael Schnatwinkel · Herford, DE
• Rainer Schulze · Detmold, DE
• Georg Wagner · Chieming, DE
• Manfred Wilmes · Detmold, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Dec 16, 1988
• Grant date: Nov 7, 1989
• Expiry date: Dec 16, 2008

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H02B1/0523
• WIPO field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

An assembly for supporting an electrical terminal housing on a carrier rail is provided, including a pair of slide members connected with a guide portion of the housing for sliding movement between latched and released positions. The thickness of the guide is slightly greater than the thickness of the slide members to define a gap therebetween. Each of the slide members includes a lower hook portion engaging a leg of the carrier rail when the slide members are in the latched position to connect the terminal housing with the rail, and a spring is connected with the slide members for normally biasing the hook portions toward the latched position. A first abutment is connected with the housing and a second abutment is connected with the slide members, the second abutment being normally vertically offset from the first abutment by a distance corrsponding with the thickness of the gap. When the housing is lifted with respect to the slide members, the gap is closed and the first and second abutments are arranged opposite each other to prevent lateral movement of the slide members toward the released positions, thereby to prevent unintentional removal of the terminal housing from the carr…