Electromagnetic contactor

Abstract

To provide an electromagnetic contactor that can simultaneously provide an operation display unit protection function and a charging unit protection function.SOLUTION: An opening 9 provided in a housing 4 is covered by a connecting piece 25 connected to the housing. Power supply side and load side terminals 6a to 6d, 7a to 7d provided in a housing 2B are covered by a flat protective cover 26 connected to the connecting piece 25.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an electromagnetic contactor having a detachable protective cover for protecting a terminal portion. [Background technology]

[0002] The top cover of the electromagnetic contactor is provided with primary and secondary terminals, and an opening is formed between the primary and secondary terminals. A contact support for a contact mechanism fixed to a movable iron core of an electromagnet unit is disposed inside the housing of the electromagnetic contactor, and an operating protrusion of the contact support appears and disappears in the opening, thereby functioning as an operating indicator.

[0003] The electromagnetic contactor of Patent Document 1 has a first protective cover (operation display protective cover) that covers the opening of the operation display unit and is removably attached to the top cover, and has an operation display unit protection function that prevents dust from entering the contact mechanism inside the housing through the opening, or prevents erroneous operation of the operation display unit of the contact support of the contact mechanism.

[0004] In addition, the electromagnetic contactor of Patent Document 2 has a second protective cover (livery unit protective cover) that covers the primary and secondary terminal portions and is removably attached to the periphery of the opening of the top cover, and has a livery unit protection function that prevents electric shock to the primary and secondary terminal portions. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5-290705 [Patent Document 2] JP 2000-113791 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, as shown in Patent Documents 1 and 2, a conventional electromagnetic contactor is equipped with either a first protective cover or a second protective cover, and cannot simultaneously have an operation indicator protection function and a live section protection function.

[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide an electromagnetic contactor that can simultaneously have an operation display unit protection function and a charging unit protection function. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an electromagnetic contactor according to one embodiment of the present invention has a contact mechanism and an electromagnetic device disposed inside a housing, power supply side and load side terminal portions and openings formed in the housing, and an operation indicator provided on a contact support of the contact mechanism appears and disappears inside the opening by on / off driving of the electromagnetic device, and a connecting piece covering the opening is removably attached to the housing, and the connecting piece is formed with a piece opening through which the operation indicator can be viewed from the outside, and is provided with a cover connecting portion for removably connecting a flat protective cover which covers the power supply side and load side terminal portions. Effect of the Invention

[0009] The electromagnetic contactor of the present invention has a protective cover connected to the housing via a connecting piece that covers the terminal portions on the power supply side and the load side, so that it can simultaneously have an operation indicator protection function that prevents dust from entering the contact mechanism inside the housing through the opening or prevents erroneous operation of the operation indicator of the contact mechanism, and a charging part protection function that prevents electric shock to the primary and secondary terminal portions. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a state in which a connecting piece and a protective cover are connected to an electromagnetic contactor in the first embodiment according to the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a front view of the electromagnetic contactor. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a view taken along line AA in FIG. 2. [Figure 4]FIG. 3 is a view taken along line BB in FIG. 2. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the shape of a connecting piece used in the first embodiment. [Figure 6] 4 is a cross-sectional view of a main portion showing a state in which a part of a connecting piece is inserted into a cover opening of the electromagnetic contactor in the first embodiment. FIG. [Figure 7] 4 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a state in which a connecting piece is connected to an arc-extinguishing cover of an electromagnetic contactor in the first embodiment. FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which a protective cover is connected to an electromagnetic contactor via a connecting piece in the first embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view showing a state in which a connecting piece and a protective cover are connected to an electromagnetic contactor in a second embodiment according to the present invention. [Figure 10] FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing the shape of a connecting piece used in the second embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a state in which a protective cover is connected to an electromagnetic contactor via a connecting piece in the second embodiment. [Figure 12] 13 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a protective cover is connected to a housing of an electromagnetic contactor via a connecting piece in a second embodiment. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description of the drawings, the same or similar parts are given the same or similar reference numerals. However, it should be noted that the drawings are schematic, and the relationship between thickness and planar dimensions, the thickness ratio of each layer, etc., differ from the actual ones. Therefore, the specific thickness and dimensions should be determined with reference to the following description. In addition, it goes without saying that the drawings include parts with different dimensional relationships and ratios.

[0012] In addition, the embodiments shown below are merely examples of devices and methods for embodying the technical idea of ​​the present invention, and the technical idea of ​​the present invention does not specify the materials, shapes, structures, arrangements, etc. of the components to those described below. The technical idea of ​​the present invention can be modified in various ways within the technical scope defined by the claims.

[0013] In addition, terms indicating directions such as "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," and "right" used in the following description are used with reference to the directions in the accompanying drawings. [First embodiment]

[0014] As shown in Fig. 1, the electromagnetic contactor 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention has a housing made up of a first frame 2A and a second frame 2B made of electrically insulating synthetic resin. The housing according to the present invention corresponds to the second frame 2B and the arc-extinguishing cover.

[0015] The first frame 2A is a rectangular cylinder with a bottom, and mounting plates 3 are formed at the four corners of the rear end. The second frame 2B is a rectangular cylinder with an open rear end, and an arc-extinguishing cover 4 that covers a contact mechanism 10 (described later) is detachably attached to the front end. As shown in FIG. 2, power supply terminals 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d and a coil terminal 8 are formed on the upper side of the second frame 2B. Load terminals 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d are formed on the lower side of the second frame 2B. The electromagnetic contactor 1 is arranged in a switchboard (not shown) by fixing the fixing screws that pass through the mounting plate 3 to a switchboard or the like that is attached to a wall.

[0016] 3 shows the internal structure of the electromagnetic contactor 1, which includes a contact mechanism 10 mounted in the second frame 2B, and an electromagnet unit 12 mounted in the first frame 2A and serving as an electromagnet device for turning the contact mechanism 10 on and off. The electromagnet unit 12 includes a fixed core 13 disposed on the bottom side of the first frame 2A, a movable core 14 disposed with its armature surface 14a facing the armature surface 13a of the fixed core 13, an electromagnetic coil 15 disposed by being inserted into a central protruding portion 13b of the fixed core 13, and a return spring 16 disposed between the front side of the electromagnetic coil 15 and the movable core 14. The electromagnetic coil 15 has a bobbin 21 and a winding 22 wound around the cylindrical portion of the bobbin 21.

[0017] The contact mechanism 10 comprises multiple sets of power supply side fixed contactors 18a and load side fixed contactors 18b fixed to the second frame 2B and arranged in a row in the left-right direction, a contact support 19 mounted inside the second frame 2B so as to be freely movable in the front-to-rear direction, and multiple movable contactors 20 supported by the contact support 19 and moving in the front-to-rear direction so that movable contacts 20a, 20b can be brought into contact with and separated from fixed contacts 18a1 of the multiple sets of power supply side fixed contactors 18a and fixed contacts 18b1 of the multiple sets of load side fixed contacts 18b.

[0018] As shown in Fig. 2, a rectangular cover opening 9 is formed in the arc-extinguishing cover 4 attached to the second frame 2B. An operation indicator 23, which is an operation indicator, and a pair of frame protrusions 24a, 24b are arranged inside the cover opening 9. A pair of anti-rotation grooves 5a, 5b extending linearly downward and parallel to each other are formed on the lower edge of the opening 9. The opening according to the present invention corresponds to the cover opening 9.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 4, the operation indicator 23 is integrally formed on the upper part of the contact support 19, and appears and disappears toward the opening 9 as the contact support 19 moves forward and backward during the opening and closing operation of the electromagnetic contactor 1, and functions as an operation indicator of the electromagnetic contactor 1. Note that, during the opening operation of the electromagnetic contactor 1, the operation indicator 23 moves to a position where it does not protrude outside the opening 9 (to the front side of the arc-extinguishing cover 4). As shown in FIG. 4, the pair of frame protrusions 24a, 24b are formed integrally with the second frame 2B, separated from the operation indicator 23 in the left-right direction. One frame protrusion 24a has a tip bent to the right to form a first engagement recess 24a1. The other frame protrusion 24b also has a tip bent to the left to form a first engagement recess 24b1. Note that the housing engagement portion according to the present invention corresponds to the first engagement recess 24a1 and the first engagement recess 24b1.

[0020] Reference numeral 25 in FIG. 1 denotes a connecting piece that is connected to the opening 9 of the electromagnetic contactor 1, and reference numeral 26 in FIG. 1 denotes a protective cover that covers the power supply side terminals 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, the load side terminals 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d, and the connecting piece 25 from the front.

[0021] The connecting piece 25 is made of electrically insulating synthetic resin, and as shown in Figs. 5(a) and (b), includes a rectangular plate-shaped piece body 27 and a piece opening 28 formed by penetrating the thickness direction of the piece body 27 at approximately the center. On one surface of the piece body 27, as shown in Fig. 5(a), a pair of legs 29a, 29b extending in parallel from two opposing sides so as to surround the piece opening 28, and leg engaging parts 30a, 30b protruding in an L-shape from the tips of the pair of legs 29a, 29b in opposing directions, are formed. In addition, on one surface of the piece body 27, anti-rotation projections 31a, 31b are formed on one side of two opposing sides other than the two sides on which the pair of legs 29a, 29b are formed, and an engaging claw part 32 is formed on the other side of the two opposing sides. In addition, as shown in FIG. 5(b), a boss 33 protrudes from the periphery of the bridge opening 28 on the other side of the bridge main body 27, and engaging protrusions 35a, 35b that constitute a pair of snap-fit ​​mechanisms 34a, 34b are formed.

[0022] 1, a boss hole 36 into which the boss 33 of the connecting piece 25 fits is formed in the center of the longitudinal direction, and fitting holes 37a, 37b constituting a pair of snap-fit ​​mechanisms 34a, 34b are also formed. In addition, four voltage detector insertion holes 38a to 38d are formed on the upper side of the protective cover 26.

[0023] Next, the procedure for connecting the connecting piece 25 to the arc-extinguishing cover 4 of the electromagnetic contactor 1 and connecting the protective cover 26 to the connecting piece 25 will be described with reference to Fig. 6 to Fig. 8. Note that the parts indicated with diagonal lines in Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 are the leg engagement parts 30a, 30b, the anti-rotation projections 31a, 31b, and the engagement claw part 32 of the connecting piece 25.

[0024] First, the pair of legs 29a, 29b and the leg engagement parts 30a, 30b of the connecting piece 25 are inserted into the opening 9 of the arc-extinguishing cover 4. At that time, the anti-rotation protrusions 31a, 31b of the connecting piece 25 are partially inserted into the anti-rotation grooves 5a, 5b formed on the periphery of the opening 9.

[0025] Next, as shown in Figure 7, by sliding the connecting piece 25 downward, the leg engagement portions 30a, 30b engage with the first engagement recesses 24a1, 24b1 of the frame protrusions 24a, 24b, the entire areas of the anti-rotation protrusions 31a, 31b of the connecting piece 25 fit into the anti-rotation grooves 5a, 5b, and the engaging claw portions 32 engage with the periphery of the cover opening 9, thereby connecting the connecting piece 25 to the arc-extinguishing cover 4.

[0026] 8, the boss 33 of the connecting piece 25 is inserted into the boss hole 36 of the protective cover 26. Then, the claw portions of the fitting protrusions 35a, 35b formed on the connecting piece 25 engage with the periphery of the fitting holes 37a, 37b of the protective cover 26, and the boss 33 fits into the boss hole 36, thereby connecting the protective cover 26 to the connecting piece 25.

[0027] According to the first embodiment, the protective cover 26 covers all of the power supply side terminals 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d and the load side terminals 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d and the cover opening 9 from the front, so that it is possible to simultaneously provide an operation indicator protection function for preventing dust from entering the contact mechanism 10 from the cover opening 9 or for preventing erroneous operation of the operation indicator 23 of the contact mechanism 10, and a live section protection function for reliably preventing the user from receiving electric shock to the power supply side terminals 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d and the load side terminals 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d.

[0028] Furthermore, the boss 33 of the connecting piece 25 fits into the boss hole 36 of the protective cover 26, and the fitting protrusions 35a, 35b of the connecting piece 25 are snap-fitted into the fitting holes 37a, 37b of the protective cover 26, so that the protective cover 26 is firmly connected to the connecting piece 25. The arc-extinguishing cover 4 connected to the connecting piece 25 has the rotation prevention protrusions 31a, 31b fitted into the rotation prevention grooves 5a, 5b of the arc-extinguishing cover 4, so that even if a rotational force acts on the protective cover 26 along the surface direction, the rotation prevention grooves 5a, 5b of the arc-extinguishing cover 4 receive the rotational force. Therefore, the connection strength of the protective cover 26 to the electromagnetic contactor 1 when a rotational force acts on the protective cover 26 can be increased.

[0029] Furthermore, when the connecting piece 25 is slid downward while covering the cover opening 9, the leg engaging parts 30a, 30b of the connecting piece 25 engage with the first engaging recesses 24a1, 24b1 of the frame protrusions 24a, 24b inside the cover opening 9, and the engaging claw part 32 of the connecting piece 25 engages with the periphery of the cover opening 9, so that the connecting piece 25 can be easily attached to the arc-extinguishing cover 4. Then, the connecting piece 25 can be easily removed by releasing the engagement of the engaging claw part 32 from the periphery of the cover opening 9 and sliding upward to release the engagement of the leg engaging parts 30a, 30b and the first engaging recesses 24a1, 24b1. Thus, the connecting piece 25 of this embodiment can be easily attached to and detached from the cover opening 9 of the arc-extinguishing cover 4.

[0030] Furthermore, when measuring the voltages of the power supply side terminals 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d, with the protective cover 26 attached to the electromagnetic contactor 1, a tester can be inserted into the power supply side terminals 6a, 6b, 6c, and 6d through the voltage tester insertion holes 38a to 38d to measure the voltages, which makes it easy to check the sequence control circuit, etc.

[0031] Furthermore, since the protective cover 26 is formed of a transparent synthetic resin and the connecting piece 25 is provided with a piece opening 28, the movement of the operation indicator 23 which appears and disappears in the cover opening 9 which functions as the operation indicator can be easily confirmed visually through the piece opening 28 and the protective cover 26. [Second embodiment]

[0032] 9 shows a connecting piece 40 and a protective cover 41 of a second embodiment to be attached to the electromagnetic contactor 1 according to the present invention. Note that the same components as the connecting piece 25 and the protective cover 26 of the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

[0033] As shown in Figures 10(a) and (b) , the connecting piece 40 of this embodiment is formed with a plate-shaped disengagement portion 42 that protrudes in a stepped manner in the same direction as the boss 33 and the engaging protrusions 35a, 35b from one side of the rectangular plate-shaped piece main body 27 on which the engaging claw portion 32 is formed.

[0034] In addition, in the protective cover 41 of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, a disengagement insertion hole 43 is formed between the voltage detector insertion holes 38a-38d formed on one side in the longitudinal direction and the pair of fitting hole portions 37a, 37b and the boss hole 36 formed on the other side in the longitudinal direction.

[0035] Next, a procedure for connecting the connecting piece 40 to the arc-extinguishing cover 4 of the electromagnetic contactor 1 and connecting the protective cover 41 to the connecting piece 40 will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0036] As with the connecting piece 25 of the first embodiment, the connecting piece 40 has a pair of legs 29a, 29b and leg engagement parts 30a, 30b inserted into the cover opening 9 of the arc-extinguishing cover 4, and parts of the anti-rotation protrusions 31a, 31b fitted into parts of the anti-rotation grooves 5a, 5b formed on the periphery of the cover opening 9. Then, by sliding the connecting piece 25 downward, the leg engagement parts 30a, 30b engage with the first engagement recesses 24a1, 24b1 of the frame protrusions 24a, 24b, and the anti-rotation protrusions 31a, 31b of the connecting piece 25 fit into the anti-rotation grooves 5a, 5b, connecting the connecting piece 40 to the arc-extinguishing cover 4 with the engagement claw parts 32 engaged with the periphery of the cover opening 9.

[0037] As shown in Fig. 11, the boss 33 of the linking piece 40 is inserted into the boss hole 36 of the protective cover 41. The claws of the fitting protrusions 35a, 35b of the linking piece 40 are engaged with the periphery of the fitting holes 37a, 37b of the protective cover 41, and the boss 33 fits into the boss hole 36, thereby linking the protective cover 41 to the linking piece 40. At this time, as shown in Fig. 12, the disengagement part 42 of the linking piece 40 is inserted into the disengagement insertion hole 43 of the protective cover 41 from the back side of the protective cover 41 (the side that abuts against the linking piece 40). As a result, the tip side of the disengagement part 42 abuts against the front surface of the protective cover 41.

[0038] When an external force is applied to the connecting piece 40 and protective cover 41 connected to the arc-extinguishing cover 4 of the electromagnetic contactor 1 in the direction of arrow T1 (forward direction) in Figure 12, the disengagement portion 42 engaged with the front surface of the protective cover 41 moves forward, thereby disengaging the engagement of the engagement claw portion 32 with the periphery of the cover opening 9. By subsequently moving the protective cover 41 in the direction of arrow T2 (upward direction) in Figure 12, the engagement of the anti-rotation protrusion 31b (31a) of the connecting piece 40 with the anti-rotation groove 5b (5a) of the arc-extinguishing cover 4 is released, making it possible to remove the connecting piece 40 and the protective cover 41 from the arc-extinguishing cover 4.

[0039] Therefore, the second embodiment can obtain the same effects as the first embodiment, and when an external force is applied to the protective cover 41 in the forward direction away from the arc-extinguishing cover 4, the disengagement portion 42 engaged with the front surface of the protective cover 41 moves forward, and the engagement of the engagement claw portion 32 is released from the periphery of the cover opening 9. Then, by moving the protective cover 41 upward, the engagement of the anti-rotation protrusions 31a, 31b of the connecting piece 40 with the anti-rotation grooves 5a, 5b of the arc-extinguishing cover 4 is released, and the protective cover 41 and the connecting piece 40 can be simultaneously removed from the cover opening 9 of the arc-extinguishing cover 4. Therefore, the protective cover 41 and the connecting piece 40 can be easily removed from the cover opening 9.

[0040] In the first and second embodiments, the connecting piece 25 (40) and the protective cover 26 (41) are connected by the engagement of the boss 33 and the boss hole 36 and the snap-fit ​​connection by the snap-fit ​​mechanisms 34a, 34b. However, the present invention is not limited to this connecting structure. For example, a connecting structure in which connecting holes are formed in the connecting piece 25 (40) and the protective cover 26 (41) and push rivets are engaged in these connecting holes, or a connecting structure in which a connecting hole is formed in one of the connecting piece 25 (40) and the protective cover 26 (41) and a protrusion is provided in the other and the head of the protrusion protruding from the connecting hole is crimped can also have the same effect as the first and second embodiments. [Explanation of symbols]

[0041] 1 Magnetic contactor 2A 1st Frame 2B 2nd frame 3 Mounting plate 4 Arc extinguishing cover 5a,5b Anti-rotation groove 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d Power supply terminals 7a,7b,7c,7d Load side terminal 8 Coil terminal 9 Cover opening 10 Contact mechanism 12 Electromagnet unit 13 Fixed core 13a Electrode surface 13b Central protrusion 14 Movable core 14a Electrode surface 15 Electromagnetic Coil 16 Return spring 18a Power supply side fixed contact 18b Load side fixed contact 18a1,18b1 Fixed contact 19 Contact Support 21 Bobbin 22 Windings 20a,20b Movable contact 20 Movable contact 23 Operation display section 24a, 24b Frame protrusion 24a1, 24b1 First engagement recess 25,40 Linking Pieces 26,41 Protective cover 27 Piece body 28 Bridge opening 29a,29b Legs 30a,30b Leg engaging part 31a, 31b Anti-rotation protrusions 32 Engagement claw portion 33 Boss 34a, 34b Snap fit mechanism 35a,35b Fitting protrusion 36 Boss hole 37a,37b Fitting hole part 38a~38d Voltage tester insertion hole 42 disengagement portion 43 Disengagement insertion hole

Claims

1. An electromagnetic contactor in which a contact mechanism and an electromagnet device are disposed inside a housing, said housing has terminals and an opening on the power supply side and the load side, and an operation indicator provided on a contact support of said contact mechanism appears and disappears inside said opening by on / off driving of said electromagnet device, A connecting piece that covers the opening is detachably attached to the housing, an opening for allowing the operation indicator to be visually observed from the outside is formed in the connecting piece, and a cover connecting portion is provided for removably connecting a flat protective cover which covers the terminal portions on the power supply side and the load side.

2. The connecting piece includes a plate-shaped cover body that closes the opening, leg engaging portions formed on a pair of legs protruding from one surface of the cover body, and engaging claw portions formed at positions spaced apart from the pair of legs, The electromagnetic contactor according to claim 1, characterized in that when the pair of legs are inserted into the opening and the cover body is slid, the leg engagement portion engages with the housing engagement portion in the opening, and the engagement claw portion engages with the opening periphery of the opening, thereby removably attaching the connecting piece to the housing.

3. a release hole is formed in the protective cover, and the connecting piece is inserted into the release hole and has a release portion overlapping an outer surface of the protective cover, 3. The electromagnetic contactor according to claim 2, characterized in that when an external force is applied to the protective cover in a direction away from the connecting piece, the engagement between the engaging claw portion of the connecting piece and the opening periphery of the opening is released via the engagement release portion.

4. 4. The electromagnetic contactor according to claim 1, wherein the protective cover is formed with a voltage detector insertion hole at least at a position facing the terminal portion on the power source side.

5. 4. The electromagnetic contactor according to claim 1, wherein the protective cover is made of a transparent material.

6. 4. The electromagnetic contactor according to claim 1, wherein the protective cover is connected to the connecting piece via a cover connecting portion.

7. 7. The electromagnetic contactor according to claim 6, wherein the cover connection portion comprises a boss formed on one of the connecting piece and the protective cover, and a boss hole formed on the other of the connecting piece and the protective cover into which the boss fits.

8. 8. The electromagnetic contactor according to claim 7, wherein the cover connection portion is a snap-fit ​​mechanism further including a mating protrusion formed on one of the connecting piece and the protective cover, and a mating hole formed on the other of the connecting piece and the protective cover, into which the mating protrusion fits.

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