US1782019A - Fuse cabinet or panel board - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 18, 193.0. F. T. WHEELER FUSE CABINET 4QR PANEL BOARD Filed March 25, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR NG T18, 193@v FET. WHEELER 1,732,019

FUSE CABINET 0R PANEL BOARD Filed March 25, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 2' lllllllllllllllllllllllllllll II Il 1 I "llm'lllllllllllmlil lllll 1 4 u inmnmlw'nu" munlllili 32 .unmmmn 23 nl L 22 25 Frank T. 1er,

22 g w Y ro EY INVENTOR Nov. 1 8, :1930.

P'USE-CABINET OR PANEL BOARD F. T. WHEELER Filed March 25; 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 11111.vlfflllll//ll//lllrlzw/A W eele'r,

INVENTOR Patented Nov. 18, 1930 UNITED lSTATES PATENT oFFlcE FRANK T. WHEELER, OF PLAINVILLE, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR T0 THE TRUMBULL ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF PLAINVILLE, CONNECTICUT, A COR- PORATION OF CONNECTICUT FUSE CABINET 0R PANEL BOARD Application led March 25, 1926. Serial No. 97,196.

My invention relates particularly to a panel board construction arranged for fuses only, although it may be used in connection with circuits controlled by switches either separate from the cabinet or connected therewith. One object is to provide a built-up series of fuse units in which any one or more of the units may be removed or replaced without disturbing any other units.

Another object is to provide a construction in which the fuse units may be secured to the box and to the bus-bars entirely from the front of the box. i

Another object is to provide a co-related construction of fuse units and bus-bars in which the bus-bars are secured to the fuse units and the fuse units are securedto the bus-bars in such a manner that the units form the sole support for the bus-bars and only two of the units need be secured to the box to support thev entire fuse unit and bus-bar construction. Y

Another object is to provide a dead front construction in which all of the wire connections are entirely enclosed and in which the fuse units are so designed that the cover plate may be provided with a separate hole or opening to conform to each separate fuse unit. Sucha cover is much stronger and preferable to one having a single large hole to take in all of the fuse units.

Another object is to provide'A a fuse unit with an insulating base having grooves to house and insulate the bus-bars and having an extension at one side to co-operate with an adjacent unit to form an insulated chan;

nel for the circuit wires.

carrying parts are adequately spaced andprotected and in which provision is made for convenient testing without dismantling an part of the construction.

Fig; 1 is a front view of a cabinet construction embodying my invention, the door being open and one corner broken away to show inner details.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view, the cover being closed.

Figr is a cross sectional View looking upwardly. f

Fig. 4 is a detail view of a corner of the cabinet.

Fig. 5 is a front View of one of the insulating units.

Fig. 6 is a side View of the same.

Fig. 7 is an end view ofthe same.

Fig. 8 is a rear view of. the same.

Fig. 9 is a cross section on the plane of the line 9 9 of Fig. 5 and showing one of the bus bars.

Fig. 10 is a cross section on the plane of the line 10-10 of Fig. 5 showing afuse plug socket and bus bar.

Figs. 11 and 12 are detail views of circuit terminals.

Fig. 13y shows the bus-bars with two of the fuse units.

Fig. 14 shows the inner cover or face plate.

Fig. 15 is a front view of another form of.

fuse unit body.

Fig. 16 is a sectional View showing the unit of Fig. 15 secured to the box.

What I have termed a fuse unit consists of an insulating body 14 formed of porcelain or other suitable material and having one or center contacts 16 and provided with terminals such as 17 and 18. The body 14 is so constructed that it may be made conveniently by simple pressing mechanism and preferably not requiring any side draw plungers. The recess 19 for the plug socket and the recesses 20 and 21 for the terminals 17 and 18 all open toward the front. The recesses 22, 23 and 24 for the bus bars 25, 26 and 27 all open from the back. The rear recesses 22 and 23 respectively intersect the socket recesses 19, 19 so that theterminals 17 may be inserted from the opposite corners. The fuse units are connected to the bus bars 25 and 27 by the center contact screws 16 and the binding screws 28 respectively.

These fuse units are constructed so as to be readily mounted in a cabinet or panel more plug sockets with'screw shells 15 and lUU board box 30 in .which they are adapted to be secured by screws 31 which may pass through ears 32 at the o posite sides.

The box may be provi ed with the front frame or flange 33 having a door 34 with suitable latch mechanism 35.' F or convenience in construction and assembly the frame 33 is secured in place by a series oi screws 36 which pass through the frame into brackets 37 which are welded or riveted to the end walls of the box. rlhese same brackets have lugs 38 which serve as supports for a cover plate 39 which issecured in place by screws such as 40. rIhe cover plate 39 is provided with openings 39', the edges of which t the bosses 41 on the front faces of the insulating members 14 so that the cover plate is interr-locked with the front ends of the members 14 thus tending to brace them and cooperate with the rear wall of the box to form a structure which is rigid although made of comparatively thin metal.

For convenience in assembling the parts the cover plate 39 may` have key hole shaped slots 42 at one end, for instance the lower` end, so as to permit the cover plate 39 to be readily removed by taking out the upper screws'40 and loosening the lower screws but without removing the latter. l

The box is provided with conduit connections or knock-outs to facilitate the necessary connections. For instance the line circuit may be introduced through the conduit 50 from the bottom. It will be noted that I have arranged the terminals of the center bus bar 27 on a considerably higher plane than the terminals of the bus bars 25 and 26 so as to separate the terminals of opposite polarities and keep the wires a art. For similar' reasons it will be seen t at I have mounted the terminal members 17 and 18 on different planes so that the wires connected to them will he separated a maximum distance.

vThe insulating bodies 14 of the fuse units are so constructed that when two or more are assembled there' will be between them channels 43 to accommodate the wires leading from the sides. The box` is also preferably provided with knock outs or inlet openin s 44 arranged preferably opposite the enfgls of these channels 43.

When the parts are assembled and in use in the ordinary manner it is frequently de sii-able to be able to test the apparatus to see ieVerything is in proper electrical condition. I therefore provide test openings or passages such as 45 and 46 arranged'directly in line respectively with parts o the terminals 17 and the bus bar 27 so that a wire or small tool may be inserted for the purpose of making a temporary electrical connection without disturbing any vof the other parts at the apparatus. For this purpose it is simply necessary to open the door 34 and meaoia This allows for spacing the units some distance apart to allow for variations in the unit i bases.

'Some or all ofthe fuse units may be made without lugs (such as 32-32') as shown in Figs. 15 and 16. In this case the units would be supported by the screws (not shown) corresponding to 16l which screw into the bus bars 25 and 26. yEach fuse unit may be secured to the box by a single screw 47 in a hole 48. This screw may pass freely through bus bar 27 and clear the bar electrically although the bus bar and the box are both usuallv grounded. l

In the form shown in Figs. 15 and 16 I prefer to have only two supporting feet such as 32 for each unit, one on each side of the center so that when the securing screw is tightened it will draw the unit evenly to its seat and obviate the breakage which would result if a base like Figs. 5 and 6 should be secured to the box by a single central screw.

In place of the test hole 45 I may employ a hole or groove 49 to permit the insertion of a wire or test point alongside of the screw shell 15.

The drawings show a construction adapted particularly to a three-to-two wire circuit with a. single fuse in each load circuit but un equal number oi' two-wire circuits may be provided for by merely connecting the two outside bus-bars. Obviously other wiring combinations are possible in this construction.

/The drawings show a single bus-bar in each leg of the circuit and extending through the slots in the fuse units but, obviously, in a panel having a large number of` umts, the construction permits the using of a much heavier bus bar or two or more thinner busbars secured together by the screws which secure the units to the bus bars.

I claim:

- 1. A panel board unit including a base of insulating material having channels in the back to receive and to cover co-operating bus bars, fuse contacts mounted on said base each includinw a terminal at one edge of each end of the base, a shoulder on said base between said terminals andat a higher plane than said terminals and-a bus bar terminal on said shoulder, the said shoulder co-operating with one side of a similar unit to form llo a channel for wires between the fuse receptacle and the said similar unit.

2. A panel board fuse unit including an insulating base, appurtenant fuse contacts mounted on said base including awire receiving terminal near each end of said base, said base having transverse channels to receive and to cover co-operating bus bars, a shoulder at oneside of said base and a bus bar'terminal .having a ledge along one side and walls projecting therefrom to form a pair of sockets extending beyond said ledge, fuse plug contacts in said sockets, a Wire terminal on each end of said ledge connected to one of the contacts of the adjacent socket, bus bars at the back of said units, two of said bus bars being connected to the remaining contacts of the respective pair of sockets, each unit having an intermediate wire terminal connected to an intermediate bus bar, said units being mounted with the ledge of one unit adjacent a wall of the next unit to form protecting channels between the units for the conductors.

4. A panel board fuse unit including a base of insulating material having three channels in the back to receive and cover co-operating bus bars and having a ledge along one side to support circuit terminals at the front, said base having a portion projecting forward beyond said ledge and having sockets opening at the front, bus'bars mounted in said grooves, a fuse plug center contact in the bottom of each socket connected to a bus bar in the groove behind the base, a fuse plug screw shell'in each socket, a circuit terminal connected to the screw shell in each socket and having a binding screw outside said socket on said ledge, the wall of each socket having a test passage extending inwardly to permit perpendicular engagement of a .testing im-4 plement with one of said circuit terminals between the binding screw thereof and the screw shell of the adjacent socket, and said forwardly vprojecting part of the base having a test passage extending inwardly therethrough to permit testing contact with the central bus bar, said ledge having a circuit terminal thereon connected to the central bus bar.

5. In a panel board construction, a series of units each comprising an elongated insulating base having walls projecting therefrom to form a pair of sockets, a fuse plug shellcontact and a center contact in each socket, a wire terminal at each end of each base connected to the shell contact of the adjacent socket, bus

bars at the back of said units, two of said bus bars being connected to the center contacts of the respective pairs of sockets, each unit having an intermediate wire terminal connected to an intermediate bus bar, said units being mounted with spaces between the projecting fuse sockets of adjacent units to form channels between the units for locating and protecting the conductors.

6. A panel board unit including an insulating base, metallic fuse sockets and appurtenant terminals therefor mounted on said base, said base having a projecting portion to surround and protect said fuse sockets and a shoulder around the outer edges of said projecting portion, a cover plate having an opening fitting on said shoulder and said base having test passages extending through the projecting portion of said base to permit testing contact with the terminals of said fuse sockets behind said cover plate and without removing or touching said cover plate.

7. A panel board construction comprising three parallel bus bars and a plurality of panel board units attached to the front thereof, each of said units having an linsulating base with two fuse receptacles at the front of the base and having Lcontacts connected respectively to the two outer bus bars, each base having a ledge. along one side of less height than the fuse receptacles, and circuit terminals mounted on the ledge and connected respectively to the remaining contact-s of the fuse receptacles and to the third bus bar, said panel board units being arranged adj af cent each other on the bus bars whereby the ledges and the sides of the fuse receptacles of adjacent units constitute protecting channels for conductor wires leading to said ter-

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