Busway plug in brick and cover

• US 5,895,279 A
• Filed: 06/02/1997
• Issued: 04/20/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Eaton Corp. (Wisconsin) (Eaton Corporation PLC.)
• Original Assignee: Eaton Corp. (Wisconsin) (Eaton Corporation PLC.)
• Inventors: Colbaugh, Paul Anthony, Petrisko, John Dennis
• Primary Examiner(s): PAUMEN, GARY F
• Application Number:
  US08/866,964
• Time in Patent Office: 687 Days
• Field of Search: 439/114, 439/113, 439/212, 439/135
• US Class Current: 439/114
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 25/161 Details
• CPC Class Codes: H02G 5/08 Connection boxes therefor

Abstract

An electrical busway plug-in brick for mounting on a busway housing includes openings which allow access to bus bars running along the length of the housing. Barrier members are preferably positioned across the openings to restrict access of fingers or other similarly sized objects through the openings, while allowing electrical contacts to be made therethrough. The plug-in brick preferably includes a lockable cover which deters unauthorized access to the openings of the plug-in brick. The openings may extend unequal distances through the plug-in brick in order to provide increased creep and strike distance which prevents electrical arcing. The plug-in brick may be mounted on the busway housing by release pockets which prevent destruction of the plug-in brick upon a short circuit by allowing the plug-in brick to be detached from the housing.

Claims

1. An electrical busway plug-in brick comprising:

a base;

a cover reversibly mounted on a first side of the base including fastening means for securing the cover on a second side of the base;

a plurality of openings extending through the base for allowing electrical connections to be made through the openings; and

a barrier member extending at least partially across at least one of the openings for restricting access through the at least one opening while still allowing the electrical connections to be made.

2. The electrical busway plug-in brick of claim 1, wherein the cover is hinged to the first side of the base and the fastening means includes a mechanical fastener secured to the second side of the base.

3. The electrical busway plug-in brick of claim 2, wherein the base includes hinge members on the first and second sides thereof for reversibly mounting the cover on the base.

4. The electrical busway plug-in brick of claim 3, wherein the cover includes a locking tab with a hole therein and at least one of the hinge members comprises a hole that is aligned with the locking tab hole when the cover is in a closed position.

5. The electrical busway plug-in brick of claim 1, wherein the base comprises a substantially planar front face through which ground, A phase, B phase, C phase and neutral openings pass, and the openings include at least one raised portion extending from the substantially planar face.

6. The electrical busway plug-in brick of claim 5, wherein the ground, B phase and neutral openings are adjacent each other on a side of the base and include a raised portion extending from the substantially planar front face, and the A phase and C phase openings are adjacent each other on an opposite side of the base and include a raised portion extending from the substantially planar face.

7. The electrical busway plug-in brick of claim 6, wherein the cover comprises a substantially planar inner surface which contacts the raised portions of the ground, A phase, B phase, C phase and neutral openings when the cover is in a closed position.

8. The electrical busway plug-in brick of claim 7, wherein the cover further comprises a reinforcement portion extending from the inner surface of the cover toward the substantially planar front face of the base, the reinforcement portion being located between the raised portions of the openings when the cover is in the closed position.

9. The electrical busway plug-in brick of claim 1, wherein the cover comprises at least one extended sidewall which is received in a recess of the base when the cover is in a closed position.

10. The electrical busway plug-in brick of claim 1, wherein the plurality of openings comprises ground, A phase, B phase, C phase and neutral openings, and the openings extend an unequal distance through the base.

11. The electrical busway plug-in brick of claim 10, wherein the A phase and C phase openings are adjacent each other on a side of the base and extend an unequal distance through the base with respect to each other, and the B phase and neutral openings are adjacent each other on an opposite side of the base and extend an unequal distance through the base with respect to each other.

12. The electrical busway plug-in brick of claim 1, wherein the plurality of openings comprises substantially rectangular A phase, B phase, C phase and neutral openings, and a barrier member extends between two opposing sides of each of the A phase, B phase, C phase and neutral openings.

13. The electrical busway plug-in brick of claim 1, wherein the base comprises at least one release pocket for releasably securing the base to a busway housing.

14. The electrical busway plug-in brick of claim 13, wherein the base is substantially rectangular and includes opposing longitudinal sides and opposing transverse sides, and the at least one release pocket comprises a cut-out in at least one corner defined by the intersection of the longitudinal and transverse sides.

15. The electrical busway plug-in brick of claim 14, wherein each of the transverse sides includes a slot adjacent a first one of the longitudinal sides extending substantially parallel with the first longitudinal side, and a second one of the longitudinal sides includes two of the release pockets comprising substantially 90 degree cut-outs in corners defined by the intersections of the second longitudinal side and the transverse sides.