Electrical busway housing system and connection means therefor

• US 20020117322A1
• Filed: 02/23/2001
• Published: 08/29/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Universal Electric Corp. (Legrand SA)
• Original Assignee: Universal Electric Corp. (Legrand SA)
• Inventors: Schultz, Edward James, Hilgert, Brian Louis
• Granted Patent: US 6,521,837 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 174/99B
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 25/162 Electrical connections between or with rails or bus-bars rails having primarily a non electrical function H01R4/64
• CPC Class Codes: H02G 3/0608 Joints for connecting non cylindrical conduits, e.g. channels

Abstract

An electrical busway housing system mechanically connected at the joints of adjoining housing sections by utilization of a coupling system having a top plate and a bottom plate, at least one of which has a roughened surface that provides superior gripping strength when the adjoining sections of busbar housing are clamped between them. Frictional clamping force is provided by a means of drawing the top plate and the bottom plate together and securing between them flanges or similar structural features of the busbar housing.

Claims

1. A coupling system for connecting two sections of electrical busway housing together comprising;

a) a top plate;

b) a bottom plate; and

c) a means for drawing said top plate and said bottom plate together;

wherein said top plate and said bottom plate operate to clamp therebetween at least a portion of a pair of busway housing sections to be connected by said coupling system, wherein a surface selected from a surface of said top plate contacting said busway housing sections, a surface of said bottom plate contacting said busway housing sections, and combinations thereof is roughened in order to provide increased gripping force between said coupling system and said busway housing sections when said top plate and said bottom plate are drawn together.

2. The coupling system of claim 1 wherein the means of drawing together said top plate and said bottom plate comprises one or more fasteners selected from the group consisting of a bolt/nut assembly, a rivet, a screw that threadably engages threads provided in a throughhole of said bottom plate, and a bolt that threadably engages threads provided in a throughhole of said bottom plate wherein said fastener is inserted through a throughhole in said top plate and an aligned throughhole in said bottom plate and operates to draw said top plate and said bottom plate together.

3. The coupling system of claim 2 wherein said busway housing sections are each manufactured of aluminum and have a pair of vertical sidewalls with free edges on both the top and bottom of said housing section and having inwardly-turned flanges along said free edges at the top and bottom wherein at least a portion of said flanges are clamped between said top plate and said bottom plate when said busway housing sections are connected with said coupling system.

4. The coupling system of claim 3 wherein said busway housing sections are connected by a pair of coupling systems, each coupling system having a top plate and a bottom plate respectively, and wherein a said first coupling system has no roughened surface in contact with said busway housing sections, and wherein a second of said pair of coupling systems has one or more roughened surfaces in contact with said busway housing sections.

5. The coupling system of claim 4 wherein said surface of said bottom plate of said second system coupling system that comes into contact with said busway housing section is roughened over an area of said surface of said bottom plate selected from the group consisting of the entire surface of said bottom plate and a portion of the entire surface of said bottom plate.

6. The coupling system of claim 4 wherein said surface of said top plate of said second coupling system that comes into contact with said busway housing section is roughened over an area of said surface of said top plate selected from the group consisting of the entire surface of said top plate and a portion of the entire surface of said top plate.

7. The coupling system of claim 4 wherein the surfaces of both said bottom plate and said top plate of said second coupling system that come into contact with said busway housing section are roughened over an area of said surfaces selected from the group consisting of the entire surfaces of said bottom plate and said top plate respectively and a portion of the entire surfaces of said bottom plate and said top plate respectively.

8. The coupling system of claim 7 wherein the roughened surfaces of said bottom plate and said top plate are serrated and are designed to overlap such that said serrated surfaces cooperate to deform a portion of said flange of the busway housing sections that are being connected when said bottom plate and said top plate are drawn toward each other clamping said flange therebetween.

9. The coupling system of claim 3 wherein said housing sections are joined by a coupling system having a u-shaped wrap around channel and a bottom plate, wherein said u-shaped wrap around channel is a wrap-around channel having a pair of opposed sidewalls extending vertically over a pair of opposed sidewalls of said busway housing sections, said sidewalls of said u-shaped wrap around channel further extending around and containing therein said busway housing sections.

10. The coupling system of claim 9 wherein the surface of said bottom plate that comes into contact with said busway housing section is roughened over an area of said surface of said bottom plate selected from the group consisting of the entire surface of said bottom plate and a portion of the entire surface of said bottom plate.

11. The coupling system of claim 9 wherein the surface of said u-shaped wrap-around channel that comes into contact with said busway housing section is roughened over an area of said surface of said u-shaped wrap-around channel selected from the group consisting of the entire surface of said u-shaped wrap-around channel and a portion of the entire surface of said u-shaped wrap-around channel.

12. The coupling system of claim 9 wherein the surfaces of both said bottom plate and said u-shaped wrap-around channel that come into contact with said busway housing section are roughened over an area of said surfaces selected from the group consisting of the entire surfaces of said bottom plate and said u-shaped wrap-around channel respectively and a portion of the entire surfaces of said bottom plate and said u-shaped wrap-around channel respectively.

13. The coupling system of claim 12 wherein the opposed roughened surfaces of said bottom plate and said u-shaped wrap-around channel are serrated and are designed to overlap such that said serrated surfaces cooperate to deform a portion of said flange of the busway housing sections that are being connected when said bottom plate and said u-shaped wrap-around channel are drawn toward each other clamping said flange therebetween.

14. The coupling system of claims 5, 7, 8, 10 and 12 wherein said bottom plate is manufactured of a selected material that is harder than the busway housing sections to be connected and the roughened surface is serrated, such that the roughened surface of said bottom plate deforms said busway housing sections when said bottom plate and said top plate are drawn tightly together about said busway housing section.

15. The coupling system of claims 6, 7, and 8, wherein said top plate is manufactured of a selected material that is harder than the busway housing sections to be connected and the roughened surface is serrated, such that the roughened surface of said top plate deforms said busway housing sections when said bottom plate and said top plate are drawn tightly together about said busway housing section.

17. The electrical busway coupling system of claim 16, wherein two sections of electrical busway housing are connected by a pair of coupling assemblies, each assembly comprising a top plate, a bottom plate, and a means for drawing said top plate and said bottom plate together and thereby clamping between said top plate and said bottom plate one or more portions of the busway housing sections, wherein one or more surfaces of one of said coupling assemblies that is in direct contact with the busway housing section is roughened in order to provide increased gripping force between said coupling system and said busway housing.

18. The electrical busing coupling system of claim 17 wherein said roughened surface is a serrated surface.

19. The electrical busway coupling system of claim 18 wherein said roughened surface is harder than the surface of said busway housing section and operates to at least partially deform each of said busway housing sections when said top plate and said bottom plate are drawn together about each of said busway housing sections.

20. The electrical busway coupling system of claim 19 where said busway housing sections include one or more electrically conductive busbars contained within said housing section to carry electrical current along said busway housing section and a means for continuing said electrical current across said busway housing sections when said sections are connected end to end.

21. The electrical busway coupling system of claim 16, wherein two sections of electrical busway housing are connected by a coupling assembly comprising a u-shaped wrap-around channel, a bottom plate, and a means for drawing said u-shaped wrap-around channel and said bottom plate together and thereby clamping therebetween at least a portion of said busway housing sections, wherein one or more surfaces of said coupling assembly that is in direct contact with the busway housing is roughened in order to provide increased gripping force between said coupling system and said busway housing.

16. An electrical busway coupling system for connecting two sections of electrical busway housing, wherein said coupling system meets a United Laboratories Resistance to Bending Test 857-45 when used to connect two sections of said electrical busway housing together.