TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to sockets for electrical connectors, and more particularly, to relay sockets or relay socket assemblies that can be installed based on a snapping mechanism on an installation structure. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Relay sockets suitable for being installed on an installation structure, such as a panel, are extensively used for facilitating the electrical connection of a large number of electrical relays side-by-side in a dense arrangement. A type of conventional relay sockets commonly used includes a base for connecting the relay that is secured to the installation panel by means of bolts, screws, nuts, etc. Due to the number of small metallic parts to be aligned and tightened to the panel, the installation of this type of relay sockets is quite time consuming and requires the use of specific tools, such as dynamometric equipment for verifying the fixations and metallic keys for tightening and removing the screws. Moreover, the access to the tightening elements with such tools is generally made by the rear side of the panel, close to the wiring with a risk of damaging other cables during installation. The use of bolts or screws for fixating the socket also poses the problem that the screws become loose with time when subject to important shocks and vibrations, such as it is the case of equipment installed in aircrafts, which requires the regular maintenance for verifying the state of all tightening elements.

Other types of relay sockets have been proposed in the past for facilitating the installation of the socket on the panel.

For instance, a relay socket with a plurality of integral locking members for attaching and locking the relay socket to a structure surface such as a panel without the use of attachment hardware such as nuts or screws has been proposed in UK patent application GB 2 462 524 A. The locking members may be stepped conical resilient members that pass through holes in the structure surface and then pass through holes in the relay, locking the relay socket to both structure surface and relay.

Another configuration of panel-mounted connector for relays is described in UK patent application GB 2 310 550 A. The panel supports several relay bases into which respective relays can be plugged and includes elongate apertures with slots down each side. Each relay base is retained, on the rear side of the panel, by means of two resilient beams having outwardly-projecting catches that project through the apertures and overlap the front surface. Lugs on opposite sides of each base engage in the slots to prevent movement of the bases along the apertures. The relays are secured on the bases by screws that engage screw holes in the bases aligned with the slots. When mounted, a part of each relay lies between the catches, thereby preventing them from being displaced inwardly sufficiently to clear the edges of the aperture. Although the above configurations try to reduce the number of screws for installing the relay socket, an access to both front and rear sides of the installation panel is still required in order to mount and remove both the socket and the relay from the panel. Moreover, the panel must be provided with dedicated holes/slots for fixating the socket.

A further configuration has been proposed in United States patent application publication US 3002/0142643 A1 , which describes a relay socket attachable to a cutout in a panel that includes at least one rocker beam element at one side of the base, and at least one active snap element at the opposite side of the base. The elements are constructed and arranged so that the socket may be inserted into place by engaging the rocker beam element on one side of a cutout in a panel and pivoting the active snap element toward the opposite side of the cutout so that it engages the opposite side of the cutout and moves inwardly and is inserted into the cutout in the panel in which position it moves outwardly to engage the opposite side of the cutout and the elements cooperatively hold the socket onto the panel. Since the relay is plugged to the side of the base provided with the rocker beam element(s) and the active snap element(s), this connection arrangement still requires access to both sides of the panel for mounting as well as from removing the relay and the base. Moreover, in order to remove the socket from the panel, and access to both sides of the panel is necessary so as to press the snap element from one side while the base is simultaneously rotated from the other side of the panel for disengaging the rock beam element.

Consequently, there is still a need for a relay socket that can be quickly installed on and easily removed from an installation panel without an operator having to access to both sides of the panel for mounting both the socket and respective relay, while ensuring a secure fixation of both the socket and respective relay against shocks and vibrations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made in view of the shortcomings and disadvantages of the prior art, and an object thereof is to provide a relay socket that can be quickly installed on and removed from an installation panel without the need of accessing to both sides of the panel and without requiring the use of specific tools, while providing a secure connection. This object is solved by the subject matter of the appended independent claims. Advantageous embodiments of the present invention are the subject matter of the appended dependent claims.

According to the present invention, it is provided a relay socket mountable on a mounting structure, the relay socket comprising: a main body; and a clipping system provided on the main body and adapted to lock the main body to a fixation edge of the mounting structure; wherein the main body has an upper part adapted to be arranged on a first side of the mounting structure for receiving a respective relay, and a lower part adapted to be partially passed by the fixation edge to a second side of the mounting structure opposite to the first side.

According to a further development, the clipping system may comprise at least one clipping member provided on the lower part of the main body, and be adapted to flex from a neutral state towards the main body for passing the lower part by the fixation edge and to resiliency return towards the neutral state when the main body is in a mounting position.

According to a further development, the clipping member is attached at a lower end to the lower part of the main body and extends upwards along a lateral side of the main body, and the clipping member has an inward recess at an upper end that is adapted to engage with the fixation edge when the main body is in the mounting position.

In a further development, the clipping member recess has one or more collapsible features for offsetting the limit of the fixation edge.

The clipping system may comprise two clipping members, each provided at opposite lateral sides of the lower part, for fixating the main body to opposite fixation edges.

In a further development, the relay socket may further comprise an actuation member arranged above the upper part of the main body and is mechanically coupled to the clipping system such that the clipping system in at least one of:

a neutral state when the actuation member is in an opened configuration,

a locked state that locks the main body to the fixation edge when the actuation member is in an closed configuration, and

an unlocked state that unlocks the main body from the mounting structure when the actuation member is in an unlocked configuration.

The actuation member may include an interlocking element that projects from a lower side of the actuation member towards the main body and partially extends into a gap region between a clipping member of the clipping system and the main body, and be configured to mechanically interlock with the clipping member depending on the position of the actuation member with respect to the main body. According to a further development, the interlocking element has a profile with a recess on the side facing the clipping member so as to form an outward shoulder that is brought into contact with an end part of the clipping member when the actuation member is in the closed configuration and forces the end part of the clipping member against an edge of the aperture.

In a further development, the interlocking element comprises an outward-projecting barb at a lower end that moves along a vertical slot provided on the clipping member when the actuation member is moved with respect to the main body, and the vertical slot has an upper edge with an inclined profile that progressively engages with a profile of the barb when the actuation member element is moved from the closed configuration to the unlocked configuration, thereby causing the clipping member to be flexed towards the main body and disengaged from the aperture edge.

According to a development, the relay can only be plugged into the relay socket when the actuation member is in the closed configuration.

The relay socket may further comprise a guiding column extending vertically along through- holes provided at matching positions on the actuation member and the upper part of main body for guiding the movement of the actuation member with respect to the upper part, wherein the guiding column includes a blind hole adapted to receive a tightening element for fixating the relay and the actuation member to the main body.

The tightening element may be a screw and the guiding column includes a threaded region for tightening the screw, the threaded region being provided at a depth of the blind hole that allows tightening the screw only when the actuation member is in the closed configuration.

According to another development, the guiding column has a lower end that protrudes from the upper part of the main body and forms a guiding pin adapted to fit into a respective matching hole provided on the mounting structure for aligning the relay socket.

The present invention also provides a relay socket assembly, comprising: a relay socket according to any one of the preceding claims; and a mounting structure adapted to receive a lower part of the relay socket; wherein the mounting structure includes at least one fixation edge for securing the relay socket and respective guiding features for aligning the relay socket on the mounting structure.

The accompanying drawings are incorporated into the specification and form a part of the specification to illustrate several embodiments of the present invention. These drawings, together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. The drawings are merely for the purpose of illustrating the preferred and alternative examples of how the invention can be made and used, and are not to be construed as limiting the invention to only the illustrated and described embodiments. Furthermore, several aspects of the embodiments may form— individually or in different combinations— solutions according to the present invention. The following described embodiments thus can be considered either alone or in an arbitrary combination thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES Further features and advantages will become apparent from the following more particular description of the various embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which like references refer to like elements, and wherein:

Fig. 1 shows isometric views of a relay socket and a mounting structure with an aperture for mounting the relay socket according to the present invention, and a conventional relay to be plugged on the relay socket, before being assembled together;

Fig. 2 is an isometric view of the relay socket in an opened configuration according to the present invention, in which an actuation member of the socket relay is in a neutral position;

Fig. 3 is an isometric view of the relay socket in a closed configuration according to the present invention, in which the actuation member is in a locking position; Fig. 4 is a partial schematic view from a lateral side of the relay socket shown in Fig. 2, with parts removed on the right and left sides for showing inner details of the relay socket along different cross-sectional planes, wherein the partial cross-sectional view on the right is taken along a vertical cross-sectional plane Cr that crosses a guiding column provided on the right side of the actuation member and the partial cross-sectional view on the left is taken along a vertical cross-sectional plane CI that crosses the relay socket between a guiding column provided on the left side of the actuation member and the lateral side of the relay socket;

Fig. 5 is a partial schematic view similar to Fig. 4, showing the relay socket on an initial stage of a process of mounting the relay socket on the mounting structure and in which the relay socket is being inserted through the aperture by applying downward pressure on the actuation member in the arrows direction;

Fig. 6 is partial schematic view from the lateral side of the relay socket according to the present invention, with parts removed on the left and right sides of the relay socket for showing inner details along a vertical cross-sectional plane Cr similar to the plane Cr shown in Fig. 4 and along a vertical cross-sectional plane CI' similar to the plane CI depicted in Fig. 4 but now constricted to a narrower region of the relay socket, and shows the relay socket on a subsequent stage of the mounting process, in which the relay socket is fully inserted into the aperture and the actuation member is in a ready state for being lowered from the opened configuration to the closed configuration;

Fig. 7 is a partial schematic view from the lateral side of the relay socket shown in Fig. 3, with parts removed along vertical cross-sectional planes Cr and CI' similar to the cross-sectional planes Cr and CI' depicted in Fig. 6, respectively, and showing the relay socket on a subsequent stage of the mounting process, with the relay socket in the closed configuration and locked to the mounting structure; the zoom-in section shows an example of details of an end part of a clipping member of the relay socket;

Fig. 8 is a partial schematic view from a lateral side of the relay socket shown in Fig. 7, with parts removed along vertical cross-sectional planes Cr and CI similar to the planes Cr and CI represented in Fig. 4, respectively, for showing inner details of the relay socket, the relay socket being now depicted on a subsequent stage of the mounting process, in which the relay socket is locked to the mounting structure and the relay is plugged and fixed to the relay socket;

Fig. 9 is a partial schematic view similar to Fig. 4, showing the relay socket on a stage of a process of removing the relay socket from the mounting structure, in which the relay socket returns back to the opened configuration automatically by pulling the actuation member in the upward direction while an upward displacement of the relay socket is still blocked by the mounting structure;

Fig. 10 is a partial schematic view from a lateral side of the relay socket according to the present invention, with parts removed along vertical cross-sectional planes Cr and CI similar to the planes Cr and CI represented in Fig. 4, respectively, for showing inner details of the relay socket, the relay socket being now depicted on a subsequent stage of the removing process, in which the actuation member actively un-locks the relay socket from the mounting structure; and

Fig. 11 shows isometric views of the relay socket and the mounting structure on a final stage of the removing process, in which the relay socket is completely removed from the aperture. For illustration purposes, the relay socket is depicted with parts removed for showing inner details along the cross-sectional plane CI shown in Fig. 10 and the positioning of the cross-sectional planes CI and Cr is also indicated.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention will now be more fully described with reference to the Figures, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that the disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic view of a relay socket 100, a mounting structure 200, and a conventional relay 300 to be plugged on the relay socket 100, before being assembled together. The mounting structure 200, such as a panel, is provided with an aperture 202 for partially inserting the relay socket 100 and to which the socket 100 will be fixed at one or more of the aperture edges, as it will be described later. In the illustrated example, the mounting structure 200 is a square panel with an aperture 202 that has been simply cut-out from the panel 200. The aperture 202 has a rectangular shape that substantially fits a lower side of the socket 100 and to which the socket 100 will be fixed at two opposite edges of the aperture 202, which will be simply referred to as fixation edges 204, 206. However, the relay socket 100 can be mounted on other types of mounting structures and/or apertures as long as two fixation edges are provided for attaching the socket 100 and between which the socket 100 can be partially inserted, such as between two parallel plates of an installation panel at a sufficient distance from each other for receiving and mounting the socket 100. The aperture 202 is therefore not limited to a panel cut-out and may have other shapes than the one illustrated. For instance, the aperture may be an extended slot cut-out on a panel for installing a number of relay sockets 100 side-by-side. The socket 100 has a main body 1 10, also called base, which is specially designed for allowing an installation of the socket 100 from a first side 208 of the mounting structure 200, which corresponds to the same side of the panel 200 from which the relay 300 will be plugged to the socket 100. For simplicity, the first side 208 will be referred to hereinafter as the front side and the side opposite 210 to the front side 208 as the rear side. As shown in Fig. 1 , the main body 1 10 is formed with an external shape such that a lower part 1 16 of the main body 1 10 has a cross-section suitable for being passed through the aperture 202 to the rear side 210 of the panel 200. In the illustrated embodiment, the lower part 1 16 has a substantially rectangular shape with a longitudinal length L1 and a width W (see Fig. 2) that are approximately equal to the dimensions of the aperture 202 so as to provide a good fit of the socket 100 in the aperture 202 but slightly lower so that the lower part 1 16 can be inserted through the aperture 202. The length L1 and width W are then approximately equal to the separation between the fixation edges 204, 206, and to the length of the fixation edges 204, 206, respectively. As mentioned above, the width W of the lower part 1 16 is not a critical parameter for the purpose of securing the socket 100 to the mounting structure 200. Thus, the length of the fixation edges 204, 206 may be larger than W.

The upper part 1 18 of the main body 1 10 has a larger cross-section along a plane parallel to the mounting structure 200 so as to block a further insertion of the socket 100 through the aperture 202 and to remain arranged on the front side 208 for plugging the relay 300. In order to achieve this effect, the upper part 1 18 is provided with two ledges 122 and 124 that extend outwards beyond the longitudinal length L1 of the lower part 1 16, over a total longitudinal length L2 (see Fig. 2), so that the upper part 1 18 physically contacts the mounting structure 200 when the socket 100 is inserted through the aperture 202, thereby blocking a further displacement of the socket 100 through the aperture 202. The width W of the upper part 1 18 is preferably the same as that of the lower part 1 16 for providing a socket 100 with a more compact design.

The main body 1 10 is preferably made of molded electrically insulating materials, such as plastic materials. In the example of Fig. 1 , the main body 1 10 is formed as a single block, the upper and lower parts 1 18 and 1 16 forming integral parts of the same block material. As shown in Fig. 1 , the upper part 1 18 has a number of openings 120 arranged in a central area for plugging the contact pins 302 provided on a lower side of the relay 300. The openings 120 are electrically coupled to corresponding openings on the opposed side of the main body 1 10 via connecting elements known in the art that are provided inside the main body 1 10 (not shown), and which therefore will not be described here. The positioning and alignment of the main body 1 10 on the mounting structure 200 can be facilitated by providing one or more guiding elements, such as guiding pins 126, on the side of the ledges 122, 124 that faces the mounting structure 200 for fitting into respective guiding holes 212 provided on the mounting structure 200.

In order to fixate the relay socket 100 to the panel 200, the relay socket 100 comprises an integrated clipping system 130 for locking the socket 100 to the fixation edges 204, 206 when the socket 100 is in place without the use of any tightening elements or tools.

The integrated clipping system 130 is provided on the main body 1 10 and is mechanically coupled to an actuation member 150 provided over the upper part 1 18 of the main body 1 10 such that the locking state of the clipping system 130 can be set or changed by operating the actuation member 150. As it will be described later in more detail, the actuation member 150 can be moved downwards and/or upwards with respect to the main body 1 10 among a neutral position (opened configuration) and at least one of a locking position (closed configuration) and an unlocking position (removal configuration).

Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of the relay socket 100 in the opened configuration, in which the actuation member 150 is positioned in the neutral position at a certain distance d (see Fig. 4) above the upper part 1 18 and does not actuate on the clipping system 130. In the neutral position, the clipping system 130 is not actuated by the actuation member 150 and the relay socket 100 can be freely inserted into the aperture 202. Once inserted into the aperture 202, the actuation member 150 can be lowered to the locking position and actuates on the clipping system 130 to lock the main body 1 10 to the fixation edges 204, 206. The closed configuration of the relay socket 100 is shown in Fig. 3, in which the actuation member 150 is completely lowered onto the upper part 1 18. In the unlocked position, the actuation member 150 is in its higher position (above the neutral position) and actively disengages the clipping system 130 from the fixation edges 204, 206 for removing the relay socket 1 10 from the mounting structure 200. The removal configuration of the relay socket 100, with the actuation member 150 in the unlocked position, is shown in Figs. 10 and 1 1. Thus, the relay socket 100 can be easily mounted and/or removed from the mounting structure 200 without the need of any screws or tools by simply actuating on the actuation member 150, and without requiring access to both the rear and front sides 210, 208 of the installation panel 200. In addition, the actuation member 150 may be designed so that the relay 300 can only be plugged in the socket 100 when the actuation member 150 is in the closed configuration. Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, the actuation member 150 may be provided with a stirrup shape having a central, flat base 151 with an opening 152 for providing access to the plug openings 120 on the upper part 1 18, and two lateral supports 153, 154 at the left and right sides of the flat base 151 for arranging fixation plates 304, 306 of the relay 300 (see Fig. 1 ). The height h of the lateral supports 153, 154 is selected such that the relay pins 302 can be fully inserted into the openings 120 of the main body 1 10 only when the actuation member 150 is in its lowest position. The stirrup shape thus prevents the relay 300 from being plugged when the socket 100 is not in the closed configuration. As shown in Fig. 4, the relay socket 100 may also include one or more guiding columns 160 that extend vertically along through-holes provided on the supports 153, 154 of the actuation member 150 and of the main body 1 10. The guiding columns 160 serve for guiding the actuation member 150 in the upward and downward movement with respect to the main body 1 10 and are, therefore, only fixed to the ledges 122, 124 but not to the actuation member 150 itself. An end part of the guiding columns 160 may partially protrude from the lower side of the ledges 122, 124 so as to serve as the guiding pins 126. The guiding columns 160 are preferably made from a material having a good wearing resistance against relative movement between parts and suitable for tightening a screw, such as a metal. The guiding columns 160 may also serve for fixing the relay 300 onto the relay socket 100 by screwing, as it will be described later with reference to Fig. 8. Thus, the guiding columns 160 allow aligning the relay 300 in the right position with respect to the electrical contact openings 120 provided on the socket 100, as well as the assembly of the relay 300 and socket 100 with respect to the mounting structure 200.

The relay socket 100 is preferably delivered in the opened configuration as the clipping system 130 is then in a neutral state and the relay socket 1 10 is ready to be installed on the panel 200.

The clipping system 130 and its mechanical interaction with the actuation member 150 will now be described in further detail with reference to Figs. 4 to 1 1 . The clipping system 130 comprises one or more clipping members 132 for securing the main body 1 10 to the mounting structure 100. As shown in Fig. 4, the clipping system 130 includes two clipping members 132 that are respectively provided on lateral sides of the lower part 1 16, opposite to each other. The clipping members 132 are attached to the lower part 1 16 at a lower end and extend upwards along a lateral side of the main body 1 10 at a given separation distance. Each clipping member 132 is provided with an inward-projecting recess 134 at an upper end 135 for engaging with the respective fixation edges 204, 206 when the socket 100 is installed in the aperture 202. The inward-projecting recess 134 forms a shoulder 136 that will block the removal of the relay socket 100 from the aperture 202 when the clipping system 130 is in the locking state.

The clipping members 132 have resilient properties so that they can be flexed towards the main body 1 10 under inward pressure, such as the pressure exerted by the fixation edges 204, 206 when the lower part 1 16 is inserted through the aperture 202, and to resiliently return towards the neutral state when such pressure is completely or partially released.

A process of assembling the relay socket 100 to the mounting structure 200 and the relay 300 will now be described with reference to Figs. 4 to 8.

In Fig. 4, the relay socket 100 is in the opened configuration and the clipping members 132 are in a neutral state. In the neutral state, the distance L3 between the shoulders 136 of the opposite clipping members 132 is preferably larger than the longitudinal length L1 of the lower part 1 16 and the distance La between the fixation edges 204, 206 (see Fig. 5). The actuation member 150 is stably maintained in the neutral position, also called rest position, at a distance d above the upper part 1 18 by means of clipping legs 155 provided on the lateral supports 153, 154 for preventing a downward displacement of the actuation member 150 towards the main body 1 10. The clipping legs 155 are preferably attached to the top side of the actuation member 150 and project downwards into respective openings 128 provided on the ledges 122, 124. On its outer side, the clipping leg 155 has an inward-projecting recess 156 at a lower end for forming a catch that engages with an edge of the opening 128 and blocks any downward movement of the actuation member 150 with respect to the main body 1 10, even in case that force is applied on the top side of the actuation member 150 to push the relay socket 100 into the aperture 202. Thus, as shown in Fig. 5, in the opened configuration the relay socket 1 10 can be easily inserted through the aperture 202 by applying force on the top of the actuation member 150 in the direction of the arrows, since the actuation member 150 is not actuating on the clipping system 130. The clipping members 132 can then be freely flexed away from their neutral state by the inward force applied by the fixation edges 204, 206, and be released back when the socket 100 reaches the mounting position and the inward recesses 134 engage with the fixation edges 204, 206. The thickness of the clipping member 132 may increase from its lower end to the shoulder 136 so that the force applied by the fixation edges 204, 206 is gradually increased during the insertion of the socket 100 to a maximum and then suddenly decreased for facilitating the engagement of the recess 134 with the respective fixation edge. As shown in Fig. 6, once the socket 100 is inserted into the aperture 202 and the clipping members 132 are respectively engaged on the fixation edges 204 and 206, the relay socket 100 is pre-clipped into the panel 200. The relay socket 100 is then in a waiting position without risking to fall down. The actuation member 150 can be operated so as to be lowered from the opened configuration to the closed configuration. The clipping leg 155 has spring characteristics that allow the leg 155 to be easily flexed inwards towards the actuation member 150 by applying inward pressure, for instance, with the operator's fingers along the direction shown by the horizontal arrows in Fig. 6, so as to disengage the catch 156 of the clipping leg 155 from the upper edge of the opening 128. The clipping leg 155 can then be further inserted through the opening 128 and no longer blocks the actuation member 150, which may then be moved downwards towards the main body 1 10 until reaching the locking position in the closed configuration.

As it can be seen from Fig. 7, the actuation member 150 comprises at least one interlocking element 157 which projects from a lower side of the actuation member 150 downwards and partially extends into the gap region between the clipping member 132 and the main body 1 10. The interlocking element 157 is configured with a number of features that mechanically interact with features of the clipping member 132 so as to change the state of the clipping system 130 depending on the position of the actuation member 150.

The interlocking element 157 has a profile with a recess 158 on the side facing the clipping member 132. The recess 158 forms an outward shoulder that is brought into contact with the end part of the clipping member 132, on the side opposed to the clipping member recess 134, when the actuation member 150 is pushed down into the closed configuration so as to force the clipping member recess 134 against the respective fixation edge 204 or 206, thereby locking the main body 1 10 into the mounting position. In order to improve the engagement of the clipping member recesses 134 against the fixation edges 204, 206, the recesses 134 may be provided with one or more specific collapsible features 138 to offset the panel 200 cut-out limits, as shown in the zoom-in section Fig. 7. The collapsible features 138 may have different shapes and are preferably made from a deformable, thermoplastic material that can be deformed under the pressure exerted by the fixation edges 204, 206 against the recesses 134 so as to improve the fixation of the relay socket 100 against vibrations and shocks. Once the relay socket 100 is mounted in the aperture 202 and locked into position in the closed configuration, the relay 300 can be plugged to the relay socket 100 and secured to the socket 100, as shown in Fig. 8. As it can be seen from the partial cross-sectional view shown in Fig. 8, the guiding columns 160 of the relay socket 100 may be provided with vertical openings, such as blind holes 162 for receiving a tightening element, such as a screw 308. The guiding columns 160 may then be aligned with tightening elements 308 of the relay 300 for securing the relay 300 to the socket 100. Each blind hole 162 may have a threaded region (not shown) for tightening the screw 308. The threaded region may be provided at a predetermined depth such that the screw 308 can only be screwed when the relay socket 100 is in the closed configuration. This prevents the relay 300 from being fixed to the socket 100 when the clipping system 130 is not in the locking state, and therefore, the relay socket 100 is not securely fixed to the mounting structure 200. Moreover, the fixation of the relay 300 by tightening the screws 308 to the socket 100 simultaneously secures the actuation member 150 against the main body 1 10 in the closed configuration so that the relay socket 100 cannot be accidentally demounted without first removing the relay 300. A process and features for removing the relay socket 100 from the mounting structure 200 will now be described with reference to Figs. 9 and 10.

Fig. 9 is a partial schematic view similar to Fig. 4, showing the relay socket 10 on a stage of a process of removing the relay socket 100 from the mounting structure 200, in which the relay socket 100 is returned back to the opened configuration automatically by pulling the actuation member 150 in the direction indicated by the arrows into the neutral position. In this stage, the interlocking elements 157 of the actuation member 150 do not actuate on the clipping members 132 to put them into the rest position. The elasticity property of the clipping members 132 is sufficient for returning them towards to the neutral state. However, an upward displacement of the main body 1 10 of the relay socket 100 is still being blocked by the mounting structure 200.

In order to unclip the relay socket 100 from the panel 200, the actuation member 150 may be further pulled in the upward direction, as shown in Fig. 10, so as to actively un-lock the relay socket 100 from the mounting structure 200. As it can be seen from Figs. 9 and 10, the interlocking element 157 may comprise an outward-projecting barb 159 at a lower end that can move along a respective vertical slot 139 provided on the clipping member 132 when the actuation member 150 is moved between the opened and the closed configurations. The vertical slot 139 has an upper edge with an inclined profile that matches the barb 159 so that the barb 159 progressively engages with the clipping member 132 when the actuation member 150 is moved from the opened configuration, shown in Fig. 9, to the unlocking position in the removal configuration, shown in Fig. 10, and flexes the clipping member 132 towards the main body 1 10, thereby disengaging the clipping member 132 from the aperture edges 204, 206. The full engagement with the clipping member 132 is attained in the unlocked state shown in Fig. 10, in which the barb 159 is fully engaged with the clipping member 132 and pushes the clipping member 132 towards the main body 1 10, completely disengaging the clipping member shoulder 136 from the fixation edges 204, 206. The relay socket 100 can then be easily removed from the mounting structure 200 by simply pulling the actuation member 150 along the direction indicated by the vertical arrows shown in Fig. 10.

Fig. 1 1 shows a final stage of the removing process, in which the relay socket 100 is completely removed from the aperture 202 and the actuation member 150 is in its highest position (unlocking position) above the upper part 1 18.

Thus, the relay socket 100 can be easily mounted and/or removed from the mounting structure 200 without the need of any screws or tools by simply actuating on the actuation member 150, and without requiring access to both the rear and front sides of the installation panel. Moreover, the relay socket 100 can be quickly and easily installed and/or removed from the panel without removing other sockets and/or relays that might be installed around.

In addition, since the clipping system 130 may be formed as an integral part of the main body 1 10 and/or the clipping legs 155 may be formed as an integral part of the actuation member 150, it is possible to provide a relay socket having no separable parts and in an already assembled state when delivered to a customer. Further, as the main body 1 10 and/or the actuation member 150 may be made from plastic materials, a relay socket 100 with a reduced weight may be provided in comparison to other conventional relay sockets made of multiple metallic parts.

Although certain features of the above exemplary embodiments were described using terms such as "front", "rear", and "upper" and "lower", these terms are used for the purpose of facilitating the description of the respective components of the relay socket and how they are oriented with respect to each other only and should not be construed as limiting the claimed invention or any of its components to an installation or use in a particular spatial orientation. Moreover, although the present invention has been described above with reference to relay sockets for plugging relays, the principles of the present invention can also be advantageously applied to other types of sockets that have to be installed on a mounting structure in a quick and secure manner and so as to achieve a dense installation of such devices.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

100 relay socket

1 10 main body, base of socket

1 16 lower part of main body

1 18 upper part of main body

120 openings for plugging relay

W width of lower part and upper part

L1 length of lower part

L2 length of upper part

122, 124 ledges of upper part

126 guiding elements, pins

128 openings in ledges

130 clipping system

132 clipping members

134 inward-projecting recess

135 upper end of clipping member

136 shoulder

138 collapsible features

139 slot

150 actuation member

151 flat base

152 central opening

153, 154 lateral supports for relay

155 clipping legs

156 catch of clipping member

157 interlocking element

158 recess of interlocking element

159 barb

h height of supports

160 guiding columns

162 blind hole of guiding column

200 mounting structure

202 aperture on mounting structure

204, 206 fixation edges

208 front side of mounting structure 210 rear side of mounting structure

212 guiding holes

La distance between fixation edges

300 conventional relay

302 contact pins on relay

304, 306 fixation plates

308 tightening elements, screws

Cr, CI, CI' vertical cross-sectional planes