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The present invention relates to a conductor rail system as defined in the «" introductory part of claim 1.

In current use there are various electrical installation systems consisting of conductor rails and a variety of junction parts used to connect coductor rails to each other and to different electrical appliances.

In the present application, the term 'conductor rail system' refers to an electrical installation system, and 'junction part' means a junction part used to connect an electrical appliance, e.g. a lamp, to a conductor rail or to connect rails together to form an extension or a branching connection.

'Conductor rail' in this context refers to a rail of a uniform cross-section, with conductors placed longitudinally in the rail to carry electric current.

As is known, homes, shops, restaurants and exhibition halls etc. are often provided with conductor rails to which electrical appliances, e.g. illuminators, can be easily connected at any point on a rail. In such systems, the conduc¬ tors are usually placed in grooves provided inside channel-shaped rails, and the rails can be extended or branched by using various connectors.

A drawback with these systems is that a junction can only be implemented in a given direction relative to the cross-section of the rail, either as an extension, angle or branching junction, and that electrical appliances, usually lamps, can only be connected to the rail from one side. This rigid manner of connecting conductor rails involves structural limitations.

Publication WO 90/11471 presents an illuminator system consisting of one or more low-voltage (6 - 24 V) illuminators connected to branched supporting

^■ ζ arms. In this system, the arms act as conducting elements. The arms, the - ^* *' essential parts of which are of a round cross-sectional form, consist partly of

_♦ a conducting material and partly of an insulating material, and the junctions are implemented in a manner permitting the arms to move with respect to each other. Moreover, the junctions are so implemented that electricity is switched on by forming a contact between the conducting parts of different arms and switched off by breaking the contact between said parts by moving the arms with respect to each other.

The above solution has the limitation that electricity is always on in certain positions of the conductors and always off in other positions. In other words, the structure of the system is such that the current cannot flow from one arm to another in all positions. This limits the possibilities of application of the connection. A further drawback with a system like this is that, since the conductors run longitudinally along the arm and branching is implemented in the manner described, the number of conductors is practically limited to two. A third drawback with the system is that, because of the manner of connec¬ tion, the conductors must be placed on the surface of the arm, which means that only low voltages (so-called safety voltages) can be used. When a safety voltage is used to supply several illuminators, the currents are large, and an arc generated in a case of fault may constitute a dangerous risk factor. Since the conductors are placed on the surface of the arm, an arc may be struck accidentally when the conductors are simultaneously touched with pliers, scissors or the like. A further drawback with the system is that, because of the manner of connection, the essential parts of the conductors must be round, constituting a limitation regarding the esthetic and functional possibilities of the invention.

With the present invention, a system is achieved that is safer and more ver¬ satile than previously known solutions. In the conductor rail system of the invention, rails can be connected to other rails or to electrical appliances by means of separate junction parts according to the claims presented later on.

The conductor rail system of the invention is especially applicable for use in illumination, but other electrical appliances can be connected to the system as well.

The solution of the invention is safer than earlier systems in electrical instal¬ lations using a safety voltage of 6 - 24 V, but also in applications using higher voltages. This is made possible especially by the fact that, using interconn tors as provided by the invention, the conductors are no longer on the sur¬ face of the rail but are mounted in grooves provided in the rails. The conduc- tors can be placed in a completely or partially protected space in a "dead" angle, so that it is not possible to start an arc between them or to get an electric shock from them.

The system of the invention allows a connection between two or more con¬ ductor rails to be so implemented that the junction can be oriented in dif¬ ferent ways in the direction of the cross-section of the conductor rail, or

the junction can be rotated in any direction around the rail without breaking the circuit. This provides new possibilities to produce two- or three-dimen¬ sional structures and allows the use of structures other than those based on rectangular junctions.

On the other hand, the system provides the possibility to produce a junction in which the circuit is broken in certain positions of the junction. This type of connection can be applied e.g. in a junction part between two rails or between a rail and an electric appliance which is used to connect e.g. an illuminator to the rail, in which case the junction part simultaneously acts as a switch.

Furthermore, the junction part of the invention allows the use of conductor rails of any cross-sectional form, e.g. rectangular, oval, triangular, etc., despite the fact that the junction part can be rotated around the rail. It is even possible to use conductor rails of several different forms and sizes or profiles in the same system with the same junction parts. Also, more than two conductors can be placed in the rails and junction parts because the conductors in the junction part are placed in succession in the lengthwise direction of the rail.

The junction part of the invention also allows a junction to be secured on the rail at a desired point in its longitudinal direction. This provides an advantage especially in hanging conductor rail systems.

Moreover, the junction part of the invention makes it possible to produce a junction that can be slid along the conductor rail. This makes it possible to adjust the position or length of an illuminator arm without taking the system apart.

In addition, the system of the invention is cheap as well as easy to assemble and complement.

In the following, the invention is described in detail by the aid of an example by referring to the attached drawings, in which

Fig. la - lc present a conductor rail with interconnectors.

Fig. 2a - 2d present a conductor rail, interconnecors and a junction part.

Fig. 3a and 3b present a junction between two rails.

Fig. 4 presents another junction betweeen two rails.

Fig. 5 shows how an interconnector ring is mounted on a rail.

Fig. 6 presents an interconnector ring consisting of two halves.

Fig. 7a - 7e present conductor rail junctions as provided by the invention.

Fig. 8a - 8e present rails.

Fig. 9a - 9i present some applications of the invention.

Fig. la shows a conductor rail with a rectangular cross-section (section A - A in fig. lb.). The rail consists of a frame 1 made of an insulating material and provided with grooves 2a and 2b on opposite sides of the rail, with con¬ ductors 3a and 3b placed in the grooves. Mounted at a short distance from each other on the rail are two interconnectors 4a and 4b made of a con¬ ducting material, one for each conductor. The interconnectors are preferably of a round shape and they are provided with an inside hole whose form corre¬ sponds to the outside diameter of the rail. The interconnectors are pro¬ vided with inside projections 5 which make a contact with the conductors 3a and 3b. If there are more than two conductors, e.g. four, then a corre¬ sponding number of interconnectors are needed.

Fig. 2a shows the interconnectors of fig. la in conjunction with a junction part 6 provided with conductors. The junction part has two connecting con¬ ductors 6a and 6b placed inside its frame 7, which is made of an insulating material. The connecting conductor 6b has a curved end 8 (section B - B, fig. 2b) of a length of about a quarter of a circle, placed on the circular outside surface of the interconnector 4b. Thus, the junction part can be rotated around the rail in the plane of its diameter as indicated by the arrow, without interrupting the flow of the current. The conductors of the junction part can be connected to another rail, other interconnectors or to an electric appliance, such as an illuminator or a transformer.

Fig. lc presents a solution in which the interconnector consists of two halves 4c and 4d, of which the one 4c on the left is made of a conducting material and the one on the right of an insulating material. In this case, a circuit-

breaking function can be achieved at the junction of the conductor rail. De¬ pending on the position of the end 8 of the connecting conductor, the circuit may be either open (fig. 2c) if the conductor end 8 is not in contact with the conducting part, or it may be closed (fig. 2d, where the junction part has been turned through 180° about the rail as compared to fig. 2c) if the conductor end 8 is in contact with the conducting part. Naturally, the con¬ ducting and insulating parts can be of different sizes, and they may also consist of several adjacent conducting and insulating parts, in which case a shorter motion is required for the switching function. Also, the length of the curved end 8 of the connecting conductors can be selected as desired to suit the lengths of the conducting and insulating parts.

Fig. 3a presents the frame of the junction part, which consists of two halves, an upper half 7a and a lower half 7b. The junction part connects a rail to another rail 9 as shown in fig. 3b, in which the other ends 10a and 10b of the connecting conductors have been bent so that they touch the conductors of rail 9 directly without interconnectors. Between the intercon¬ nectors 4a and 4b there is an insulator 4c, and these together form an inter¬ connector ring. In fig. 4, the other rail 9, too, is provided with an intercon¬ nector ring 11 consisting of interconnectors and an insulator between them, just like the first rail. The ends 12a and 12b of the connecting conductors are bent on the circular outside surface of the interconnectors, so that the junction part can be rotated transversely to both rails.

Fig. 5 presents an interconnector ring consisting of interconnectors 13a and 13b and an insulator 13c. The interconnector ring is secured on the rail by means of a screw 14, which is of a length sufficient to reach the conductor in the rail groove.

Fig. 6 presents an interconnector ring consisting of two halves, an upper half and a lower half. The upper half has a main body 15a made of an insulating material, a first interconnector 16a of a length equal to about three quarters of a circle and a second interconnector 17a of a length equal to about one quarter of a circle. The lower half consists of corresponding parts 15b 17b so designed that the two halves can be pressed onto a round rail with a so-called snap-on attachment.

Figures 7a and 7b present a T-junction according to the invention, connecting rails 18 and 19 having a round cross-section. The junction part has a frame made of an insulating material, consisting of a curved middle part 21a and

ring parts 21b and 21c protecting the interconnector rings 22 and 23. Placed inside the frame are conductors 24. Fig. 7c shows a cross-junction for three rails 18 - 20, fig. 7d an angle junction for two rails 18 and 19, and fig. 7e shows a three-dimensional junction for three rails 18 - 20. The junction part may consist of two separate halves as shown in fig. 3a.

Figures 8a - 8e present different rail cross-sections applicable in the system. Fig. 8a shows a rail consisting of a square frame 24 with a straight groove 25 on each side, with a conductor 26 on the bottom of each groove. The rail in fig. 8b also has a square scross-section, but it has two angular grooves 28 on opposite sides of the rail, the conductors being placed in a "dead angle" in the recess of the groove so that they cannot be seen at all from outside. Fig. 8c shows a rail designed for two different voltages. The rail has a round frame 30 with oppositely placed grooves 28 and conductors 29 as in fig. 8b for a higher voltage and grooves 25 and conductors 26 as in fig. 8a for a lower voltage. Fig. 8d shows a round rail with grooves and conductors as in fig. 8a. Fig. 8c presents a triangular rail 31 with grooves and conductors as in fig. 8a. The depth of the grooves varies according to the voltage and the purpose for which the rail is used, and so do the cross-sectional area and form of the conductors.

Figures 9a - 9i present a few examples of application of the invention, in which electric appliances, illuminators 32 and transformers 33 are connected to conductor rails 18 - 20. Figures 9a and 9b show pedestal lamps with trans¬ formers, figures 9c and 9d - table lamps, figures 9e and 9f - wall lamps, and figures 9g and 9i - ceiling lamps. Specifically, fig. 9i shows a hanging three- dimensional assembly of conductor rails consisting of several rails 18 joined together with the type of junction presented in fig. 7e.

It is obvious to a person skilled in the art that different embodiments of the invention are not restricted to the examples described above, but that they may instead be varied within the scope of the following claims.