Principality of Liechtenstein

CONNECTOR FOR MOUNTING RAIL

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a connector for construction installation projects, in particular to a connector for connecting a mounting rail and a rod element.

BACKGROUND ART

In construction installation projects, mounting rails, typically, for example, steel C- channels, are frequently used. At some application occasions with a relatively high load, the steel C-channel has an insufficient bearing capacity, so that a mounting girder with a closed rectangular cross section is usually used. The mounting girder includes a lateral face which extends longitudinally, and a plurality of mounting holes are arranged at intervals on the lateral face. In many cases, the mounting rail is provided with devices for suspending various members, and screw elements of such devices also need to be fixed on a mounting rail system using a proper fastening device, for example, a connector.

An existing connector for connecting the mounting rail and the rod element, in particular a connector for connecting the mounting girder and the rod element, is usually a substrate with a nut. The substrate is provided with two mounting holes. Screws penetrate through the substrate and the mounting holes on the mounting girder to fix the substrate on the mounting girder. However, the interval between the mounting holes on the substrate is possibly inconsistent with the interval between the mounting holes on the mounting girder, resulting in a failure to fix the connector on the mounting girder. Moreover, since the mounting holes are usually designed as common round holes, even if the intervals between the mounting holes are matched, a user can only move the mounting hole on the mounting girder by one interval when the user needs to change the mounting position of the connector. Therefore, the mounting position of the substrate is determined by the position of the mounting hole on the mounting girder and mounting of the substrate at any position along the longitudinal side wall of the mounting girder is infeasible. If the connector cannot be mounted at the most proper position, a pipe bundle may be twisted due to malposition of the connector and cannot be arranged in a straight line.

In addition, the four longitudinal side walls of the mounting girder are probably different in widths, and the mounting holes on the longitudinal side walls may also be arranged in various ways, for example, a row of mounting holes can be longitudinally arranged at intervals in the centre of the side wall, two rows of mounting holes can be longitudinally arranged at intervals close to two lateral edges of each of the side walls, or three rows of mounting holes are arranged in the centre and close to two lateral edges of each of the side walls, respectively, etc. Existing connectors fail to meet the demand of being applied to the mounting rail with mounting holes arranged in different ways.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the present invention is to provide a connector for a mounting rail, which can be simply and conveniently fastened on the mounting rail, adapts to step-less adjustment of the mounting position along a longitudinal side wall of the mounting rail, and can apply to mounting guide rails with mounting holes arranged in various ways to provide a convenient and reliable connection between the mounting rails and rod elements.

To achieve the above objective, the technical solution of the present invention is as follows:

A connector for a mounting rail is provided. The mounting rail includes at least one side wall which extends longitudinally. The side wall has at least one row of mounting holes arranged at intervals. The connector includes a substrate abutting against the side wall and a nut which is arranged to be perpendicular to the substrate and configured to connect a rod element. The substrate is provided with at least two mounting openings. The mounting openings are extending slots. Each of the slots has at least one end with a recess which deviates from an extending direction of the slots. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the substrate is integrally formed, and includes a flat main body portion of an approximate parallelogram, and a first end portion and a second end portion which are adjacent to two short sides of the parallelogram, respectively.

Preferably, a distance between two long sides of the main body portion of a parallelogram is not greater than a width of the side wall.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first end portion includes a first lateral side and a second lateral side which respectively incline from an end of the corresponding one of the two long sides of the main body portion of a parallelogram towards a central line of the main body portion of a parallelogram, and the first lateral side and the second lateral side intersect to form the first end portion in an angular shape; the second end portion includes a third lateral side and a fourth lateral side which respectively incline from the other end of the corresponding one of the two long sides of the main body portion of a parallelogram towards the central line of the main body portion of a parallelogram, and the third lateral side and the fourth lateral side intersect to form the second end portion in an angular shape.

Preferably, a first angle (a) at which the first lateral side inclines relative to the corresponding long side is smaller than a second angle (P) at which the second lateral side inclines relative to the corresponding long side; and a third angle (o’) at which the third lateral side inclines relative to the corresponding long side is smaller than a fourth angle (P’) at which the fourth lateral side inclines relative to the corresponding long side.

More preferably, the first end portion and the second end portion are arranged symmetrically relative to the centre of the main body portion of a parallelogram; the first lateral side is in parallel to the third lateral side, and the second lateral side is in parallel to the fourth lateral side.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the intervals between the mounting holes are equal to each other, and a length of each of the slots is not smaller than the intervals between the mounting holes.

Preferably, the nut is located in the centre of the main body portion of a parallelogram; the slots are symmetrically arranged relative to the nut; and the extending direction of the slots is in parallel to the long sides of the main body portion of a parallelogram. More preferably, the recess is provided at each of two ends of each of the slots, and the recess at each of the two ends of each of the slots deviates from the extending direction of the slots at the same angle and is basically in parallel to the first lateral side.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the mounting rail includes a second side wall with two rows of mounting holes arranged at intervals, and a first row of mounting holes and a second row of mounting holes each form a straight line in parallel to a longitudinal direction of the mounting rail, wherein an included angle between a connecting line between one mounting hole in the first row and another mounting hole in the second row that is staggered with the previously mentioned mounting hole in the first row and the straight line where the first row of mounting holes are located is equal to the first angle (a).

Preferably, a distance between the first lateral side and the third lateral side is not greater than a width of the second side wall.

More preferably, one mounting hole in the first row and another mounting hole in the second row are longitudinally staggered by two or three mounting holes.

According to the above-mentioned technical solution, the connector for a mounting rail of the present invention can be configured to connect various mounting rails and rod elements, in particular to connect a mounting girder with a heavy load and a screw rod. The nut perpendicular to the substrate is configured to connect the screw rod element. The substrate abuts against the side wall of the mounting rail. The extending slots formed on the substrate allow at least one mounting hole of the mounting rail to be located within the extending area of the slots. By screws which penetrate through the slots and the mounting hole on the rail and the connector at the same time, the connector can be conveniently and firmly fastened to the side wall of the mounting rail, and step-less adjustment of the functions of the connector at the mounting position of the mounting rail can be realized. The connector of the present invention can be mounted at any position along the longitudinal direction of the side wall, with the mounting holes, of the mounting rail, to ensure that the connector can be mounted at the most proper position, so that the pipe bundle can be arranged along a straight line and is not twisted due to malposition of the connector. What is particularly beneficial is that, when the mounting rail is a mounting girder with a closed rectangular cross section, the connector of the present invention can be adapted to side walls which vary in width and in the arrangement of mounting holes, and has a mistake proofing function in the mounting process. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments mentioned can be better understood through the following detailed description while the drawings are read. It is emphasized that the various components are not necessarily drawn to scale. Actually, sizes can be randomly increased or decreased for the purpose of clear description. In the drawings, the same reference numerals refer to the same elements.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a connector for a mounting rail according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a top view of the connector for a mounting rail according to the present invention in Fig. 1 ;

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a connector fastened to a mounting rail according to one embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a connector fastened to a mounting rail according to another embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a partially top view of the connector fastened to a mounting rail according to the embodiment in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a connector incorrectly fastened to a mounting rail according to the embodiment in Fig. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

A connector for a mounting rail according to the present invention will be described below by reference to Fig. 1 to Fig. 6.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the connector 1 of the present invention includes a flat substrate 10 and a nut 11 which is arranged to be perpendicular to the substrate and configured to connect a rod element. The substrate 10 is integrally formed, including a flat main body portion of an approximate parallelogram 12, and a first end portion 13 and a second end portion 14 which are adjacent to two short sides (dotted lines as shown in Fig. 2) of the parallelogram, respectively. Preferably, a distance between two long sides 17 of the main body portion of a parallelogram 12 is not greater than a width of the side wall, ensuring that the connector 1 of the present invention will not exceed the boundary of the side wall when fastened at any mounting position of the side wall of the mounting rail.

More preferably, the nut 11 is located in the centre A of the main body portion of a parallelogram 12, and preferably, the nut 11 is welded on the substrate. Locating the nut 11 in the centre of the substrate 10 brings the following benefit: when the rod element, for example, a screw rod, is connected to the nut via screw threads, loads applied to the connector and the mounting rail by the screw rod and the element connected to the screw rod are relatively balanced.

The substrate is provided with at least two mounting openings; the mounting openings are extending slots 15; and each of the slots 15 has at least one end with a recess 16 which deviates from an extending direction D of the slots. Preferably, the extending direction of the slots 15 is in parallel to the long sides 17 of the main body portion of a parallelogram 12, and a length of each of the slots is not smaller than the interval between the mounting holes. Thus, when the connector is fastened to a side wall of a mounting rail with one row of mounting holes, the position of the connector can be adjusted in a better way to ensure that at least one mounting hole can be completely exposed in the scope of the mounting openings, so that the connector 1 is firmly fastened to the mounting rail.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the recess 16 is provided at each of the two ends of each of the slots 15, and more preferably, the recesses 16 at each of the two ends of each of the slots inclines at the same angle relative to the extending direction D of the slots. For example, as shown in Fig. 2, the recess located at the left end of each of the slots inclines upwards at, for example, 30 degrees, relative to the extending direction D of the slots, while the recess located at the right end of each of the slots inclines downwards at, for example, 30 degrees too, relative to the extending direction D of the slots. Therefore, the inclining directions of the two recesses 16 respectively located at two ends of each of the slots are in parallel to each other. When the connector is fastened to a side wall of a mounting rail with two or three rows of mounting holes, the inclining recesses 16 allow adjustment of the connector position in a better way to ensure that at least one mounting hole can be completely exposed in the scope of the mounting openings, thereby realizing step-less adjustment of the mounting position of the connector 1 on the mounting rail.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first end portion 13 includes a first lateral side 18 and a second lateral side 19 which respectively incline from an end of the corresponding one of the two long sides 17 of the main body portion of a parallelogram 12 towards a central line C-C of the main body portion of a parallelogram, and the first lateral side 18 and the second lateral side 19 intersect to form the first end portion 13 in an angular shape; the second end portion 14 includes a third lateral side 20 and a fourth lateral side 21 which respectively incline from the other end of the corresponding one of the two long sides of the main body portion of a parallelogram towards the central line C-C of the main body portion of a parallelogram, and the third lateral side 20 and the fourth lateral side 21 intersect to form the second end portion 14 in an angular shape.

A first angle a at which the first lateral side 18 inclines relative to the corresponding long side 17 is smaller than a second angle p at which the second lateral side 19 inclines relative to the corresponding long side 17; and a third angle a’ at which the third lateral side 20 inclines relative to the corresponding long side 17 is smaller than a fourth angle P’ at which the fourth lateral side 21 inclines relative to the corresponding long side 17. Preferably, the first end portion 13 and the second end portion 14 are arranged symmetrically relative to the centre A of the main body portion of a parallelogram, and therefore, the first lateral side 18 is in parallel to the third lateral side 20, and the second lateral side 19 is in parallel to the fourth lateral side 21 ; the first angle a is equal to the third angle o’, and the second angle p is equal to the fourth angle P’.

The specific implementing methods and beneficial effects of fastening the connector 1 of the present invention to the mounting rail will be further described below by reference to Figs. 3 to 5.

As shown in Fig. 3, a mounting rail 30, for example, a mounting girder with a closed rectangular cross section, has four side walls which extend longitudinally. Two face-to- face first side walls 31 with a smaller width and two face-to-face second side walls 32 with a bigger width form the rectangular cross section. Preferably, each of the first side walls 31 is provided with a row of mounting holes 33 arranged at intervals, and each of the second side walls 33 is provided with two rows of mounting holes at intervals, namely a first row of mounting holes 331 and a second row of mounting holes 332. Preferably, the intervals between the mounting holes are equal to each other. The one row of mounting holes on each of the first side walls 31 form a straight line in parallel to the longitudinal direction of the mounting rail. The two rows of mounting holes on each of the second side walls 32 also form a straight line in parallel to the longitudinal direction of the mounting rail, and the first row of mounting holes 331 and the second row of mounting holes 332 are respectively arranged at a position close to the longitudinal edge of each of the side walls. In addition, a plurality of openings can be provided at part of each of the second side walls 32 between the first row of mounting holes 331 and the second row of mounting holes 332 to facilitate entry of fingers or tools in the rail for operations.

According to the embodiment in Fig. 3, the substrate 2 of the connector 1 abuts against the first side walls 31 of the mounting rail, and the mounting holes 33 arranged at intervals are arranged in a straight line in the centre of each of the first side walls 31. Preferably, a distance between the two long sides 17 of the main body portion of a parallelogram is not greater than a width of each of the first side walls 31 of the mounting rail. The mounting openings of the connector 1 are extending slots 15, and the extending direction of the slots is in parallel to the long sides 17, namely the longitudinal direction of the first side walls 31. Preferably, the slots 15 are located on the central line C-C of the substrate. Therefore, the ideal mounting position of the connector 1 is the longitudinal edges, in parallel to the first side walls 31 , of the long sides 17 of the main body portion of a parallelogram, and preferably, the distance between the two long sides 17 is required to be smaller than the width of each of the first side walls 31 . Therefore, when the connector 1 is mounted on the first side walls, there is a vertical movement allowance to ensure that the connector 1 does not exceed the boundary of the first side walls 31 even if the mounting position of the connector 1 is changed. Each of the slots 15 is at least partly superimposed with the straight line where the mounting holes 33 are located. Moreover, the length of each of the slots 15 is not smaller than the interval between the mounting holes. Therefore, at least one mounting hole can be completely located within the area scope of the slots. Thus, the connector 1 can be firmly fixed on the first side walls 31 of the mounting rail by penetrating a screw 22 through the slot 15 and one mounting hole exposed in the slot. Preferably, the mounting hole 33 is a flanged hole, and the screw 22 is a self-tapping screw. Thus, after an outer side of the mounting rail drives the self-tapping screw to enter the flanged hole and the self-tapping screw forms a threaded connection in the flanged hole, fastening connection can be completed simply and conveniently. Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate an embodiment in which the connector 1 of the present invention is fastened to second side walls 32 of the mounting rail 30. Here, each of the second side walls 32 includes the first row of mounting holes 331 and the second row of mounting holes 332 which are arranged at intervals in parallel to the longitudinal direction of the mounting rail, and the first row of mounting hole 331 and the second row of mounting holes 332 are respectively arranged in a straight line close to the longitudinal edge of each of the second side walls 32. Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate the second side walls 32, each of which has two rows of mounting holes, of the mounting rail. In particular, four side walls of the mounting rail 30 in Fig. 4 all are second side walls, each with two rows of mounting holes. However, it needs to be noted that, the mounting rail 30 of the present invention is not limited the embodiment as shown in Fig.4. Actually, the mounting rail 30 can be a mounting girder which includes the first side walls and the second side walls at the same time, as shown in Fig. 3, or a mounting girder including the second side walls only, as shown in Fig. 4, or a mounting girder including the first side walls that is not shown in the figure, or each of the side walls of the mounting rail can also have three rows of mounting holes. Moreover, the mounting rail 30 can be steel C-profile or steel II- profile when necessary, as long as a mounting side wall of the channel steel has mounting holes arranged at intervals. Therefore, the connector 1 of the present invention has high adaptivity, and can be applied to various types of mounting rails or mounting rails with mounting holes arranged in various ways.

Referring to Figs. 4 and 5, when the connector 1 is fastened to the second side walls 32 with a bigger width, which is different from the case of fastening to the first side walls 31 with a smaller width, the connector 1 is obliquely placed on the second side walls 32, and the long sides 17 of the main body portion 12 are not superimposed with the longitudinal edges of the second side walls 32, while the first lateral side 18 and the third lateral side 20 of the connector 1 are respectively adjacent to the two longitudinal edges of the second side wall 32. Preferably, a distance between the first lateral side 18 and the third lateral side 20 is not greater than a width of each of the second side walls 32. Thus, the mounting position of the connector 1 can be adjusted along the longitudinal direction of the second side walls, but does not exceed the longitudinal edge of the second side walls. Since the connector 1 includes at least two mounting openings in a form of the extending slot, two slots which are respectively close to the first end portion 13 and the second end portion 14 are at least partly superimposed with the first row of mounting holes 331 and the second row of mounting holes 332, respectively. That is, at least one mounting hole in each of the first row of mounting holes 331 and the second row of mounting holes 332 can be exposed within the scope of the mounting openings, such that it is possible to fasten the connector 1 and the second side wall 32 by penetrating a screw 22 through the mounting opening and the mounting hole 33.

Preferably, the first angle a at which the first lateral side 18 inclines relative to the corresponding long side 17 is equal to the included angle between a connecting line between one mounting hole 330 in the first row and another mounting hole in the second row that is longitudinally staggered with the previously mentioned mounting hole in the first row and the straight line where the first row of mounting holes are located. Moreover, since the first end portion 13 and the second end portion 14 are symmetrical, when the connector 1 is obliquely placed on the first side walls 32, the first lateral side 18 and the third lateral side 20 are in parallel to the longitudinal direction of the second side walls 32. Preferably, one mounting hole in the first row and another mounting hole in the second row are longitudinally staggered by two or three mounting holes, and a proper first angle a of the connector 1 is determined according to the interval between the mounting holes of the mounting rail that the connector applies to. Thus, it is can be ensured that the mounting position of the connector 1 can be randomly adjusted according to the longitudinal side wall of the mounting rail.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the recess 16 is provided at each of two ends of each of the slots 15, the recess at each of the two ends of each of the slots deviates from the extending direction D of the slots 15 at the same angle, and preferably, the recesses 16 are in parallel to the first lateral side 18. More preferably, the distance between the projections of the recesses 16, relative to the first lateral side 18, at the two ends of each of the slots 15 is not smaller than the intervals between the mounting holes. Therefore, when the connector 1 is fastened to the side wall, with two rows of mounting holes, of the mounting rail, the inclining recesses 16 in parallel to the first lateral side 18 allow adjustment of the connector position in a better way to ensure that at least one mounting hole can be completely exposed in the scope of the mounting openings, thereby realizing step-less adjustment of the mounting position of the connector 1 on the second side wall of the mounting rail.

Besides, the connector 1 of the present invention also has a mounting mistake proofing function. Referring to Fig. 6, the first angle a at which the first lateral side 18 inclines relative to the corresponding long side 17 is smaller than the second angle at which the second lateral side 19 inclines relative to the corresponding long side 17; and the third angle a’ at which the third lateral side 20 inclines relative to the corresponding long side 17 is smaller than the fourth angle P’ at which the fourth lateral side 21 inclines relative to the corresponding long side 17. Preferably, the second lateral side 19 is approximately perpendicular to the first lateral side 18, and the fourth lateral side 21 is approximately perpendicular to the third lateral side 20. When the connector 1 is incorrectly placed on the second side walls, the second lateral side 19 and the fourth lateral side 20 will protrude out of the longitudinal edges of the second side walls 32 to remind a workman of a mounting error.

Thus, when the connector 1 of the present invention is placed on one of the side walls of the mounting rail, the extending slot is at least partly superimposed with one of the mounting holes arranged at intervals on the side wall of the mounting rail, and the recess which inclines relative to the extending direction of the slot realizes step-less adjustment of the mounting position of the connector 1 on the side wall of the mounting rail. That is, when the connector of the present invention is placed on any one of the side walls of the mounting rail, at least one mounting hole is always located within the scope of the slot as long as the side wall has mounting holes arranged at intervals. Therefore, the connector of the present invention can be randomly fastened on the mounting rail at any position, bringing great convenience to users in realizing the expected fastening connection according to a use occasion of the rod element and the mounting rail.

As mentioned above, although the exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described in the description by reference to accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited to the specific implementing methods of the above-mentioned specific embodiments, and can have many other embodiments. The scope of the present invention shall be defined by its claims and equivalent meanings thereof.