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EP-4736284-A1 - FASTENING ELEMENT FOR FASTENING A MOUNTING RAIL TO A SURFACE

EP4736284A1EP 4736284 A1EP4736284 A1EP 4736284A1EP-4736284-A1

Abstract

A fastening element (1A-1C) for fastening a mounting rail (2) to a surface (50) comprises a main body (10) which has a fastening region (100) for fastening the fastening element (1A-1C) to the surface (50) and a mounting rail support region (101) for supporting the mounting rail (2), and at least one holding portion (11) which is configured to be guided through an opening (20) in the mounting rail (2) and to engage around a region (21), adjoining the opening (20), of the mounting rail (2). It is provided here that the at least one holding portion (11) is connected to the main body (10) via an elastically flexible spring portion (12A-12C).

Inventors

  • KLOPPENBURG, Christian
  • JANZEN, WJATSCHESLAW
  • KLIMALA, Peter
  • NIEHÖRSTER, Wilfried

Assignees

  • Phoenix Contact GmbH & Co KG

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240613

Claims (19)

  1. 1. Fastening element (1A-1C) for fastening a support rail (2) to a surface (50), with: a base body (10) which has a fastening region (100) for fastening the fastening element (1A-1C) to the surface (50) and a support rail support region (101) for supporting the support rail (2), and at least one holding section (11) which is designed to be passed through an opening (20) in the support rail (2) and to encompass a region (21) of the support rail (2) adjacent to the opening (20), characterized in that the at least one holding section (11) is connected to the base body (10) via an elastically bendable spring section (12A-12C).
  2. 2. Fastening element (1A) according to claim 1, characterized in that the spring portion (12A) is connected to the base body (10) at opposite outer edges (102) of the base body (10).
  3. 3. Fastening element (1B) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the spring portion (12B) is U-shaped.
  4. 4. Fastening element (1A; 1C) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the spring portion (12A; 12C) has two wings (120A; 120C) each tapered towards the at least one holding portion (11).
  5. 5. Fastening element (1C) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by a further holding section (13) rigidly connected to the base body (10).
  6. 6. Fastening element (1A-1C) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by a stop (110, 111) which limits a spring travel of the at least one holding section (12A-12C).
  7. 7. Fastening element (1A-1C) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least one holding section (11) has a centering pin (112) which is designed to engage in an opening (501) in the surface (50).
  8. 8. Fastening element (1A-1C) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the fastening element (1A-1C) comprises or consists of a metal, in particular a zinc alloy, and is produced in the form of a zinc die-cast part.
  9. 9. Fastening element (1A-1C) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least one holding section (11) has a rear grip (113) into which the region (21) of the support rail (2) adjacent to the opening (20) can be inserted.
  10. 10. Fastening element (1C) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a surface (109) offset from adjacent regions of the support rail support region (101) is formed on the support rail support region (101).
  11. 11. Fastening element (1A-1C) for fastening a support rail (2) to a surface (50), in particular according to one of the preceding claims, with: a base body (10) which has a fastening region (100) for fastening the fastening element (1A-1C) to the surface (50) and a support rail support region (101) for supporting the support rail (2), and at least one holding section (11) which is designed to be guided through an opening (20) in the support rail (2) and to encompass a region (21) of the support rail (2) adjacent to the opening (20), characterized by at least one tool engagement (105) formed by the base body (10), on which a bearing surface (106) is provided, on which a tool (6) can be supported in order to urge the support rail (2) into a force-fitting engagement with the at least one holding section (11).
  12. 12. Fastening element (1A-1C) according to claim 11, characterized in that the bearing surface (106) has steps (107).
  13. 13. Fastening element (1A-1C) according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that at least two tool engagements (105) with oppositely oriented bearing surfaces (106) are provided.
  14. 14. Arrangement (4) comprising a fastening element (1A-1C) according to one of the preceding claims and a support rail (2).
  15. 15. Arrangement (4) according to claim 14, wherein the at least one holding section (11) holds the support rail (2) in a fastened state at the region (21) adjacent to the opening (20) in a force-fitting manner on the support rail support region (101).
  16. 16. Arrangement (4), in particular according to one of claims 14 or 15, comprising several fastening elements (1A-1C), each according to one of claims 1 to 13.
  17. 17. Switch cabinet (5) with a surface (50), wherein at least one arrangement (4) according to one of claims 14 to 16 is attached to the surface (50).
  18. 18. A method for attaching a support rail (2) to a surface (50), comprising the following steps: Providing at least one fastening element (1A-1C) with a base body (10) which has a fastening region (100) for fastening the fastening element (1A-1C) to the surface (50) and a support rail support region (101) for supporting the support rail (2), and at least one holding section (11) which is connected to the base body (10) via an elastically bendable spring section (12A-12C), Attaching the at least one fastening element (1A-1C) to the surface (50), Placing the support rail (2) on the support rail support area (101), wherein the at least one holding section (11) of the at least one fastening element (1A-1C) is passed through an opening (20) in the support rail (2), and Displacement of the support rail (2) relative to the at least one fastening element (1A-1C) such that the at least one holding section (11) of the at least one fastening element (1A-1C) engages the support rail (2) in a force-fitting manner at a region (21) of the support rail (2) adjacent to the opening (20).
  19. 19. Method for producing a fastening element (1A-1C) for fastening a support rail (2) on a surface (50), characterized by the following step: Forming a base body (10) which has a fastening region (100) for fastening the fastening element (1A-1C) to the surface (50) and a support rail support region (101) for supporting the support rail (2), and at least one holding section (11) which is designed to be guided through an opening (20) in the support rail (2) and to encompass a region (21) of the support rail (2) adjacent to the opening (20), such that the at least one holding section (11) is connected to the base body (10) via at least one elastically bendable spring section (12A-12C).

Description

Fastening element for attaching a support rail to a surface The invention relates to a fastening element for fastening a support rail to a surface, an arrangement with such a fastening element, a control cabinet with such an arrangement, a method for fastening a support rail to a surface and a method for producing such a fastening element. Support rails can be designed as an elongated U- or C-profile and are typically used to accommodate a large number of components, e.g. connection terminals, in particular terminal blocks. The connection terminals can be mounted in a control cabinet via the support rails. The support rails usually have a large number of openings through which the support rails can usually be attached to a surface, in particular a wall of the control cabinet, using screws. Since the screws are usually no longer accessible once the support rails have been fitted with components, the support rails often have to be attached to the control cabinet using screws first, and only after the support rails have been attached to the wall of the control cabinet can the support rails be fitted with the components. With a pre-assembled support rail system, some of the components often have to be removed from the support rail first in order to be able to fix the support rail to the wall with screws, for example. A support rail pre-assembled with components can therefore only be mounted in the control cabinet with great effort. This also makes automated assembly of the support rails more difficult. The assembly effort for equipping a control cabinet with mounting rails and components is therefore very high. DE 10 2020 120766 A1 describes a fastening device for fastening a support rail to a wall, with at least one fastening element, which has a wall fastening section for fastening the fastening element to the wall, and a support rail fastening section for fastening the fastening element to the support rail, wherein the support rail fastening section is guided at least partially through an opening formed on the support rail in a fastened state and wherein the support rail fastening section has a rear grip into which a section of the support rail is inserted in the fastened state. The fastening device further comprises a securing element arranged separately from the fastening element. The securing element secures the support rail to the fastening element and can be attached to one end of the support rail. mounted so that no components of a pre-assembled mounting rail have to be removed. EP 4 009 457 A1 describes a fastening device, wherein a securing element is provided and designed such that a rotary movement of the securing element causes a linear movement between a fastening element and a support rail such that the support rail is inserted into a rear grip of a support rail fastening section and clamped. The object of the present invention is to further improve the fastening of a support rail to a surface. This object is solved by an article having the features of claim 1. Accordingly, a fastening element for fastening a support rail to a surface comprises a base body which has a fastening region for fastening the fastening element to the surface and a support rail support region for supporting the support rail, and at least one holding section which is designed to be guided through an opening in the support rail and to encompass a region of the support rail adjacent to the opening. It is provided that the at least one holding section is connected to the base body via an elastically bendable spring section. This is based on the knowledge that support rails can be subject to large manufacturing tolerances, which can impair a satisfactory tight fit on the surface. The elastically bendable connection of the holding section enables a secure tight fit by means of a force fit even with relatively large tolerances. In addition, the secure spring-elastic tight fit of the support rail means that there is no need for a separate, additional securing element for each individual fastening element, which makes fastening even easier. The spring section can be connected to the base body at opposite outer edges of the base body, in particular only at the opposite outer edges of the base body. In this way, the holding section can build up a high spring-elastic tensile stress and hold the support rail particularly securely. In addition, this design allows simple production using the die-casting process without a slide. For example, the spring section is separated from the base body by one or two slots. The spring section can optionally be U-shaped. This allows for a particularly large deflection even with a relatively inflexible material. This means that particularly large differences in the thickness of support rails can be compensated for, for example. The spring section can have two wings, each tapered towards at least one holding section. This enables particularly precise bending, which can also develop high clamping fo