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EP-4742471-A1 - ELECTRICAL BOX, FIXING ELEMENT, DEVICE, TOOL, HANDLING ROBOT AND METHOD FOR ASSEMBLING A DEVICE

EP4742471A1EP 4742471 A1EP4742471 A1EP 4742471A1EP-4742471-A1

Abstract

The invention relates to an electrical box (30) configured to be attached to a panel (31). The panel (31) is configured to be mounted as part of a wall (32) and/or ceiling (32) of a room (37) of a building. The panel (31) has an inner side (33) facing the room (37) and an outer side (34) facing away from the room (37), relative to the panel's mounted state. The electrical box (30) has at least one fastening device (38) configured to attach the electrical box (30) to the outer side (34) of the panel (31). The electrical box (30) has at least one gripping interface (52) configured to engage with at least one handling robot (53) in order to position the electrical box (30) on the panel (31) using the handling robot (53). The invention also relates to a fixing element (70) configured to fix at least one electrical conductor (72) to a panel (31), a device (100), a tool and a method for assembling a device (100).

Inventors

  • MANHARTSEDER, Christian
  • Strassmair, Michael
  • HAGLER, Reinhard
  • Hötzinger, Helmut

Assignees

  • Gropyus AG

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20241112

Claims (10)

  1. An electrical box (30) designed to be attached to a panel (31), the panel (31) being designed to be mounted as part of a wall (32) and/or ceiling (32) of a room (37) of a building, the panel (31) having an inside (33) facing the room (37) and an outside (34) facing away from the room (37), in a mounted state of the panel (31), the electrical box (30) comprising: at least one fastening device (38) designed to fasten the electrical box (30) to the outside (34) of the panel (31); and at least one gripping interface (52) which is configured to be connected to at least one handling robot (53) in order to position the electrical box (30) on the panel (31) by means of the handling robot (53).
  2. The electrical box (30) according to claim 1, further comprising at least one connection element (58) which is configured to be connected to at least one electrical conductor (59) in order to connect the electrical box (30) to the electrical conductor (59), wherein the connection element (58) has at least one recess (60) which is configured to at least partially receive at least one section of a handling robot (61) which grasps the electrical conductor (59) and/or to allow at least one section of a handling robot (61) which grasps the electrical conductor (59) to pass through the recess (60) in order to connect the electrical conductor (59) to the connection element (58) by means of the handling robot (61).
  3. The electrical box (30) according to claim 2, wherein the connection element (58) has at least two recesses (60) arranged on opposite sides of the connection element (58).
  4. The electrical socket (30) according to claim 2 or 3, wherein: the connecting element (58), in particular a longitudinal axis (LA) of the connecting element (58), extends at least partially along the outside (34) of the panel (31) and/or substantially parallel to the outside (34) of the panel (31); and/or the connection element (58) is configured so that the electrical conductor (59) is connected to the connection element (58) in a direction extending along the outside (34) of the panel (31) and/or substantially parallel to the outside (34) of the panel (31).
  5. A fixing element (70) configured to fix at least one electrical conductor (72) to a panel (31), wherein the fixing element (70) comprises: at least one fastening section (74) designed to attach the fixing element (70) to the panel (31); at least one receiving section (76) designed to receive at least part of the electrical conductor (72); and at least one gripping feature (80) which is configured to engage with at least one handling robot (82) in order to position the fixing element on the panel (31).
  6. The fixing element (70) according to claim 11, wherein: the gripping feature (80) is an essentially flat surface; or the gripping feature (80) has at least a substantially flat surface.
  7. The fixing element according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the fastening section (74): is arranged at a first end (84) of the fixing element (70) and the gripping feature (80) is arranged at a second end (86) of the fixing element (70) opposite the first end (84); and/or is located at a distal end (84) and/or distal section (84) of the fixing element (70) from the gripping feature (80).
  8. A device (100) designed to be mounted as part of a wall (32) and/or a ceiling (32) of a room (37) of a building, wherein the device (100) comprises: a panel (31) which has an inside (33) facing the room (37) and an outside (34) facing away from the room (37), in relation to a mounted state of the panel (31); an opening (102) defined in the panel (31), and at least one electrical box (30) which is mounted and/or attached to the outside (34) of the panel (31) and extends at least partially through the opening (102) extends.
  9. A tool (55) that is configured to be mounted on a tool holder (57) of a handling robot (53), wherein the tool (55) is configured to grip an electrical box (30), preferably an electrical box (30) according to one of claims 1 to 10, at at least one gripping interface (52) of the electrical box (30) and to position the electrical box (30) on a panel (31), preferably wherein the panel (31) is configured to be mounted as part of a wall (32) and/or a ceiling (32) of a room (37) of a building.
  10. A method for assembling a device (100) designed to be mounted as part of a wall (32) and/or a ceiling (32) of a room (37) of a building, the method comprising: (a) Providing a panel (31) having an inside (33) facing the room (37) and an outside (34) facing away from the room (37), in a mounted state of the panel (31); (b) Gripping at least one electrical socket (30) at at least one gripping interface (52) using at least one handling robot (53); (c) Positioning the electrical box (30) using the handling robot (53) on the outside (34) of the panel (31); (d) Attaching the electrical box (30) to the outside (34) of the panel (31).

Description

In building construction, a relatively large number of electrical installations are typically carried out, such as electrical wiring, sockets, etc. With today's technological advancements, these electrical installations are generally performed manually, usually on-site at the building itself, for example, at a construction site. However, such manual processes require qualified and/or relatively expensive labor. This also leads to considerable production effort and relatively low efficiency, resulting in relatively high costs. Furthermore, manually performed assembly processes are often prone to errors and/or frequently exhibit relatively low assembly accuracy or relatively large deviations. It is therefore desirable to improve at least one disadvantage of the state of the art, preferably at least one of the disadvantages mentioned above, at least partially. It is therefore an object of the present invention to improve electrical installations, in particular by increasing efficiency and/or accuracy and/or by making it easier to assemble the electrical installations. This problem is solved by an electrical socket according to the features of claim 1. Advantageous embodiments with expedient further developments of the invention are specified in the respective dependent claims and in the following description. The electrical box can be designed to be attached to a panel. The panel can be designed to be mounted as part of a wall and/or ceiling, in particular a cavity wall and/or a hollow ceiling, of a room in a building. The panel, as part of the wall and/or ceiling of the room, can at least partially enclose the room. The panel can be limited to specific areas. It can be positioned at least partially within and/or on an opening defined in the wall and/or ceiling, and/or it can at least partially close the opening, and/or it can extend at least partially over the opening. The panel can be attached to the wall and/or ceiling, particularly to a section of the wall and/or ceiling adjacent to the panel in its installed state, by means of a form-fit, force-fit, and/or material bond, for example, using screws, adhesive, clips, staples, plug connectors, etc. In its installed state, the panel can essentially function as part of the wall and/or ceiling of a room. A room of a building, within the meaning of the present revelation, can be understood as a room of a building in which people usually stay or can stay, for example a living room, a bedroom, etc. The building wall can be designed as a cavity wall. In other words, the wall can have at least one cavity that can at least partially accommodate the panel and/or the electrical box. The building ceiling can be designed as a hollow ceiling. In other words, the ceiling can have at least one cavity that can at least partially accommodate the panel and/or the electrical box. The panel can have an inside facing the room and an outside facing away from the room, each relative to the panel's installed state. The electrical box can have at least one mounting device. The mounting device can be configured to attach the electrical box to the outside of the panel. In other words, the electrical box can be mounted to the back of the panel, relative to the panel's installed state. The electrical box can have at least one gripping interface. The gripping interface can be configured to allow at least one handling robot to establish an engagement connection in order to position the electrical box on the panel using the handling robot. In current technology, electrical installations, such as electrical boxes, are typically carried out manually, usually on-site at the building itself, for example, at a construction site, as described above. In contrast to current technology, the electrical box described here enables robot-assisted, preferably fully automated, installation. This allows for relatively quick and/or time-efficient installation of the electrical box. can be installed, compared to the manual installation of electrical boxes according to the state of the art. This allows the electrical box to be pre-mounted on the panel, especially in larger quantities, for example in a production hall, instead of directly at the final assembly point, such as a construction site. The panel, with the attached, i.e., pre-mounted, electrical box, can then be installed as part of a wall and/or ceiling in a room of the respective building. This allows the assembly process for mounting the electrical box to be made relatively efficient, for example in a production line. This, in turn, increases the number of panels that can be installed, especially compared to manual assembly. Furthermore, the electrical box described herein can be mounted more precisely, i.e., with less deviation from a target position, on the panel or the respective building, compared to manual installation. This can, for example, prevent or at least reduce installation errors. In addition, it can generally lead to a higher qualit