US-12624974-B2 - Protective hood for a field device, and measurement/automation field device

US12624974B2US 12624974 B2US12624974 B2US 12624974B2US-12624974-B2

Abstract

A protective hood has a longitudinal axis and a hood wall, which has an open first end and a closed second end and forms a hood chamber. The hood chamber is designed to receive an electronics housing of a field device along the longitudinal axis via the open first end. The protective hood has at least one fastening apparatus, which is designed to be brought into mechanical contact with the electronics housing. Without an application of force, the protective hood has a first shape in which the fastening apparatus is at a first distance from the longitudinal axis, characterized in that the protective hood can be elastically deformed, by an application of force, into a second shape in which the fastening apparatus is at a second distance from the longitudinal axis, the second distance being greater than the first distance.

Inventors

Björn Larsson
Philipp Loeffel

Assignees

ENDRESS+HAUSER FLOWTEC AG

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20220321
Priority Date: 20210414

Claims (10)

1 . A protective hood designed for a measurement/automation field device, wherein the protective hood has a longitudinal axis and a hood wall, which has an open first end and a closed second end and forms a hood chamber, wherein the hood chamber is designed to receive an electronics housing of the field device along the longitudinal axis via the open first end, wherein the protective hood has at least one fastening apparatus, which is designed to be brought into mechanical contact with the electronics housing, wherein the protective hood, without an application of force, has a first shape in which the fastening apparatus is at a first distance from the longitudinal axis, characterized in that the protective hood can be elastically deformed, by an application of force, into a second shape in which the fastening apparatus is at a second distance from the longitudinal axis, the second distance being greater than the first distance, wherein the fastening apparatus has a projection in each case, wherein the fastening apparatus is formed integrally in the hood wall, wherein the projection has a first surface, wherein a normal vector of the first surface faces the second end, wherein an interior angle between the normal vector and the hood cross section of the protective hood is greater than 45 degrees, wherein the interior angle is less than 85 degrees, wherein the projection has a second surface, wherein a normal vector of the second surface faces the first end, wherein an interior angle between the normal vector and the hood cross section of the protective hood is less than 45 degrees.
2 . The protective hood according to claim 1 , wherein a hood cross section in the first shape follows a circle, wherein the hood cross section in the second shape follows an oval.
3 . The protective hood according to claim 1 , wherein the protective hood has at least one spacing apparatus in the region of the second end, which spacing apparatus is designed to ensure a minimum distance between the second end and the electronics housing.
4 . The protective hood according to claim 1 , wherein the protective hood is made of a plastic or a metal.
5 . The protective hood according to claim 1 , wherein a force of at most 100 newtons must be applied to bring the protective hood into the second shape.
6 . The protective hood according to claim 1 , wherein the second distance is at least 5% greater than the first distance, or wherein the second distance is at least 1 millimeter greater than the first distance.
7 . A field device of measurement/automation technology, comprising: an electronics housing having a housing wall forming a housing chamber; a measuring sensor designed to generate a measurement signal of a measurement variable; an electronic measuring/operating circuit for providing measured values of the measured variable based on the measurement signal, wherein the electronic measuring/operating circuit is arranged in the housing chamber, characterized in that the field device has a protective hood according to any one of claim 1 , wherein the electronics housing is arranged in the hood chamber and carries the protective hood.
8 . The field device according to claim 7 , wherein the hood wall in the first shape has a distance of at most 30 millimeters and/or at least 5 millimeters from the electronics housing at least outside of a region of the at least one first fastening apparatus and the spacing apparatus.
9 . The field device according to claim 7 , wherein the at least one first fastening apparatus with the hood wall in the first shape rests on the housing wall and applies a force to the protective hood with a force component in the direction of the open first end.
10 . The field device according to claim 7 , wherein the protective hood can be mounted on the field device by applying a force along the longitudinal axis of the protective hood, and wherein the protective hood can be removed by deformation into the second shape and pulling off.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is related to and claims the priority benefit of DPMA Patent Application No. 10 2021 109 404.6, filed on Apr. 14, 2021, and International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2022/057318, filed Mar. 21, 2022, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates to a protective hood for a field device and to a measurement/automation field device. BACKGROUND Measurement/automation field devices are frequently used in environments with adverse conditions, so that protective hoods are used which are designed to protect the field devices from damage. An example of such a protective hood can be found in EP2105715B1, in which the protective hood can be fastened to a field device by means of a folding and latching mechanism, the protective hood having two hinged protective hood parts. However, such a protective hood is not particularly mechanically stable, and latching lugs with ambient contact are, in turn, susceptible to damage. It is also known to screw protective hoods to field device housings, but this requires the use of tools, which is to be avoided. SUMMARY The object of the invention can be considered to provide a robust protective hood and a field device having such a protective hood which can be mounted and removed in a simple manner. The object is achieved by a protective hood of the invention and by a field device of the invention according to the present disclosure. A protective hood according to the invention designed for a measurement/automation field device has a longitudinal axis and a hood wall, which forms a hood chamber having an open first end and a closed second end, wherein the hood chamber is designed to receive an electronics housing of the field device along the longitudinal axis via the open first end,wherein the protective hood has at least one fastening apparatus, which is designed, in particular, to be brought into mechanical contact with the electronics housing,wherein the protective hood can be elastically deformed, wherein, without an application of force, the protective hood has a first shape in which the fastening apparatus is at a first distance from the longitudinal axis,wherein the protective hood can be elastically deformed, by an application of force, into a second shape in which the fastening apparatus is at a second distance from the longitudinal axis, the second distance being greater than the first distance. In one embodiment, a hood cross section in the first shape follows a circle, wherein the hood cross section in the second shape follows an oval. In one embodiment, wherein the protective hood has at least one spacing apparatus in the region of the second end, which spacing apparatus is designed to ensure a minimum distance between the second end and the electronics housing. In one embodiment, the fastening apparatus has a projection in each case, wherein the fastening apparatus is formed in particular integrally in the hood wall. In one embodiment, the protective hood is made of a plastic or a metal. In one embodiment, a force of at most 100 newtons, and in particular at most 50 newtons, must be applied to bring the protective hood into the second shape. In this way, the protective hood can be removed and/or mounted solely by manual operation without tools. In one embodiment, the second distance is at least 5% greater than the first distance, and preferably at least 10% greater than the first distance, or wherein the second distance is at least 1 millimeter and preferably at least 2 millimeters greater than the first distance. In one embodiment, the projection has a first surface, wherein a normal vector of the first surface faces the second end, wherein an interior angle between the normal vector and a cross section of the protective hood is greater than 45 degrees and, in particular, greater than 55 degrees, and preferably greater than 60 degrees. In this way, it is prevented that the protective hood can be removed by pulling along a longitudinal axis of the protective hood. In one embodiment, the interior angle is less than 85 degrees and, in particular, less than 80 degrees, and preferably less than 75 degrees. In this way, when the protective hood is mounted, the projection applies a force in the direction of the first open end, as a result of which the protective hood is firmly arranged on the electronics housing. In one embodiment, the projection has a second surface, wherein a normal vector of the second surface faces the first end, wherein an interior angle between the normal vector and the hood cross section of the protective hood is less than 45 degrees and, in particular, less than 35 degrees. In this way, the protective hood can be mounted easily by attaching it onto an associated electronics housing. A measurement/automation technology field device according to the invention comprises: an electronics housing having a housing wall forming a housing