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US 5,628,534 AGranted
Door and door latch for an electric load center
AssigneeSiemens Energy & Automation, Inc.
InventorJanerio N. Morgan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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AssigneeSiemens Energy & Automation, Inc.
InventorJanerio N. Morgan
Estimating the term…
An electric load center having an enclosure with a push-in screw holder fixture, a door latch comprising a one-piece molded member having a flexible tongue which urges the door latch toward the hinged door edge keeping a hook biasedly engaged with an underside edge of the trim, a neutral bar having an elongated body portion with a trapezoidal shaped cross-sectional area with outwardly sloping downward extending side walls having apertures for insertion of electrical wires, a neutral tie bar adapted to be electrically connected to the enclosure of the load center, a main lug insulator having trough-shaped longitudinally extending compartments and first and second support legs for positioning over the neutral tie bar, a basepan having a surface with integrally formed posts with an undercut extending around its periphery for securing a component of the load center to the surface by heat staking, the surface having two spaced apart integrally formed wall members extending upward from the surface forming a barrier between the bus bars of the load center.
An improved door latch for an electric load center having a door with a first edge hingedly connected to a trim panel of the load center, the door having a second edge opposite the first edge, the door latch comprising:
A load center comprising an enclosure, a trim panel mounted on a front portion of the enclosure, a basepan mounted in the enclosure for distributing power from a load source to a circuit breaker, a hinged door mounted to the trim panel to provide access to the basepan, the trim panel having a latching receptacle, latch means disposed within a cut-out in the door for engaging the latching receptacle, the latch means having a top, means for accepting an operator's finger in the top for slidable displacement of the latch means along a face of the door, the top having a body portion, a biasing member extending from the body portion, fixed lip means positioned on an underside of the door for engagement with the biasing member for biasing the latch means to a closed position, the door having a first opening, a second opening in the trim panel in alignment with the first opening, a generally L shaped hook extending downward from the top, through the first opening and second opening, the hook having a free end extending toward the door hinge, the hook being slidably displaced within the openings such that in the closed position of the latch means, a free end of the hook engages the trim panel adjacent the second opening and in an open position of the latch means, the hook is displaceable through the aligned first and second openings to permit opening the door.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.