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US 6,672,914 B1Granted
Methods and apparatus for mounting a bus bar assembly
AssigneeEMC Corporation
InventorEdward Claprood
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A bus bar mounting system has a frame assembly and a bus bar assembly. The frame assembly includes a chassis which is mountable within an equipment cabinet, and an interlocking portion that forms a unitary member with the chassis. The bus bar assembly includes a set of bus bars, and a bus bar block. The bus bar block includes (i) a base portion, each bus bar of the set of bus bars coupling to the base portion, and (ii) an interlocking portion that is configured to interlock with the interlocking portion of the frame assembly in order to retain the bus bar assembly in a fixed position relative to the frame assembly. The interlocking portion of the bus bar block forms a unitary member with the base portion of the bus bar block.
Claims24
A bus bar mounting system, comprising:
- (a) a frame assembly that includes a chassis to mount within an equipment cabinet, and an interlocking portion that forms a unitary member with the chassis;
- and
- (b) a bus bar assembly that includes a set of bus bars, and a bus bar block, wherein the bus bar block has:
- (i) a base portion, each bus bar of the set of bus bars coupling to the base portion, and
- (ii) an interlocking portion that is configured to interlock with the interlocking portion of the frame assembly in order to retain the bus bar assembly in a fixed position relative to the frame assembly, the interlocking portion of the bus bar block forming a unitary member with the base portion of the bus bar block;
- wherein the chassis and the interlocking portion of the frame assembly are formed by a first contiguous piece of solid material, and wherein the base portion and the interlocking portion of the bus bar block are formed by a second contiguous piece of solid material;
- and
- wherein the second contiguous piece of solid material is substantially non-conductive to provide a mechanical interlocking connection between the frame assembly and the bus bar block without electrical connectivity between the frame assembly and the bus bar block.
5 more elements
A bus bar assembly, comprising:
- (a) a set of bus bars;
- and
- (b) a bus bar block having:
- (I) a base portion, each bus bar of the set of bus bars coupling to the base portion, and
- (ii) an interlocking portion that is configured to interlock with a frame assembly formed by a first contiguous piece of solid material in order to retain the bus bar assembly in a fixed position relative to the frame assembly, the interlocking portion of the bus bar block forming a unitary member with the base portion of the bus bar block;
- wherein the base portion and the interlocking portion of:,the bus bar block are formed by a second contiguous piece of solid material;
- and
- wherein the second contiguous piece of solid material is substantially non-conductive to provide a mechanical interlocking connection between the frame assembly and the bus bar block without electrical connectivity between the frame assembly and the bus bar block.
5 more elements
A frame assembly, comprising:
- (a) a chassis to mount within an equipment cabinet;
- and
- (b) an interlocking portion configured to interlock with a bus bar block of a bus bar block assembly, the interlocking portion forming a unitary member with the chassis;
- wherein the chassis and the interlocking portion of the frame assembly are formed by a first contiguous piece of solid material, and wherein the bus bar block of the bus bar assembly is formed by a second contiguous piece of solid material;
- and
- wherein the first contiguous piece of solid material is configured to mechanically interlock with the second contiguous piece of solid material without electrical connectivity between the frame assembly and the bus bar block.
3 more elements
A method for mounting a bus bar assembly to a frame assembly that mounts within an equipment cabinet, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) obtaining the bus bar assembly and positioning the bus bar assembly in a first location relative to the frame assembly such that an interlocking portion of a bus bar block of the bus bar assembly lines up with an interlocking portion of the frame assembly;
- (b) sliding the bus bar assembly from the first location into a second location relative to the frame assembly such that the interlocking portion of the bus bar block interlocks with the interlocking portion of the frame assembly in order to retain the bus bar assembly in a fixed position relative to the frame assembly, a chassis and the interlocking portion of the frame assembly being formed by a first contiguous piece of solid material, a base portion and the interlocking portion of the bus bar block being formed by a second contiguous piece of solid material, and the step of sliding including the step of:
- inserting at least part of the interlocking portion of the bus bar block into a notch defined by the frame assembly, and simultaneously inserting at least part of the interlocking portion of the frame assembly into a notch defined by the bus bar block to interlock the frame assembly with the bus bar assembly;
- and
- (c) releasing the bus bar assembly.
2 more elements
A bus bar mounting system, comprising:
- (a) a frame assembly that includes a chassis to mount within an equipment cabinet, and an interlocking portion that forms a unitary member with the chassis;
- and
- (b) a bus bar assembly that induces a set of bus bars, and a bus bar block, wherein the bus bar block has:
- (i) a base portion, each bus bar of the set of bus bars coupling to the base portion, and
- (ii) an interlocking portion that is configured to interlock with the interlocking portion of the frame assembly in order to retain the bus bar assembly in a fixed position relative to the frame assembly, the interlocking portion of the bus bar block forming a unitary member with the base portion of the bus bar block;
- wherein the chassis and the interlocking portion of the frame assembly are formed by a first contiguous piece of solid material, and wherein the base portion and the interlocking portion of the bus bar block are formed by a second contiguous piece of solid material;
- and
- wherein at least part of the interlocking portion of the bus bar block is configured to insert into a notch defined by the frame assembly, and at least part of the interlocking portion of the frame assembly is configured to simultaneously insert into a notch defined by the bus bar block to interlock the frame assembly with the bus bar assembly.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.