Abstract:
The invention concerns a power supply rail consisting of a profiled section ( 30 ) comprising two legs each for receiving a conducting strip ( 10, 20 ) provided with contacts at regular intervals. The invention also concerns a method for making a such a rail, which consists in: simultaneously sliding two conducting strips along the legs of the profiled section; determining the spacing A between the electrical contacts ( 12 ) of the first strip and those ( 22 ) of the second strip, depending on the dimensions of the current consuming elements used; and in fastening the conducting strips into the profiled section.

Description:
The present invention relates to the field of lighting systems and more particularly relates to a power supply rail. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     For many years, power supply rails comprising a profiled section which receives conducting strips supplying electrical contacts for receiving series of current consuming elements placed between two adjacent contacts, for example, shuttle type bulbs or soffit bulbs, have been available on the market. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The applicant has already developed rails of this type described in European patent EP-0 126 023 which relates to a system where the profiled section has two perpendicular legs comprising slots at regular interval for the passage of contacts projecting from conducting strips applied to the back of the legs of the profiled section. The spacing between the contact pairs for receiving the lamps is fixed during construction by the position of the slots made in the legs of the profiled section. The result of this is that it is necessary either to produce different types of rail depending on the length standards of the shuttle bulbs, or to use U-shaped clips making it possible to electrically connect the contacts projecting from the conducting strips to the connecting poles of the lamps used. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention aims to alleviate this drawback. Its subject is a supply rail consisting of a profiled section formed by two legs capable of receiving two conducting strips, each one provided at regular intervals with electrical contacts for supplying current consuming elements placed between two adjacent contacts connected to alternate conducting strips. 
     The invention is characterized in that the profiled section comprises channels capable of receiving and positioning said conducting strips, the spacing between the electrical contacts of the first strip and the contacts of the second strip being positioned, using means for fastening the strips into the profiled section, depending on the dimension of the current consuming elements. 
     The invention also extends to a method of manufacturing a power supply rail consisting of a profiled section comprising two legs, each one intended to receive a conducting strip provided with electrical contacts at regular intervals, characterized in that two conducting strips are simultaneously slid along the legs of the profiled section, the spacing between the electrical contacts of the first strip and those of the second strip is determined depending on the dimensions of the current consuming elements used, and the conducting strips are fastened into the profiled section. 
     In a first embodiment, the means for fastening the strips in the profiled section consist of a V-shaped shoe capable of cooperating with the strips and of clamping means capable of cooperating with the profiled section. Furthermore, these fastening means may hold electrical connection plates between the wires supplying the rail and the conducting strips, and connection elements between two profiled sections placed end to end or forming any angle between them. 
     In a variant, the profiled section is made of metal, especially of aluminum. The outer surfaces of the profiled section may be provided with an insulating coating. 
     According to another variant, the profiled section is made of aluminum and the conducting strips are provided with an insulating coating. 
     In a second embodiment, comprising an insulating profiled section, the conducting strips are directly screwed or riveted to each leg of the profiled section. 
     The appended drawing shows, by way of nonlimiting examples, certain embodiments of the subject of the present invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rail in the process of assembly, when the conducting strips are slid into their supporting profiled section. 
     FIG. 2 is a cross section, on an enlarged scale, of the rail of FIG. 1, at the position of a contact tongue along line II—II. 
     FIG. 3 is a cross section, also on an enlarged scale, along line III—III in FIG. 1, showing a way of fastening conducting strips to the profiled section into which they are slid. 
     FIG. 4 is a cross section showing a variant for fastening conducting strips placed in a profiled section made of an insulator. 
     FIG. 5 is a top view of an assembly comprising two rails placed at a right angle. 
     FIG. 6 shows, seen in perspective, the plates—one in the form of a right angle and one in the form of an L—forming the elements for joining the two rails of FIG.  5 . 
     FIG. 7 is a top view of one of the plates supplying the rail. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The multipurpose rail according to the invention comprises a first conducting strip  10  consisting of a metal strip  11  which is provided, at regular intervals, with contact tongues  12  arranged at 90°. In the variant shown, each tongue  12  is obtained by cutting and folding which leaves behind a series of cutouts  13  in the metal strip  11 . At its free end, each contact tongue  12  comprises a circular opening  14  for receiving the end of a shuttle bulb or of any other current consuming element. 
     A second conducting strip  20  comprises, in a similar manner, contact tongues  22  leaving cutouts  23  in a metal strip  21  and each one having a circular opening  24  for cooperating with the current consuming element. 
     The metal strips are coated with an insulating layer applied over their entire outer surface except for the free ends of the tongues  12  and  22 , since the circular openings  14  and  24  must establish contact with the lamps to be powered. 
     The conducting strips  10  and  20  are slid into a profiled section  30  with two symmetrical legs where they can be fastened by means of a fastening shoe  50  and clamping means  60 . Before fastening the conducting strips  10  and  20 , the spacing A between the contact tongues of each of the strips will be adjusted, depending on the dimensions of the bulbs expected to be used. 
     The profiled section  30  will be described in more detail with respect to the cross section shown in FIG.  2 . It comprises two symmetrical legs  31  and  32 , each one provided on its inner face with a central recess  33  for receiving one of the metal strips  11  or  21 . The recess  33  is partially closed from above by an outer overhang  34  and an inner overhang  35  between which there is a passage  36  wide enough to allow the free passage of the tongues  12  and  22 . 
     On its outer face, each of the legs  31  or  32  comprises a hollow  37  for receiving a self-adhesive strip not shown in the drawing, allowing the assembly to be fastened in its final position. The central part  41  of the profiled section comprises, towards the outside, fluting  42  to increase the surface area for heat loss. Towards the inside, the presence of a central channel  43  between the sides  44  bordering the inner overhangs  35  will be noted. Care will be taken to make a passage  45 , the usefulness of which will be explained below. 
     In a preferred variant, the profiled section  30  is made of aluminum. To prevent any contact with the conducting strips  10  and  20 , the profiled section will be covered with an insulating coating. This embodiment has the advantage that there is no danger of deformation due to heat, which makes it possible to mount more powerful bulbs. 
     In the examples shown in the drawing, the legs  31  and  32  are perpendicular, but they can be placed in another angular arrangement without departing from the scope of the present invention. The important point is to give the conducting strips  10  and  20  and the profiled section  30  dimensions such that the circular openings  14  and  24  are aligned along a common axis, corresponding to the central axis of the cylindrical bulbs to be supplied, shown by a dotted line in FIG.  2 . 
     The surfaces of the overhangs  34  and  35  directed toward the bulbs will advantageously have smooth surfaces, so as to reflect the light emitted by the bulbs. 
     For clarity of the drawing, the contact tongues  12  and  22  are no longer shown in the cross section of FIG. 3, which is taken through a fastening shoe  50  and its clamping means  60 . 
     More specifically, the insulating shoe  50  comprises two supports  51  and  52 , connected by a central bridge  53  which has an opening  54  for the passage of the clamping means  60 . The bases  55  and  56  of the supports are designed to cooperate, at least indirectly, with the metal strips  11  and  21 . 
     The clamping means  60  consist of a screw, the head  61  of which is designed to slide with clearance along the central channel  43  provided in the bend of the profiled section  30  and the threaded shank  62  of which is placed substantially in the center of the shoe  50  and is designed to pass with clearance through the passage  45  separating the inner overhangs  35 . The clamping means also comprise a counterpiece  63  having a tapped opening  64  intended to press against the opening  54  of the shoe  50 . 
     The assembly consisting of the shoe  50  and its clamping means  60  make it possible to set the relative position of the conducting strips  11  and  21  with respect to the profiled section after adjusting the distance A between the tongues  22  and  12  depending on the type of bulb used. Furthermore, this assembly  50 ,  60  may also serve to fasten plates supplying the conducting strips and/or to fasten elements joining two rails according to the invention. 
     Thus FIG. 3 also shows two plates  91  and  92  which represent either the elements joining two adjacent rails, whether the latter are placed end to end or form an angle as shown in FIG. 5, or the plates supplying the conducting strips  11  and  21 , as will be mentioned below. 
     In the embodiment of FIG. 4, a variant embodiment is shown comprising a profiled section  130  made of plastic in which the strips  111  and  121  are fastened by rivets  150 , one of which is shown in section in the drawing. In this version, the profiled section  130  comprises a central part  141  between two legs  131  and  132 , each of which, as described above, has a central recess  33  for receiving one of the metal strips  111  or  121  comprising, at regular intervals, contact tongues  112  and  122  respectively, the free end of each tongue having a circular opening  114  extended towards the outside by a passage  115  for facilitating the insertion of the bulb. 
     In this second embodiment, after having slid the strips  111  and  121  along the legs  131  and  132  of the profiled section  130  and placed the tongues  112  and  122  at the desired distance A, the profiled section  130  and the conducting strips  111  and  121  are drilled in order to produce holes  138  in the legs  131  and  132 , together with holes  116  and  126  in the strips  111  and  121 , into which holes are inserted rivets  150  or any other equivalent locking means, for example screwing, adhesive bonding means or the like. For clarity of the drawing, only one rivet  150  is shown so that the holes  138  in the leg  131  and  116  in the strip  111  are visible. 
     As has already been mentioned, it is often necessary to connect the lighting rails described thus far. To obtain the arrangement of FIG. 5, profiled sections  30  and  40  cut at 45° are used, and two shoes  50 , the supports  51  of which cooperate with the components of the legs  31  of the profiled section while the supports  52  cooperate with those of the legs  32 , are placed at the ends of the profiled sections. In this case, the joining elements consist of a plate  93  folded at right angles and a flat L-shaped plate  94 , which are shown in perspective in FIG.  6  and the cross section of which constitutes the elements  91  and  92  shown in FIG.  3 . 
     Finally, it is possible to use the assemblies  50  and  60  in order to supply power to the metal strips  11  and  21 . For this purpose, it is possible to use a plate  95  as shown in FIG. 7, which comprises a flat part  96  intended to be clamped against the metal strip  11  or  21  to be supplied, while the narrow part  97  is designed to receive a power supply clip welded to a conductor in a conventional manner. It goes without saying that the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 also allows the connection between two power supply rails. 
     As mentioned above, the profiled sections  30  and the means of locking the strips  50 ,  60 ,  150  may be made of metal, for example aluminum. As with the conducting strips  10 ,  20 , the profiled sections may be provided with an insulating coating. 
     The invention as described is particularly suitable for obtaining very great lengths of power supply rails. The simplicity of assembly makes it possible to slide strips measuring several meters into metal or plastic profiled sections, obtained in standard lengths of a few meters.