DIN Rails- Introduction, Types, and Benefits Discussed

DIN rails are the long metal strips that are used for mounting circuit breakers and industrial process control devices. These DIN rails make a fundamental component of industrial equipment cabinet racks and are used for mounting process control products. Generally, the electronic components mounted on the DIN rail-mounting are circuit breakers, enclosures, terminal blocks, actuators, etc. Several electronic and electronic-reliant companies utilize these DIN rail terminal blocks for component mounting. However, do you really know what these DIN rails are? If your answer is no, then you can find out the answers here. This post gives an introduction to DIN rails, their types, advantages, and many more.

What are DIN Rails?

DIN rails are industry-standard metal rails that are used for mounting industrial processing equipment. First introduced by Germans in 1928, their original specifications were published by Deutsches Institut für Normung (DIN). This term Deutsches Institut für Normung (DIN) translates to the German Institute of Standards. Further in the 1950s, these DIN rails were adopted by European (EN) and International IEC standards.

These DIN rails are only accepted as mechanical support to electronic systems, and they cannot be used for electrical current conduction as bus bars. However, these DIN rail terminal blocks can be used as a grounding connection for chassis.

These metallic rails are manufactured by cold rolling carbon steel sheets and then are plated with zinc to achieve an achromatic bright surface finish.

There are several types of DIN rail terminal blocks that are accepted by EU and IEC standards. They are discussed in detail in the next section.

Know About Various types of DIN Rails

Let us discuss a few prominent types of DIN rails in detail.

• TS35 (Top Hat): This is the most common type of DIN rail used across industries. They come in standard sizes of 7.5 mm and 15mm depth with 35mm cross-width. They are widely used for mounting circuit breakers, input/output controllers, etc. They are EN50045 compliant.
• TS15 (Miniature Top Hat): This type of DIN rail resembles a top hat, thus the name. These rails are available in 15mm width and 5.5mm of depth. These are used for mounting smaller components like function relays, and junction boxes.
• TS32 (C-Section): TS32 DIN rails feature C-section design. These rails are not used very often due to their heavy construction. However, if superior support is required then designers go for C-section rails.
• TS (G-Type Sections): These DIN rails feature G-shaped construction and are only used for panel-mounted components if extra support is required. These metal rails are paired up with the connectors when it comes to connecting components. Let us see what type of connectors are used.

What are the Various Types of DIN Rail Connectors?

The following are a few common connectors used for connecting DIN rails.

• DIN Rail Solenoid Valves: Solenoid valve connectors are the hydraulic connector devices with solenoid attachments. These are electromagnetically functioning devices that are used only where the clean flow of fluid is expected. They are used to monitor and control the flow of fluids in convenient DIN rail systems.
• DIN Rail Terminal Blocks: DIN rail terminal blocks are the most commonly used connectors in the rail system. They are particularly used for the safe linking of components. They are widely used in complex DIN rail systems for lighting controllers, telecommunication, industrial electrical and electronic installation, etc.

Along with these connectors, DIN rail offers several benefits. These benefits are introduced in the next section.

Advantages of Using DIN Rails In Your Applications

The following benefits of DIN rails make them suitable for several applications.

• DIN rails save space, time, and efforts of mounting each device or component separately.
• The limited space requirement is an important benefit as it links internal and external cabling circuits together.
• They are cost convenient, and feature universally accepted connection protocols and also offer organized system layout.

Now that the introduction and importance of DIN rails are discussed, you must consider sourcing them from trusted suppliers. Electronic Expeditors (EE - USA) offer quality DIN rails and DIN rail terminal blocks connectors. EE-USA has been supplying these products for several years throughout the United States. Being experts in the industry the company offers DIN rails in various specifications and from industry-leading brands.