What is DIN Rail?
DIN rail is a rail made from steel that is shaped to allow mounting of industrial controls like circuit breakers and power supplies.
They were traditionally used in equipment racks and industrial enclosures.
DIN Rail Shapes
The most common DIN rail shapes are the following:
- Top Hat
- C Section
- G Section
The Top Hat DIN rail shown here is what I will be working with in this series. And while it does come in other sizes, the most common is 35mm or otherwise know as TS35 or EN 500022.
The DIN rail I will be using can be purchased here:
Why DIN Rail?
The use of DIN rail saves time when installing new devices. It also saves time when you need to replace or move a device. The alternative to DIN rail mounting is to physically mount the device with mounting screws and brackets. This can be time consuming and very difficult to redesign.
This is a DIN rail layout for a MASSO CNC controller I have been playing with. I have changes many components, layout, and wiring several times in a single day. Each configuration change only took a few minutes.
Mounting DIN Rail Enabled Objects
A DIN rail enabled device or object will have one side that is designed to hook over one edge of the DIN rail.
The other side of the object will be spring loaded or have a slider that can then enguage the oposite edge of the DIN rail.
Mounting Non DIN Rail Enabled Objects
You can purchase TS35 DIN rail adapters that will allow you to mount just about anything.
These adapters can be purchased here:
DIN Rail Mounting Adapters
Here are some adapters that I printed on my 3D printer.
Just some of the devices I have added adapters to.
Please check back as I will be adding more pages devoted to DIN rail as it relates to CNC.