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Contact(s) entrée(s) main(s) courante(s)

English translation: handrail inlet (micro)switch

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:contact entrée main courante
English translation:handrail inlet (micro)switch
Entered by: Tony M

13:10 Jul 9, 2019
French to English translations [PRO]
Tech/Engineering - Mechanics / Mech Engineering / tender(s) entrée(s) main(s) courante(s)
French term or phrase: Contact(s) entrée(s) main(s) courante(s)
Help please with another problem from a long list of items about cranes and lifts in an Excel file.

The full sentence is:

Contact(s) entrée(s) main(s) courante(s) inopérant(s), y remédier
jethro
hand-rail input microswitch(es)
Explanation:
Note that in practical use, 'contact' often means some form of microswitch, which I believe would eb the logical meaning here.

However, 'entrée' is a bit more puzzling! It's not obvious why a handrail would need an 'input microswitch' — normally, handrails just sit there and... exist!

Without further context, it's difficult to even hazard a guess as to what the meaning might be: it COULD mean that the handrail is in some way 'entered' — perhaps 'withdrawn'? But that would of course depend on the exact configuration, as to whether it was in any way a kind of 'movable' handrail; and note I would have expected the verb to have been 'rentrée' anyway.

It is also conceivable that this is meant to be the 'switch inputs' — the circuits to which the switches are connected and which respond to their opening / closure. The word order would be anomalous for this, although it would certainly make technical sense to report that the switch input was u/s (which might imply that the siwtch itself has been checked and found to be OK, ergo it must be the input that is faulty.

All this is IMHO plausible technical conjecture, but impossible to be more specific without the wider context. Maybe see if there are any other mentions of 'entrée', 'contact' or 'main courante' in you document which might, by opposition shed some light?

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day 1 hr (2019-07-10 15:04:01 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

A much-missed former expert contributor to this forum very kindly sent me the following comments, which may help Asker:

"I can't help wondering if "cranes and lifts" might also include escalators, which DO have mains courantes, and these DO have safety switches, as here:

http://www.mitsubishielectric.com/elevator/overview/e_m_walk... "

and further:

"Better still:
Frontplates Frontplates are located at each newel of the escalator. The frontplate assembly contains an inner and
outer frontplate section. Frontplate assemblies serve as a safety device to isolate the interior components from the escalator passengers. Behind the frontplate a HANDRAIL INLET SWITCH is installed. The function of the
HANDRAIL INLET SWITCH is to open the safety circuit if any object follows the handrail path in towards the interior of the escalator

http://www.transportcenter.org/images/uploads/publications/K... "

On the basis of this information kindly provided by our well-wisher, I'd say the term in bold above is probably exactly the one you need here.
Selected response from:

Tony M
France
Local time: 07:55
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +1hand-rail input microswitch(es)
Tony M
Summary of reference entries provided
main courante
philgoddard

Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
hand-rail input microswitch(es)


Explanation:
Note that in practical use, 'contact' often means some form of microswitch, which I believe would eb the logical meaning here.

However, 'entrée' is a bit more puzzling! It's not obvious why a handrail would need an 'input microswitch' — normally, handrails just sit there and... exist!

Without further context, it's difficult to even hazard a guess as to what the meaning might be: it COULD mean that the handrail is in some way 'entered' — perhaps 'withdrawn'? But that would of course depend on the exact configuration, as to whether it was in any way a kind of 'movable' handrail; and note I would have expected the verb to have been 'rentrée' anyway.

It is also conceivable that this is meant to be the 'switch inputs' — the circuits to which the switches are connected and which respond to their opening / closure. The word order would be anomalous for this, although it would certainly make technical sense to report that the switch input was u/s (which might imply that the siwtch itself has been checked and found to be OK, ergo it must be the input that is faulty.

All this is IMHO plausible technical conjecture, but impossible to be more specific without the wider context. Maybe see if there are any other mentions of 'entrée', 'contact' or 'main courante' in you document which might, by opposition shed some light?

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day 1 hr (2019-07-10 15:04:01 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

A much-missed former expert contributor to this forum very kindly sent me the following comments, which may help Asker:

"I can't help wondering if "cranes and lifts" might also include escalators, which DO have mains courantes, and these DO have safety switches, as here:

http://www.mitsubishielectric.com/elevator/overview/e_m_walk... "

and further:

"Better still:
Frontplates Frontplates are located at each newel of the escalator. The frontplate assembly contains an inner and
outer frontplate section. Frontplate assemblies serve as a safety device to isolate the interior components from the escalator passengers. Behind the frontplate a HANDRAIL INLET SWITCH is installed. The function of the
HANDRAIL INLET SWITCH is to open the safety circuit if any object follows the handrail path in towards the interior of the escalator

http://www.transportcenter.org/images/uploads/publications/K... "

On the basis of this information kindly provided by our well-wisher, I'd say the term in bold above is probably exactly the one you need here.

Tony M
France
Local time: 07:55
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 630

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Michael Confais (X)
7 days
  -> Merci, Michael !
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Reference comments


5 mins peer agreement (net): +1
Reference: main courante

Reference information:
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/french-englis...

philgoddard
United States
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 44
Note to reference poster
Asker: Thanks I know what the individual words mean. So would that be handrail (s) contact (s)?


Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)
agree  writeaway
18 mins
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