CONDUCTOR TERMINAL AND SET FORMED OF CONDUCTOR TERMINAL AND ACTUATING ELEMENT

Abstract

A conductor terminal having a terminal housing with a locking device for snapping the terminal housing onto a DIN rail, wherein the locking device has a first locking foot that can be elastically displaced relative to the terminal housing, which has a recess for holding an actuating element with which the first locking foot can be elastically displaced. A set formed of such a conductor terminal and an actuating element is also provided.

Claims

1. A conductor terminal comprising: a terminal housing; a locking device for snapping the terminal housing onto a DIN rail, wherein the locking device has a first locking foot that is adapted to be elastically displaced relative to the terminal housing, which has a recess for holding an actuating element with which the first locking foot is elastically displaced; and a fastening element arranged on the terminal housing and/or on the locking device at a distance from the recess to which the actuating element is adapted to be fixed in a loss-proof manner via a positive fit and/or frictional connection.

2. The conductor terminal according to claim 1, wherein the fastening element has a recess with a semicircular inner contour.

3. The conductor terminal according to claim 2, wherein the semicircular inner contour extends over a radians of more than 180.

4. The conductor terminal according to claim 1, wherein the fastening element is disposed at a distance from the recess to the holder of the actuating element that is greater than the depth of the recess.

5. The conductor terminal according to claim 1, wherein the fastening element has an opening pointing in the direction of the recess of the first locking foot.

6. The conductor terminal according to claim 1, wherein the recess for holding the actuating element is tapered in cross-section in a direction pointing away from the fastening element.

7. A set comprising: the conductor terminal according to claim 1; and an actuating element having a fastening section and a displacement section, wherein the fastening section is set up to be fixed to the fastening element of the terminal housing by a positive fit and/or frictional connection, and wherein the displacement section is designed to engage in the recess to hold the actuating element when the actuating element is fixed to the fastening element of the terminal housing via its fastening section.

8. The set according to claim 7, wherein the displacement section is formed at a free end of the fastening element.

9. The set according to claim 7, wherein the actuating element has a manual actuation section designed for manual actuation of the actuating element for the purpose of displacing the first locking foot.

10. The set according to claim 7, wherein the actuating element is designed as a pivoting actuating lever adapted to be swiveled around a swivel bearing, wherein the swivel bearing is at least partially formed by the fastening element of the terminal housing and the fastening section of the actuating element held in the fastening element.

11. The set according to claim 10, wherein the manual actuation section is formed on a lever arm of the actuating lever protruding from a region of the actuating element in which the fastening section is disposed in a different direction than a load arm of the actuating lever on which the displacement section is formed.

12. The set according to claim 7, wherein the actuating element is wholly or predominantly formed in a color that contrasts with the color of the terminal housing.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus, are not limitive of the present invention, and wherein:

[0031] FIG. 1 shows a conductor terminal with an actuating element in a side view,

[0032] FIG. 2 shows a partial perspective representation of the conductor terminal according to FIG. 1,

[0033] FIG. shows the conductor terminal with the actuating element in a comparable representation as FIG. 2,

[0034] FIG. 4 shows an actuating element in a perspective representation,

[0035] FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of an actuating element in a perspective representation,

[0036] FIG. 6 shows a conductor terminal with an actuating element according to FIG. 5 in a side view,

[0037] FIG. 7 shows a partial view of the conductor terminal according to FIG. 6 in a perspective view, and

[0038] FIG. 8 shows the partial view according to FIG. 7 in a side view.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] FIG. 1 shows a conductor terminal 1 with a terminal housing 2, e.g., in the form of a terminal block. The terminal housing 2 can be designed as an insulating housing. One or more spring-loaded terminals may be arranged in the terminal housing 2, and one or more busbars may also be arranged in it.

[0040] In the lower area of the terminal housing 2, a locking device 3 is formed for snapping the terminal housing 2 onto a DIN rail. The locking device 3 essentially has a first locking foot 4 and a second locking foot 5 opposite the first locking foot 4. The locking feet 4, 5 have locking lugs 6, which can engage in a DIN rail and secure the terminal housing 2 to the DIN rail.

[0041] The first locking foot 4 is designed as an elastically displaceable locking foot. This can be realized, for example, in such a way that the first locking foot 4 is connected to the rest of the terminal housing 2 by means of webs 7, 9. Due to the fact that the webs 7, 9 are comparatively long and thin, the desired elastic displacement of the first locking foot 4 can be realized. In order to keep this displacement within limits, a stop 8 can be present, which can extend into a free space formed between the webs 7, 9, for example. Once the first locking foot 4 has reached its maximum permissible displacement, the web 9 hits the stop 8, which prevents further displacement of the first locking foot 4.

[0042] At the first locking foot 4 there is a recess 11 to hold an actuating element. Furthermore, there is a fastening element 12 on the terminal housing 2 and/or on the first locking foot 4, to which an actuating element 10 is fixed by positive fit and/or frictional connection. In this case, part of the actuating element 10 protrudes into the recess 11. The individual elements of the actuating element 10 are described in more detail below. FIG. 1 already shows a manual actuation section 13 of the actuating element 10, which is designed for manual actuation of the actuating element 10. If a compressive force is exerted on the manual actuation section 13, the actuating element 10 pulls the first locking foot 4 slightly to the left, i.e., slightly away from the opposite second locking foot 5.

[0043] In this case, the opening of the fastening element 12 is arranged opposite the recess 11 so that the opening in the fastening element 12 is visible from a viewing point within the recess 11.

[0044] FIG. 2 shows the part of the terminal housing 2 showing the first locking foot 4 in an enlarged representation without the actuating element 10. It can be seen that the fastening element 12 has a recess with a semicircular inner contour which has a slit-like opening to one circumferential side of the semicircular inner contour pointing towards the recess 11. The recess 11 at the lower end of the first locking foot 4 is bounded by a force absorption section 14, through which the actuating force is transmitted from the actuating element 10 for the displacement of the first locking foot 4 to the first locking foot 4. It can be seen that the recess 11 is open in the direction of the fastening element 12 and is also open to one side (here on the right). On the other side (here on the left), the recess 11 is bounded by a wall 15. A comparable boundary wall can also limit the recess in the fastening element 12 to the same side, i.e., here on the left.

[0045] As FIG. 3 shows, the actuating element 10 has a fastening section 16 which is adapted in terms of its shape to the inner contour of the recess in the fastening element 12. The actuating element 10, which in this case is designed as a pivoting actuating lever, also has a displacement section 17, which is formed at a free end of the actuating element 10. The displacement section 17 is immersed in the recess 11 when the actuating element 10 is in the state of being attached to the terminal housing 2 and is essentially form-fitting therein, wherein a certain amount of play is permissible.

[0046] If a compressive force is applied to the actuating element 10 at the manual actuation section 13, the actuating element 10 pivots around the swivel bearing formed by the fastening section 16 and the recess in the fastening element 12 so that the displacement section 17 performs a movement that points away from the second locking foot 5. As a result, the first locking foot 4 is elastically displaced so that the conductor terminal can essentially be removed from or attached to a DIN rail without force.

[0047] FIG. 4 again illustrates the individual elements of the actuating element 10. As can be seen, the actuating element 10 in the displacement section 17 is essentially triangular or at least approximately triangular in lateral view, wherein there may be a pointed end section 18 towards the free end. It can also be seen that the fastening section 16 in this embodiment has a semicircular outer contour.

[0048] The embodiment of the actuating element 10 shown in FIG. 5 in turn has a manual actuation section 13 for manual actuation, a fastening section 16 for attachment to the fastening element 12 on the terminal housing 2, and a displacement section 17 having a beveled end section 18. The fastening section 16 is located between manual actuation section 13 and the displacement section 17. For example, the fastening section 16 may be formed by two pins or axle stubs protruding opposite each other from a base body of the actuating element 10.

[0049] As can be seen, both in the embodiment of FIG. 4 and in the embodiment of FIG. 5, the manual actuation section 13 is formed on a lever arm of the lever-type actuating element 10; the displacement section 17 is formed on a load arm of the actuating element 10.

[0050] FIG. 6 shows in a similar view to FIG. 1 the arrangement of the actuating element 10 according to FIG. 5 on a conductor terminal 1. The conductor terminal 1 can be designed in a comparable way to the conductor terminal 1 according to FIG. 1.

[0051] As the enlarged illustrations in FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate, in contrast to the embodiment of FIG. 1, the fastening element 12 of the conductor terminal according to FIGS. 6 to 8 is designed with a recess which has an opening which leads into a side wall 19 through which the actuating element 10 can be inserted or snapped into place with its fastening section 16. The displacement section 17 is then at least partially in the recess 11.

[0052] The actuating element 10 can then be subjected to a compressive force on the manual actuation section 13 to carry out a displacement of the first locking foot 4.

[0053] The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to be included within the scope of the following claims.