Connecting terminal and method for fitting a connecting terminal

Abstract

A connecting terminal for connecting at least two electrical conductors to one another, wherein the connecting terminal has at least two separate housing parts which are mechanically connected to one another and each have a conductor insertion opening for at least one electrical conductor which is to be connected on opposite housing sides, wherein there is a first spring-force clamping connection for making electrical contact with a first electrical conductor in a first housing part of the at least two separate housing parts, and there is a second spring-force clamping connection for making electrical contact with the second electrical conductor in the second housing part of the at least two separate housing parts. A method for fitting a connecting terminal for connecting at least two electrical conductors is also provided.

Claims

1. A connecting terminal for connecting at least a first and a second electrical conductor to one another, the connecting terminal comprising: at least two separate housing parts, which are connected mechanically to one another and, on opposite housing sides, each have a conductor insertion opening for at least the first or the second electrical conductor which is to be connected, a first spring-force clamping connection for making electrical contact with the first electrical conductor in a first housing part of the at least two separate housing parts, and a second spring-force clamping connection for making electrical contact with the second electrical conductor in the second housing part of the at least two separate housing parts, wherein the first housing part is coupled mechanically to the second housing part via a latching assembly, and wherein the first housing part is additionally coupled mechanically to the second housing part via a connecting part that is formed as a separate component from the first and second housing parts, the connecting part being situated in the interior of the first and second housing parts, in a region of transition from the first housing part to the second housing part.

2. The connecting terminal as claimed in claim 1, wherein the connecting terminal has a conductor bar which extends continuously from the first spring-force clamping connection to the second spring-force clamping connection.

3. The connecting terminal as claimed in claim 2, wherein the connecting part has a partition wall, arranged substantially perpendicular to a conductor insertion direction of the first and/or the second housing part, and arranged between the first spring-force clamping connection and the second spring-force clamping connection.

4. The connecting terminal claimed in claim 3, wherein the connecting part has at least one conductor-guiding section, which is arranged in the conductor insertion direction or obliquely to the conductor insertion direction of the first and/or of the second housing part.

5. The connecting terminal as claimed n claim 1, wherein the latching assembly includes latching hooks and latching recesses, which are designed as mating parts for said hooks.

6. The connecting terminal as claimed in claim 2, wherein the first housing part is designed to overlap the second housing part, at least on one housing side.

7. The connecting terminal as claimed in claim 6, wherein overlapping housing regions of the first and second housing parts are arranged at least on a housing side situated closest to the conductor bar of the connecting terminal.

8. The connecting terminal as claimed in claim 7, wherein the latching assembly at the overlapping housing regions includes latching features.

9. The connecting terminal as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the first spring-force clamping connection and the second spring-force clamping connection of the connecting terminal are formed by at least one clamping spring in combination with a conductor clamping region of the conductor bar of the connecting terminal.

10. The connecting terminal as claimed in claim 9, wherein the clamping spring of the first and/or of the second spring-force clamping connection is designed as a component separate from the conductor bar.

11. The connecting terminal as claimed in claim 10, wherein the clamping spring of the first and/or of the second spring-force clamping connection is hooked into the conductor bar and fastened in this way.

12. The connecting terminal as claimed in claim 1, wherein a respective lever-actuated opening mechanism for opening a clamping point of the respective spring force clamping connection is arranged on each of the first housing part and the second housing part, wherein the opening mechanism has a pivotable actuating lever.

13. A method for assembling a connecting terminal for connecting at least two electrical conductors to one another, having the following steps: hooking clamping springs of the connecting terminal into a conductor bar of the connecting terminal; placing a connecting part on the conductor bar; placing an actuating lever over the clamping springs and moving the actuating lever into a predetermined open position; pushing a first and a second housing component onto the preassembled unit comprising the clamping springs, the conductor bar and the connecting part; and connecting the first and the second housing parts mechanically to one another and to the connecting part.

14. The connecting terminal as claimed in claim 1, wherein at an upper end of the connecting terminal, inner surfaces of the first housing part and the second housing part are supported on and directly contact an upper surface of a support region of the connecting part.

15. The connecting terminal as claimed in claim 3, wherein a distal end of the partition wall is supported on and directly contacts an upper surface of the conductor bar.

16. The connecting terminal as claimed in claim 8, wherein one of the overlapping housing regions having the latching hooks and the latching recesses is situated underneath the connecting part.

17. The connecting terminal as claimed in claim 1, wherein a first transverse web and a second transverse web protrude from an upper surface of a support region of the connecting part, the first transverse web having an opening through which a latching hook of the first housing part extends and latches thereto, and the second transverse web having an opening through which a latching hook of the second housing part extends and latches thereto.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) 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:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a connecting terminal in a lateral sectioned view, and

(3) FIG. 2 shows the connecting terminal according to FIG. 1 along section plane A-A in FIG. 1, and

(4) FIG. 3 shows a detail of the housing part illustrated on the left in FIG. 1 in section with the actuating lever open, and

(5) FIG. 4 shows the actuating lever in perspective, and

(6) FIG. 5 shows the actuating lever in a lateral sectioned view, and

(7) FIG. 6 shows a connecting part of the connecting terminal according to FIG. 1 in plan view, and

(8) FIG. 7 shows the connecting part according to FIG. 6 in end view in accordance with FIG. 2, and

(9) FIG. 8 shows a conductor bar in perspective, and

(10) FIG. 9 shows a plan view of a conductor bar with a partially finished and a fully finished region.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(11) The connecting terminal shown in FIG. 1 has a first housing part 1 and a second housing part 2. The housing parts 1, 2 have a parting plane arranged vertically in FIG. 1 and are disposed in a back-to-back arrangement. Only in the lower region do the housing parts 1, 2 overlap by means of respective housing regions 16, 26. Otherwise, the housing parts 1, 2 are of substantially identical mirror-symmetrical construction internally. Each of the housing parts 1, 2 has a conductor insertion opening 10, 20, a test opening 11, 21, a clamping spring 12, 22 arranged in the housing part 1, 2, and a lever-actuated opening mechanism having an actuating lever 13, 14 and 23, 24, respectively, which is provided for opening a clamping point of respective spring-force clamping connections.

(12) A conductor bar 3, which is manufactured from electrically conductive metallic material, is furthermore arranged in the interior of the housing parts 1, 2. As can be seen in FIG. 1, the conductor bar 3 is designed as a continuous integral conductor bar which extends from the first housing part 1 to the second housing part 2. Together with a clamping-leg end 120 of the clamping spring 12, a conductor clamping region 31, arranged in the first housing part 1, of the conductor bar 3 forms a first spring-force clamping connection. In corresponding fashion, a conductor clamping region 32, arranged in the second housing part 2, of the conductor bar 3 forms a second spring-force clamping connection with a clamping-leg end 220 of the clamping spring 22.

(13) The conductor bar 3 has punched-out material regions 33, 34, 35, 36, which are bent upward out of the plane of the conductor clamping regions 31, 32 and each form a window-like opening 37, 38, as shown in FIG. 8. A respective bearing-leg end 121, 221 of the respective clamping spring 12, 22 is inserted into a respective window-like opening 37, 38 and is supported on a horizontally extending transverse web 35, 36 of the upward-bent material regions of the conductor bar 3. In order to fix the respective clamping spring 12, 22 in a somewhat prestressed state in the position visible in FIG. 1, in which no electrical conductor has been inserted into the respective conductor insertion opening 10, 20, wave-like deformations are formed in the respective conductor clamping regions 31, 32 of the conductor bar 3.

(14) A conductor to be inserted into the respective conductor insertion opening 10, 20 is inserted in a conductor insertion direction L, as illustrated in FIG. 1. A test pin can be inserted into the respective test opening 11, 21 in order to measure the voltage across the respective clamping spring 12, 22 by means of a meter, for example.

(15) On the one hand, the housing parts 1, 2 are coupled mechanically to one another by their overlapping housing regions 16, 26. For this purpose, the first housing part 1, for example, has a latching nose 17, and the second housing part 2 has an aperture 27 in housing region 26. The latching nose 17 can then latch in behind a latching edge, which is formed on a rim of the aperture 27, thereby fixing the housing parts 1, 2 on one another.

(16) For additional mechanical coupling of the housing parts 1, 2 to one another and for additional mechanical stabilization of the overall structure of the connecting terminal 100, the terminal has, as a further component, a connecting part 4, which is situated in the interior of the housing parts 1, 2, in the region of transition from one housing part 1 to the other housing part 2. The connecting part 4 has a support region 44, which is arranged on the inside of the upper housing side of the housing parts 1, 2 and, for example, rests against said side. This support region 44 ensures mechanical support for the housing parts 1, 2 with respect to transverse forces, i.e. forces transverse to the conductor insertion direction L. For the mechanical coupling of the housing parts 1, 2 to one another in the upper region of the housing parts 1, 2 there are furthermore respective latching noses 18, 28, which are latched in behind latching edges formed by upper transverse webs 45, 46 on the connecting part 4.

(17) The connecting part 4 has additional functionalities. From the support region 44, the connecting part 4 extends via an interspace 43 to a material region formed in a T shape relative thereto, which, on its underside, i.e. in a region in which the electrical conductors to be inserted are to be arranged, has sloping regions designed as conductor-guiding sections 41, 42. Electrical conductors inserted into the respective conductor insertion opening 10, 20 are thereby guided to a defined position within the connecting terminal. In order to limit the depth of insertion of the electrical conductors, there is a conductor stop 40, which can likewise be formed on the connecting part 4, e.g. in the form of the substantially vertical wall that can be seen in FIG. 1.

(18) Together with corresponding inner cavities of the housing parts 1, 2, the connecting part 4 thereby forms corresponding conductor-receiving spaces for receiving in each case at least one electrical conductor, which are situated opposite one another. In this arrangement, the opposite conductor insertion openings 10, 20 are situated in a common plane. The conductor bar 3 is thus a common conductor bar for the first and the second spring-force clamping connection.

(19) To enable the clamping point of the respective spring-force clamping connection to be opened in a simple and ergonomic manner, in particular without an additional tool, there are the abovementioned opening mechanisms having the actuating levers 13, 14 and 23, 24, respectively. For this purpose, each actuating lever has a lever arm 14, 24, which is coupled to an actuating disk 13 and 23, respectively. When the respective actuating lever is pivoted owing to a movement of the lever arm 14, 24, the actuating disk 13, 23 performs a corresponding rotary motion about a central axis, which is simultaneously an axis of rotation. During this process, the respective clamping spring 12, 22 is deflected upward at its clamping-leg end 120, 220, i.e. in the direction of the bearing-leg end 121, 221. The clamping point is thereby released, thus allowing an electrical conductor that is already being clamped to be removed easily or a conductor which is to be inserted to be inserted without exertion. The respective actuating disk 13, 23 is supported at the bottom and at the rear on a bearing contour 15, 25, which is present within the respective housing part 1, 2, e.g. is formed integrally with the respective housing part 1, 2.

(20) FIG. 2 additionally shows the construction of the connecting terminal according to FIG. 1 in a cross section along section plane A-A, as depicted in FIG. 1.

(21) FIG. 3 shows the mode of operation of the respective opening mechanism for opening the clamping point of a respective clamping contact with reference to the spring-force clamping connection illustrated on the left in FIG. 1, i.e. shows a detail of the components arranged in the first housing part 1. The mode of operation and construction in the second housing part 2 are identical (and mirror-symmetrical).

(22) FIG. 3 shows the opening mechanism with the lever arm 14 pivoted upward, with the result that the clamping point of the spring-force clamping connection is open. It can be seen that the clamping-leg end 120 of the clamping spring 12 is now spaced apart from the conductor clamping region 31 of the conductor bar 3. This has been accomplished by rotation of the actuating disk 13, the actuating region 130 of which presses against the clamping leg of the clamping spring 12 and deflects it upward.

(23) It can furthermore be seen in FIG. 3 that the actuating lever 13, 14 can have a side wall 140, by means of which the mechanical connection between the lever arm 14 and the actuating disk 13 is established and which contributes to additional mechanical stabilization of the opening mechanism.

(24) When viewed together with FIG. 8, it becomes clear that the actuating disks 13 in the form of circular segments are situated next to the conductor bar tabs 31 extending in the conductor insertion direction L and are therefore accommodated completely (at the bottom and front) in the bearing recesses 15 of the housing part 1. At the rear, the actuating disks 13 are supported against the frame 33 of the conductor bar 3.

(25) FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of an actuating lever 13, 14 from the underside. This shows the configuration of two mutually spaced side wall sections 140, which is basically U-shaped in section, said sections being connected to one another at their free end at a lateral edge by means of a transverse web 136. It will be apparent that the side wall sections 140 taper toward the free end from the end regions 141 adjacent to the pivot bearing. It can be seen that there is an actuating bead 137 at the free end of the transverse web 136. It will also be apparent that the actuating bead 137 of the transverse web 136 projects forward beyond the free ends of the side wall sections 140, wherein the inside of the transverse web 136 slopes at the free end edge. This counteracts slippage when a lever actuating force of the lever arm 14 is applied.

(26) It can furthermore be seen that the actuating disks 13 have outer end faces 136 which are curved in the form of circular segments and by means of which the actuating lever 13, 14 is supported in the housing part 1 so as to be pivotable about a virtual axis of rotation 131.

(27) The axis of rotation 131 extends through the center of a circular segment formed by the outer end face 136.

(28) It can furthermore be seen that actuating disks 13 in the form of circular segments and having a V-shaped notch 133 are provided, said disks being spaced apart from the side wall sections 140 by a guide slot 132. Formed in the region of each of the V-shaped notches 133 is an actuating section 134, which serves to impose a spring actuating force on an associated clamping leg of a clamping spring 12, 22. It can be seen that the actuating sections 134 as well as the transverse web 136, on which a lever pivoting force is exerted, are situated on the same side relative to the axis of rotation 131. This has the effect that the spring actuating forces F.sub.F exerted by the actuating sections 134 act on the same side, relative to the axis of rotation 131, as the lever pivoting force applied to the transverse web 136 for pivoting.

(29) It will furthermore be apparent that a latching nose 135 projects from the transverse web 136 approximately in the direction of the actuating disk 14 and of section 31, on the opposite side from the actuating bead 137. The latching nose 135 is used to latch the actuating lever 13, 14 to the housing part 1 in the closed position.

(30) FIG. 5 shows a sectional side view through the actuating element 4 from FIG. 4. Here, it will once again be apparent that the side wall sections 140 are connected by a transverse web 136 connecting them on the upper side of the actuating element 14. Here, the transverse web 136 extends over only part of the length of the side wall sections 140 and, in this case, preferably occupies more than half of the length of the side wall sections 140.

(31) FIGS. 6 and 7 shows the connecting part 4 in isolation in additional views. In particular, it can be seen that, in combination with lateral webs 48, a region 47 of the connecting part 4 open in the manner of a window is formed between the upper transverse webs 45, 46, which form the latching edges for the latching noses 18, 28 of the housing parts 1, 2. The latching noses 18, 28 are then arranged therein in the assembled state of the connecting terminal, as illustrated in FIG. 1.

(32) The connecting terminal 100 can be designed as an individual connecting terminal or as a multiple connecting terminal. In the case of design as a single connecting terminal, a conductor bar 3 according to FIG. 8 is used, for example. In the case of design as a multiple connecting terminal, e.g. a dual connecting terminal, a conductor bar according to FIG. 9 can be used. In this case, a plurality of conductor bars according to FIG. 8 are arranged adjacent to one another and connected to one another by electrically conducting material webs.

(33) From FIG. 9 it can additionally be seen how the conductor bar can advantageously be produced in its final shape from a flat metal part. First of all, a flat metal part is provided with the desired shape by a stamping process, for example. During this process, those material regions 33, 34, 35, 36 which are to be angled upward to form the window-like opening 37, 38 are punched out of the material. They can then be angled upward by a bending process, as illustrated on the left in the lower part of FIG. 9. The undulating contour in the conductor clamping regions 31, 32 can be produced by a bending or embossing step.

(34) 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.