Connecting Terminal and Electronic Device

Abstract

The present invention relates to an electrical connection terminal (100) for connecting electrical conductors, which has a housing (110), a clamping spring (120) arranged in the housing (110), a current bar (160) and a clamping lever (140), wherein the clamping spring (120) has contact legs (121) for elastically clamping the electrical conductor to be connected against the current bar (160), wherein the clamping lever (140) is fixed to the housing (110), wherein the clamping lever (140) is pivotable about a pivot axis (141) between an open position and a closed position, wherein the clamping lever (140) has a push rod (142), and wherein the push rod (142) corresponds to a tongue (122) of the clamping spring (120), which tongue is provided on the contact leg (121) of the clamping spring (120).

Description

Field of the Invention

[0001] The present invention relates to a connection terminal for connecting electrical conductors. The present invention also relates to an electronic device having such a connection terminal. Background Art

[0002] Connection terminals for electrical conductors are used to removably contact electrical conductors. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The object of the present invention is to provide an improved connection terminal for connecting electrical conductors.

[0004] This object is achieved according to the invention by the features of the independent claims. Advantageous designs and advantageous extensions of the invention are given in the dependent claims.

[0005] The connection terminal according to the invention has a housing, a clamping spring arranged in the housing, a current bar, and a clamping lever, wherein the clamping spring has contact legs for elastically clamping the electrical conductor to be connected against the current bar, wherein the clamping lever is fixed to the housing, wherein the clamping lever is pivotable about a pivot axis between an open position and a closed position, wherein the clamping lever has a push rod, and wherein the push rod corresponds to a tongue of the clamping spring, which tongue is arranged on the contact leg of the clamping spring.

[0006] By arranging the tongue interacting with the push rod on the contact leg of the clamping spring, a particularly compact and robust design of the clamping spring within the connection terminal can be achieved.

[0007] The tongue is preferably integrally formed with the clamping spring and punched out from the contact leg of the clamping spring, and the contact leg may have a through-opening substantially corresponding to the punched-out tongue. In this way, the tongue can be provided as an integral part of the clamping spring inexpensively and reliably.

[0008] It can be provided that the tongue is arranged in a freely protruding manner between the contact leg and the holding leg of the clamping spring, and the contact leg and the holding leg may be connected to each other by a bent connecting section. Thereby, the tongue can be integrated as compactly as possible into the installation space provided for accommodating the clamping spring.

[0009] The connecting section between the contact leg and the holding leg may be an arc that defines an angle of less than 90° between the holding leg and the contact leg. Thus, the sections of the contact leg and the holding leg adjacent to the arc may enclose an angle of less than 90°.

[0010] In order to prevent the clamping spring from bending or deforming due to improper use and to achieve guiding and positioning of the clamping spring relative to the housing, according to another design of the connection terminal, it can be provided that the housing has a support section which passes through the through-opening of the contact leg and abuts against the holding leg of the clamping spring. Thus, the clamping spring with the through-opening can be pushed onto the support section, so that the clamping spring can be positioned on the housing in a form-fitting manner with the contact leg.

[0011] It can be provided that the end section of the support section of the housing which abuts against the holding leg of the clamping spring has a bend or a rounding, so that the shape of the support section can at least partially match the different bending radii of the clamping spring in different tension states. Thus, compared with a support with sharp edges, the bend or rounding can reduce the wear of the spring and also reduce the friction of the spring in contact with the support section during deformation. The tensioning mechanism formed by the clamping lever, the clamping spring and the corresponding support section can thus be designed to be easier to operate compared to a sharp-edge or flat-surface support solution by providing a rounding on the end side of the support section.

[0012] The clamping spring can be surrounded by the housing on both sides, so that in particular there is no lateral opening in the housing for mounting the clamping spring, and the clamping spring can be mounted in the housing by pushing it onto the support section and thus into the space between the two side housing walls.

[0013] According to an alternative design, the support section can be provided on or be part of the current bar.

[0014] In order to enable a simple and cost-effective construction of the clamping spring, it can be provided that the clamping spring is a multi-bent strip, in particular a spring steel strip, wherein the strip has a constant width. When it is mentioned in the present invention that the strip has a constant width, this means that the total width of the unwound strip located in one plane for forming the spring has a constant width. It should be understood that, for example, punching out tongues will result in the tongues themselves having a smaller width than the original strip. However, the total width of the clamping section from which the tongues are punched remains the same and continues to correspond to the width of the holding leg. In particular, the width of the section of the clamping leg which abuts against the conductor to be connected corresponds to the width of the holding leg.

[0015] Furthermore, when the clamping lever is in the closed position, the push rod can have a spacing from the tongue, and when the clamping lever is in the open position, the push rod can abut against the tongue. In the closed position, it can thus be ensured that all the spring force of the spring clip can be used to tension the conductor in the direction of the current bar and that no part of the spring force is lost through contact with the push rod. Thus, starting from the closed position of the clamping lever, the push rod initially performs a dead stroke until the push rod comes into contact with the tongue, whereupon a further opening movement can cause deformation of the clamping spring through the tongue and the push rod.

[0016] The push rod can for example be a spine or tab protruding in the width direction of the clamping spring and formed on the clamping rod.

[0017] In particular, it can be set that the pivoting of the clamping rod from the closed position to the open position causes an increase in the distance between the current bar and the contact leg, where the spring can be tensioned between the push rod and the stop.

[0018] In addition, another clamping spring can be provided with another clamping rod to elastically tension another conductor spring to be connected onto the current bar.

[0019] The another clamping spring and the another clamping rod can in particular be constructed similarly to the above-mentioned clamping rod and the above-mentioned clamping spring.

[0020] The connection terminal in particular has a mirror-symmetrical structure, where it is allowed to introduce two conductors to be connected into the connection terminal on both sides to achieve the electrical connection of the conductors to be connected.

[0021] In order to achieve a compact construction form of the connection terminal, it can be set that the clamping spring has end sections that abut against each other, where if the clamping rod is in the open position, the clamping spring can be tensioned between the push rod and the end section of another clamping spring, and if another clamping rod is in the open position, the another clamping spring can be tensioned between the end section of the clamping spring and the push rod of the another clamping rod.

[0022] Then, the clamping springs support each other inside the connection terminal, so that the clamping springs can be compactly integrated into the housing of the connection terminal.

[0023] In addition, it can be set that the clamping rods assigned to the clamping springs also abut against each other in their open positions in order to be able to limit the pivoting path of the respective clamping rod in the open position.

[0024] In order to specify the defined position of the contact leg, it can be set that the current bar has a shoulder against which the contact leg abuts if the clamping rod is in the closed position and no conductor is introduced into the housing in the area of the clamping rod. By making the clamping rod abut against the current bar in the closed position, conductors of different diameters can be pushed between the contact leg and the current bar, where the contact leg can move away from the current bar by the conductor end or squeeze the distance of the conductor end diameter, so that the conductor end can be tensioned on the current bar by the contact leg.

[0025] The opening limited between the current bar and the contact leg for accommodating the conductor can thus automatically adapt to the diameter of the conductor to be contacted respectively. Therefore, the conductor can be in contact with the current bar and fixed in the connection terminal without moving the clamping rod from its closed position to the open position.

[0026] Alternatively, the clamping lever can be moved to its open position to lift the contact leg off the current bar, making it easier to insert the conductor end. In this way, the conductor can be introduced into the housing first without having to press the conductor end against the clamping leg. This avoids deformation of the conductor end when introducing it into the connection terminal. The subsequent pivoting of the clamping lever from its open position to the closed position causes the contact spring to be tensioned in the direction of the current bar, with the conductor end being tensioned between the clamping leg of the clamping spring and the current bar.

[0027] It can be provided that the housing is made of or consists of plastic.

[0028] It can also be provided that the clamping lever has a handle so that the connection terminal can be manipulated without using tools and thus an electrical conductor can be connected to and disconnected from the connection terminal without using tools.

[0029] It can be provided that the housing has a stop corresponding to the clamping lever to limit the pivoting travel of the clamping lever.

[0030] The connection terminal can be designed, for example, as a junction box, a block terminal or a potential terminal.

[0031] The object of the present invention is also achieved by an electronic device which can have at least one connection terminal designed and extended as described above. Description of the Drawings

[0032] The present invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to the drawings by means of exemplary embodiments. In which are schematically shown:

[0033] Figure 1A A top perspective view of a connection terminal according to the present invention is shown;

[0034] Figure 1B Shown is Figure 1A A longitudinal sectional side view of the connection terminal of

[0035] Figure 1C A top perspective view of a part of the housing of the connection terminal is shown;

[0036] Figure 1D Shown is Figure 1A A side view of the connection terminal of

[0037] Figure 2 A top perspective view of the clamping spring is shown;

[0038] Figure 3 A top perspective view of the clamping body is shown;

[0039] Figure 4 Shown is Figure 1ALongitudinal sectional side view of a connection terminal with a conductor to be clamped and a clamping body, in the closed position;

[0040] Figure 5A shows Figure 1A Longitudinal sectional side view of a connection terminal with a conductor to be clamped and a clamping body, in the open position;

[0041] Figure 5B shows Figure 1A Longitudinal sectional side view of a connection terminal with a conductor to be clamped and a clamping body, in the closed position;

[0042] Figure 6 Shows a longitudinal sectional side view of the clamping body, clamping spring and current bar of the connection terminal. Detailed implementation

[0043] The connection terminal 100 for connecting an electrical conductor has a housing 110. In the housing 110, a clamping spring 120 and another clamping spring 130 are arranged. The connection terminal 100 has a clamping lever 140 corresponding to the clamping spring 120. The connection terminal 100 has another clamping lever 150, which is assigned to the other clamping spring 130. The connection terminal 100 has a current bar 160.

[0044] The clamping spring 120 has a contact leg 121 in order to elastically tension the electrical conductor to be connected against the current bar 160 in a springy manner. The other clamping spring 130 has a contact leg 131 in order to elastically tension the electrical conductor to be connected against the current bar 160 in a springy manner.

[0045] The clamping lever 140 is fixed to the housing 110, wherein the clamping lever 140 can pivot between an open position and a closed position about a pivot axis 141. The clamping lever 140 has a push rod 142. A tongue 122 of the clamping spring 120 corresponds to the push rod 142. The tongue 122 is arranged on the contact leg 121 of the clamping spring 120.

[0046] The other clamping lever 150 is fixed to the housing 110, and the other clamping lever 150 can pivot between an open position and a closed position about a pivot axis 151. The other clamping lever 150 has a push rod 152. A tongue 132 of the other clamping spring 130 corresponds to the push rod 152. The tongue 132 is arranged on the contact leg 131 of the other clamping spring 130.

[0047] The connection terminal 100 has a mirror-symmetrical structure, wherein the geometry of the clamping spring 120 corresponds to the geometry of the clamping spring 130. Similarly, the geometry of the clamping lever 140 corresponds to the geometry of the other clamping lever 150.

[0048] The geometry of the clamping springs 120, 130 is described below with reference to Figure 2 the clamping spring 120 as an example. In addition, the geometry of the clamping levers 140, 150 is described with reference to Figure 3 the clamping lever 140 as an example.

[0049] Figure 2 A separate top perspective view of the clamping spring 120 is shown. The tongue 122 is integrally formed with the clamping spring 120 and is punched out from the contact leg 121 of the clamping spring 120. The contact leg 121 has a through-opening 123 corresponding to the size of the punched-out tongue 122.

[0050] The tongue 122 is arranged to project freely between the contact leg 121 and the holding leg 124 of the clamping spring 120. The contact leg 121 and the holding leg 124 are interconnected by a bent connecting section 125.

[0051] The through-opening 123 is used to position the clamping spring 120 on the housing 110. To this end, the housing 110 has a support section 111 that passes through the through-opening 123 of the contact leg 121 and abuts against the holding leg 124 of the clamping spring 120. The clamping spring 120 is a multi-bent strip, where the strip has a constant width B1.

[0052] Similarly, the housing 110 has a support section 112 that passes through the through-opening 133 of the clamping spring 130 and abuts against the holding leg 134 of the clamping spring 130. The clamping spring 130 is a multi-bent strip, where the strip has a constant width.

[0053] Thus, the respective clamping springs 120, 130 can be pushed onto the corresponding support sections 111, 112 with their through-openings, so that the respective clamping springs 120, 130 are positioned on the housing 110 in a form-fitting manner with their contact legs 121, 131.

[0054] The support sections 111, 112 of the housing 110 have bends or rounded portions 115, 116 at their ends in order to at least partially match the shape of the support sections 111, 112 to the different bending radii of the clamping springs 120, 130 in different tension states.

[0055] The clamping springs 120, 130 are surrounded by the housing 110 on both sides, so that in particular no lateral openings of the housing for mounting the clamping springs 120, 130 are provided, and the clamping springs 120, 130 can be pushed onto the support sections 111, 112 and thus inserted between the two side housing walls 117, 118 of the housing 110 and mounted in the housing 110 ( Figure 1C ).

[0056] Figure 1D Shows an example of misuse of the connection terminal 100, where the screwdriver 400 is introduced into the connection terminal. Here, the deformation or damage of the clamping spring 130 can be prevented by the support section 112.

[0057] Figure 3 Shows a top perspective view of the clamping lever 140 alone. The clamping lever 140 has a handle 143 to allow manual operation of the clamping lever 140 without tools. In the region of the pivot axis 141, the clamping lever 140 has pivot feet 144, 145, which are form-fittingly connected to the housing 110 and allow the clamping lever 140 to be rotatably supported on the housing 110. The clamping lever 140 also has a stop surface 146 and another stop surface 147.

[0058] If the clamping lever 140 is in the closed position, as Figure 1B , Figure 4 , Figure 5B and Figure 6 shown, the push rod 142 has a spacing A relative to the tongue 122. If the clamping lever 140 is in the open position, as Figure 5A shown, the push rod 142 abuts against the tongue 122.

[0059] Pivoting the clamping lever 140 from the closed position to the open position causes an increase in the distance between the current bar 160 and the contact leg 121, where the clamping spring 120 is tensioned between the push rod 142 and the stop 136. The stop 136 is part of the clamping spring 130 and forms the end section 136 of the clamping spring 130. Similarly, the end section 126 of the clamping spring 120 forms the stop of the clamping spring 130.

[0060] The clamping springs 120, 130 thus have end sections 126, 136 that abut against each other, where if the clamping lever 140 is in the open position, the clamping spring 120 is tensioned between the push rod 142 and the end section 136 of the other clamping spring 130, and if the other clamping lever 150 is in the open position, the other clamping spring 130 is tensioned between the end section 126 of the clamping spring 120 and the push rod 152 of the other clamping lever 150. The clamping springs 120, 130 thus support each other with their ends abutting against each other.

[0061] The current bar 160 has a shoulder 161 against which the contact leg 121 abuts if the clamping lever 140 is in the closed position and no conductor is introduced into the housing 110 in the region of the clamping lever 140. The current bar 160 has another shoulder 162 against which the contact leg 131 abuts if the clamping lever 150 is in the closed position and no conductor is introduced into the housing 110 in the region of the clamping lever 150 ( Figure 1B ).

[0062] To establish an electrical connection between two electrical conductors 200, 300, the conductors 200, 300 can be pushed into the connection terminal 100 while the clamping levers 140, 150 are in their open positions (see Figure 4 ). Thus, the electrical conductor 200 is introduced with its end section 210 into the opening 113 of the housing 110 of the connection terminal 100.

[0063] The end section 210 presses here against the clamping legs 121 of the clamping spring 120, such that the end section 210 is tensioned between the clamping legs 121 and the current bar 160 due to the spring force of the clamping spring 120. The end section 126 of the clamping spring 120 forms here a stop for the end section 210 of the conductor 200.

[0064] Similarly, the end section 310 of the conductor 300 can be introduced into the opening 114 of the housing 110 to be tensioned between the clamping legs 131 of the clamping spring 130 and the current bar 160.

[0065] Thus, the electrical connection between the conductors 200, 300 is established via the conductive current bar 160. The clamping legs 121, 131 and the shoulders 161, 162 of the current bar 160 act here together with the clamping forces of the springs 120, 130 to prevent the conductors 200, 300 from being pulled out of the connection terminal 100. Figure 5B The state is shown in which the two conductors 200, 300 are tensioned with their end sections 210, 310 within the connection terminal 100.

[0066] Alternatively, before introducing the conductors 200, 300, the clamping levers 140, 150 can be opened, as shown in the example of Figure 5A . Once the conductor ends 210, 310 are positioned in the respective housing openings 113, 114, the clamping levers 140, 150 pivot back from the Figure 5A shown open positions to the Figure 5B shown closed positions to tension the conductors 200, 300 within the connection terminal 100 and to bring them into contact with each other via the current bar 160.

[0067] To limit the pivot path in the Figure 5A shown open position, the clamping lever 140 abuts with its stop face 147 against the housing 110. Similarly, the clamping lever 150 abuts with its stop face 157 against the housing 110. In addition, the stop face 146 of the clamping lever 140 bears against the stop face 156 of the clamping lever 150.

[0068] To further clarify the mode of function of the clamping mechanism of the connection terminal 100 formed by the clamping levers 140, 150, the corresponding clamping springs 120, 130 and the current bar 160, these components are shown in Figure 6Shown separately therein, where the clamping lever 140 is shown in the closed position and the clamping lever 150 is shown in the open position.

[0069] It can be seen that the push rod 142 is spaced apart from the tongue 122 in the closed position of the clamping lever 140 and the pivoting causes the tensioning of the spring 130, as exemplarily shown for the clamping spring 130 and the clamping lever 150 in the open position.

[0070] It can also be seen that if the respective push rods 142, 152 bear against the respective tongues 122, 132 when the respective clamping levers 140, 150 pivot from the closed position to the open position, the respective clamping legs 121, 131 are moved away from the current bar 160 by the pivoting of the clamping levers 140, 150.

[0071] Description of Reference Numerals

[0072] 100 Connection terminal

[0073] 110 Housing

[0074] 111 Support section

[0075] 112 Support section

[0076] 113 Opening

[0077] 114 Opening

[0078] 115 Rounding

[0079] 116 Rounding

[0080] 117 Side housing wall

[0081] 118 Side housing wall

[0082] 120 Clamping spring

[0083] 121 Contact leg

[0084] 122 Tongue

[0085] 123 Through-opening

[0086] 124 Holding leg

[0087] 125 Connection section

[0088] 126 End section

[0089] 130 Clamping spring

[0090] 131 Contact leg

[0091] 132 Tongue

[0092] 133 Through-opening

[0093] 134 Holding leg

[0094] 136 End section

[0095] 140 Clamping bar

[0096] 141 Pivot shaft

[0097] 142 Push rod

[0098] 143 Handle

[0099] 144 Pivot foot

[0100] 145 Pivot foot

[0101] 146 Stop surface

[0102] 147 Stop surface

[0103] 150 Clamping bar

[0104] 151 Pivot shaft

[0105] 152 Push rod

[0106] 156 Stop surface

[0107] 157 Stop surface

[0108] 160 Current bar

[0109] 161 Stop portion

[0110] 162 Stop portion

[0111] 200 Conductor

[0112] 210 End section

[0113] 300 Conductor

[0114] 310 End section

[0115] 400 Screwdriver

[0116] A Spacing

[0117] B1 Width

Claims

1. A connection terminal (100) for connecting electrical conductors, having a housing (110), a clamping spring (120) arranged in the housing (110), a current bar (160) and a clamping lever (140), wherein the clamping spring (120) has contact legs (121) for elastically tensioning the electrical conductor to be connected against the current bar (160) by the spring, wherein the clamping lever (140) is fixed to the housing (110), wherein the clamping lever (140) is pivotable about a pivot axis (141) between an open position and a closed position, wherein the clamping lever (140) has a push rod (142), and wherein the push rod (142) corresponds to a tongue (122) of the clamping spring (120), and the tongue is arranged on the contact leg (121) of the clamping spring (120). Wherein, the tongue (122) is integrally formed with the clamping spring (120) and punched out from the contact leg (121) of the clamping spring (120), and the contact leg (121) has a through-opening (123) substantially corresponding to the size of the punched-out tongue (122).

2. The connection terminal (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that, the tongue (122) is arranged in a freely protruding manner between the contact leg (121) and the holding leg (124) of the clamping spring (120), and the contact leg (121) and the holding leg (124) are interconnected by a bent connecting section (125).

3. The connection terminal (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that, the housing (110) has a support section (111), and the support section passes through the through-opening (123) of the contact leg (121) and abuts against the holding leg (124) of the clamping spring (120).

4. The connection terminal (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that, the clamping spring (120) is a multi-bent strip, and the strip has a constant width (B1).

5. The connection terminal (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that, when the clamping lever (140) is in the closed position, there is a spacing between the push rod (142) and the tongue (122), and when the clamping lever (140) is in the open position, the push rod (142) abuts against the tongue (122).

6. The connection terminal (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that, the pivoting of the clamping lever (140) from the closed position to the open position causes an increase in the spacing between the current bar (160) and the contact leg (121), and the clamping spring (120) is tensioned between the push rod (142) and a stop.

7. The connection terminal (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that, an additional clamping spring (130) is provided with an additional clamping lever (150) for elastically tensioning an additional electrical conductor to be connected against the current bar (160) by the spring.

8. The connection terminal (100) according to claim 7, characterized in that, The clamping springs (120, 130) have end sections (126, 136) that abut against each other, where if the clamping lever (140) is in the open position, the clamping spring (120) is tensioned between the push rod (142) and the end section (136) of the further clamping spring (130), and if the further clamping lever (150) is in the open position, the further clamping spring (130) is tensioned between the end section (126) of the clamping spring and the push rod (152) of the further clamping lever (150).

9. The connection terminal (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that the current bar (160) has a shoulder (161) against which the contact leg (121) abuts if the clamping lever (140) is in the closed position and no conductor is introduced into the housing (110) in the region of the clamping lever (140).

10. An electronic device having at least one connection terminal (100) according to claim 1.

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