conductor connection terminal

Abstract

The invention relates to a conductor terminal with at least one spring-loaded clamping connection for connecting an electrical conductor by means of spring force, wherein the conductor terminal has an insulating housing in which the at least one spring-loaded clamping connection is arranged, wherein the at least one spring-loaded clamping connection has at least one clamping spring with a clamping leg and a busbar which has a contact section which together with the clamping leg forms a clamping point for clamping the electrical conductor, wherein the insulating housing has a conductor passage opening through which the electrical conductor clamped at the clamping point extends out of the insulating housing, wherein a conductor receiving channel is connected to the conductor passage opening in the insulating housing in which the electrical conductor is received when it is clamped at the spring-loaded clamping connection.

Description

The invention relates to a conductor terminal with at least one spring-loaded clamping connection for connecting an electrical conductor by means of spring force, wherein the conductor terminal has an insulating housing in which the at least one spring-loaded clamping connection is arranged, wherein the at least one spring-loaded clamping connection has at least one clamping spring with a clamping leg and a busbar which has a contact section which together with the clamping leg forms a clamping point for clamping the electrical conductor, wherein the insulating housing has a conductor passage opening through which the electrical conductor clamped at the clamping point extends out of the insulating housing, wherein a conductor receiving channel is connected to the conductor passage opening in the insulating housing in which the electrical conductor is received when it is clamped at the spring-loaded clamping connection. Such a conductor connection terminal is known from DE 10 2010 060 252 B4. The invention is based on the objective of providing an improved conductor terminal. This problem is solved in a conductor terminal of the type mentioned above by providing the conductor receiving channel with a side opening on at least one side. This opening allows the conductor receiving channel to be open laterally from the conductor entry opening to the clamping point, or in the direction of the clamping point. An electrical conductor to be clamped can then be inserted into the conductor receiving channel from the side through this side opening. This design of the conductor receiving channel, which is open laterally from the conductor entry opening, allows the electrical conductor to be inserted into the channel from the side, i.e., with a movement perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the conductor receiving channel.This has the advantage that several individual conductors from a sheathed cable can each be inserted individually into their respective terminals without having to bend the individual conductors back and forth in their direction of extension or precisely insert all the individual conductors simultaneously. This avoids the simultaneous insertion of different conductors into the same conductor entry channel. The electrical conductor can, for example, be inserted into the conductor entry channel from the side until it is aligned longitudinally within the channel and no longer extends through the side opening, but only through the conductor entry opening. The conductor entry channel is thus provided with a corresponding opening perpendicular to its longitudinal direction by at least one side opening. The conductor opening can, for example, close off the conductor channel longitudinally on the outside of the insulating housing, meaning the conductor channel extends longitudinally to the conductor opening. The at least one side opening can extend from the conductor opening, for example, exactly to the clamping point or even beyond it. The at least one side opening can also extend from the conductor opening only over a portion of the distance between the conductor opening and the clamping point, for example, over at least 50% or at least 80% of the distance. If the side opening extends at least to the clamping point, it is particularly advantageous that the clamping point on the busbar is freely accessible from the side in a radial direction through the side opening. This also allows the user to precisely position the electrical conductor correctly at the clamping point under visual control. Accordingly, the electrical conductor can be guided completely or at least predominantly to the appropriate clamping point in the conductor channel with a lateral movement, i.e., at least substantially without longitudinal movement. The at least one side opening can, for example, extend from the conductor entry opening over at least half the distance between the conductor entry opening and the clamping point. The conductor receiving channel can be completely open in the area of ​​at least one side opening, meaning it is not covered by other parts of the conductor terminal, such as an actuating element. The side opening is completely exposed at least when the clamping leg is in an open position where an electrical conductor can be inserted into the clamping point without force. In the open position, the clamping leg, or a clamping edge formed at the free end of the clamping leg, is typically further away from the contact section of the busbar than in a clamped position where the electrical conductor is clamped to the contact section by means of the clamping leg. According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the conductor terminal has at least one movable locking element with which the at least one side opening can be completely or predominantly closed. This has the advantage that the at least one side opening can be closed at least in certain operating states of the conductor terminal. Because the locking element is movable, the user can select to move it into an open position, in which the at least one side opening is open, and into a closed position, in which the at least one side opening is closed by the locking element. The locking element can, for example, be designed as a sliding element slidably mounted on the insulating housing or as a pivoting element pivotally mounted on the insulating housing. According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the conductor terminal has at least one manual actuating element with which the at least one clamping leg can be moved from an open position to a clamped position by manually actuating the actuating element, in which the electrical conductor is clamped to the busbar by means of the clamping leg. This has the advantage that the conductor terminal has its own actuating element for actuating the clamping leg. This allows the user to move the clamping leg from the open position to the clamped position and, if necessary, vice versa in a simple and ergonomic manner. Alternatively, the conductor terminal can also be designed without its own actuating element. In this case, an external tool can be used to actuate the clamping leg. The manual actuating element can, for example, act mechanically directly on the clamping arm or on an actuating section of the clamping spring connected to the clamping arm. The clamping spring can be arranged at a fixed location within the insulating housing. According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the entire clamping spring can be moved from the open position to the clamped position by manually actuating the at least one actuating element. Accordingly, the actuating element moves the entire clamping spring from the open position to the clamped position and, if necessary, vice versa. In this way, access to the clamping point through the side opening can be further improved for the user, because the entire clamping spring can be moved away from this area in the open position. According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the at least one manual actuating element has a spring receptacle for a retaining section of the clamping spring, which is connected to the clamping arm. The spring receptacle is configured to receive the retaining section positively and / or frictionally and to secure it to the actuating element. Accordingly, the clamping spring with its retaining section can be easily attached to the manual actuating element. This allows for simple assembly of the conductor terminal components and easy operation. According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the at least one manual actuating element is also designed as a locking element with which the at least one side opening can be completely or predominantly closed. This has the advantage that no additional component is required for closing the side opening in the clamping position, because this function can be performed by the manual actuating element. For example, a handle section shaped for applying the manual actuating force to the actuating element can simultaneously form a locking element for closing the side opening. The manual actuating element, e.g., the handle section, may have at least one detent element designed to engage with a detent element or counter-detent contour formed on the insulating housing and / or the busbar, locking it in the clamping position. In this way, the manual actuating element can be fixed in the clamping position by the detent. The detent can be overridden by the user by applying increased actuating force to the handle section. According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the at least one manual actuating element is designed as a pivotable actuating lever, a sliding actuating push button, or other sliding actuating element, or as a pivotable actuating lever that performs a superimposed sliding movement. This enables a variety of advantageous designs for the conductor terminal and its operating elements. According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the at least one manual actuating element is slidably mounted in the longitudinal direction of the conductor receiving channel. This allows the manual actuating element to perform a compensating movement when clamping the electrical conductor, thereby protecting the conductor. In particular, this prevents the electrical conductor from being "pulled into" the conductor receiving channel during the clamping process.According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the at least one clamping spring is designed as a leaf spring. This allows the clamping spring to be designed in a particularly simple, space-saving, and material-efficient manner. In this case, the clamping spring can be designed, in particular, without a spring arc and a contact leg adjoining the spring arc. For example, the clamping spring can be formed from a single piece of flat sheet metal, in which a clamping leg is cut out of a frame part and bent. The clamping leg can be bent, for example, at an angle of less than 75° relative to the frame part, e.g., in the range of 30° to 50°. The frame part can have a spring opening created by the cut-out of the clamping leg, and this spring opening can be completely or predominantly surrounded by the material of the frame part.The frame part can simultaneously form the aforementioned retaining section of the clamping spring, with which the clamping spring can be attached to the spring receptacle of the manual actuating element. According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the conductor terminal has a locking element that limits the insertion depth of the electrical conductor in the longitudinal direction of the conductor receiving channel, wherein the at least one locking element is movably mounted. In this way, a variable limitation of the conductor insertion depth can be achieved. Due to the movable mounting of the at least one locking element, it can, depending on its operating state, at least predominantly block the conductor receiving channel at a desired point in the longitudinal direction of the conductor receiving channel or, in another position, release it. For example, the at least one locking element can be coupled to the manual actuating element, so that actuating the manual actuating element simultaneously moves the locking element.For example, the blocking element can be configured to at least partially block the conductor receiving channel at a defined point when the clamping arm is moved into the open position by the manual actuating element. When the clamping arm is moved into the clamping position, the blocking element can then automatically move at least partially out of the conductor receiving channel, thus releasing it. Alternatively, a blocking element can also be permanently installed, for example, in a housing component of the insulating enclosure. According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the conductor terminal has several spring-clamp terminals, each with a clamping spring and a clamping leg. The spring-clamp terminals are arranged along an annular path around a central point within the insulating housing of the conductor terminal. This allows for a compact design of the conductor terminal, as a large number of spring-clamp terminals can be arranged in a space-saving ring shape. For example, the spring-clamp terminals can be arranged on a circular path within the housing. The spring-clamp terminals can be evenly distributed along the circular path. The housing can, in principle, have any desired outer contour. A round housing design, e.g., with a cylindrical shape, is advantageous. According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the clamping arms are each pivotable about a pivot axis, the pivot axes being oriented tangentially to the annular track on which the spring-loaded clamping connections are arranged in the insulating housing. By actuating the respective manual actuating element, the clamping arms can be actuated, for example, in an inward radial direction. According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, each spring-clamp terminal is provided with a separate conductor through-hole and a side opening. This allows the user to easily and reliably assign the respective electrical conductor to a specific spring-clamp terminal. This has the advantage that several individual conductors from a sheathed cable can each be inserted individually into their respective clamping points without having to bend the individual conductors back and forth in their direction of travel or insert all the individual conductors simultaneously. This avoids the need to connect different conductors to the same spring-clamp terminal at the same time. According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the conductor terminal has conductor through-openings on a conductor entry side, wherein the conductor terminal has plug-in openings on a plug-in face side facing away from the conductor entry side, which lead to electrical plug-in contacts arranged in the insulating housing of the conductor terminal, or plug-in contacts protrude from the plug-in face side. The aforementioned problem is also solved by an electrical connector, in particular a circular connector, which has at least one conductor terminal of the type described above. This also allows the previously described advantages to be realized. For the purposes of the present invention, the indefinite term "a" is not to be understood as a numeral. Therefore, when, for example, a component is mentioned, this is to be interpreted as "at least one component". Where angles are specified in degrees, these refer to a circle of 360 degrees (360°). The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to exemplary embodiments and the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 shows a conductor terminal in perspective view, Fig. 2 a side sectional view of a part of the conductor terminal according to Fig. 1 with a spring-clamp connection in the clamped position, Fig. 3 the sectional view according to Fig. 2 with the spring-clamp connection in the open position, Fig. 4 the sectional view according to Fig. 3 with an inserted electrical conductor, Fig. 5 the sectional view according to Fig. 2 with an attached electrical conductor, Fig. 6 a sectional view comparable to Fig. 4 of another embodiment of a spring-clamp connection, Fig. 7 a manual actuating element in perspective view as a single component, Fig. 8 a clamping spring in perspective view as a single component. Fig. 1 shows a conductor terminal 1 having an insulating housing 2. The insulating housing 2 can be designed as a round housing with an outer circumference that is at least substantially round or cylindrical. The contour of the outer housing can also be a round contour with flattened areas, as shown. The conductor terminal 1 can, in particular, be designed as a circular connector having 24 insertion openings on one mating face, on which electrical plug contacts are arranged or which can be electrically contacted by a mating connector. The conductor terminal 1 has several spring-clamp terminals 10 arranged along an annular path around a center point within the insulating housing 2 of the conductor terminal 1. Each spring-clamp terminal 10 has a manual actuating element 6, which may be designed as a pivotable actuating lever, with which a clamping spring 4 can be actuated. Each spring-clamp terminal 10 has a separate conductor passage opening 20 in the insulating housing 2, through which an electrical conductor can extend, at least when connected to the spring-clamp terminal 10. Each conductor opening 20 in the insulating housing 2 is connected to a conductor receiving channel 23, in which the connected electrical conductor is then stored. The conductor receiving channels 23 each have a side opening 21, through which each conductor receiving channel 23 is open radially on at least one side, the respective side opening 21 extending from the conductor opening 20 to a clamping point, which will be explained below. First, the construction of an actuating element 6 will be explained by way of example with reference to Fig. 7. The actuating element 6 has a handle section 60, which the user operates manually. The handle section 60 can, for example, form a lever arm of an actuating element 6 designed as an actuating lever. On the underside of the handle section 60, which faces the conductor receiving channel 23 in a closed or clamping position, a spring receptacle 63 is formed for receiving a retaining section 42 of the clamping spring 4. The actuating element 6 has a bearing section 62, by which it is pivotably mounted on the insulating housing 2. For example, a bearing element 64 can be formed on one side or on both sides of the bearing section 62, e.g., in the form of a bearing pin, which interacts with a bearing receptacle 22 formed on the insulating housing 2 and forms a pivot bearing for the actuating element 6.The actuating element 6 also has at least one locking element 61, with which the actuating element 6 can be locked to the insulating housing 2 in the clamping position. For this purpose, a counter-locking contour 25 is formed on the insulating housing 2, for example on a side wall of the conductor receiving channel 23. The locking element 61 can then be locked to the counter-locking contour 25 in the clamping position. Figure 8 shows the construction of a clamping spring 4 in a leaf spring configuration. The clamping spring 4 has a frame part that simultaneously forms a retaining section 42 for holding the clamping spring 4 in the spring receptacle 63. A clamping leg 43 of the clamping spring 4 is freed from the frame part and bent relative to the frame part by a bend 40. The clamping leg 43 can have a clamping edge 46 at its free end, with which the electrical conductor can be clamped. The frame part, or retaining section 42, has a spring opening 41, which is created by the freed clamping leg 43. Fig. 2 shows a section of the conductor terminal 1 according to Fig. 1, which reveals a spring-loaded clamping connection 10. In addition to the clamping spring 4 and the actuating element 6, the spring-loaded clamping connection 10 has a busbar 3 with a contact section 30 for clamping an electrical conductor. The busbar 3 can be connected to an electrical plug contact 11 at the plug-in face 24. Figure 2 shows that the conductor receiving channel 23 extends in a longitudinal direction L. According to Figure 2, the actuating element 6 is in a closed position. The clamping spring 4 attached to the actuating element 6 is moved along with the actuating element 6. In the illustration of Figure 2, the clamping spring 4 is in the clamped position, but without an electrical conductor attached. It can be seen that in the closed position of the actuating element 6, the side opening 21 is at least predominantly closed by the handle section 60. The conductor passage opening 20 is open. It is further evident that the actuating element 6, with its bearing section 62, is mounted on a bearing receptacle 22 of the insulating housing 2. The bearing receptacle 22 can, for example, comprise a longitudinal groove in which the bearing section 62 can be slidably mounted in the longitudinal direction of the groove. Fig. 3 shows the section according to Fig. 2 after the actuating element 6 has been moved into an open position, i.e., the handle section 60 has been pivoted upwards so that the side opening 21 is exposed. The clamping spring 4 has also been moved and is now in the open position. An electrical conductor 9 can now be inserted into the conductor receiving channel 23 from the side through the side opening 21 by means of a lateral insertion movement E. The electrical conductor 9 therefore does not have to be inserted through the conductor passage opening 20 with a linear movement in the longitudinal direction L, but can be inserted laterally as mentioned, whereby the user can visually check the correct placement of the electrical conductor 9 at the contact section. Fig. 4 shows the electrical conductor 9 inserted into the conductor receiving channel 23 by means of the insertion movement E, in a representation otherwise comparable to Fig. 3. If the actuating element 6 is now moved into the closed position, as shown in Fig. 5, the clamping arm 43 is simultaneously moved into the clamping position. The clamping arm 43 now comes into contact with the electrical conductor 9, for example with its clamping edge 46, and clamps it against the contact section 30. Figure 6 shows, in a representation comparable to Figure 4, a further embodiment of a conductor terminal 1 in which a movable locking element 7 is provided. The locking element 7 extends into the conductor receiving channel 23, at least when the actuating element 6 is in the open position, and blocks it, at least predominantly. This mechanically limits the insertion depth of the electrical conductor 9 into the conductor receiving channel 23, because the locking element 7 forms a stop for the electrical conductor 9. When the actuating element 6 is moved into the closed position, the locking element 7 is moved out of the conductor receiving channel 23 due to its coupling with the actuating element 6. This releases a rear section of the conductor receiving channel 23, giving the electrical conductor 9 additional clearance during the clamping process using the clamping arm 43. This is advantageous, for example, if the electrical conductor 9 is pulled further into the conductor receiving channel 23 by the clamping arm 43 during the clamping process. To prevent the electrical conductor 9 from being "pulled into" the conductor receiving channel 23 during the clamping process, the actuating element 6 with the bearing section 62, which can be designed as a pin, is mounted in the bearing receptacle 22, which can be designed as a longitudinal groove, so as to be longitudinally displaceable. This displacement results from the clamping of the conductor 9 against the contact section 30, which prevents any longitudinal displacement of the conductor 9 from reaching a certain frictional threshold and / or would otherwise lead to damage to the conductor 9. Reference symbol list 1 Conductor terminal 2 Insulating housing 3 Busbar 4 Clamping spring 6 Manual actuating element 7 Locking element 9 Electrical conductor 10 Spring-loaded clamping connection 11 Electrical plug contact 20 Conductor passage opening 21 Side opening 22 Bearing receptacle 23 Conductor receptacle channel 24 Plug-in face 25 Counter-lock contour 30 Contact section 40 Bend 41 Spring opening 42 Retaining section 43 Clamping leg 46 Clamping edge 60 Handle section 61 Locking element 62 Bearing section 63 Spring receptacle 64 Bearing element E Insertion movement L Longitudinal direction QUOTES INCLUDED IN THE DESCRIPTION This list of documents cited by the applicant was automatically generated and is included solely for the reader's convenience. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA accepts no liability for any errors or omissions. Cited patent literature DE 10 2010 060 252 B4

[0002]

Claims

A conductor terminal (1) with at least one spring-loaded clamping terminal (10) for connecting an electrical conductor (9) by means of spring force, wherein the conductor terminal (1) has an insulating housing (2) in which the at least one spring-loaded clamping terminal (10) is arranged, wherein the at least one spring-loaded clamping terminal (10) has at least one clamping spring (4) with a clamping leg (43) and a busbar (3) which has a contact section (30) which together with the clamping leg (43) forms a clamping point for clamping the electrical conductor (9), wherein the insulating housing (2) has a conductor passage opening (20) through which the electrical conductor (9) clamped at the clamping point extends out of the insulating housing (2), wherein a conductor receiving channel (23) adjoins the conductor passage opening (20) in the insulating housing (2) in which the electrical conductor (9) is received when it is clamped at the spring-loaded clamping terminal (10). is clamped,characterized in that the conductor receiving channel (23) has a side opening (21) on at least one side, through which the conductor receiving channel (23) is open laterally from the conductor passage opening (20) continuously to the clamping point or in the direction of the clamping point, wherein an electrical conductor (9) to be clamped can be inserted into the conductor receiving channel (23) from the side through the side opening (21) by means of a lateral insertion movement (E) in the direction of the contact section. Conductor terminal according to claim 1, characterized in that the clamping point on the busbar (3) is freely accessible from the side in a radial direction through the side opening (21). Conductor terminal according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the conductor receiving channel (23) has at least one side opening (21) on the side opposite the contact section (30). Conductor terminal according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the clamping leg (43) is moved into an open position through the at least one side opening (21) into the conductor receiving channel (23) before the electrical conductor (9) to be clamped is inserted laterally, in which the clamping leg (43) is pivoted away from the contact section (30). Conductor terminal according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the conductor terminal (1) has at least one movably mounted closing element with which the at least one side opening (21) can be completely or predominantly closed. Conductor terminal according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the conductor terminal (1) has at least one manual actuating element (6) with which the at least one clamping leg (43) can be moved from an open position to a clamping position when the actuating element (6) is manually actuated, in which the electrical conductor (9) is clamped to the busbar (3) by means of the clamping leg (43). Conductor terminal according to claim 6, characterized in that by manual actuation of the at least one actuating element (6) the entire at least one clamping spring (4) can be moved from the open position to the clamping position. Conductor terminal according to one of claims 6 to 7, characterized in that the at least one manual actuating element (6) has a spring receptacle (63) for a retaining section (42) of the clamping spring (4) which is connected to the clamping leg (43), wherein the spring receptacle (63) is configured to receive the retaining section (42) in a positive-locking and / or force-locking manner and to fix it to the actuating element (6). Conductor terminal according to one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that the at least one manual actuating element (6) is also designed as a closing element with which the at least one side opening (21) can be completely or predominantly closed. Conductor terminal according to one of claims 6 to 9, characterized in that the at least one manual actuating element (6) is designed as a pivotable actuating lever, sliding actuating push button or other sliding actuating element or pivotable actuating lever which performs a superimposed sliding movement. Conductor terminal according to one of claims 6 to 10, characterized in that the at least one manual actuating element (6) is slidably mounted in the longitudinal direction of the conductor receiving channel (23). Conductor terminal according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least one clamping spring (4) is designed as a leaf spring. Conductor terminal according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least one clamping leg (43) is released from a frame part of the clamping spring (4) and bent. Conductor terminal according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the conductor terminal (1) has a blocking element (7) with which the insertion depth of the electrical conductor (9) is limited in the longitudinal direction of the conductor receiving channel (23), wherein the at least one blocking element (7) is movably mounted. Conductor terminal according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the conductor terminal (1) has several spring clamp terminals (10) each with a clamping spring (4) with a clamping leg (43), wherein the spring clamp terminals (10) are arranged along an annular path around a center in the insulating housing (2) of the conductor terminal (1). Conductor terminal according to claim 15, characterized in that the clamping legs (43) are each pivotable about a pivot axis, wherein the pivot axes are aligned in the tangential direction to the annular track on which the spring-loaded clamping terminals (10) are arranged in the insulating housing (2). Conductor terminal according to one of claims 15 to 16, characterized in that each spring-loaded clamping connection (10) is separately assigned a conductor passage opening (20) and a side opening (21). Conductor terminal according to claim 17, characterized in that the conductor terminal (1) has conductor through-openings (20) on a conductor insertion side, wherein the conductor terminal (1) has plug-in openings on a plug-in face side (24) facing away from the conductor insertion side, which lead to electrical plug-in contacts (11) arranged in the insulating housing (2) of the conductor terminal (1), or plug-in contacts (11) protrude from the plug-in face side (24). Electrical connector, in particular circular connector, with at least one conductor terminal (1) according to one of the preceding claims.

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