conductor connection terminal

Abstract

Conductor connection terminal (1) with several spring clamp connections for connecting electrical conductors, wherein the conductor connection terminal (1) has a housing (2) which has at least one conductor insertion opening (23, 24) on a first housing side (27) and at least one conductor insertion opening (25, 26) on a second housing side (28) facing away from the first housing side (27), wherein at least one contact insert is accommodated in the housing (2), which contact insert has at least the following features: a) a contact frame (3) having a side wall (30), at least one first transverse wall (31) bent from the side wall (30) and at least one second transverse wall (32) bent from the side wall (30) and spaced from the first transverse wall (31), b) a first spring element (4) which has a first clamping leg (41) for clamping an electrical conductor at an end region facing a conductor insertion opening (23, 24) of the first housing side (27) and a second clamping leg (42) for clamping an electrical conductor at an end region facing a conductor insertion opening (25, 26) of the second housing side (28), c) a second spring element (5) which has a third clamping leg (51) for clamping an electrical conductor at an end region facing a conductor insertion opening (23, 24) of the first housing side (27) and a fourth clamping leg (52) for clamping an electrical conductor at an end region facing a conductor insertion opening (25, 26) of the second housing side (28).

Description

The invention relates to a conductor connection terminal having a plurality of spring terminal connections for connecting electrical conductors, wherein the conductor connection terminal has a housing which has at least one conductor insertion opening on a first housing side and at least one conductor insertion opening on a second housing side facing away from the first housing side, wherein at least one contact insert is accommodated in the housing.A generic conductor connection terminal is known from DE 10 2019 120 305 A1.The invention is based on the object of specifying a further improved conductor connection terminal having conductor connections on both sides.This object is achieved in a conductor connection terminal of the type mentioned at the beginning in that the contact insert has at least the following features: a) a contact frame which has a side wall, at least one first transverse wall bent away from the side wall and at least one second transverse wall bent away from the side wall and spaced apart from the first transverse wall, b) a first spring element which has a first clamping leg at an end region facing a conductor insertion opening of the first housing side for clamping an electrical conductor and a second clamping leg at an end region facing a conductor insertion opening of the second housing side for clamping an electrical conductor, c) a second spring element, the end region facing a conductor insertion opening of the first housing side has a third clamping leg for clamping an electrical conductor and an end region facing a conductor insertion opening of the second housing side has a fourth clamping leg for clamping an electrical conductor.In this way, a very flat connection terminal, for example a mains connection terminal, with a multiplicity of connection points for electrical conductors can be provided in a small installation space.Advantageously, the first and the second spring element can be configured as separate components. As a result, the individual spring elements can be produced more easily. In addition, additional functionalities, such as the conductor insertion aid explained below, can be realized on such spring elements in a simple manner.The first spring element can be designed as a spring element which runs through from the first clamping limb to the second clamping limb. The first spring element can have a contact section between the first clamping leg and the second clamping leg, by means of which contact section the first spring element is mounted. The second spring element can be designed as a spring element which runs through from the third clamping limb to the fourth clamping limb. The second spring element can have a contact section between the third clamping leg and the fourth clamping leg, by means of which contact section the second spring element is mounted. By means of such continuous first and / or second spring elements, the conductor holding forces are increased with a low use of material. The first and the second spring element can be supported on each other and thus influence each other positively.The first transverse wall can be bent at one end of the side wall from the side wall. The second transverse wall may be bent from the side wall at a diametrically opposite end of the side wall. The first transverse wall and the second transverse wall are bent from the side wall in the same direction. The contact frame can be substantially C-shaped.It is also possible for the first spring element to be permanently connected to the second spring element via a cohesive connection, for example by welding. The material connection can be formed, for example, between the contact sections of the first and second spring elements.According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the first spring element and the second spring element are clamped in the contact frame between the first and the second transverse wall and support each other. In this way, a stable, self-supporting construction of the spring force clamping terminal can be achieved. The first and the second spring element can be mounted in the contact frame with little effort.According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the conductor connection terminal has a first clamping point for clamping an electrical conductor, which is formed between the first clamping leg and the at least one first transverse wall, and a second clamping point for clamping an electrical conductor, which is formed between the second clamping leg and the at least one first transverse wall. In this way, a first conductor connection plane is created in the contact insert with the first clamping point and the second clamping point.According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the conductor connection terminal has a third clamping point for clamping an electrical conductor, which is formed between the third clamping leg and the at least one second transverse wall, and a fourth clamping point for clamping an electrical conductor, which is formed between the fourth clamping leg and the at least one second transverse wall. In this way, a second conductor connection plane is created in the contact insert with the third and fourth clamping points. The contact insert can in this way have two conductor connection planes spaced apart from one another.According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the contact frame has at least one support tab, which is bent away from the side wall and projects into an intermediate space between the first spring element and the second spring element and on which the first spring element and / or the second spring element is supported. The support for the first and / or the second spring element can advantageously be integrated into the contact frame in this way, namely by the component in the form of the support tab formed integrally with the contact frame. Consequently, no additional component needs to be mounted.According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the second spring element has a first conductor insertion aid bent out of the material of the second spring element at the end facing the first housing side and / or the second spring element has a second conductor insertion aid bent out of the material of the second spring element at the end facing the second housing side. The first conductor insertion aid simplifies the insertion of the third electrical conductor. The second conductor insertion aid simplifies the insertion of the fourth electrical conductor. The conductor insertion aid guides the respective electrical conductor to the associated clamping point. The conductor insertion aid makes it possible for the clamping leg assigned to the respective conductor insertion aid to be slightly raised when the electrical conductor is inserted, so that the insertion of the electrical conductor to the clamping point is facilitated. The first conductor insertion aid is arranged, for example, at a first free end of the second spring element. The second conductor insertion aid is arranged, for example, at a second free end of the second spring element.The first and / or the second conductor insertion aid can be formed from the flat sheet metal material of the second spring element. The respective free end of the first and / or the second conductor insertion aid can extend in the direction facing away from the second transverse wall or be bent opposite the clamping leg assigned to the respective conductor insertion aid and advantageously be arcuate.According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the first conductor insertion aid engages around a first spring bend of the first spring element, which connects an abutment portion of the first spring element to the first clamping leg, and / or the second conductor insertion aid engages around a second spring bend of the first spring element, which connects an abutment portion of the first spring element to the second clamping leg. The first conductor insertion aid thus protrudes at least partially around a spring curve of the first spring element. The second conductor insertion aid can protrude around a further spring arc of the first spring element.According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the conductor connection terminal has a manually actuatable first actuating element for actuating the first clamping limb and / or a manually actuatable second actuating element for actuating the second clamping limb, in particular an actuating presser. The associated clamping limb can be manually deflected by the respective actuating element and the clamping point can thereby be opened. When the clamping point is open, the corresponding electrical conductor can be introduced there without any effort or an already clamped conductor can be removed again. If the respective actuating element is designed as an actuating presser, it can be actuated by means of a compressive force exerted on an actuating surface of the actuating presser. The actuating pusher can execute a substantially linear movement or an at least slight pivoting movement.According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the actuating elements are arranged completely within the housing and are accessible for manual actuation only via comparatively small actuating openings of the housing. As a result, the actuating elements are protected to the greatest possible extent from environmental influences by the housing. The actuating openings can be so small, for example, that the actuating elements cannot be manually actuated without auxiliary means, e.g., by means of a tool. In this case, an actuating opening in plan view can be smaller, in particular, than an actuating element assigned to the actuating opening. For example, the cross-sectional areas of the actuating openings can each be smaller than an application area of an actuating element to be applied with the actuating force.According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the housing has a plurality of receiving chambers arranged next to one another in an alignment direction, in each of which receiving chambers a contact insert having the features a) to c) is arranged. In this way, the conductor connection terminal can be provided as a multipolar conductor connection terminal, which enables connection of a plurality of electric conductors. Adjacent contact inserts can be electrically separated from one another. Contact inserts can also be electrically connected to one another.According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the spring clamping connection formed with the third clamping leg is formed as a direct plug connection and / or the spring clamping connection formed with the fourth clamping leg is formed as a direct plug connection. Such a direct plug connection advantageously allows direct insertion of an electrical conductor without an actuating element having to be manually actuated beforehand. In this case, such a spring force clamping connection designed as a direct plug connection can be designed without such an actuating element.The spring force clamping connection formed with the first clamping limb and / or the spring force clamping connection formed with the second clamping limb can also be designed as a direct plug connection or be suitable for direct plug connection without the actuating element provided there having to be actuated.According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the first spring element and / or the second spring element has, on its contact section, a support flange which projects towards the respective other spring element and by means of which the first spring element is supported on the second spring element. In this way, the second spring element additionally supports the first spring element, for example in order to absorb increased forces acting on the first spring element, for example when an actuation element of the first and / or second clamping limb can be actuated manually.According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the first spring element is formed integrally with the second spring element in the region of its contact section or is connected by a cohesive connection. Depending on the configuration of the first and second spring elements, the matable nature and / or also the bulk material capacity can be improved as a result. In addition, the spring elements can be supported on one another mutually.According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the housing has as separate housing parts at least a first housing part and a second housing part, wherein the first and the second housing part can be connected to one another to form the housing. This allows simple mounting of the contact insert in the housing parts. The effort involved in assembling the housing parts is relatively low, in particular in the case of an only two-part housing.In an advantageous embodiment, the housing can have a dividing plane which runs between the first conductor connection plane and the second conductor connection plane, for example in such a way that the first conductor connection plane is arranged in the space surrounded by the first housing part and the second conductor connection plane is arranged in the space surrounded by the second housing part.According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the first spring element is predominantly arranged in the space surrounded by the first housing part and / or the second spring element is predominantly arranged in the space surrounded by the second housing part. In this way, the contact insert can be realized in a space-saving manner in a housing having the aforementioned horizontal dividing plane. The statement "predominantly arranged in the space surrounded by the first / second housing part" means that the respective spring element is arranged in this space to an extent of more than 50% of its extent.In the sense of the present invention, the indefinite term "a" is not to be understood as a numerical word. Thus, if, for example, a component is mentioned, this is to be interpreted in the sense of "at least one component". Insofar as angle specifications are given in degrees, these refer to a circular dimension of 360 degrees (360°).The invention is explained in more detail below on the basis of exemplary embodiments using drawings.They show FIG. 1 shows a conductor connection terminal in a lateral sectional view, FIG. 2 shows a contact insert of the conductor connection terminal according to FIG. 1 in a side view, FIG. 3 shows the individual components of the contact insert according to FIG. 2 in a perspective view, FIG. 4 shows a conductor connection terminal in a perspective view.The conductor connection terminal 1 visible in FIG. 1 has a housing 2, which has a first housing part 20 and a second housing part 21 connected to the first housing part 20. The first housing part 20 forms an upper part of the housing 2, the second housing part 21 a lower part of the housing 2, and a contact insert is arranged in the housing 2, which has a contact frame 3, a first spring element 4 and a second spring element 5. The contact frame 3 is substantially C-shaped, as can be seen in FIG. 3, for example. The contact frame 3 has a side wall 30. a first transverse wall 31 protrudes from the side wall 30 at an angle, in particular at a right angle, from the side wall 30 in the upper housing region, i.e. in the space surrounded by the first housing part 20. On the opposite side of the side wall 30, a second transverse wall 32 protrudes from the side wall 30 at an angle, in particular at a right angle. The second transverse wall 32 is located in the lower housing region, i.e. in the space surrounded by the second housing part 21. The second transverse wall 32 can run predominantly parallel and opposite the first transverse wall 31.The housing 2 has, on a first housing side 27, at least one first conductor insertion opening 23 formed in the first housing part 20 and at least one third conductor insertion opening 24 formed in the second housing part 21. The housing 2 has, on a second housing side 28 opposite the first housing side 27, at least one second conductor insertion opening 25 which is formed in the first housing part 20 and at least one fourth conductor insertion opening 26 which is formed in the second housing part 21.The first spring element 4 has a first clamping leg 41 on an end region facing the first conductor insertion opening 23 for clamping a first electrical conductor and a second clamping leg 42 on an end region facing the second conductor insertion opening 25 for clamping a second electrical conductor. The second spring element 5 has a third clamping leg 51 on an end region facing the third conductor insertion opening 24 for clamping a third electrical conductor and a fourth clamping leg 52 on an end region facing the fourth conductor insertion opening 26 for clamping a fourth electrical conductor.The first spring element 4 is designed as a spring element which is continuous from the first clamping leg 41 to the second clamping leg 42 and has, between the first clamping leg 41 and the second clamping leg 42, an abutment portion 40 by which the first spring element 4 is mounted. The contact section 40 is connected to the first clamping leg 41 via a first spring bend 43. The contact section 40 is connected to the second clamping leg 42 via a second spring bend 44. The first spring arc 43 and / or the second spring arc 44 extend over an angle of more than 90 degrees. The second spring element 5 is designed as a spring element which is continuous from the third clamping limb 51 to the fourth clamping limb 52 and has, between the third clamping limb 51 and the fourth clamping limb 52, an abutment portion 50 by which the second spring element 5 is mounted.The first transverse wall 31 forms together with the first clamping limb 41 a first clamping point 45 for clamping the first electrical conductor, i.e. the first electrical conductor can be clamped at the first clamping point 45 between the free end of the first clamping limb 41 and the first transverse wall 31. The first transverse wall 31 forms together with the second clamping limb 42 a second clamping point 46 for clamping the second electrical conductor, i.e. the second electrical conductor can be clamped at the second clamping point 46 between the free end of the second clamping limb 42 and the first transverse wall 31. The second transverse wall 32 forms together with the third clamping limb 51 a third clamping point 55 for clamping the third electrical conductor, i.e. the third electrical conductor can be clamped at the third clamping point 55 between the free end of the third clamping limb 51 and the second transverse wall 32. The second transverse wall 32 forms together with the fourth clamping limb 52 a fourth clamping point 56 for clamping the fourth electrical conductor, i.e. the fourth electrical conductor can be clamped at the fourth clamping point 56 between the free end of the fourth clamping limb 52 and the second transverse wall 32.At least one support tab 33 is arranged between the contact portion 40 of the first spring element 4 and the contact portion 50 of the second spring element 5, or two support tabs 33 in the exemplary embodiment shown. The support tabs 33 are formed integrally on the contact frame 3 in that the respective support tab 33 is cut free or punched out from the side wall 30 and bent substantially at right angles. On the support lugs 33, the first and the second spring element 4, 5 are each supported with respect to the clamping force of the respective clamping legs.It can also be seen in FIG. 1 that the second spring element 5 has a first conductor insertion aid 53 bent out of the material of the second spring element 5 at the end facing the first housing side 27 and a second conductor insertion aid 54 bent out of the material of the second spring element 5 at the end facing the second housing side 28. The first conductor insertion aid 53 is curved in an arc shape and engages around at least a part of the first spring arc 43 The second conductor insertion aid 54 is curved in an arc shape and engages around at least a part of the second spring arc 44.The conductor connection terminal 1 has no manual actuating element for the third clamping leg 51 and the fourth clamping leg 52. The spring force clamping connections formed with the clamping legs 51, 52 are accordingly designed as direct plug connections.The conductor connection terminal 1 has a first manual actuating element 81 for the first clamping leg 41 and a second manual actuating element 82 for the actuation of the second clamping leg 42. The first actuating element 81 and / or the second actuating element 82 can be designed as an actuating presser, in particular as an actuating presser guided substantially linearly in the housing 2. By manual actuation of the respective actuating presser 81, 82, the associated clamping limb 41, 42 can be deflected and thereby moved away from the first transverse wall 31, with the result that the respective clamping point 45, 46 is open.The housing 2 has an actuation opening 29 for the manual actuation of the first actuation element 81 and a further actuation opening 29 for the actuation of the second actuation element 82, The actuation openings 29 can be formed to be relatively small, so that the actuation with the finger is not possible, but a tool suitable for this purpose has to be used.As FIG. 1 also shows, the manual actuating elements 81, 82 can be part of a continuous actuating component 8, which is formed, for example, integrally as a plastic component. In this case, the first actuating element 81 and the second actuating element 82 can be connected in an articulated manner to a central section 80 of the actuating component 8 via corresponding material bridges. The actuating component 8 can be supported on the contact frame 3. As FIGS. 1 and 3 show, the first transverse wall 31 can have an approximately central opening, through which a support foot 83 of the actuating component 8 extends as far as the contact section 40. In this way, the actuating component 8 can be supported via the support foot 83 on the first spring element 4 or on its contact section 40.FIG. 2 shows the contact insert of the conductor connection terminal 1 according to FIG. 1 in a separate illustration. The elements already explained with reference to FIG. 1 can be seen. Additionally visible is a support flange 6, which is cut free from the material of the second spring element 5 and bent upwards, so that the support flange 6 additionally supports the first clamping spring 4, in particular by supporting the contact section 40.FIG. 3 shows the first spring element 4, the second spring element 5 and the contact frame 3 as individual components. It is possible to see, for example, the supporting flange 6 on the second spring element 5 and the supporting lugs 33 on the contact frame 3.As FIG. 4 shows, the conductor connection terminal 1 can be designed as a multipolar conductor connection terminal with a plurality of connection possibilities for electrical conductors, in particular in such a way that the above-described contact insert, as shown e.g. in FIG. 2, is received multiple times in accommodation chambers of the housing 2 arranged next to one another. For example, the housing 2 can have a plurality of receiving chambers arranged next to one another in an alignment direction A, in each of which receiving chambers a contact insert is arranged. Accordingly, the housing 2 for each contact insert has a plurality of first conductor insertion holes 23, second conductor insertion holes 25, third conductor insertion holes 24, and fourth conductor insertion holes 26 arranged side by side.The conductor connection terminal can also have at least one mounting element 7 for mounting on another component, for example on a mounting plate. The mounting element 7 can be integrally formed on the housing 2, e.g. on the second housing part 21.List of reference characters1 Conductor connection terminal 2 Housing 3 Contact frame 4 First spring element 5 Second spring element 6 Support flange 7 Mounting element 8 Actuating component 20 First housing part 21 Second housing part 23 First conductor insertion opening 24 Third conductor insertion opening 25 Second conductor insertion opening 26 Fourth conductor insertion opening 27 First housing side 28 Second housing side 29 Actuating opening 30 Side wall 31 First transverse wall 32 Second transverse wall 33 Support tab 40 Contact portion of the first spring element 41 First clamping leg 42 Second clamping leg 43 First spring bend 44 Second spring bend 45 First clamping point 46 Second clamping point 50 Contact portion of the second spring element 51 Third clamping leg 52 Fourth clamping leg 53 First conductor insertion aid 54 Second conductor insertion aid 55 Third clamping point 56 Fourth clamping point 81 First manual actuating element 82 Second manual actuating element 80 Central portion 83 Support foot A In the direction of additionReferences included in the specificationThis list of documents cited by the applicant has been produced in an automated manner and is only included for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent application or utility model application. The DPMA does not take any adhesion for any faults or omissions.Patent Literature citedDE 10 2019 120 305 A1

[0002]

Claims

Conductor connection terminal (1) having a plurality of spring terminal connections for connecting electrical conductors, wherein the conductor connection terminal (1) has a housing (2) which has at least one conductor insertion opening (23, 24) on a first housing side (27) and at least one conductor insertion opening (25, 26) on a second housing side (28) facing away from the first housing side (27), wherein at least one contact insert is accommodated in the housing (2), said contact insert having at least the following features: a) a contact frame (3) which has a side wall (30), at least one first transverse wall (31) bent away from the side wall (30) and at least one second transverse wall (32) bent away from the side wall (30) and spaced apart from the first transverse wall (31), b) a first spring element (4) which is arranged on one of a conductor insertion opening (23, 31), 24) an end region facing the first housing side (27) has a first clamping leg (41) for clamping an electrical conductor and an end region facing a conductor insertion opening (25, 26) of the second housing side (28) has a second clamping leg (42) for clamping an electrical conductor, c) a second spring element (5) having a third clamping leg (51) for clamping an electrical conductor at an end region facing a conductor insertion opening (23, 24) of the first housing side (27) and a fourth clamping leg (52) for clamping an electrical conductor at an end region facing a conductor insertion opening (25, 26) of the second housing side (28).Conductor connection terminal according to Claim 1, characterized in that the first spring element (4) and the second spring element (5) are clamped in the contact frame (3) between the first and the second transverse wall (31, 32) and are supported on one another.Conductor connection terminal according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the conductor connection terminal (1) has a first clamping point (45) for clamping an electrical conductor, which is formed between the first clamping limb (41) and the at least one first transverse wall (31), and a second clamping point (46) for clamping an electrical conductor, which is formed between the second clamping limb (42) and the at least one first transverse wall (31).Conductor connection terminal according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the conductor connection terminal has a third clamping point (55) for clamping an electrical conductor, which is formed between the third clamping limb (51) and the at least one second transverse wall (32), and a fourth clamping point (56) for clamping an electrical conductor, which is formed between the fourth clamping limb (52) and the at least one second transverse wall (32).Conductor connection terminal according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the contact frame (3) has at least one support tab (33), which is bent away from the side wall (30) and projects into an intermediate space between the first spring element (4) and the second spring element (5) and on which the first spring element (4) and / or the second spring element (5) is supported.Conductor connection terminal according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the second spring element (5) has, at the end facing the first housing side (27), a first conductor insertion aid (53) bent out of the material of the second spring element (5) and / or the second spring element (5) has, at the end facing the second housing side (28), a second conductor insertion aid (54) bent out of the material of the second spring element (5).Conductor connection terminal according to Claim 6, characterized in that the first conductor insertion aid (53) surrounds a first spring bend (43) of the first spring element (4) which connects an abutment portion (40) of the first spring element (4) to the first clamping limb (41) and / or the second conductor insertion aid (54) surrounds a second spring bend (44) of the first spring element (4) which connects an abutment portion (40) of the first spring element (4) to the second clamping limb (42).Conductor connection terminal according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the conductor connection terminal (1) has a manually actuatable first actuating element (81) for actuating the first clamping limb (41) and / or a manually actuatable second actuating element (82) for actuating the second clamping limb (42), in particular an actuating presser.Conductor connection terminal according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the housing (2) has a plurality of receiving chambers which are arranged next to one another in an alignment direction (A) and in each of which a contact insert having the features a) to c) is arranged.Conductor connection terminal according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the spring clamping connection formed with the third clamping limb (51) is formed as a direct plug connection and / or the spring clamping connection formed with the fourth clamping limb (52) is formed as a direct plug connection.Conductor connection terminal according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first spring element (4) and / or the second spring element (5) has, on its bearing section (40, 50), a supporting flange (6) which projects towards the respective other spring element (4, 5) and by means of which the first spring element (4) is supported on the second spring element (5).Conductor connection terminal according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first spring element (4) is formed integrally with the second spring element (5) in the region of its contact section (40) or is connected by a cohesive connection.Conductor connection terminal according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the housing (2) has as separate housing parts at least a first housing part (20) and a second housing part (21), wherein the first and the second housing part (20, 21) can be connected to one another to form the housing (2).Conductor connection terminal according to claim 13, characterised in that the first spring element (4) is predominantly arranged in the space surrounded by the first housing part (20) and / or the second spring element (5) is predominantly arranged in the space surrounded by the second housing part (21).

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