Screw Connecting Clamp Thread-Free End Section
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing screw connecting clamps in installation switching devices face issues with the clamping screw being lost or jammed, leading to difficulties in re-screwing and tilting of the clamping part when opened, which impedes secure conductor clamping and housing retention.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a thread-free end section on the screw shaft of the head clamping screw, which prevents the screw from falling out of the clamping part and avoids further displacement of the clamping part when rotating, ensuring secure retention within the housing and allowing easy re-closure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the clamping screw is made longer to prevent it from falling out of the clamping part, then the screw retention is improved, but the clamping part may be pressed further into the housing causing tension and jamming
Solution Approach 1:
The screw shaft is segmented into a threaded section and a thread-free end section. The threaded section engages with the clamping part's threaded aperture for retention, while the thread-free end section prevents over-rotation and over-penetration into the housing, avoiding jamming of the clamping part.
Solution Approach 2:
The thread-free end section acts as an intermediary element between the screw head and the housing. It provides a stopping point that prevents the screw from penetrating too far into the housing, thereby avoiding the jamming of the clamping part while still maintaining secure retention through the threaded section.
2Ease of operation
If the clamping screw is rotated further in the opening direction, then the screw can be completely removed for re-use, but the screw may slide out of the clamping part and be lost
Solution Approach 1:
The screw shaft is divided into a threaded section for engagement with the clamping part and a thread-free end section. When the screw is rotated out, the threaded section disengages from the clamping part's threaded aperture, but the thread-free end section remains within the threaded aperture, preventing the screw from falling out and being lost.
Solution Approach 2:
The thread-free end section is nested within the threaded aperture of the clamping part when the screw is in the opened position. This nesting arrangement ensures that even though the threaded engagement is broken, the screw remains retained by the physical presence of the thread-free end section inside the aperture.
3Reliability
If a threaded aperture is provided in the clamping part for receiving the clamping screw, then the screw can be securely retained, but the clamping part structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The threaded aperture in the clamping part serves multiple functions: it provides secure retention for the threaded section of the screw during clamping operations, and it also retains the thread-free end section when the screw is in the opened position, preventing the screw from falling out. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional retention features.
Solution Approach 2:
The retention function for both the clamped state and the opened state is merged into a single threaded aperture structure. The aperture works with both the threaded section (for clamping) and the thread-free end section (for preventing loss when open), combining multiple retention requirements into one structural feature.
Data Source
AI summary
An installation switching device has a housing and screw connecting clamp with an essentially frame-shaped clamping part having longitudinal faces, narrow faces and broad faces, a head-clamp screw received in a clamping part threaded aperture, and a current rail arranged fixed in the device extending through the frame-shaped clamping part interior, wherein a current rail broad face is oriented, as assembled, parallel to a clamping part broad face facing the head clamping screw, the screw supporting itself, screwed in, on the current rail, wherein consequently, the clamping part is displaceable in its longitudinal direction, parallel to the narrow face, relative to the current rail by further screwing in the head clamping screw so a connecting conductor can be fixedly clamped between the current rail face remote from the screw and the clamping part broad face remote from the screw, the housing having a screw receiving region guiding the screw head.