CN114762193A

CN114762193A - Connection terminal and electronic device

Info

Publication number: CN114762193A
Application number: CN202080081685.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 福尔克尔·贾尔姆斯
Original assignee: Phoenix Contact GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: Phoenix Contact GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 2019-11-26
Filing date: 2020-11-17
Publication date: 2022-07-15
Also published as: WO2021104929A1; DE102019132008A1; EP4066318A1

Abstract

The invention relates to an electrical connection terminal (100) for connecting electrical conductors, comprising 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) in order to spring-elastically tension an electrical conductor to be connected to the current bar (160), wherein the clamping lever (140) is fastened to the housing (110), wherein the clamping lever (140) can be pivoted about a pivot axis (141) between an open position and a closed position, wherein the clamping lever (140) has a push rod (142), wherein the push rod (142) is assigned to a tongue (122) of the clamping spring (120), which is arranged on the contact legs (121) of the clamping spring (120).

Description

Connection terminal and electronic device

Technical Field

The invention relates to a connection terminal for connecting electrical conductors. The invention also relates to an electronic device having such a connection terminal.

Background

The connection terminal for the electrical conductor is used for detachably contacting the electrical conductor.

Disclosure of Invention

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

This object is achieved according to the invention by the features of the independent claims. Advantageous embodiments and advantageous developments of the invention are specified in the dependent claims.

The connection terminal according to the invention has a housing, a clamping spring arranged in the housing, the current bar and a clamping lever, wherein the clamping spring has a contact leg, so that the spring elastically tensions an electrical conductor to be connected to 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, wherein the push rod corresponds to a tongue of the clamping spring, which tongue is arranged on the contact leg of the clamping spring.

By arranging the tongues interacting with the push rod on the contact legs of the clamping spring, a particularly compact and robust design of the clamping spring in the connecting terminal is achieved.

The tongues are preferably formed in one piece with the clamping spring and are stamped out of the contact legs of the clamping spring, which may have through openings substantially corresponding to the stamped-out tongues. In this way, the tongue can be provided inexpensively and reliably as an integral part of the clamping spring.

It can be provided that the tongue is arranged in a freely projecting manner between the contact leg and the retaining leg of the clamping spring, wherein the contact leg and the retaining leg can be connected to one another by a curved connecting section. In this way, the tongue can be integrated as compactly as possible into the installation space provided for accommodating the clamping spring.

The connecting section between the contact leg and the retaining leg may be a circular arc defining an angle of less than 90 ° between the retaining leg and the contact leg. Thus, the sections of the adjoining arcs of the contact legs and the retaining legs may enclose an angle of less than 90 °.

In order to prevent the clamping spring from bending or deforming due to misuse and to achieve a guidance and positioning of the clamping spring relative to the housing, it can be provided according to a further embodiment of the connection terminal that the housing has a support section which passes through the through-opening of the contact leg and bears against the retaining leg of the clamping spring. The clamping spring with the through-opening can thus be pushed onto the support section, so that the clamping spring can be positioned on the housing with a form-fit connection with the contact leg.

It can be provided that the end section of the support section of the housing which bears against the retaining leg of the clamping spring has a curvature or rounding in order to be able to adapt the shape of the support section at least partially to different bending radii of the clamping spring in different tensioning states. Thus, the bend or radius may reduce wear of the spring compared to sharp-edged supports, and may also reduce friction of the spring in deformation when in contact with the support section. 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 than sharp-edged or flat-faced support solutions by providing an end rounding of the support section.

The clamping spring can be surrounded on both sides by a housing, so that in particular no housing lateral opening is provided for mounting the clamping spring, and the clamping spring can be mounted in the housing by pushing it onto the supporting section and thus between the two side housing walls of the housing.

According to an alternative embodiment, the support section can be arranged on the current bar or be part of the current bar.

In order to be able to realize a simple and cost-effective design of the clamping spring, it can be provided that the clamping spring is a multiply curved strip, in particular a spring steel strip, wherein the strip has a constant width. When in the present invention it is mentioned that the strip has a constant width, this means that the total width of the unwound strip for forming the spring lying on one plane has a constant width. It will be appreciated that punching out the tongue, for example, will result in the tongue itself having a smaller width than the original strip. However, the overall width of the clamping section from which the tongue is stamped remains the same and continues to correspond to the width of the retaining leg. In particular, the width of the section of the clamping leg which rests on the conductor to be connected corresponds to the width of the retaining leg.

Furthermore, the push rod may be spaced from the tongue when the clamping bars are in the closed position and may abut the tongue when the clamping bars are in the open position. In the closed position, this ensures that the full spring force of the spring clamp is available for tensioning the conductor in the direction of the current bar, and that no part of the spring force is lost by contact with the push rod. Thus, starting from the closed position of the clamping lever, the push rod initially executes an idle stroke until the push rod comes into contact with the tongue, wherein a subsequent further opening movement can cause a deformation of the clamping spring by means of the tongue and the push rod.

The push lever may be, for example, a protruding pawl or a tab protruding in the width direction of the chucking spring and formed on the chucking lever.

In particular, it can be provided that pivoting of the clamping lever from the closed position into the open position causes an increase in the distance between the current bar and the contact leg, wherein the spring can be tensioned between the plunger and the stop.

Furthermore, a further clamping spring can be provided with a further clamping rod in order to elastically tension a further conductor spring to be connected to the current bar.

The further clamping spring and the further clamping lever may be constructed in particular similarly to the clamping lever and the clamping spring described above.

The connecting terminal has, in particular, a mirror-symmetrical design, wherein two conductors to be connected are allowed to be introduced into the connecting terminal on both sides in order to achieve an electrically conductive connection of the conductors to be connected.

In order to achieve a compact design of the connection terminal, it can be provided that the clamping spring has end sections which bear against one another, wherein the clamping spring can be tensioned between the pusher and an end section of the other clamping spring if the clamping lever is in the open position, and the other clamping spring can be tensioned between the end section of the clamping spring and the pusher of the other clamping lever if the other clamping lever is in the open position.

The clamping springs then support one another inside the connecting terminal, so that the clamping springs can be integrated compactly into the housing of the connecting terminal.

Furthermore, it can be provided that the clamping levers assigned to the clamping springs also bear against one another in their open position, in order to be able to limit the pivoting path of the respective clamping lever in the open position.

In order to specify a defined position of the contact leg, it can be provided that the current bar has a shoulder against which the contact leg rests if the clamping lever is in the closed position and no conductor is introduced into the housing in the region of the clamping lever. By the clamping lever abutting against the current bar in the closed position, conductors of different diameters can be pushed between the contact leg and the current bar, wherein the contact leg can be moved away from the current bar by the conductor end or pressed against the conductor end by the diameter of the conductor end, so that the conductor end can be tensioned against the current bar by the contact leg.

The opening between the current bar and the contact leg, which is limited for receiving the conductor, can thus automatically be adapted to the diameter of the conductor to be contacted in each case. Thus, the conductor can be brought into contact with the current bar and fixed in the connection terminal without the clamping lever having to be moved from its closed position into its open position.

Alternatively, the clamping bars may be moved to their open position in order to lift the contact legs off the current bar, thereby making it easier to insert the conductor ends. In this way, the conductor can be first introduced into the housing without having to press the clamping leg with the conductor end. In this way, deformation of the conductor end is avoided when it is introduced into the connection terminal. Subsequent pivoting of the clamping lever from its open position into the closed position causes the contact spring to be tensioned in the direction of the current bar, wherein the conductor end is tensioned between the clamping leg of the clamping spring and the current bar.

It can be provided that the housing has or consists of plastic.

It is also possible for the clamping lever to have a handle in order to be able to handle the connection terminal without the use of tools and thus to be able to connect and disconnect the electrical conductors to the connection terminal without the use of tools.

It can be provided that the housing has a stop corresponding to the clamping lever in order to limit the pivoting travel of the clamping lever.

The connection terminals can be designed, for example, as terminal blocks, block terminals or potential terminals.

The object according to the invention is also achieved by an electronic device which can have at least one connecting terminal designed and extended as described above.

Drawings

The invention is explained in more detail below with the aid of exemplary embodiments with reference to the drawings. In which are schematically shown:

fig. 1A shows a top perspective view of a connection terminal according to the invention;

fig. 1B shows a longitudinal sectional side view of the connection terminal of fig. 1A;

fig. 1C shows a top perspective view of a portion of the housing of the connection terminal;

fig. 1D shows a side view of the connection terminal of fig. 1A;

FIG. 2 shows a top perspective view of the clamping spring;

FIG. 3 shows a top perspective view of the gripping body;

fig. 4 shows a longitudinal sectional side view of the connection terminal of fig. 1A with a conductor to be clamped and a clamping body, in a closed position;

fig. 5A shows a longitudinal sectional side view of the connection terminal of fig. 1A with the conductor to be clamped and the clamping body, in an open position;

fig. 5B shows a longitudinal sectional side view of the connection terminal of fig. 1A with the conductor to be clamped and the clamping body, in the closed position;

fig. 6 shows a longitudinal sectional side view of the clamping body, the clamping spring and the current bar of the connection terminal.

Detailed Description

The connection terminal 100 for connecting electrical conductors has a housing 110. In the housing 110, a clamp spring 120 and another clamp spring 130 are arranged. The connection terminal 100 has a chucking lever 140 corresponding to the chucking spring 120. The connection terminal 100 has a further clamping lever 150 which is assigned to the further clamping spring 130. The connection terminal 100 has a current bar 160.

The clamping spring 120 has a contact leg 121 in order to tension the electrical conductor to be connected in a spring-elastic manner on the current bar 160. The other clamping spring 130 has a contact leg 131 in order to tension the electrical conductor to be connected in a spring-elastic manner on the current bar 160.

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

The other gripping lever 150 is fixed to the housing 110, and the other gripping lever 150 is pivotable about a pivot axis 151 between an open position and a closed position. The other clamping bar 150 has a pusher bar 152. The 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.

The connection terminal 100 has a mirror-symmetrical structure in which the geometry of the chucking spring 120 corresponds to the geometry of the chucking spring 130. Likewise, the geometry of the gripping shank 140 corresponds to the geometry of the other gripping shank 150.

The geometry of the clamping springs 120, 130 is explained below with reference to fig. 2 by means of the clamping spring 120 as an example. Furthermore, the geometry of the clamping bars 140, 150 is explained with reference to fig. 3 by means of the clamping bar 140 as an example.

Fig. 2 shows a top perspective view of the clamping spring 120 alone. The tongue 122 is formed in one piece with the clamping spring 120 and is stamped out of the contact leg 121 of the clamping spring 120. The contact leg 121 has a through opening 123 corresponding to the size of the punch-out tab 122.

The tongue 122 is arranged freely projecting between the contact leg 121 and the retaining leg 124 of the clamping spring 120. The contact leg 121 and the retaining leg 124 are connected to one another by a curved connecting section 125.

Through opening 123 is used to position clamp spring 120 on housing 110. The housing 110 thus has a support section 111 which passes through the through-opening 123 of the contact leg 121 and bears against a retaining leg 124 of the clamping spring 120. The clamping spring 120 is a multi-curved strip with a constant width B1.

Likewise, the housing 110 has a support section 112 which passes through a through-opening 133 of the clamping spring 130 and bears against a retaining leg 134 of the clamping spring 130. The clamping spring 130 is a multi-curved band, wherein the band has a constant width.

Thus, each

respective clamping spring

120, 130 can be pushed with its through opening onto the

corresponding support section

111, 112, so that the

respective clamping spring

120, 130 is positioned with its

contact leg

121, 131 on the housing 110 in a form-fitting manner.

The

support sections

111, 112 of the housing 110 have bends or

rounded portions

115, 116 at the ends in order to adapt the shape of the

support sections

111, 112 at least partially to the different bending radii of the clamping springs 120, 130 in the different tensioning states.

The clamping springs 120, 130 are surrounded on both sides by the housing 110, so that in particular no housing lateral openings are provided for mounting the clamping springs 120, 130, and the clamping springs 120, 130 can be mounted in the housing 110 by being pushed onto the

support sections

111, 112 and thus between the two

side housing walls

117, 118 of the housing 110 (fig. 1C).

Fig. 1D shows a misuse example of the connection terminal 100, in which a screwdriver 400 is introduced into the connection terminal. In this case, the support section 112 prevents the clamping spring 130 from being deformed or damaged.

Fig. 3 shows a top perspective view of the clamping bar 140 alone. The clamping bar 140 has a handle 143 to allow manual operation of the clamping bar 140 without tools. In the region of the pivot axis 141, the clamping lever 140 has

pivot feet

144, 145, which are connected to the housing 110 in a form-fitting manner and allow the clamping lever 140 to be rotatably supported on the housing 110. The gripping bar 140 also has a stop surface 146 and another stop surface 147.

If the gripper bars 140 are in the closed position, as shown in fig. 1B, 4, 5B, and 6, the pusher bars 142 have a spacing a relative to the tongues 122. If the clamping lever 140 is in the open position, as shown in FIG. 5A, the push rod 142 abuts the tongue 122.

Pivoting the clamping lever 140 from the closed position to the open position causes the distance between the current bar 160 and the contact leg 121 to increase, with the clamping spring 120 being tensioned between the push rod 142 and the stop 136. The stop 136 is part of the clamping spring 130 and forms an end section 136 of the clamping spring 130. Likewise, the end section 126 of the clamping spring 120 forms a stop for the clamping spring 130.

The clamping springs 120, 130 thus have

end sections

126, 136 lying against one another, wherein the clamping spring 120 is tensioned between the push rod 142 and the end section 136 of the other clamping spring 130 if the clamping lever 140 is in the open position, and 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 if the other clamping lever 150 is in the open position. The clamping springs 120, 130 are thus supported against each other at the ends.

The current bar 160 has a shoulder 161 against which the contact leg 121 rests 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 a further shoulder 162, against which the contact leg 131 rests 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 (fig. 1B).

In order to establish an electrically conductive connection between the two

electrical conductors

200, 300, the

conductors

200, 300 can be pushed into the connection terminal 100 while the clamping bars 140, 150 are in their open position (see fig. 4). The electrical conductor 200 is therefore introduced with the end section 210 into the opening 113 of the housing 110 of the connection terminal 100.

The end section 210 presses the clamping leg 121 of the clamping spring 120, so that the end section 210 is tensioned between the clamping leg 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 a stop for the end section 210 of the conductor 200.

Likewise, the end section 310 of the conductor 300 may be introduced into the opening 114 of the housing 110 to be tensioned between the clamping leg 131 of the clamping spring 130 and the current bar 160.

Thus, a conductive connection between

conductors

200, 300 is established through conductive current bar 160. The clamping

legs

121, 131 and the

shoulders

161, 162 of the current bar 160 here both act together with the clamping force of the

springs

120, 130 to prevent the

conductors

200, 300 from being pulled out of the connection terminal 100. Fig. 5B shows the two

conductors

200, 300 with their

end sections

210, 310 tensioned in the connecting terminal 100.

Alternatively, the clamping bars 140, 150 may be opened before the introduction of the

conductors

200, 300, as shown in the example in fig. 5A. Once the conductor ends 210, 310 are positioned in the

respective housing openings

113, 114, the clamping bars 140, 150 are pivoted from the open position shown in fig. 5A back to the closed position shown in fig. 5B to tension the

conductors

200, 300 in the connection terminal 100 and to contact each other through the current bar 160.

In order to limit the pivoting path in the open position shown in fig. 5A, the clamping lever 140 rests with its stop surface 147 on the housing 110. Likewise, the stop surface 157 of the clamping lever 150 rests against the housing 110. Furthermore, the stop surface 146 of the gripping shank 140 rests on the stop surface 156 of the gripping shank 150.

To further clarify the functional manner of the clamping mechanism of the connection terminal 100 formed by the clamping bars 140, 150, the corresponding clamping springs 120, 130 and the current bar 160, these components are shown separately in fig. 6, wherein the clamping bar 140 is shown in the closed position and the clamping bar 150 is shown in the open position.

It can be seen that the push rod 142 is spaced from the tongue 122 in the closed position of the gripper bar 140 and pivoting results in a tensioning of the spring 130, as exemplarily shown for the gripper spring 130 and the gripper bar 150 in the open position.

It can also be seen that if the

respective push rod

142, 152 abuts the

respective tongue

122, 132 when the

respective clamping lever

140, 150 is pivoted from the closed position into the open position, the

respective clamping leg

121, 131 is moved away from the current bar 160 by pivoting of the clamping

lever

140, 150.

Description of the reference numerals

100 connecting terminal

110 casing

111 support section

112 support section

113 open mouth

114 opening

115 rounded portion

116 rounded portion

117 side housing wall

118 side casing wall

120 clamping spring

121 contact leg

122 tongue

123 through opening

124 holding leg

125 connecting section

126 end section

130 clamping spring

131 contact leg

132 tongue

133 through opening

134 holding leg

136 end section

140 clamping rod

141 pivoting shaft

142 push rod

143 handle

144 pivoting foot

145 pivoting foot

146 stop surface

147 stop surface

150 clamping rod

151 pivot axis

152 push rod

156 stop surface

157 stop surface

160 current bar

161 stop

162 stop part

200 conductor

210 end section

300 conductor

310 end section

400 screwdriver

Distance A

B1 width

Claims

1. Connection terminal (100) for connecting electrical conductors, comprising 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 a contact leg (121) in order to spring-elastically tension an electrical conductor to be connected to the current bar (160), wherein the clamping lever (140) is fixed to the housing (110), wherein the clamping lever (140) can be pivoted about a pivot axis (141) between an open position and a closed position, wherein the clamping lever (140) has a push rod (142), wherein the push rod (142) is assigned to a tongue (122) of the clamping spring (120), which is arranged on the contact leg (121) of the clamping spring (120).

2. Connecting terminal (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that the tongue (122) is formed in one piece with the clamping spring (120) and is stamped out of a contact leg (121) of the clamping spring (120), wherein the contact leg (121) has a through-opening (123) which substantially corresponds to the dimensions of the stamped-out tongue (122).

3. Connecting terminal (100) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a tongue (122) is arranged in a freely protruding manner between a contact leg (121) and a retaining leg (124) of the clamping spring (120), wherein the contact leg (121) and the retaining leg (124) are connected to one another by a curved connecting section (125).

4. Connecting terminal (100) according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the housing (110) has a support section (111) which passes through the through-opening (123) of the contact leg (121) and bears against a retaining leg (124) of the clamping spring (120).

5. Connecting terminal (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the clamping spring (120) is a multiply curved strip, wherein the strip has a constant width (B1).

6. Connecting terminal (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the push rod (142) has a spacing from the tongue (122) when the clamping lever (140) is in the closed position and the push rod (142) bears against the tongue (122) when the clamping lever (140) is in the open position.

7. Connecting terminal (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a pivoting of the clamping lever (140) from the closed position into the open position results in an increase in the spacing between the current bar (160) and the contact leg (121), wherein the clamping spring (120) is tensioned between the push rod (142) and the stop.

8. Connecting terminal (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a further clamping spring (130) is provided with a further clamping lever (150) in order to spring-tighten a further electrical conductor to be connected onto the current bar (160).

9. Connecting terminal (100) according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the clamping springs (120, 130) have end sections (126, 136) abutting one another, wherein the clamping spring (120) is tensioned between the push rod (142) and the end section (136) of the further clamping spring (130) if the clamping lever (140) is in the open position, and 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) if the further clamping lever (150) is in the open position.

10. Connecting terminal (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the current bar (160) has a shoulder (161) against which the contact leg (121) bears 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).

11. Electronic device having at least one connection terminal (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 10.