DE9401114U1 - Connection module - Google Patents

Description

Siemens AG

Connection module

The invention relates to a connection module with electrical conductors arranged in rows in a housing according to the preamble of claim 1.

DE-GM 86 33 613 describes a multi-pole, cuboid-shaped connection module with parallel conductors arranged in a grid or row, the end sections of which emerge from the opposite end faces of the module and are designed as connection elements for wiring. Such connection modules are used in automation technology cabinets. At the front of the cabinet, the signal cables are placed on the front end sections of the electrical conductors. These pass the signals on to the back of the cabinet, where they are led to an evaluation electronics system by wiring between the end sections emerging from the back and connection elements located on the back of the module carriers. The connection elements of the connection module are arranged on both sides in an identical two-dimensional grid; the space required by the connection module in the cabinet is therefore quite high.

The invention is based on the object of creating a connection module that makes it possible to carry out connection and marshalling tasks in automation technology cabinets with reduced space requirements.

To solve this problem, the new connecting element of the type mentioned at the beginning has the

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feature mentioned in claim 1. Advantageous further developments of the invention are specified in the subclaims.

The invention has the advantage that the grid spacing of the connection elements on the two front sides can be set independently of one another and adapted to the space required for the wiring, which is often different on the two front sides. For example, for rear panel wiring using wirewrap technology, a grid spacing of 5.08 mm can be selected, as this is completely sufficient for the wire-wrap technology, while standard connector plugs can still be used on the front of the cabinet with a grid spacing of 7.62 mm. This means that less space is required in the cabinet for the connection elements on the back.

The invention, as well as its embodiments and advantages, are explained in more detail below with reference to the drawings in which an embodiment of the invention is shown.

Show it:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a connection module and
Figure 2 is a side view of a housing part.

According to Figure 1, a connection module has four housing parts 1 ... 4, which are held together with two cylindrical grooved pins 5 and 6 and two end plates 7 and 8. The housing parts 1 ... 4 each carry electrical conductors 9 arranged in rows, the end sections of which, emerging from opposite end faces 10 and 11, are designed as connection elements 12 and 13 for wiring. On the end face 10, the connection elements are arranged at a grid spacing of 7.62 mm, i.e. the distance between two adjacent connection elements 12 and 14 is 7.62 mm. In contrast, the connection elements on the end face 11 are placed at a grid spacing of 5.08 mm. In Figure 1 it is clearly visible that due to the smaller grid spacing on the

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The front side 11 requires considerably less space for the area of the connection elements. This can now be used in another way, for example for placing busbars or for another connection field, which is implemented by a circuit board with pressed-in connection pins. The individual connection elements can be labeled in the end plates 7 and 8 using injection molding in a cost-effective manner. The connection module is attached in an automation technology cabinet using two hooks 15 and 16 or 17 and 18, which are arranged on one side in the area of the corners of the outer housing parts 1 and 4. These are hung in correspondingly pre-punched holes in a thin-walled support of the cabinet. Spring elements 19 and 20 molded onto the housing parts 1 ... 4 serve to compensate for tolerances in the sheet thickness and enable the connection module to be hung in different sheets with slightly different sheet thicknesses. The spring elements 20 of the housing parts 1 and 4 secure the connection module against falling out by protruding into a suitable recess in the thin-walled carrier when inserted, resting against a stop edge and thus forming a locking connection with the carrier. For example, a pin guided through an opening in the carrier can be used to unlock it, with which the spring element 20 is pushed out of its locking position.

In Figure 1, the housing part 1 is shown in a side view. It carries eight electrical conductors 21 ... 28 on each side. The electrical conductors 21 ... 28 are formed with a wire which, like the electrical conductor 21, runs approximately straight in the unloaded state, since there is no offset to be bridged between its connecting elements 29 and 37. The other electrical conductors 22 ... 28 must compensate for an offset between connecting elements 30 ... 36 and 38 ... 44 and are deformed by bending stress for this purpose. Supports 45, 46 and 47 are used for this purpose, in

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into which the electrical conductors 21 ... 28 are inserted. The end sections 29 ... 36 and 37 ... 44 have different cross-sections. For this reason, the electrical conductors 21 ... 28 are made in two parts. The part with the higher bending stiffness in the area of the end sections 29 ... 36 is not subjected to any bending stress. The two parts are electrically connected to one another at soldering points 48. With this arrangement of the electrical conductors 21 ... 28, prefabrication of eight different wires is avoided; instead, straight wires can be used, which are deformed accordingly when inserted into the supports of the housing part 1, so that eight different bending lines are created. They are held there and brought to the soldering position. The connecting elements 2 9 ... 3 6 and 37 ... 44 are fixed after insertion into the housing part 1 by thermal deformation of supports 49, 50 or 45 and 51.

Claims (8)

O 1 •&igr; Protection claims 1. Connection module with electrical conductors (9) arranged in rows in a housing, the end sections (12, 13) of which emerge from opposite end faces (10, 11) of the module are designed as connection elements for wiring, characterized in that - the connecting elements (12, 13) on the two end faces (10, 11) are each arranged at different grid spacings. 2. Connection module according to claim 1, characterized in that - an electrical conductor (9) is formed with a wire which would run straight in the unloaded state, but is held in the housing by appropriately arranged supports to bridge an offset between the connection elements (12, 13). 3 . Connection module according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that an electrical conductor (9) is secured against displacement in the exit region of its end sections (12, 13) by thermal deformation of the supports (45, 49, 50, 51) of the housing. 4. Connection module according to claim 3, characterized in that - an electrical conductor (9) is formed from two wires each with a different cross-section, and that - the wire with the higher bending stiffness runs straight. 5. Connection module according to claim 4, characterized in that - the two wires are soldered together. &ogr;&igr; 6. Connection module according to one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that - the housing has stackable housing parts (1 ... 4) which have one or two rows of electrical conductors (9), with one row being accessible from one side of the housing part. 7. Connection module according to claim 6, characterized in that - stacked housing parts (1 ... 4) of a housing are held together by end plates (7, 8) that can be pushed over the connecting elements (12, 13) and by grooved pins {5, 6) that can be pressed into the holes in all housing parts {1 ... 4) that lie one above the other. 8. Connection module according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that for fastening to a thin-walled support, hooks (15 ... 18) are provided on the housing, with which the support wall can be gripped through a recess, that - spring elements (19, 20) are provided on the housing, which are supported on the support wall so that the inside of the hooks (15 ... 18) rests against the support, and that - a snap-in connection secures the housing to the carrier.