EP2263286B1

EP2263286B1 - Terminal board with modular contacts

Info

Publication number: EP2263286B1
Application number: EP09716563A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Dino Chirumbolo
Original assignee: ITW Industrial Components SRL
Current assignee: ITW Industrial Components SRL
Priority date: 2008-03-04
Filing date: 2009-03-03
Publication date: 2012-09-05
Anticipated expiration: 2029-03-03
Also published as: ITTO20080165A1; EP2263286A1; WO2009109919A1; ES2394412T3

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a terminal board, preferably of the N-terminal (multi pole) type, having modular contacts. Terminal boards of this type are particularly useful for making the electric connections required for powering air conditioning apparatuses.

BACKGROUND ART

As known, the electric connections required for electrically powering an electric household appliance are made using wiring devices known as 'terminal boards', which consist of an electrically non-conducting body, to which a plurality of electric contacts, possibly interconnected, are mounted. The most used contacts are screw terminals, generally consisting of a threaded nut or matrix engaged by a fastening screw for a stripped end of an electric wire, or of faston-type reed contacts.
Spring contacts are also used, e.g. of the type illustrated in JP-A-6333632 , inorder to make quick connections, particularly on wires having stripped ends or preferably, on wires butted by means of a rigid tip, or by tinplating.
The known terminal boards of the aforesaid type are not, however, able to simultaneously / indifferently make connections of different type, so as, for example, to be able to use the same terminal board, both for making connections which require contacts consisting of screw terminals, and for connections using spring contacts. If contacts of both types were installed on the same terminal board, the interconnections between the contacts would need to be doubled, with consequent additional costs, an excessively complex layout of the terminal board and, above all, a large bulk, which is not acceptable in the field of electric household appliances, where the spaces available for this type of devices are always smaller.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a terminal board with modular contacts which, though having a small bulk and preserving a simple layout and, accordingly, having low production costs and high assembly ease, allows to indifferently make connections of at least two different types on the same terminal board.
According to the present invention, a terminal board is thus provided as defined in claim 1.
Specifically, the terminal board comprises a body made of an electrically non-conducting material delimited between a first and a second opposite longitudinal faces making connections which require contacts consisting of screw terminals, and for connections using spring contacts. If contacts of both types were installed on the same terminal board, the interconnections between the contacts would need to be doubled, with consequent additional costs, an excessively complex layout of the terminal board and, above all, a large bulk, which is not acceptable in the field of electric household appliances, where the spaces available for this type of devices are always smaller. GB-A-1220643 reflected in claim 1 and US-A-5741161 do not fully solve this problem.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a terminal board with modular contacts which, though having a small bulk and preserving a simple layout and, accordingly, having low production costs and high assembly ease, allows to indifferently make connections of at least two different types on the same terminal board.
According to the present invention, a terminal board is thus provided as defined in claim 1.
Specifically, the terminal board comprises a body made of an electrically non-conducting material delimited between a first and a second opposite longitudinal faces thereof and thoroughly crossed, transversally to the faces, by first and second cavities, the first cavities being reciprocally arranged side-by-side in sequence in a longitudinal direction of extension of said faces, from a first end of the body, following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, exclusively provided by way of non-limitative example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

figure 1 shows an isometric axonometric view of the terminal board according to the present invention, shown in a configuration of use, i.e. completely assembled;
figure 2 shows the same axonometric view of the terminal board in figure 1, but with the main elements thereof shown in an exploded configuration;
figure 3 shows an optional component of the terminal board in figures 1 and 2;
figure 4 shows an axonometric view on enlarged scale of one of the spring contacts of the terminal board in figures 1 and 2; and
figures 5 and 6 show respective cross sections (taken along a plotting plane V-V) on enlarged scale of the terminal board in figures 1 and 2, without or with the component of figure 3, in the installing position, respectively.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

With reference to figures 1, 2 and 5, numeral 1 indicates as a whole a terminal board, specifically of the N-terminal type, comprising a body 2 made of electrically nonconductive material, typically by injection molding a synthetic plastic material, delimited between a first longitudinal face 3 and a second longitudinal face 4, opposite to each other, and thoroughly crossed, transversally to faces 3, 4, by first cavities 5 and second cavities 6 (figures 2 and 5).
The first cavities 5 are reciprocally arranged side-by-side in sequence, in a longitudinal direction of extension of the faces 3,4, from a first end 7 of the body, and the second cavities 6 are reciprocally arranged side-by-side in sequence, parallelly to the first cavities 5, from the latter and up to a corresponding second end 8 of the body 2, opposite to the first.
Each second cavity 6 (figure 2, shown with a dashed line) defines a first chamber 10 at the first face 3 and a second chamber 12 at the second face 4, which chambers 10,12 are connected to each other by the remaining portion of the cavity 6, as clearly shown in figure 5; the first chambers 10 of at least some of the cavities 6 (in this illustrated case all the cavities 6 existing in the body 2) each accommodate a respective first electric contact 14, while the corresponding second chambers 12 of the same cavities 6 accommodate a second electric contact 16 other than the contact 14 and electrically connected to the contact 14 of the corresponding chamber through a bridge element 18 transversally inserted into the body 2 through the corresponding cavity 6.
Specifically, each first electric contact 14 consists of a double spring contact, or 'quick type' contact, and each second electric contact 16 consists of a screw termina120, inthis illustrated case formed by a threaded nut and having a quadrangular based, prismatic shape.
On the other hand, the cavities 5 each accommodate a screw terminal 20 at a first end 21 and at a second end 22 thereof, opposite to each other; the two screw terminals 20 accommodated in use in each cavity 5 are further electrically connected to each other by a bridge element 18 transversally inserted into the body 2 through the corresponding cavity 5, similarly to the cavities 6.
In greater detail, the cavities 5 each have a first mouth 23 and a second mouth 24, opposite and facing each other, obtained at the opposite ends 21 and 22, substantially being flush with the longitudinal faces 3,4 of the body 2; the mouths 23,24 are shaped so as to allow both the screw terminals 20 and the bridge elements 18 to be introduced therethrough into the cavities 5 and, in use, with screw terminals 20 accommodated in the cavities 5 (figure 1), to leave space for the insertion of respective electric conductors (e.g. power wires/cables), known and not shown for simplicity, on the terminals 20 and within the cavities 5.
Similarly, the cavities 6 each have at least one respective mouth 30 (in this case a pair of mouths 30 placed side-by-side) obtained flush with the face 3 and shaped so as to allow in use an electric conductor (such as a wire or cable 30d, figure 6) to be introduced from the outside into the corresponding chamber 10 of each cavity 6, and a respective, opposite mouth 31 obtained flush with the face4, ina position facing the mouth 30, shaped so as to allow the spring contacts 14, the screw terminals 20 and the bridge elements 18 to be introduced therethrough into the chambers 10 and 12 of the cavities 6, and, in use, with the screw terminals 20 accommodated in the respective chambers 12, to leave space for inserting respective electric conductors (e.g. known electric wires or cables 30b, figure 6) on such screw terminals 20 and within the chambers 12.
The body 2 further has a third longitudinal face 40, transversally connecting the longitudinal faces 3,4 for the entire respective length of the same, and with respect to which the cavities 5 and 6 are arranged, in the body 2, parallel to and immediately underneath the face 40; the latter is further provided with a plurality of first through holes 42, obtained at all the chambers 12 of the cavities 6 and at all the opposite ends 21,22 of the cavities 5, for the introduction therein, in engagement with the screw terminals 20 accommodated therein, of respective retaining screws 44; such screws 44 thoroughly engage in use respective transverse holes 45 of the bridge elements 18, to then engage the underneath screw terminals 20, so as to prevent the accidental release from the cavities 5,6 (figure 6).
The face 40 further has through holes 46 obtained through the same at each first chamber 10 of the second cavities 6, through which through holes 46 the spring contacts 14, accommodated in the chambers 10, are accessible from the outside, e.g. by a tool.
The face 40 preferably has also through holes 47, one for each cavity 6, substantially obtained at the middle line thereof and each between a pair of holes 42,46, through which the bridge elements 18 are visible and accessible from the outside.
In practice, the body 2 is substantially shaped as a parallelepiped and the faces 3,4 are parallel to each other, while the cavities 5,6 are obtained in the body 2 perpendicularly to the faces 3,4 and are placed side-by-side in sequence parallelly to the faces 3,4 themselves.
Specifically, facing the respective holes 47 there are respective elastically deformable band portions 100 (figures 2, 5 and 6) of the bridge elements 18, arranged facing each other, and with the laying plane thereof perpendicularly arranged to the face 40. Thereby, the terminal board 1 may receive in use, as additional element, a standard 'pin' terminal board 101 (figure 3), consisting of a plurality of insulating body portions 103 integrally obtained side-by-side and held together by bridge-shaped body elements 104 which may possibly, easily be cut, each of the body portions being provided with a pair of screw terminals105, afirst one (105b) of which is adapted to transversally receive (figure 6) one end of an electric wire 30e and the other one (105c) holds a cylindrical fork-shaped pin 106 having an oval tip. The distance between the bands 100 and the size of the holes 47 is chosen so that the pins 106 are freely insertable in use into the holes 47 by inserting the fork-shaped, oval tips thereof into the void between each pair of bands 100 placed side-by-side (slightly smaller than the diameter of the pins 106), thus elastically deforming the same in a direction for producing the elastic bending thereof in the longitudinal direction of extension of the terminal board 1, so as to pinch the pins 106, thus blocking them in the holes 47 and in electric contact with both the contacts 14 and 16.Acomplex terminal board la is thus formed by joining the terminal board 1 and the terminal board or optional element 101, even more versatile than the terminal board 1 alone.
Finally, with specific reference to figure 4, the double spring contacts 14 are preferably each formed by a respective flat metal foil 60 bent at an angle along the middle line so as to be V-shaped; the respective edges of each foil 60 are further provided with grasping projections 61 adapted to cooperate with the body2 inuse to lock the spring contacts 14 inthe first chambers 10, which are shaped so as to have different dimensions from those of chambers 12 of the same cavities 6.
Specifically, the foils 60 are each divided by its V-shaped fold into two wings 71 and 72; the wings 72 are provided with ridges 61, while the wings 71 are each divided for nearly the entire length, in two portions placed side-by-side by means of a slot 73; in use, the slot 73 is arranged between the pair of mouths 30 and thereby each contact 14 may independently receive two wires 30d, instead of only one.

Claims

A terminal board, in particular of the N-terminal type, comprising a body (2) formed by an electrically non-conducting material delimited between a first and a second opposite longitudinal face (3,4) thereof and crossed, transversally to the faces, by first and second cavities, the first cavities (5) being reciprocally arranged side-by-side in sequence in a longitudinal direction of extension of said faces, from a first end (7) of the body, and the second cavities (6) being reciprocally arranged side-by-side in sequence, parallelly to the first cavities, from the latter and up to a corresponding second end (8) of the body, opposite to the first; each second cavity (6) defining a first chamber (10) at the first face and a second chamber (12) at the second face; the first chambers of at least some of the second cavities each accommodating a respective first electric contact (14) and the corresponding second chambers of the same second cavities accommodating a second electric contact (16) of a different type with respect to the first and electrically connected to the first contact of the first chamber through a bridge element (18) transversally inserted into the body through the corresponding second cavity; wherein each said first electric contact consists in a double spring contact (14) and in that each said second electric contact consists of a screw terminal (16); and wherein said body has a third longitudinal face (40), connecting the first (3) and the second (4) longitudinal face transversally for the entire respective length of the same and with respect to which said first and second cavities (5,6) are arranged, in said body, reciprocally parallel to it and immediately underneath the same; said third face (40) being provided with a plurality of first through holes (42) at all of said second chambers (12) of the second cavities (6) and at all of the opposite ends of the first cavities (5), for the introduction into the same, in engagement with said screw terminals accommodated therein, of respective retaining screws (44); said third face further having second through holes (46) obtained through the same at each said first chamber (10) of said second cavities (6), through which said second through holes the said double spring contacts (14) are accessible, e.g. by a tool;
characterized in that
said third face further has respective third through holes (47), one for each said second cavity (6), essentially obtained at the middle line of the same and each between a pair of first and second holes (42,46), through which respective elastically deformable band portions (100) of said bridge elements (18) are visible and accessible from the outside, arranged reciprocally facing, and with the laying plane thereof arranged perpendicularly to the third face.
A terminal board according to claim 1, characterized in that said first cavities (5) each accommodate at a reciprocally opposite first and second ends thereof, one said screws terminal (16); said two screw terminals of each first cavity being electrically connected to each other by one said bridge element (18), transversally inserted into the body through the corresponding first cavity.
A terminal board according to claim 2, characterized in that said first cavities (5) each have a first and a second mouth, reciprocally opposite to and facing one another, obtained at said opposite first and second ends of the first cavity, substantially being flush with said first and second longitudinal face (3,4) of the body; said first and second mouth being shaped so as to allow therethrough the introduction into the first cavities (5) of said screw terminals (16) and of said bridge elements (18) and, in use, with the screw terminals accommodated in the first cavities, to leave space for the insertion of respective electric conductors on said terminals, into said first cavities.
A terminal board according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said second cavities (6) each have: at least one respective first mouth obtained flush with the first longitudinal face (3), shaped so as to allow in use the introduction from the outside of an electric wire in the corresponding first chamber of each second cavity; and a second mouth obtained flush with the second longitudinal face (4), in a position opposite to and facing the first mouth, shaped so as to allow therethrough the introduction into the first and second chambers of the second cavities of said spring contacts (14) and screw terminals (16) and of said electric connection bridge elements (18) and, in use, with the screw terminals accommodated in the second chambers of the second cavities, to leave space for inserting respective electric wires on said screw terminals, into said second chambers.
A terminal board according to claim 4, characterized in that each second cavity has a pair of said first mouths arranged reciprocally side-by-side.
A terminal board according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said screws (44) throughly engaging respective transverse holes (45) of said bridge elements (12); all each said first and second contacts (14,16) and said bridge elements (18) being elements independent to each other.
A terminal board according to any one of the foregoing claims, characterized in that said body (2) is essentially parallelepiped-shaped; said first and second longitudinal face (3,4) of the body being reciprocally parallel, said first and second cavities being obtained in the body perpendicularly to said first and second face and being reciprocally arranged side by side in sequence parallelly to said faces.
A terminal board according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said double spring contacts (14) each consist of a respective flat metal foil bent at an angle along the middle line so as to be V-shaped, one first wing (71) of which is split into two by a respective slot; respective edges of a second wing (72) of the foil being provided with grasping projections (61) adapted to cooperate with said body to lock the spring contacts in the first chambers.
A terminal board according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said first chambers (10) of the second cavities (6) are of a different size with respect to those of the second chambers (12) of the same second cavities.
A terminal board according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the terminal board further comprising an additional element (101) comprising a standard pin terminal board consisting of a plurality of insulating body portions obtained in one piece reciprocally side-by-side and held together by bridge-shaped body elements which may possibly, easily be cut, each of which provided with a pair of screw terminals (105), of which one is adapted to transversally receive an end of an electric wire and the other withholds a fork-shaped oval tip cylindrical pin (106); the distance between said bands (100) of said bridge elements (18) and the size of the third holes (47) being chosen so that said pins (106) are in use freely insertable into the third holes (47) inserting the fork-shaped oval tips thereof into the void between each pair of said bands (100) placed side-by-side, which is slightly smaller in size than the diameter of the pins (106), thus elastically deforming the latter.