FR2584240A1 - Device for connecting conductive wires to a set of electrical terminals and device for controlling automatic industrial systems comprising such a device - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for connecting conductive wires to a relatively high number of external connecting terminals. The device comprises a plurality of wiring end-pieces 15 of the type each comprising a conductive metal tube capable of receiving one of the wires to be connected 12 and of being inserted in a corresponding clamping terminal 3, and an insulating skirt integral with one end of the tube; these end-pieces are joined and held together at their skirts by means of an insulating part 17 which retains the wiring order when disconnecting the end-pieces. Application to the connection of conductors for programmable mini-automatons.

Description

DEVICE FOR CONNECTING CONDUCTING WIRES TO AN ASSEMBLY
OF ELECTRICAL TERMINALS AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING AUTOMA
INDUSTRIAL TISMES COMPRISING SUCH A DEVICE.

The present invention relates to a device for connecting conductive wires to a set of electrical terminals, in particular for devices used to control industrial automations such as, in particular, programmable mini-automata.

Generally speaking, the programmable mini-automata belong to what is called the low-end of the programmable automatons, and they are in the form of small modules, of generally parallelepipedal shape, capable of being juxtaposed. Each of these modules has a certain number of inputs / outputs, for example sixteen inputs and sixteen outputs, materialized by one or more rows of terminals or external contacts arranged side by side, with a given pitch, on its upper face and, optionally , on its underside.

The electrical connection between the external terminals and the installation governed by the automaton is ensured by conductive wires which are connected to all or part of the row of corresponding terminals; usually, these connection terminals are either of the screw tightening type, or of the elastic tightening type known as "faston" in the Anglo-Saxon literature.

In general, to ensure the connection of conductive wires to external clamping terminals of any electrical appliance, it is known to use cable ends, for example of the type each comprising a conductive metal tube secured to an insulating skirt coaxial tubular, as described in the patent
FR No 1 468 859. Each end piece is mounted at the end of a conductive wire, then is introduced into its corresponding terminal which, by tightening, ensures the crimping of the end piece on its conductor.

Once the conductor wires are individually connected to the corresponding electrical terminals of the device by means of the cable ends, it may prove necessary subsequently, and for various reasons (repairs, tests, etc.), to change the existing device and replace it with a new identical device by connecting the same lead wires. For this purpose, on the device to be changed, the end caps of the wires are individually disconnected from their corresponding terminals.

Under these conditions, during the exchange of the device, there then arises the technical problem of reconnecting the same conductors at the same locations of the terminals of the new device, without connection errors of the reversal type. This connection of the wires is all the more difficult to perform without risk of errors as the number of connection terminals is relatively high, which is the case in particular for mini programmable automats.

The object of the present invention is to solve this technical problem by proposing a device for connecting conductive wires to a relatively large number of external terminals of a device, which plays the role of polarizing device by providing a memorization of the wiring carried out, ie say a memorization of the relative position of the wires with respect to the terminals during an exchange of the device. In addition, the device according to the invention has a simple structure and a low manufacturing cost.

To this end, the subject of the invention is a device for connecting conductive wires to a set of electrical terminals, comprising a plurality of wiring end pieces which are connected to the terminals and each being formed from a conductive metallic part and d '' a tubular insulating part secured to one end of the metal part, the conducting wires being introduced into the respective insulating parts of the end pieces and being connected to the respective metal parts thereof, and the metal parts of the end pieces being inserted into the terminals , characterized in that the device comprises an insulating piece for connecting and holding the cable ends with each other at their respective insulating parts, so that the connecting part and the end pieces fitted with conductive wires form a unitary assembly, thus ensuring a memorization of the relative position of the wires with respect to the terminals when the cable ends are disconnected age.

For an arrangement of the terminals along at least one row and with a given pitch, according to a preferred version of the invention, the insulating link and retaining pie comprises at least one row of bars connecting them, and substantially with the same not only that of the terminals, the insulating parts of the end pieces, thus forming strip end pieces whose respective metal parts are introduced into the row of corresponding terminals.

Preferably the bars are made of semi-rigid plastic.

Thus, these connecting and holding bars of the cable ends ensure, in addition to memorizing the wiring produced, a memorization of the pitch of the terminals during the collective disconnection of the ends.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear better in the detailed description which follows and refers to the appended drawings given solely by way of example and in which
Figure 1 shows a schematic perspective view
tive of a programmable mini-controller with a row
of its external terminals suitable for receiving a device
for connecting conductive wires according to a first
embodiment of the invention g
FIG. 2 represents a :: view in longitudinal section
of the connection device of Figure 1, with the
conductor wires connected to their electrical terminals
corresponding;
Figures 3, 4 and 5 show schematically in
perspective different types of thimbles
used for connecting conductive wires;
your figure 6 represents a view identical to ia figure 1
with a variant of the device for connecting the
lead wires according to the invention;
Figure 7 shows a longitudinal sectional view
of the connection device of FIG. 6, with the
conductor wires connected to their electrical terminals
corresponding; and
Figure 8 shows a longitudinal section view
of the connection device of FIG. 6, after
disconnection of the conductive wires from their terminals
corresponding.

In these different figures, the same references relate to the same elements which fulfill the same functions for the same results.

In Figure 1, there is shown at 1 a modular programmable mini-controller of generally substantially parallelepipedal shape, and of conventional design with a relatively high number of inputs / outputs, for example twenty in total, which are embodied by external terminals electrical connection.

The machine 1 is intended to be mounted on the rear face on a support rail, and its external terminals, identified at 3 in FIG. 1, are all identical and are, for example, of the type with screw clamping, known per se. On the other hand, these clamping terminals 3 are arranged side by side in a row with a given pitch Q, equal for example to 8.2 millimeters, both on the upper face 5 and on the lower face 6 of the machine. ; in FIG. 1, only the row of terminals on the upper face is visible.

The two rows of clamping screws mounted on the front face of the machine and associated with the two rows of external terminals have been identified at 8 and 9 in FIG. 1.

Note that the connection terminals can also be of the elastic clamping type, known per se, without departing from the scope of the invention.

By way of illustration and not limitation, the external terminals 3 present on the upper face of the automaton are ten in number and all constitute, for example, the inputs thereof, while all those present on the lower face of the the automaton, also ten in number, constitute its outputs.

Conventionally, the installation governed by the automaton is electrically connected to the inputs / outputs of the latter by conductive wires in an insulating sheath, most often assembled in a strand, and coming to be connected according to a very precise arrangement on all or part of each row of corresponding external terminals.

We will now describe a first preferred embodiment of the device for connecting the connecting conductive wires to their corresponding terminals, according to the invention, with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

In these figures, there is shown only the device for connecting the various conductive wires 12 to the external input terminals 3 present on the upper face of the automatic device; of course, another identical device is also provided for the output terminals present on the underside of the automaton.

The connection device according to the invention, generally identified at 14, comprises a plurality of identical wiring ends 15, in a number equal to that of the connection terminals 3, that is to say ten in the example chosen, arranged in a row with the same pitch p as that of the terminals, and connected and held integrally with each other by means of insulating bars or tongues 17, thus forming band ends.

In more detail, each end piece 15 consists of a conductive metal tube 15a, of cross-section, for example circular, which is fixed at one of its ends to an insulating skirt or collar 15b in the form of a funnel and coaxial with tube.

Preferably, these strip ends 15 are obtained by simultaneously molding, using a plastic material of the polyamide type for example, on the one hand, the insulating skirts 15b on their tubes 15a arranged side by side at the given pitch p and, on the other hand, the insulating bars 17 which interconnect said insulating skirts.

This strip of end pieces therefore constitutes a unitary piece intended to connect the conductive wires to their corresponding terminals, which ensures, by the presence of the connection bars, on the one hand, perfect insulation between the different end pieces and, on the other hand , a memorization of the pitch of the external terminals.

Note that it is also possible to produce long strips of end pieces which are then cut into strip sections with the number of end pieces chosen, and which can also be formed on the same strip of end pieces of different diameters. .

The electrical connection of the conductive wires 12 (FIG. 1) in their corresponding external terminals 3 is carried out in the following manner by means of the connection device 14 described above.

The conducting wires 12, assembled in a strand and previously stripped at one of their ends, are introduced axially into their corresponding strip end pieces in an order determined in advance, thus advantageously forming a strand pre-equipped with strip end pieces. It will be noted that the row of wiring ends can be equipped either totally or partially with conductive wires, depending on the number of wires to be connected; thus, by way of illustration in FIG. 1, only eight conductive wires are to be connected, thus leaving two ends of the strip free.

After the conductive wires have been placed in their corresponding end pieces, the end strip 15 is then introduced in a single operation and axially, by the conductive tubular parts 15a of the end pieces, in the row of external terminals 3, then only the end pieces equipped with conductive wires are crimped by the clamping screws 8 (Figure 1) associated with the corresponding terminals.

Advantageously, the insulating bars 17 connecting the end pieces, have a certain flexibility and are made, for this purpose, of a plastic material of the semi-rigid type in order to guarantee the introduction of the end pieces in their corresponding terminals when the pitch of the strip end pieces is be slightly different from that of the terminals.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates the electrical connection once established by the band ends 15 equipped with the conducting wires 12 which are arranged in the same order as that shown in FIG. 1.

It will be noted that the crimping of the end caps on their conductive wires can also be carried out before introduction of the end strip into the row of terminals, whether the latter are of the screw-tightening type or of the elastic-tightening type, without leaving the frame. of the invention.

In addition, the cable end caps with overmolded metal tubes as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, can be replaced by cable end caps, also formed in a strip. Thus, there are shown in 15c (Figure 3) and 15d (Figure 4) respectively two known types of lugs which allow a connection by screws, and in 15th (Figure 5) a known type of lug which allows a connection by elastic tightening.

The connection piece according to the invention which has just been described, and which consists of a plurality of end pieces connected and held together by insulating bars at the same pitch as the connection terminals, therefore makes it possible, during a subsequent disconnection of these strip end fittings equipped with their conductive wires, to perfectly preserve the predetermined wiring order, thus ensuring a memorization of the relative positions of the wires with respect to their terminals; under these conditions, when exchanging the existing automaton with a new identical automaton, it turns out to be particularly easy and fast, and henceforth without risk of errors, to reconnect the same conductive wires pre-equipped with band end pieces to the same terminal locations of the new controller.

We will now describe a variant of the connection device according to the invention with reference to Figures 6 to 8 in which there is shown only, as before, said device for the external input terminals 3 present on the upper face of the automaton.

According to this variant, in FIG. 6, the connection device 14 includes an insulating plate 21 which is mounted to bear on the row of external terminals 3 of the automaton and which is pierced with a plurality of openings 22, in equal number to that of the connection terminals, that is to say ten in the example chosen, arranged in a row of the same pitch as that of the terminals, so as to communicate directly with the latter.

The perforated plate 21 being placed on the row of terminals, the cable ends 15, in a number equal to that of the wires to be connected 12, that is to say eight in the example chosen, are mounted at the ends of the wires, then are introduced axially, by their respective conductive parts 15a, into the corresponding openings of the wafer in a very precise order, to finally come plug in the corresponding terminals 3 by tightening thereof.

FIG. 7 schematically represents the electrical connection once established by the end pieces 15 electrically insulated from each other by the plate 21 which connects between them the insulating skirts 15b of the end pieces used. In this FIG. 7, the same arrangement of the end fittings equipped with their conductive wires has been used as that in FIG. 2, this time two openings 22 of the plate 21 (FIG. 7) being unoccupied.

On the other hand, the openings 22 made in the insulating plate 21 have dimensions such that they each ensure the securing of the insulating skirt 15b of the end piece with the plate when the end piece is inserted into the opening corresponding.

Thus, the plate 21 has the function, on the one hand, of interconnecting the cable ends used and, on the other hand, of holding them fixedly in position, the connection and the maintenance of the ends being effected at their respective insulating parts.

Under these conditions, during a subsequent disconnection of the conductive wires from their corresponding terminals, the assembly consisting of the plate and the end fittings equipped with the wires is disconnected in one piece, thus allowing the predetermined wiring order to be perfectly preserved. which will be taken up during the exchange of the PLC, as explained above.

FIG. 8 schematically illustrates the collective disconnection of the electrical wires, the particular arrangement of which, identical to that of FIG. 7, is memorized by means of the plate 21 for connecting and holding the cable ends 15.

Note that the above description was made for external terminals provided on a modular modular mini-controller; of course, the invention also applies to any other type of device comprising a number, preferably relatively large, of external connection terminals.

In addition, the invention is in no way limited to the embodiments described and shown and includes all the technical equivalents of the means described as well as their combinations if these are carried out according to the spirit of the invention and implemented in the scope of the claims which follow.

Claims (9)

Patent claims  1. Device for connecting conductive wires (12) to a set of electrical terminals (3), comprising a plurality of wiring ends (15) which are connected to the terminals and each being formed from a conductive metallic part (15a ; 15c; 15d; 15e) and of a tubular insulating part (15b) integral with one end of the metallic part, the conductive wires being introduced into the respective insulating parts of the end pieces and being connected to the respective metallic parts of the latter. , and the metal parts of the end pieces being inserted in the terminals, characterized in that the device comprises an insulating part (17 ;; 2i) for connecting and holding the cable end pieces with each other at their respective insulating parts , so that the connecting piece and the end fittings equipped with the conducting wires form a unitary assembly, thus ensuring a memorization of the relative position of the wires (12) with respect to the terminals (3) during a disconnection cable ends.  2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the terminals (3) are arranged in at least one row with u .. step (p) given, and in that the insulating connecting and retaining part comprises at least one row of bars (17) connecting together, and substantially with the same pitch as that of the terminals, the insulating parts of the end pieces (15), thus forming strip end pieces whose respective metal parts are introduced into the corresponding row of terminals.  3. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the bars (17) come from molding with the respective insulating parts (15b) of the cable ends.  4. Device according to one of claims 2 or 3, characterized in that the bars (17) are made of a semi-rigid plastic.  5. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the terminals (3) are arranged in at least one row with a given pitch (p), and in that the insulating connecting and holding part comprises at least one plate ( 21) arranged on the row of terminals and pierced with at least one row of openings (22) with the same pitch as that of the terminals and communicating directly with them, the perforated plate now fixedly secures the insulating parts of the end pieces (15 ) after introduction of the respective metal parts thereof into the row of vorrespon- dent terminals.  6. Device according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the metal part of each wiring end piece (15) is constituted by a tube (15a) coaxial with the tubular insulating part which is integral with it.  7. Device according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the metal part of each cable end piece (15) is constituted by a terminal (5c; 15d 15e)  8. Apparatus for controlling industrial automations, comprising a relatively large number of inputs / outputs materialized by external electrical connection terminals (3) which are all, or only some of them, intended to receive conductive wires (12), characterized in that the apparatus comprises at least one device (14) for connecting the conductive wires to the corresponding terminals as defined according to any one of the preceding claims.  9. Apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that it constitutes a modular modular mini-controller.