GB2056791A

GB2056791A - System for the connection of electrical conductors

Info

Publication number: GB2056791A
Application number: GB8004703A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: CA Weidmueller GmbH and Co
Current assignee: Weidmueller Interface GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 1979-07-18
Filing date: 1980-02-12
Publication date: 1981-03-18
Also published as: FR2462038A1; FR2462038B1; DE7920512U1; GB2056791B

Abstract

An adaptor 6, for use with a rail-mounted electrical terminal unit with flat male connector tabs 4, has an insulating casing 7 fitted with at least one connector 8 for an electrical conductor, at least one conductive member 9 with a contact 10 to make a plug-in connection with a first connector tab 4 of the terminal unit, and at least one electrically non-conductive retainer, e.g. a detent stud 11, to engage a second tab 4 of the terminal unit. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION System for the connection of electrical conductors The invention relates to a system for connecting electrical conductors to terminal units with flat slide-on connectors with slide-on tabs.

When electrical installations, inolving the combination and connection of electrical conductors, are newly designed, it is common practice to adopt as standard a specific kind of connection, for example clamp connections, screw connections, solder connections or flat slide-on connections.

Flat slide-on connectors are popular, more particularly for so-called patchboard distributors, where rapid handling is important. The present invention is therefore based on the assumption that row-mounted terminal units with flat connector tabs are situated wherever required. The cohductors which are to be connected will then be provided with flat connector sleeves which can be slid onto the tabs. A problem in this case is that such flat sleeves must normally be crimped onto the conductor and this is possible only with finegauge conductors over a small cross-sectional range.

The problem is due to the fact that in the design of such an electrical installation, the manufacturer can determine a specific kind of connection but the use of the specified connection is by no means always and in every case possible, or at least favourable, for the user who in turn must connect certain apparatus via electrical conductors to the installation. When an installation is newly designed it is therefore necessary for the producer of the installation, whenever possible, to take account of the requirements of users (in a complicated manner), and it is then still necessary to provide for a plurality of modes of connection so that the design of the installation is rendered more difficult and more particularly calls for the storage of several kinds of connectors and the corresponding terminal units.

Nevertheless, it happens frequently that the user encounters the extensive problem of finding in the installation a mode of connection which is very unsuitable for some of the conductors to be connected or is in fact completely unusable, due either to insufficient standardisation or to subsequent design modifications, so that changes become necessary, which become more problematical for the user since the user must not himself disconnect the wiring manufactured by the installation producer if warranty claims are to be maintained.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a system for the connection of electrical conductors, making it possible on the one hand for the producer of electrical installations to provide a uniform design using flat slide-on tabs, which can be embodied in a simple manner, and on the other hand allowing the user to apply and maintain the basic design without problems if in a particular case the conductor which is to be connected is unsuitable for the standard flat connector.

The present invention provides an adaptor for use with an electrical terminal unit with flat male connector tabs, which adaptor has an insulating casing fitted with at least one connector for an electrical conductor, at least one current-transmission member associated with said connector and provided with a contact arranged and adapted to make a plug-in connection with a first connector tab of a said terminal unit, and at least one electrically nonconductive retainer arranged and adapted to engage a second connector tab of a said terminal unit.

With this adaptor it is possible, in a very simple manner, for any conductor to be readily connected to a tab of an existing terminal unit, even if the conductor is unsuitable for a flat slide-on connection, for example because the conductor consists of solid non-stranded material or has an excessively large crosssection. It is then sufficient to provide a stock of these small adapters which can be readily and easily connected to electrical conductors which are thus connected to the terminal unit by the adapters being slid onto the flat connector tabs of the terminal units. In addition to making the electrical contact, the system also ensures that adequate retaining force is provided for the adapter on the flat-tab connector of the terminal unit, by means of the retainer or retainers which cooperate with additional tabs of the flat-tab connector.

One embodiment of the invention will be described by reference to the accompanying drawing, which shows in side view a railmounted terminal unit with flat slide-on connectors and an adapter mouned on one of the flat slide-on connectors.

The system comprises a commercially available terminal unit having a narrow slabshaped generally rectangulr insulating housing 1 with a base 2 for clip-on mounting on a standard support rail 13, provided on both sides with flat slide-on connectors 3, each having four male connector tabs 4. The connectors 3 and the tabs 4 are of conventional construction in which apertures 5 are provided near the free end of each tab 4. The terminal unit is designed to be mounted side by side with further terminal units to form a terminal block or assembly on the support rail 13.

The system also comprises an adapter 6 with an insulating casing 7 which contains a connector 8 for the conductor which is to be connected thereto. A screw connector 8 is shown in the illustrated exemplified embodiment. According to its construction the adapter can however also incorporate another form of connector, for example a clamp connector or a solder tag, or another flat slide-on connector but for a completely different size range from that of the terminal unit, to permit the appropriate adaptation. The casing 7 has a lower region 14 shaped to fit into the housing 1 through the openings 1 5 in the top narrow face of the housing that provide access to the connectors 3, and has an upper region which seats on the top face of the housing. Thus, the adapter can be plugged into, and unplugged from, the terminal unit.

The casing of the adapter contains a current transmission member 9 which is electrically conductively connected to the screw connec tor 8 and supports a contact end 10 O suitable and designed for mounting on one of the tabs 4 of a connector 3 of the terminal unit, when the adapter is plugged into the latter.

At least one retainer of a non-electrical kind is disposed in the adapter casing 7 to provide the adapter 6 as a whole with reliable seating on the connector 3 of the terminal unit and said retainer is engaged with a further tab 4 of the connector 3 when the adapter is mounted. To this end two such retainers in the form of detent studs 11 are provided in a very simple manner in the illustrated embodiment; the studs 11 are integrally formed on the adapter casing, in the interior of the casing, and enter the apertures 5 of the two corresponding placed tabs 4 of the connector 3 when the adapter is inserted in the terminal unit in the appropriate spatial position. When the adapter is mounted, the two studs 11 therefore enter slightly into the apertures 5 and ensure reliable retention on the connector 3. Additional studs 1 2 on the adapter casing 7 are provided for latching with a cover plate (not shown) which closes the side of the casing 7.

The illustrated adapter is of single-pole construction. It will be understood that an adapter can also be constructed in multipole construction with a corresponding serial configuration of connectors and can then be mounted on a corresponding terminal block or a block of terminal units by means of flat slie-on connectors.

Claims

1. An adaptor for use with an electrical terminal unit with flat male connector tabs, which adaptor has an insulating casing fitted with at least one connector for an electrical conductor, at least one current-transmission member associated with said connector and provided with a contact arranged and adapted to make a plug-in connection with a first connector tab of a said terminal unit, and at least one electrically non-conductive retainer arranged and adapted to engage a second connector tab of a said terminal unit.

2. An adaptor according to claim 1, characterised in that the retainer is a stud which is disposed on the casing of the adapter in a spatial position corresponding to an aperture provided in the corresponding connector tab.

3. An adaptor according to claim 1 or 2, provided with a screw connector.

4. An adaptor according to claim 1 or 2, provided with a solder tag.

5. An adaptor according to claim 1 or 2 provided with a clamp connector.

6. An adaptor according to claim 1 or 2 provided with a flat connector tab, the size of which is different from that of the flat connector tabs of the terminal unit.

7. An adaptor according to any preceding claim constructed in single-pole configuration.

8. An adaptor according to any of claims 1 to 6 constructed in multiple configuration.

9. An adaptor for a flat-tab terminal unit, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

10. In combination, an electrical terminal unit comprising an insulating housing containing at least one connector assembly of a plurality of flat male connector tabs accessible through an opening in the housing; and an adaptor comprising an insulating casing adapted to mate with the said opening, and provided with at least one connector for an electrical conductor, at least one current-transmission member associated with said connector and provided with a contact arranged and adapted to make contact with 2 first connector tab of said assembly, and at least one electrically non-conductive retainer arranged and adapted to engage a second connector tab of said assembly to hold the adaptor mated with the terminal unit.

11. The combination claimed in claim 10 in which the adaptor is an adaptor as claimed in any of claims 2 to 9.