JP3159973B1 - Terminal / spring integrated clamp terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to simplify a structure of a clamp terminal to facilitate assembly. A terminal and a spring of a clamp terminal are formed by a single conductive strip. The strip 70 is bent so as to substantially form a ring as a whole, and the rear end 72 presses against the front end 71 from the inside of the ring under elastic deformation, and the front end 71 and the rear end 72 are joined together. The conductor 20 is clamped.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a clamp terminal suitable for use with a conductor such as a telephone line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a main part of a conventional example of such a clamp terminal. The clamp terminal 101 shown in the figure includes a conductive terminal 103 which is housed in a housing 102 made of an insulating material (the outer shape of which is indicated by a virtual line) and a terminal 10.
3 and a separate operating button 106
And The terminal 103 has a wire support 107,
The leaf spring 104 is in pressure contact with the lower surface of the support portion 107. The spring 104 is wider than the support 107, and one of the side edges 108 is located outside the support 107. The operation button 106 is shown in a state where the operation button 106 is taken out of the housing 102. However, when the operation button 106 is pressed with a finger, the operation button 106 comes into contact with the portion 108 of the spring 104 from the direction of arrow X to push down the spring 104,
It can be separated from the support 107.

[0003]

The conventional clamp terminal 101 includes at least a housing 102 and a terminal 10.
3, a spring 104, and an operation button 106, all of which are quite small.
Assembling is tedious and time-consuming, even if automated.

An object of the present invention is to provide a clamp terminal capable of reducing the number of parts and shortening the assembly time as compared with the conventional clamp terminal.

In order to solve the above problems,
An object of the present invention is a housing made of an insulating material, a conductive terminal located in the housing,
Pressing a spring capable of clamping a conductor entering the housing located within said housing with said terminal and cooperating with said spring to release the clamp is attached to the C U Zing And an operation button made of a possible insulating material.

The features of the present invention in such a clamp terminal are as follows. That is, the
The housing has a guide hole through which the lead wire enters.
You. The terminal and the spring are formed by a single conductive strip and integrated. The strip forms a ring consisting of a front end, a rear end, and an intermediate portion interposed between both ends .
So that the front end is inside the guide hole.
Has a width equal to or greater than the width of the guide hole.
The state of being substantially fixed in the housing have been
The rear end is detachably pressed against the front end from the inside to the outside of the ring under elastic deformation. The operation button has an outer end that can be pressed outside the housing, and an inner end that can be located inside the housing and extend below the front end of the strip. A position adjacent to the inside of the guide hole.
Straddle the front end of the strip in the width direction, and
Of the rear end extending outward from each side edge of the part
Each of the operation buttons has a pair of legs abutting from above.
When the outer end of the tongue is pressed, the rear end of the strip is
Can be pushed down in the direction to release from the end,
And the guide that enters from the guide hole between the pair of legs.
You can guide the line .

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With reference to the accompanying drawings, the details of a terminal / spring integrated clamp terminal according to the present invention will be described below.

A clamp terminal 1 integrated with a terminal and a spring shown in a perspective view in FIG. 1 has a housing 2 made of an insulating material such as plastic, and the housing 2 has a main body 3 and a lid which is attached to and detached from the main body 3. 4. A conductor guide hole 5 is formed in the main body 3, a part of the operation button 6 protrudes from a top 7 of the main body 3, and a leg 12 of an annular member 10 (see FIG. 2) is seen from a bottom 9.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show an exploded perspective view of the clamp terminal 1 and an assembled state of the clamp terminal 1 in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III. However, in FIG. 2, the illustration of the cover 4 is omitted, and some parts are shown in a cutaway view.

The clamp terminal 1 shown in FIG. 2 has, besides the housing 2, an annular member 10 and an operation button 6 which are accommodated in the main body 3 of the housing 2 from directions indicated by arrows A, B, C and D. . The main body 3 includes a top 7, a bottom 9,
A concave portion 21 surrounded by the side portions 16 and 17, an operation button fitting hole 22 formed in the top portion 7, a conductive wire guide hole 5 formed in the first side portion 16, and a pair of cutouts formed in the bottom portion 9. It has a notch 24. The concave portion 21 includes a vertical rear wall 21A positioned rearward in the figure, an inclined top wall 21B forming the peripheral wall of the concave portion 21, first and second side walls 21C and 21D facing each other, and a horizontal bottom wall 21E. Having. A first guide portion 44 and a second guide portion 45 for the annular member 10 are formed inside the peripheral wall.

The operation button 6 is made of an insulating material such as plastic or the like.
An outer end 26 projecting from the top 7 of the
2 has an inner end portion 27 that fits slidably in the vertical direction in the figure. The outer end 26 has an operating recess 28 on the top surface, into which the tip of a small flathead screwdriver can be inserted and the operating button 6 can be pressed. The inner end 27 has a pair of legs 31 extending downward in parallel with each other. The legs 31 have an inclined surface 32A and a horizontal surface 32B formed therein.
An inclined surface 6A is formed between them. The protrusion 33 formed on the side surface of the inner end portion 27 fits into the portion 34 of the concave portion 21 in the main body 3 and functions as a stopper for preventing the operation button 6 from coming out of the main body 3 upward.

The annular member 10 has a front end 71 and a rear end 7.
2 and an intermediate portion 73 interposed between these two end portions 71 and 72.
The strip 70 made of a conductive metal such as phosphor bronze having the following characteristics is bent so as to form a ring as a whole. The front end portion 71 is formed in a straight shape and extends along the top wall 21B of the concave portion 21, and the intermediate portion 73 extends along the first and second side walls 21C and 21D and the bottom wall 21E of the concave portion 21, and The end portion 72 has a straight portion 42 and a curved portion 43 connected to the intermediate portion 73, and the distal end 42A of the straight portion 42 is a strip while the curved portion 43 is elastically deformed so as to reduce the radius of curvature. From the inside of the ring formed by 70, that is, from below in FIG. 3, it is detachably pressed against the front end portion 71. The intermediate portion 73 includes the peripheral wall of the concave portion 21 and the first and second guide portions 4.
4 and 45, two legs 12, which are contacts, extend outward from the portion extending along the bottom wall 21 </ b> E through the notch 24 of the main body 3. Such an annular member 10
Is in a state where the front end portion 71 is substantially fixed to the top wall 21B of the concave portion 21 and the rear end portion 72 is in a state where it can be elastically deformed in the concave portion 21 in the vertical direction in the figure. In contrast to the annular member 10, the operation button 6 is arranged such that one leg 31 shown in FIG.
One horizontal plane 32B is the tip 4 of the rear end 72 of the annular member 10.
It is in contact with 2A from above.

Bosses 46 formed on the top 7 of the body 3 and the side surfaces of the first and second sides 16 and 17 thus assembled.
When the main body 3 is closed by inserting the main body 3 (see FIG. 2) into an assembly hole (not shown) formed in the lid 4, the operation button 6 and the annular member 10 are prevented from falling off from the main body 3. Fits in housing 2.

In FIG. 3, when a finger or a driver touches the operation button 6 and presses the operation button 6 from above, the operation button 6
A can be lowered until it comes into contact with the front end 71 of the annular member 10 composed of the strip 70, and during the lowering process, the leg 31
The straight portion 4 at the rear end 72 of the annular member 10
2 to the position shown by the phantom line, and
Can be separated from the front end 71. Then, the conductor 20 which enters from the guide hole 5 of the main body 3 (indicated by a virtual line)
Is inserted between the front end 71 and the rear end 72,
When the finger is released from the operation button 6, the rear end 72 moves in the direction to return to the original position due to its elasticity.
0 can be clamped. When disconnecting the conductor 20, the operation button 6 may be pressed again to separate the rear end 72 from the conductor 20, and the clamp may be released. The front end portion 71 and the intermediate portion 73 of the annular member 10 acting as described above are
0 corresponds to a terminal of the prior art to be electrically contacted,
The rear end portion 72 corresponds to a spring that cooperates with the front end portion 71 to clamp the conductive wire 20, and the annular member 10 can be said to be one in which these terminals and the spring are integrated. The rear end 7
Depending on the strength of the second spring, the operation button 6
Without pushing down the straight portion 42 with the
, The straight portion 42 can be pushed down.

In such an integrated terminal, the rear end portion 72 of the annular member 10 is a portion where the pressing and detaching of the front end portion 71 can be repeated by mainly repeating the elastic deformation of the curved portion 43. In order to always make the elastic deformation possible, in other words, to prevent the curved portion 43 from being plastically deformed, the strip 70 is centered around the curved portion 43.
Has a rib 74 extending in the longitudinal direction. In the case where the annular member 10 is simply formed of a flat strip without the ribs 74, the rear end portion 72 may be plastically deformed with the passage of time and may not function as a spring. Many.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a part of the annular member 10 and the operation button 6. Front end 71 and rear end 72 of member 10
And each have a width _{W 1} and _{W 2.} Width W ₂ is width W
₁ , both side portions 76 and 77 of the rear end portion 72 extend outward from both side edges of the front end portion 71. Operation Button 6
Greater than the separation dimension _{W 3} the width _{W 1} of the pair of legs 31 in both legs 31 extending to its lower across the front end portion 71 of the annular member 10, pressing the both side portions 76, 77 of the rear end portion 72 (See FIG. 5). Rib 7 of annular member 10
4 is formed by raising a portion of the strip 70 out of the member 10, but if necessary
The ribs 74 can be replaced by joining a member other than the strip 70 to the strip 70 by welding or other means. The width W ₁ of the front end portion 71, either of the same order as the width of the guide hole 5 of the body 3 is preferably wider than that.

FIG. 5 is a drawing showing a main part of a sectional view taken along line VV of FIG. The pair of legs 31 of the operation button 6 straddle the front end 71 of the annular member 10 and abut on both side edges 76 and 77 of the rear end 72. The operation button 6 presses the both side edges 76 and 77 of the rear end 72 of the annular member 10 evenly, translates the rear end 72 downward as indicated by the imaginary line, and moves between the front end 71. It is possible to form the conductor insertion part 40 having an opening shape that is substantially rectangular and has no distortion. Conducting wire 20 that enters insertion portion 40 through guide hole 5 of housing 2
Is guided straight by the legs 31 located on the left and right of the figure,
It can be located at the center in the width direction of the rear end 72. Further, the rear end 72 is flattened downward by the operation button 6.
When the conductor 20 is inserted into the guide hole 5 without moving the line
3 , the front end portion 71 of the annular member 10 in FIG.
A portion near the inclined surface 32A of the leg 31 located below.
Guided by

[0017]

In the terminal / spring-integrated clamp terminal according to the present invention, a terminal portion to be brought into electrical contact with the conductor and a spring portion to press the conductor against the terminal portion are formed by a single metal strip. Since it is formed by bending in an annular shape, the process of assembling such a clamp terminal is simpler than the process of assembling a terminal portion and a spring portion made of separate members as in the prior art, and the manufacturing cost of the clamp terminal is reduced. It can be kept low. Since a rib extending in the longitudinal direction of the strip is formed at the rear end of the metal strip, the rear end does not undergo plastic deformation and can function as a spring for a long time. In an aspect in which the operation button for pushing the rear end portion straddles the front end portion of the strip and can push both side edges of the rear end portion spreading outside the front end portion, the entire width of the rear end portion is provided. Are evenly spaced from the front end to facilitate insertion of the conductor between these ends.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an integrated clamp terminal.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a main part taken along line III-III of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an annular member.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a main part taken along line VV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Integrated clamp terminal 2 Housing 5 Guide hole 6 Operation button 20 Conductor 26 Outer end 27 Inner end 31 Leg 70 Strip 71 Front end 72 Rear end 73 Intermediate part 74 Rib

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A housing made of an insulating material;
A conductive terminal located in the housing, and the housing
A conductor located in the housing and entering the housing.
A spring which can be clamped in cooperation with the child;
CRelease the clamp attached to the jing
Of an insulating material capable of pressing the spring as described above.
In a clamp terminal having a tongue,The housing has a guide hole through which the lead wire enters.
And  The terminal and the spring are formed by a single conductive strip.
The strip is interposed between the front end, the rear end, and both ends.
Middle partBend to form a ring consisting ofAnd said
Front endInside the guide hole and the same as the width of the guide hole
Or have a wider widthThe housing
Substantially fixed insideIn, The rear end is elastic
Under the deformation from the inside to the outside of the ring to the front end
The operation button is located outside the housing and pressed.
A possible outer end and the band located inside the housing.
Inner end that can extend below the front end of the piece
AndThe inner end is adjacent to the inside of the guide hole.
Straddling the front end of the strip in the width direction at the position,
Of the rear end part spreading outward from each side edge of the front end part
Each has a pair of legs that come into contact with each other from above.
When the outer end of the operation button is pressed, the rear end of the strip is moved forward.
It can be pushed down in the direction to separate from the front end,
And the above-mentioned approach which enters from the above-mentioned guide hole between the above-mentioned pair of leg parts
Can guide the conductorTerminals and buses characterized by
Ne-type integrated clamp terminal.