JP6607103B2 - Terminal connection unit and electrical equipment using the same - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a terminal connection unit used for an operation switch, an indicator lamp or the like provided with a connection terminal for connecting an electric wire, and an electric device used for the terminal connection unit.

  Electric devices such as operation switches such as push button switches and selector switches and indicator lights are used in control panels, operation panels, power distribution facilities, and the like. This type of electric device includes a case body that has a built-in charging unit, has a connection terminal connected to the charging unit, and connected to a connection unit of an external electric wire. In Patent Document 1, an L-shaped bent portion is formed on a screwed washer portion to form a protruding portion protruding downward, and a compression spring is attached to the protruding portion to attach the screwed washer portion in the screw-up direction. A screw-up unit and a method for manufacturing the same, a switch unit portion, and a switch are disclosed.

Japanese Patent No. 4800411

  By the way, in the conventional screw-up unit described in Patent Document 1, an L-shaped bent portion is formed on the screw washer portion to form a protruding portion that protrudes downward, and a compression spring is attached to the protruding portion. Thus, the screw and the compression spring are arranged in parallel. For this reason, the configuration of the screw-up unit and the configuration of the normal terminal connection unit that does not have the screw-up function cannot be made the same, and the screw-up unit having the screw-up function is changed to the normal terminal connection unit. When performing the conversion of the above and vice versa, it is necessary to replace each unit, and it is necessary to prepare two types of screw-up unit and normal terminal connection unit. New units need to be arranged in advance.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made paying attention to the problems of the conventional example described in Patent Document 1, and a terminal connection unit that can add a screw-up function without replacing the entire terminal connection unit, and It aims at providing the electric equipment which uses this.

In order to achieve the above object, a terminal connection unit according to an aspect of the present invention includes a case body that includes a charging unit, is connected to the charging unit, and has a terminal connection unit to which the connection unit of the connecting wire is connected. , Attached to the case body, with the connecting part of the connecting wire connected to the terminal connecting part, the protective cover covering the terminal connecting part, and attached to the protective cover, the terminal screw can be moved in the axial direction on the inner periphery And a protective cover that supports a terminal cover holding a terminal screw holding portion having a diameter larger than that of the through hole at the outer end of the through hole. A stepped portion is formed, and the terminal screw holding portion is detachably supported by the supporting stepped portion, and the terminal screw holding portion has a large diameter portion whose outer diameter on the upper end side engages with the supporting stepped portion, A medium diameter portion connected to the large diameter portion and covering the outer periphery of the cap portion of the terminal screw; It is composed of a small diameter portion which is in contact by concatenating the diameter to cap lower surface of the terminal screw, at least medium diameter is formed of an elastic material which shrinks in the axial direction.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to easily add a screw-up function for holding the terminal screw away from the connection terminal by simply replacing the protective cover without replacing the entire terminal connection unit.

It is a side view which shows the pushbutton switch which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the state which removed the protective cover. It is a perspective view which shows the state which mounted | wore the protective cover. It is a perspective view which shows a protective cover. It is an expanded sectional view of the terminal screw holding part of a protective cover. It is the expanded sectional view which expanded further the terminal screw holding | maintenance part of a protective cover. It is a perspective view with which it uses for description of the mounting state of the terminal screw holding | maintenance part to a protective cover. It is the side view which made some cross sections for description of the mounting state of the terminal screw holding | maintenance part to a protective cover. It is sectional drawing with which it uses for description of the connection method of an electric wire, (a) is sectional drawing which shows the state before electric wire connection, (b) is sectional drawing which shows the state after electric wire connection. It is a perspective view with which it uses for description of the connection method of the electric wire of a prior art example, (a) is a perspective view which shows the state before an electric wire connection, (b) is a perspective view which shows the state during electric wire connection.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Note that, in the following description of the embodiments and the accompanying drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the same components, and duplicate descriptions are omitted.
In addition, the accompanying drawings described in the following embodiments are not drawn to an accurate scale and dimensional ratio in order to make them easy to see or understand. The present invention is not limited to the description of the embodiments described below unless it exceeds the gist.

In the following embodiments, a push button switch will be described as an example of the “electric device” of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the push button switch 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an operation unit 10 having a push button 11 and a contact unit connected to the operation unit 10 via a connection unit 20. And a terminal connection unit 30.

The operation unit 10 includes a case body 12 that supports the push button 11 so as to be movable in the axial direction. A cylindrical connecting portion 13 is integrally formed at the lower end of the case body 12. A male screw portion 14 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical connecting portion 13 on the case body 12 side, and a connecting cylinder portion 15 having a slightly smaller diameter than the male screw portion 14 is formed on the opposite side of the male screw portion 14 to the case body 12. ing.
A fixing nut 16 is screwed into the male screw portion 14, and a flat rectangular parallelepiped connecting unit 20 having a relatively thin thickness is detachably connected to the connecting cylinder portion 15.

  A maximum of two sets of terminal connection units 30 are detachably attached to the connection unit 20. The terminal connection unit 30 is formed of a synthetic resin material such as polyamide (PA) resin having excellent flexibility. As shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the case body 31 includes a contact accommodating portion 33 containing a contact mechanism 32 as a charging portion and a terminal connection space 35 in which the terminal connection portion 34 is arranged. Have.

The contact mechanism 32 includes a fixed contact 36 and a movable contact 37, and the movable contact 37 is connected to an operating rod 38 that protrudes from the front surface of the case body 31. Although not shown, the operating rod 38 is connected to an operating rod (not shown) that moves in the axial direction through the connecting cylinder portion 15 in conjunction with the push button 11 formed on the operating portion 10.
As shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the fixed contact 36 is disposed to face the movable contact 37 in the horizontal direction, and this fixed contact 36 is formed on one surface of the connection terminal plate 39. . The connection terminal plate 39 extends upward perpendicular to the operation rod 38, is bent to the operation rod 38 side at a position protruding from the contact housing portion 33, and is extended to the terminal connection space 35. A terminal connection portion 40 is formed at a position exposed to the terminal connection space 35 of the connection terminal plate 39.

A through hole 41 is formed at the center of the terminal connection portion 40, and a female screw portion 43 is formed on the back side of the through hole 41.
Although not shown, a connection terminal plate 46 electrically connected to the movable contact 37 is disposed on the opposite side of the partition wall 45 shown in FIG. A terminal connection portion 48 exposed to the space 47 is formed.

A through hole 49 is formed in the center of the terminal connection portion 48, and a female screw portion 51 having an open end for screwing the terminal screw 65 with a square washer is formed on the back surface side of the through hole 49.
In addition, slits 52 and 53 that reach the bottom surfaces of the terminal connection spaces 35 and 47 from the right end side are formed on the front and rear side surfaces of the case body 31, whereby the sandwiching plate portions 54 and 55 that are relatively thin and elastic. Is formed.

One protective cover 60 is detachably and rotatably mounted on the case body 31 so as to cover the terminal connection spaces 35 and 47.
4 to 8, the protective cover 60 includes a plate portion 61 that covers the terminal connection spaces 35 and 47 from the upper surface, a plate portion 62 that covers the terminal connection spaces 35 and 47 from the right side, and a plate portion 61. Supporting pieces 63 and 64 are provided that extend downward from the bottom surface of the plate portion 62 and are inserted into the slits 52 and 53 of the case body 31.

The plate 61 is formed with windows 61a and 61b for leading out the connection portions of the connection wires when the connection portions of the connection wires are individually connected to the terminal connection portions 40 and 48, respectively.
The plate portion 62 is formed with through holes 61c and 61d for externally requesting the female screw portions 43 and 51 of the terminal connecting portions 40 and 48 and the terminal screw 65 with a square washer screwed to the female screw portions 43 and 51. Has been. The through holes 61 c and 61 d are also used as insertion holes for inserting a tool for screwing the terminal screw 65 with a square washer into the female screw portions 43 and 51.

In the through holes 61c and 61d, as shown in FIG. 8, a support step portion 61e having an inner diameter larger than the inner diameter of the through holes 61c and 61d is formed on the right end outer side.
And the terminal screw holding | maintenance part 70 holding | maintaining the terminal screw 65 with a square washer shown in FIGS. 5-8 is mounted | worn with each of the through-holes 61c and 61d. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, the terminal screw holding portion 70 includes a large diameter portion 71 that engages with the support step portion 61 e of the through holes 61 c and 61 d by, for example, a compression coil spring, and the large diameter portion 71. It has a small-diameter medium diameter portion 72 that covers the outer periphery of the cap portion 65a of the terminal screw 65 with a square washer, and a small-diameter portion 73 that covers the bottom surface of the cap portion 65a. In a state where the terminal screw holding portion 70 expands the small diameter portion 73, the cap portion 65 a of the terminal screw 65 with a square washer is inserted from the small diameter portion 73 side, and the outer peripheral surface of the cap portion 65 a is connected to the inner diameter portion 72. The diameter expansion of the small-diameter portion 73 is released in a state where the small-diameter portion 73 is positioned on the circumferential side and the small-diameter portion 73 faces the bottom surface of the cap portion 65a. Thereby, as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 6, the terminal screw 65 with a square washer is held by the terminal screw holding portion 70.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the terminal screw holding portion 70 holding the terminal screw 65 with the square washer is opposed to the opening portion where the support step portion 61e of the through hole 61c of the protective cover 60 is not formed. The large-diameter portion 71 is reduced in diameter so as to have the same outer diameter as the medium-diameter portion 72 and is inserted into the through hole 61c. Then, when the large-diameter portion 71 is pressed into the through-hole 61c in the reduced diameter state, the intermediate-diameter portion 72 of the terminal screw holding portion 70 is subsequently pushed into the through-hole 61c. When the large diameter portion 71 reaches the position of the support step portion 61e, the large diameter portion 71 returns to the original large diameter state, and the large diameter portion 71 engages with the support step portion 61e. At the same time, the square washer 65b contacts the open end surface of the through hole 61c. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the terminal screw holding portion 70 is held without being pulled out into the through hole 61c in a state where the terminal screw 65 with the square washer is held.

  In this state, the cap portion 65a of the terminal screw 65 with a square washer held in the through hole 61c of the terminal screw holding portion 70 is visible from the right end side of the through hole 61c of the protective cover 60. Further, the terminal screw 65 with the square washer is held by the middle diameter portion 72 and the small diameter portion 73 of the terminal screw holding portion 70, and the middle diameter portion 72 can be extended in the axial direction. The part 65a can be moved in the axial direction by pressing it with a tool from the outside of the through hole 61c, that is, from the support step part 61e side.

Similarly to the through hole 61c, the terminal screw 65 with a square washer holding the terminal screw holding portion 70 is held in the through hole 61d of the protective cover 60 without coming out. This square washer-equipped terminal screw 65 can also be moved in the axial direction by pressing the cap portion 65a with a tool from the outside of the through hole 61d, that is, from the support step portion 61e side.
Then, the protective cover 60 is supported on the case body 31 by inserting support pieces 63 and 64 into the slits 52 and 53 of the case body 31, thereby supporting the engagement protrusions (not shown) formed in the slits 52 and 53. The protrusions (not shown) formed on the pieces 63 and 64 can be engaged with each other to cover the terminal connection spaces 35 and 47 of the case body 31.

When the protective cover 60 is attached to the case body 31, as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the terminal screw holding portion 70 holds the terminal connection portion 40 of the connection terminal plate 39. A clearance is formed through which a connecting portion 81 formed of, for example, a crimp terminal formed at the end of the connecting wire 80 at the tip of the terminal screw 65 with a square washer can be inserted.
At this time, the protective cover 60 can be rotated within a predetermined angular range by the engagement protrusions formed in the slits 52 and 53 and the engagement protrusions formed on the support pieces 63 and 64, and the terminal connection spaces 35 and 45. Can be opened and closed.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.
Now, as shown in FIG. 10, unlike the protective cover according to the present embodiment, it is assumed that a conventional protective cover 100 that does not hold the terminal screw 65 with a square washer is attached to the case body 31. In this case, in order to prevent the terminal screw 65 with the square washer from being lost, the terminal screw 65 with the square washer is screwed into the female screw portions 43 and 51 of the terminal connection portions 40 and 48 and tightened.

For this reason, when connecting the connection part 81 of the connection electric wire 80 to the terminal connection parts 40 and 48, when the connection part 81 is comprised by the round crimp terminal, it is the terminal connection space 35 in Fig.10 (a). And the protective cover 100 covering 47 is rotated by a predetermined angle and opened as shown in FIG.
In this state, the terminal screw 65 with a square washer screwed into the female screw parts 43 and 51 of the terminal connection parts 40 and 48 is removed, and then the male screw part 65c of the terminal screw 65 with a square washer is connected to the round shape of the connection electric wire 80. In a state where the male screw portion 65c is inserted into the connecting portion, the male screw portion 65c is screwed into the female screw portions 43 and 51 of the terminal connecting portions 40 and 48 and then tightened. Next, the protective cover 100 is rotated counterclockwise, and the terminal connection portions 40 and 48 to which the connection portion 81 of the connection electric wire 80 is connected are covered with the protective cover 100, thereby connecting the electric wires to the terminal connection portions 40 and 48. 80 connections are completed.

  Thus, when the conventional protective cover 100 is attached to the case body 31, the step of opening the protective cover 100 and the terminal screw 65 with the square washer are temporarily connected to the female screw portion 43 and the terminal connecting portions 40 and 48. 51, a step of inserting the square washer-equipped terminal screw 65 into the connecting portion 81 of the connecting wire 80 and then screwing it again into the female screw portions 43 and 51, and a step of closing the protective cover 100 at the end. It is necessary to go through at least four steps, and the connecting wire 80 cannot be easily connected.

  On the other hand, in the protective cover 60 according to the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9A, the terminal screw 65 with a square washer is not screwed into the female screw portion 43 of the terminal connecting portion 40, A terminal screw 65 with washer is held on the protective cover 60 by a terminal screw holding portion 70. At this time, a gap through which the connection portion 81 of the connection wire 80 is inserted is formed between the terminal connection portion 40 and the tip of the terminal screw 65 with a square washer.

  Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 9B, the round hole of the connecting portion 81 of the connecting wire 80 is inserted from the outside of the protective cover 60 so as to be coaxial with the female screw portion 43 of the terminal connecting portion 40, as shown in FIG. A tool is inserted into the through hole 61 c of the cover 60 from the outside, and the compression coil spring constituting the terminal screw holding portion 70 is extended. As a result, the terminal screw 65 with a square washer moves in the axial direction toward the female screw portion 43 side of the terminal connecting portion 40, and the male screw portion 65 c of the terminal screw 65 with a square washer is screwed into the female screw portion 43 and tightened. The electric wire 80 can be connected.

  Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the step of inserting the connection portion 81 of the connection wire 80 into the female screw portion 43 of the terminal connection portion 40 and the terminal screw 65 with a square washer by inserting a tool from the outside of the through hole 61c of the protective cover 60. The connecting wire 80 can be easily connected in two steps, the step of screwing the terminal screw 65 with a square washer into the female screw portion 43 and tightening it while extending the terminal screw holding portion 70.

Further, when the conventional protective cover 100 is attached to the case body 31, the protective cover 100 is simply removed and the protective cover to which the protective cover 60 of the present embodiment is attached is replaced. The up function makes it easy to install the electric wire.
Therefore, it is not necessary to replace the entire terminal connection unit as in the conventional example described in Patent Document 1, and the wire connection work can be simplified by simply replacing the protective cover. Therefore, it is not necessary to prepare two types of terminal connection units, only a protective cover is prepared, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the terminal screw holding portion 70 is integrally formed of a compression coil spring has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the large diameter portion 71 and the small diameter portion 73 are elastic. Since it is not necessary, at least one of the large-diameter portion 71 and the small-diameter portion 73 is formed of a rigid member such as a synthetic resin annular plate or a polygonal frame plate, and a part or all of the medium-diameter portion 72 is made of an elastic body. You may make it comprise. The point is that the terminal screw 65 with the square washer may be held so as to be movable in the axial direction.

Moreover, although the case where the terminal screw 65 with a square washer was applied was demonstrated in the said embodiment, the screw with a round washer can also be applied and the screw without a washer can also be applied.
Furthermore, the screw cap portion does not need to be hemispherical, and an arbitrarily shaped screw can be applied.

Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the case where a round crimp terminal was applied as the connection part 81 of the connection electric wire 80 was demonstrated, it is not limited to this, A tip-open crimp terminal, crimping of another shape Terminals and other terminals can be applied.
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the push button switch is exemplarily described as the “electric device” of the present invention. However, the present invention includes a selector switch including a case body having a terminal portion for connecting an electric wire. The present invention can be applied to any other electric device having a terminal connection portion such as an indicator lamp.

  The present invention has been specifically described based on the above-described embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it is needless to say that various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. .

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Operation part, 20 ... Connection unit, 30 ... Terminal connection unit, 31 ... Case body, 32 ... Contact mechanism, 33 ... Contact storage part, 34 ... Terminal connection part, 35 ... Terminal connection space, 40 ... Terminal connection part, 46 ... Connection terminal plate, 47 ... Terminal connection space, 48 ... Terminal connection portion, 60 ... Protective cover, 61c, 61d ... Through hole, 61e ... Supporting step portion, 65 ... Terminal screw with square washer, 65a ... Cap portion, 70 ... Terminal screw holding part, 71 ... Large diameter part, 72 ... Medium diameter part, 73 ... Small diameter part, 80 ... Connection electric wire, 81 ... Connection part

Claims (5)

A case body having a terminal connection portion that incorporates a charging portion, is connected to the charging portion, and is connected to a connection portion of a connecting wire;
A protective cover that is attached to the case body and covers the terminal connection part in a state where the connection part of the connection wire is connected to the terminal connection part,
A terminal screw holding portion mounted on the protective cover and holding the terminal screw movably in the axial direction on the inner peripheral portion ;
The protective cover is formed with a through hole that allows the terminal connection portion to be externally formed, and a support step portion that supports the terminal screw holding portion having a larger diameter than the through hole is formed at an outer end portion of the through hole. ,
The terminal screw holding part is detachably supported by the support step part,
The terminal screw holding portion includes a large diameter portion whose outer diameter on the upper end side engages with the support step portion, a medium diameter portion connected to the large diameter portion and covering the outer periphery of the cap portion of the terminal screw, A terminal connection unit comprising: a small-diameter portion that is connected to a middle-diameter portion and contacts a lower surface of the cap portion of the terminal screw; and at least the middle-diameter portion is composed of an elastic body that contracts in an axial direction. . The terminal connection unit according to claim 1, wherein the medium diameter portion is configured by a compression coil spring . Terminal connection unit according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said terminal screw holder is constituted by a compression coil spring. The electric equipment provided with the terminal connection unit of any one of Claim 1 to 3. The electric device according to claim 4, wherein the charging unit is a contact mechanism of an operation switch.

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