Connector for terminal block

Description

Field of the invention

[0001] The present invention relates to a connector for a terminal block connecting a pair of wires electrically together.

Background

[0002] Traditional terminal blocks are in the form of a plurality of parallel individual connectors. Each connector includes an individual conducting pipe mounted in an insulted housing and be capable of adjoining at least two wires. Generally, the conducting pipe positioned in the insulted housing is entirely made of metal or alloy, such as copper, to ensure the best possible electrical conduction. A wire can be inserted into the end of the opening of the conducting pipe and be squeezed firmly onto the inner sidewall of the conducting pipe to provide electrical conductivity between pairs of wires or cables adjoined via the conducting pipe. However, making a conducting pipe entirely of copper via machining processes becomes expensive.

[0003] For manufacturing costs consideration, the existing structure of the connector for terminal block is improved. Such as the European patent EF1852941A1 discloses a connector for terminal blocks as follows: a conducting pipe made of steel including a follow inner space is mounted in a cylindrical connector body, a conduction plate made of phosphor bronze is clad onto the inner surface of the conducting pipe and the said conducting plate includes a concaved surface having a length substantially the same as that of said conducting pipe along the longitudinal direction thereof. Therefore, the conducting pipe can be made of structurally strong and yet cheap metallic or alloy material, such as iron, and the inner surface of the conducting pipe for wire contacting includes an inner lining brass conduction plate that is capable of saving the more expensive brass material to achieve the characteristic of optimized price-performance.

[0004] However, the brass conduction plate and the inner surface of the conducting pipe are stamping-riveted, that is, the conduction plate and the inner surface of the conducting pipe are detached, and are only riveted together in a press-form machining procedure. As a result, the brass conduction plate is not rigidly fastened or securely attached on the inner surface of the conducting pipe and is of low conductive reliability, furthermore, it is hard to practice by the technological process of die punching and needs to spend higher costs. Therefore, the conductive structure of a connector for a terminal block needs to be improved further to resolve the existed problems in the above mentioned patent and to achieve a more optimized performance both in structure and costs.

Summary of the invention

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved connector for a terminal block with a conduction layer on the inner surface of the conducting pipe_ to ensure firmly connection and higher conducting reliability, and the connector for a terminal block is easy to manufacture via machining presses and costs lower.

[0006] For achieving the above stated object, the connector for a terminal block of the present invention comprises:

an insulated housing, including two radial first screw holes opened through the thickness of the sidewall of the housing; and

a conducting pipe, mounted in said insulated housing, including a longitudinal hole whose each end containing a wire inserted in for electrical adjoining, two corresponding radial second screw holes are formed on the sidewall of said conducting pipe aligned to corresponding said first screw holes separately, and the material of the conducting pipe is a kind of metal whose capability of electrical conduction is weaker than copper;

characterized in that a longitudinal conducting copper layer in contact with said inserted wire is embedded on the inner sidewall of said conducting pipe, and the surface of the copper layer becomes a part of the inner surface of the sidewall of said conducting pipe, a bolt is provided to pass through each pair of screw holes comprising a said first screw hole and a corresponding said second screw hole and corresponding wire is squeezed on said conducting copper layer by said bolt.

[0007] In order to enhance the electrical conduction, a longitudinal metal plate is mounted along with the sidewall of said conducting pipe, thus said metal plate forms another conducting route directly for the pair of the adjoined wires inserted into the hole of said conducting pipe, and two third holes are formed on said metal plate, each third hole aligns to corresponding said first screw hole as well as to corresponding said second screw hole, and each end of said metal plate is bended inward into the longitudinal hole of the conducting pipe forming a squeezing foot, and each said squeezing foot squeezes corresponding said wire on said conducting copper layer driven by corresponding said bolt which pass through the aligned said first screw hole, said second screw hole and said third hole. Therefore, the wire pressed between the squeezing foot and the copper layer is fixed indirectly by the end potion of said bolt to protect the exposed conductive ends of said wires as well as to expand the contact area between said wires and said copper layer.

[0008] Considering conveniently fixing the metal plate to the conducting pipe, said conducting pipe is formed by an integrative sheet metal being curled to a D-shape cylindrical body which includes a plat portion where the two ends of the sheet metal comprising a first end portion and a second end portion overlapped one on top of the other, and the first said end portion includes a protruding part, the second end portion includes a corresponding slot receiving said protruding part, furthermore, the middle portion of said metal plate is mounted between said first bended portion and said second bended portion.

[0009] Compared with the prior art, in this invention, the entire conducting pipe made of the cheap sheet metal, such as iron, and can be produced via machining processes by punching directly. The inner sidewall of the conducting pipe having a copper layer for electrical conducting makes the intensity of the conducting portion higher, the costs of the conducting pipe lower and the manufacture of the connector easier. Furthermore, a longitudinal metal plate is mounted in the sidewall of said conducting pipe to enhance the electrical conduction and another conducting route is formed by the metal plate directly.

Description of the drawings

[0010] 

FIG.1 is an exploded perspective view of a terminal block in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG.2 is a perspective view of a conducting pipe assembly in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG.3 is a sectional view of the conducting pipe shown in FIG2.

FIG.4 is a plan view of copper layer accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG.5 is a perspective view of a metal plate accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG.6 is a sectional view of the conducting pipe accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG.7 is a perspective view of a conducting pipe assembly in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG.8 is a side view of the conducting pipe shown in FIG.7.

FIG.9 is a cross sectional view of an assembly in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiment

[0011] To enable a further understanding of the innovative and technological content of the invention herein, refer to the detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings below:

FIGS.1∼4 show the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0012] In this embodiment, the connector for a terminal block includes two electrical insulated housings 1 in parallel which are in the form of structurally connected by a common traverse connecting bar 14, and each insulated housing 1 is capable of adjoining at least two wires 6. The individual insulated housing 1 contains a rectangular opening 13 in which mounts an iron conducting pipe 2 with a longitudinal hole 21, and a copper layer 4 in contact with said wires is embedded in the inner sidewall of the conducting pipe 2, which is in a length along the longitudinal direction of the conducting pipe 2 and the surface of the copper layer 4 becomes a part of the inner surface of the sidewall of said conducting pipe 2.

[0013] A pair of first screw holes 11 that are suit for bolts extending through the opening 13 are symmetrically set on the sidewall of each insulated housing 1, and a screw well 12 is provided on its corresponding first screw 11 hole for which making the bolts 3 sink into, two corresponding second screw holes 22 which are opposite to the first screw hole 11 are opened through the entire thickness of the sidewall of the conducting pipe's cylindrical body, each second screw hole 22 includes a protruding platform 23 and wires 6 can be inserted into the longitudinal hole 21 of the conducting pipe 2. The wire 6 inserted into the longitudinal hole 21 of the conducting pipe 2 can be squeezed firmly onto the copper layer 4 of the inner sidewall of the conducting pipe 2 under the pressure of a bolt 3 screwed into the first screw hole 11 as well as its corresponding second screw hole 22.

[0014] As shown in FIG 2 and FIG 3, the said conducting pipe 2 is formed by an integrative sheet metal being curled to a D-shape cylindrical body with two end portions 25, 26 of the sheet metal being bended oppositely. The drawings of FIG 2 depicts the conducting pipe 2 with a letter D end shape forming a plat portion where the two ends of the sheet metal comprising a first end portion 25 and a second end portion 26 overlapped one on top of the other. Also, the first end portion 25 has two protruding part 251 and the second end portion 26 includes two corresponding slots 261 receiving said protruding part 251, and the protruding part 251 can be inserted into the slots 261 to make sure the two ends of the roll-formed sheet metal overlapped connection and fastened to each other. The conducting pipe 2 also includes an end shape in conformity with the curved segment of the letter D end shape and the wire 6 is inserted into the longitudinal hole 21 of the conducting pipe 2 directly next to the curved sidewall 24. Preferably, the entire conducting pipe 2 is made of iron and a copper layer 4 is embedded into the sheet material of the curved sidewall 24 of the conducting pipe 2 by means of strong force, instead of the original press-formed conduction plate, to make sure the copper material compounded within the sheet material.

[0015] When using the connector, the wires 6 to be electrically connected for either power or signal relay purposes are each inserted into the longitudinal hole 21 of the conducting pipe 2 from its corresponding end and can be firmly squeezed between the bolt tip and the concaved surface of the copper layer 4 so as to ensure the electrical conduction between the two adjoined wires 6. For preventing the adjoined wires 6 interfering with each other, a wire end plate 5 can be formed from the middle portion of the sidewall of the conducting pipe 2 via punching through the sidewall of the conducting pipe 2 and bending inwardly toward the longitudinal hole 21 of the conducting pipe 2, as show in FIG 2. For there is a copper layer 4 in placed of the traditional conducting plate inside the inner sidewall of the conducting pipe 2, it provides a firmly connection between the copper material and the iron material and avoids the copper plate breaking off from the inner surface of the conducting pipe 2, and therefore the connector achieves a higher reliability of electrical conduction.

[0016] Said connector for a terminal block can also include only a single electrical insulated housing or include a plurality of electrical insulated housings connected in parallel.

[0017] FIGS.5∼9 show the second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] The difference of this embodiment compared with the first embodiment is that: as show in FIG6, a longitudinal metal plate 7 made of phosphor bronze material is mounted along with the sidewall of said conducting pipe 2 in order to prevent the bolt tip directly pressing onto the wire 6 so as to destroy the wire (especially to multi-core wire) and it also reduces the sliding friction and improves the reliability of electrical conduction.

[0019] The metal plate 7 includes two ends, and each end of said metal plate 7 extends outside said conducting pipe 2 and then bends inward into the longitudinal hole 21 of the conducting pipe 2 forming a squeezing foot 71, as shown in FIG 6. The middle portion 73 of said metal plate 7 is mounted between said first bended portion 25 and said second bended portion 26.

[0020] As show in FIG 5, the drawing depicts that two third holes 72 are formed on said metal plate 7, each third hole 72 aligns to corresponding said first screw hole 11 as well as to corresponding said second screw hole 22.

[0021] As show in FIG 9, the blot 3 sinks into the screw well 12 provided on the insulated housing 1 and passes through of its corresponding first screw hole 11, the third hole 72 and the second screw hole 22 in sequence and arrives at the upper surface of the metal plate 7, and each said squeezing foot 71 squeeze corresponding said wire 6 onto said conducting copper layer 4 driven by corresponding said bolt 3 which pass through the aligned said first screw hole 11, said second screw hole 22 and said third hole 72. As a result, the metal plate 7 serves to prevent inserted wires from wearing off by bolt tips, especially to the wires with multi-strands cores, which provides a larger interfaces between the wire 6 and the bolt tips to improve the reliability of the electrical conduction and contacts more smoothly between the wire 6 and the bolt tips to prolong the working life of the wire.

[0022] Additionally, the wire 6 inserted into the longitudinal hole 21 of the conducting pipe 2 can be electrical conducted by another conducting route through the said metal plate 7 which is mounted into the sidewall of the conducting pipe 2 in an axial direction except for the conducting route by the copper layer 4 which is embedded in the iron material of the conducting pipe 2. Thus, the ability of electrical conduction is enhanced and the reliability of the electrical conduction is improved as well.

[0023] To summarize, the present invention has the following advantages compared to prior art:

1. It contains a copper layer which is firmly well connected within the part portion of the iron material so as to receive a good structural strength for the general body of the conducting pipe;

2. The capability of electrical conduction is enhanced and the reliability of the electrical conduction is improved;

3. It reduces the costs of machining processes and is easy to realize by the technological process of punching.

Claims

1. A connector for a terminal block, comprising:

an insulated housing (1), including two radial first screw holes (11) opened through the thickness of the sidewall of the housing(1); and

a conducting pipe (2), mounted in said insulated housing (1), including a longitudinal hole (21) whose each end containing a wire inserted in for electrical adjoining, two corresponding radial second screw holes (22) are formed on the sidewall of said conducting pipe (2) aligned to corresponding said first screw holes (11) separately, and the material of the conducting pipe is a kind of metal whose capability of electrical conduction is weaker than copper;

a bolt (3) is provided to pass through each pair of screw holes comprising a said first screw hole (11) and a corresponding said second screw hole (22);

characterized in that a longitudinal conducting copper layer (4) in contact with said inserted wire (6) is embedded on the inner sidewall of said conducting pipe (2), and the surface of the copper layer (4) becomes a part of the inner surface of the sidewall of said conducting pipe (2),
and corresponding wire (6) is squeezed on said conducting copper layer (4) by said bolt (3).

2. The connector of claim 1, wherein a longitudinal metal plate (7) is mounted along with the sidewall of said conducting pipe (2), and two third holes (72) are formed on said metal plate (7), each third hole (72) aligns to corresponding said first screw hole (11) as well as to corresponding said second screw hole (22), and each end of said metal plate (7) is bended inward into the longitudinal hole (21) of the conducting pipe (2) forming a squeezing foot (71), and each said squeezing foot (71) squeezes corresponding said wire (6) on said conducting copper layer (4) driven by corresponding said bolt (3) which pass through the aligned said first screw hole (11), said second screw hole (22) and said third hole (72).

3. The connector of claim 2, wherein said conducting pipe (2) is formed by an integrative sheet metal being curled to a D-shape cylindrical body which includes a plat portion where the two ends of the sheet metal comprising a first end portion (25) and a second end portion (26) overlapped one on top of the other, and the first said end portion (25) includes a protruding part (251), the second end portion (26) includes a corresponding slot (261) receiving said protruding part (251), furthermore, the middle portion (73) of said metal plate (7) is mounted between said first bended portion (25) and said second bended portion (26).

Ansprüche

1. Verbinder für eine Anschlussleiste, umfassend:

ein isoliertes Gehäuse (1), einschließend zwei erste radiale Schraubenlöcher (11), die durch die Seitenwanddicke des Gehäuses (1) geöffnet sind;

ein Leitungsrohr (2), das im isolierten Gehäuse befestigt ist, einschließend ein Längsloch (21), dessen jedes Ende einen Draht enthält, der zum elektrischen Verbinden eingefügt wird, und zwei entsprechende zweite radiale Schraubenlöcher (22) sind auf der Seitenwand des Leitungsrohrs (2) gebildet, die zu den ersten Schraubenlöchern (11) einzeln ausgerichtet sind, und das Material des Leitungsrohres ist eine Art Metall, dessen elektrische Leitfähigkeit geringer ist als die des Kupfers;

eine Schraube (3), die bereitgestellt wird, um durch jedes Paar Schraubenlöcher hindurchzugehen, umfassend ein erstes Schraubenloch (11) und ein entsprechendes zweites Schraubenloch (22);

dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass eine längliche leitfähige Kupferschicht (4), die mit dem eingefügten Draht (6) in Kontakt steht, auf der inneren Seitenwand des Leitungsrohres (2) eingebettet ist, und die Oberfläche der Kupferschicht (4) ein Teil der Innenfläche der Seitenwand des Leitungsrohres (2) wird, und der entsprechende Draht (6) auf die leitfähige Kupferschicht (4) durch die Schraube (3) eingeklemmt wird.

2. Verbinder nach Anspruch 1, wobei eine längliche Metallplatte (7) längs der Seitenwand des Leitungsrohres (2) befestigt ist, und zwei dritte Öffnungen (72) auf der Metallplatte (7) gebildet sind, wobei jede dritte Öffnung (72) ausgerichtet ist zu sowohl dem ersten Schraubenloch (11) als auch zu dem zweiten Schraubenloch (22), und jedes Ende der Metallplatte (7) ist nach innen zum Längsloch (21) des Leitungsrohres (2) gebogen, wobei ein Klemmsockel (71) gebildet wird, und jeder Klemmsockel (71) klemmt den entsprechenden Draht (6) auf die entsprechende leitende Kupferschicht (4), getrieben von der entsprechenden Schraube (3), die durch das ausgerichtete erste Schraubenloch (11), das zweite Schraubenloch (22) und die dritte Öffnung (72) hindurchgeht.

3. Verbinder nach Anspruch 2, wobei das Leitungsrohr (2) aus einem einheitlichen Blech gebildet ist, das zu einem D-förmigen zylindrischen Körper gerollt ist, der einen flachen Abschnitt einschließt, wobei die zwei Enden des Bleches einen ersten Endabschnitt (25) und einen zweiten Endabschnitt (26) umfassen, die sich überlappen, und der erste Endabschnitt (25) schließt einen vorstehenden Teil (251) ein, der zweite Endabschnitt (26) schließt eine entsprechende Aussparung (261) ein, der den vorstehenden Teil (251) aufnimmt, ferner ist der Mittelabschnitt (73) der Metallplatte (7) zwischen dem ersten gebogenen Abschnitt (25) und dem zweiten gebogenen Abschnitt (26) befestigt.

Revendications

1. Connecteur pour plaque à bornes, comprenant:

un boîtier isolé (1), incluant deux premiers trous radiaux filetés (11) ouverts à travers l'épaisseur de la paroi latérale du boîtier (1); et

un tube conducteur (2), monté dans ledit boîtier isolé (1), incluant un trou longitudinal (21) dont chaque extrémité contient un fil inséré en vue d'une connexion électrique, deux deuxièmes trous filetés radiaux correspondants (22) sont formés sur la paroi latérale dudit tube conducteur (2) alignés avec lesdits premiers trous filetés correspondants (11) séparément, et le matériau du tube conducteur est une sorte de métal dont la capacité de conduire l'électricité est plus faible que le cuivre ;

un boulon (3) passant à travers chaque paire de trous filetés et comprenant undit premier trou fileté (11) et undit deuxième trou fileté correspondant (22);

caractérisé en ce qu'une couche de cuivre conductrice longitudinale (4) en contact avec ledit fil inséré (6) est incorporée sur la paroi latérale interne dudit tube conducteur (2), et la surface de la couche de cuivre (4) reçoit une partie de la surface interne de la paroi latérale dudit tube conducteur (2), et le fil correspondant (6) est serré sur ladite couche de cuivre conductrice (4) par ledit boulon (3).

2. Connecteur selon la revendication 1, dans lequel une plaque de métal longitudinale (7) est montée ensemble avec la paroi latérale dudit tube conducteur (2), et deux troisièmes trous (72) sont formés sur ladite plaque de métal (7), chaque troisième trou (72) étant aligné avec ledit premier trou fileté correspondant (11) ainsi qu'audit deuxième trou fileté correspondant (22), et chaque extrémité de ladite plaque de métal (7) est recourbée vers l'intérieur dans le trou longitudinal (21) du tube conducteur (2) formant ainsi un pied de serrage (71), et chaque pied de serrage (71) serre ledit fil correspondant (6) sur ladite couche de cuivre conductrice (4) entraîné par ledit boulon correspondant (3) passant à travers ledit premier trou fileté aligné (11), ledit deuxième trou fileté (22) et ledit troisième trou (72).

3. Connecteur selon la revendication 2, dans lequel ledit tube conducteur (2) est formé par une tôle intégrée roulée en un corps cylindrique en forme de D qui inclut une portion plate où les deux extrémités de la tôle comprennent une première partie d'extrémité (25) et une deuxième partie d'extrémité (26) superposées, ladite première portion d'extrémité (25) inclut une partie saillante (251), la deuxième partie d'extrémité (26) inclut une fente correspondante (261) recevant ladite partie saillante (251), et la partie centrale (73) de ladite plaque de métal (7) est en outre montée entre ladite première partie recourbée (25) et ladite deuxième partie recourbée (26).

Drawing