Electrical connectors – Metallic connector or contact having movable or resilient... – Screw-thread operated securing part
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-02
2001-09-25
Patel, Tulsidas (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
Metallic connector or contact having movable or resilient...
Screw-thread operated securing part
C439S709000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06293830
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Korean Patent Application No. 99-29475 filed on Jul. 21, 1999, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a terminal connecting device for fixing a lead wire onto a terminal block, and more particularly to a terminal connecting device which can prevent the lead wire from diverting or dropping out of a terminal screw before or after the lead wire gets fixed onto the terminal block.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a terminal connecting device is used to electrically connect an external lead wire to an electromagnetic switch, an electromagnetic contact, an overload electromagnetic relay, a relay, a timer, a switch and so on.
FIG. 1
shows a terminal block disclosed in Japanese patent publication No. Heisei 03-2003 1. In
FIG. 1
, diaphragms
11
,
11
a
are formed at the center of one side of a main body of a terminal block, and supporting parts
12
,
12
a
protrude at both sides of the diaphragms. A plate spring
13
is coupled with the diaphragm
11
a
. A terminal plate
14
having a screw hole
14
a
is positioned at the top of the supporting parts
12
,
12
a
.
A pair of movable terminals
15
,
15
a
are elastically supported by a lower end of the plate spring
13
which is fastened to the terminal plate
14
. The movable terminals
15
,
15
a
are coupled with a terminal screw
17
which penetrates through the end of a lead wire and fastens at the screw hole
14
a
of the terminal plate
14
.
Therefore, a lead wire
16
is positioned on the terminal plate
14
with the movable terminals
15
,
15
a
being raised. After the movable terminals
15
,
15
a
are lowered, the terminal screw
17
is fastened at the screw hole
14
a
. As a result, the lead wire
16
is fixed between the movable terminals
15
,
15
a
and the terminal plate
14
.
However, to raise the movable terminals in this configuration, a worker needs to lift up the movable terminals to a predetermined height. This complicates the assembly procedure and makes it difficult to accurately position the through hole of the lead wire onto the terminal screw and the screw hole. If the lead wire is fixed without confirming that the terminal screw completely penetrates the through hole, external factors, like vibration or impact, may divert or drop the lead wire out of terminal plate. If the lead wire diverts or drops out of the terminal plate, serious safety accidents, such as stopping operation of facility or electric shock, may occur.
In order to solve the aforementioned problems, a terminal block device has been disclosed in Japanese patent publication No. Heisei
04-11988
, as shown in FIG.
2
. In
FIG. 2
, diaphragms
21
,
21
a
are formed at one side of the center of a main body
20
of the terminal block. Supporting parts
22
,
22
a
and coil springs
23
,
23
a
are positioned at both sides of the diaphragm
21
a
.
A terminal plate
24
having a screw hole
24
a
is positioned over the supporting parts
22
,
22
a
, and a pair of movable terminals
25
,
25
a
are assembled with their upper ends being coupled with the upper ends of the coil springs
23
,
23
a
.
A terminal screw
27
is coupled at the movable terminals
25
,
25
a
after penetrating through a screw hole
24
a
of the terminal plate. If the movable terminals
25
,
25
a
are pressed with the end of the lead wire
26
being positioned over the terminal plate
24
, the coil springs
23
,
23
a
are compressed down to thereby drop the movable terminals
25
,
25
a
. At this time, the terminal screw
27
is fastened, and the terminal screw
27
penetrating through a through hole of the lead line
26
is further fastened at the screw hole
24
a
of the terminal plate
24
. As a result, the lead wire
26
is finally fixed.
This configuration thus solves the difficulty of lifting up the movable terminals to a predetermined height by raising the movable terminals with the elasticity of coil spring. However, even in this configuration, it is still difficult to get the terminal screw to penetrate through the through hole of the lead wire and fastened at the screw hole. Particularly, when the terminal screw is fastened without passing through the through hole of the lead wire, the lead wire positioned between movable terminals and the terminal plate may divert or drop out of the terminal plate by any external factor, such as vibration or impact, which may result in safety accidents like stopping operations of facility or electric shock.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to solve the aforementioned problems of the related art and provide a terminal connecting device which can readily get a lead wire fixed at a terminal screw.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a terminal connecting device which prevents the lead wire coupled between a terminal plate and movable terminals from diverting or dropping.
In order to accomplish at least one of the aforementioned and other objects of the present invention, there is provided a terminal connecting device including a main body of a terminal block having diaphragms and supporting strips, a terminal plate positioned at the top of the supporting strips, movable terminals supported by a spring to attach or detach lead wire positioned on the terminal plate, a restraining structure, proximate to the movable terminals, which limits the movement of the lead wire, and a terminal screw coupled with the movable terminals after being penetrated through the through hole of the lead wire and fastened at a screw hole of the terminal plate. The restraining structure may be extending parts extending from the movable parts or hitching jugs protruding at both lateral surfaces of the main body.
Further, in order to accomplish at least one of the aforementioned and other objects of the present invention, there is provided a method of fastening a lead wire having a through hole to a terminal plate including inserting the lead wire through a restraining structure proximate to movable terminals supported by a spring to attach or detach the lead wire to a main body of a terminal block having diaphragms, supporting strips and a terminal plate positioned at the top of the supporting strips, inserting a terminal screw coupled with the movable terminals through the through hole of the lead wire, and fastening the terminal screw having been inserted through the through hole of the lead wire at a screw hole of the terminal plate. The inserting the lead wire through a restraining structure may include positioning the lead wire through extending parts extending from a receiving side of the movable terminals or positioning the lead wire through hitching jugs formed at both lateral surfaces of the main body.
The restraining structure of the present invention restricts the lead wire from diverting or dropping, thereby preventing safety accidents such as stopping the operation of facility or electric shock. The restraining structure of the present invention also allows easy penetration of the terminal screw through the through hole of the lead wire in fixing the lead wire, thereby improving productivity due to ease of fastening the terminal screw.
These and other objects of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3539977 (1970-11-01), Woertz
patent: 4669806 (1987-06-01), Fuchs
patent: 4832628 (1989-05-01), Huska
patent: 03-200231 (1991-03-01), None
patent: 04-11988 (1992-03-01), None
Kim Ki-Sung
Kim Young-Min
Lee Hyoung-Bin
Lee Sang-Cheul
Oh Ho-Keun
Jones Volentine P.L.
Patel Tulsidas
Samsung Electronics Co,. Ltd.
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