Terminal for connecting an electrical conductor to the connection pad of an electrical device, and electrical protection device including such a terminal

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10833430-B2
Application number	US-201916509533-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 12, 2019
Priority date	Sep 13, 2018
Publication date	Nov 10, 2020
Grant date	Nov 10, 2020

Abstract

A terminal for connecting an electrical conductor to a connection pad of a device, the terminal including a cage to be fixed inside the housing of the device and including an orifice of substantially parallelepipedal shape and delimited by four walls, the orifice being able to receive the pad, an upper wall including an orifice able to allow the passage of a screw with an actuator and a clamping shoe able to allow the conductor to be clamped between the pad and the shoe upon actuation of the screw driving the relative translational movement between the screw and the cage. Terminal includes an intermediate stage inside the cage to allow the reception of a nut with elastic branches having a threaded orifice through which the clamping screw is to be mounted, the elastic branches interacting with forms provided on the side walls of the cage such that the nut rotationally disengages as soon as the correct clamping torque is reached.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A terminal for connecting an electrical conductor to a connection pad belonging to an electrical device, such a terminal comprising a cage able to be fixed inside the housing of the electrical device and including an orifice of substantially parallelepipedal form and delimited by four walls, said orifice being able to receive said pad, one of said walls of the cage, called upper wall, including an orifice able to allow the passage of a screw, said screw including, at one of its ends situated outside the cage, means for actuating said screw, and, at its opposite end, a clamping shoe able to allow the conductor to be clamped between said pad and said shoe upon actuation of the screw driving the relative translational movement between the screw and the cage,
wherein an intermediate stage created inside the cage so as to allow the reception of a nut with elastic branches having a threaded orifice through which the clamping screw is to be mounted in a screwed manner, said elastic branches interacting with forms provided on the side walls of the cage such that the nut rotationally disengages upon the screwing as soon as the correct clamping torque is reached, and engages from the start to the end of the unscrewing.

2. The connecting terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the two elastic branches are able to be compressed radially upon screwing onto tracks belonging to the cage, the torque resulting from the compression of the branches opposing the torque tightening the screw until these branches escape from the slopes as soon as the required clamping torque is reached.

3. The connecting terminal according to claim 1 , comprising means for producing a clicking sound as soon as the escape of the branches from the slopes.

4. The connecting terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the nut comprises an annular part including the orifice through which the screw passes and from which depart two elastic branches extending circumferentially around this annular part in respective opposite directions.

5. The connecting terminal according to claim 4 , wherein each branch comprises at its free end an attachment element able to cooperate with first and second recessed forms provided on each side wall of the cage, each element forming a hook cooperating with a so-called first recessed form during clamping and with a so-called second recessed form during unscrewing.

6. The connecting terminal according to claim 5 , wherein the first recessed form and second recessed form are produced by punching the inside of the side walls of the cage.

7. The connecting terminal according to claim 5 , wherein each side wall the two recessed forms extend in a direction substantially perpendicular to the axis of the cage, the two recessed forms of one lateral wall of the lateral walls being disposed in an opposite manner to the two recessed forms of the other side wall.

8. The connecting terminal according to claim 5 , wherein each first recessed form comprises a surface portion forming an attachment slope situated facing the second recessed form of the same wall, the passage via said attachment slope for the attachment element to rejoin the second recessed form leading to the disengagement of the screw.

9. The connecting terminal according to claim 5 , wherein each second recessed form comprises, situated facing the first recessed form associated with it, a wall portion extending substantially perpendicularly to the axis of the cage and forming an abutment stopping rotation of the nut during an unscrewing manoeuvre generating the engagement of the clamping screw from the beginning to the end of unscrewing.

10. The connecting terminal according to claim 1 , wherein the intermediate stage is formed with a plate mounted on and crimped to the interior of the cage.

11. The connecting terminal according to claim 10 , wherein said plate comprises two first lugs able to be introduced into respective orifices respectively belonging to two edges respectively belonging to the two side walls at the end of insertion of the plate in the cage and two second lugs able to be introduced by crimping the sheet metal of the plate into two orifices respectively belonging to the two edges of the side walls, these edges being opposite the previous edges.

12. An electrical protection device comprising at least one upstream terminal and/or at least one downstream terminal according to claim 1 .

Assignees

• Schneider Electric Ind Sas

Inventors

• Vanzetto Daniel

Classifications

• H01R4/366 Primary

  intermediate part attached to the tip of the screw · CPC title

• H01R4/304

  having means for improving contact · CPC title

• H01H71/08 Primary

  Terminals; Connections · CPC title

• H01R9/2416

  Means for guiding or retaining wires or cables connected to terminal blocks · CPC title

• H01R4/305

  having means for facilitating engagement of conductive member or for holding it in position · CPC title