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AssigneeWeidmüller Interface GmbH & Co. KG
InventorsHerbert Fricke, Jorg Diekmann, Manfred Wilmes, Michael Lenschen, Rainer Schulze, Siegfried Storm, Thomas Tappe, Thomas Wielsch, Jochen Reese
Estimating the term…
An electrical connector includes a metal housing having at least one side wall, and first and second end walls cooperating with the side wall to define an open-topped chamber, an inverted generally U-shaped resilient contact having first and second leg portions introduced into the chamber adjacent the first and second end walls, respectively, and a bridging portion adjacent the open top of the metal housing, the housing side wall having a bent portion for supporting the resilient contact bridging portion, the resilient contact first leg portion being connected against coplanar movement relative to the housing first end wall. The resilient contact second leg portion is biased outwardly from the first leg portion, thereby to bias a conductor introduced within the housing chamber toward engagement with a bus bar defined adjacent the housing second end wall. The housing may be formed of an electrically conductive metal, such as copper. The free extremity of the second contact leg may be bifurcated to improve the biasing of one or more conductors against the bus bar.
An electrical connector for connecting a conductor (2) to a bus bar(4), comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
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Using a leaf spring to bias the conductor toward the busbar: spring housing details
The spring shape allowing insertion of the conductor end when the spring is unbiased: single-blade spring
Spring-activating arrangements mounted on or integrally formed with the spring housing: sliding arrangements, e.g. sliding button
Spring housing details: the spring housing being provided with a single opening for insertion of a spring-activating tool
Term end not estimated
1. Field of the Invention
An electrical connector is disclosed including an open-topped metal housing having at least one side wall and a pair of end walls cooperating to define a chamber, an inverted generally U-shaped resilient contact having a pair of leg portions extending downwardly within said chamber, and a bridging portion arranged adjacent the top of the housing, support means carried by said side wall for supporting said bridging portion of said resilient contact, connecting means connecting a first leg of said resilient contact against lateral displacement relative to a first one of said end walls, whereby the other second contact leg is biased outwardly toward bus bar means adjacent the other housing end wall, and stop means carried by said side wall for limiting the extent of displacement of said second contact leg toward said first contact leg when a conductor is inserted between said bus bar means and said second contact leg. The housing may be formed from a conductive metal, such as copper. The tip of the second contact leg may be bifurcated to effect an improved connection between the conductor and the bus bar.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification when viewed in the light of the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1a is a side perspective view of a first embodiment of the electrical connector of the present invention, and FIG. 1b is a corresponding perspective view with certain parts broken away, illustrating the manner of connection of an electrical conductor to the connector;
FIG. 1c is an exploded view of the connector of FIG. 1b, FIG. 1d illustrates the conductor fully inserted within the connector housing, and FIG. 1e illustrates the release of the resilient contact from the conductor by means of the tip of a screwdriver;
Referring first more particularly to FIGS. 1a to 1d, the electrical connector 1 is operable to connect a conductor 2 (FIG. 1b) with a bus bar 4 that is arranged within a metal housing 5 containing a resilient contact 3.
The metal housing 5 has a rectangular cross-section with four side and end walls 5a-5d and is open on both of its upper and lower ends and one of the open sides—in FIG. 1a the upper open side—is used as insertion opening 14 for a conductor 2 and an actuating tool or the like.
The first and second end walls 5a and 5c, which are opposite each other and which are aligned parallel to each other, are narrower than the other two mutually parallel first and second side walls 5b and 5d.