Commoning connector

An electrical connector for commonly connecting a variable number of electrical conductors in at least two separate groupings, said connector comprising:

• an insulating housing having a wire-receiving face, a base, parallel sidewalls and parallel endwalls extending between said wire-receiving face and said base,
• a plurality of parallel side-by-side terminal-receiving cavities extending into said wire-receiving face, said cavities being arranged in a single row which extends between said endwalls, adjacent cavities in said row being separated by parallel spaced-apart barrier walls which extend between said sidewalls, each of said barrier walls having a carrier strip-receiving slot therein extending from said wire-receiving face to said base,
• at least two strips of terminal devices in said housing, each of said strips comprising at least two independent spaced-apart terminals extending from an integral carrier strip, said terminals being disposed in at least two adjacent cavities in said housing with said carrier strip extending through said carrier strip-receiving slots in the barrier wall at a location adjacent to said base, each of said terminals comprising a first plate portion which is coplanar with, and which extends laterally from, said carrier strip, said first plate portion being reversely formed at said wire-receiving face to define a second plate portion which extends towards said carrier strip, said first and second plate portions having wire-receiving slots therein for reception of a wire, and
• wire-admitting slots in each of said sidewalls, and wire-admitting slots being aligned with said wire-receiving slots in said terminals whereby,
• wires can be commonly connected by locating said wires adjacent to said wire-receiving face with their axes extending normally of said sidewalls and in alignment with said wire-admitting slots and said wire-receiving slots, and thereafter moving said wires laterally of their axes, into said wire-receiving slots of said terminals.