Lay-in electrical connector with a detachable tang
AssigneeIlson Corporation
InventorsWilliam Smith, Dave Wood, Bill Wolins
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A lay-in electrical connector having a lug body with multiple dividing walls defining multiple conductor-receiving channels, multiple lug caps each associated with one of the conductor-receiving channels, and a tang secured with the lug body. The electrical connector is free of welded joints as the tang is coupled with the lug body by a clamping force applied by binding screws of the lug caps to conductors positioned within corresponding ones of the conductor-receiving channels. The tang, including the mounting holes extending through the tang, may be formed by an extrusion process. A removable plug element is provided for holding the lug caps and/or tang in a pre-assembled relationship with the lug body prior to use.
Claims23
A lay-in electrical connector comprising:
- an electrically-conductive body member having a plurality of dividing walls defining a plurality of conductor-receiving channels each capable of receiving a conductor;
- a plurality of cap members each formed of an electrically-conductive material and each engaged with adjacent pairs of said dividing walls, each of said cap members having a binding screw capable of being tightened to capture the conductor in said conductor-receiving channel;
- and
- an electrically-conductive tang configured to be removably engaged with said body member, said tang having an attachment pad with at least one mounting hole and a plurality of fingers extending from a side edge of said attachment pad, each of said plurality of fingers being positioned in a corresponding one of said conductor-receiving channels when said tang is engaged with said body member, and said binding screw of each of said plurality of cap members capable of applying a force to a corresponding one of said plurality of fingers and the conductor received within the corresponding one of said conductor-receiving channels for securing said tang to said body member when said binding screw is tightened.
The electrical connector of claim wherein said at least one mounting hole in said attachment pad is formed during the extrusion process that forms said tang.
A lay-in electrical connector comprising:
- a body member having a conductor-receiving channel capable of receiving a conductor;
- a cap member removably received in a portion of said conductor-receiving channel, said cap member having a binding screw capable of being tightened to secure the conductor positioned in said conductor-receiving channel;
- and
- a plug element removably positioned in said conductor-receiving channel, said plug element configured to be contacted by said binding screw for captivating said cap member with said body member and removed from said conductor-receiving channel when the conductor is received therein.
An apparatus for a lay-in electrical connector having a body member with a conductor-receiving channel capable of receiving a conductor and a cap member removably received in the conductor-receiving channel, said apparatus comprising:
- a plug element dimensioned to be positioned removably within one of said conductor-receiving channels, each of said plug elements being contacted by said binding screw for captivating said cap member with said body member and removed from said conductor-receiving channel when the conductor is received therein.
A method for securing a cap member and a body member of a lay-in electrical connector, comprising:
- providing a lay-in electrical connector having a body member with a conductor-receiving channel and a removable cap member engaged with the body member, the cap member having a threaded binding screw, and the body member having, when the cap member is removed from the body member, a pathway for placing a conductor in the conductor-receiving channel;
- inserting a removable plug element into the conductor pathway, the removable plug element having a dimension approximately equal to a circumference of the conductor-receiving channel;
- advancing the binding screw relative to the cap member to contact the removable plug element with a force sufficient for securing the cap member with the body member;
- removing the removable plug element from the conductor-receiving channel;
- and
- inserting the conductor into the conductor-receiving bore and advancing the binding screw to contact the conductor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.