JP7753085B2 - terminal block - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a terminal block with multiple wire insertion ports.

A terminal block is known that has multiple housings connected to each other according to the number of wires, and multiple wire insertion ports into which wires can be inserted, eliminating the need for screw-based wiring (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

As shown in Figure 10, the terminal block according to the first embodiment of Patent Document 1 includes multiple housings 101A, 101B arranged side by side in the left-right direction Y, multiple wire insertion ports 103 into which wires W can be inserted, and an operating member 106 provided on each housing 101A, 101B that can be pushed into the housing 101A, 101B. Each housing 101A, 101B has a wide portion 110A that is larger in dimension than the wire insertion ports 103 in the left-right direction Y, and a narrow portion 110B that is smaller in dimension than the wide portion 110A in the left-right direction Y. The wide portion 110A of the first housing 101A and the narrow portion 110B of the second housing 101B are adjacent to each other, and the narrow portion 110B of the first housing 101A and the wide portion 110A of the second housing 101B are adjacent to each other. In this way, the multiple wire sockets 103 are arranged in a staggered pattern in the left-right direction Y, and the multiple operating members 106 are arranged in a straight line in the left-right direction Y.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 11, the terminal block according to the second embodiment described in Patent Document 1 is configured so that the wide portions 110A of the multiple first housings 101A are adjacent to one another, the wide portions 110A of the multiple second housings 101B are adjacent to one another, and the narrow portions 110B of the first housing 101A and the narrow portions 110B of the second housing 101A are adjacent to one another. In this way, not only the multiple wire insertion ports 103 but also the multiple operating members 106 are arranged in a staggered pattern in the left-right direction Y.

However, with the configuration described in Patent Document 1, as shown in Figures 10 and 11, when multiple electric wires W are inserted into the electric wire insertion port 103 and extended forward (in one direction in the front-to-rear direction X), some of the electric wires W are positioned above some of the operating members 106. This means that it is necessary to avoid the electric wires W when pushing in the operating members 106, resulting in poor operability of the operating members 106.

Patent No. 6948153

The present invention was made in consideration of the above circumstances, and its objective is to provide a terminal block with improved operability of the operating members.

To solve the above problem, the present invention provides a terminal block comprising a plurality of housings arranged in a predetermined first linear direction, a plurality of wire insertion ports into which wires can be inserted, and an operating member provided on each housing and capable of being pushed into the housing; the wire insertion ports are arranged in a staggered pattern in the first linear direction, and the operating members are arranged in a staggered pattern in the first linear direction; a wire insertion port row consisting of the staggered wire insertion ports and an operating member row consisting of the staggered operating members are adjacent to each other in a second linear direction perpendicular to the first linear direction; and the operating member row is arranged on only one side in the second linear direction of the wire insertion port row adjacent to the operating member row.

It is also preferable that the operating member be provided across two adjacent housings.

Furthermore, each of the housings has a main receptacle portion that forms at least the center of one of the wire receptacles and is open toward the first linear direction, and a receptacle end portion that forms an end portion of another of the wire receptacles and is open toward the first linear direction. When two or more of the housings are connected to each other, the main receptacle portion of one of the two adjacent housings and the receptacle end portion of the other of the two adjacent housings form one of the wire receptacles.

It is also preferable that the electrical connector further includes an end cover arranged alongside the housing in the first linear direction, the end cover having a receptacle end portion that constitutes the end portion of one of the electrical wire receptacles, and that when the housing and the end cover are connected, the receptacle main portion of the housing and the receptacle end portion of the end cover form one of the electrical wire receptacles.

This invention provides a terminal block with improved operability of the operating member.

1A and 1B are diagrams showing a terminal block according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a perspective view and FIG. 1B is an exploded perspective view. 3A, 3B, and 3C are diagrams showing a first housing and components provided in the housing according to the embodiment, in which FIG. 3A is a perspective view, FIG. 3B is a side view, and FIG. 3C is an exploded perspective view. 5A, 5B, and 5C are diagrams showing a second housing according to the embodiment and components provided in the housing, in which FIG. 5A is a perspective view, FIG. 5B is a side view, and FIG. 5C is an exploded perspective view. 1A is a plan view of the first housing, and FIG. 1B is a plan view of the second housing. (A) is a left side view of the first housing, (B) is a left side view of the second housing, (C) is a right side view of the first housing, and (D) is a right side view of the second housing. 5A and 5B are diagrams showing an end cover according to the embodiment, in which FIG. 5A is a perspective view and FIG. 5B is a right side view. FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view showing a portion of the terminal block according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a simplified schematic diagram illustrating the terminal block according to the embodiment. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a simplified terminal block according to a modified example. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a simplified terminal block according to a conventional example. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a simplified terminal block according to a conventional example.

One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the forward/backward direction X, left/right direction Y, and up/down direction Z indicated by arrows in the drawings are linear directions that intersect at right angles to one another, but the above three directions X, Y, and Z do not limit the installation or use of the present invention. In other words, the up/down direction Z is not limited to the vertical direction, and the forward/backward direction X and left/right direction Y are not limited to the horizontal direction.

As shown in Figures 1(A) and (B), terminal block T includes multiple housings 1A and 1B, one end cover 2, and multiple wire outlets 3. In this embodiment, terminal block T includes five of each of two types of housings 1A and 1B, and the same number of wire outlets 3 as the housings 1A and 1B (i.e., 10).

The housings 1A and 1B are each constructed from an electrically insulating resin block and are arranged side by side in the left-right direction Y, which is the first linear direction. The first housing 1A and the second housing 1B are arranged alternately and connected to each other, so that one of the adjacent housings 1A, 1B closes the internal space of the other. The structure of the housings 1A and 1B will be described in detail later using Figures 4 and 5, etc.

The end cover 2 is made of an electrically insulating resin plate and is arranged alongside the first housing 1A, which is the end of the multiple housings 1A, 1B in the left-right direction Y. The end cover 2 is connected to the first housing 1A to close the internal space of that housing 1A. The structure of the end cover 2 will be explained in detail later using Figure 6.

The wire sockets 3 are openings that allow wires (not shown) to be inserted into the housings 1A and 1B from above, perpendicular to the left-right direction Y. The wire sockets 3 are formed by adjacent housings 1A and 1B, and adjacent first housings 1A and end covers 2, and are arranged in a staggered pattern in the left-right direction Y. Specifically, the staggered wire sockets 3 are made up of wire sockets 3 formed by the socket main portion 11 (see FIG. 4(A)) of the first housing 1A (described below) and wire sockets 3 formed by the socket main portion 11 (see FIG. 4(B)) of the second housing 1B (described below), and are arranged alternately in the left-right direction Y.

Figures 2(A) to 2(C) show the first housing 1A and the components provided in the housing 1A, and Figures 3(A) to 3(C) show the second housing 1B and the components provided in the housing 1B.

As shown in Figures 2(A) to 2(C) and 3(A) to 3(C), the terminal block T includes a terminal member 4, an elastic member 5, and an operating member 6 as components provided on each of the housings 1A and 1B.

The terminal member 4 is made of conductive metal. The terminal member 4 has a terminal portion 41 that is provided along the inner wall of the housing 1A, 1B, and a pin 42 that protrudes downward from the housing 1A, 1B. The terminal portion 41 is connected to an electric wire inserted into the housing 1A, 1B. The pin 42 is connected to wiring (not shown) on the circuit board on which the terminal block T is mounted.

The elastic member 5 is composed of a conductive leaf spring. The elastic member 5 presses the electric wire inserted into the housing 1A, 1B toward the terminal portion 41 of the terminal member 4. The elastic member 5 has a base end 51 that is in contact with a portion of the terminal member 4, and a tip end 52 that is located below the electric wire insertion port 3. The electric wire inserted into the electric wire insertion port 3 is sandwiched and held between the terminal portion 41 of the terminal member 4 and the tip end 52 of the elastic member 5.

The operating member 6 is composed of an electrically insulating resin button. The operating member 6 is configured to be pushable into the housings 1A, 1B to separate the elastic member 5 from the terminal member 4, and slides in the vertical direction Z relative to the housings 1A, 1B. The operating member 6 has a base end 61 located on the top of the housings 1A, 1B and a tip end 62 located within the housings 1A, 1B. When the base end 61 is pushed downward, the tip end 62 presses down on the tip end 52 of the elastic member 5, widening the gap between the terminal portion 41 and tip end 52 of the terminal member 4. This makes it easy to clamp an electric wire between the terminal portion 41 and tip end 52 and to remove the clamped electric wire.

The configuration of housings 1A and 1B will be described in detail with reference to Figures 4(A), (B) and Figures 5(A) to (D). Components common to both types of housings 1A and 1B will be described with the same reference numerals.

Each of the housings 1A, 1B has an internal space 10A, a top surface 10B, a left surface 10C as a first side surface, and a right surface 10D as a second side surface. The internal space 10A is the space in which the terminal members 4 and elastic members 5 are provided. The top surface 10B is an electrical wire insertion surface that faces upward. The left surface 10C faces leftward, which is one side of the left-right direction Y, and constitutes an open end that opens the internal space 10A to the left. The right surface 10D faces rightward, which is the other side of the left-right direction Y, and constitutes a closed end that closes the internal space 10A.

Each of the housings 1A and 1B has, on its top surface 10B, a main receptacle portion 11 that constitutes part of the wire receptacle 3, a receptacle end portion 12 that constitutes part of the other wire receptacle 3, a wire insertion port 13 provided within the main receptacle portion 11, and an operating member insertion port 14.

The main receptacle portion 11 forms at least the center of one wire receptacle 3, and the receptacle end portion 12 forms the end portion of the other wire receptacle 3. In this embodiment, the main receptacle portion 11 is configured to form the right end and center of the wire receptacle 3, and the receptacle end portion 12 is configured to form the left end of the other wire receptacle 3. The main receptacle portion 11 opens to the left (i.e., toward the left surface 10C), and the receptacle end portion 12 opens to the right (i.e., toward the right surface 10D). The lower end of the main receptacle portion 11 is tapered to guide the tip of the electric wire into the wire insertion port 13. Similarly, the lower end of the receptacle end portion 12 is also tapered.

The main receptacle portion 11 and a portion of the receptacle end portion 12 of each housing 1A, 1B are arranged to overlap when viewed from the front or rear, and also when viewed from the right or left. That is, the main receptacle portion 11 and a portion of the receptacle end portion 12 are located on a line L1 extending parallel to the front-to-rear direction X, and on a line L2 extending parallel to the left-to-right direction Y.

The wire insertion opening 13 and the operating member insertion opening 14 are openings that connect the internal space 10A of the housings 1A and 1B to the outside. The wire insertion opening 13 is rectangular when viewed from above and is configured to allow the tip of the wire inserted into the wire socket 3 to pass through the internal space 10A. The operating member insertion opening 14 is located behind the wire insertion opening 13 and is configured to allow the tip 62 of the operating member 6 to pass through the internal space 10A and to have a voltage detector opening 14A (see Figure 7). Specifically, the operating member insertion opening 14 is larger than the operating member 6 in the front-to-rear direction X. When the operating member 6 is inserted into the operating member insertion opening 14, the voltage detector opening 14A is formed in the gap between the operating member insertion opening 14 and the operating member 6.

In addition, each of the housings 1A and 1B has a protrusion 15 on the left surface 10C and a recess 16 on the right surface 10D. The housings 1A and 1B are connected to each other by fitting the protrusion 15 on one of the housings 1A and 1B into the recess 16 on the other.

The structure of the end cover 2 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
6, the end cover 2 has an upper surface 20A, which is an electric wire insertion surface facing upward, and a right surface 20B, which faces right. The right surface 20B closes the internal space 10A of the first housing 1A.

The end cover 2 also has a receptacle end 21 on the top surface 20A and a recess 22 on the right surface 20B. The receptacle end 21 is configured similarly to the receptacle end 12. That is, in this embodiment, the receptacle end 21 is open on the right surface 20B so as to form the left end of one wire receptacle 3. The recess 22 functions similarly to the recess 16 of the second housing 1B, and is configured so that the first housing 1A and the end cover 2 are connected to each other by fitting the protrusion 15 of the first housing 1A into the recess 22.

As shown in Figure 7, the terminal block T configured as described above has two or more housings 1A, 1B connected to each other, so that the main receptacle portion 11 and the receptacle end portion 12 come together to form the wire receptacle 3. Specifically, the main receptacle portion 11 of the first housing 1A and the receptacle end portion 12 of the second housing 1B adjacent to the left of the first housing 1A form one wire receptacle 3. Furthermore, the main receptacle portion 11 of the second housing 1B and the receptacle end portion 12 of the first housing 1A adjacent to the left of the first housing 1B form one wire receptacle 3.

Furthermore, when the first housing 1A and the end cover 2 are connected to each other, the main receptacle portion 11 and the receptacle end portion 21 come together to form the wire receptacle 3. In other words, the main receptacle portion 11 of the first housing 1A and the receptacle end portion 21 of the end cover 2 adjacent to the left of the housing 1A form a single wire receptacle 3.

As described above, the wire insertion ports 3 arranged in a staggered pattern in the left-right direction Y are positioned on the same straight line extending parallel to the left-right direction Y (i.e., on the line L2), and two adjacent wire insertion ports 3 are positioned on the same straight line extending parallel to the front-rear direction X (i.e., on the line L1).

Also, as shown in FIG. 7, similar to the wire socket 3, the operating members 6 are arranged in a staggered pattern in the left-right direction Y, and each operating member 6 (except for the operating member 6 located at the left end of the terminal block T) straddles two adjacent housings 1A, 1B. The operating member 6 located at the left end of the terminal block T straddles the first housing 1A and the end cover 2.

FIG. 8 shows a simplified terminal block T according to this embodiment.
As shown in Fig. 8 , the staggered arrangement of the wire sockets 3 constitutes a wire socket row 3A, and the housings 1A, 1B are provided with operation members 6 arranged near the wire socket row 3A in a staggered arrangement in the left-right direction Y. The operation members 6 are located rearward of the wire sockets 3 and constitute an operation member row 6A. The wire socket row 3A and the operation member row 6A are separated in the front-rear direction X, which is a second linear direction perpendicular to the left-right direction Y. Specifically, the wire socket row 3A and the operation member row 6A are adjacent to each other in the front-rear direction X, and the operation member row 6A is arranged only on one side, that is, rearward in the front-rear direction X, of the wire socket row 3A adjacent to the operation member row 6A.

This embodiment provides the following advantages.
(1) An electric wire socket row 3A consisting of a plurality of electric wire sockets 3 arranged in a staggered pattern and an operating member row 6A consisting of a plurality of operating members 6 also arranged in a staggered pattern are adjacent to each other in the front-rear direction X, and the operating member row 6A is arranged only on one side, i.e., the rear side, of the electric wire socket row 3A in the front-rear direction X. With this configuration, as shown in Fig. 8 , when a plurality of electric wires W are inserted into the electric wire sockets 3 and extended forward, the electric wires W are not positioned above all of the operating members 6. This eliminates the need to avoid the electric wires W when pushing the operating members 6, thereby improving the operability of the operating members 6. Furthermore, because the operating members 6 are arranged in a staggered pattern, pushing one operating member 6 can prevent adjacent operating members 6 from being accidentally pushed in.

(2) The operating member 6 is provided across two adjacent housings 1A, 1B. This configuration allows the dimensions of the operating member 6 to be increased in the left-right direction Y, further improving the operability of the operating member 6.

(3) By connecting two or more housings 1A, 1B to each other, the main receptacle portion 11 of one of two adjacent housings 1A, 1B and the end receptacle portion 12 of the other are arranged in a staggered pattern to form a single wire receptacle 3. With this configuration, one wire receptacle 3 is formed across two housings 1A, 1B, so the housings 1A, 1B can be made smaller in the left-right direction Y without reducing the diameter of the wire receptacle 3. Therefore, the terminal block T can be made smaller while maintaining the diameter of the wire receptacle 3.

(4) By connecting the first housing 1A and the end cover 2, the main receptacle portion 11 of the first housing 1A and the end receptacle portion 21 of the end cover 2 are arranged in a staggered pattern to form a single wire receptacle 3. With this configuration, the single wire receptacle 3 is formed across the first housing 1A and the end cover 2, so the diameter of the wire receptacle 3 located at the end can be maintained.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and the above configuration can be modified. For example, the following modifications can be made, or the following modifications can be combined to make the present invention.

- The wire sockets 3 arranged in a staggered pattern in the left-right direction Y are positioned on the same straight line L2, but two adjacent wire sockets do not have to be positioned on a line extending parallel to the first linear direction in which the housings are arranged. In other words, the main socket portion and the end socket portion of each housing do not have to be positioned on the same straight line extending in the first linear direction in which the housings are arranged.

- The wire socket row 3A is provided at the front end of the terminal block T, but the wire socket row may be provided at the rear end of the terminal block, with the operating member row located only on the forward side of the wire socket row. In other words, the operating member row only needs to be located on one side of the wire socket row adjacent to the operating member row in the second linear direction perpendicular to the first linear direction in which the housings are lined up.

- Each of the housings 1A and 1B has one main receptacle portion 11 and one end receptacle portion 12, but each housing may have two or more main receptacle portions and two or more end receptacles. In other words, the terminal block may be provided with multiple rows of wire receptacles and rows of operating members.

- The terminal block T in the above embodiment is mounted on a circuit board, with the pins 42 of the terminal members 4 connected to wiring on the circuit board. However, the present invention may also be used in terminal blocks mounted on rails, for example. The present invention may also be used in relay terminal blocks that relay electric wires, branch terminal blocks that branch electric wires, or disconnect terminal blocks equipped with switches, for example.

For example, the present invention may be applied to a terminal block T' shown in Figure 9, which combines the above-mentioned modified examples. The terminal block T' is a relay terminal block that relays the electric wires W inserted into the electric wire sockets 3 that make up the first electric wire socket row 3A (described below) and the electric wires W inserted into the electric wire sockets 3 that make up the second electric wire socket row 3B (described below). The configuration of the terminal block T' according to the modified example is described below.

As shown in FIG. 9 , wire sockets 3 are provided at the front and rear ends of terminal block T' in a staggered arrangement in the left-right direction Y. The wire sockets 3 provided at the front end of terminal block T' constitute a first wire socket row 3A, and the other wire sockets 3 provided at the rear end of terminal block T' constitute a second wire socket row 3B. Operating members 6 are provided on housings 1A and 1B between wire socket rows 3A and 3B in a staggered arrangement in the left-right direction Y. The operating member 6 located near the first wire socket row 3A is located behind the wire sockets 3 provided at the front end of terminal block T' and constitutes a first operating member row 6A. The operating member 6 located near the second wire socket row 3B is located in front of the second wire socket row 3B and constitutes a second operating member row 6B.

As described above, the first wire socket row 3A and the first operating member row 6A are adjacent to each other in the front-to-rear direction X, and the first operating member row 6A is arranged only on one side, or the rear side, of the first wire socket row 3A adjacent to the first operating member row 6A in the front-to-rear direction X. Furthermore, the second wire socket row 3B and the second operating member row 6B are adjacent to each other in the front-to-rear direction X, and the second operating member row 6B is arranged only on one side, or the front side, of the second wire socket row 3B adjacent to the second operating member row 6B in the front-to-rear direction X.

With the configuration of the terminal block T' according to the above modified example, as shown in Figure 9, when multiple electric wires W are inserted into the electric wire sockets 3 constituting the first electric wire socket row 3A and extended forward, and multiple electric wires W are inserted into the electric wire sockets 3 constituting the second electric wire socket row 3B and extended rearward, the electric wires W are not positioned above all of the operating members 6. This eliminates the need to avoid the electric wires W when pushing in the operating members 6, improving the operability of the operating members 6.

1A First housing (housing)
1B Second housing (housing)
2 End cover 3 Wire insertion port 4 Terminal member 5 Elastic member 6 Operation member 11 Insertion port main portion 12 Insertion port end portion 21 Insertion port end portion T Terminal block X Front-rear direction (second linear direction)
Y Left/right direction (first linear direction)
Z vertical direction

Claims (4)

A terminal block including a plurality of housings arranged side by side in a predetermined left-right direction, a plurality of wire insertion ports into which wires can be inserted, and an operating member provided in each of the housings and capable of being pushed into the housing,
The wire insertion ports are arranged in a staggered pattern in the left- right direction,
The operation members are arranged in a staggered pattern in the left- right direction,
a wire insertion port row consisting of the plurality of wire insertion ports arranged in a staggered pattern and an operation member row consisting of the plurality of operation members arranged in a staggered pattern are adjacent to each other in a front-rear direction perpendicular to the left- right direction,
the operation member row is disposed only on the rear side, which is one side in the front -rear direction , of the wire insertion port row adjacent to the operation member row,
the operating member adjacent to the wire insertion port in the front-rear direction has a front end portion facing the wire insertion port and having a smaller dimension in the left-right direction than the wire insertion port, and a rear end portion opposite the front end portion and having a larger dimension in the left-right direction than the front end portion,
The row of operation members is composed of a rear row of operation members consisting of a plurality of the operation members lined up in a straight line in the left-right direction, and a front row of operation members consisting of a plurality of the operation members lined up in a straight line in the left-right direction and shifted forward from the rear row of operation members toward the wire insertion port row, and the rear end portions of the operation members constituting the front row of operation members and the front end portions of the operation members constituting the rear row of operation members are adjacent to each other so as to face each other in the left-right direction,
The wire insertion port row is composed of a front wire insertion port row consisting of a plurality of the wire insertion ports aligned in a straight line in the left-right direction, and a rear wire insertion port row consisting of a plurality of the wire insertion ports aligned in a straight line in the left-right direction and shifted rearward from the front wire insertion port row toward the operation member row, and the front end portions of the operation members that constitute the front operation member row and the wire insertion ports that constitute the rear wire insertion port row are adjacent to each other so as to face each other in the left-right direction.
A terminal block characterized by: The terminal block according to claim 1 , wherein the operating member is provided across two adjacent housings. each housing has a receptacle main portion that forms at least a central portion of one of the wire receptacles and is open in the left -right direction, and a receptacle end portion that forms an end portion of the other of the wire receptacles and is open in the left- right direction;
The terminal block according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that two or more of the housings are connected to each other, so that the main receptacle portion of one of two adjacent housings and the end receptacle portion of the other adjacent housing form one wire receptacle. an end cover provided next to the housing in the left- right direction;
the end cover has a socket end portion that constitutes an end portion of one of the wire sockets,
The terminal block according to claim 3, characterized in that when the housing and the end cover are connected, the main receptacle portion of the housing and the end receptacle portion of the end cover form one wire receptacle.