JPH0695791B2 - I/O Relay Terminal - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THEINVENTION The present invention relates to an I/O relay terminal for use in a programmable controller or the like.

[Background Art] To improve efficiency in machine control, control is performed by controllers such as programmable controllers and single board computers, and relays such as electromagnetic relays and solid state relays are used as interfaces between the controllers and I/O devices.

However, these relay controls require long wiring, increased construction work, and difficult maintenance, and improvements to these problems were desired.

For this purpose, various relay control methods using data transmission have been proposed as a way of considering relays suitable for system control in machine control.

FIG. 20 shows an example.

In this system, a communication master station 2 is installed in a programmable controller 1 serving as a controller.
The communication slave stations ₃₁ ... corresponding to the respective communication terminals are connected to the I/O relay terminals ₄₁ ... via connectors, and the communication master station 2 and the communication slave stations ₃₁ ... are connected via a two-core cable to send and receive data via time division multiplex transmission to remotely control the numerous relays connected to the I/O relay terminals ₄₁ .... The communication master station 2 is composed of a programmable controller interface 2a, a transmission control unit 2b, and a transmission interface 2c, and performs communication management for the entire system.

The communication slave station 3 ₁ ... includes a transmission interface 3 a and a transmission control unit
The input type is composed of I/O relay terminal 4, and the output type is composed of I/O interface 3c.
₁ ... to the communication master station 2, and for output, it operates a relay which transmits the output signal received from the communication master station 2 to the I/O relay terminals 4 ₁ ....

This allows multiple communication terminals to be connected to one communication master station 2 via a two-core cable.
The relays connected to the I/O relay terminals 4 ₁ . . . can be controlled, for example, 512 relays can be controlled, and the communication slave stations 3 ₁ . . . can control, for example, 16 relays.

Incidentally, examples of I/O relay terminals ₄₁ used in such a system include those disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 63-88770 and 63-88771.
There is something that can be seen in the number.

This conventional example is composed of a connector to be connected to the communication slave station 4, a relay socket section to which a relay is connected, and an input terminal section corresponding to the relay, and uses a 16- or 8-relay socket section so that the required relays can be connected in advance.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In actual use, 16 relays are not necessarily used; in some cases, around eight relays will suffice, but there are many cases where the number of relays may need to be increased by a few in the future.

However, even in this case, the user of the I/O relay terminals _4-1 ... must use an I/O relay terminal capable of connecting a maximum of 16 relays, resulting in waste and high costs.

In addition, as shown in Fig. 21, the conventional structure was such that the edge of the top surface of the case of the relay 5 connected to the relay socket 7 attached to the printed circuit board 8 was pressed and locked by the locking claw 6a of the removal lever 6, which caused the problem of the height of the removal lever 6 becoming taller. Furthermore, 11 is a signal input/output connector, and 11a is a cable removal lever.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and aims to provide an I/O relay terminal that allows relays to be easily added and can be used economically according to the scale of use, and the invention described in claim 2 also aims to provide an I/O relay terminal with a low-profile removal lever, and the inventions described in claims 3 and 5 aim to provide an I/O relay terminal to which a heat sink can be easily attached.Furthermore, the invention described in claim 4 aims to provide an I/O relay terminal to which a terminal block-equipped relay can be easily connected using an addition connector, and the invention described in claim 6 aims to provide an I/O relay terminal unit that improves the ease of removal by temporarily locking the lever in a position where it does not engage with the DIN rail when removing the terminal case from the DIN rail, and that allows one person to perform the removal work even if multiple levers are provided.

[Means for solving the problem] The present invention is characterized by comprising a plurality of relay sockets for detachably connecting relays, an input/output terminal section corresponding to the relays to be connected to each relay socket, an input/output signal connector for inputting control signals for controlling each relay and outputting contact inputs from the relay contacts, and an extension connector for sending and outputting control signals to the input/output signal connector of an additional I/O relay terminal and for taking in contact inputs from the input/output signal connector of the additional I/O relay terminal.

Furthermore, each relay socket may be provided at the bottom of a relay storage recess provided in the terminal unit, and a removal lever for pushing up the bottom surface of the relay stored and attached in this relay storage recess may be provided on the terminal case in a rotatable manner corresponding to each relay socket. Furthermore, when solid state relays are used as relays, grooves for accommodating both ends of a fixing spring which presses down on a heat sink placed on the top surface of each relay may be formed on the inner wall surface of the relay storage recess, and locking portions for detachably locking both ends of the fixing spring may be provided in the above-mentioned grooves.

Furthermore, the extension connector and the terminal block relay may be connected to the extension connector by a detachable connector cable, making it possible to transmit and receive control signals to the terminal block relay and relay contact inputs to the terminal block relay.

The structure for fixing the heat sink is such that an engagement recess is provided on the outer surface of the tip of the rising piece provided on both ends of the relay socket,
A structure may be employed in which inward projections formed at the lower ends of both ends of a fixing spring that presses down on a heat sink placed on the top surface of the relay mounted in the relay socket are engaged and fixed to the engagement portions.

In addition, the configuration for attaching the terminal case to a DIN rail may be such that a groove for fitting a DIN rail having locking pieces on both sides is provided on one side of the terminal unit, a lever whose tip engages with one of the locking pieces of the DIN rail to attach the terminal body to the rail in a freely detachable manner is provided on one side of the terminal body so as to intersect with the above groove and be slidable, and the lever is biased by the DIN rail when the terminal body is attached and slid outward from the terminal body, and a roughly U-shaped elastic piece is provided on the lever which elastically contacts a protrusion provided on part of the terminal body and urges the lever inward, and when the lever is slid outward to remove the terminal body, the protrusion is positioned in a position where it elastically contacts the elastic piece while the tip of the lever is positioned within the groove, and does not elastically contact the elastic piece when the tip of the lever is positioned outward from the groove.

[Function] According to the present invention, when adding an I/O relay terminal unit, the I/O relay terminal unit can be added simply by connecting the addition connector of the previous I/O relay terminal unit to the input/output signal connector of the added I/O relay terminal unit with a cable, making it possible to increase the number of relays to be controlled.

Furthermore, when removing the relay from the relay socket, the removal lever is simply rotated to push up the bottom surface of the relay, allowing the relay to be easily removed from the relay socket.

When using a solid relay as the relay, it is necessary to use a heat sink. In this case, the heat sink can be easily fixed by placing the heat sink on the top surface of the relay and inserting both ends of the fixing spring that holds the heat sink into the groove and locking both ends of the fixing spring into the locking portions in the groove.

In addition, the heat sink can be easily fixed by providing an engagement recess on the outer surface of the tip of the raised pieces on both ends of the relay socket and engaging and fixing inward protrusions formed on the lower ends of both ends of the fixing spring that presses the heat sink placed on the top surface of the relay attached to the relay socket with the engagement recess.

Furthermore, the control of high-capacity terminal block relays or contact inputs can be
When using a relay terminal, this can be easily done by using a cable with a detachable connector for the expansion connector.

Furthermore, when the terminal case is attached to a DIN rail, the lever biased to the DIN rail has its elastic piece elastically contacting the protrusion, and after attachment, the lever is returned to its original position by the force of the elastic piece biasing the lever inward. When the terminal case is removed from the DIN rail, the lever is slid outward from the terminal case, and when the tip of the lever is positioned outward from the groove, the protrusion and the elastic piece are no longer in elastic contact, locking the lever and allowing the terminal case to be removed from the DIN rail.

[Embodiments] The present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

1(a) to (c) show the top view, front view, and side view of the embodiment. The lower surfaces at both ends of the terminal case 9 are provided with an input/output signal connector 10 and an additional connector 11.
On the upper surface between the two connectors 10 and 11, there is a relay storage recess in which eight relays 12 can be mounted.
The terminal case 9 has a terminal fitting 13. A two-step portion is formed on the front side surface of the terminal case 9, and terminal fittings 17 which form the input/output terminal section 14 are provided. A groove 28 for mounting a DIN relay is formed on the bottom surface of the terminal case 9, and reference numeral 30 is a lever for disengaging the DIN relay, which allows an engagement protrusion 29 to be moved.

At the bottom of the relay receiving recess 13, eight relay sockets 15 shown in FIG. 2 are arranged in a state in which they are attached to a printed circuit board 16 as shown in FIG.

The relay socket 15 has raised pieces 15a at both ends and an L-shaped notch 15c formed on the relay mounting surface 15b.
When the relay 12 is inserted into the relay socket 15, the relay 12
Push the protrusions 12a on both ends of the piece 1 downward.
While pushing and spreading 5a, the projection 12a is engaged with the vertical groove of the notch groove 15c, and the terminal 12b of the relay 12 is inserted into the relay socket.
15 and insert it into the connection receiving hole 15d.

A recess in which the removal lever 18 of each relay 12 is rotatably attached corresponding to each relay storage portion of the relay storage recess 13.
19 is provided as shown in FIG.

The bottom of the recess 19 communicates with the bottom of the relay storage recess 13, and the relay push-up portion 18a provided at the lower end of the removal lever 18 is rotatably disposed within the lateral groove portion of the notched groove 15c of the relay socket 15 as shown in FIG. 3, and faces the bottom surface of the relay 12 attached to the relay socket 15.

The removal lever 18 has a protruding pivot shaft 18b on both sides, and a protrusion 18c is integrally formed at the base of this pivot shaft 18b to regulate the rotation angle, and further has a semi-spherical protrusion 18d protruding from both sides to give a nodding sensation to the rotation operation.

The recess 19 has a U-shaped concave surface 20 formed on both inner wall surfaces thereof, the upper end of which is the upper surface of the terminal case 9 and the upper end of which is open.
Within 20, there are formed a bearing hole 21 for rotatably supporting the rotary shaft 18b of the removal lever 18, and a groove 22 having a cross section of approximately W for articulating the projection 18d.

Thus, by pressing the removal lever 18 into the recess 9 from above, inserting the rotating shaft 18b into the bearing hole 21 and fitting the protrusion 18d into the groove 22, the removal lever 18 can be pivotally supported within the recess 9 so as to be freely rotatable, and at the same time, the operating portion 18e at the upper end is exposed to the outside of the recess 19.

The rotation angle of the removal lever 18 is a concave plane as shown in FIG.
As the lever 18 rotates, both side surfaces of the projection 18c come into contact with the inner walls of the lever 20, thereby restricting the lever 18 from rotating beyond a certain angle.

3, the lever 18 is rotated clockwise to push up the relay 12.
The projection 18a pushes up the bottom surface of the relay 12 to remove the relay 12 from the relay socket 15. During this rotation operation, the projection 18d goes over the ridge of the groove 22, providing a clicking sensation.

As shown in FIG. 6, the inner wall surfaces of the relay receiving recess 13 on both sides corresponding to the boundaries of the receiving portions of the relays 12 are provided with vertical grooves.
In the longitudinal grooves 23, there are provided locking projections 26 for locking both ends of a fixing spring 25 for fixing a heat sink 24 placed on the upper surface of the relay 12 which is a solid relay.

The heat sink 24 is placed across the upper surfaces of the two relays 12 arranged side by side, and the upper surface of the heat sink 24 is pressed by the center of a fixing spring 25 formed in a substantially M-shape. The fixing spring 25 is fixed by inserting both legs 25a into the vertical grooves 23 and engaging locking holes 26 drilled in both legs 25a with locking projections 27 in the grooves 22, as shown in Fig. 7, thereby pressing down on the heat sink 24.

8(a) and (b) show the circuit configurations of the output and input I/O relay terminals 31, respectively. In the former, there are 16 control signals for the relays 12 connected to the input/output signal connector 10, of which 8 are control signals for the installed relays 12, and the remaining 8 control signals are for the expansion connector.
This acts as a send signal for the extension connector 11 and is connected from the input/output signal connector 10 to the extension connector 11 via the internal bus. Therefore, an extension I/O relay terminal 32 corresponding to a maximum of eight relays 12 can be used, and the connection uses the input/output signal connector 10'.

In the latter case, there are 16 contact input signals of the relay 12 connected to the input/output signal connector 10, of which 8 become contact input signals of the relay 12 to be attached, and the remaining 8 contact input signals become signals sent from the expansion connector 11, which are connected from the expansion connector 11 to the input/output signal connector 10 via the internal bus. Therefore, a maximum of 8 relays 12 can be used as an I/O relay terminal to be expanded. In the figure, r is a relay contact, and 14' is an input/output terminal section.

9(a) and (b) show the output and input circuit configurations of an embodiment in which four relays 12 can be mounted.

Each relay 12 has a light-emitting diode (LED) for indicating operation,
A surge absorbing diode D is connected in parallel to each of the relays 12, and as shown in FIG. 1, each light emitting diode LED is exposed on the top surface of the terminal case 9 between the relay storage recess 13 and the input/output terminal portion 14 so as to correspond to each of the relays 12.

In the above embodiment, the expansion connector 11 is used to connect the expansion I/O relay terminal 32, but it may also be used to connect a large capacity relay 34 with a terminal block 33 as shown in FIG.

That is, in the I/O relay terminal 31 of the embodiment, eight of the signals from the programmable controller are used to operate the eight relays 12 attached to the terminal case 9, and the remaining signals are wired to be taken out from the expansion connector 11. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11, one end is a so-called discrete wire with one separate line, each of which is crimped with a crimp terminal 35, and the other end is a cable 36 with a detachable connector 37 attached to the expansion connector 11, to which the signals of the expansion connector 11 are connected to the corresponding terminals of the terminal block 33.
It is connected as shown in FIG. 10 to control a large capacity relay 34 or to receive a contact input of the relay 34.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, one heat sink 24 is provided for each of the two relays 12.
As shown in the figure, one heat sink 24 is provided for one relay 12.
It is also possible to attach a

In the example shown in FIG. 13, the relay 12 is mounted between the gate-shaped raised pieces 15a' on both sides of the socket 15'.
The upper part of the relay (solid relay or electromagnetic relay) is fitted to a locking claw 1 protruding from the center of the inner side of the central edge of one of the raised pieces 15a'.
Press with 5e to secure relay 12 to socket 15'.

Next, the heat sink 24' is placed on the upper surface of the fixed relay 12 as shown in FIG. 14, and while pressing the heat sink 24' downward with the downward protruding portion of the center side of the approximately M-shaped fixing spring 25', the locking projections 26' cut and raised at the lower ends of the legs 25a' on both sides of the fixing spring 25' are locked from the outside to the central lower portion of the center side of the socket 15' by utilizing the spring elasticity of the fixing spring 25'.
In this case, a spring force is always applied to the heat sink 24' in the direction of the relay 12, and the heat sink 24' and the relay 12 are fixed in place.
are in close contact with each other, enhancing the heat dissipation effect.

FIG. 15 shows a structure for mounting the terminal case 9 to a DIN rail 38 provided on the bottom surface of the terminal case 9. In the illustrated embodiment, the terminal case 9 to which the lever 30 is attached is
A recess 39 is formed in this portion, and an engagement groove 40 is formed on the side of the recess 39 into which the locking piece 30a (Fig. 16(c)) at the side end of the lever 30 is inserted and locked. Projections 41 are formed on both sides of the base side of the lever 30, and these projections 41 abut against steps 42 of the terminal case 9 to position the lever 30. A square opening 43 is formed in the center of the lever 30, and elastic pieces 44 having elasticity are formed in a roughly V-shape from the corners on the base side of the opening 43.
A stopper 45 is provided so as to protrude from the tip side of the opening 43 of the terminal case 30 and to be positioned between the elastic pieces 44. Furthermore, a substantially U-shaped protrusion is provided so as to be positioned within the opening 43 from the bottom surface of the terminal case 9.
46 is protruding.

First, the initial state when the terminal case 9 is attached to the DIN rail 38 is as shown in FIG. 16(a).
When the DIN rail 38 is inserted into the groove 28 of the terminal case 9 and the locking piece 48 on one side is locked with the projection 50 protruding from one side of the groove 2 of the terminal case 9, the locking piece 48 on the other side comes into contact with the inclined surface 49a of the engagement claw 49 of the lever 30, and the lever 30 slides in the direction A shown in Fig. 15, transitioning to the state shown in Fig. 16(b). At this time, since the elastic piece 44 is V-shaped, the projection
16(a)。 When the terminal case 9 is further pressed in, the engagement claw 49 of the lever 30 engages with the locking piece 48 of the DIN rail 38, and the lever 30 returns to the state of FIG. 16(a) by the spring force of the elastic piece 44, and the terminal case 9 is fixed to the DIN rail 38.

In the conventional mounting device, only these two states (Fig. 16(a) and (b)) exist, and when removing the terminal case 9 from the DIN rail 38, the lever 30 is pulled with a screwdriver or the like to a position where the engaging claw 49 does not engage with the DIN rail 38, and removed. When the screwdriver is removed from the hole 30a of the lever 30, the spring force returns it to the state of Fig. 16(a) (set state).

However, in addition to these, the structure shown in FIG.
The lock state shown in FIG. 16(c) is provided. That is, the operation of attaching the terminal case 9 to the DIN rail 38 is the same as that of the conventional one, but when removing it, a screwdriver or the like is inserted into the hole 9 of the lever 30 to lock the lever 30.
is pulled in the direction A, when the protrusion 44a of the elastic piece 44 passes over the protrusion 46a of the projection 46, the force in the direction B by the elastic piece 44 is released (the elastic piece 44 is not bent), and the elastic piece 44 is locked at the position determined by the stopper 45.
That is, as shown in FIG. 16(c), the stopper 45 is a protrusion.
At the position where the protrusion 44a of the elastic piece 44 abuts against the inner surface of the
has climbed over the protruding portion 46a of the projection 46, and the elastic piece 44 is not in elastic contact with the projection 46. Therefore, in this locked state, there is no deflection in the elastic piece 44, that is, no stress is applied to the elastic piece 44, so that even if this state is maintained for a long time, the elastic piece 44 will not break or deform.

Furthermore, insert the terminal case 9 that was once removed into the DIN rail 3.
When attaching the elastic piece 44 to the elastic member 8, if a force is applied with a finger in the direction B in the figure, the protrusion 44a of the elastic piece 44 comes into elastic contact with the protrusion 46, and the elastic piece 44 is deflected in the expanding direction by this elastic contact, and the protrusion
When 44a passes over the protruding member 46a of the projection 46, the spring force of the elastic piece 44 causes the lever 30 to slide toward the groove 28, transitioning to the state shown in FIG. 16(a).

The lever 30 may be made of metal or synthetic resin.
The number of elastic pieces 44 may be one. Also, the stopper 45 of the lever 30 that abuts against the protrusion 46 and the locking piece 30 that is inserted and locked into the groove 40 are
Together with b, this constitutes the retaining means.

FIG. 17 shows the state in which the I/O relay terminals 31 of the present invention are connected to a programmable controller 51 by cables 52a and 52b. In this case, for example, the I/O relay terminal 31 on the left side of the figure is used for output, and the I/O relay terminal 31 on the right side is used for input. In the I/O relay terminal 31 on the output side, the contacts of the mounted relay 12 are input/output terminals.
The I/O relay terminal 31 on the input side is connected to the input/output terminal section 12 and 14 within the terminal case 9, and external devices such as solenoids, motors, valves, etc. are connected to the input/output terminal section 12, and the drive section of each relay 12 is connected to the programmable controller 51 through a cable 52a. Also, the drive section of each relay 12 of the I/O relay terminal 31 on the input side is connected to the input/output terminal section 12 within the terminal case 9, and a signal input device such as a photoelectric switch is connected to the input/output terminal section 12, and the contacts of each relay 12 are connected to the programmable controller through a cable 52b.

However, when checking whether an external device is operating correctly in such a case, it is usually necessary to send a signal from the programmable controller 51 to turn on the relay 12 corresponding to the external device.

In addition, when checking whether a signal from a signal input device is correctly input to the programmable controller 51, the programmable controller 51 correctly outputs in response to the input, and the corresponding external device is correctly operated, the corresponding signal input device is turned on to operate the corresponding relay.
I had to drive 12.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 18(a), in the relay 12 in which the relay coil 55 and the contact are connected to the corresponding terminal 12b,
The external dimensions of the case of the relay 12 and the arrangement of the connection pins are the same, and the contact 54 that is turned on and off by the operation of the push button 53a corresponds to the terminal 12b that connects both ends of the contact of the relay 12.
A push button switch 53 is created between the external device to be checked and the relay 12 corresponding to the device for signal input.
Instead, the above check can be easily performed by turning on and off the push button 53a using the push button switch 53. FIG.

[Effects of the Invention] The present invention comprises a plurality of relay sockets for detachably connecting relays, input/output terminal sections corresponding to the relays connected to each relay socket, an input/output signal connector for inputting a control signal for controlling each relay and outputting a contact input from the relay contact, and an extension connector for sending and outputting a control signal to the input/output signal connector of the I/O relay terminal to be added and for taking in a contact input from the input/output signal connector of the I/O relay terminal to be added. Therefore, when adding an I/O relay terminal,
The expansion connector of the previous stage I/O relay terminal and the expansion I
By simply connecting the I/O relay terminal to the input/output signal connector with a cable, the I/O relay terminal can be expanded, making it possible to increase the number of relays to be controlled. As a result, there is no need to adopt I/O relay terminals with more capacity than necessary, resulting in an economical system construction.

Furthermore, in the invention described in claim 2, each relay socket is provided at the bottom of a relay storage recess provided in the terminal case, and a removal lever for pushing up the bottom surface of the relay stored and attached in this relay storage recess is provided on the terminal case so as to be able to rotate freely, so that when removing the relay from the relay socket, the relay can be easily removed from the relay socket by simply rotating the removal lever to push up the bottom surface of the relay. Moreover, since the operation surface for removing the relay is the bottom surface of the relay that comes into contact with the bottom of the relay storage recess, the amount of protrusion of the operation part of the removal lever can be made smaller than in the past, and the height of the I/O relay terminal can be reduced.

Furthermore, in the invention described in claim 3, grooves for accommodating both ends of the fixing spring which presses the heat sink placed on the top surface of each relay are formed on the inner wall surface of the relay storage recess, and locking portions for detachably locking both ends of the fixing spring are provided within the grooves, thereby having the effect that the heat sink can be easily fixed to the top surface of the relay when a solid relay is used as the relay.

In addition, the invention described in claim 4 connects the expansion connector and the relay with terminal block to the expansion connector by a detachable connector cable, making it possible to transmit and receive control signals for the relay with terminal block and relay contact input for the relay with terminal block. This has the effect that a high-capacity relay with terminal block can be easily connected using the expansion connector, making it possible to control and input contacts to a high-capacity, multi-pole relay.

Furthermore, in the invention described in claim 5, an engagement recess is provided on the outer surface of the tip of the raised pieces provided on both ends of the relay socket, and inward protrusions formed on the lower ends of both ends of the fixing spring that presses down on the heat sink placed on the top surface of the relay attached to the relay socket are engaged and fixed in the engagement recess, thereby having the effect of easily attaching the heat sink to the top surface of each relay.

Furthermore, the invention described in claim 6 is a DI having locking pieces on both sides.
A groove for fitting the N rail is provided on one side of the terminal case.
A lever, the tip of which engages with one of the engagement pieces of the DIN rail to detachably attach the terminal case to the DIN rail, is provided on one side of the terminal case so as to be slidable across the groove, and the lever, which is biased against the DIN rail when the terminal case is attached and slides outward from the terminal case, is provided with a generally V-shaped elastic piece that elastically contacts a protrusion provided on a part of the terminal case to urge the lever inward, and when the lever is slid outward when the terminal case is removed, the protrusion is positioned in a position where it elastically contacts the elastic piece while the tip of the lever is located within the groove, but does not elastically contact the elastic piece when the tip of the lever is located outward from the groove. Therefore, when the terminal case is attached to the DIN rail, the lever biased against the rail has its elastic piece elastically contacting the protrusion,
After installation, the lever is returned to its original position by the force of the elastic contact piece biasing the lever inward, and when the terminal case is to be removed from the DIN rail, the lever is slid outward from the terminal case, and when the tip of the lever is positioned outward from the groove, the protrusion and the elastic piece are not brought into elastic contact, thereby locking the lever and allowing the terminal case to be removed from the rail. Therefore, since no unnecessary elastic force is applied to the elastic piece when the lever is pulled out, it is easy to remove the terminal case. Also, since the protrusion and the elastic piece are not brought into elastic contact when the tip of the lever is positioned outward from the groove, and in this state no elastic force is applied to the elastic piece, the elastic piece will not be damaged or deformed even if this state is maintained for a long time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1(a), (b), and (c) are top, front, and side views of an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a combination of the relay and relay socket of the same; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view, with some parts omitted, showing the combination of the relay and relay socket of the same; FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view, with some parts omitted, showing the combination of the removal lever and recess of the same; FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the rotational operation of the removal lever of the same; FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view, with some parts omitted, showing the mounting relationship between the solid relay and the heat sink of the same; FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view, with some parts omitted, showing the mounting relationship between the solid relay and the heat sink of the same; FIGS. 8(a) and (b) are circuit diagrams of the same; FIGS. 9(a) and (b) are circuit diagrams of another embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the use state of an embodiment of the invention described in claim 4;
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the cable used in the above, with a portion thereof omitted; FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a terminal block-equipped relay used in the above; FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of the essential parts of an embodiment of the invention described in claim 5; FIG. 14 is a sectional view of the essential parts of the above in an assembled state; FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the essential parts of the invention described in claim 6 of the present invention; and FIG. 16 (a) to (c) are explanatory views of the above in use;
Fig. 17 is a diagram showing an example of the use of the I/O relay terminal of the present invention, Fig. 18(a) and (b) are internal wiring diagrams of the relay and push button switch used in the same, Fig. 19 is a perspective view of the push button switch used in the same, Fig. 20 is a diagram showing the configuration of a system using the I/O relay terminal, and Fig. 21 is an explanatory diagram of the installation of a relay in a conventional example. 9 is a terminal case, 10 is an input/output signal connector, 11 is a
indicates an expansion connector, 12 indicates a relay, 13 indicates a relay storage recess,
Reference numeral 14 denotes an input/output terminal portion, 18 denotes a removal lever, 24, 24' denote heat sinks, 25, 25' denote fixing springs, 26 denotes a locking hole, 26'ha denotes a locking projection, 27 denotes a locking projection, and 32 denotes an additional I/O relay terminal.

Claims (6)

[Claims] [Claim 1] An I/O relay terminal comprising a plurality of relay sockets for detachably connecting relays, an input/output terminal section corresponding to the relays connected to each relay socket, an input/output signal connector for inputting control signals to control each relay and outputting contact inputs from the relay contacts, and an additional connector for sending and outputting control signals to the input/output signal connector of an additional I/O relay terminal and for taking in contact inputs from the input/output signal connector of the additional I/O relay terminal. [Claim 2] An I/O relay terminal as described in claim 1, characterized in that each relay socket is provided at the bottom of a relay storage recess provided in the terminal case, and a removal lever for pushing up the bottom surface of the relay stored and mounted in this relay storage recess is provided on the terminal case in a rotatable manner corresponding to each relay socket. 3. A solid state relay is used as the relay, and grooves for receiving both ends of a fixing spring for pressing a heat sink placed on the top surface of the relay are formed on the inner wall surface of the relay receiving recess, and locking portions for detachably locking both ends of the fixing spring are provided in the grooves.
Listed I/O relay terminals. [Claim 4] An I/O relay terminal as described in claim 1, characterized in that the expansion connector and the relay with terminal block are connected to the expansion connector by a detachable connector cable, making it possible to send and receive control signals to the relay with terminal block and relay contact inputs to the relay with terminal block. [Claim 5] An I/O relay terminal as described in claim 1, characterized in that an engagement recess is provided on the outer surface of the tip of the raised piece provided on both ends of the relay socket, and inward protrusions formed on the lower ends of both ends of a fixing spring that presses a heat sink placed on the top surface of the relay attached to the relay socket are engaged and fixed in the engagement recess. [Claim 6] An I/O relay terminal as described in claim 1, characterized in that a groove into which a DIN rail having locking pieces on both sides is fitted is provided on one side of the terminal case, a lever whose tip engages with one of the locking pieces of the DIN rail to attach the terminal body to the rail in a freely detachable manner is provided on one side of the terminal body so as to slide across the groove, and a roughly V-shaped elastic piece that elastically contacts a protrusion provided on a part of the terminal case and urges the lever inwardly is provided on the lever, which is biased by the DIN rail and slid outward from the terminal case when the terminal case is installed, and the protrusion is positioned in a position where, when the lever is slid outward to remove the terminal body, the tip of the lever elastically contacts the elastic piece while positioned within the groove, and does not elastically contact the elastic piece when the tip of the lever is positioned outside the groove.