Abstract:
A spring-force terminal point for an electrical conductor ( 8 ) with a clamping spring ( 1 ) and with a busbar ( 2 ) such that, in a clamping position, the conductor ( 8 ) bears against the busbar ( 2 ) under the pressure of the clamping spring ( 1 ), a tension lever ( 11 ) holding, with a latching cam ( 12 ), the clamping spring ( 1 ) in an opening position, and the tension lever ( 11 ) being capable of being triggered by means of a rotary movement so as to move the clamping spring ( 1 ) out of its opening position into its clamping position.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Field of the Invention 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present spring-force terminal point is suitable both for automatic closing and for closing using an operating element. The advantage of the invention consists in the fact that essentially the same component parts can be used for both operating variants. The spring-force terminal point is therefore used for realizing a same-part strategy, which simplifies the storing of the parts and correspondingly reduces the costs involved with storage. 
   The invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the figures, in which: 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
       FIG. 1  shows a side view of the spring-force terminal point according to the invention without a housing and without a conductor with a prestressed, open clamping spring, 
       FIG. 1   b  shows a side view of the spring-force terminal point according to the invention without a housing and without a conductor with an untensioned, closed clamping spring, 
       FIG. 2  shows a perspective view according to  FIG. 1 , 
       FIG. 3  shows a plan view of the latching cam which has been latched with the clamping spring, 
       FIG. 4  shows the spring-force terminal point embedded in a housing in its opening position, 
       FIG. 5  shows the spring-force terminal point shown in  FIG. 4  in its clamping position, and 
       FIG. 6  shows the spring-force terminal point shown in  FIG. 4  with an additionally used handle. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   The clamping spring  1  is mounted on the substantially L-shaped busbar  2 . The clamping spring fixed limb  3  is fixed to the busbar  2  for this purpose. The L-shaped spring limb  4 , which is connected to the clamping spring fixed limb  3 , is mounted in a sprung manner on the clamping spring fixed limb  3 . The spring limb  4  has a subregion running in the longitudinal direction  5  and a subregion adjoining the latter and running in the transverse direction  6 . That subregion of the spring limb  4  of the clamping spring  1  which runs in the transverse direction  6  has an insertion window  7  which passes through the spring limb  4 . The busbar  2  passes through the insertion window  7  at the edge. The conductor  8  to be connected can be introduced into the insertion window  7  by the conductor  8  being pushed through the insertion window  7  in the longitudinal direction  5 . A retaining lug  9  adjoins the insertion window  7  in the transverse direction  6 . For its part, the retaining lug  9  has a latching cutout  10  passing through it. In the opening position of the spring-force terminal point, the latching cam  12  which is formed on the tension lever  11  engages in the latching cutout  10 . The tension lever  11  for its part comprises a tensioning limb  13  and a resetting limb  14 . The resetting spring  15  is bent out of the resetting limb  14  in the manner of a tab. The tensioning limb  13  and the resetting limb  14  are mounted in the housing  16  in such a way that they are mounted so as to be capable of rotating about the pivot  17  on the tension lever  11 . 
     FIG. 4  shows the automatically closing embodiment of the spring-force terminal point according to the invention. In order to connect the conductor  8 , the conductor  8  is inserted into the housing  16  in the longitudinal direction  5 . The housing  16  has an insertion opening  18  corresponding to the insertion window  7  for this purpose. In this case, the conductor  8  is inserted into the insertion opening  18  until that end of the conductor  8  from which the insulation has been stripped meets the resetting limb  14 . Under the pressure of the conductor  8 , the resetting limb  14  is moved against the resetting spring  15  in the longitudinal direction  5 , so that the resetting limb  14  and therefore also in synchronism the tensioning limb  13 , i.e. the entire tension lever  11 , rotate about the pivot  17  in such a way that the latching cam  12  flies out of the latching cutout  10  and thus releases the spring limb  4 . The clamping spring  1  can then be relieved of tension with its spring limb  4  freely in the transverse direction  6 , so that the edge of the insertion window  7  which is opposite the busbar  2  in the transverse direction  6  clamps in the conductor  8  between it and the busbar  2 . This clamping position, in which the spring limb  4  of the clamping spring  1  has been moved into the clamping position, is illustrated in  FIG. 5 . 
   In order to be able to remove the conductor  8  from the spring-force terminal point again, the driver blade  20  of a screwdriver can be inserted into the housing  16  via a dismantling opening  19 . The driver blade  20  is used simply to press against the rear side of the spring limb  4  and the spring limb  4  is thus moved towards the tension lever  11  in the transverse direction  6  until the latching cam  12  engages in the latching cutout  10  on the spring limb  4  and thus holds the clamping spring  1  in its opening position, which is illustrated in  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 6 . In this opening position, the conductor  8  can be withdrawn from the housing  16  again via the insertion opening  18  very easily. A new conductor can be connected again in the clamping position illustrated in  FIG. 5  and fixed by being inserted through the insertion opening  18  and by pressure on the resetting limb  14 . 
     FIG. 6  shows a further embodiment of the invention with a handle. In the exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 6 , the handle is in the form of a pushbutton  21 . The pushbutton  21  passes through the housing  16  in the longitudinal direction  5  in a corresponding pushbutton opening  22 . For reasons of completeness, mention is made of the fact that the pushbutton opening  22  can always be provided in the housing, i.e. even in those embodiments in which the pushbutton  21  is not used in order to use an identical part for the housing for both embodiments as well. The pushbutton  21  is snapped into retaining grooves  23  formed at the edge on the tensioning limb  13  in the region of the latching cam  12 . The pushbutton  21  is therefore mounted on the tensioning limb  13 . In order to clamp the conductor  8 , the conductor  8  is pushed into the insertion opening  18  in the longitudinal direction  5 . As soon as the conductor  8  abuts the rear side of the resetting limb  14 , the pushbutton  21  is pressed down in the longitudinal direction  5  and thus the latching cam  12  is again pushed out of the latching cutout  10  in the longitudinal direction  5 . Owing to this pushing-out, the tension lever  11  in turn rotates about its pivot  17 . The clamping limb  4  of the clamping spring  1  is released and can move into its clamping position ( FIG. 5 ) in the transverse direction  6 . In this case, too, the conductor  8  again lies between the edge of the insertion window  7  and the busbar  2 . In turn, the release takes place as described above with the aid of a driver blade  20 , which is inserted into the housing  16  through the installation opening  19 . 
   While the embodiment shown in  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5  is suitable for conductors with a very dimensionally stable cross section, the embodiment shown in  FIG. 6  is suitable for conductors with a very unstable shape behavior, in particular for connecting multi-core conductors. 
   LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS 
   
       
         1  Clamping spring 
         2  Busbar 
         3  Clamping spring fixed limb 
         4  Spring limb 
         5  Longitudinal direction 
         6  Transverse direction 
         7  Insertion window 
         8  Conductor 
         9  Retaining lug 
         10  Latching cutout 
         11  Tension lever 
         12  Latching cam 
         13  Tensioning limb 
         14  Resetting limb 
         15  Resetting spring 
         16  Housing 
         17  Pivot 
         18  Insertion opening 
         19  Dismantling opening 
         20  Driver blade 
         21  Pushbutton 
         22  Pushbutton opening 
         23  Retaining groove