Abstract:
A connecting terminal has a connecting structure with a connector that allows making contact with at least one conductor. The connecting structure further has a conductor track connection for connecting the connecting terminal to a profiled protective conductor bar. The conductor track connection is integrally connected to the connecting structure in one piece.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The invention relates to a connecting terminal having a conductor rail or connecting structure, which has devices for making contact with at least one conductor to be connected and a conductor track connection for connecting the connecting terminal to a profiled protective conductor bar.  
           [0003]    Numerous configurations are known for such connecting terminals, for example in the form of terminal strips, which differ from one another in particular with regard to the means used for making contact with the conductors to be connected, in particular spring or screw terminal elements being conventional. In order to be able to connect the connecting terminal to a profiled protective conductor bar, the connecting structure is provided with a conductor track connection which is usually formed from a number of parts which are riveted, soldered, welded or otherwise connected to the connecting structure.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a connection terminal, which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices and methods of this general type and which further develops the generic connecting terminal with a simplified physical configuration, can be produced more cost-effectively and can be attached to and detached from the protective conductor bar more easily.  
           [0005]    With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, an improved connecting terminal of the type having a connecting structure with a device for contacting at least one conductor to be connected via the connecting terminal and with a conductor track connection for connecting the connecting terminal to a profiled protective conductor bar. The improvement resides primarily in the fact that the conductor track connection is integrally formed in one piece with the connecting structure.  
           [0006]    It is expedient for the conductor track connection to have a base segment and a resilient latching segment.  
           [0007]    The invention preferably provides for the conductor track connection to have a locking section. The locking section can be designed to be resilient.  
           [0008]    The invention preferably provides for the latching section and/or the locking section to be formed by resilient sections in the form of fingers.  
           [0009]    The latching section can have a latching projection for engaging behind a profiled region, which is, for example, in the form of a flange, of the protective conductor bar.  
           [0010]    The locking section can have a bearing projection for bearing against the protective conductor bar.  
           [0011]    It may also be provided for the base section to have at least one contact projection for bearing against the protective conductor bar.  
           [0012]    The invention preferably provides for the connecting structure to be produced, in particular stamped, from flat sheet metal. In particular, the connecting structure can be stamped from galvanized sheet copper. The connecting structure may be flat.  
           [0013]    It is expedient for the conductor track connection to be designed for engaging behind a protective conductor bar which is, in cross section, in the form of a pot and has a U-shaped central region and two edge regions, in the form of flanges, emanating from this central region.  
           [0014]    The connecting structure usually has at least one spring terminal element and/or with at least one screw terminal element. Two or more spring terminal elements and/or screw contacts are preferably provided for connecting a number of conductors.  
           [0015]    Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.  
           [0016]    Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a connecting terminal, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.  
           [0017]    The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0018]    [0018]FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a connecting structure of a connecting terminal in a first embodiment;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 2 is a side view of the connecting structure shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3 is an elevational view of a flat, stamped sheet metal part for producing the connecting structure shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a connecting terminal according to the invention in a first embodiment having a connecting structure as shown in FIGS.  1  to  3 , and a phantom view of a protective conductor track;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 5 is an elevational view of the connecting terminal shown in FIG. 4;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 6 is a side view of the connecting terminal shown in FIGS. 4 and 5;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 7 is an elevational view of a connecting terminal for a connecting structure, according to a second embodiment;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the second embodiment of the connecting terminal of FIG. 7, illustrated with a connecting structure;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the connecting terminal according to the invention; and  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 10 is an elevational view of the connecting terminal shown in FIG. 9. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0028]    Referring now to the figures of the drawing in detail and first, particularly, to FIGS.  1 - 6  thereof, there is shown a first embodiment of the invention. FIG. 3 shows a plan view of a flat, stamped sheet metal part  2  which is used to produce a connecting structure  4  of a connecting terminal denoted overall by  6 . As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an intermediate region  8  of the stamped sheet metal part  2  is bent back for this purpose approximately in the form of an S such that connecting lugs  10  originally lying in the plane of the metal sheet (plane of depiction) lie perpendicular to their original position and perpendicular to the plane otherwise defined by the otherwise flat connecting structure  4 .  
         [0029]    The stamped sheet metal part  2  and the connecting structure  4  produced therefrom have, adjacent to the intermediate region  8 , a central section  12  which is adjoined on one side by a base section  14  and on the other side by two resilient sections in the form of fingers, namely a latching section  16  and a locking section  18 .  
         [0030]    All of said regions of the connecting structure or the stamped sheet metal part  2  are, as mentioned, produced by being stamped from a flat sheet metal material.  
         [0031]    FIGS.  4  to  6  illustrate the connecting terminal  6 , according to the invention, of the first embodiment, in this case the means for making contact with the conductor to be connected being formed by screw terminal elements  22  which are pushed onto the connecting lugs  10 . Terminal screws  24  serve the purpose of holding, by clamping, a non-illustrated conductor, which has been pushed in, between a bottom wall  26  of a screw terminal element  22  and a connecting lug  10 .  
         [0032]    As shown, in particular, in FIG. 6, a width b of the connecting terminal  6 , i.e. its dimension in a direction  30  of the arrangement—i.e., a longitudinal direction of the conductor track assembly—is relatively small owing to the chosen design and is, in this example, only approximately four times a sheet metal thickness d of the sheet metal material used for producing the connecting structure  4 .  
         [0033]    [0033]FIGS. 4 and 5 show how the connecting terminal  6  is held on a profiled protective conductor bar  32 . The protective conductor bar  32  has a cross-sectional profile, which is in the form of a pot or essentially U-shaped and is provided with bent-back edge sections  34  in the form of flanges, and its longitudinal direction corresponds to, or determines, the above-mentioned direction  30  of the arrangement.  
         [0034]    The base section  14  of the connecting structure  4  bears with each of its two contact projections  20  (FIG. 1) against one of the edge sections  34 . The locking section  18  has two parallel webs  36  which at one end are connected to the central section  12  and at the other end have a locking end  38  which engages behind one of the edge sections  34  and on which a bearing projection  40  is formed which bears laterally against the edge section  34  and thereby determines the position of the connecting terminal  6  transversely with respect to the direction  30  of the arrangement. The locking end  38  being connected to the central section  12  by means of two relatively narrow webs  36  results in a certain pliability or resilience between the locking end  38  and the central section  12 , which can be set or predetermined by the length and width of the webs  36 . A contact projection  42  is formed on the locking end  38  in order to increase the compressive load per unit area on the protective conductor bar  32  and to produce a good contact.  
         [0035]    The latching section  16  has, in contrast to the locking section  18 , only one web  44 , with the result that a free end section  46  of the latching section  16  is more resilient than the locking end  38  of the locking section  18 . As shown, in particular, in FIG. 3, the latching section  16  has a latching projection  48  on its free end section  46 , this latching projection engaging behind the other edge section  34  of the protective conductor bar  32 . In order for as much contact force as possible against the contact projection of the base section  14  to be achieved in this region too, the latching projection  48  has an inclined latching face  50  which bears against the latching section  34  in the latched-on state and, in combination with the spring force which is achieved owing to the formation of the latching section  16 , increases the pressure of the latching section against the contact projection. The inclination of the sloping latching face  50  is indicated in FIG. 3 by a dashed line  52 .  
         [0036]    A grip section  54  on the outermost end of the free end section  46  of the latching section  16  makes it possible for a detachment tool, for example a screwdriver, to be used to move the latching section  16  in the detachment direction  56  in a resilient manner, with the result that the latching projection  48  is detached from the edge section  34 , and the connecting terminal  6  can be removed from the protective conductor bar  32 . A push-on slope  58  makes it possible to push or latch the connecting terminal  6  onto the protective conductor bar  32  in a simple manner, without the need for tools. For this purpose, the connecting terminal  6  is first pushed onto one of the edge sections  34  on the side of the locking section  18 , the locking end  38  of the locking section  18  engaging under the edge section and the bearing projection  40  of said locking section being brought to bear against it. Then, the connecting terminal  6  is pivoted about the bearing region (bearing projection  40  or contact projection  42 ) until the push-on slope  58  comes into contact with the opposite edge section  34 , and, further, the latching section  16  being opened in a resilient manner until the latching projection  48  on the latching section  16  springs back and the latching face  50  of said latching section engages behind the edge section  34 . In this state, the connecting terminal  6  is held securely on the protective conductor bar  32  until it is released by the latching section  16  being bent back.  
         [0037]    The locking section  18 , and in particular its contact projection  42 , is designed such that its distance, perpendicular to a line connecting the contact projections  20  of the base section  14 , is smaller in the unloaded state than the thickness of the edge section  34 , with the result that, in the latched-on state, the locking section  18  is prestressed in a resilient manner and a desired contact force is generated. The same applies to the inclined latching face  50  of the latching section  16 , with the result that here too, in the latched-on state, the latching section  16  is stressed in a resilient manner, and a contact force is generated owing to the inclination of the latching face  50 .  
         [0038]    [0038]FIGS. 7 and 8 show an alternative embodiment of a connecting terminal according to the invention which is denoted overall by  106  and is provided with a flat connecting structure  104  and two spring terminal elements  110 . The spring terminal elements  110  have in each case one spring limb  180  and a contact limb  182  and are conductively connected to the connecting structure  104 . The contact limbs  182  are conductively connected to the connecting structure  104  by means of rivet projections  184  which are formed on said connecting structure.  
         [0039]    As in the first embodiment, the connecting terminal  106  has a latching section  116  and a locking section  118  which are similar in form to those in the first embodiment and, in a corresponding manner, engage behind the protective conductor bar  32 , illustrated in FIG. 8, in a resilient manner.  
         [0040]    [0040]FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrate a further embodiment of a connecting terminal  206  according to the invention, in which spring terminal elements  210  are likewise provided. In contrast to the connecting structure  104  of the second embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the connecting structure  204  of the third embodiment is not entirely flat but has two regions  270  which are bent back perpendicular to a plane of extent of the connecting structure (plane of depiction in FIG. 10) and which form contact faces  271  which serve the purpose of making contact with a conductor which is pushed in between these contact faces and spring limbs  280  of the spring terminal element  210 . The contact limb  182  of the second embodiment is thus replaced here by the bent-back regions  270 .  
         [0041]    A stop  290  having a curved bearing face  291  is designed to be integral with the connecting structure  204 , which increases the spring constant of the spring terminal element  210  since the spring limb  280  bears to an increasing extent on the bearing face  291  as it bends increasingly toward the stop  290 , which results in the effective length of the limb being shortened and thus in the resilience being increased.