Patent ID: 7766689

Claim:
A plug adapter for plugging a connecting lead having at least two poles onto a switching device having at least two poles, the switching device having associated with each of the at least two poles: a respective input-side terminal contact and a respective output-side terminal contact on an access side of the switching device, and a respective secondary contact configured for a lead conductor of the connecting lead, the secondary contact being disposed parallel to a combination plug-in orifice disposed on a top side of the switching device perpendicular to the access side, and being accessible to at least one of the respective input terminal contact and the respective output terminal contact, the plug adapter comprising: on a bottom side facing the switching device, a housing cutout having a breadth of the plug adapter, a width corresponding to a distance between the combination plug-in orifice and a top edge of the access side of the switching device, and a height extending from the top edge of the access side of the switching device to entry slots of the terminal contacts so as to provide access to the entry slots; and associated with each of the at least two poles: a respective access contact for the lead conductor of the connecting lead, the access contact being disposed in a clamping chamber and including a contact spring having a free end, the access contact having a housing opening parallel to an entry slot of the terminal contact; a respective plug contact configured to plug onto the secondary contact of the switching device; a respective conductor bar disposed between the access contact and the plug contact, the free end of the contact spring being elastically preloaded against the conductor bar; and a clamping device configured to simultaneously clamp the lead conductors to the contact spring and actuatable via an actuator bracket configured to act on a hold-down clamp so as to displace the free end of the contact spring away from the conductor bar.