Patent ID: 7052335

Claim:
An electrical wire connecting device, comprising: an insulative housing; a screw mounted for rotation in the housing, the screw being capable of selective rotation in a first or second direction about a rotational axis at a preselected level with said housing, said screw being restrained from axial movement within said housing; a slider supported within said housing and engaged with said screw and capable of forward or rearward axial movement within said housing in accordance with the screw rotation direction; a guide hole disposed in said housing spaced apart from said screw, the guide hole providing a passage into said housing which receives an electrical wire inserted into said housing, said housing further including a conductive contact proximate to said guide hole for contact the wire inserted into said guide hole, said conductive contact being electrically coupled to terminals that extend from said electrical wire connecting device and that are capable of being coupled to a circuit board; and, a cam for selectively pressing said wire inserted into said guide hole into electrical contact with said contact, the cam including a body portion rotatably mounted within said housing, the cam including a wire-contacting portion for pressing said wire inserted into said guide hole against said contact, said cam wire-contacting portion rotating into pressing engagement with said wire when said screw is turned in said first direction and said slider moves in a forward direction and said cam wire-contacting portion rotating out of pressing engagement with said wire to permit said wire to be removed from said guide hole when said screw is turned in said second direction and said slider moves in a rearward direction, whereby frictional drag between said screw and slide, prevents the cam weight from rotating the cam to obstruct insertion of a wire into the guide hole, said slider including a threaded hole that threadedly engages said screw, and wherein said frictional drag acting between said screw and the threaded hole opf said slider prevents said slider from moving without rotating said screw.