Patent Application
20070066148
The invention relates to a connecting terminal for connecting an electrical cable to an electrical engineering device having a first connection part, which is formed, for example, with an eyelet, and having a second connection part, which is in the form of a sleeve and which is connected to the electrical conductor by means of pressing or crimping.
Prior art terminals of the pertinent type for connecting an electrical line to an electrical engineering device comprise a first connection part, which is intended to be connected to an electrical engineering device, and a second connection part, which is used for connecting the terminal to the electrical line. The first connection part is, for example, formed with a connection eyelet. The second connection part is, for example, formed with two tabs, which are bent over the line from which the insulation has been stripped, as a result of which they surround the metallic conductor in the form of a sleeve and are connected to the metallic conductor by means of mechanical deformation.
If, in this case, the terminal is produced from a copper alloy and the conductor is produced from aluminum, owing to the fact that aluminum has a greater coefficient of thermal expansion than a copper alloy, there is, however, the difficulty that expansion of the connection part is caused owing to the thermal expansions of the conductor, as a result of which the electrical conductivity existing between the conductor and the sleeve-shaped connection part is reduced or the contact resistance existing between the terminal and the electrical conductor is increased.
This problem could be avoided by the sleeve-shaped connection part being formed by a closed tube piece. However, since the entire terminal needs to be nickel-plated, it would in this case also be necessary to nickel-plate the tube piece on its inner side, but it is only possible to meet this requirement with a particularly high degree of technical complexity.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a connecting terminal, which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices and methods of this general type and wherein the terminal which is nickel-plated on its entire surface and with which it is ensured that the sleeve-shaped connection part surrounding the electrical conductor does not expand owing to thermal expansions of the conductor, as a result of which an increase in the contact resistance existing between the connecting terminal and the electrical conductor is avoided.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a connecting terminal for connecting an electrical line to an electrical device, the terminal comprising:
In other words, the objects are achieved according to the invention by the fact that the second connection part is formed by a sleeve, which is produced from a platelet by means of deformation and whose adjoining edges are provided with diametrically opposed projections or cutouts associated with the projections, by means of which projections and cutouts these edges can be latched with one another.
The mutually opposing edges of the sleeve are preferably formed with at least one undercut projection or with at least one undercut cutout associated with this projection, the at least one projection being inserted into the at least one cutout. The connecting terminal according to the invention is preferably produced from a nickel-plated plate consisting of copper or a copper alloy, in particular consisting of bronze.
In accordance with a preferred method for producing the connection between an electrical conductor and a connecting terminal, the electrical conductor is inserted into the sleeve-shaped second connection part, which is then connected to the electrical conductor by means of pressing.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
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.
The construction of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of the specific embodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.
Referring now to the figures of the drawing in detail and first, particularly, to
While the first connection part 1 illustrated here is formed with an eyelet, a variety of other or additional connection variants are available, such as an open U-tab, a threaded eye, a threaded post or a compression post, etc. All of these variants are generically referred to as connector means.
The platelet is formed of a copper alloy and it is nickel-plated over its entire surface.
As can be seen from
As can be seen from
This provides a connecting terminal 3, with which it is ensured that, when the sleeve-shaped connection part 20 is connected to the electrical conductor 41, a loosening of the connection caused by thermal expansion is avoided, as a result of which an increase in the contact resistance of this connection is ruled out.
This application claims the priority, under 35 U.S.C. ยง119, of Austrian patent application A 1533/2005, filed Sep. 16, 2005; the prior application is herewith incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1533/2005 | Sep 2005 | AT | national |
