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EP-4742456-A1 - ELECTRICAL TERMINAL

EP4742456A1EP 4742456 A1EP4742456 A1EP 4742456A1EP-4742456-A1

Abstract

The invention relates to an electrical terminal (100), in particular an IDC-terminal (100), with a housing (101), a contacting base (103) positioned inside the housing (101) and at least one actuating unit (105), wherein the contacting base (103) comprises a contacting body (107) with at least one blade-structure (109) comprising at least one blade (111) with at least one cutting edge (113), wherein the actuating unit (105) is movable inside the housing (101) along a contacting direction (D) between a neutral position (NP) and a contacting position (CP) defined by a position of the blade-structure (109), wherein the actuating unit (105) comprises a positioning face (115) facing the blade-structure (109), wherein the housing (101) defines an accommodation space (117) between the positioning face (115) of the actuating unit (105) and the blade-structure (109) of the contacting base (103), and wherein by moving the actuating unit (105) from the neutral position (NP) to the contacting position (CP) a distance (A1) between the positioning face (115) and the blade-structure (109) is reducable.

Inventors

  • Villard, Romain
  • MOINE, GEOFFREY

Assignees

  • TE Connectivity Solutions GmbH

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20241111

Claims (15)

  1. Electrical terminal (100), in particular an IDC-terminal (100), with a housing (101), a contacting base (103) positioned inside the housing (101) and at least one actuating unit (105), wherein the contacting base (103) comprises a contacting body (107) with at least one blade-structure (109) comprising at least one blade (111) with at least one cutting edge (113), wherein the actuating unit (105) is movable inside the housing (101) along a contacting direction (D) between a neutral position (NP) and a contacting position (CP) defined by a position of the blade-structure (109), wherein the actuating unit (105) comprises a positioning face (115) facing the blade-structure (109), wherein the housing (101) defines an accommodation space (117) between the positioning face (115) of the actuating unit (105) and the blade-structure (109) of the contacting base (103), and wherein by moving the actuating unit (105) from the neutral position (NP) to the contacting position (CP) a distance (A1) between the positioning face (115) and the blade-structure (109) is reducable.
  2. Terminal (100) according to claim 1, wherein the blade-structure (109) comprises a forklike structure with two blades (111) and an opening (139) facing the positioning face (115) of the actuating unit (105), wherein each of the blades (111) has a cutting edge (113), and wherein the cutting edges (113) of the two blades (111) are facing each other and/or are facing the positioning face (115) of the actuating unit (105).
  3. Terminal (100) according to claim 2, wherein the two blades (111) of the blade-structure (109) are spaced apart from each other and are arranged to provide a clamping force.
  4. Terminal (100) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein a tip portion (119) of the blade (111) has a chamfered face (121).
  5. Terminal (100) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the terminal (100) comprises two actuating units (105), and wherein the contacting base (103) comprises two blade-structures (109) connected to each other by means of the contacting body (107).
  6. Terminal (100) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the contacting base (103) has a platelike shape with the two blade-structures (109) positioned on opposing ends of the contacting body (107).
  7. Terminal (100) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the actuating unit (105) comprises an actuating member (123) protruding from the housing (101), and wherein by means of the actuating member (123) the actuating unit (105) can be pushed from the neutral position (NP) to the contacting position (CP).
  8. Terminal (100) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the actuating unit (105) is made of a plastic material, and/or wherein the contacting base (103) comprising the blade-structure (109) is made of a metal material by means of a punching process and bending process.
  9. Terminal (100) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the actuating unit (105) is lockable in the neutral position (NP) and/or the contacting position (CP) by means of a snap connection (127) between the actuating unit (105) and the housing (101).
  10. Terminal (100) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the housing (101) comprises at least one insertion opening (129), wherein the insertion opening (129) is elongated along the contacting direction (D).
  11. Terminal (100) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the actuating unit (105) comprises an insertion stop (131) arranged to terminate the positioning face (115) at a closed end (153) opposite to the insertion opening (129).
  12. Terminal (100) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the contacting base (103) is positioned in the housing (101) by means of a clip connection (133).
  13. Terminal system (200) with an electrical terminal (100) according to any of the preceding claims 1 to 12 and at least one conductor (201), wherein the at least one conductor (201) is inserted into the housing (101) and positioned in the contacting position (CP), wherein the actuating unit (105) is positioned in the contacting position (CP), wherein the conductor insulation (205) of the conductor (201) is cut and the conductor body (203) of the conductor (201) is contacted by the at least one cutting edge (113) of the at least one edge of the blade-structure (109) of the contacting base (103), and wherein an electrical contact between the conductor body (203) of the conductor (201) and the contacting base (103) is provided by means of the at least one blade (111) of the blade-structure (109).
  14. Terminal system (200) according to claim 13, wherein a further conductor (201) is inserted into the housing (101) of the terminal (100) and positioned in the contacting position (CP), wherein the further actuating unit (105) is positioned in the contacting position (CP), wherein the insulation of the further conductor (201) is cut and the conductor body (203) of the further conductor (201) is contacted by the at least one cutting edge (113) of the at least one blade (111) of the further blade-structure (109) of the contacting base (103), wherein an electrical contact between the conductor body (203) of the further conductor (201) and the contacting base (103) is provided by means of the at least one blade (111) of the blade-structure (109) of the further blade-structure (109), and wherein an electrical contact between the conductor (201) and the further conductor (201) is provided by means of the contacting base (103).
  15. Method of assembling a terminal system, comprising: Providing an electrical terminal (100) according to any of the preceding claims 1 to 12 and at least one conductor (201); Positioning the at least one actuating unit (105) of the terminal (100) in the neutral position (NP); Inserting the at least one conductor (201) into the housing (101) of the electric terminal (100) and positioning an end portion of the conductor (201) in the insertion position (IP); and Pushing the at least one actuating unit (105) from the neutral position (NP) to the contacting position (CP), wherein in the contacting position (CP) the insulation of the conductor (201) is cut by the at least one cutting edge (113) of the at least one blade (111) of the blade-structure (109) of the contacting base (103) and the conductor body (203) of the at least one conductor (201) is contacted by the cutting edge (113) of the blade (111) of the blade-structure (109).

Description

The invention relates to an electrical terminal, in particular to an IDC-terminal. Electrical terminals and in particular IDC-terminals are known from state of the art. An objective of the current invention is to provide an improved electrical terminal, an improved electrical terminal system and an improved method for assembling an electrical terminal system. The objective is solved by the electrical terminal, the system and the method of the independent claims. Embodiments are subject of the dependent claims. According to an aspect an electrical terminal, in particular an IDC-terminal, with a housing, a contacting base positioned inside the housing and at least one actuating unit is provided, wherein the contacting base comprises a contacting body with at least one blade-structure comprising at least one blade with at least one cutting edge, wherein the actuating unit is movable inside the housing along a contacting direction between a neutral position and a contacting position de-fined by a position of the blade-structure, wherein the actuating unit comprises a positioning face facing the blade-structure, wherein the housing defines an accommodation space between the positioning face of the actuating unit and the blade-structure of the contacting base, and wherein by moving the actuating unit from the neutral position to the contacting position a distance between the positioning face and the blade-structure is reducable. This can achieve the technical advantage, that an improved electrical terminal can be provided that allows for IDC contacting of conductors. The electrical terminal comprises a contacting base with a blade-structure comprising at least one blade having a least one cutting edge and an actuating unit, that is movable between a neutral position and a contacting position. With the actuating unit positioned in the neutral position, a to be contacted conductor can be inserted into the housing and positioned in an accommodation space between the positioning face of the actuating unit and the blade-structure of the contacting base. By inserting the conductor into the housing, the conductor can be positioned adjacent to a positioning face of the actuating unit. By moving the actuating unit from the neutral position to the contacting position, a distance between the positioning face and the blade-structure can be reduced. This means, by moving the actuating unit from the neutral position to the contacting position the conductor inserted into the housing and positioned adjacent to the positioning face of the actuating unit is pushed from the neutral position to the contacting position. The contacting position is defined by a position of the blade-structure of the contacting base. Thus, by pushing the conductor from the neutral position to the contacting position via actuating the actuating unit, the conductor is pushed into the blade-structure as the distance between the positioning face of the actuating unit and the blade structure is reduced. This results in a cutting of the conductor insulation and a contacting of the conductor body of the conductor by the at least one blade of the blade-structure of the contacting base. This way, an IDC contacting of the conductor is realized. Thus, the electrical terminal provides an improved electrical terminal that is capable of providing an IDC contacting of conductors and that allows for an easy handling by a user. In order to execute the IDC contacting process, the user only has to insert the conductor with the actuating unit positioned in the neutral position and then push the actuating unit from the neutral position to the contacting position. The contacting of the conductor body of the conductor via the blade-structure of the contacting base is achieved automatically when the conductor is pushed to the contacting position by the actuation of the actuating unit. The contacting base further comprises a contacting body connected to the blade-structure. By contacting the contacting body to another electrical component, for example, to another conductor, the conductor contacted by the blade-structure by means of the IDC contacting can be contacted to this further electrical component. The electrical terminal can be connected to a DIN rail. In the application IDC stands for Insulation-Displacement-Contact. According to an embodiment the blade-structure comprises a forklike structure with two blades and an opening facing the positioning face of the actuating unit, wherein each of the blades has a cutting edge, and wherein the cutting edges of the two blades are facing each other and/or are facing the positioning face of the actuating unit. This can achieve the technical advantage that due to the forklike structure with two blades having cutting edges facing each other, the blade-structure of the contacting unit can provide a robust and efficient electrical contacting of the inserted conductor. By means of the two blades, the conductor inserted into the termina