Electrical terminal structure with wedged conductor

Claim 2

A terminating structure comprising a body portion made of metal which is a good conductor of electricity, the structure having a plurality of spaced openings therein opening through the front surface thereof for receiving conductors that are to be connected with the structure, a surface within the terminating structure in alignment with and extending generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the opening and forming in effect a continuation of a side of said opening for contact with the conductor and set screws extending through the front face of the terminating structure in directions to intersect the space occupied by the respective conductors that are in contact with the axially extending surfaces for clamping the conductors against said surfaces, characterized by each set screw having a tapered portion of its length near the lower end of the set screw with a tapered surface that wedges the conductor against the axially extending surface with which a side of the conductor contacts.

Claim 3

The terminating structure described in claim 1 characterized by there being a separate set screw for each of the openings, each set screw extending through a tapped opening having its longitudinal axis at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of the opening into which the conductor extends, said acute angle being less than 22 1/2 *.

Claim 4

The terminating structure described in claim 1 characterized by the set screw opening being spaced from the conductor-receiving opening at the surface of the structure, but the axes of the openings converging at an acute angle and intersecting one another within the structure, the acute angle between the axes of the set screw openings and the conductor openings being between 10* and 22 1/2 *.

Claim 5

The terminating structure described in claim 1 characterized by each set screw having threads on a portion of its outside surface in position to cut threads in a side of the conductor in the conductor-receiving opening.

Claim 6

The terminating structure described in claim 1 characterized by said structure being enclosed in a housing that is made of electrical insulating material and that is open on only one side, and the front surface of the structure being exposed from the open side of the housing, and both the conductor-receiving openings and openings for the set screws opening through said front surface, each conductor-receiving opening and its associated set screw opening being spaced from one another where they open through the front surface of the bar but converging as they extend into the bar.

Claim 7

The terminating structure described in claim 5 characterized by each set screw being substantially larger in cross-section than the conductor.

Claim 8

The terminating structure described in claim 5 characterized by the housing having a well beyond the back surface of the structure, a shoulder around the well limiting the extent to which the structure can be inserted into the housing, each of the openings for a conductor and its associated set screw coming together in said structure and opening through the back surface of said structure into communication with the well whereby the conductor can be extended beyond the back surface of the structure for a distance equal to the depth of the well.

Claim 9

The terminating structure described in claim 1 characterized by the structure being a hollow housing with a front wall through which the conductor-receiving openings open, and threaded openings in the housing for the set screws, each conductor contacting with its set screw within the hollow housing, an interior thrust surface of the housing including the axially-extending surface that contacts with one side of the conductor and that is spaced away from the screw, and an interior thrust surface of the housing that contacts with the side of the screw that is away from the conductor.

Claim 10

A terminating structure comprising a body portion made of metal which is a good conductor of electricity, a front surface of the body portion with a plurality of spaced openings in the structure and opening through the front surface thereof for receiving conductors that are to be connected with the structure, and set screws that clamp the conductors in the openings, characterized by the structure being a hollow housing with a front wall through which the conductor-receiving openings open, and threaded openings in the housing for the set screws, each conductor contacting with its set screw within the hollow housing, an interior thrust surface of the housing that contacts with one side of the conductor that is away from the screw, and an interior thrust surface of the housing that contacts with the side of the screw that is away from the conductor, and further characterized by the housing being a stamped strip which is bent along an axis extending lengthwise of the structure to provide a front wall, longitudinal side walls and a back wall, the thrust surfaces within the housing being strips that connect with opposite side walls of the housing and that hold the conductors and screws out of the plane of the side walls and in contact with each other.

Claim 11

A terminating structure comprising a body portion made of metal which is a good conductor of electricity, a front surface of the body portion with a plurality of spaced openings in the structure and opening through the front surface thereof for receiving conductors that are to be connected with the structure, and set screws that clamp the conductors in the openings, characterized by the structure being a hollow housing with a front wall through which the conductor-receiving openings open, and threaded openings in the housing for the set screws, each conductor contacting with its set screw within the hollow housing, an interior thrust surface of the housing that contacts with one side of the conductor that is away from the screw, and an interior thrust surface of the housing that contacts with the side of the screw that is away from the conductor, and further characterized by the housing being a stamped strip which is bent along an axis extending lengthwise of the structure to provide a front wall, longitudinal side walls and a back wall, the thrust surfaces within the housing being strips that connect with opposite side walls of the housing and that hold the conductors and screws out of the plane of the side walls and in contact with each other.

Claim 12

The terminating structure described in claim 9 characterized by the strips being of one piece construction with the rest of said walls of the housing and being formed of material displaced inwardly at an angle from the sides of The housing.

Claim 13

The terminating structure described in claim 9 characterized by each of the strips having walls that converge toward the side of the housing in which said strip is connected, the convergence of the conductor contacting surfaces being toward axes that extend generally parallel to the direction of extent of the conductors, and the convergence of the screw contacting surfaces being toward axis that extend generally parallel to the direction of extent of the screws.

Claim 14

The terminating structure described in claim 9 characterized by some of the thrust surfaces being on tabs that connect with one wall of the housing and that are spaced from one another lengthwise of the front-to-back extent of the said wall and that are substantially normal at their inner end portions to the side wall with which they are connected, and their thrust surfaces being arcuate about an axis of curvature that is generally parallel to the side wall to which the tabs are connected.

Claim 15

The terminating structure described in claim 9 characterized by the housing being formed from a blank that is bent at the junctures of the front, side and back walls with one another, one of the junctures being at the longitudinal edges of the blank, and said edges being connected together by tabs at one edge projecting through openings in the opposite edge.

Claim 16

The terminating structure described in claim 9 characterized by the conductor-receiving openings and set screw openings being in the front wall of the housing, and the wall material being displaced inwardly around each of the openings to give the wall a greater effective thickness around the edges of the openings.