Terminal board for electrical equipment

Claim 1

In a terminal board assembly composed of a support of electrical insulating material provided with elements for the mounting of electrical devices, which elements lie in a first row, and electrically conductive elements for connecting electric wires to each device, the mounting and connecting elements associated with each device being arranged in a second row which extends perpendicular to the first row, the improvement wherein: said assembly comprises a plurality of identical terminal board units connected together in an interlocked manner and lying in a common plane in the direction of the first row, each said unit containing all of the mounting and connecting elements for at least one electrical device; each said unit having two end walls extending perpendicularly to the second row in which its associated mounting and connecting elements are arranged, and being provided with insertion slits each extending from one of said end walls into the interior of said terminal board unit and oriented approximately parallel to a plane defined by the direction of the first row and the direction of the second row of said mounting and connecting elements associated with the respective unit, each said insertion slit holding a respective connecting element; each said connecting element has a flat shape and is provided, at opposed sides, with detent tabs which extend in the direction of insertion of each said connecting element in an associated one of said insertion slits, and each said unit is provided, in association with each said insertion slit, with two recesses each arranged to receive a respective detent tab of one said connecting element, each tab and each recess being provided with respective surfaces which extend approximately normally to the direction of insertion of the associated connecting element and which engage one another upon completion of insertion of said connecting element for preventing subsequent removal of said connecting element; each said terminal board unit has two opposed cover faces each extending between said end walls and parallel to the plane of orientation of said insertion slits; each said terminal board unit is provided with further recesses into each of which a respective insertion slit opens and each of which is open to a first one of said cover faces and to that one of said end walls from which its associated insertion slit extends, there being two said further recesses open to one of said end walls; the portions of each said unit delimiting two said further recesses which open to said one end wall are connected together only in the region of said first one of said cover faces; each said unit portion delimiting each one of said two further recesses is formed to give its associated further recess a U-shaped cross section in a plane parallel to said one end wall; each said unit includes a bar portion connecting together said portions delimiting said two further recesses; and each said insertion slit is located approximately midway between the top and bottom of the U-shape defining its associated further recess.