Electric connector

Claim 2

An electric connector, comprising a housing of electrically insulating material and including at least a bottom wall and being provided with a hollow space; an electrically conductive plate disposed on the upper surface of said bottom wall of said housing; a spring means disposed within said hollow space of said housing and above said electrically conductive plate and consisting of at least a retaining plate spring having one end turned back inwardly at an angle larger than 90*and a clamping plate spring of substantially V-shape disposed underneath said retaining plate spring; a cam lever pivotally supported above said spring means so as to assume a first position to allow an insertion or an extraction of a conductor between said spring means and said electrically conductive plate and a second position to depress said spring means in a direction at substantially 90*with respect to said conductor so as to retain and clamp said conductor against said electrically conductive plate; and a means for supporting said spring means in a raised position while said cam lever is in said first position so as to form a spacing between the lower portion of said spring means and the electrically conductive plate sufficient for inserting or pulling out said conductor without striking against said lower portion of said spring means, said means for supporting said spring means consisting of a pair of clamping members formed integrally with said housing, between which that end of the spring means which is opposite to said turned back end is loosely or tightly clamped.

Claim 3

An electric connector comprising a housing of electrically insulating material and including at least a bottom wall and provided with a hollow space; an electrically conductive plate disposed on the upper surface of said bottom wall of said housing; a spring means disposed within said hollow space of said housing and above said electrically conductive plate and consisting of a retaining plate spring including ends both of which are turned back inwardly at an angle larger than 90*and a clamping plate spring of substantially W-shape disposed underneath said retaining plate spring; a pair of cam levers each of which is pivotally supported above said spring means so as to assume a first position to allow an insertion or an extraction of a conductor between said spring means and said electrically conductive plate and a second position to depress said spring means in the direction at substantially right angles with respect to said conductor so as to retain and clamp said conductor against said electrically conductive plate; and a means disposed at a middle of said pair of the cam levers and for supporting said spring means at its middle point so that two half portions of the spring means can be operated separately, the height of said supporting means being so determined that when said operating member is in said first position, there may be formed a spacing between the lower portion of said spring means and said electrically conductive plate sufficient for inserting or pulling out said conductor into or out of said electric connector without striking against said lower portion of said spring means, said means for supporting said spring means being composed of a central pillar on which said spring means disposed at its central position, whereby said pair of cam levers are separately operative so as to operate each half portion of said spring means independently from each other.

Claim 4

An electric connector comprising a housing of electrically insulating material and including at least a bottom wall and provided with a hollow space; an electrically conductive plate disposed on the upper surface of said bottom wall of said housing; a spring means disposed within said hollow space of said housing and above said electrically conductive plate and consisting of a retaining plate spring including ends both of which are turned back inwardly at an angle larger than 90*and a clamping plate spring of substantially W-shape disposed underneath said retaining plate spring; a pair of cam levers each of which is pivotally supported above said spring means so as to assume a first position to allow an insertion or an extraction of a conductor between said spring means and said electrically conductive plate and a second position to depress said spring means in the direction at substantially right angles with respect to said conductor so as to retain and clamp said conductor against said electrically conductive plate; and a means disposed at a middle of said pair of the cam levers and for supporting said spring means at its middle point so that two half portions of the spring means can be operated separately, the height of said supporting means being so determined that when said operating member is in said first position, there may be formed a spacing between the lower portion of said spring means and said electrically conductive plate sufficient for inserting or pulling out said conductor into or out of said electric connector without striking against said lower portion of said spring means, said means for supporting said spring means being composed of a central pillar on which said spring means disposed at its central position, whereby said pair of cam levers are separately operative so as to operate each half portion of said spring means independently from each other.

Claim 5

An electric connector as claimed in claim 2, wherein said spring means is composed of a pair of half portions of a retaining plate spring and a pair of half portions of a clamping plate spring completely cut at their middle point at which said supporting means is provided.

Claim 6

An electric connector particularly suitable for power application, comprising a housing of electrically insulating material and including at least a bottom wall and provided with a hollow space; an electrically conductive plate disposed on an upper surface of said bottom wall of said housing; a spring means disposed within said hollow space of said housing and above said electrically conductive plate and consisting of at least a pair of half portions of a retaining plate spring cut at the central point outer ends of these half portions being turned back inwardly at an angle larger than 90*, a clamping plate spring of substantially W-shape disposed underneath said retaining plate spring and two reinforcing plate springs disposed on and below said retaining plate spring, respectively; a pair of cam levers disposed above said spring means and pivotally supported by a pair of shafts so as to assume a first position to allow an insertion or an extraction of a conductor into or out of said electric connector and a second position to depress said spring means so as to retain and clamp said conductor against said electrically conductive plate; and a means formed integral with said housing and having a substantially circular contour for supporting said spring means at a raised position while said cam lever is in said first position so as to form a spacing between the lower portion of said spring means and the electrically conductive plate sufficient for inserting or pulling out said conductor without striking against said lower portion of said spring means, whereby said pair of cam levers are separately operable so that each half portion of said spring means can be operated independently from each other.

Claim 7

An electric connector particularly suitable for power application, comprising a housing of electrically insulating material and including at least a bottom wall and provided with a hollow space; an electrically conductive plate disposed on an upper surface of said bottom wall of said housing; a spring means disposed within said hollow space of said housing and above said electrically conductive plate and consisting of at least a pair of half portions of a retaining plate spring cut at the central point outer ends of these half portions being turned back inwardly at an angle larger than 90*, a clamping plate spring of substantially W-shape disposed underneath said retaining plate spring and two reinforcing plate springs disposed on and below said retaining plate spring, respectively; a pair of cam levers disposed above said spring means and pivotally supported by a pair of shafts so as to assume a first position to allow an insertion or an extraction of a conductor into or out of said electric connector and a second position to depress said spring means so as to retain and clamp said conductor against said electrically conductive plate; and a means formed integral with said housing and having a substantially circular contour for supporting said spring means at a raised position while said cam lever is in said first position so as to form a spacing between the lower portion of said spring means and the electrically conductive plate sufficient for inserting or pulling out said conductor without striking against said lower portion of said spring means, whereby said pair of cam levers are separately operable so that each half portion of said spring means can be operated independently from each other.

Claim 8

An electric connector as claimed in claim 4, wherein said cam lever consists of a cam portion and a lever portion and said lever portion is provided with a recess, whereby said cam lever can be operated by means of a tool having a portion which can be inserted into said recess.

Claim 9

An electric connector particularly suitable for power applications, comprising a housing of electrically insulating material and including at least a bottom wall and provided with a hollow space; an electrically conductive plate disposed on the upper surface of said bottom wall of said housing; a spring means disposeD within said hollow space of said housing and above said spring means and consisting of two retaining plate springs including ends both of which are turned back inwardly at an angle larger than 90*, a clamping plate spring of substantially W-shape disposed underneath said retaining plate springs and two reinforcing plate springs arranged on and below said retaining plate springs, respectively; a pair of cam levers disposed above said spring means and pivotally supported by a pair of shafts so as to assume a first position to allow an insertion or an extraction of a conductor into or out of said electric connector and a second position to depress said spring means so as to retain and clamp said conductor against said electrically conductive plate; a depressed portion being provided in said bottom wall of said housing; a plate spring disposed in said depressed portion; a means for supporting said spring means and consisting of a stem and an auxiliary electrically conductive plate secured to said stem and extending in a direction parallel to said electrically conductive plate, said spring means being disposed on said auxiliary electrically conductive plate; and a central pillar formed integral with said housing between said clamping plate spring and said auxiliary electrically conductive plate, the height of said central pillar being so determined that when one of said cam levers is actuated, one of half portions of said spring means can only be operated; whereby said means for supporting said spring means is movably arranged on said plate spring disposed in said depressed portion through a hole provided in said electrically conductive plate and the length of said stem of said supporting means is so determined that when said cam lever is in said first position, there may be formed a spacing between said electrically conductive plate and said auxiliary electrically conductive plate sufficient for inserting or pulling out said conductor therebetween without striking against said auxiliary electrically conductive plate.

Claim 10

An electric connector particularly suitable for power applications, comprising a housing of electrically insulating material and including at least a bottom wall and provided with a hollow space; an electrically conductive plate disposed on the upper surface of said bottom wall of said housing; a spring means disposeD within said hollow space of said housing and above said spring means and consisting of two retaining plate springs including ends both of which are turned back inwardly at an angle larger than 90*, a clamping plate spring of substantially W-shape disposed underneath said retaining plate springs and two reinforcing plate springs arranged on and below said retaining plate springs, respectively; a pair of cam levers disposed above said spring means and pivotally supported by a pair of shafts so as to assume a first position to allow an insertion or an extraction of a conductor into or out of said electric connector and a second position to depress said spring means so as to retain and clamp said conductor against said electrically conductive plate; a depressed portion being provided in said bottom wall of said housing; a plate spring disposed in said depressed portion; a means for supporting said spring means and consisting of a stem and an auxiliary electrically conductive plate secured to said stem and extending in a direction parallel to said electrically conductive plate, said spring means being disposed on said auxiliary electrically conductive plate; and a central pillar formed integral with said housing between said clamping plate spring and said auxiliary electrically conductive plate, the height of said central pillar being so determined that when one of said cam levers is actuated, one of half portions of said spring means can only be operated; whereby said means for supporting said spring means is movably arranged on said plate spring disposed in said depressed portion through a hole provided in said electrically conductive plate and the length of said stem of said supporting means is so determined that when said cam lever is in said first position, there may be formed a spacing between said electrically conductive plate and said auxiliary electrically conductive plate sufficient for inserting or pulling out said conductor therebetween without striking against said auxiliary electrically conductive plate.

Claim 11

An electric connector comprising a housing of electrically insulating material and including at least a bottom wall and provided with a hollow space; an electrically conductive plate disposed on the upper surface of said bottom wall of said housing; a spring means disposed within said hollow space of said housing and above said electrically conductive plate and consisting of two pairs of half portions of a retaining plate spring having outer ends each of which is turned back inwardly at an angle larger than 90*, a clamping plate spring of substantially W-shape disposed underneath said retaining plate springs and two reinforcing plate springs disposed on and below said retaining plate springs, respectively; a pair of cam levers disposed above said spring means, and pivotally supported by a pair of shafts so as to assume a first position to allow an insertion or extraction of a conductor into or out of said electric connector and to a second position to depress said spring means to retain and clamp said conductor against said electrically conductive plate; and a central pillar formed integral with said housing for supporting said spring means at its central position, the height of said central pillar being so determined that, when said cam lever is in said first position, the spring means is supported at a raised position to form a spacing between said electrically conductive plate and the lower portion of said spring means sufficient for inserting or pulling out said conductor therebetween without striking against the lower portion of said spring means.

Claim 12

An electric connector comprising a housing of electrically insulating material and including at least a bottom wall and provided with a hollow space; an electrically conductive plate disposed on the upper surface of said bottom wall of said housing; a spring means disposed within said hollow space of said housing and above said electrically conductive plate and consisting of two pairs of half portions of a retaining plate spring having outer ends each of which is turned back inwardly at an angle larger than 90*, a clamping plate spring of substantially W-shape disposed underneath said retaining plate springs and two reinforcing plate springs disposed on and below said retaining plate springs, respectively; a pair of cam levers disposed above said spring means, and pivotally supported by a pair of shafts so as to assume a first position to allow an insertion or extraction of a conductor into or out of said electric connector and to a second position to depress said spring means to retain and clamp said conductor against said electrically conductive plate; and a central pillar formed integral with said housing for supporting said spring means at its central position, the height of said central pillar being so determined that, when said cam lever is in said first position, the spring means is supported at a raised position to form a spacing between said electrically conductive plate and the lower portion of said spring means sufficient for inserting or pulling out said conductor therebetween without striking against the lower portion of said spring means.

Claim 13

An electric connector assembly, comprising a plurality of electric connectors as claimed in claim 7 disposed in a row; at least one reinforcing plate having a non-straight cross-section and being tightly passed through recesses formed in the housings of said electric connectors, the shape of said recesses corresponding to said croSs-section of said reinforcing plate; and a pair of end blocks having recesses corresponding to said cross-section of said reinforcing plate into which recesses both ends of said reinforcing plate are tightly inserted.