US2121329A - Wire connecter - Google Patents

Description

June 2l, 1938. R N ROWE 2,121,329

WIRE CONNECTER Filed Dec. 9, 1955 @ff/smlllllll y' 17 INVENTOR RAvMoNo N. RowE,

14' C n BY 7W y RNEY 50 Walls.

Patented June 2i, 193s arriere Raymond N. Rowe, lPlainville, llonn., assigner to The Trumbull llectric Manufacturing Com pany, Blainville, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application December 9, i935, Serial No. 53,519 3 claims. (ci. iis- 269) The present invention relates to electrical connecters.A AIn the production of `connecters for commercial use it is desirable that the parts be few yand the construction be simple and rugged. One object of my invention is to produce `a simplified and sturdy wire or cable clamp.

My invention also contemplates an improved electrical connecter in which a cable or wire can be readily secured with a good electrical and mechanical connection.

For economical manufacture and use, connecters should be capable of being easily :issembled without the use of solder. My invention embraces a device of this character. Another object is the design of a clamp with a minimum number of parts.

Still another object of the invention is to make a connecter unit which can be handled and transported as a unit before use, without fear of losing any of the parts. Y Y

These objects, and others, will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying 'drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is an end view any cable.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a plan'view otthe same.

Fig. 4 is a drop perspective view oi' the parts of the clamp.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a cable end clamped in place. l

Fig. 6 is a view of the underside of the clamp. The preferred form of wire or cable connecter according to my invention includes a body I0 which may be of box-like form as shown. A terminal foot II is made integral with one side of the body I0. This foot is riveted, bolted or otherwise secured to` a switch, panel or other support.` l At I2, in the body I 0, is a recess for the cable I3 and for the clamp which holds the cable. ,The cable clamp includes the clamp plate I4 and the clamp screw I5.` This screw is exteriorly threaded through one Wall of the body I0;

At I 6, in the body I0. is formed a V groove with inclined sides for the partial reception of a cable end. In the clamp plate I4, opposite the groove I6 when the parts are in operative position, is located a V groove I1 with inclined This groove I' has a Toughened surface or teeth as at I8 in order to grip the cable firmly. l

For holding the parts loosely together a stem I9 is formed on the top of plate I4, the height 55 A of the stem being such that the plate and stem of the connecter without can be easily slid into the recess i2 when no cable is present and when the lower end of screw l5 is above the top of the recess. As soon as the nut is screwed down so that its inner end extends beyond the surface of the recess I2, the stem I9 enters the recess 20 and the plate and stem are held within the body I0.

The recess 20 is made sufllciently larger than the stem i9 so that a limited amount of play between the nut and the plate is possible. Note Fig. 5 in which the plate and stem are shown slightly tilted as they may be under some conditions.

By shaping the recess 20 into a hexagonal'or other non-circular form, this recess serves the double purpose 'of receiving the stem I9 and act# ing as a socket for a wrench or other tightening tool.

In the operation of this connecter it is seen that the parts can all be assembled as a. unit and carried as such from place to place simply by sliding the clamping plate into the recess I2 and then screwing down the screw until the stem and screw hold the plate from sliding out of the recess. It should be clear that even though the parts are now assembled, considerable vertical and tilting movement of the plate is possible.

The foot I I can then be connected to the desired Lelement andthe bare end of cable I3 placed under the plate in the groove I6. The screw I5 is then tightened, compressing the cable strands and, because of the inclined walls of thegrooves I6 and I1, spreading the strands to a limited extent while they are being compressed. The friction due to the spreading brightens the surfaces of the wires'in the cable and produces a better possibility for electrical contact. The roughened surface IB bites into the cable to improve both electrical and mechanical connection between the clamp andthe cable. All of the parts are preferably made of conductive material.

Because of the engagement of the stem I 9 within the recess 20 it is impossible for the plate to be pulled out of the recess I2 by stresses on the cable. In spite of this, the connection between the screw and the plate permits a tilting of the plate in any direction to compensate for irregularities in the thickness or position of the cable end.

- As the clamp screw has a passage 20- through it the stem of the clamp plate is accessible so as to permit a tool to be inserted to loosen the plate in case its gets wedged or stuck. While I have illustrated and described one preferred `form of electrical connecter, it'is obvious that the principles involved could be enibodied in other structures without departing from the spirit of this invention.

With this in mind, I claim:

1. A wire terminal having a cast metal body with a socket for receiving the end of a conductor, a clamping plate having a projecting stem and insertable into said socket from o'ne end of the socket, said body having a screw-threaded passage intersecting said socket, the diameter of the passage being approximately equal to the width of said socket and a clamp screw adjustable in said passage, said screw having a passage through it enough larger in diameter than saidstem to permitA the clamp plate and its stem to tilt when the screw is tightened against the plate ,around the stem, said stem and plate being accessible through the passage in the screw, the stem of the plate extending part way into the passage in the screw and leaving room above the stem for the reception of a Wrench, said screw engaging the stem and holding the plate and its -stem from accidental removal when the conductor is removed and the screw is tightened.

conductor, anda screw threaded passage com-y municating with one side of said recess, an elongated clamping plate in said recess, a stem positioned centrally on the side of said plate opposite that on which a conductor is adapted to be clamped, a screw having a screw threaded seat in the passage of said body and provided with a passage through said screw into which said stem loosely extends, a part at least of said recess being polygonal in cross section to accommodate an actuating wrench which wrenchmay engage against the end of the stem in the screw, said screw bearing on said plate around said' stem, the sides of said recess between which the plate is moved being parallel and of such extent that when the bottom of the screw is adjacent the top of said recess and the recess is empty, the clamping plate and stem may be inserted through an end of said recess and the stem inserted in the adjacent passage of the screw after which a conductor may be inserted in the body recess and said plate clamped on a conductor by said screw.

3. An electrical connecter including a rigid one-piece cast metal body having a wire-receiving recess therein and having an integral anchorage lug, a clamping plate freely movable within said recess, a stern integral with one side of said plate, the overall dimensions of said plate and stem being such that both plate and stem can be slldably inserted into said recess, a clamping screwl threadedly engaged in one wall of said body and capable of being screwed to extend into said recess to clamp said plate, said screw having an aperture therein of materially larger diameter than said stem and adapted to` surround'said stem loosely when the screw extends into the recess, whereby the screw holds the stem and plate from sliding out of the recess while permitting sliding and tilting movement of said plate within said recess.

RAYMOND N. ROWE.

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