Who doesn’t like doing quality work, with quality materials, in a short period of time? If you ask me, “I would say no one”. The same can be said for wiring up a control panel. One crucial product that will make wiring termination installations faster is a terminal block. Terminal blocks are a crucial product when wires and cables need to interface with any type of electrical or electronic equipment. As more and more components take up space within the control cabinet, one needs to establish a reliable secure connection in a limited space. Currently, one way to achieve this state is the use of multi-layered DIN-rail terminal blocks. Classic screw-type single-level terminal blocks are the typical method, but these are relatively inefficient.

Basic ‘feed through’ terminal blocks have one wire connection point on each side, with a conductive bar between them. This electrical portion resides inside an insulated housing. Some terminal blocks mount directly to back panels, while other styles install on DIN rails or may be stacked side-by-side to save space. Designers must select terminal blocks with the right voltage, ampacity, and physical sizes to match the application. While standard terminal blocks can be bulky and eliminate valuable cabinet space, the typical screw-type terminal blocks often have screws and/or washers that are lost.

“Lost screw, what are you going to do?” Most likely, “buy new”. On top of that, they may require ring or fork lugs to be crimped onto wire ends. Screwing down each terminal connection point requires tools and takes a lot amount of time. Once assembled, the screws must be correctly torqued to ensure a proper connection. Too loose will cause the wire to overheat or disconnect, while too tight can result in a stripped screw or snapped screw head.

Other designs use a spring cage-type connection, which is a screwless design that can accept a bare wire or a wire with a pin ferrule crimped onto the end. However, this style still requires a tool for both wire insertion and wire release, which is still not optimal, taking up time and requiring the proper tools to accomplish. Each of the potential issues with screw-type and spring cage type terminal blocks can be overcome by using newerDP Seriesmulti-level push-in design (PID) terminal blocks.

多級連接在更少的空間

Signaling applications are often two-wire or three-wire circuits. To address these use cases, a natural choice is to incorporate multiple levels within a terminal block so that all conductors of a two- or three-conductor cable can be terminated in one clearly identified area.

If you are concerned with the density of working with multi-level terminal blocks, the DP Series terminal blocks has taken that into consideration in its manufacturing process. The push-in terminal blocks physical dimensions and marking provisions make them easy to use. For example, instead of using multiple single-level terminal blocks, one could use a three-level terminal block that accepts 2.5 mm²wires with an overall width of 5.1 mm, and still terminate six conductors. This configuration would save about 66% of prime control cabinet space compared to the single-level construct. Multi-level terminal blocks speed up installation and make it easier for personnel to troubleshoot any issues because all the related terminations are close together.

Dinkle’sDP Seriesis the spring-loaded push-in design (PID) connection, which entirely does away with screws and washers. PID terminal blocks can be wired more quickly than screw-type components, reducing wiring labor by at least 50%. Another key benefit is constant spring pressure, which resists vibration better than screw-type terminals, making PID terminal blocks the best choice for many types of equipment. To view the line of Dinkle products that MISUMI carries, visit the dedicated pagehere.