Description

Title of Invention: CABLE CLAMP HOLDER WITH AN INTEGRATED GROUND CONTACT, IN PARTICULAR FOR AN

ELECTRIC HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCE

TECHNICAL FIELD

[1] The present invention relates to a cable clamp holder which carries an integrated connector or ground contact, particularly useful for electrically feeding electric household appliances. BACKGROUND ART

[2] It is known, for example from EP-A- 1808629, that the electric power supply cable of an electric household appliance must be held in use against accidental jerks from a cable clamp device; this is usually obtained as a support fixable to a carcass of the electric household appliance and possibly forms a complete terminal board; in the case of bulk problems, the cable clamp holder forms a separate element, independent of the terminal board, which element is usually accommodated in a through perforation of the carcass, through which the power supply cable to be fixed is passed, and comprises, in addition to a supporting body in which a through seat is obtained for accommodating the cable to be fixed, a wedge-shaped pressing element, which is inserted into the seat trans vers ally to the cable in order to choke it.

[3] The known structure only allows to mechanically block the power supply cable, while all the other mechanical and electrical functions are provided by the terminal board, which however may be located at an even considerable distance from the cable clamp device, and in a position which is hard to be accessed, inside the carcass of the electric household appliance. Under such conditions, for example, the grounding operation of the carcass itself, which is usually made of metal material, is excessively complex and difficult, because it is necessary to operate on the terminal board and therefore inside the carcass. DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

[4] It is an object of the present invention to solve the described drawbacks by providing a blocking device consisting of a cable clamp holder which allows to ground the carcass of the electric household appliance in a simple, cost-effective manner, while being simple to be manufactured and assembled, reliable over time and small-sized.

[5] The present invention thus relates to a cable clamp holder, as defined in claim 1.

[6] In particular, the cable clamp holder according to the invention comprises a body made of electrically non-conducting material having: a sleeve portion adapted to thoroughly accommodate, in use, at least one electric cable to be blocked; a flange

portion peripherally obtained around the sleeve portion, at a first end of the same; and an essentially wedge-shaped pressing element, insertable into the sleeve portion from the side of the flange portion and perpendicularly to the latter.

[7] Furthermore, according to a first feature of the invention, the body laterally carries an electrically conducting, essentially U-shaped metal element having: a first wing defined by a plate portion arranged parallel and immediately adjacent to the flange portion, against a rear face of the same facing towards a second end of the sleeve portion, opposite to the first; and a second wing opposite and parallel to the first, arranged adjacent to the second end of the sleeve portion and shaped so as to define at least one blade contact of the faston type.

[8] According to a further feature of the invention, the sleeve portion of the body is shaped so as to be adapted to be inserted, in use, into a through perforation of a metal carcass of an electric household appliance, with the flange portion abutting against an outer surface of the carcass of the electric household appliance; and the first wing of the conducting metal element is shaped and placed so as to remain sandwiched in use between the rear face of the flange portion and the outer surface of the carcass of the electric household appliance.

[9] Furthermore, the first wing of the conducting metal element has at least one peripherally protruding eyelet (in this case, a pair of opposite eyelets), which extends so as to protrude in an essentially radial direction, from under a peripheral edge of the flange portion of the body.

[10] In this manner, the introduction of the cable clamp holder in the through perforation which forms its seat in the carcass of the electric household appliance results in simultaneously grounding the carcass itself, grounding which is completed by simply connecting the faston contact to the contacts of the terminal board with a return wire which, in virtue of the described structure, may also be pre-wired on the faston of the ground contact of the cable clamp holder, in virtue of its particular geometry, being able to be inserted into the perforation of the carcass by means of a partial rotation which allows the faston contact, possibly pre-wired, to 'overcome' the edge of the perforation, edge against which the flange portion of the body then abuts, thus determining the fastening of the cable clamp holder and especially the perfect adherence of the first wing of the U-shaped metal element forming the ground contact to the carcass itself, adherence which may be further ensured, if standards so required, by a screw inserted into one or both of the eyelets (if there are two). BRIEF DESCRIPRION OF THE DRAWING

[11] Further features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of a non-limitative embodiment thereof, with reference to the accompanying drawing figure, which shows a front, three-quarters perspective view,

partially exploded, with parts removed and/or sectioned, of a cable clamp holder made according to the invention and shown in a rest configuration, configuration in which it is obtained, and during the assembly on the carcass of an electric household appliance. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[12] With reference to the aforesaid figure, numeral 1 indicates as a whole a cable clamp holder comprising a body 2 made of an electrically non-conducting material, specifically an injection molded, synthetic plastic resin, and having a sleeve portion 4 adapted to thoroughly accommodate, in use, at least one electric cable 5 to be blocked,a flange portion 6 peripherally obtained around the sleeve portion 4, at a first end 7 of the same, and an essentially wedge-shaped pressing element 8, known per se, insertable in a known fashion into the sleeve portion 4 from the side of the flange portion 6 and perpendicularly to the latter, into a seat 10 for passage and choking of cable 5, defined inside the sleeve portion 4, coaxially to the same.

[13] According to a first feature of the invention, the body 2 laterally carries an electrically conducting, essentially U-shaped metal element 12 having: a first wing 14 defined by a plate portion arranged parallel and immediately adjacent to the flange portion 6, against a rear face 16 of the same facing towards a second end 18 of the sleeve portion, opposite to the first end 7 of the same; and a second wing 20 opposite and parallel to the first, arranged adjacent to the second end 18 of the sleeve portion 4 and shaped so as to define at least one blade contact 21 of the faston type, in the illustrated case a pair of blade contacts 21 of the faston type arranged side by side and perpendicularly oriented to a side wall 24 of the sleeve portion, having the laying plane perpendicular to that of the flange portion 6.

[14] The wings 14 and 20 are then mechanically and electrically connected to each other by an intermediate bridge portion 22.

[15] The sleeve portion 4 of the body 2 is shaped so as to be adapted in use to be inserted into a through perforation 30 of a metal carcass 31 of an electric household appliance (not shown), with the flange portion 6 abutting against an outer surface 32 of the carcass 31 of the electric household appliance; in particular, the first wing 14 of the conducting metal element 12 is shaped and placed so as to remain in use sandwiched between the rear face 16 of the flange portion 6 and the outer surface 32 of the carcass 31 of the electric household appliance, so that the metal element 12 defines in use, in the manner which will be seen, a ground contact for grounding the metal carcass 31.

[16] For this purpose, the first wing 14 of the conducting metal element 12 has at least one peripherally protruding eyelet 35, which extends so as to protrude in an essentially radial direction from under a peripheral edge 36 of the flange portion 6; in particular, as shown, the conducting metal element 12 preferably has a pair of opposite protruding eyelets 35, each arranged towards a corresponding side 37,38 of the sleeve portion 4 of

the body 2, which preferably has a quadrangular-base prismatic shape.

[17] Furthermore, the sleeve portion 4 is provided with first means 40, known per se (e.g. snap-locking elastic teeth) for snap-fastening the body 2 to the carcass 31 of the electric household appliance in cooperation with the flange portion 6 of the body 2 itself, which acts as abutting and opposing element for the fastening means 40.

[18] The U-shaped conducting metal element 12 is integrally carried by the rear face 16 of the flange portion 6 of the body 2 and/or by a side wall 24, by means of second, reciprocally connectable, snap-fixing means 41 obtained on the body 2 and on the conducting metal element 12, respectively, in this case consisting of a T-shaped plug 42 and a tooth 43 of wall 24 and first wing 14, respectively, which snap-engage a perforation 44 and a perforation 45, respectively, obtained through the intermediate bridge portion 22 of the element 12 and the flange portion 6, respectively.

[19] The wedge-shaped pressing element 8 is integrally obtained in one piece with the non-conducting body 2, made of the same material; in a rest position thereof (that shown in the figure, which also represents the position which is obtained by molding), it is radially and protrudingly carried by the flange portionβ, inparticular between the eyelets 35, by means of a flexible tongue 50; the latter is long such as to allow in use the wedge-shaped pressing element 8 to pass from the rest position to a working position (known and not shown for simplicity), in which it is inserted into the seat 10 coaxially to the same, with a 180° tipping, diagrammatically shown in the figure by the curved arrow.

[20] The seat 10 is further provided with means 55 for determining in use an axial advancement of the pressing element8 inthe seat 10, ina direction from the first end 7 towards the second end 18 of the sleeve portion4, inthis case consisting of a threaded hole which may be engaged in use by a screw (not shown) thoroughly and idly crossing the pressing element 8.

[21] In general, the body 2 is obtained as an independent element, separate from a possible terminal board 70 (known) which may be placed inside the carcass 31, even in a distal position from the cable clamp holder 1 ; however, if required, the body 2 may also be obtained integrally in one piece with the terminal board 70 for the electric household appliance, instead of being a separate element, the terminal board 70 which may be fed indeed by means of the electric cable5 ina known manner and from which an electric wire for grounding the entire carcass 31, thorough the terminal board 70, may return to the contacts 21, indeed by virtue of the grounding contact formed by the element 12.

[22] By virtue of the eyelets 35, the latter may be further mechanically and electrically connected to the carcass 31, more than already ensured by the pressure exerted in use by the flange portion 6 due to the snap-fastening means 40, by one or two screws (not

shown) passed through for engaging one or both of the eyelets 35 and each screwed in a threaded hole 72 obtained through the carcass 31 close to a peripheral edge 73 of the through perforation 30.