Panel mount terminal block

[George Herold]

So I’ve got a little plastic box and I want to make connections on the outside.

I thought of a terminal block soldered to the pcb that ‘sticks’ througha hole.
But it doesn’t really work. (Well it’d work but it looks like cr@p.)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qrhak96zjn2t12l/DSCF0027.JPG
That’s an attempt at a mock-up.
(It’s about 0.6 inches from the top of the pcb to the top of the box.)
(I’ve ordered some bigger (5mm) terminal blocks, they may be OK.)

So some kind of panel mount terminal block would be ideal.
Banana plugs are just a bit too big and clunky.

Any ideas?

Thanks
George H.

PS searching digikey I found this... it’s a bit big.
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/0708250/277-5906-ND/348301

 

[[email protected]]

I thought of a terminal block soldered to the pcb that ‘sticks’ through a hole.
But it doesn’t really work. (Well it’d work but it looks like cr@p.)

Well, your cut-out is crappy :-;
So are mine.

We are in the same boat, so to speak.

Molding a new enclosure would be too expensive. I am thinking about molding small rectangular covers to hide the cut-outs

 

[Don Y]

Hi George,

So I’ve got a little plastic box and I want to make connections on the outside.

Are *you* the only one fiddling with the connections? Or, do users
have to be able to do this as well? How coarse/fine can the connection
*points* be? What sort of wire diameters?

I thought of a terminal block soldered to the pcb that ‘sticks’ through a hole.
But it doesn’t really work. (Well it’d work but it looks like cr@p.)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qrhak96zjn2t12l/DSCF0027.JPG
That’s an attempt at a mock-up.
(It’s about 0.6 inches from the top of the pcb to the top of the box.)
(I’ve ordered some bigger (5mm) terminal blocks, they may be OK.)

So some kind of panel mount terminal block would be ideal.
Banana plugs are just a bit too big and clunky.

PS searching digikey I found this... it’s a bit big.
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/0708250/277-5906-ND/348301

How robust does the mechanism have to be? Strain relief, etc.?
Do you want it to be easy to disconnect/reconnect? Or, semi-permanent?

 

[John Devereux]

So I’ve got a little plastic box and I want to make connections on the outside.

I thought of a terminal block soldered to the pcb that ‘sticks’ through a hole.
But it doesn’t really work. (Well it’d work but it looks like cr@p.)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qrhak96zjn2t12l/DSCF0027.JPG
That’s an attempt at a mock-up.
(It’s about 0.6 inches from the top of the pcb to the top of the box.)
(I’ve ordered some bigger (5mm) terminal blocks, they may be OK.)

So some kind of panel mount terminal block would be ideal.
Banana plugs are just a bit too big and clunky.

Any ideas?

You can get "DIN rail enclosures" that are designed for PCBs with
terminal blocks sticking out, or have terminals built into them.

 

[Lasse Langwadt Christensen]

Den tirsdag den 15. oktober 2013 18.30.21 UTC+2 skrev George Herold:

So I’ve got a little plastic box and I want to make connections on the outside.



I thought of a terminal block soldered to the pcb that ‘sticks’ through a hole.

But it doesn’t really work. (Well it’d work but it looks like cr@p.)



https://www.dropbox.com/s/qrhak96zjn2t12l/DSCF0027.JPG

That’s an attempt at a mock-up.

(It’s about 0.6 inches from the top of the pcb to the top of the box.)

(I’ve ordered some bigger (5mm) terminal blocks, they may be OK.)



So some kind of panel mount terminal block would be ideal.

Banana plugs are just a bit too big and clunky.



Any ideas?



Thanks

George H.



PS searching digikey I found this... it’s a bit big.

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/0708250/277-5906-ND/348301

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/796636-2/A98231-ND/1827090
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/796634-2/A98223-ND/1827082

at 12mm is it slightly short of your 0.6 inch

or http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/796644-2/A98248-ND/1827107
if you wan to go through the side instead

-Lasse

 

[George Herold]

Well, your cut-out is crappy :-;

Just 'bojjed'(sp) a hole with a mill. For production we'll use professionals.
:^)

 

[[email protected]]

...

I think you guys are missing the point. The cut-out on the enclosure is crappy, not the connector itself.

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

So I’ve got a little plastic box and I want to make connections on the outside.

I thought of a terminal block soldered to the pcb that ‘sticks’ through a hole.
But it doesn’t really work. (Well it’d work but it looks like cr@p.)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qrhak96zjn2t12l/DSCF0027.JPG
That’s an attempt at a mock-up.
(It’s about 0.6 inches from the top of the pcb to the top of the box.)
(I’ve ordered some bigger (5mm) terminal blocks, they may be OK.)

So some kind of panel mount terminal block would be ideal.
Banana plugs are just a bit too big and clunky.

Any ideas?

Maybe something from this series?
http://media.digikey.com/Photos/Phoenix Photos/1830619.JPG

They're pluggable terminal strips.

 

[Ecnerwal]

I thought of a terminal block soldered to the pcb that Œsticks¹ through a
hole.
But it doesn¹t really work. (Well it¹d work but it looks like cr@p.)

Well, your cut-out is crappy :-;[/QUOTE]

Yes, that appears to be the basic problem - too big and too crude. The
actual terminal block looks fine, if it suits what you are doing.

So are mine.

We are in the same boat, so to speak.

Molding a new enclosure would be too expensive. I am thinking about molding
small rectangular covers to hide the cut-outs

Or get someone with either (depends on your local availability) the
ability to make and use a router template to make a NICE cutout, or use
a CNC router to perform the same job (third option for the
dreadfully-trendy - 3-D print a new enclosure, but it won't be
cost-competitive.) In some markets you may have an easier time finding a
CNC milling machine, which is overkill but will work.

 

[George Herold]

Hi George,







Are *you* the only one fiddling with the connections? Or, do users

have to be able to do this as well? How coarse/fine can the connection

*points* be? What sort of wire diameters?











How robust does the mechanism have to be? Strain relief, etc.?

Do you want it to be easy to disconnect/reconnect? Or, semi-permanent?

Hi Don, This will for students making connections. There will be some strain relief in the wires. But mostly I figure if they break it they can make a new wire. I guess at some time the terminal block may break... but that can be replaced by a competent tech. There will be some disconnect-reconnect. We could go with just permanent wires.. but then there are always wires flapping around. And the unit it attaches to (an LED) will not be used all the time, so some way to disconnect would be nice.

George H.

 

[George Herold]

---

Cinch 1-140-Y?
http://www.cinch.com/pdfs/Barrier-Blocks-Catalog-Pages.pdf
or maybe:
http://www.molex.com/molex/products/family?channel=products&chanName=family&key=beau_barrier_strips

JF

Hmm OK I thought the barrier strips would be too big, but maybe I can find a small one.

Thanks,
George H.

 

[[email protected]]

Yes, that appears to be the basic problem - too big and too crude. The
actual terminal block looks fine, if it suits what you are doing.




Or get someone with either (depends on your local availability) the
ability to make and use a router template to make a NICE cutout, or use
a CNC router to perform the same job (third option for the
dreadfully-trendy - 3-D print a new enclosure, but it won't be
cost-competitive.) In some markets you may have an easier time finding a
CNC milling machine, which is overkill but will work.

It's hard to match the existing texture of the enclosure, no matter how well you cut it. Cheaper to just mold the cut-out cover to match the connector. While we are at it, might as well mold the connector itself. Since we are spending for tooling, might as well sell them to other users. Well, weare starting a new connector business, unless and/or until we found something better.

 

[George Herold]

Den tirsdag den 15. oktober 2013 18.30.21 UTC+2 skrev George Herold:

Hmm OK thanks Lasse. I'll order a handful of those too.
(I was thinking of a one piece solution, but two might work just fine.)

George H.

 

[George Herold]

Maybe something from this series?

http://media.digikey.com/Photos/Phoenix Photos/1830619.JPG

Hmm OK that I could at least mount that the panel.

I see a long digikey order in my future.
Thanks Spehro

 

[George Herold]

[email protected] wrote:



Yes, that appears to be the basic problem - too big and too crude. The

actual terminal block looks fine, if it suits what you are doing.

No no... We can make a nicer cut-out. The terminal block is too far down into the hole... I've got to leave the hole big near the edges to get wire and screw driver in there. You know as a 'stupid' solution, I could mount the terminal block on a piece of PCB and bolt that to the under side of the panel. (We already use these terminal blocks somewhree else, so no new parts.)

George H.

 

[[email protected]]

Hmm OK thanks Lasse. I'll order a handful of those too.

(I was thinking of a one piece solution, but two might work just fine.)

Yes, i've look at that one, but end up with another one slightly different. I think they are 1 RMB each. I picked up 100 of two sizes while shopping in China, it's always 80% off sale in China, compared to digikey. I'll post some pictures later.

 

[[email protected]]

No no... We can make a nicer cut-out. The terminal block is too far downinto the hole... I've got to leave the hole big near the edges to get wireand screw driver in there. You know as a 'stupid' solution, I could mountthe terminal block on a piece of PCB and bolt that to the under side of the panel. (We already use these terminal blocks somewhree else, so no new parts.)

We have the connector mounted to the edge of the board and corner of the enclosure. It doesn't matter how deep is the top hole, just need to stick a screw driver down anyway.

 

[George Herold]

No no... We can make a nicer cut-out. The terminal block is too far downinto the hole... I've got to leave the hole big near the edges to get wireand screw driver in there. You know as a 'stupid' solution, I could mountthe terminal block on a piece of PCB and bolt that to the under side of the panel. (We already use these terminal blocks somewhree else, so no new parts.)

Hey it doesn’t look too bad...
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ou7imf0o66q880f/DSCF0030.JPG
(The hole will be smaller.. now I just gotta find room for two screws.)

Thanks all.

 

[George Herold]

---

Cinch's 140 series are pretty small.



I posted a photo (to abse) of what a 2-140 looks like on the top of a

2-3/4" X 2-1/8" X 1-5/8" (LWH) minibox and, if that works for you and

you use the "Y" terminal option, the terminals will extend 5/16" below

the block's mounting surface, so maybe you can solder the PCB to them?

Grin, Thanks JF, that's "over the top".
I'm going to go with a pcb stuck to the underside of the box,
and the terminal block that's already in house.
I can have the box machined so it'll support the TB a bit... stop it from screw rotation.

Hmm I'll then have a mounting screw stack-up of abs plastic,FR-4, flat washer,
split washer (or bellvelle?) and then the nut. Are belleville's worth the extra cost?

George H.

 

[Martin Riddle]

So I’ve got a little plastic box and I want to make connections on the outside.

I thought of a terminal block soldered to the pcb that ‘sticks’ through a hole.
But it doesn’t really work. (Well it’d work but it looks like cr@p.)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qrhak96zjn2t12l/DSCF0027.JPG
That’s an attempt at a mock-up.
(It’s about 0.6 inches from the top of the pcb to the top of the box.)
(I’ve ordered some bigger (5mm) terminal blocks, they may be OK.)

So some kind of panel mount terminal block would be ideal.
Banana plugs are just a bit too big and clunky.

Any ideas?

Thanks
George H.

PS searching digikey I found this... it’s a bit big.
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/0708250/277-5906-ND/348301

I think Pheonix contact makes plugable terminal strips.

Cheers