Written by Scott Mulholland, Product Manager-Industrial Components
Space is always at a premium in the modern cabinet or machine. As designers and engineers extract every bit of usable space on the din rail and from the cabinet space in general, this can potentially have a downside. The busier the cabinet gets, the requirement to quickly and safely identify terminals and/or conductors becomes even more important to be able to work both efficiently and safely. Higher densities of terminals and conductors will potentially lead to the markers on those terminals and conductors being harder to read (with conductors sometimes having to ‘loop’ over the markers, obscuring them from vision). Also, using multi level terminals, increase the number of conductors in a small space, and this can exacerbate the problem.
The PTV series of terminals are designed to always offer the optimum positioning for markers (to aid visibility) coupled with the fact that the conductors enter the terminal from the side rather than the top. Therefore, the conductors do not obscure the markers, making circuit identification far easier.
Its clear to see in the image above, that the conductors come straight out of the trunking and do not have to loop over the terminal to terminate in the top. The looping over the top can , in some cases, obscure the terminal markers. As PTV series terminate into the side of the terminal, both terminal markers and cable markers are clearly visible.
As mentioned beforehand, multi level terminals are often utilised to be able to accommodate the required number of conductors in the smallest space/highest density. This again can lead to markers being obscured. PTV series has incorporated a novel design feature to overcome this potential problem. The upper level of the dual level terminal is offset by half a terminal width. This seemingly small design feature gives substantial benefits at it enables the terminal markers and conductor markers on BOTH levels to be seen.
PTV series is part of the established Clipline Complete family of terminals. Being part of this system means that the PTV series utilises the common same set of accessories and markers that are already widely available.
We are not saying that side entry push in terminals are better than top entry ones. Our message is that whatever your approach to wiring, be it top or side conductor entry, Phoenix Contact has a series of terminals to suit your approach.
For more information or to request a PTV sample please contact Scott on 07908 583375 or email smulholland@phoenixcontact.com
