Quickon – A drastic reduction in wiring time

Device power and signal lines are generally routed in with the aid of cable screw connections or plug connectors. Cable screw connections involve a lot of work and particular care is required. Conductor connections with plug connectors require less time in comparison to cable screw connections but assembly of the conductors often involves a great deal of work. An alternative to these two methods is the QUICKON-ONE fast connection system from Phoenix Contact.


More and more devices are being moved out of the control cabinet directly onto the machine. This particularly applies to measurement, control and regulation technology. If a drive control, for example, moves out of the shelter of the control cabinet, it must be made fit for the harsh environmental conditions of the plant or machine. Directly on the machine, the controller is subjected to such factors as vibration, high temperatures, superheated steam, water, detergents and others. The housing of the device and the conductor entries must meet these requirements. Ingress protection IP67 is increasingly required to keep disturbing influences such as damp, dirt, dust and aggressive atmospheres safely away from the sensitive contents of the device without them being damaged.



Device power and signal lines are routed in with the aid of cable screw connections or plug connectors. Cable screw connections involve a lot of work and particular care is required. The example of a cable screw connection: The IP-protected device is opened. The conductor sheath and the cores must be stripped and the ferrules crimped on. The conductor is then threaded in through the cable screw connection and the cores are subsequently contacted to the connection terminal blocks. The housing must then be closed again with great care and the screw connection tightened. When opening or closing the housings of devices with a high degree of protection it is imperative to work with great care. The functioning of the sensitive device electronics must not be harmed in any way, for example as a result of carelessness when connecting the conductor (the device is open during connection).


If the device is connected using a plug connector, the conductor and the plug connector must be connected. If the device is connected with a self-assembled plug connector, this must be taken apart, the cores stripped, core ends crimped on, the cores connected and all the components reassembled. This process requires a great deal of time.

 
An alternative to the cable screw connection and the classical plug connector with screw connection is the QUICKON-ONE fast connection system from Phoenix Contact.


Fast connection with QUICKON-ONE

General
The QUICKON-ONE fast connection system offers impressive advantages for a wide range of industrial applications, such as the connection of devices and drives:

  • Drastic reduction of the wiring time
  • No need to strip the cores
  • Can be connected more than once (10 times)
  • Integrated strain relief
  • Degree of protection IP65/IP67 (in acc. with IEC 60 529;1989)
  • No need to open the device to connect the conductor
  • Can be disconnected by unscrewing the union nut

QUICKON-ONE is specially designed for applications in which round conductors with a small number of cores have to be connected efficiently. The connection can be unscrewed, and the components can be used more than once!


The drastic reduction of wiring time is a result of the simple and fast actuation of the QUICKON-ONE connection. These are the steps to connect a round conductor:

  • Strip the conductor
  • Fit the QUICKON-ONE components onto the conductor
  • Tighten the screws


Applications


The QUICKON-ONE connection system makes a multitude of applications possible.

1. Panel feed-throughs for conductors frequently require considerable time to manufacture. QUICKON-ONE provides further advantages for these applications:

  • External wiring is not connected until startup
  • The device need not be opened to connect the conductor, thus keeping its sensitive contents protected at all times.




2. QUICKON-ONE makes it possible to prepare HEAVYCON A 3 series industrial plug connectors quickly and easily.




3. A common task: Extending or repairing a round cable. QUICKON enables a speedy and professional solution.



The QUICKON contact

The QUICKON contact point provides the user a secure connection which remains stable in the long term.

With QUICKON, contacting is carried out by pressing the cores into a defined insulation displacement zone. During this process, the core insulation is cut open and a gas-proof connection is created between the core and the contact metal.

In addition to the contact area, the seal and strain relief are particularly important for the quality of the connection. With the fast connection system, sealing to the conductor and housing side is achieved using special seals. At the same time, the conductor is strain relieved.

The QUICKON fast connection fulfills or exceeds the requirements and tests for inaccessible insulation displacement terminal blocks as standardized in EN 60 352-4 as well as for equipment for insulation displacement terminal points as standardized in DIN EN 60 998-2-3.


The contacting process





QUICKON-ONE components


1. QUICKON-ONE union nut (union nut, seal, splice ring with strain relief cap)

2. Contact carriers

3. Splice ring




Assembly of the conductor with QUICKON-ONE


QUICKON-ONE – The logical development of QUICKON. The number of individual components has been reduced and the wiring in the field has become even simpler.



Conductor connection


1. Remove cable sheath (approx. 40 mm)




2. Slide the preassembled QUICKON-ONE union nut onto the conductor as far as it will go.




3. Snap the cores into the marked (1,2,3,...) core entry (see fig. 1).




4. Cut off the projecting core ends flush, i.e. so that there is no overhang.




5. Push the QUICKON-ONE union nut onto the contact carrier and tighten with the necessary torque (3 Nm).

The fast connection system automatically creates the contact and strain relief when tightened. Special seals protect against dust and water (IP65 / IP67).




Removing the conductor


1. Open the union nut

2. The conductor can be removed from the terminal block by pulling the conductor.




Repeated connection of the conductor


When the connection is undone, the splice ring drops out of the union nut and must therefore be screwed into the union nut by about two turns if the conductor is to be reconnected, before continuing as described above (conductor connection).



Ground connection


The ground conductor must be wrapped around the cores once before the union nut is slid on. The ground conductor is therefore the last to become disconnected when extreme tension is applied.



Further information and services related to this article



PHOENIX CONTACT Ltd
8240 Parkhill Drive
Milton, Ontario L9T 5V7 

Toll Free: (800) 890-2820
Phone: (905) 864-8700
Fax: (905) 864-7900
cdinfo@phoenixcontact.ca


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