„Securely protected“

Protective contact

The protective contact (Schuko) in sockets plays a vital role in ensuring the safety of electrical equipment. It does this by grounding the equipment, that is to say connecting it to Earth. This grounding is essential in order to drain off dangerous voltages in the event of a fault or short-circuit and prevent users from being exposed to electric shocks. The two top ends of the ground connector can be seen as shiny metal lugs positioned ahead of the actual electrical contacts in the socket. When a plug is inserted, these protective contacts first come up against the corresponding grounding points in the plug. This early connection ensures that the housing of a faulty device is grounded before any electricity is able to flow.

A Multicenter MC 82 is the ideal choice for the manufacture of the six-part ground connector. First of all, the connector and the box are stamped and bended on the machine. The two metal lugs, which are also known as fingers, and the retaining spring and plastic release toggle are then fed in and assembled. During the manufacturing process, a conveyor belt transports the ground connector over both machine faces. The component is then separated and passed on to a measuring cell that uses a cycle-synchronized camera to check that the products are completely free from any defects.