Such push-in clamp retainers, push-in clamp assemblies or electric connector elements are known in the art and are often fabricated using injection molding which requires the insertion of an additional electrically conducting element into a lead wire receptacle in order to allow an electrical contact by pressing the lead wire against the electrically conducting element. Furthermore, push-in clamp assemblies are known in the prior art whereas riveting or welding is used to attach the spring member to the push-in clamp retainer. Moreover, electric connector elements known from the prior art do not allow to compress and hold a spring member in an assembly position without additional means as for instance a screwdriver.
An electric connector element using a spring member to press a lead wire against an electrically conducting element is, for instance, known from the European Patent Application EP 2 325 947 A1. The disclosed electric connector element uses a lever to release a spring member or to exert force on a spring member in order to move said spring member out of or into the lead wire receptacle. If contacting of the lead wire with the electrically conducing element is initiated, the time it takes until full pressure of the spring member is applied to the lead wire, thus pressing the lead wire against the electrically conducting element, solely depends on the speed the lever is moved from an assembly position to an operating position. When applied with high voltage and/or current, arcing may occur between the lead wire and the electrically conducting element. Furthermore, the lever demands for a specially designed push-in clamp retainer and may completely prevent operation of the electric connector element if failure occurs to the lever.
Another exemplary electric connector element is known from the European Patent EP 1 515 397 B1. Such an electric connector element uses a specially-designed spring member, wherein a first end of the spring member is fed through an opening in a second end of the spring member increasing the complexity of the spring member.
Another electric connector element is known from the European Patent Application EP 2 768 0479 A1 and utilizes a simple spring member but requires an additional electrically conducting element, for instance a conductor rail placed in the lead wire receptacle.