Strictly speaking, the terminal block belongs to a classification of terminal blocks. The terminals are used to realize the electrical connection of an accessory product, and the terminal block can be understood as the terminals according to the number of wiring bits to form a row, so called terminal block. Can also be called terminal block, terminal tray, terminal box, terminal board, terminal block, terminal block, terminal block and so on. Terminal blocks are widely used in industrial control, power systems, automation equipment and other fields, so that it can be safe and reliable connection of wires.
At present, the industry is accustomed to the terminal block according to the origin of the source or design pattern classification into European terminal blocks, American terminal blocks, Japanese terminal blocks, etc., European terminal blocks are mostly green, and the United States / Japan terminal blocks are mostly black, you can make a simple distinction between them from the color. In addition, the wiring of the European terminal block is realized by directly inserting the wire, while the American and Japanese terminal blocks need to be used with cold-pressed terminals.

From the wiring method can also be distinguished from the terminal block, can be divided into screw terminal block, shrapnel terminal block, plug type terminal block and other categories:
- Screw terminal block is through the screws will be pressed tightly, and then welded to the PCB board to complete the wiring.
- Shrapnel terminal block wiring is through the shrapnel clamping wire harness, after welding on the PCB board.
- Plug-in terminal block wiring is connected by two parts of the plug-in connection, a common part of the wire compression, and then inserted into the other part, the other part of the PCB board in the welding.

In general, the plug-in type is suitable for use in an environment where it is not easy to operate, to simplify the wiring process for customers; screw-type than the shrapnel-type terminal block vibration resistance, suitable for more severe environments; shrapnel-type wiring operation is more convenient than the screw-type, suitable for the environment of the narrow space. In the selection of terminal blocks need to fully understand the performance of various types of terminal blocks and application performance, combined with their actual needs, to make more accurate selection decisions.