DE2355774A1 - ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR FOR FLAT CABLE - Google Patents

Description

PATENT LAWYERS

Dr. phil. G. B. HAGEN Dipi.-Phys. W. KALKOFF

8000 MUNICH 71 (SoIIn) Franz-Hak-Strasse 21 "U (0811) 796213

1 NACHQEREiQHT

AMP 3227

Munich, November 2nd, 1973 sch

AMP Incorporated Eisenhower Boulevard Harrisburg, Penna., V. St. A.

Electrical connector for flat cables Priority : November 14, 1972; V. St. A .; No. 306

The invention relates to electrical connectors for flat cables, which have a number of in a sheet of insulation material Have included conductors.

It is generally known (see US Pat. No. 3,189,863) to use electrical connectors with terminals for flat cables, which penetrate the cable so that each conductor of the cable is moved into a slot of a connector.

409821/0817

Bayerische Vereinsbank Munich 823101 Postscheck 54782

AMP 3227 - 2 -

An electrical connector for flat cables that are a number of spaced apart by a plastic insulating material and ladders held in parallel side by side, with a first housing part having a number of through openings, each with a connector with a pin portion protruding from one end of the associated opening and one from the other end of the opening have protruding wire receiving part, wherein the Wire on would take part in a pair of spaced apart and extending perpendicular to the side of the first part in which the other end of the opening is located Has arms that have opposite edges forming a wire receiving slot and free tapered ones Ends for penetrating the cable insulation, and with a second housing part that can be locked to the first housing part, that extending inward from one side of the second housing part for receiving free end portions of the arms Has recesses that are adjacent to one side wider than the total width resulting over the two arms, is characterized according to the invention that the recesses in the second housing part as continuous Openings are formed which extend from a point in the vicinity of one side of the second housing part to a Taper inwardly in relation to one side where the Yfeite of the openings is less than the width of the two arms.

Since the second housing part has through openings, the connections between the terminals and the conductors of the cable must be checked. Because the openings have a section that is narrower than the width extension the connection terminal, the arms are also when the second housing part is attached to the first housing part

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of each terminal clamped towards each other in order to release the previously inserted between the arms Limit.conductor.

The invention is described below with reference to the drawing explained in more detail. Show it: ,..-..

Pig. 1 is a perspective view of an inventive -Verbinders, wherein the base --- / 'body and the cap-like closure part pulled together shown; are;

Fig. "2 is a perspective view of an er -... ... connector according to the invention attached to one end of a flat cable; · ^

... Fig. 3 are views taken along lines 3-3 and 4-4 and "'4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a portion of a flat cable of the type for which the represented - ·. Embodiment of the invention is provided;

"Figure 6" is a view taken along line 6-6 of FIG • · Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a perspective partial representation of a ■ "- ·. £ - ■ - -, device for attaching the cable to the . ... Base body of a connector according to the invention,

which presses the conductors of the cable into the slots of the ■ connector terminals ;.

Fig. 8 is an illustration along the line 8-8 of ^! Figure 7 showing the underside of the cable insertion die; '■ -; .. ■ -. ·

Fig. 9 is a partial cross-sectional view showing

,. part of the cable entry die and the

*; Base body of a connector shows and in

'- .; · the the beginning of the movement of the ladder in the

,., .., .. -. Slots of the. Terminals is shown;

- ■ "; F-ig ^.: --1.-Ö a representation similar to FIG. 9, but shows the position of the parts at the end of the cable insertion process;

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Pig. 11 is a perspective view of a connecting terminal according to the invention; and

Pig. 12 is an illustration of the terminal which is the opposite side to that shown in FIG Side shows.

Reference is first made to FIGS. 5 and 6, which show a widespread type of flat cable 4 with a number of parallel conductors 2, which can be solid or stranded, and which are arranged in a continuous plastic insulation strip 6. The underside 8 of the cable has parallel arcuate surface sections - which are arranged symmetrically to the conductors 2 and intersect one another and thus form grooves or depressions 10. The top 11 is generally flat, but may have shallow grooves 12 between adjacent conductors and in alignment with the grooves 10. Cables of the type shown in Figures 5 and 6 are made with different numbers of conductors and with different sized conductors. In a common size or type, the conductors 2 are 1.27mm apart and are 28 or 30 AY (G.

A connector assembly according to the invention (Figs. 1 and 2) has a cap-like closure part 16 and a base body 18, the base body having a number of electrical Has terminals 20, which extend in two parallel, the sides of the base body along Rows are arranged. Each terminal (Figs. 11 and 12) has a yoke member 22 of a pair between its ends of parallel plate sections 24, 26 which are connected to one another by a vertically extending bracket 25 are. A mounting post 28 extends from the panel section 26 down and is close to the plate

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Enlarged section, a bulge 30 being provided in this enlarged section for holding the clamp in FIG a housing, as will be described later.

A pair of arms 32 extend from the plate portion 26 upwards and spaced from one another to form a first wire receiving slot 36. The upper portions of opposite edges of the slot diverge so that the upper portion of the slot is a has greater width. The outwardly directed edges of the arms are gently tapered in the central sections relatively close to each other at the upper ends, as shown at 39. As a result, the upper or free ends of the arms are sharply pointed for easier penetration into the cable during its installation.

A similar pair of arms 40 extend from the plate section 24 upwards and has diverging opposite edges 41 that form a second wire receiving slot 42 form. The outwardly directed edges 44 of the arms also taper towards each other, and the upper ones or free ends 46 have laterally extending barbs which form downwardly directed shoulders 43. With Thus, with the exception of the barbs on the upper ends 46 of the arms 40, the arms 32, 40 are essentially the same as one another. It should be noted that the arms 40 tilt towards the arms 32 (the planar extensions of the plate section are), so that for reasons to be described, the free ends of the arms are closely adjacent to one another.

The one in Pig. The terminals shown in FIG. 11 can be made in any size for various conductor sizes will. A connector suitable for conductors of the cable described above with a conductor thickness of 28 or 30 AWG

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clamp is advantageously made of sheet metal with a thickness of 0.254 mm. It is desirable that Terminal made of a metal with good spring properties to manufacture such. B. hard phosphor bronze Rr. 4 to the use of a connector with specific. Dimensions to allow for a range of conductor sizes. As will be described later, enable a connector according to of the invention to mount on the cable, and the design of the terminal use relatively thin Sheet metal with good spring properties instead of a relatively thick metal that is significantly stronger and is less elastic than the above-mentioned hard phosphor bronze Ur. 4th

The base body 18 has a block of insulation material with projections 51 on the underside for support a printed circuit board. The terminals 20 are located in two rows 52, 52 'of cavities, the facing each other from the top side 53 of the base body Sides of the same extend inward. The cavities 52 have one from the top of the base body recessed shoulder 54 and a relatively smaller one extending through the underside 58 of the base body Aperture 56 staggered with respect to the upper portions of the cavity for receiving the staggered Pin portions 28 of the terminals. As best seen in Fig. 4, the openings take place the enlarged, provided with the bulges 30 upper portions of the pins 28, and the lower edges of the Yoke portion 22 are supported on shoulder 54 of each cavity. The cavities 52 ′ are the cavities 52 similar, however, relative to the openings 56 of the cavities 52, the openings 56 are at opposite ends of the Arranged cavities. This arrangement makes the wire

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Receiving slot of the terminals in each row in one Spaced 2.54 mm, with the slots of the clamps in one row 1.27 mm from the slots in the other 'row are offset so that the terminals with the ladders to those in Pig. 5 engage positions shown.

Locking arms 60, 60 'are at each end of the body and have enlarged free ends -62. These locking arms are designed so that they are in Recesses 64 »64 'enter the cap-like closure part, the recesses having appropriate upwardly directed shoulders for engagement with the enlarged ends 62 of the locking arms exhibit. The upper ends of the locking arms are slightly above the upper ends of the Base body 18 mounted terminals 20, so that the cable 4 when attaching the connector am.Kabel between the Locking arms can be set.

The cap-like closure part has two rows of the top 65 to the bottom 68 of the closure part extending Openings 66 arranged to receive the contact arms 32, 40 of the terminals. As As can best be seen from FIG. 4, each has an opening a conical section 70 near the bottom of the cap-like closure part, a central cylindrical section 73 merging into the conical section and an enlarged upper portion, the inner end of which is formed by an upwardly directed shoulder 72. The; Diameter of the relatively short cylindrical

Section 73 'is advantageously somewhat less than the distance between the oppositely directed edges of the arms. 40 on the shoulders 43, so that the arms of the .Verschlußteil by a small amount ^: are bent inwardly towards each other.

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The cap-like closure part is as in Pig. 1, advantageously provided with a flat rectangular recess 67 on its underside. When the main body and the cap-like closure part are clamped to the cable, the cable is clamped between opposing surfaces of the base body and the closure part which surround the recess 67, and the plastic material web flows a little into this recess, as if out of it Fig. ^X can be seen. The recess 67 thus enables the cable to be firmly clamped between the base body and a cap-like closure part.

The connector is advantageously on the cable with the help a device 74 (see. Fig. 7) is mounted, the eijien adapter holder 76, which is held between strips 78 on a base plate 80, which in turn on the bed or the plate of a suitable table press can be attached. The Vv'erkstückhalter 76 is detachable from the base plate, see above that different workpiece holders intended for different connector sizes can be used. At the top of the workpiece holder, rows of relatively small circular openings 82 are provided for Receipt of the pin sections 28 of the terminals on Base body 18 and two relatively large openings are provided for receiving projections 51 on the underside of the main body. A pair of guide pins 86 are disposed in the workpiece holder to relative the cable of the base body of a connector arranged on the workpiece holder. The cable also goes through, a stop block 88 set with a surface 90 against which the cable end rests during assembly. The stop block As shown at 92, 88 is adjustably mounted on a mounting block 94 which is attached to the base plate is.

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ΐ, 1-

amp 5227

The cable is pressed down onto the base body by a die or press block 96 attached to the end of a press ram 98. It will be understood that the block 96 and the base plate can be used with any suitable table press. The block 96 consists of three sections 100, 100 ^f and 102 (cf. FIG. 8). The sections 100, 100 'are provided on the sides with recesses 108, 108' which act against the central section 102 and thus form right-angled openings extending into the underside of the block. The edges of these recesses are, as shown at 105-, inclined obliquely and thus form guide surfaces for the connection terminals when the cable is installed. The width of the recesses 108, 108 'is essentially the same or slightly larger than the distance between the outer ends of the barbs 46 of the arms 40, as can be seen from FIG. Both pairs of arms can thus move freely into the recesses (see FIG. 9), but bending of the arms while the wires are being inserted into the slots is not possible. It is further noteworthy that the openings 108, 108 'have a width which is slightly greater than the distance between the oppositely facing surfaces of the arms 32, 40, but not substantially greater in order to provide support against kinking of the arms.

The sections 100, 100 ', 102 are secured by suitable fasteners kept in assembled condition. Openings 104 are on the underside of the die block for the locking arms 60, 60 'of the base body 18 are provided, and a recess 106 is provided for the projection 89 of the stop block 88.

When attaching a cable 4 to a connector 14, the base body 18 on the workpiece holder 76 first becomes like this arranged that the pin portions 28 of the terminals

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lie in the openings 82. The cable end is then set between the pins 86 so that the cut off End on the surface 90 rests. The press is then operated to move the die block 96 downward (cf. Fig · 9) »until he found the one in Pig. 10 position shown. As the die block 96 is inserted, the upper ends of the arms of each terminal penetrate either side of one Conductor 2, and the upper ends of the terminals connect into the openings 108, 108 'of the insertion die. at Continuing to move the die block down, the conductors are pushed into the inner ends of the slots 36, 42 until " they lie in the portions of the narrow slots which extend into the yoke portion 22 of the connector. "" *

As already mentioned, the terminals are advantageously Made of relatively thin material with good spring properties and the arms are therefore bent laterally outward by the wedge action of the ladder, such as shown in FIG. The upper ends of the arms are subject to deflection through the walls of the openings 108, 108 ' outside, which would otherwise take place, supported. Expressed differently, the forces exerted on the terminal by the conductor as it moves into the slot would be a Effect deflection of the arms beyond the positions shown in Figure 10, if not through the walls of the openings 108, 108 'a limitation would take place. Because the arms are supported when the cable is attached, the individual ladder is deformed to a greater extent than would otherwise be the pail, and a new ladder is created on these ladders Surface formed for the electrical contact surfaces between the conductors and the edges of the slots: det. Since the conductors are made of copper, they give way when the cable is attached (i.e. they are constantly deformed) and are not in the removal of the block 96

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AMP 5227. ■■■ - 11 -

Able to spread your arms apart. The block 96 is used also, when attaching the cable, kinking or other failure of the terminals due to pressure and / or torsional stress during "pushing in" the ladder into the "slots of the terminals. Hence the terminals do not need to be made of relatively thick metal to avoid kinking or failure due to To prevent torsional stresses without additional support. The one formed by the openings in the die block Support thus enables, as mentioned above, the use of a relatively thin material with good Spring properties. '-

After the cable conductors have been fully inserted into the slots in the connection terminals, the die block is lifted and the Cable end is on unsatisfactory inserted conductor ■ or other errors checked. A · cursory check of the electrical connections in this production section shows every fault, such as B-. incorrectly arranged conductors or improperly inserted conductors. Even though such errors are rare and are usually the result of improper handling, such as one Misalignment of the cable in the workpiece holder, they come but occasionally, and it is advantageous that the cable can be checked.

The cap-like closure part 16 is then attached to the base body 18 by simply pushing it downward with the die block until the locking arms sit in the recesses 64, 64. The upper ends of the arms 32, 40 are bent inward during the assembly of the cap-like closure part, and after the hook-shaped upper ends 46 have been passed through the narrowed cylindrical sections 73 of the openings 66, the arms partially reverse

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their normal postures and shoulders 42 abut surfaces 72 as shown in Figure 4, As already mentioned, the diameter of the cylindrical portion 73 of each opening 66 is preferably dimensioned so that the arms of the cap-like closure part are bent inward by a small amount.

Several of the advantages of the connector according to the invention are based on the fact that the terminals are made of relatively thin sheet metal with good pederex properties can be. When the connector is assembled and attached to the cable, the terminals have on purpose stored energy that resiliently presses the edges of their slots against the inserted conductors. Use thin Sheet metal in the terminals described above is in turn made possible by the terminals at Attaching the connector to the cable are supported against failure due to kinking. Also by providing two sets of contact arms creates enough contact area despite the thinness of the metal.

Another advantage of the invention is that between each terminal and each conductor there are four separate Contact areas are provided. These redundant contacts reduce the risk of radio frequency connections and / or open circuits. It is also advantageous that the individual contacts through the cap-like closure part be held in a flexed condition and engage the locking member to hold it against the top of the cable. The mutual engagement of each contact with the cap-like closure part prevents kinking or Bending of the closure part with the resulting decrease in the mechanical retention of the connector on the cable.

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.AMP 5227 - Π -

As described above, terminal 20 is advantageous designed so that the arms 40 incline towards the arms 32. This slight inclination of the arms 40 is Advantageous in that they have the opposite edges of the slot in arms 40 closely adjacent to the opposite one Edges of the slot in the arms 32 defines, particularly at the upper ends of the arms, run the ladder, like in Pig. 9, is printed down, the insulation or sheet material of the cable must be around the conductor can be extruded around and the extruded insulation can into the space between the opposing surfaces of arms 40 and arms 32. The gap between these opposite surfaces is smallest at the upper end of the arms and enlarges to the lower (the yoke part 22 adjacent) ends of the arms. Since with the downward movement of the ladder the extrusion or flow of the the Conductor surrounding insulation increases, an increasingly increasing space is provided in which the plastic material can flow. Therefore, the extruded plastic material crowds not between the opposing surfaces of the arms and thus not pushing them apart.

Terminals according to the invention are made by punching a flat sheet of metal and bending the Die cut along the bracket to substantially align the arms 32, 40 with one another. It's beneficial though the arms are not completely aligned, but are offset very slightly from one another, so that the slots of the Arms are offset to a very small extent. The staggered relationship of the slots causes tension in the conductor, as this is stretched, and the tensile stresses further contribute to the stored energy in the contact system, through which the electrical contact is ensured.

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According to the previous description, the subpages of the cable, as can be seen from Fig. 6, placed against the upper ends of the contacts. It should be noted that each side of the cable against the upper ends of the terminals can be laid, the grooves 12 in the embodiment shown serve to fix the cable, when the top is placed against the contacts. Some of the flat cables commercially available do not have one such grooves; in this case the cable is completely fixed by the locking arms 60, 60 ', or it can be fixed by the pins 86 of the fixture.

A connector according to the drawing can be attached to a printed circuit board, and the pin sections 28 can be soldered to cable runs located on the underside of the plate or in contact sleeves complementary connector are used. If desired, the pins 28 can be formed by alternative forms of contact elements, such as contact sleeves, are replaced.

Patent claims :

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Claims (4)

AMP 3227 -45- Claims Electrical connector for flat cables, which have a number of conductors held at a distance from one another and parallel next to one another by a plastic insulation material, with a first housing part with a number of through openings, each having a connecting terminal with a pin section protruding from one end of the associated opening and a wire receiving part protruding from the other part of the opening, the wire receiving part having a pair of spaced apart arms extending perpendicular to the side of the first part in which the other end of the opening is arranged, the opposite, Edges forming a wire take-up slot, have and tapered free ends for penetrating the cable insulation, and with a second housing part which can be locked to the first housing part and which extends inward from one side of the second housing part to accommodate free end sections of the arms Has recesses which are adjacent to one side wider than the total width resulting over the two arms, characterized in that the recesses in the second housing part (16) are designed as through openings (66), -which extend from a point in the vicinity one side (68) of the second housing part (16) taper inwardly to a point (73) with respect to one side (68) at which the '.Veite of the openings is less than the * width extension over the two arms (40). 2. Connector according to claim 1, characterized in that g e k e η η ze i c h net that the free end portions of the Arms (40) of each terminal (20) extend away from one another and shoulders directed towards the first housing part (18) 40982 1/0817 (43) form, and that the openings (66) in the second housing part (16) the other side (65) of the second housing part (16) adjacent enlarged sections (o6) have, the other side (65) of the second G.; - Housing part directed and with the shoulders (43) of the Arms (40) form engageable shoulders (72). 3- connector, according to. Claim 1 or 2, characterized by a second pair of spaced-apart arms (32), which is from ^ rsten Pair of arms (40) are spaced apart, L arch the two pairs of arms in a plane of two corresponding ones Plate sections (24, 26) extend which are connected to one another by a bracket (25), the Axis extends parallel to the slots (36, 42). 4. Connector according to claim 3, characterized in that the two pairs of arms (32, 40) are inclined towards one another in the direction of their free edges. 409821/0817 Blank page