WO1999053572A1 - Screwless plug-in connection - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a plug-in connector which can be connected to a line or a cable (40), said cable (40) having a terminal with freely moveable conductors (43) and free strand ends (41). A first, essentially tubular housing part (1) consisting of insulating plastic encompasses an inner, essentially cylindrical contact carrier (4). A second essentially tubular housing part (2) consisting of insulating plastic can be connected to the first housing part (1) and surrounds the terminal with the freely moveable conductors (43) and a strain relief device (50). Contact elements (5) have clamping devices (7, 8) for the strand ends (41) and are retained by a retaining plate (15). Said retaining plate (15) has a rim of sloping surfaces (52). The strain relief device (50) comprises a cage-type clamping chuck (51) on which sloping surfaces are mounted for interacting with the sloping surfaces (52) of the retaining plate (15) in order to compress a series of clamping arms (56) which have teeth or claws (58) at their radially innermost point, and to clamp the terminal of the cable (40) so that it is tight.

Description

 Screwless connector

The invention relates to a connector that can be connected to a connection end with freely movable wires of a cable and can be coupled with a mating connector according to the preamble of claim 1. The connector follows the standards ICE 309-1, ICE 309-2 and EN 60 309 1 + 2 and is built for power current.

Such connectors are known from German utility models 297 07 710.4 and 297 07 711.2. These are used to provide connectors in which a standard-compliant assembly is essentially guaranteed without the use of screws. However, the strain relief device is designed so that it contains a toggle nut and thus has screw surfaces. The invention has for its object to provide a totally screwless connector, in which the strain relief is arranged in the housing of the connector. The stated object is achieved on the basis of the features of claim 1 and claim 6 and is designed and further developed by the further features of the dependent claims. The connector, which can be designed as a plug or coupling (socket), has a first, essentially tubular housing part made of insulating plastic, which comprises an inner, essentially cylindrical contact carrier. The connector end of the cable, with the cable jacket partially removed, free the insulated wires To make it movable, these wires, the ends of which have been exposed, can be pulled through a second, essentially tubular housing part made of insulating plastic, which can be connected to the first housing part. This has a holding plate which is provided for fastening to the first housing part in order to hold contact elements in a contact carrier of the first housing part. The free wire ends are inserted into the contact elements, which have screwless clamping devices for the ends of the wires and clamp them, and then the first and second housing parts are connected to one another by plugging and rotating in the manner of a bayonet lock, the strain relief device becoming effective and the cable on its jacket stuck. For this purpose, the holding plate or a part connected to it has a ring of inclined surfaces on cams which extend at a short distance from and along the inside of the second housing part. The strain relief device comprises a cage-like clamping chuck, which has a actuation with bevels attached to cams, which cooperate with the rim of the bevels of the holding plate when the first and second housing parts are plugged together and rotated against one another. The clamping chuck comprises clamping arms which are arranged distributed around the connection end of the cable and have an arcuate curvature towards and away from the connection end, in each case forming a radially inner apex on which teeth or claws are attached which bite into the cable sheath can. The clamping arms have free ends which are supported on the support surfaces of the second housing part when the first and second housing parts are plugged together and locked. The cage-like chuck is thus compressed between the two parts of the housing, whereby the Move the radially inner apex of the clamping arms radially inwards until the cable ends this movement after the teeth or claws of the clamping arms have gripped. Depending on the thickness of the cable, the free ends of the clamping arms can be more or less radially outward on the

Support surfaces of the second housing part get and the clamping arms adjacent to the actuating ring can bend more or less, so that an automatic adaptation to the size of the cable takes place. The screwless clamping devices of the

Contact elements, with which the ends of the wires are to be connected, each have a bow spring with a support leg and a clamping plate. The contact elements are formed with a contact plate on which the support leg of the respective bow spring rests. The clamping plate surrounds the contact plate with a window opening which has an actuating edge (on the contact plate) and a free edge (on the bow spring). The bow spring acts as a tension spring on the clamping plate and pulls the actuating edge against the contact plate. Each clip spring is assigned a locking slide which can be brought into a position for compressing the clip spring and into a position for releasing the clip spring. When the bow spring is compressed, the window opening of the bow spring and the associated free one opens

The end of the wire can be inserted into the window opening. By moving the locking slide into the release position of the bow spring, the bow spring pulls the operating edge of the window opening against the inserted wire end and presses it against the contact plate of the respective contact element.

The new screwless connector has the advantage that it can be installed without tools. By the principle Clamping both the wire ends and the cable automatically adjusts to the respective cross-section. This makes it possible to use one and the same connector for different sized flexible lines or cables.

The invention is described with reference to the drawings. It shows:

1 shows a longitudinal section through a coupling, FIG. 2 shows a contact element with a bow spring as a clamp, FIG. 3 shows an enlarged detail of FIG. 1, but with a thinner cable, FIG. 4 shows a clamping chuck, and FIG. 5 shows a view of on the bottom of the chuck.

1 shows a coupling or socket which is connected to a flexible line or cable 40, in accordance with the rules of the international standards ICE 309-1, ICE 309-2 and EN 60 309 1 + 2. The coupling has a two-part enclosure, consisting of a first tubular housing part 1, the collar, and a second tubular housing part 2, the hood. The first housing part 1 represents a housing front part and has a connecting end 1 a and a plug end 1 b to the dome with a complementary plug-in unit. The second housing part 2 represents a protective part and a cable clamping part and has a connecting end 2a and a cable insertion end 2b for inserting a flexible cable or a cable 40. A pivotable cover 3 is attached to the first housing part 1, which covers the plug end 1b and protects against splashing water when the coupling or socket is disengaged from a plug.

The first housing part 1 comprises a cylindrical contact carrier 4 which is integral with the outer tubular Housing part 1 is formed and is formed with individual receiving chambers 6 for receiving contact elements 5 (here contact sockets). The number of receiving chambers and the contact sockets depends on the intended purpose and can have three receiving chambers (two phase contacts and one protective conductor contact), four receiving chambers (three phase contacts and one protective conductor contact) or five receiving chambers (three phase contacts, one zero conductor contact and one protective conductor contact) . In addition, the

Contact carrier 4 may be designed to receive a pilot contact. The contact socket for the protective conductor contact can protrude a little further to the rear, so that this protective conductor connection is definitely maintained until the end, even if the cable is pulled in such a way that the conductor ends are pulled out of the terminal point (Fig. 2).

In the case of a plug, the contact carrier 4 is designed to receive contact pins. The term contact element 5 is used both for contact sockets and contact pins.

To connect an exposed wire 41 of the cable 40, the contact elements 5 have a contact plate 7 (FIG. 2), which is integrally connected to the body of the contact element 5 together with a support leg 18. A loop-shaped bow spring 8 has two intersecting legs 9 and 10, the leg 10 having a window opening 11 through which the leg 9 extends. The window includes an operating edge 12 and a free edge 13. By compressing the

Bow spring 8 in the direction of the free edge, the contact plate 7 can be pushed through the window opening and clamped by releasing the fastening edge 12 and the Bow spring is carried by the contact element 5.

As can be seen from FIG. 3, the contact plates 7 and the bow springs 8 each extend into individual chambers 14 of a holding plate 15, which is made of insulating material and can be latched or otherwise connected to the contact carrier 4. The holding plate 15 is provided with first access openings 16, through each of which a locking slide 36 extends as a contact opener. Second access openings 17 open to the contact elements in the area of the windows 11. The locking slide 36 has a recess 37 in which the bell-shaped connecting part 8a of the bow spring 8 is seated when the plug connector is fully assembled. The locking slide 36 has the function of a depressing tool that can assume two positions, namely a release position, as shown, and one

Depressed position, in which the inclined surface of the recess 37 presses down the bent part of the connecting leg 8a and opens the window 11 so that the free wire end 41 can be pushed into the window 11. The two mentioned positions of the locking slide 36 are determined by stops 38 and 39 which abut the respective shoulders of the holding plate 15. In order to be able to easily move the locking slide 36 between its two openings, an actuating opening 36a is provided, at which one can push the locking slide back and forth, for example by means of a screwdriver.

In order to connect the housing parts 1 and 2 to each other, a screwless locking system 20 is provided which can be actuated by inserting and rotating one into the other and for this purpose has four pairs of bolts 21 which engage in the manner of a bayonet and press the housing parts 1 and 2 firmly against one another, so that these parts are sealed watertight against each other. During the rotary movement 7

also operated a strain relief device 50, which will be described below.

The strain relief device 50 comprises a cage-like clamping chuck 51 which is clamped between inclined surfaces 52 and curved support surfaces 53. The inclined surfaces 52 are formed by a ring of, for example, four cams, which is attached to the holding plate 15 and which extends at a short distance from and along the inside of the second housing part 2. The support surfaces 53 are formed all around and represent a vault in cross section.

The cage-like clamping chuck 51 has an actuating ring 54 on which cams are provided to form inclined surfaces, which cooperate with the inclined surfaces 52. The actuation ring 54 is against

Secured rotation by one or more ribs 55 of the housing part 2 engages in corresponding grooves in the actuating ring 54. Accordingly, when the housing parts 1 and 2 are locked together by inserting and rotating them, the inclined surfaces of the actuating ring 54 engage in the inclined surfaces 52 of the holding plate 15, whereby the actuating ring 54 is displaced in the axial direction away from the housing part 1.

The cage-like chuck 51 has four clamping arms 56, which are arranged at an angular distance of 90 ° from one another around the cable 40 and which are bent overall in an S-shape. A radially inner apex 57 is formed, on which teeth or claws 58 are seated. The arms 56 have free ends 59 which are supported on the curved surface 53.

A protective sleeve 60, which consists of a flexible material and has sealing lips 61, which bear against the cable 40, is injection molded onto the second housing part 2 Keep moisture and dust away from the inside of the device. The protective sleeve also serves to protect the cable from kinking.

The assembly of the cable on the connector is carried out as follows: First, a piece of the jacket 42 of the cable 40 is removed in order to obtain individual insulated wires 43. The front end of these freely movable insulated wires 43 is stripped in order to obtain bare wire ends 41, over which wire end sleeves may also be pushed. The thus prepared connection end of the cable is through the opening formed on the lips 61 into the interior of the

Housing part 2 pushed until the free wire ends 41 reach the range of the bow springs 8. The locking slide 36 is brought into the position for compressing the bow spring 8, provided that it has not already been delivered in this position in which the window 11 is open. Therefore, the wire end 41 can be pushed into the open window 11, where it then lies between the contact plate 7 and the support leg 18 of the contact element 5. By moving the slide 36 in the release position shown, the

Compression of the bow spring 8 is lifted and this pulls the captured wire end 41 firmly against the plate 7.

Now the housing part 2 is locked with the housing part 1, which is done by axially plugging and rotating. The inclined surfaces of the actuating ring 54 and the inclined surfaces 52 on the holding plate 15 come into effect, i.e. the chuck 51 is urged in the axial direction relative to the housing parts 1 and 2 in the drawing upwards. The free end 59, which rests on the support surface 53, however, does not allow a pure displacement of the

Clamping chuck 51. Rather, this is compressed, the apices 57 of the clamping arms 56 moving radially inwards. During this movement, the teeth or claws 58 dig in the jacket 42 of the cable, which then opposes further movement of the clamping arms 56 such a resistance that the further compression of the clamping chuck 51 leads to a forward curvature of the clamping arms in the area between the apex 57 and the actuating ring 54. This radially outward curvature is greater, the thicker the cable 40 is, as the comparison between FIGS. 1 and 3 shows.

When the cable 40 is pulled, the teeth 58 attempt to penetrate further into the cable sheath 42, so that the clamping of the cable 40 is increased. If the cable is pushed towards the interior of the housing, the movement is resisted by bending the clamping arms 56, i.e. the cable is also held in the direction of insertion. The device can be opened by rotating the housing parts 1 and 2 against their mounting direction and thereby unlocking them. The strain relief 50 is relaxed and by pulling back the housing part 1 you can get easy access to the interior of the housing.

Claims

10 patent claims 1. Connector which can be connected to a flexible line or cable (40), the cable (40) having a connection end with freely movable conductors (43) and free wire ends (41), with the following features: a first, essentially tubular Housing part (1) made of insulating plastic, which comprises an inner, substantially cylindrical contact carrier (4); a second, essentially tubular housing part (2) made of insulating plastic, which can be connected to the first housing part (1) and surrounds the connection end with the freely movable conductors (43); a strain relief device (50) which is designed to clamp the connection end of the cable (40); Contact elements (5) which have clamping devices (7, 8) for the wire ends (41); a holding plate (15) which is provided for attachment to the first housing part (1) in order to To hold contact elements (5) in the contact carrier (4); characterized by the following configuration: the holding plate (15) or a part connected to it has a ring of inclined surfaces (52) which extend at a short distance from the inside of the second housing part (2) and along this inside; the strain relief device (50) comprises a 11 cage-like clamping chuck (51) which has an actuating ring (54) with inclined surfaces attached thereto and a series of clamping arms (56) which have teeth or claws (58) at the radially innermost point; the connecting end of the cable (40) is axially ins The interior of the second housing part (2) can be inserted, the clamping arms (56) of the clamping chuck (51) surrounding the connection end; the wire ends (41) can be inserted into the clamping devices (7, 8); To connect the first and second housing parts, a locking system (20) is provided, which is made effective by axially plugging and rotating the housing parts relative to one another, the inclined surfaces (52) of the holding plate (15) with the inclined surfaces of the actuating ring (54) of the strain relief device cooperate and press the clamping chuck (51) against a support surface (53) of the second housing part (2) and at the same time compress it with the To engage teeth or claws (58) in the sheath (42) of the cable (40). 2. Connector according to claim 1, characterized in that the clamping arms (56) are generally S-shaped and have a radially inner apex (57) on which the claws or teeth (58) are attached. 3. Connector according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that four clamping arms (56) are provided, which describe a bell-shaped outline. 12 4. Connector according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the clamping chuck (51) and the second housing part (2) have interlocking configurations (55) which enable the displacement in the axial direction, but prevent rotation relative to each other. 5. Connector according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that at the cable insertion end of the second housing part (2) a cable kink protection sleeve (60) is injection molded, which consists of a softer plastic material than the plastic material of the second housing part (2). 6. Connector according to the preamble of claim 1, and with the following further features: the clamping devices (7, 8) are screwless and each include a bow spring (8) with a Support leg (9) and a clamping plate (10); the contact elements (5) each have one Contact plate (7) on which the support leg (9) rests; the clamping plate (10) engages around the contact plate (7) with a window opening (11) which has an actuating edge (12) on the contact plate and a free edge (13) on the bow spring (8); the bow spring (8) acts as a tension spring on the Clamping plate (10) and pulls the actuating edge (12) against the contact plate (7); in the holding plate (15) a locking slide (36) is slidably guided and has a position for Compress the bow spring (8) and a position for Release the bow spring (8). 13 7. Connector according to claim 6, characterized in that the latching slide (36) has a recess (37) in which a Connection leg (8a) of the bow spring (8) finds space when the position for releasing the bow spring is taken. 8. Connector according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the locking slide (36) stops (38, 39) to define its position for printing together and its position for releasing the bow spring (8). 9. Connector according to one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that on the contact plate (7) a support device (18) is arranged which extends on the opposite side to the prong spring (8) and which is directed radially inwards in relation to the connector is. 10. Connector according to one of claims 6 to 9, characterized in that the holding plate (15) with the contact carrier (4) can be locked.