AU665412B2 - A mounting clip - Google Patents

Description

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AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT 0*4 4000 O 0 .4,4 Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for Service: Invention Title: THE JONDARYAN PASTORAL PTY LTD David Thomas Alexander Redfern TREVOR DREDGE ASSOCIATES Patent Trade Mark Attorneys 13th Floor, 379 Queen Street BRISBANE, QLD, 4000 (GPO Box 1339, BRISBANE, 4001) 'A Mounting Clip" Australian Patent Application No.

7 April, 1992.

COMPANY

Details of Associated Provisional Application No: PL1763 filed The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: 2 THIS INVENTION relates to a mounting clip for mounting a connector assembly or the like to a mounting plate.

Companies who trade under the names Clipsal and HPM Industries produce rectangular mounting plates for electrical connectors. The mounting plates are used by being secured to a wall or ducting and typically carry a switch connector unit which clips into a rear connector housing on the mounting plate.

The switch protrudes through an aperture in the plate and can be removed and repositioned for vertical or horizontal mounting of the plate to the wall or ducting. The mounting plates come in a range of styles and colours.

These mounting plates are primarily designed to cater for the respective Clipsal and HPM Industries connectors. In order to use the mounting plates with 0 00°: other proprietary connectors, an adaptor commonly known as a "mounting clip" 0. 0 0 00o is required. At present, mounting clips have a ring-like body including outer and inner clip mechanisms with the outer mechanism being matched to the rear connector housing of the mounting plate while the inner clip mechanism is matched to the proprietary connector. At present, existing mounting clips function satisfactorily but have a number of disadvantages.

It is an object of the present invention to alleviate at least to some degree the disadvantages associated with the prior art mounting clips.

The applicant has devised a new and novel mounting clip including features which are at preent believed to be novel.

In one aspect therefore, there is provided a mounting clip for securing a connector assembly to a mounting plate, the mounting plate having an aperture, a front surface and a rear connector housing, the mounting clip having a ring-like 3 body, the body having an outer clip mechanism enabling it to be clipped to the rear connector housing of the mounting plate and an inner clip mechanism so that a connector assembly can be clipped inside the ring-like body, the inner clip mechanism being arranged to receive and hold a connector assembly in one of two selectable orientations. This involves a 90° rotation of the connector between the orientations. This effectively makes the mounting clip "universal" in operation. In other words, it caters for both horizontal and vertical orientation of the long axis of a rectangular mounting plate independent of the orientation of the mounting clip so that the connector assembly is also correctly positioned without 10 the need to reposition the mounting clip.

The mounting clip for securing a connector assembly to a mounting plate, preferably wherein the ring-like body having a raised surface which operatively protrudes through the aperture of the mounting plate so that when the clip is operatively connected to the mounting plate, the raised surface is substantially coextensive with the outer surface of the mounting plate. Where the connector 44,44 comprises a socket assembly having a socket for receiving a plug, the raised surface typically includes an aperture having a keyway to locate a plug in alignment with the socket.

It is further preferred that the mounting clip has a generally rectangular ring-like body including four corners, a pair of opposed resilient clip members defining an inner clip mechanism to enable a connector assembly to be connected to the mounting clip so the ring-like body shrouds a portion of the connector assembly, the clip members being located on opposite sides of the body, the said opposite sides including respective cut-away portions disposed iI I I 4 between the corners and defining between the respective cut-away portions, the respective clip members, the corners including strengthening members or being made of thicker material in order to strengthen the mounting clip to supplement weakening occurring as a result of inclusion of the cut-away portions in the sides of the mounting clip. Preferably, the mounting clip includes two pair of said opposed clip members and cut-away portions, the pairs being set generally at 900 to each other so that the inner clip mechanism is arranged to receive and hold a connector assembly in one of two selectable orientations involving a 900 rotation of the connector between the orientations.

The outer clip mechanism typically comprises a catch or a plurality of S"catches which co-operate with latch means on the rear connector housing of the K o "mounting plate.

The inner clip mechanism typically includes a plurality of clip members 4a as aforementioned disposed between cut-away portions so that the clip members 44 a are resiliently biased by virtue of the clip being made from plastics material. Each clip member preferably therefore, functions as a resilient latch which slides over respective catches on a connector assembly and then recoils to hold the connector

I

assembly in place.

The raised surface of the mounting clip typically includes a cruciform aperture or is otherwise keyed to the shape of the connector assembly and/or to the shape of a plug to be inserted through the aperture into the connector assembly.

This serves to automatically locate the plug in its operative orientation relative to the socket which typically, being part of the connector assembly, is located behind the mounting plate.

For ease of handling, the mounting clip is preferably more robust and larger than prior art mounting clips. In the case of the "universal" embodiment, each corner is typically strengthened with one or more ribs while in other embodiments, *I the raised surface is the thinnest portion while the corners and sides are thicker.

In order that the present invention can be more readily understood and be put inlo practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments and wherein:- Figures 1 and 2 are respective front and rear pictorial views to enlarged scale of a mounting clip according to one embodiment of the present invention; Figures 3 and 4 are respective front and rear pictorial views of a second embodiment of a mounting clip according to the present invention; Figure 5 is an exploded pictorial view illustrating the clip of Figures 1 and 2 aligned preparatory to mounting a connector assembly to a mounting plate; and Figure 6 is a pictorial view illustrating the mounting clip and connector assembly coupled to the mounting plate.

Referring to the drawings and initially to Figures 1 and 2, there is illustrated a mounting clip 10 for securing a connector assembly to a mounting plate (see r c 6 Figures 5 and The mounting clip in this case is moulded from plastics material and includes a ring-like body 11 of generally square shape, the body 11 having an outer clip mechanism comprising four catches 12, 13, 14 and 15 which engage with latches in a rear connector housing of a mounting plate (see Figures 5 and The mounting plate also includes an inner clip mechanism which in this case comprises adj acent opposed pairs of resilient latches 16, 17 and 18, 19 an opposed pair of which are arranged to receive and hold a connector assembly. It will be appreciated that by providing two pairs of latches set at 900 to one another as shown, that a connector assembly can be held in two selectable orientations involving a 90' degree rotation of the connector assembly between the orientations. Thus, in the illustrated embodiment, when the clip is used with a rectangular mounting plate having a o to centrally disposed aperture, the mounting plate can be set in a vertical position or a horizontal position, independent of the orientation of the mounting clip 1 0.

The mounting clip 10 also includes a raised surrace comprising four raised surface portions 20, 21, 22 and 23 which define a cruciformi aperture 24 through thc mounting clip. In use, the surface portions 20, 21, 22 and 23 protrude through an aperture in a mounting plate so that the surface portions 20, 21, 22 and 23 are substantially coextensive with an outer surface of the mounting plate adjacent the o:2o aperture in the mounting plate. The mounting clip 10 is typically used with a connector assembly having a socket which co-operates with a keyed plug insertable through the aperture in the mounting plate, the plug is typically TP-shaped in section.

It will therefore be appreciated that by providing the appropriately shaped cruciform aperture 24, a keying effect will occur assisting to properly align the plug with the socket of the connector assembly.

7 As can be seen, the latches 16, 17, 18 and 19 are formed between respective cut-away portions 25 and 26 to afford the desired degree of resilience in the latches 16, 17, 18 and 19. In order to retain a relatively robust mounting clip, the corners 27, 28, 29 and 30 have been strengthened by a combination of thickening of the walls thereof and the inclusion of a pair of strengthening ribs 31 and 32 adjacent each corner.

Referring to Figures 3 and 4, a -further embodiment of the present invention is illustrated and where appropriate, like numerals have been used to illustrate like -features. In this case, there is provided a mounting clip 33 which includes a ringlike body 34 also moulded from plastics material, the outer clip mechanism is of the same construction as in the previous embodiment, but in the case of the inner clip mechanism, only a single pair of latches 35 and 36 are employed. As for the previous embodiment, each latch includes a shoulder 37 which serves to retain a connector assembly in operative engagement with the clip, The mounting clip 33 0 15 also includes a raised surface 38 which in this case is a continuous surface as the mounting clip is designed to operate in conjunction with a smaller connector assembly and a smaller plug than in the previous embodiment. The aperture 39 is 0040 still cruciform in shape in order to assist in locating the plug relative to a socket on the connector assembly. That portion of the ring-like body defining the raised surface 38 can be seen as being thinner in Figure 4 than the walls and corners of the mounting clip. The mounting clip of Figures 3 and 4 is also of robust construction.

Referring to Figures 5 and 6, there is illustrated one typical application of the present invention wherein mounting clip 10 is shown aligned preparatory to assembly in relation to a mounting plate 40 and a connector assembly 41. As can Fi '1 8 L be seen, the mounting plate 40 includes an outer surface 42, part of which is located adjacent an oval aperture 43. The surface portions 20, 21, 22 and 23 of the clip protrude through this aperture to provide a flush finish and to also provide a keyway for insertion of a plug through the aperture 43, through the cruciform aperture 24 of the clip 10 and into correct position in a socket 44 (not visible in this view) of the connector assembly 41. As can be seen, the connector assembly 41 includes catches 45 and 46 (opposite side not visible in this view) which are rigid and resiliently engage the latches 16 and 17 to finally be caught and held by the shoulders 37 and thereby retained in place. As can be seen, the connector assembly 1 10 can be rotated through 900, thus the catches 46 would engage with the latches 18 0and 19 frthe soktto be consistent with vertical position of the long axis of the mounting plate 40. In the illustration of Figure 5, the mounting plate and connector 00 are arranged -for horizontal positioning of the long axis of the mounting plate Figure 6 illustrates the connector 41 and the mounting clip 10 in place to 15 relative to the mounting plate 40 for horizontal positioning of a socket. It will be noted that the connector assembly 41 is only illustrated schematically in Figures 04000and 6.

Whilst the above has been given by way of illustrative example of the present invention, many variations and modifications thereto will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the broad ambit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

1L.

Claims (7)

1. A mounting clip for securing a connector assembly to a mounting plate, the mounting plate having an aperture, a front surface and a rear connector housing, the mounting clip having a ring-like body, the body having an outer clip mechanism enabling it to be clipped to the rear connector housing of the mounting plate and an inner clip mechanism so that a connector assembly can be clipped inside the ring-like body, the inner clip mechanism being arranged to receive and hold a connector assembly in one of two selectable orientations, said orientations being generally 900 to each other.

2. The mounting clip according to claim i wherein the ring-like body having a raised surface which operatively protrudes through the aperture of the mounting plate so that when the clip is operatively connected to the mounting plate, the araised surface is substantially co-extensive with the outer surface of the mounting plate.

3. The mounting clip according to one of claims 1 and 2 wherein the clip having a generally rectangular ring-like body including four corners, a pair of opposed resilient clip members defining an inner clip mechanism to enable the connector assembly to be connected to the mounting clip so the ring-like body shrouds a portion of the connector assembly, the clip members being located on opposite sides of the body, the said opposite sides including respective cut-away portions disposed between the corners and defining between the respective cut- away portions, the respective clip members, the corners including strengthening members or being made of thicker material in order to strengthen the mounting clip to supplement weakening occurring as a result of inclusion of the cut-away oh- pp. i portions in the sides of the mounting clip.

4. The mounting clip according to claim 2, or claim 3 when appended to claim 2 wherein the connector comprises a socket assembly having a socket for receiving a plug, the raised surface including an aperture having a keyway to locate a plug in alignment with the socket. The mounting clip according to one of claims 3 and 4 wherein the mounting clip includes two pair of said opposed clip members and cut-away portions, the pairs being set generally at 900 to each other so that the inner clip mechanism is arranged to receive and hold a connector assembly in one of two selectable orientations involving a 90" rotation of the connector assembly between o 0the orientations. 0 0

6. The mounting clip according to any one of the preceding claims wherein 0 4 the outer clip mechanism comprises a catch or a plurality of catches which co- operate with latch means on the rear connector housing of the mounting plate. 0 0, 7. The mounting clip according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the inner clip mechanism includes a plurality of clip members disposed between cut-away portions so that the clip members are resiliently biased by virtue of the clip being made from resilient material, each clip member functioning as a resilient latch which slides over respective catches on a connector assembly and then retracts automatically to hold the connector assembly in place.

8. The mounting clip according to claim 2, and one of claims 3 to 7 when appended to claim 2 wherein the raised surface of the mounting clip typically includes a cruciform aperture or is otherwise keyed to the shape of the connector assembly and/or to the shape of a plug to be inserted through the aperture into L Jc. !I i I 11 the connector assembly to automatically locate the plug in its operative orientation relative to the connector assembly.

11. A mounting clip substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this 17th day of October, 1995. THE IONDARYAN PASTORAL COMPANY PTY LTD By its Patent Attorneys TREVOR DREDGE ASSOCIATES #114 'ai Iyr o H i- iI r g ABSTRACT A mounting clip 10 for a, curing connector assembly 41 to a mounting plate the mounting clip includes a ring-like body 11 of generally square shape, the body 11 having an outer clip mechanism comprising four catches 12, 13, 14 and which engage with latches in a rear connector housing of the mounting plate. The mounting plate including an inner clip mechanism which in this case comprises adjacent opposed pairs of resilient latches 16, 17 and 18, 19 an opposed pair of which are arranged to receive and hold the connector assembly 41. By providing two pairs of latches set at 900 to one another, a connector assembly can be held in two selectable orientations involving a 90" degree rotation of the connector assembly 41 between the orientations. The mounting clip 10 also includes a raised surface comprising four raised surface portions 20, 21, 22 and 23 which define a cruciform aperture 24 which protrudes through an aperture in the mounting plate so that the o a surface portions 20, 21, 22 and 23 are substantially coextensive with the outer °a "o surface of the mounting plate. I j ft 4, n,|l n I I n i il i