DE29611318U1 - Cover for multi-pin connector housing - Google Patents

Description

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DIPL-ING.

DIPL-PHYS. DR. RER. NAT. JOST LEMPERT D-76207 KARLSRUHE (DURLACH)

PO BOX 410760

DIPL-ING. HARTMUT LASCH TELEPHONE: (O72I) 9432815 FAX: (0721)9432840

INDUSTRIA LOMBARDA 13931.1/96 La/ju

ELECTRICAL MATERIALS I.L.M.E. S.p.A. 27 June 1996 Via Marco Antonio Colonna, 9

1-20143 Milan

Cover for housing multi-pin connector

The invention relates to a cover for housings of multi-pin connectors.

As is known, multipole connectors, plugs and sockets are housed in appropriate housings, the plug and socket being hermetically closed at the moment they are connected to each other by appropriate tightening means. One of the housings with the associated connector element is normally fixed to the wall of a control box and the other housing is connected to it, after the wiring has been carried out by means of the tightening means which usually comprise snap levers hinged to a housing and which engage in corresponding hooks protruding on the housing.

The fastening of the connectors in the corresponding housings and the wiring of the same, i.e. the connection of the individual connector pins or contact openings by means of electrical cables, takes place outside the

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Installation location of the connector at companies specialised for this purpose.

Serious problems can arise during transportation of the wired connector elements from the workshop to the installation points, such as bending of the contacts, rendering them unusable.

To protect the pre-wired connectors during handling and transport, appropriate covers are used, which are attached to them to avoid accidental contact with the internal contact elements.

Such covers are usually made of a metal material and have a shape that is adapted to the respective connector housing.

Since such housings for multi-pole connectors have different typologies, mainly due to the tightening means between them, it is currently necessary to provide different typologies of protective covers, which leads to a corresponding increase in costs. The economic aspect is also strongly influenced by the use of metal material for covers, which are usually not reused after the multi-pole connector has been installed.

The object of the invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages and to provide a cover for multipole connector housings which can be manufactured at low cost and which is adaptable to the various types of connector housings available on the market.

This object is achieved by the lid according to the invention, which has the features listed in claim 1

having.
5

Preferred embodiments of the invention emerge from the dependent claims.

Essentially, the cover according to the invention is made by molding a plastic material, which proves to be extremely economical, and it comprises a plurality of hooking elements which can be used selectively for the temporary fastening to the corresponding complementary means provided on the housing of the connectors.

Such hooking means comprise in particular elastic teeth distributed on the four sides of the cover so as to engage with corresponding hooks normally protruding on two opposite walls of the housing of the plug element.

These elastic teeth can be broken off and thus leave only projections on the walls of the cover into which the snap levers can engage, which are usually provided on the housings of the socket elements that are attached to the control cabinet.

0 This makes it possible to use the same cover to cover different housings for multi-pin connectors.

Further features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, which is an exclusively exemplary embodiment of the invention.

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vention and is therefore not to be understood as a limitation with regard to possible embodiments, and which is illustrated by the attached drawings. They show:

Figure 1 is an axonometric view of the cover for

Housings of multi-pin connectors according to the present invention;

Figure 2 is a similar view to that of Figure 1,

with all hooking elements removed and one corner shown cut;

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

an axonometric view, shown on a smaller scale compared to Figures 1 and 2, showing the cover according to the invention mounted on a housing for multi-pole connectors;

a view similar to Figure 3, showing a cover according to the invention mounted on a housing for connectors with other hooking means;

a side view showing the cover according to the invention mounted on a connector housing complementary to that of Figure 3;

an end view showing the cover according to the invention mounted on a connector housing complementary to that of Figure 4.

With reference to the accompanying figures, and in particular to figures 1 and 2, 1 designates a lid according to the invention in its entirety, which is made in a simple manner by pressing from a plastic material.

The cover 1 has a rectangular shape and a peripheral frame 2 adapted to the opening of the housings for multi-pin connectors, the dimensions of which are practically standardized.

On the two opposite long sides of the lid 1, corresponding pairs of elastic ribs 3 are provided, which are provided with end teeth 4 for hooking. The ribs 3 are flexible in particular in the transverse direction (in the direction of the short sides) of the lid 1.

On the two opposite short sides of the lid 1, however, corresponding pairs of ribs 5 are provided, which converge in such a way that they form a V-shaped structure. The ribs 5 are also provided with corresponding end teeth 6 and are also flexible in the transverse direction of the lid 1, so that they can move away from each other and approach each other.

Also provided on one side of the cover 1 is a lug 7 with a through hole 8, which serves to thread a small cord to keep the cover 1 connected to a connector housing, if desired during or after installation of the same.

All ribs 3 and 5 can be separated through the cover 1 by means of a simple break, as shown in Figure 2, 5 whereby only the corresponding base projections 10 and 11 remain on the cover.

The cover 1 structured in this way can be used to temporarily close various typologies of housings for multi-pole connectors, as shown in Figures 3 to 6.

In Figure 3, a housing 20 of a movable connector element is shown, the housing being provided on its wider opposite walls with corresponding pairs of projecting hooks 21, which are normally used for engaging hooking snap levers arranged on the housing of the complementary connector element (Figure 5).

According to the invention, the end teeth 4 of the ribs 3 engage behind the hooks 21 after an elastic yielding of the ribs 3 has occurred during the attachment phase of the cover 1 on the housing 20.

The other hooking elements 5 provided on the lid 1 remain unused in this case.

Figure 4 shows a housing 30 of a multi-pin connector which is similar to that of Figure 3 except that instead of the pairs of hooks 21 on the long walls of the housing of Figure 3, there is a pair of hooks 31 projecting from the two opposite short sides of the housing.

In this case, the flexible ribs 3 remain inactive, while the pairs of ribs 5 forming a V-shaped structure embrace a corresponding hook 31 so that the end teeth 6 engage under this hook.

Figure 5 shows a housing 20' for a connector element that is mounted on the wall of a control cabinet

which has a pair of hooking snap levers 22 which are suitable for engaging behind the hooks 21 of the housing 20 of Figure 3, which represents the complement to the housing 20'.

In order to temporarily close the housing 20' with the cover 1 according to the invention, at least the ribs 3 arranged on the long sides are removed from the latter, so that interference by the hooking levers 22 is avoided.

In correspondence with these ribs 3, only the corresponding base projections 10 remain on the cover 1, which serve as engagement elements for the hooking snap levers 22, as shown in Figure 5.

The housing 30' of Figure 6 is connected to the housing 30 of Figure

4 complementary and, for this purpose, provided on each of the shorter walls with a corresponding hooking snap lever 3 2 which, during the connection phase, engages in a corresponding hook 31 of the housing 30.

In order to temporarily close the pre-wired housing 30' during handling and transport of the same, the lid 1 according to the invention is used, from which at least the ribs 5 provided on the short sides thereof are removed in order to avoid possible interference with the snap levers 32 during their movement.

On the cover 1, corresponding to the ribs,

5 only the corresponding base projections 11 into which the hooking snap levers 32 engage, as shown in Figure 6.

From the above, the advantages of the cover for multipole connector housings according to the invention, which adapts to the various types of housings available on the market without substantial modifications, are clearly apparent.

Of course, the shape of the hooking elements 3, 4 and 5, 6 provided on the cover 1 may be different from that shown by way of example in the attached figures, while retaining their function of hooking the corresponding standard stops provided on the housings.

It is also obvious that, although a plastic material is preferred for the lid according to the present invention, other materials may be used, just as it is understood that the shape and dimensions of the lid, which are not closely tied to the hooking elements, may be changed compared to that shown in the drawings.

Claims (1)

Cover for housing (20, 30, 20', 30') multi-pole connector, with a rectangular peripheral frame (2) adapted to the opening of the housing, characterized in that the cover (1) comprises a plurality of hooking elements which are at least partially frangible and can be selectively engaged with corresponding complementary elements arranged on the housing (20, 20', 30, 30'). Lid according to claim 1, characterized in that the hooking elements comprise pairs of flexible ribs (3) with corresponding end teeth (4) provided on the two long sides of the lid and suitable for engaging corresponding hooks (21) protruding on opposite side walls of a housing (20). Lid according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the hooking elements are pairs of flexible ribs (5) connected in a V-shape and provided with end teeth (6) arranged in correspondence with the short sides of the cover in order to hook into corresponding hooks (31) arranged on the two opposite shorter sides of a housing (30). 4. Lid according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the ribs (3, 5) are connected to the lid (1) by means of corresponding base projections (10, 11), the base projections (10, 11) remaining attached to the lid (1) during the removal of the ribs (3, 5). 5. Lid according to claim 4, characterized in that the base projections (10) which remain on the long sides of the lid (1) after the removal of the corresponding ribs (3) can be brought into engagement with corresponding hooking snap levers (22) of a housing (20'). 6. Lid according to claim 4, characterized in that the base projections (11) which remain on the short sides of the lid (1) after the ribs (5) have been removed by breaking them off can be brought into engagement with corresponding hooking snap levers (32) of a housing (3 0'). 7. Lid according to one of the preceding claims, 0 characterized in that a laterally projecting nose (7) with a through hole (8) is provided. 8. Lid according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the lid is produced by pressing a plastic material.