EP0138039A2 - Bloc pour l'établissement de contacts avec un câble plat - Google Patents

Bloc pour l'établissement de contacts avec un câble plat Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0138039A2
EP0138039A2 EP84110643A EP84110643A EP0138039A2 EP 0138039 A2 EP0138039 A2 EP 0138039A2 EP 84110643 A EP84110643 A EP 84110643A EP 84110643 A EP84110643 A EP 84110643A EP 0138039 A2 EP0138039 A2 EP 0138039A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
fastener
housing
recess
access
fastener member
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Ceased
Application number
EP84110643A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0138039A3 (fr
Inventor
Urs Felix Nager, Jr.
Steven Consolo
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
FCI USA LLC
Original Assignee
Burndy Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Burndy Corp filed Critical Burndy Corp
Publication of EP0138039A2 publication Critical patent/EP0138039A2/fr
Publication of EP0138039A3 publication Critical patent/EP0138039A3/fr
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R12/00—Structural associations of a plurality of mutually-insulated electrical connecting elements, specially adapted for printed circuits, e.g. printed circuit boards [PCB], flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures, e.g. terminal strips, terminal blocks; Coupling devices specially adapted for printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures; Terminals specially adapted for contact with, or insertion into, printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures
    • H01R12/50—Fixed connections
    • H01R12/59—Fixed connections for flexible printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables or like structures
    • H01R12/592—Fixed connections for flexible printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables or like structures connections to contact elements

Definitions

  • This invention relates to electrical wiring systems utilizing flat conductor cables in lieu of coventional round wiring systems, and to accessories employed therein.
  • this invention relates to terminal blocks employed in flat conductor cable wiring systems, for facilitating connections to the flat conductors.
  • Flat conductor cables which comprise a plurality of conductive strips embedded in a thin insulating sleeve are finding increasing commercial use in the substitution or replacement of conventional and round wiring system.
  • flat conductor cable systems eliminate the need for extensive behind-the-wall electrical installations, the tacking of wiring to baseboards, and the inclusion of duct work in the walls and floors of buildings under construction which are meant to house conventional wiring systems.
  • Flat conductor wiring systems utilize the floor surface itself as the wiring bed.
  • under-carpet wiring systems have been offered commercially: one of these is the FLEXWAY (trademark of Burndy Corporation) cable wiring system.
  • FLEXWAY trademark of Burndy Corporation
  • numerous and different types of cable connections are made which are analagous to the several types of connections used in conventional wiring systems; that is, flat conductor cables are tapped, spliced, connected to transition junctions, and connected to service modules or fittings.
  • a cable usually is connected mechanically to an insulation member, from which electrical connections are made to a conventional wiring system.
  • Such transition junctions are normally contained within an enclosure which can be opened for access.
  • a service module or fitting is an enclosure in which a flat conductor cable is mounted and connected to an insulating support, from which power is tapped for direct use by a consumer.
  • An example of this would be a service fitting in which the flat conductor cable is connected to a standart electrical outlet.
  • Cable systems of this type are often installed in three layers: a bottom protective layer which directly contacts the surface on which the wiring system is to be laid; a middle layer which is the flat conductor cable itself; and a top protective layer, over which the floor covering or other surface covering is installed.
  • the top and bottom layers may be comprised of cold rolled steel, and either one or both may be used to "ground" the entire electrical system.
  • the bottom layer may be insulating plastic, either beneath and in addition to the lower matallic layer, or in lieu thereof. Generally, the plastic insulating layer is in the range of several mils to about 25 mils thick.
  • the thickness of the cable itself depends upon the exact gauge, but generally is of the order of 10 to 25 mils; and the metallic grounding shield layers range in thickness between 5 and 15 mils. Therefore the total structure remains very thin despite the three-layered, or possibly four or more-layered, composite.
  • flat conductor cables are comprised of a plurality of conductive strips which are separated and insulated from each other and are enclosed whithin a thin insulating sleeve which is typically a plastic material, such as for example, polyester.
  • the conductive strips are usually formed of copper or a copper alloy, and the number of strips per cable can vary from several to a large number, depending upon the extensiveness of the wiring system contemplated. Taps, splices, transition connections and terminal connections are produced by clamping conductive connectors of various sorts onto the conductive portions of the cable.
  • transition terminal connections When transition terminal connections are made in a flat conductor cable system, the portion of the cable usually is coupled to an insulating support which is further mounted within a service module accessible to service personnel.
  • a conductive surface of each conductor To produce an electrical connection, a conductive surface of each conductor must be exposed, and a conductive coupling means must be provided to form an electrical connection between the conductive surface and an external conductor or utilization device.
  • These connections are subject to two significant requirements: (1) The conductive coupling means which engage the respective spaced apart conductors of the cable generally must be electrically insulated from each other, and (2) the conductive coupling means must join the external conductors to the cable conductors with significant mechanical force while maintaining the space between couplings independently of the cable structure itself.
  • transition block connector for establishing electrical connections between the conductors of flat flexible and external conductors or utilization devices, which provides for firm mechanical clamping of external conductors to the flat cable while maintaining mechanical and electrical separation of the respective spaced-apart couplings.
  • This transition block connector also accommodates variations in the spacing between the respective couplings which are caused by variations in the spacing between conductors in various cables, and by variations in the spacing and alignment of openings in the conductors which accommodate the coupling means.
  • Another object of this invention is to provide a transition connector for connecting the ground conductor of a flat cable to a metallic shielding layer associated with a flat cable without resort to external wires or additional lengths of other conductors.
  • transition block connector which provides spaced-apart fastener members moveably mounted in spaced-apart relation in an insulating housing for threadedly engaging screw threaded terminal fasteners that have been positioned in openings in the conductors of a flat cable and are in electrical engagement with the conductors.
  • the fastener members are moveable within the insulating housing, within predetermined limits, so as to accommodate variations in spacing of the terminal screws which project through the cable conductors, while maintaining a predetermined electrical and mechanical separation between the respective fasteners, and between the fasteners and "ground".
  • a conductive support sheet can be coupled to the insulating housing to provide for grounding connectors between the ground conductor of a flat cable and a metallic shield layer of an installed system.
  • a conductive threaded fastener coupled to the support sheet and positioned so that it may be aligned with a through opening in the insulating housing, a direct ground connection can be achieved between the cable and the conductive support sheet.
  • the terminal block of - this invention may be seen to comprise a housing 10 having recesses 12 containing fastener members 14.
  • terminal screws 16 extending through holes 18 in the spaced-apart conductors 20 of a flat flexible cable 22, are threadedly with screw-threaded central openings 24 in fasteners 14. Openings 24 are shown in Figure 1.
  • a conductive support sheet 48 may be coupled to the housing 10 by means of clamping screws 46 which engage threaded openings 60 in the sheet.
  • a threaded stud fastener 62 of conductive metal is anchored to the sheet 48 by any convenient means such as staking to form a secure electro mechanical connection between the sheet and the stud.
  • the function of stud fastener 62 is further explained later in the text of this specification.
  • the fasteners 14 comprise a generally cylndrical body portion 25 and an anchor portion 28 which has a non-circular exterior configuration; it can be seen that the non-circular configuration of anchor portion 28 in the illustrated embodiment is generally square or rectangular, but it is considered obvious that-other geometric configurations may be used as well within the scope of this invention.
  • shoulder 30 is formed, facing generally in the direction of the opening 24. The function of shoulder 30 is explained later in the text of this specification.
  • the housing 10 comprises a base part 32 having a mounting surfache 34 thereon, and a closure part 36 having an access surface 38 thereon.
  • a pluralty of access openings 40 extend through the access surface to permit access to the central openings 24 of fasteners 14 which are disposed within recesses 12 which are formed in base portion 32 of housing 10.
  • the exterior dimensions of fasteners 14 measured in a direction generally normal to the central axis of the central openings 24 are sufficiently less than the internal dimensions of recesses 12 measured in a direction generally parallel to base surface 34 of housing 10, so as to permit lateral displacement of axis 24 of fasteners 14 relative to housing 10.
  • the interior configuration of recesses 12 is selected to be generally congruent with, but larger than the exterior configuration of anchor portion 28, so as to permit lateral displacement of the fasteners 14 within the recess 12, while substantially preventing rotation of fasteners 14 about axes substantially parallel to the central axis of openings 24.
  • fasteners 14 are shown in this embodiment to have non-circular anchor portions remote from the entrance to openings 24, and congruent non-circular portions of recesses 12 are shown to be formed in base portion 32 of housing 10, it is considered obvious to one of ordinary skill in this art, that different arrangements are possible and other locations for non-circular portions of the housing and the fasteners may be provided within the scope of this invention.
  • a shoulder 42 is formed facing in a direction generally away from access openings 40 toward the interior of the housing. This shoulder 42 within the recess, cooperates with shoulder 30 on the surface of fastener 14 to prevent withdrawal of the fastener from recess 12 when closure part 36 of housing 10 is assembled to base part 32.
  • housing 10 in addition to access openings 40 and recesses 12, housing 10 includes through openings 44 which extend through access surface 38 as well as through mounting surface 34 for receiving fastener members 46 to secure the terminal block to a suitable substrate such as conductive support sheet 48. Housing 10 also include a through opening 45 which extends through access surface 38 and mounting surface 34 for receiving a terminal screw 17 which can extend through a ground conductor 20 of a flat flexible cable 22 and engage a stud fastener 62 on conductive sheet 48 for the purpose of providing an electrical "ground” connection between the conductor 20 and conductive shield layers connected to support sheet 48.
  • the flat flexible cable 22 is be provided with conductive terminal devices 52 which extend through the conductors 20 and are secured to the insulation 54 of the cable for the purpose of reinforcing the conductors, maintaining electrical contact, and for providing secure clamping surfaces for the terminal screws 16.
  • conductive terminal devices 52 which extend through the conductors 20 and are secured to the insulation 54 of the cable for the purpose of reinforcing the conductors, maintaining electrical contact, and for providing secure clamping surfaces for the terminal screws 16.
  • the flat flexible cable 22 may be 0,020 thick with a center to center spacing between adjacent conductors 20 of 0.955.
  • Terminal screws 16 and 17 may be screw thread size 8-32 UNC-2A with a corresponding internal thread provided in the central openings 24 of fasteners 14, and binding heads preferably may be used.
  • the difference between the interior dimensions of recesses 12 and the exterior dimensions of fasteners 14 preferably may be selected to permit relative lateral displacement of each fastener 14 plus or minus 0.050" from its normal centerline position.
  • the overall outer dimension of fastener 14 may be on the order of 0.438" in such a terminal block, the overall internal dimension of the corresponding portion of recess 12, may be approximately 0.538". Because it is generally important to accommodate or permit displacement of fasteners 14 relative to housing 10 in a direction parallel to the center line of the flat cale, as well as in the lateral direction, the difference between the exterior dimensions of fasteners 14 and the inner dimensions of recesses 12 may be the same in both directions. However, it must be understood that dimensions may be selected to permit different limits of excursion of the fasteners in different directions, without departing from the scope of this invention.
  • each fastener 14 has an abutment surface 56 generally circumjacent the entrance to central openings 24.
  • the contact surfaces 58 of terminal devices 52 may be firmly clamped against abutment surfaces 56 by the clamping action of screw 16 when engaged with fasteners 14.
  • abutment surfaces 56 it is preferably for abutment surfaces 56 to be not substantially closer to mounting surface 34 than is access surface 38. Further, in the preferred embodiment, the thickness of the insulating material of housing 10 between mounting surface 34 and the nearest inner surface of recess 12 should be sufficient to satisfy applicable standards for electrical insulation between an energized conductive fastener 24 and any conductive surface or substrate which may be abutted against mounting surface 34, at commonly used electrical voltages.

Landscapes

  • Multi-Conductor Connections (AREA)
  • Coupling Device And Connection With Printed Circuit (AREA)
  • Connections Arranged To Contact A Plurality Of Conductors (AREA)
EP84110643A 1983-09-06 1984-09-06 Bloc pour l'établissement de contacts avec un câble plat Ceased EP0138039A3 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US52919383A 1983-09-06 1983-09-06
US529193 1983-09-06

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0138039A2 true EP0138039A2 (fr) 1985-04-24
EP0138039A3 EP0138039A3 (fr) 1986-05-21

Family

ID=24108902

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP84110643A Ceased EP0138039A3 (fr) 1983-09-06 1984-09-06 Bloc pour l'établissement de contacts avec un câble plat

Country Status (6)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0138039A3 (fr)
JP (1) JPS6062072A (fr)
AU (1) AU573614B2 (fr)
BR (1) BR8404391A (fr)
CA (1) CA1220257A (fr)
ES (1) ES288822Y (fr)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2269709A (en) * 1992-07-27 1994-02-16 Vivian Jude Amourgam Terminal block assembly.
AU667981B2 (en) * 1992-12-10 1996-04-18 Radio Frequency Systems Inc. mounting clamp

Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2153954A5 (fr) * 1971-09-15 1973-05-04 Bendix Corp
US4240687A (en) * 1979-05-30 1980-12-23 Amp Incorporated Transition block for terminating flat conductors

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2153954A5 (fr) * 1971-09-15 1973-05-04 Bendix Corp
US4240687A (en) * 1979-05-30 1980-12-23 Amp Incorporated Transition block for terminating flat conductors

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2269709A (en) * 1992-07-27 1994-02-16 Vivian Jude Amourgam Terminal block assembly.
AU667981B2 (en) * 1992-12-10 1996-04-18 Radio Frequency Systems Inc. mounting clamp

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
ES288822Y (es) 1986-10-01
JPS6062072A (ja) 1985-04-10
AU3240484A (en) 1985-03-14
AU573614B2 (en) 1988-06-16
BR8404391A (pt) 1985-07-30
ES288822U (es) 1986-03-16
EP0138039A3 (fr) 1986-05-21
CA1220257A (fr) 1987-04-07

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Inventor name: NAGER, URS FELIX, JR.

Inventor name: CONSOLO, STEVEN