EP0286577B1 - Wire connector for cable wires - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a wire connector for cable wires, in particular for telecommunications. A device is provided in a wire connector, which can be used for generating a connecting splice as well as for generating a branching splice, without special tools for cutting the cable wires off being necessary. Guide channels (4) are provided having a separating knife (6) for the cable wires (7,8). Furthermore, the upper part of housing (2) includes separating pieces on its underside. The upper part of housing (2) is latchable with the lower part of housing (1) in two different positions, the separating pieces cooperating in one position only with the separating knives (6).

Description

The invention relates to a wire connector for cable cores, in particular telecommunication cables, according to the preamble of claim 1.

A wire connector of this type is previously known from DE-23 28 505 A1. In this case, insulation displacement contacts are used in the longitudinal center of the lower housing part in two parallel guide channels. Furthermore, two housing upper parts connected to the lower housing part via film hinges are provided which, when latched to the lower housing part, press the cable wires inserted into the contact slots of the insulation displacement contacts by means of the insertion webs into the contact slots of the insulation displacement contacts. In this way, either a connection splice between two cable wires passing through the wire connector or a branch splice can be created in which only one cable wire runs through the wire connector, whereas the other cable wire outside the wire connector must be cut off.

To produce a connection splice from this branch splice, the other cable wire behind the insulation displacement contact must also be cut off.

The disadvantage here is that special cutting tools are required to cut the cable cores and that there is a risk of short circuits when cutting.

It is also known from DE 32 00 213 A1 a further wire connector for telecommunication cables, in which separating knives are assigned to the insulation displacement contacts.
When the wire connector is closed by means of the upper part of the housing, the cable wires are pressed into the contact slots of the insulation displacement contacts on the one hand by means of insertion webs and cut to length on the other hand by means of the separating knife. The disadvantage here is that both cable cores are cut off at the same time, so that only one connection splice can be produced.

The invention is therefore based on the object of providing a wire connector of the generic type which can be used both for producing a connection splice and a branch splice without requiring special tools for cutting off the cable cores.

The solution to this problem results from the characterizing features of claim 1. By using an upper housing part which can be locked in two different positions with the lower housing part, it is possible to form a connection splice on the one hand and a branch splice on the other hand, the separating webs only in the one position of the upper housing part cooperate with the separating knives to create the connection splice, and in the other position of the upper housing part do not cooperate with the separating knives, so that the cable wires are not cut off to form the branch splice.

To convert the branch splice into a connection splice, an additional separating element is fitted onto the lower part of the housing, which is provided with separating webs for separating the cable cores which initially run through the wire connector. In this way a conversion of the branch splice into a connection splice is made possible without the use of a tool.

Further advantageous embodiments of the invention result from the further subclaims.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to three embodiments of a wire connector for cable cores shown in the drawings.

Fig. 1

eine teilweise aufgebrochene Draufsicht auf die 1. Ausführungsform des Aderverbinders als Verbindungsspleiß,

Fig. 2

einen Längsschnitt gemäß der Linie II-II in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3

eine teilweise aufgebrochene Draufsicht auf die 1. Ausführungsform des Aderverbinders als Abzweigungsspleiß,

Fig. 4

einen Längsschnitt gemäß der Linie IV-IV in Fig. 3,

Fig. 5

eine teilweise aufgebrochene Draufsicht auf den Aderverbinder in der 1. Ausführungsform als mittels eines Trennelementes in einen Verbindungsspleiß umgewandelter Abzweigungsspleiß,

Fig. 6

einen Längsschnitt gemäß der Linie VI-VI in Fig. 5,

Fig. 7

eine Untersicht auf das Gehäuseoberteil und das Trennelement des Aderverbinders in der 1. Ausführungsform,

Fig. 8

eine teilweise aufgebrochene Draufsicht auf die 2. Ausführungsform des Aderverbinders als Verbindungsspleiß,

Fig. 9

die Ansicht A in Fig. 8,

Fig.10

einen Längsschnitt durch den einen Verbindungsspleiß bildenden Aderverbinder gemäß Fig. 8,

Fig.11

einen Längsschnitt durch den einen Abzweigungsspleiß bildenden Aderverbinder gemäß Fig. 8,

Fig.12

einen Längsschnitt durch den Aderverbinder gemäß Fig. 8 mit zusätzlich aufgerastetem Trennelement zur Umwandlung des Abzweigungsspleißes in einen Verbindungsspleiß,

Fig.13

einen der Fig. 10 entsprechenden Längsschnitt durch den einen Verbindungsspleiß bildenden Aderverbinder in der dritten Ausführungsform und

Fig.14

einen Längsschnitt durch den Aderverbinder gemäß Fig. 13.

Show it:

Fig. 1

3 shows a partially broken top view of the first embodiment of the wire connector as a connection splice,

Fig. 2

2 shows a longitudinal section along the line II-II in FIG. 1,

Fig. 3

2 shows a partially broken top view of the first embodiment of the wire connector as a branch splice,

Fig. 4

3 shows a longitudinal section along the line IV-IV in FIG. 3,

Fig. 5

FIG. 2 shows a partially broken top view of the wire connector in the first embodiment as a branch splice converted into a connecting splice by means of a separating element,

Fig. 6

5 shows a longitudinal section along the line VI-VI in FIG. 5,

Fig. 7

a bottom view of the upper housing part and the separating element of the wire connector in the first embodiment,

Fig. 8

3 shows a partially broken top view of the second embodiment of the wire connector as a connection splice,

Fig. 9

the view A in Fig. 8,

Fig. 10

8 shows a longitudinal section through the wire connector forming a connecting splice according to FIG. 8,

Fig. 11

8 shows a longitudinal section through the wire connector forming a branch splice according to FIG. 8,

Fig. 12

8 shows a longitudinal section through the wire connector according to FIG. 8 with an additionally latched separating element for converting the branch splice into a connecting splice,

Fig. 13

10 shows a longitudinal section corresponding to FIG. 10 through the wire connector forming a connecting splice in the third embodiment and

Fig. 14

a longitudinal section through the wire connector according to FIG. 13.

In the first embodiment according to FIGS. 1 to 7, the wire connector consists of a lower housing part 1, an upper housing part 2 that can be snapped onto it and an additional separating element 3 that can be snapped onto the lower housing part 1, and insulation displacement contacts inserted into the guide channels 4 of the lower housing part 1 5 and cutting blades 6. The lower housing part 1, the upper housing part 2 and the separating element 3 are made of plastic. The insulation displacement contacts 5 and the separating knife 6 consist of an electrically conductive, metallic material.

The lower housing part comprises four adjacent guide channels 4 for the insertion and connection of two pairs of cable wires 7, 8. The insulation displacement contacts 5 and separating knife 6, which are arranged at a distance from one another in a guide channel 4, are connected to one another via a web 9 (FIG. 2). A supporting wall 10, 11 for the cable cores 7, 8 is formed in each guide channel 4 in front of and behind the insulation displacement contacts 5 and the separating knife 6. The insulation displacement contacts 5 of two adjacent guide channels 4 are connected to one another in an electrically conductive manner.

The insulation displacement contacts 5 are arranged at an angle α between 30 ° and 60 ° to the longitudinal axis of the guide channels 4, two adjacent insulation displacement contacts 5 being arranged at opposite angles α and in the longitudinal direction of the guide channels 4 offset from one another.

The upper housing part 2 can be locked with the lower housing part 1 in two different positions, for which purpose the upper housing part 2 must be rotated by 180 ° about its vertical axis relative to the lower housing part 1. The upper part of the housing 2 is provided on its underside with insertion webs 12 for the cable wires 7, 8, which insertion webs 12 run parallel to the guide channels 4. The press-in webs 12 form transverse slots 13 for the area of the insulation displacement contacts 5, which enable the insulation displacement contacts 5 to penetrate while simultaneously pressing the cable wires 7, 8 into the contact slots of the insulation displacement contacts 5. In their extension, the insertion webs 12 form dividing webs 14 with dividing slots 15, in which the dividing knives 6 engage.

To form the wire connector as a connection splice, the upper housing part according to FIGS. 1 and 2 is snapped onto the lower housing part 1 in such a way that the separating slots 15 can accommodate the separating knives 6 and the transverse slots 13 the insulation displacement contacts 5. The cable wires 7, 8 to be connected are inserted into the guide channels 4 of the lower housing part 1 and, when the upper housing part 2 is pressed on and locked, are pressed into the contact slots of the insulation displacement contacts 5 by means of the insertion webs 12 and cut off at the separating knives 6 at the same time by means of the separating webs 14 , so that a connection splice is formed between the pairs of cable wires 7, 8. The support walls 10 within the guide channels 4 are deformed, as shown in Fig. 2.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show the wire connector in the first embodiment as a branch splice. For this purpose, the upper housing part 2 is locked in position rotated by 180 ° about its vertical axis with the lower housing part 1. As shown in FIG. 4, the dividers 14 with the dividing slots 15 do not come into engagement with the dividing knives 6, but the dividers 14 only press the cable wires 7, 8 into the lower housing part 1. On the longitudinal side of the upper housing part 2 opposite the separating webs 14 and separating slots 15, further separating webs 16 with separating slots 17, which are formed in one piece with the upper housing part 2, are provided for every second guide channel 4, which come into engagement with each second cable wire 7, 8 and cut them off. For the two other cable cores 7, 8, only elastic tabs 20 are formed on the upper housing part 2, which hold the cable cores 7, 8 only in the lower housing part 1, but without being able to press the cable cores 7, 8 against the separating knife 6. Thus, only the cable wires 8 are cut off by means of the additional separating webs 16, whereas the cable wires 7 are passed through the wire connector without being separated. This results in a branch splice between the cable wire 7 that is passed through and the cut cable wire 8 that is electrically connected to it.

FIGS. 5 and 6 now show the conversion of the branch splice according to FIGS. 3 and 4 into a connection splice. For this purpose, the separating element 3 is snapped onto the lower housing part 1 in addition to the upper housing part 2. The separating element 3 has additional separating webs 18 with separating slots 19 and incisions 21 between the separating webs 18, into which the additional dividers 16 of the upper housing part 2 penetrate. The cable wires 7 are now also cut off by means of the additional separating webs 18 of the separating element 3, the separating webs 18 with their separating slots 19 reaching over the separating knife 6, as shown in FIG. 6. The result is a connection splice between the adjacent cable wires 7 and 8.

Fig. 7 shows a bottom view of the upper housing part 2 and the separating element 3 of the wire connector. Approximately in the middle of the combination of upper housing part 2 and separating element 3 in the functional position are the alternately offset transverse slots 13, into which the insulation displacement connection elements 5 penetrate. In FIG. 7, the separating webs 14 with the separating slots 15 are located to the right of the pressing-in webs 12 and the separating webs 16 with separating slots 17 are located to the left of the pressing-in webs 12. The flaps 20 arranged alternately with the additional dividers 16 of the upper housing part 2 cover the dividers 18 with dividing slots 19 of the dividing element 3. As shown in FIG. 6, the flaps 20 are displaced from the dividers 18 of the dividing element 3, so that the separating slots 19 of the separating webs 18 can come into operative connection with the separating knives 6.

The upper housing part 2 has two locking webs 22 on its two narrow sides, which fit into correspondingly adapted locking slots 23 of the lower housing part 1 intervene and click into place. Correspondingly, the separating element 3 has a latching web 24 on each of the narrow sides, which likewise engages in the latching slots 23 of the lower housing part 1.

The second embodiment of the wire connector is shown in FIGS. 8 to 10. This consists of a lower housing part 31 and two identical upper housing parts 32 which can be locked with this and a separating element 33 which can be locked with lower housing part 31. Lower housing part 31, upper housing parts 32 and separating element 33 are made of plastic. Four straight groove-like guide channels 34 for cable wires 37, 38 are provided in the lower housing part 31. Tabs 45 for holding the cable wires 37, 38 inserted in the guide channels 34 are assigned to the guide channels 34 on the narrow sides of the lower housing part 31.

In the central area of the straight, groove-like guide channels 34, two insulation displacement contacts 35 are inserted in two parallel rows 40, 41, the connecting webs 39 of which form separating knives 36 in the longitudinal center of the guide channels 34. The insulation displacement contacts 35, which are at angles α between 30 ° and 60 ° to the longitudinal axis of the guide channels 34, are formed from two legs, between which the actual contact slot extends. Both legs are held in slots in the side walls of the guide channels 34. The separating knives 36 are made from the connecting webs 39 at right angles Rag formed. The two insulation displacement contacts 35 of each row 40, 41, the separating knife 36 arranged in the center and the connecting webs 39 are thus formed in one piece from metallic, electrically conductive material. The row of separating knives 36 is located exactly in the middle between the rows 40, 41 of insulation displacement contacts 35.

Each upper housing part 32 is approximately U-shaped in cross section and can be locked behind locking lugs 47 of the lower housing part 31 by means of locking hooks 46. On its inside, each upper housing part 32 has press-in webs 42 with transverse slots 43, into which the insulation displacement contacts 35 can penetrate when the upper housing part 32 is snapped on. The insertion webs 42 located on both sides of the transverse slots 43 press on the cable wires 37, 38 in order to press them into the contact slots of the insulation displacement contacts 35. The one longitudinal side wall of each upper housing part 32 forms a shearing edge 48 which can come to rest against the separating knives 36. Thus, the distance between the longitudinal side wall of the upper housing parts 32 forming the shear edge 48 and the center of the transverse slots 43 for receiving the insulation displacement contacts 35 of each upper housing part 32 is the same as the distance of the row of separating knives 36 from the two rows 40, 41 the insulation displacement contacts 35. The distance between the other longitudinal side wall of each upper housing part 32 and the transverse slots 43 is substantially smaller.

Each upper housing part 32 also has on its upper side, at an angle to the longitudinal side wall provided with the shearing edge 48, grooves 49 for guiding branched cable cores 37, 38. Furthermore, a web 50 with a through opening 51 for a cable tie is formed on the underside of the lower housing part 31.

The wire connector described in the second embodiment is used with reference to FIGS. 8 to 10 for producing a connection splice as follows. First, the cable wires 37 of a cable to be connected are inserted into the guide channels 34 of the left part of the lower housing part 31, with retaining tabs 45 fixing the cable wires 37 and the cable wires 37 also via the contact slots of the insulation displacement contacts 35 of the left row 40 and via the Cutting knife 36 are placed. Then the upper housing part 32 shown on the left in FIG. 8 is snapped on, the push-in webs 42 pressing the cable cores 37 into the contact slots of the insulation displacement contacts 35, the insulation displacement contacts 35 engaging in the transverse slots 43 of the housing upper part 32 and also the Shearing edge 48 of the upper housing part 32 smoothly cuts off the free ends of the cable wires 37 on the separating knives 36. Then the right upper housing part 32 is placed in the same way, the cable wires 38 of the further cable to be connected making contact with the insulation displacement contacts 35 of the right row 41, and at the same time the cable wires 38 are cut off on the separating knives 36. Be over the connecting webs 39 of each pair of insulation displacement contacts 35 thus associated pairs of cable wires 37, 38 conductively connected. A plurality of wire connectors can be connected to one another by means of a plastic strip as a cable tie, which is pulled through the through openings 51 on the underside of each lower housing part 31.

The manufacture of a branch splice with the wire connector in the second embodiment is described in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12. The cable cores 37 of the one cable to be connected are connected in the same way by means of the left cover part 32, as has been described for the production of a connection splice on the basis of FIGS. The cable wires 38 of the further cable to be connected are then placed over the already latched left upper housing part 32, these being guided through the grooves 49 on the upper side of the left upper housing part 32. The cable wires 38 are then conductively connected to the insulation displacement contacts 35 of the right row 41 by means of the further housing upper part 32, which, however, in contrast to the connection splice according to FIGS. 8 to 10, is rotated by 180 ° about its vertical axis and latched to the housing lower part 31, so that the longitudinal side wall of the right upper housing part 32 provided with the shearing edge 48 is arranged at a distance from the middle row of the separating knives 36. In this way, a branch splice is formed in which the ends of the cable cores 37 are electrically connected to the continuous cable cores 38.

To produce the bypass splice, a connection splice can now be formed from the branch splice. For this purpose, the separating element 33, which is provided with a shearing edge 53, which interacts with the row of separating knives 36, is inserted into the free space formed by the distance 52 between the two upper housing parts 32. In this way, the cable wires 38 on the right side can also be cut off smoothly. The separating element 3 can be fastened to the upper housing part 32 in a manner not shown by means of a film hinge.

The wire connector in the third embodiment according to FIGS. 13 and 14 is largely identical to the wire connector in the second embodiment. In contrast to this, two rows of separating knives 66 are formed only in the longitudinal center of the lower housing part 61, which in turn are formed from tabs formed in one piece with the webs 69 of the insulation displacement contacts 65. The insulation displacement contacts 65 are inserted into the guide channels 64 of the lower housing part 61. In contrast to the second embodiment, a separating slot 75 is formed on the undersides of the separating webs 74, which interacts with one of the two rows of separating knives 66 in order to separate a cable core 67, 68. In addition, a spring-elastic cover flap 70 is attached to the longitudinal side wall of each housing upper part 62 assigned to the separating slots 75 and is formed in one piece with the upper housing part 62.

13 shows the formation of a connection splice in which the two upper housing parts 62 each cooperate with their separating slots 75 with the separating knives 66 of the two rows, the resilient tabs 70 closing the free space remaining between the upper housing parts 62.

Fig. 14 shows the wire connector of the third embodiment as a split tap splice. Here, the upper housing part 62 shown on the left is snapped on in the same way as the upper housing part 62 shown in FIG. 13. The upper part 62 shown on the right in FIG. 14 is snapped onto the lower housing part 61 rotated by 180 ° about its vertical axis, the separating slots 75 not coming into engagement with the right row of separating knives 66. There is a larger distance 82 between the two upper housing parts 62, in which the separating element 63 is inserted, which is locked in the same way as the upper housing parts 62 with the lower housing part 61. On the underside of the separating element 63, a separating slot 77 is formed, which cooperates with the row of separating knives 66 which remains free in order to cut off a cable 68 which is initially looped through to form the connecting splice. The separating element 63 is also provided with resilient cover flaps 70 which are formed on both sides of the separating element 63.

Claims (20)

1. A wire connector for cable wires, in particular for the telecommunication, comprising a lower housing portion (1, 31, 61) with at least two guide channels (4, 34, 64) for the cable wires (7, 8; 37, 38; 67, 68), at least one upper housing portion (2, 32, 62) to be snapped-in into the lower housing portion (1, 31, 61), cutting and clamping contacts (5, 35, 65) inserted into the guide channels (4, 34, 64) of the lower housing portion (1, 31, 61) and provided with contact slots, the cutting and clamping contacts of two correlated guide channels (4, 34, 64) being electrically connected to each other, and press-in webs (12, 42) for the cable wires formed at the underside of the upper housing portion (2, 32, 62) and cooperating with the contact slots of the cutting and clamping contacts (5, 35, 65),
      characterized by that in each guide channel (4, 34, 64), a separating knife (6, 36, 66) for the cable wires (7,8; 37, 38; 67, 68) is arranged,
      that the upper housing portion (2, 32, 62) comprises separating webs (14, 16, 18; 74) at its underside, and
      that the upper housing portion (2, 32, 62) is latchable in two different positions with respect to the lower housing portion (1, 31, 61), the separating webs 14, 16, 18; 74) cooperating in one position only with the separating knives (6, 36, 66).
2. A wire connector according to claim 1,
      characterized by that the upper housing portion (2, 32, 62) turned by 180° about its vertical axis is latchable with the lower housing portion (1, 31, 61).
3. A wire connector according to claim 1 or 2,
      characterized by that the cutting and clamping contacts (5, 35, 65) and the separating knives (6, 36, 66) are formed as one piece from electrically conductive, metal material.
4. A wire connector according to one of claims 1 to 3,
      characterized by that the cutting and clamping contacts (5, 35, 65) are inserted into the guide channels (4, 34, 64) at an angle α with respect to the longitudinal axis of said guide channels.
5. A wire connector according to claim 4,
      characterized by that the angle α is between 30° and 60°.
6. A wire connector according to one of claims 1 to 5,
      characterized by that two adjacent cutting and clamping contacts (5, 35, 65) are arranged at opposed angles α and are staggered to each other in the longitudinal direction of the guide channels (4, 34, 64).
7. A wire connector according to one of claims 1 to 6,
      characterized by that the press-in and separating webs (12, 14, 16, 18; 42; 74) are formed from longitudinal webs arranged on the underside of the upper housing portion (2, 32, 62), said longitudinal webs being provided approximately in the longitudinal centre with slots (13, 43) for engagement of the cutting and clamping contacts (5, 35, 65) and at their ends with slots (15, 17, 19; 75, 77) for engagement of the separating knives (6, 36, 66).
8. A wire connector according to claim 7,
      characterized by that every second longitudinal web is replaced at one end of the upper housing portion (2, 32, 62) by an elastic lug (20, 70).
9. A wire connector according to one of claims 1 to 8,
      characterized by that a separating element (3, 33, 63) is provided for latching with the lower housing portion (1, 31, 61) after snapping the upper housing portion (2, 32, 62) on, and is formed with two press-in webs (18, 74) provided with slots (19, 77) for engagement of the separating knives (6, 36, 66), said press-in webs (18, 74) being provided for every second guide channel (4, 34, 64) only.
10. A wire connector according to one of claims 1 to 9,
       characterized by that the guide channels (34, 64) for two cable wires (37, 38; 67, 68) are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the lower housing portion (31, 61) axially behind each other,
       that the cutting and clamping contacts (35, 65) are arranged in two spaced rows (40, 41) extending transversely over the lower housing portion (31, 61),
       that in the lower housing portion (31, 61), transversely to the longitudinal axis of the guide channels (34, 64), between the two rows (40, 41) of cutting and clamping contacts (35, 65), at least one row of separating knives (36, 66) is arranged,
       that to each row of cutting and clamping contacts (35, 65), one upper housing portion (32, 62) is assigned, and
       that the upper housing portions (32, 62) are latchable with the lower housing portion (31, 61) in two different positions above the respective row (40, 41) of cutting and clamping contacts (35, 65).
11. A wire connector according to claim 10,
       characterized by that to each upper housing portion (32, 62), a shear-off edge (48) to be set to the row of separating knives (36, 66) is assigned.
12. A wire connector according to claim 11,
       characterized by that the shear-off edge (48) is formed at one longitudinal side wall of the upper housing portions (32, 62).
13. A wire connector according to claim 11,
       characterized by that the shear-off edge (48) is formed at a separating element (33, 63) insertable between a longitudinal side wall of an upper housing portion (32, 62) and the row of separating knives (36, 66).
14. A wire connector according to one of claims 11 to 13,
       characterized by that the separating element (33, 63) is fastened by means of a film hinge to the longitudinal side wall of the upper housing portion (32, 62).
15. A wire connector according to one of claims 10 to 14,
       characterized by that the separating knives (36, 66) are arranged at the connecting web (39, 69) of the cutting and clamping contacts (35, 65).
16. A wire connector according to one of claims 10 to 15,
       characterized by that on the upper sides of the upper housing portion (32, 62), grooves (49) extending obliquely to the longitudinal side wall provided with the shear-off edge (48) are formed for guiding branched cable wires (37, 38; 67, 68).
17. A wire connector according to one of claims 10 to 16,
       characterized by that in the lower housing portion (31, 61), transversely to the longitudinal axis of the guide channels (34, 64) between the two rows (40, 41) of cutting and clamping contacts (35, 65), two spaced rows of separating knives (36, 66) are arranged, and that on the underside of each upper housing portion (32, 62), a separating slot (75, 77) to be pressed onto the rows of separating knives (36, 66) is arranged.
18. A wire connector according to claim 17,
       characterized by that the separating slot (75, 77) is arranged on the underside of a separating element (33, 63) to be placed between two upper housing portions (32, 62) on a row (40, 41) of cutting and clamping contacts (35, 65).
19. A wire connector according to one of claims 17 or 18,
       characterized by that at the side wall of each upper housing portion (32, 62) assigned to the separating slot (75, 77), a spring-elastic lug (70) is arranged.
20. A wire connector according to claim 18,
       characterized by that on both side walls of the separating element (33, 63), elastic lugs (70) are arranged.

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