EP0393927A1 - Verfahren zum Verbinden von flachen Leistungskabeln - Google Patents

Verfahren zum Verbinden von flachen Leistungskabeln Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0393927A1
EP0393927A1 EP19900303945 EP90303945A EP0393927A1 EP 0393927 A1 EP0393927 A1 EP 0393927A1 EP 19900303945 EP19900303945 EP 19900303945 EP 90303945 A EP90303945 A EP 90303945A EP 0393927 A1 EP0393927 A1 EP 0393927A1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
cable
cables
structures
wave
conductor
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.)
Granted
Application number
EP19900303945
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English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0393927B1 (de
Inventor
Glen Edward Bennett
Frank Herbert Bermier, Jr.
John Kevin Daly
Robert Karl Grebe
Earl Raymond Kreinberg
Dean Arnold Puerner
Songchin Sidney Lu
Frederick Herman Rider
David Stanley Szczesny
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.)
Whitaker LLC
Original Assignee
AMP Inc
Whitaker LLC
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
Priority claimed from US07/341,864 external-priority patent/US4900264A/en
Priority claimed from US07/454,656 external-priority patent/US4975081A/en
Application filed by AMP Inc, Whitaker LLC filed Critical AMP Inc
Publication of EP0393927A1 publication Critical patent/EP0393927A1/de
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0393927B1 publication Critical patent/EP0393927B1/de
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01RELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R12/00Structural 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
    • H01R12/70Coupling devices
    • H01R12/77Coupling devices for flexible printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables or like structures
    • H01R12/78Coupling devices for flexible printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables or like structures connecting to other flexible printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables or like structures
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01RELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R12/00Structural 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
    • H01R12/70Coupling devices
    • H01R12/77Coupling devices for flexible printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables or like structures
    • H01R12/771Details
    • H01R12/772Strain relieving means
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01RELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R12/00Structural 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
    • H01R12/50Fixed connections
    • H01R12/59Fixed connections for flexible printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables or like structures
    • H01R12/65Fixed connections for flexible printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables or like structures characterised by the terminal
    • H01R12/67Fixed connections for flexible printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables or like structures characterised by the terminal insulation penetrating terminals
    • H01R12/68Fixed connections for flexible printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables or like structures characterised by the terminal insulation penetrating terminals comprising deformable portions
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01RELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R12/00Structural 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
    • H01R12/50Fixed connections
    • H01R12/59Fixed connections for flexible printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables or like structures
    • H01R12/61Fixed connections for flexible printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables or like structures connecting to flexible printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables or like structures
    • H01R12/613Fixed connections for flexible printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables or like structures connecting to flexible printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables or like structures by means of interconnecting elements

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to the field of electrical connections and more particularly to interconnecting flat power cables.
  • U.S. Patent Nos. 4,859,204 and 4,867,700 disclose a transition adapter which is crimped onto a flat power cable by penetrating the insulation covering the cable's conductor and also shearing through the conductor at a plurality of locations.
  • the cable is of the type entering commercial use for transmitting electrical power of for example 75 amperes nominal, and includes a flat conductor one inch wide and about 0.020 inches thick with an extruded insulated coating of about 0.004 to 0.008 inches thick over each surface with the cable having a total thickness averaging about 0.034 inches.
  • One embodiment of the transition adapter is stamped and formed of sheet metal and in one embodiment includes a pair of opposing plate sections disposed along respective major surfaces of the cable and including opposing termination regions extending transversely across the cable.
  • Each terminating region includes a transverse array of alternating shearing wave shapes and relief recesses of equal width, the relief recesses defined by arcuate projections extending away from the cable-proximate side, and the wave shapes extending outwardly from the cable-proximate side and toward relief recesses in the opposed plate section.
  • Each shearing wave shape has a transverse crest between parallel side edges, and the side edges of the corresponding relief recesses are associated with the wave side edges to comprise pairs of shearing edges, preferably with zero clearance.
  • the crests of the wave shapes initiate cable shearing by their axially oriented side edges cutting through the cable insulation and into and through the metal conductor.
  • the wave shapes extrude the sheared cable strips outwardly into the opposing relief recesses as the shears propagate axially along the cable for limited distances, forming a series of interlocking wave joints with the cable while exposing newly sheared edges of the cable conductor for electrical connection therewith.
  • inserts of low resistance copper fastened to the outwardly facing surface of the plate sections at the terminating regions are respective inserts of low resistance copper.
  • the inserts have adapter-facing surfaces conforming closely to the shaped outer surface of the terminating region, with alternating wave shapes and apertures disposed outwardly of and along the adapter wave shapes and relief recesses.
  • the wave joints are within the insert apertures, and the sheared edges of the adjacent conductor strips and of the adapter wave shapes which formed the sheared strips are adjacent to side surfaces of the copper insert apertures.
  • a two-­step staking process is preferred: in a first step the wave joints are split axially so that portions of each arcuate shape of both adapter plate sections are forced inwardly against the adjacent sheared conductor strip of the respective wave joint to define spring fingers whose ends pin the conductor strip against the opposing wave crest to store energy in the joint; and in the second step a staking process deforms the insert between the sheared strips to deform the copper against the sheared conductor and wave shape edges, forming gas-tight, heat and vibration resistant electrical connections with the cable conductor and with the transition adapter, so that the inserts are electrically in series at a plurality of locations between the conductor and the adapter.
  • a contact section is integrally included on the transition adapter enabling mating with corresponding contact means of an electrical connector, or a bus bar, or a power supply terminal, for example, and can include a plurality of contact sections to distribute the power to a corresponding plurality of contact means if desired.
  • a housing or other dielectric covering can be placed around the termination as desired.
  • connectors for such tap and splice interconnections be compact, comprise relatively few parts and be relatively easy to assemble.
  • the present invention provides for the electrical interconnection of one dual (or single) conductor flat power cable to another, forming a splice or a tap interconnection between the cables which mechanically joins the cables and electrically interconnects the respective ones of the pairs of cable conductors (or the single conductors to each other).
  • the cables are first prepared by punching a longitudinal slot along the medial strip (or center) of each cable at the desired interconnection site therealong; the cables are then stacked with the slots aligned and the associated conductors to be interconnected being adjacent each other in pairs.
  • Two pairs of upper and lower wave shape structures are then aligned vertically with the respective associated pairs of conductors, the upper structures being aligned with the associated lower structures and the pairs being spaced from each other at the vicinity of the cable slot.
  • the spaced-apart pairs of upper and lower wave shape structures are pressed together into the cable portion therebetween, shearing strips of the conductors to be interconnected and pressing alternating ones of the strips above and below the planes of the cables and exposing newly sheared conductor edges to be electrically interconnected by metal of the structures.
  • the wave shape structures would press previously tool-sheared conductor strips out of the cable planes.
  • Each wave crimp structure may comprise an adapter member and an insert member.
  • the adapter member is disposed immediately against the insulated major cable surface, while an associated insert member is secured along the cable-remote surface of the adapter member.
  • Each adapter member includes an array of wave shapes extending toward the cable surface and defining shearing members, alternating with arcuate shapes extending away from the cable surface defining relief recesses to receive thereinto the wave shapes of the opposing adapter member and the conductor strips pressed outwardly thereby upon shearing during the interconnection process.
  • Each insert member is of low resistance metal such as copper and is secured to the cable-remote surface of the associated adapter member, and has an adapter-facing surface conforming closely to the cable-remote adapter surface and including corresponding wave shapes between which are relief apertures in which the arcuate relief shapes of the associated adapter member are disposed.
  • the adapter wave shapes Upon cable interconnection, when the upper and lower structures of each pair are pressed together, the adapter wave shapes will shear the cables (unless the cables are previously sheared) and press the sheared conductor strips into the opposing relief recesses of the opposing adapter and also into the insert relief apertures in which the opposing arcuate relief shapes are disposed.
  • the side walls of the relief apertures will thus be disposed adjacent the sheared conductor edges and also the side edges of the wave shape of the opposing adapter member, defining interlocking wave joints.
  • the wave joints are split by being struck by blades of an apparatus extending through the relief apertures of the inserts; then the outwardly facing surfaces of the inserts are staked at the wave locations to deform the low resistance metal laterally outwardly and tightly against the adjacent sheared edges of the conductor strips forming gas-tight and heat and vibration resistant electrical connections therewith, as disclosed in U. S. Patent No. 4,859,204.
  • the wave splitting and insert staking may optionally be performed simultaneously.
  • the completed interconnections of the pairs of conductors by the pairs of structures at the interconnection site are then preferably placed within housing means such as a pair of housing covers secured together, providing protection of the terminations and also providing insulative structure around all exposed conductive surfaces to prevent inadvertent engagement therewith by other particles.
  • the housing also preferably includes internal wall sections extending between the pairs of wave crimp structures and through the longitudinal cable slots to assure insulation between exposed metal of the interconnectors and the cable conductors, thus assuring that the interconnections remain assuredly isolated from each other.
  • the cables need not be prepunched.
  • the two upper structures are initially integrally joined by a spaced pair of ligatures of their adapter members extending across a medial region between the separate insert members, as are the two lower structures, which reduces by half the number of separate parts and simplifies handling, alignment and assembly.
  • tooling of the apparatus punches the slots through the cables and simultaneously shears away the ligatures of both the upper and lower joined structures, thus separating and electrically isolating the cable-applied upper and lower structures into separate interconnecting structures, after which wave splitting and insert staking is performed as before.
  • Each wave crimp structure of the present invention may include integral means to lock the upper and associated lower structures of each pair together after cable interconnection.
  • the inserts may have defined adjacent at least one of the relief apertures a pocket extending laterally therefrom, into which metal of an adjacent wave shape of the adapter of the opposing wave crimp structure will be deformed during the staking process, thus locking the structures together and providing mechanical integrity to the interconnection.
  • the adapters have tabs to extend through corresponding recesses of the opposing adapters after which the tabs are bent over to lock behind the adapter of the opposing structure, thus locking the structures to each other about the cables.
  • flanges of the upper and lower structures extend outwardly beyond both lateral edges of the cables and converge, the rivets are placed through aligned holes through the pairs of adjacent flanges and staked to lock the structures to each other sandwiching the cables therebetween.
  • the portions of the other cable conductors disposed between the structures but not being interconnected by the structure are unsheared by the structures but are preferably deflected out of the plane of the cables to relieve stress at the interconnection site.
  • each adapter has a shearing half and a non-shearing half;
  • the shearing half of both the lower and upper adapters of the pair includes a transverse array of wave shapes extending toward the cable surface and defining shearing members, alternating with arcuate shapes extending away from the cable surface defining relief recesses to receive thereinto the wave shapes of the opposing adapter member and the conductor strips extruded thereby upon shearing during the interconnection process;
  • the non-shearing adapter half of one of the lower and upper adapters includes a single continuous wave having a transverse width greater than the width of the conductor not to be sheared, to deflect a transverse portion of that conductor out of the plane of the cable, while the non-shearing half of the other adapter includes a single arcuate relief recess to receive thereinto the single wave of the opposing adapter and the nonsheared conductor portion deflecte
  • FIGURE 1 and 2 illustrate an interconnection of a first flat power cable with a second such cable, which may be single or dual conductor; the interconnection shown is a tap connection 10 between a main dual conductor flat cable 12 and a tap cable 14 of similar construction.
  • the interconnection of the present invention may also be used to splice together a pair of flat cables.
  • the housing assembly can comprise dielectric upper and lower housing members 16,18 which are secured together to at least provide insulation and physical protection of the cable interconnection site.
  • Housing members 16,18 are shown being hermaphroditic and securable together by semicylindrical posts 20 at diagonally opposed corners force-fittable into corresponding semicylindrical apertures 22 of the other housing member, where apertures 22 include engaging ribs 24 protruding radially into the apertures which become plastically deformed to firmly hold the posts in the apertures, as disclosed in U. S. Patent No. 4,781,615.
  • Housing members 16,18 may be molded for example of thermoplastic resin having heat resistant properties such as VALOX DR 48 resin sold by General Electric Company, Fairfield, Connecticut, or CELANEX 3112-2 ED 3002 polyester resin sold by Celanese Plastics & Specialties Company, Chatham, New Jersey. (Alternatively, housing members 16,18 may be securable together by means of latches as shown in Figures 11A and 11B.)
  • Figure 1A illustrates a typical cross-section of a dual conductor flat power cable 12 wherein a pair of flat conductors 26,28 have an insulative coating 30 extruded therearound and defining a medial strip 32 between the conductors; cable 14 has identical construction. While the present disclosure is shown and described with respect to dual conductor cables, it is easily seen that the same terminal and methods are usable with single conductor cables.
  • FIG. 1 A first method of interconnection is shown and described in Figures 2 to 8C while a second method is shown in Figures 9A to 9C.
  • two interconnecting structure assemblies 34,36 are shown each of which interconnects respective ones of the conductors of the main and tap cables, while sandwiching both cables therewithin.
  • Assembly 34 electrically interconnects conductor 26 of main cable 12 with conductor 38 of tap cable 14.
  • Assembly 36 will electrically interconnect conductors 28,40 when pressed together against the cables.
  • Cables 12,14 are previously prepared for termination by having punched therethrough vertically aligned elongate slots 42,44 therethrough along the medial strips thereof, removing at least most of the width of the medial strips.
  • Medial slots 42,44 permit an axially extending barrier wall 46 of the housing members 16,18 to extend therethrough providing dielectric material between the interconnecting structures 34,36 after termination to assure electrical isolation of the circuits after interconnection.
  • Barrier wall 46 may comprise respective wall sections of both members 16,18 slightly offset from center to permit passing by each other during assembly of housing members 16,18 about the interconnection site. Slots 42,44 also enable registration tooling of the termination apparatus (not shown) to accurately locate and hold the cables in position during termination.
  • the interconnections occur at sides of each of a plurality of alternating upper and lower wave joints, upper wave joints 50 being visible in the Figure.
  • FIG 3 represents a simplified cross-section through interconnecting structure assembly 34, showing the plurality of upper wave joints 50 alternating and interlocking with lower wave joints 52.
  • Wave joints 50,52 are similar to the type disclosed in U. S. Patent Nos. 4,859,204 and 4,867,700 which are incorporated herein by reference.
  • Each wave joint 50,52 is preferably split axially as depicted at 54 in Figure 2 by a staking process which strengthens the joint.
  • upper interconnecting structure 60 is comprised of an upper transition adapter member 62 and an upper insert member 64
  • lower interconnecting structure 80 is comprised of a lower transition adapter member 82 and a lower insert member 84.
  • Adapter members 62,82 may be stamped and formed for example from a sheet of Olin Copper Alloy 197 in half hard temper about 0.025 inches thick which is nickel underplated and silver plated, preferably, and treated for tarnish resistance.
  • Insert members 64,84 may be for example of dead soft Copper CDA 110 generally about 0.066 inches thick which is nickel underplated and silver plated, preferably, and treated for tarnish resistance.
  • Adapter members 62,82 are designed to be hermaphroditic, as are insert members 64,84 and also housing members 16,18, thus simplifying inventory and assembly by requiring fewer different parts to establish the tap or splice connector 10.
  • the interconnection regions of the upper and lower assemblies 34,36 are preferably intermatable with each other when opposed, with the wave shapes precisely offset and opposed from relief recesses when applied to the cables.
  • each insert member is secured to its associated adapter member to be easily handled as a unit; such securing may be by force-fitting of the arcuate adapter relief shapes within the insert relief apertures; alternatively the inserts may be slightly prestaked as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,859,204.
  • the interconnection region of upper adapter 62 includes a pair of downwardly protruding wave shapes 66 each including a wave crest 68, alternating with a pair of upwardly directed arcuate shapes 70 having widths identical to the width of a wave shape 66 and defining relief recesses 72.
  • the array of wave crests 68 and alternating relief recesses 72 is to be oriented transversely with respect to the cables.
  • lower adapter member 82 The interconnection region of lower adapter member 82 is similar to upper adapter 62 but is configured to cooperate with upper adapter 62; lower adapter 82 includes a pair of upwardly protruding wave shapes 86 each including a wave crest 88, alternating with a pair of downwardly directed arcuate shapes 90 having widths identical to the width of a wave shape 86 and defining relief recesses 92.
  • Each wave shape 66,86 is defined between a pair of parallel vertical side edges 100,102 extending axially with respect to the cable. Together edges 100,102 will cooperate during termination to comprise shearing edges to shear the cable conductors during termination, if the cables have not been previously tool sheared.
  • Upper insert member 64 includes an adapter-­proximate surface which will be disposed against the cable-remote surface of upper adapter 62, and is shaped to conform closely therewith.
  • Upper insert 64 includes a pair of wave shapes 74 separated by one of apertures 76 and having vertical side walls 78, with wave shapes 74 corresponding with wave shapes 66 of adapter 62 and apertures 76 receiving arcuate shapes 70 thereinto.
  • lower insert member 84 includes a pair of wave shapes 94 separated by one of a pair of aperture 96 and having vertical side walls 98, with apertures 96 receiving thereinto arcuate shapes 90.
  • Figure 4 is seen a pair of cables 12′,14′ being spliced, identical in structure to cables 12 and 14.
  • Figure 6 illustrates the structure of a wave joint 50, and also of a lower wave joint 52 (in phantom), after termination of upper and lower interconnecting structures to main and tap cables 12,14.
  • Side edges 100,102 of wave shapes 66,86 have sheared conductors 26,38 into strips 104,106 and wave shapes 66,86 have pressed the sheared conductor strips into the opposing relief recesses 72,92 respectively within apertures 76,96.
  • the wave crests 68,88 have been designed and dimensioned with respect to the nominal cable thicknesses so that the newly sheared edges 110 (see Figure 3) of the sheared conductor strips are moved past the vertical side edges of the wave shapes of the opposing wave shapes and past substantial vertical areas of the side surfaces of the wave shapes of the opposing inserts. This is indicated in Figure 6 by the wave overlap area 112, and is best seen in Figure 3 where newly sheared conductor edges 110 can best be identified.
  • wave overlap area 112 is best seen in Figure 3 where newly sheared conductor edges 110 can best be identified.
  • the interconnecting structures are preferably adapted to provide a positive self-locking means after termination, whereby the upper and lower assemblies positively lock to each other thus securing themselves tightly to each other with the cable portions clamped therebetween; the mechanical fastening attained by the self-locking means thus protects the terminations and their gas-tight interconnections against strain and vibration.
  • Figure 7 to 9B illustrate several examples of such self-locking means.
  • the inserts are adapted to provide for metal of the opposing adapter waves to be deformed laterally thereinto during the wave splitting procedure.
  • the adapters are provided with tabs which extend through recesses in the opposing adapter to be bent over and against the far side of the opposing adapter.
  • an inset 200 similar to insert 64 of Figure 6 includes a pair of insert wave shapes 202,204 alternating with a pair of apertures 206,208.
  • Wave shape 202 is disposed closer to a lateral edge 210 of inset 200 and includes a pocket 212 of narrow width extending along vertical side wall 214 almost to the surface of the crest of the wave.
  • Electrical interconnection 216 of Figure 8A uses upper and lower assemblies 218,220 which utilize a pair of inserts 200,222 with adapters 224,226 identical to adapters 62,82 of Figure 5.
  • a chamfered corner 228 which provides a means for locating and orienting the insert in the application tooling along with a corresponding chamfer on the associated adapter to which it is secured, for assuring the appropriate precise alignment of the upper and lower assemblies of each interconnecting structure.
  • each of pocket-­adjacent and pocket-remote wave joints 230,232 of interconnection 216 extends deeply enough into the relief aperture 206,208 of the far insert for the wave crest 234 of wave joints 230 to be located within apertures 206, with side edges 236 thereof of the to be adjacent a pocket 212 in the vertical side wall 214 of the adjacent wave shape 202 of the respective far insert.
  • the waves 230,232 are split at 238 by staking tooling (not shown) as in U. S. Patent No.
  • adapter members 300,302 which provides for the adapters to lock to themselves after termination.
  • Adapter members 300,302 are actually identical in a reverse opposing orientation thereby being hermaphroditic. Each has a pair of tab sections 304 along one common lateral side 306 and a pair of tab-­receiving recesses 308 along the other common lateral side 310, all disposed on respective end sections 312 extending axially from interconnection region 314 which contains an array of wave shapes 316 alternating with arcuate shapes 318 defining relief recesses.
  • interconnection 320 has been locked together after tab sections 304 of each of adapter members 300,302 have extended past inside and outside cable edges and through associated recesses 308, after which tab sections 304 have been bent over firmly against the outer surfaces of sections 312 of the opposed adapter member 302,300.
  • the array of wave shapes and relief recesses are configured to be intermatable when the wave shapes oppose relief recesses, when the adapter members are opposed and aligned for cable application.
  • FIG. 10A A second method of performing the tap or splice interconnection of the present invention, is illustrated in Figures 10A to 10C.
  • cables 402,404 at interconnection site 400 need not be prepunched, and upper structure 406 and lower structure 408 extend transversely the full width of the cables.
  • Upper structure 406 includes a pair of upper inserts 410,412 secured to respective sections 414,416 of a single upper adapter member 418.
  • a pair of lowr inserts 420,422 are secured to respective sections 424,426 of a single lower adapter member 428.
  • housing members 502,504 is shown in Figures 11A and 11B being assembled together to enclose a terminated interconnection site 500.
  • Cable-­engaging sections 506,508 abut the adjacent outwardly facing surfaces of the cable or cables 12,14 exiting from the ends of the interconnection site 500.
  • Cable-­engaging sections 506,508 are stiffly resilient spring biased clamps firmly holding cable or cables 12,14 therebetween: cable-engaging platforms 510,512 are deflectable upon clamping into transverse relief slots 514,516 therebehind and remain integrally joined to housing members 502,504 by hinges 518,520 which are elastically deformable.
  • Housing members 502,504 are secured together by latching projections 522 of latch arms 524 at diagonal corners of each housing latchable with corresponding latching recesses 526 of the other housing. In this manner housing members 502,504 of tap connection 10 of the present invention may compensate for one cable thickness or two cable thicknesses, and also for a range of cable thicknesses of from 0.014 to 0.034 inches and still attain cable clamping for vibration resistance and strain relief benefits.
  • interconnection 600 includes upper and lower housing covers 602,604 and two interconnecting structure assemblies 606,608 are shown each of which interconnects respective ones of the conductors of the main and tap cables, while sandwiching both cables therewithin including the other ones of the conductors.
  • Assembly 606 electrically interconnects conductor 26 of main cable 12 with conductor 38 of tap cable 14, while not interconnecting conductor 28 of main cable 12 and conductor 40 of tap cable 14.
  • assembly 608 electrically interconnects conductors 28,40 while not interconnecting conductors 26,38.
  • Rivets 614 extend through centrally located apertures of opposing flanges 616 of upper interconnecting structure 610 and lower interconnecting structure 612 and lock the structures together to comprise structure assembly 608, and similarly structure 606.
  • the rivets 614 join the flanges spaced laterally from side edges of the cable minimizing a tendency to disturb the wave joints during the process of heading the rivets.
  • the splice and tap connector of the present invention can be modified and varied as exemplified by the several embodiments of the various few parts of the connector contained herein.

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  • Multi-Conductor Connections (AREA)
  • Connections By Means Of Piercing Elements, Nuts, Or Screws (AREA)
  • Coupling Device And Connection With Printed Circuit (AREA)
EP90303945A 1989-04-21 1990-04-11 Verfahren zum Verbinden von flachen Leistungskabeln Expired - Lifetime EP0393927B1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US341864 1982-01-22
US07/341,864 US4900264A (en) 1989-04-21 1989-04-21 Electrical connector and method of interconnecting flat power cables
US07/454,656 US4975081A (en) 1989-04-14 1989-12-21 Electrical connector and method of interconnecting flat power cables
US454656 1989-12-21

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0393927A1 true EP0393927A1 (de) 1990-10-24
EP0393927B1 EP0393927B1 (de) 1994-11-09

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EP (1) EP0393927B1 (de)
JP (1) JP2777671B2 (de)
KR (1) KR900017231A (de)
DE (1) DE69013964T2 (de)

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0555964A2 (de) * 1992-02-13 1993-08-18 The Whitaker Corporation Elektrische Abzweigverbindung
EP2343780A1 (de) * 2010-01-12 2011-07-13 SEMIKRON Elektronik GmbH & Co. KG Halbleiterschaltungsanordnung
CN112751222A (zh) * 2019-10-31 2021-05-04 安波福技术有限公司 配线相对于电连接器的定位定向
CN112751218A (zh) * 2019-10-31 2021-05-04 安波福技术有限公司 电接合连接器
CN112751216A (zh) * 2019-10-31 2021-05-04 安波福技术有限公司 用于配线的垂直电连接器

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JP4191128B2 (ja) * 2004-11-16 2008-12-03 古河電気工業株式会社 フラットケーブルと電子部品との接続構造
DE102012216790A1 (de) * 2012-09-19 2014-03-20 Robert Bosch Gmbh Kontaktanordnung für einen mehrlagigen Schaltungsträger und Verfahren zum Kontaktieren eines mehrlagigen Schaltungsträgers
DE102019131486B4 (de) * 2019-11-21 2021-06-10 Ford Global Technologies Llc Elektrische Kontaktanordnung

Citations (4)

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0014081A1 (de) * 1979-01-24 1980-08-06 The Post Office Elektrische Anschlussklemme
DD233692A1 (de) * 1984-12-29 1986-03-05 Tech Hochschule Leipzig Direkt Elektrisch leitende verbindung
US4669798A (en) * 1986-01-09 1987-06-02 General Motors Corporation Electrical terminal for flexible printed circuits
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EP0555964A2 (de) * 1992-02-13 1993-08-18 The Whitaker Corporation Elektrische Abzweigverbindung
EP0555964A3 (de) * 1992-02-13 1994-01-12 Whitaker Corp
EP2343780A1 (de) * 2010-01-12 2011-07-13 SEMIKRON Elektronik GmbH & Co. KG Halbleiterschaltungsanordnung
CN112751222A (zh) * 2019-10-31 2021-05-04 安波福技术有限公司 配线相对于电连接器的定位定向
CN112751218A (zh) * 2019-10-31 2021-05-04 安波福技术有限公司 电接合连接器
CN112751216A (zh) * 2019-10-31 2021-05-04 安波福技术有限公司 用于配线的垂直电连接器
EP3817149A1 (de) * 2019-10-31 2021-05-05 Aptiv Technologies Limited Elektrischer spleissverbinder
US11038288B2 (en) 2019-10-31 2021-06-15 Aptiv Technologies Limited Electrical splice connector
CN112751222B (zh) * 2019-10-31 2023-03-17 安波福技术有限公司 配线相对于电连接器的定位定向
CN112751216B (zh) * 2019-10-31 2023-03-17 安波福技术有限公司 用于配线的垂直电连接器
US11670876B2 (en) 2019-10-31 2023-06-06 Aptiv Technologies Limited Electrical splice connector
CN112751218B (zh) * 2019-10-31 2023-09-29 安波福技术有限公司 电接合连接器

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JPH02288168A (ja) 1990-11-28
JP2777671B2 (ja) 1998-07-23
DE69013964T2 (de) 1995-06-01
DE69013964D1 (de) 1994-12-15
EP0393927B1 (de) 1994-11-09
KR900017231A (ko) 1990-11-15

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