EP0987790B1

EP0987790B1 - Shielded cable connector and method for connecting a shielded cable to it

Info

Publication number: EP0987790B1
Application number: EP19990202938
Authority: EP
Inventors: Gert Droesbeke; Robert Verbeek; Eddy Creelle
Original assignee: FCI SA; Framatome Connectors International SAS
Current assignee: FCI SA
Priority date: 1998-09-14
Filing date: 1999-09-10
Publication date: 2011-05-25
Anticipated expiration: 2019-09-10
Also published as: NL1010080C2; EP0987790A1

Description

The invention relates to a method according to the preamble of claim 1. The invention further relates to a cable connector with a shielded cable.
Such method is known from GB 2 241 391 .
Further, such a method, cable connector and cable connector parts are shown for example in EP-A-0 694 989 , fig. 5 and 6. The first body is a plastic sleeve having an inner diameter sufficient to receive the outer jacket of the cable. The shielding, generally made as braided metallic wires, is clamped between the plastic sleeve and the second conductive body.
US-A-4 902 249 discloses a method for connecting a connector to a shielded cable, wherein an inner ferrule is mounted on the exposed shielding, the shielding is laid on the inner ferrule and the shielding laid back on the inner ferrule is covered by a conductive layer such as a copper foil.
The invention aims to provide an improved method of the above-mentioned type.
According to a first aspect of the invention, the method is characterized by the characterizing portion of claim 1. body at its end directed away from the exposed shielding, and in that the second body is crimped on the first body with an axial section at its end adjacent the exposed wires covering at least partially the non-crimped section of the first body.
In this manner the first body is fixed in position on the outer jacket before mounting the second body, whereas the second body is crimped on a non-crimped section of the first body so that a good electrical connection between the first and second bodies can be obtained without exerting high forces on the cable. The forces exerted on the cable for fixation of the inner body can be determined in an accurate manner to fix the inner body in position and to provide a desired strain relief of the cable through locking the body/bodies within a hood of the connector.
According to a second aspect of the invention a cable connector is provided as defined in claim 7.
The invention will be further explained by reference to the drawings in which an embodiment of the method and cable connector of the invention is schematically shown.
Fig. 1-9 show subsequent steps in an embodiment of the method of the invention for connecting a connector to a shielded cable, wherein fig. 6 and 7 show perspective views of a hood part of the connector and fig. 9 shows the complete connector with shielded cable obtained by the method.
Fig. 1 shows a shielded cable 1 having a plurality of wires 2, a common shielding 3 and an outer jacket 4. The shielding 3 is made of braided metallic wires. At one end of the cable 1 the wires 2 and the shielding 3 are exposed. A first sleeve-like body 5 made of a conductive material, for example a metallic ring is slid onto the outer jacket 4 such that one end of the body 5 extends beyond the outer jacket 4 along a short distance as shown in fig. 2. At the other end of the body 5, the body is fixed in position on the outer jacket 4 by crimping an axial section 6 on the outer jacket 4. In this manner the remaining section 7 does not clamp the outer jacket 4 and remains relatively flexible.
As shown in fig. 3, the exposed part 8 of the shielding 3 is laid on the inner body 5, wherein it is guaranteed that the shielding 3 will contact the inner body 5 both at the outer circumferential surface and the end extending beyond the outer jacket 4. When the exposed shielding part 8 has been laid on the inner body 5, a second sleeve-like outer body 9 of conductive material is slid on the inner body 5 until an inwardly directed shoulder 10 at its end near the exposed wires 2 abuts against the exposed shielding part 8 at the corresponding end of the inner body 5. Thereafter an axial section 11 at the end of the outer body 9 near the exposed wires 2 is crimped on the exposed shielding part 8 supported by the non-crimped section 7 of the inner body 5. In this manner the shielding 3 is clamped with a high clamping force between the bodies 5, 9 without exerting high forces on the cable 1. A good electrical connection between the bodies 5, 9 and the shielding 3 is guaranteed.
Fig. 3 and 4 further show that the second or outer body 9 has a substantially cylindrical part 12 joining the inwardly directed shoulder 10 and a conical part 13 with slots 14 providing outwardly flaring spring-type legs 15. The purpose of these legs 15 will be explained hereinafter.
When the second body has been crimped on the first body to thereby clamp the exposed shielding part 8, the wires 2 of the cable 1 can be connected to IDC-type contacts 16 accommodated in an insulating housing 17 of a connector. The connector further comprises a hood including two hood parts 18, one of which is shown in fig. 6 and 7. The hood parts 18 are made of conductive material, wherein a covering plate 19 is mounted on one end of each hood part 18. The covering plate 19 is made of insulating material and covers the exposed parts of the contacts 16 when the housing 17 is mounted in the hood. As shown in fig. 6, the covering plate 19 is fixed on the hood part 18 by means of two wing parts 20 having a slot engaging oblique edges 21 of the hood part 18 and two lugs 22 engaging into openings 23 of the hood part 18.
Each hood part 18 is provided with a semi-cylindrical chamber 24 for receiving the outer body 9. This chamber 24 is limited in axial direction by a first shoulder section 25 and a second shoulder section 26. When the wires 2 are connected to the contacts 16, the insulating housing 17 is mounted in the lower end of the hood part 18 whereas the second body 9 is fittingly received in the chamber 24. The diameter in this chamber 24 is such that the spring-type legs 15 will be forced inwardly to guarantee a good electrical connection between the outer body 9 and the hood parts 18 and thereby between the shielding 3 and the hood parts 18. The axial length of the chamber 24 is such that the second body 9 is locked within the chamber 24 between the shoulder sections 25, 26, so that the bodies 5, 9 provide a strain relief for the cable 1. The strength of the strain relief can be determined by the force used to crimp the first body 5 on the outer jacket 4.
When the insulating housing 17 and the second body 9 have been mounted in the first hood part 18, an identical second hood part 18 is placed on top of the first hood part 18, wherein the hood parts 18 are fixed one to the other by rivets 27 for example.
As shown in fig. 8 and 9, before fixing the hood parts 18 one on the other, two bolts 28 are placed in respective bolt chambers 29 provided in wing sections 30 of the hood parts 18. The bolts 28 each comprise a head 31, a shaft section 32 and a screw thread section 33. The outer diameter of the shaft section 32 is smaller than the outer diameter of the head and screw thread section 33, respectively. Each bolt chamber has a passage 34 receiving the shaft section 32 with play, wherein however the diameter of the passage 34 is smaller than the outer diameter of the head 31 and screw thread section 33, respectively. In this manner the fixation bolts 28 are mounted in a loose-free manner without any further special provisions on either the hood parts 18 or the bolts 28.
It will be clear that the invention is not restricted to the embodiments described which can be varied in a number of ways within the scope of the claims.

Claims

Method for connecting a connector to a shielded cable (1), said cable having a plurality of wires (2), a common shielding (3) and an outer jacket (4), comprising exposing the wires and the shielding at one end of the cable, providing a first sleeve-like body (5) on the outer jacket near the exposed shielding, laying the exposed shielding on the first body and mounting a second sleeve-like body (9) of conductive material on the first body to thereby clamp the exposed shielding between both bodies, characterized in that the first body (5) is mounted on the outer jacket by crimping an axial section (6) of the first body at its end directed away from the exposed shielding, and in that the second body (9) is crimped on the first body with an axial section at its end adjacent the exposed wires covering at least partially the non-crimped section of the first body.
Method according to claim 1, wherein the first body (5) is mounted on the outer jacket (4) with one end of the first body aligned with or preferably extending beyond the outer jacket at the end adjacent the exposed shielding.
Method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said second body (9) is provided with an inwardly directed shoulder (10) at one end, wherein said second body is placed on the first body (5) with its shoulder against the shielding laid on the first body.
Method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the exposed wires are connected to contacts (16) accommodated in an insulating housing (17) of the connector, wherein the first (5) and second (9) bodies are mounted in a chamber of a first hood part (18) of conductive material, wherein the insulating housing is mounted in a lower end of the first hood part (18) and wherein a second hood part (18) of conductive material with a corresponding chamber is mounted on the first hood part thereby locking the first (5) and second (9) bodies within said chamber and enclosing at least partially the upper part of the insulating housing.
Method according to claim 4, wherein a second sleeve-like body (9) is used having flexible legs (15) at its end directed away from the shoulder (10), wherein during mounting the bodies in the chambers the flexible legs are forced inwardly.
Method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein at least one fixation bolt (28) is placed in a corresponding bolt chamber (29) provided in the interface of the first and second hood parts (18), each bolt having a shaft section (32) between bolt head (31) and a screw thread section (33) with a diameter smaller than the screw thread diameter, each bolt chamber having a passage (34) for receiving said shaft section, the diameter of said passage being smaller that the diameter of the screw thread and head of the bolt.
Cable connector with a shielded cable (1) having a plurality of wires (2), a shielding (3) and an outer jacket (4), said cable connector comprising a housing (17) of insulating material accommodating a plurality of contacts (16) connected to said wires, and a hood (18) of conductive material connected to the cable shielding, wherein a first sleeve-like body (5) is provided on the outer jacket and a second sleeve-like body (9) of conductive material is mounted on the first body, the cable shielding being clamped between both bodies, characterized in that an axial section (6) of the first body directed away from the insulating housing is crimped on the outer jacket, in that an axial section of the second body (9) is crimped on the first body, the axial section of the second body covering at least partially the non-crimped section of the first body (5), and in that the bodies are received within a chamber of the hood having a stop co-operating with at least one of the bodies to lock the bodies in the hood.
Cable connector according to claim 7, wherein the second body (9) is provided with spring-like legs (15) at one axial end, wherein at least said legs are forced inwardly when the second body is received within said chamber of the hood.