EP1122837A2

EP1122837A2 - Sliding element for electrical connectors

Info

Publication number: EP1122837A2
Application number: EP01500014A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Josep Maria Roset Rubio; Andreu Calavera Alvarez
Original assignee: Lear Automotive EEDS Spain SL
Current assignee: Lear Automotive EEDS Spain SL
Priority date: 2000-01-31
Filing date: 2001-01-12
Publication date: 2001-08-08
Also published as: EP1122837A3; ES1045462Y; ES1045462U

Abstract

A sliding element for electrical connectors made up of two parallel arms adapted to be introduced by sliding into the inside of an electrical connector, each of which is provided with inclined parallel guides between which pivots run which are joined to the connector box. At the end of at least one of said guides there are projections which reduce the width of the guide to make it difficult for said pivots to exit.

Description

The present application for Patent of Invention consists, as its title indicates, of a "SLIDING ELEMENT FOR ELECTRICAL CONNECTORS" whose new features of construction, shape and design fulfil the objective for which it has been specifically planned, with maximum safety and effectiveness.
The main objective of the invention is to provide a sliding element designed for electrical connectors of the slider or lever type. These connectors are basically made up of a housing inside which the respective electrical terminals are arranged and where a sliding element or slider may move made up of two parallel arms which, when introduced by sliding, push an operating element which joins the outer end of both arms and cause the connector to couple with a connector box. To this end, each one of said arms of the sliding element is provided with a series of guides (for example, three) which are arranged parallel to each other and inclined downwards, between which pivots run which are joined to said connector box, with which said connector couples after said sliding element is operated. There are also versions designed by the applicant in which the operating element is a lever which is turned to move said sliding element inside the electrical connector.
Independently of the effectiveness of this type of connectors, in the normal practice of electrical installations in systems such as those of cars, it has been found that during installation the cables which reach the connector may pull on the sliding element until they remove it from the connector. The tension in the cables themselves usually results in the pivots of the connector box accidentally coming out of the guides of the sliding element. This involves a great waste of time, as the operator has to re-install the sliding element or slider, with the risk that this may come out of the connector again.
In an attempt to solve this drawback, the present invention proposes a sliding element for electrical connectors which can be provided pre-installed, that is, with the sliding element partially introduced into the corresponding connector, with the guarantee that the former will not accidentally come out of the latter during the operation of installing the connector.
The invention is mainly oriented towards sliding elements of the type described above, that is, those basically comprising parallel arms adapted to be introduced by sliding inside an electrical connector. Each arm is provided with a series of parallel guides which are arranged inclined downwards and between which pivots can run which are joined to a connector box with which said electrical connector couples after the described sliding element is operated.
The main feature of the sliding element for electrical connectors with a slider or lever which is the object of the present invention is that, at the end of at least one of said guides, there are projections which slightly reduce the width of the guide so as to make it difficult for said pivots to exit from the respective guides during installation.
In this way, one of the most important advantages offered by the described sliding element, apart from effectively ensuring the stability of the pre-installation position, is that it prevents the operator from pressing the operating element (or the lever, as the case may be) to close the sliding element or slider without the connector being well-placed on the connector box. The pre-installation position offered by the structure of the sliding element which is the object of the invention makes the operation of installing electrical connectors notably effective and, above all, fast and safe.
The features and advantages of the sliding element for electrical connectors which is the object of the present invention will be made clearer by the detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the same. Said description will be given, hereinafter, by way of non-restrictive example, with reference to the drawings which accompany it, in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a practical embodiment of an electrical connector of the slider type in pre-installation position, partially coupled with the corresponding connector box.
Figure 2 is a cross-sectioned elevational view of the assembly illustrated in figure 1 in which one may observe the relative position occupied by all the elements which make up the said unit and from which one may easily deduce the movement of the electrical connector caused by the sliding element as it moves towards the inside of the same.
Figure 3 is a plan view of the assembly represented in figure 1.
And Figure 4 is an enlarged partial view of the sliding element in which the projections which ensure the pre-installation position may be observed.
The elements which appear in the attached drawings are the following: (1) housing of the electrical connector, (2) connector box, (3) cavities for terminals, (4) sliding element or slider, (5) coupling direction of the connector, (6) arms of the sliding element, (7) operating element, (8) guides, (9) pivots of the connector box, (10) side wall of the connector box, and (11, 12) projections of the guides.
Figures 1 to 4 represent an embodiment of a connector of the type used in electrical installations for cars. It is a connector made up of a plastic housing (1) which can be coupled inside a connector box (2) in which there are electrical terminals inserted into cavities (3) of the same, as illustrated in figure 3. The inside of the housing (1) of the connector is conveniently adapted so that a sliding element or slider (4) may be introduced into it. The inside of said connector box (2) is also adapted so that said connector couples with the same when the sliding element (4) moves towards the connector, that is, in the direction of the arrow (5) represented in figure 2.
The sliding element (4), whose configuration constitutes the object of the present invention, is made up of two arms (6) which extend, parallel with each other, and which are joined to each other at one of their ends by means of an operating element (7) to which the operator applies the force necessary to move the sliding element (4) towards the connector in the direction of the arrow (5) of figure 2, causing it to couple with the connector box (2).
Said coupling takes place thanks to the arrangement of a series of guides (8) in each of said arms (6) of the sliding element (4). In the embodiment represented in the drawings, each arm has three of said guides (8) arranged parallel to each other and inclined downwards to cause the coupling of the connector. Inside the guides (8) of each arm (6) pivots (9) move which are joined to said connector box (2). These pivots (9) may clearly be observed in the cross-sectioned view of figure 2. In said figure, the pivots (9) extend perpendicularly with respect to each side wall (10) of the connector box (2), inside the same.
With particular reference to figure 4 of the drawings, at one end of said guides (9) there are opposing projections (11, 12) which slightly reduce the width of the guide (6). These projections (11, 12) serve to make it difficult for the pivots (9) to come out of the respective guides (6) during installation and, in this way, ensure the pre-installation position of the connector. Also, the operator is prevented from moving the operating element (7) towards the coupling position according to the arrow (5) when the connector is not perfectly positioned in the connector box (2). In this way, installation operations of electrical connectors are more effective, faster and safer.
The materials of the elements which make up the sliding element for electrical connectors described in the present specification, as well as the shapes, dimensions and other accessory elements may conveniently be replaced by others which are technically equivalent, provided that they do not depart from the essential nature of the present invention, nor from the inventive concept of the same, as defined in the claims included below.

Claims

"A SLIDING ELEMENT FOR ELECTRICAL CONNECTORS", which is made up of two parallel arms (6) adapted to be introduced by sliding into the inside of an electrical connector, each arm (6) being provided with a series of parallel guides (8) which are inclined downwards, between which pivots (9) move which are joined to a connector box (2) in which said connector is coupled after the operation of said sliding element (4), characterised in that at the end of at least one of said guides (6) there are projections (11, 12) which slightly reduce the width of the guide (6) so as to make it difficult for said pivots (11, 12) to come out of the respective guides (6) during installation.