EP1312137A1

EP1312137A1 - Electrical connector

Info

Publication number: EP1312137A1
Application number: EP01956564A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Frank Mössner; Ferenc Nad; Michael Gwiazdowski
Original assignee: Krone GmbH
Current assignee: TE Connectivity Germany GmbH
Priority date: 2000-08-17
Filing date: 2001-07-26
Publication date: 2003-05-21
Anticipated expiration: 2021-07-26
Also published as: US7950951B2; US7270563B2; YU11603A; CA2417114A1; US20090305576A1; WO2002015339A1; EE04890B1; IL154138A0; US7025621B2; DE10051097A1; PL202202B1; HUP0400513A2; EP1312137B1; DE10051097C2; US20080146072A1; BG107550A; AU2001278510B2; UA73595C2; EE200300067A; SK287773B6

Abstract

The invention relates to an electrical connector (1), comprising a connector housing (2) and a printed board (3) with two sets of contact elements (7, 8). The first set of contact elements (7) is located on the front face of the printed board (3) and protrudes into an opening in the connector housing (2). The second set of contact elements (8) is located on the rear face of the printed board (3). Said contact elements (8) are configured in the form of insulation displacement contacts (8). The connector (1) also comprises a cable manager (5) which has a continuous opening and which is configured with guides (19) for wires to be contacted to the insulation displacement contacts (8), on the front face (16). Said guides (19) are configured with recessed receiving elements (20) for the insulation displacement contacts (8) in the area of said insulation displacement contacts (8) and the cable manager (5) can be latched to the connector housing (2).

Description

Electrical connector

The invention relates to an electrical connector, a cable manager for an electrical connector, a method for assembling an electrical connector and a tool for assembling and switching on the wires of the electrical connector.

EP 0445 376 B1 discloses a plug connector for connecting a plug to electrically insulated conductors, with a housing which has a cavity for receiving the plug, a first and a second set of connecting elements being provided. Each connecting element of the first set has an insulation displacement contact for receiving an insulated conductor and for establishing a contact connection with its core and a foot section. Each connecting element of the second set has a contact strip and a contact tongue, each of the connecting elements of the second set being electrically connected via the contact tongue to the foot portion of the connecting elements of the first set and extending from the first set to the cavity, so as to provide an electrical connection to produce the contacts carried by the plug, the first and second set of connecting elements in the housing of the connector being fixed in position by guide means. The connection between the conductors and the insulation displacement contacts is made using known connection tools. The individual conductors or wires must be routed to the insulation displacement contact and pressed into the insulation displacement contact using the connection tool. A disadvantage of the known connector is its large tolerances in the transmission behavior, which lead to major problems at higher transmission rates.

The invention is therefore based on the technical problem of reducing the tolerances in the transmission behavior of a plug connection. Another technical problem is the provision of a method for assembling an electrical connector and a tool for assembling the connector and connecting the wires of the electrical connector. The solution to the technical problem results from the subject matter with the features of claims 1, 12, 18 and 19. Further advantageous refinements of the invention result from the subclaims.

For this purpose, the connector comprises a cable manager which has a through opening and is formed on the front with guides for wires to be contacted with the insulation displacement contacts, the guides in the area of the insulation displacement contacts with recessed receptacles for the Clamping contacts are formed and the cable manager can be locked with the connector housing. In this way, compared to the prior art, some essential advantages are achieved which limit the tolerances in the transmission behavior. The length of the wires to be contacted is defined by the guides. For this purpose, the respective wire is led through the openings and inserted into the guides. Protruding parts of the wire are then cut off at the edge of the cable manager so that the length of the wires is the same for each connector. The guides also ensure that all wires are in a reproducible position with respect to each other. These two facts create a fixed value for the crosstalk. Another advantage is that after the wires have been assembled in the cable manager, they can be contacted simultaneously or almost simultaneously with the insulation displacement contacts.

For this purpose, the cable manager is formed on one side with a slope. By means of a clamp-like, essentially U-shaped tool, on the underside of which the legs are arranged inwardly directed, parallel guides which run perpendicular to the rear wall of the tool and which are each formed with oblique guide edges in the upper region on the inside of the legs, the cable manager and connector housing can be locked together with little effort. The bevels on the cable manager and on the tool are aligned complementarily to one another, so that when the tool is pushed on there is a lifting movement by which the cable manager is moved in the direction of the connector housing, so that the insulation displacement contacts cut through the insulation of the wires and immerse in the receptacle inside the guides. Via the steepness of the slopes, a transmission ratio from sliding path to lifting path can be set. A guide cross is preferably arranged in the opening of the cable manager, so that the wires are also guided in a defined manner within the openings. In the known RJ-45 plug connections, the associated wire pairs are guided in a segment of the guide cross.

In order to reduce the defined crosstalk in the contact area as far as possible, the wires of different pairs are guided and contacted at a distance from each other.

For this purpose, the guides run, for example, radially from the opening into the corners of the cable manager.

In another preferred embodiment, all guides run in parallel, but in different sectors of the cable manager.

In a further preferred embodiment, a hold-down device is arranged between the cable manager and the circuit board, by means of which the circuit board can be fixed to the connector housing. This absorbs cable tensile forces that would otherwise affect the circuit board.

In a further preferred embodiment, the guides are offset from one another in terms of height or depth, so that the wires are partially contacted with respect to one another at different times. As a result, the necessary pressure forces are better distributed, so that a user requires less force when assembling and switching on.

A strain relief is preferably arranged above the cable manager in order to absorb tensile forces on the cable.

In a further preferred embodiment, the strain relief is constructed in several parts, the tool for assembly being at the same time part of the strain relief. For this purpose, the tool or first part of the strain relief comprises two cheek parts lying together, the bending of which can be limited by a spring encompassing the cheek parts, which can be inserted at different points on the first part. A third part, which can be locked on the first part and / or the spring, can then be used to establish a non-positive connection with the cable. In addition to the non-positive connection, this multi-part strain relief also allows cables of different diameters to be centered, which in turn has a positive effect on the tolerances with regard to the transmission behavior.

For cables with shielding, the strain relief can also be used as a universal shield contact. For this purpose, the first and third part of the strain relief is designed either as a die-cast zinc part or as a metallized plastic part, which is connected or can be connected to an earth plate of the connector housing.

The invention is explained in more detail below on the basis of a preferred exemplary embodiment. The figures show:

1 is an exploded view of a connector,

2 is a perspective view of a cable manager from the rear,

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the front of a cable manager in a first

Embodiment, Fig. 4 is a plan view of a front of a cable manager in a second

Embodiment, Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a tool for assembling the

6 is a perspective view of a strain relief in the open state, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a strain relief in the closed state without a cable, FIG. 8 is a side view of the electrical connector with a partially pushed-on first part or tool, 9 is a perspective view of the assembled connector with strain relief and cable, Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a cable manager from the rear and

Fig. 11 is a plan view of the front of a cable manager in a third embodiment.

In Fig. 1, a connector 1 is shown in an exploded view. The connector 1 comprises a Stecksteckergeh use 2, a circuit board 3, a hold-down 4 and a cable manager 5. The connector housing 2 is formed in the example shown as a socket housing with various locking and insertion means. The connector housing 2 is formed with a shield plate 6 on the side surfaces. The circuit board 3 is equipped on its front side with a first set of contacts 7 and on its rear side with a second set of insulation displacement contacts 8. One contact 7 of the first set is connected to one contact 8 of the second set. The circuit board 3 is then inserted into the connector housing 2. In this case, cylindrical pins 9 of the connector housing 2 penetrate holes in the printed circuit board 3, so that the connector housing 2 and the printed circuit board 3 are adjusted and fixed to one another. The contacts 7 of the first set designed as RF contacts then protrude into an opening accessible from the front of the connector housing. The hold-down device 4 is then pushed over the contacts 8 of the second set and locked with the connector housing 2. For this purpose, the hold-down device 4 is formed on the end face with locking lugs 10 and has through openings 11 for the insulation displacement contacts 8. Furthermore, the hold-down 4 is formed with two locking hooks 12, which are used for locking with the cable manager 5. Before going into this assembly process, the cable manager 5 will first be explained in more detail with reference to FIGS. 2-4.

The cable manager 5 is essentially square and has an opening 13 in the center, around which a cylindrical extension 14 is arranged. The opening 13 extends from the rear 15 continuously to the front 16. A guide cross 17 is arranged in the opening 13 and divides the opening 13 into four segments. Half of the back 15 is designed as a slope 18. On the front 16, the cable manager 5 is formed with guides 19 into which the wires to be contacted can be inserted. Each guide 19 is with one recessed receptacle 20 is formed. The receptacles 20 are arranged at the positions of the insulation displacement contacts 8 from FIG. 1. The guides 19 either run radially from the opening 13 to the edges of the cable manager 5 (as shown in FIG. 3) or in each case parallel to one another (as shown in FIG. 4). With eight guides 19, as are required, for example, for a known RJ-45 plug connection, two guides 19 of a pair of wires are each assigned to a quadrant. 3 and 4, the receptacles 20 and thus the insulation displacement contacts 8 of the different pairs are relatively far apart, so that crosstalk is reduced. In preparation for the actual contacting process, the wires are guided in pairs in a segment of the guide cross 17 from the back 15 to the front 16 and pressed there into the associated guides 19. In this case, 16 color markings can be used both on the rear side 15 and on the front side in order to assign the wire pairs to the correct segment or the wires to the correct guides 19. After the wires have been pressed into the guides 19, these are cut off along the side edges. In principle, the cable manager 5 could now be locked together with the connector housing 2 and the hold-down device 4 by finger force, which, however, requires a not inconsiderable effort. It is therefore preferable to use a tool 21 which, if required, can simultaneously form a first part of a strain relief. This tool 21 is shown in perspective in FIG. 5.

The tool 21 is essentially U-shaped with two side walls 22 acting as legs. An inward guide 23 is arranged on the underside of the side walls 22. The two guides 23 run parallel and are perpendicular to a rear wall 24. On the top of the side walls 22 there is also an inwardly directed guide edge 25 which runs obliquely to the rear. The guide edge 25 is complementary to the slope 18 of the cable manager 5 from FIG. 2. For contacting, the tool 21 is then pushed onto the bevel 18 of the cable manager 5, which is shown in FIG. 8, part of the side wall 22 being cut in the illustration. The guide 23 runs parallel along an edge on the connector housing 2, so that due to the two bevels 18, 25 the cable manager 5 is pressed down towards the hold-down device 4. Contacts 8 pressed into the receptacle 20 and contact the wires lying in the guides 19.

Furthermore, the tool 21 has two flexible jaw parts 26 which are resiliently articulated on a base 27 which is arranged on the upper side of the guide edges 25. Cheek parts 26 are stepped on the sides. On the top of the base 27 there are four openings 28 on both sides, which are designed as elongated holes. In the interior, the two jaw parts 26 are formed with pyramid-like structures 29. This tool 21 can now be used together with a spring 30 acting as a locking means and a closure element 31 as a strain relief with a defined frictional connection and a defined centering of cables of different diameters.

Such strain relief is shown in Fig. 6. As can be seen from the illustration, the two jaw parts 26 can be compressed to different extents due to the step-like design, depending on the pair of openings 28 in which the spring 30 is inserted. In the example shown, the two jaw parts 26 are compressed to the maximum, so that the receptacle forming in the area of the structures 29 has a maximum diameter. The closure element 31 is substantially U-shaped. On the inner sides of the legs 32, locking recesses 33 which run obliquely to the rear and which act like barbs are arranged. The number of locking troughs 33 corresponds to the number of openings 28. Furthermore, the closure element 31 comprises an arcuate extension 34, which is also formed on the inside with pyramid-like structures 35. Using the strain relief, a cable can now be attached in a defined, force-fit and centered manner. It is assumed that the strain relief should be used for the non-positive connection with cables with a diameter of 6, 7, 8 or 9 mm. If a 6 mm cable is to be fastened, the spring 30 is first inserted into the first openings 28, so that the jaw parts 26 are maximally compressed. Subsequently, the closure part 31 is pushed above the guide edge 25 onto the base 27 until the rearmost recess 33 engages on the spring strut of the spring 30. This is shown in FIG. 7 without a cable, part of the base 27 being cut free in the area of the openings 28 in the illustration. Due to the barb-shaped shape of the locking troughs 33 there is a stable locking, whereby a 6 mm diameter cable held between structures 29, 35 is always non-positively fastened with the same force,

For unlocking, the spring struts of the spring 30 inserted into openings 28 can be pressed in the direction of the cheek parts 26 and the closure element 31 or the spring 30 can be pulled out again. If, on the other hand, a 7 mm cable is now to be fastened, the spring 30 is inserted offset by an opening 28 to the rear. Because of the step-shaped outside of the jaw parts 26, these can now be compressed less strongly. The receiving area for a cable is expanded by 0.5 mm. Furthermore, the closure element 31 is only pushed up to the penultimate detent depression 33, the distance between the detent depressions 33 also being 0.5 mm. Thus, the increasing diameter is evenly divided between the tool 21 and the closure element 31, so that the center of the cable is always in the same place even with different diameters. For the increasing diameter it applies accordingly that the spring 30 is correspondingly displaced to the rear and the closure element 31 is latched into a detent depression 33 less far. When using shielded cables, the strain relief can also be used as a shield contact. For this purpose, the tool 21 and the closure element 31 are designed to be electrically conductive, preferably galvanized plastic parts being used, the tool 21 being electrically connected or connectable to an earth plate of the connector housing 2.

In Fig. 9, a completely assembled connector 1 with cable 36 is shown in perspective.

10 and 11, a third embodiment for the cable manager 5 is shown. The back 15 is again formed with a cylindrical projection 14 and a slope 18. In contrast to the embodiment according to FIG. 2, the opening is not divided into four equal segments by a guide cross, in particular the channels 37-40 extending from the rear 15 to the front 16 are shaped differently. The two channels 37, 38 each have the shape of an eye. The channel 39 has the shape of a segment of a circular ring and the channel 40 has the shape of a half bone. Furthermore, the cable manager 5 has eight openings 41 which are caused by injection technology. Like in the 4, the guides 19 are each arranged parallel to one another, two guides being arranged in pairs in a quadrant. The guides 19 are each formed with a clamping rib 42 toward the side edges of the cable manager 5. Furthermore, the guides 19 are formed at their ends facing the channels 37-40, each with two spherical elements 43, which lie in the region of the openings 41 and serve to hold down the wires. A guide web 44 is arranged between the channel 39 and the channel 40, the function of which will be explained in more detail later. The area between the channels 37-40 to the associated guides 19 is rounded off with a radius.

If the cable manager 5 is used on both sides of a cable, two pairs of wires must be interchanged on one side due to the mirror-symmetrical constellation, which, with free wiring, leads to an undefined increase in crosstalk between these pairs. To avoid this undefined crosstalk, the guide web 44 is used, which will now be explained in more detail below using RJ-45 wiring. An RJ-45 cable comprises eight wires, which are combined in pairs, the two outer wires 1, 2 and 7, 8 forming a pair. The inner wires are combined so that wires 3, 6 and 4, 5 form a pair. Because of the mirror-symmetrical situation at the two ends of a cable described above, either the two outer or the two inner pairs must be exchanged at one end. In the following it should be assumed that the inner pairs 3, 6 and 4, 5 are to be exchanged. The wire pair 1, 2 is then arranged in the channel 37, the wire pair 7, 8 in the channel 38, the wire pair 3, 6 in the channel 39 and the wire pair 4, 5 in the channel 40. Regardless of the side of the channel, the guides 19 in the upper left quadrant are then permanently assigned to the pair of wires 1, 2 and the guides 19 in the upper quadrant to the pair of wires 7, 8. The pair of wires 3, 6, however, must be assigned to the guides 19 in the lower left quadrant and once to the guides 19 in the lower right quadrant, depending on the cable side. The same applies vice versa for the wire pair 4, 5 in the channel 40. The guide web 44 prevents the two wire pairs 4, 5 and, 3, 6 from touching. In addition to protection against contact, another function of the guide web 44, the two wire pairs 4, 5 and 3, 6, is so far apart to be as distant as possible in order to reduce crosstalk. Alternatively, the guide web 44 can be semicircular or V-shaped in order to achieve better guidance, the edges of the guide web 44 each being rounded so as not to kink the wires.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1) Connector

2) Connector housing

3) PCB

4) hold-down device

5) Cable manager

6) Earth plate

7) Contacts

8) insulation displacement contacts

9) Cyliner pin

10) Latch

11) opening

12) Snap hook

13) opening

14) Approach

15) back

16) front

17) Guide cross

18) Weird

19) Leadership

20) Recording

21) Tool

22) side wall

23) Leadership

24) back wall

25) Leading edge

26) cheek piece

27) base

28) opening 29) structures

30) feather

31) Closure element

32) thigh

33) Rest recess

34) Approach

35) Structures

36) Cable

37-40) channels

41) openings

42) clamping rib

43) - spherical elements

44) Leadership

Claims

claims:

1. An electrical connector comprising a connector housing, a circuit board with two sets of contact elements, the first set of contact elements being arranged on the front side of the circuit board and protruding into an opening in the connector housing, and the second set of contact elements being arranged on the rear side of the circuit board and the contact elements of the second set are designed as insulation displacement contacts, characterized in that the plug connector (1) comprises a cable manager (5) which has a through opening (13) and is provided on the front side (16) with guides ( 19) is designed for wires to be contacted with the insulation displacement contacts (8), the guides (19) in the region of the insulation displacement contacts (8) with recessed receptacles (20) for the insulation displacement contacts ( 8) are formed and the cable manager (5) can be locked with the connector housing (2).

2. Electrical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that a guide cross (17) is arranged in the opening (13) of the cable manager (5).

3. Electrical connector according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the guides (19) extend radially to the opening (13).

4. Electrical connector according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the guides (19) run parallel, wherein two guides (19) are arranged in a quadrant of the cable manager (5).

5. Electrical connector according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the back (15) of the cable manager (5) is formed on one side as a slope (18),

6. Electrical connector according to one of the preceding claims, characterized characterized in that a hold-down device (4) is arranged between the cable manager (5) and the circuit board (3), by means of which the circuit board (3) can be fixed to the connector housing (2).

7. Electrical connector according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the guides (19) of the cable manager (5) are arranged offset in height from one another.

8. Electrical connector according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a strain relief is arranged above the cable manager (5).

9. Electrical connector according to claim 8, characterized in that the strain relief is constructed in several parts, wherein the first part (21) is formed with two together flexible jaw parts (26), the bending of which by a the jaw parts (26) encompassing spring (30) is adjustably delimitable, and a third part is designed as a closure element (31) which can be adjustably locked on the first part and / or on the spring (30) so that a defined, force-locking centering of a cable (36) to be fastened can be achieved ,

10. Electrical connector according to claim 9, characterized in that the first and third part of the strain relief are designed as metallized plastic parts which can be connected to an earth plate (6) of the connector housing (2).

11. Electrical connector according to one of the ^' preceding claims, characterized in that the electrical connector (1) is designed as a socket for an RJ-45 connector.

12. Cable manager for an electrical connector, characterized in that the cable manager (5) has an opening (13) extending from the rear (15) to the front (16) and on the front (16) with guides (19) is designed for wires to be contacted with insulation displacement contacts (8), the guides (19) in the region of the insulation displacement contacts (8) being formed with recessed receptacles (20) for the insulation displacement contacts (8) are.

13. Cable manager according to claim 12, characterized in that a guide cross (17) is arranged in the opening (13) of the cable manager (5).

14. Cable manager according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that on the back (15) in the region of the opening (13) of the cable manager (5) is formed with a cylindrical extension (14).

15. Cable manager according to one of claims 12 to 14, characterized in that the guides (19) extend radially to the opening (13).

16. Cable manager according to one of claims 12 to 14, characterized in that the guides (19) run parallel, two guides (19) being arranged in a quadrant of the cable manager (5).

17. Cable manager according to one of claims 12 to 16, characterized in that the back (15) of the cable manager (5) is formed on one side as a slope (18).

18. A method for assembling an electrical connector according to one of claims 5 to 11, comprising the following method steps: a) inserting the printed circuit board (3) into the connector housing (2), b) passing the wires of a cable to be contacted through the openings (13) the cable manager (5) from the rear (15) to the front (16), the wires being pressed into the associated guides (19) and cut off at the side edges, c) aligning the cable manager (5) to the insulation displacement contacts (8) the printed circuit board (3) and d) pushing on a clamp-like tool (21) with an incline (18) of the rear side (15) of the cable manager (5) complementary guide edge (25) and a guide (23) formed parallel to the connector housing (2), so that the sliding movement into a lifting movement of the cable manager (5) and connector housing (2 ) is implemented towards each other, the insulation displacement contacts (8) contacting the wires and locking the connector housing (2) and cable manager (5) together.

19. Tool for assembling a connector according to one of claims 5 to

11, characterized in that the tool (21) is substantially U-shaped, wherein on the underside of the legs (22) inwardly directed, parallel guides (23) are arranged, which are perpendicular to the rear wall (24) of the tool (21) run and in the upper

Area on the inside of the legs (22), each with an inclined

Leading edge (25) is formed.