EP2245707B1

EP2245707B1 - Electrical connectors

Info

Publication number: EP2245707B1
Application number: EP09704147.9A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Alexander Richard DREWNICKI; John Stefan DREWNICKI; Leigh Drewnicki; Richard Drewnicki
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-01-25
Filing date: 2009-01-23
Publication date: 2013-09-11
Anticipated expiration: 2029-01-23
Also published as: TW201001840A; EP2245707A2; WO2009093078A2; WO2009093078A3

Description

Technical Field

The invention relates to electrical connectors. More particularly, but not exclusively, the invention relates to so-called HDMI, that is to say High Definition Multimedia Interface, and the like electrical connectors particularly intended to convey digital signals, e.g. audio/visual and data signals, on a single multi-conductor cable. Such connectors also include HDMI 1.3 and previous versions, mini HDMI versions, DisplayPort, IEEE1394 4 and 6 pin versions, and USB A, B and mini versions.

Background Art

HDMI connectors have been adopted by many manufacturers of domestic and commercial electrical and electronics audio-visual equipment such as DVD players, multi-channel amplifiers and plasma and LCD display screens and computers to interconnect the equipment, especially where two-way digital communications signals are employed. Such connectors comprise, in the conventional manner, a socket or receptacle part and a corresponding plug part, the two parts being formed with respective arrays of electrical contacts surrounded by a substantially trapezoidal open ended shell structure which define the respective interconnecting plug and receptacle portions of the connectors and such that the contact arrays are accessible through the open ends. HDMI connectors are physically very small in comparison with the well-known SCART connectors but nevertheless carry large numbers of individual miniature contacts.
To prevent accidental displacement and consequent unintended disconnection of the equipment, the interconnecting plug and receptacle parts of the electrical connector are formed with respective mutually engageable spring-loaded detent parts that are intended to prevent such unintended disconnection. Increasingly, HDMI and the like connector receptacles are positioned in the under surfaces of the domestic audio/visual equipment so that the electrical leads associated with the corresponding connector plugs hang downwards from the equipment. Due to the extreme lack of space in HDMI and the like connectors, the detent parts are themselves small and are formed integrally with and from the shell structures and are contained largely within the thickness of the wall of the shell structures, which may be of the order of 0.3mm. The receptacle part comprises a leaf spring formed with a detent, the leaf-spring being defined by a slot cut out of the box-like structure and the plug part is formed with an aperture in its box-like structure and in which the detent can resiliently engage under the action of the leaf spring when the respective connector parts are fully engaged. However, particularly where the receptacle is positioned in the under surface of an item of electrical or electronics equipment, the weight of the electrical lead connected to the plug can cause unintended disconnection and consequent loss of the signal(s). The problem can be exacerbated where the equipment may generate micro-vibration, such, for example, as is the case with equipment incorporating one or more loudspeakers (e.g. televisions).
It has been proposed, in particular in relation to USB connectors, to provide actuatable locking mechanism in to more positively lock the plug within the receptacle. These prior locking arrangements comprise pin or catches that project from the plug shell and are engaged in receiving features of the receptacle to better retain the plug in the receptacle. The locking arrangement is usually actuated to retract the pins into the plug to release the plug and allow the plug to then be disconnected. Various such arrangements have been proposed and are described in for example JP2004 087462 , US 2006/0141843 , US7175465 , US20070004265 , and US2003/0157836 .
WO 2008/124388 which was published after the priority date of this application and is only available as prior art in accordance with Article 54(3) EPC, describes an HDMI plug connector including a locking arrangement comprising retractable pins that retract into or extend from the plug.
It is an object of the invention to mitigate the problem of unintended disconnection of electrical connector parts, more particularly, but not exclusively, of the HDMI kind, and to provide an improved and/or alternative to such existing arrangements.

Disclosure of Invention

According to the invention, there is provided an electrical connector plug as described in accompanying claim 1.
In an embodiment of the invention there is provided an electrical connector of the kind comprising respective interengageable plug and receptacle parts each formed with corresponding interengageable electrical contacts, characterised by latch means carried by the plug part, the latch means being movable between a first position in which it projects laterally from the plug part to lock positively with the receptacle part when interengaged with the plug part and a second position in which the latch means is disengaged from the receptacle part and is disposed substantially wholly in the plug part and actuatable means carried by the plug part for moving the latch means between the first and second positions. The latch means comprises an elongate latching member mounted for rotation about its long axis in a groove in the shell structure of the plug part, one portion of the latching member being formed as a crank and being engaged by the actuatable means to cause the latching member to rotate, and another portion of the latching member being formed as a latch, the arrangement being such that the latching member can be rotated between a position in which the latch is substantially flush with the shell structure and a position in which the latch projects from the shell structure.
The respective interengageable plug and receptacle parts may each be formed with corresponding interengageable arrays of electrical contacts, which arrays are surrounded by respective open-ended shell structures that at least in part define the plug and receptacle parts and through the open ends of which the contact arrays are accessible.
A wall of one of the shell structures may be formed with at least one spring loaded detent and the other shell structure may be formed with an aperture configured to receive the detent, the spring, detent and aperture being formed integrally with and from the shell structures and being contained substantially wholly within the thickness of the walls of the shell structures.
The receptacle part may comprise a leaf-spring which is defined by a U-shaped slot extending through the shell structure, the leaf spring being formed with the detent and the plug part being formed with the aperture in the wall of the shell structure.
The latching member may be a unitary wire member and may be of high tensile material, e.g. steel. The crank may form one end portion of the latch member. The latch may form the other end portion of the latch member.
The unitary wire member may have the latch formed by bending one end portion of the member substantially at right angles to an intermediate portion of the member, and the other end portion may be bent to form the crank.
In one embodiment, the groove in the shell structure of the plug part and a corresponding groove in the contact block sandwiches or encloses the wire latching member in the channel created by the grooves to prevent lateral displacement of the latching member.
The actuatable means may comprise a manually movable member. The manually movable member may be slidable mounted on the plug part. The manually movable member may be arranged to surround the plug part. The manually movable member may be mounted in a recess in the plug part so as to be slidable along the plug part within limits imposed by opposite ends of the recess. The sliding movement may be longitudinal of the plug part.
The plug and receptacle parts may each comprise a hollow outer casing containing a contact block which houses the array of electrical contacts.
The electrical connector of the present invention is particularly, but not exclusively, intended for application to HDMI connectors.
Other features of the invention appear in the following description and claims.

Brief Description of Drawings

The invention is diagrammatically illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figures 1a and 1b are respective perspective views of a first embodiment of HDMI connector according to the present invention taken from two different perspectives and with the plug and receptacle parts detached;
Figures 1c and 1d are respectively a cross-sectional side view and a perspective cross-sectional view of the plug part of the connector of Figures 1a and 1b;
Figure 2a is a perspective view of the connector of Figures 1a and 1b with a casing part removed for clarity and showing the plug and receptacle connector parts connected together;
Figure 2b is a perspective view of the connector of Figure 2a showing the plug and receptacle parts connected and locked together;
Figure 3 a is an exploded perspective view of the connector of Figure 1 and showing the various component parts;
Figures 3b, 3c, 3d and 3e are respective perspective views to an enlarged scale of the shell structure of the plug part of the connector of Figure 1;
Figure 4 is a perspective view of a latching member;
Figures 5 and 6 are perspective views of a second embodiment of electrical connector which is generally similar to that of Figures 1 to 4 above, and showing the plug and receptacle connector parts respectively detached and connected;
Figure 7 is a perspective view of an alternative HDMI connector not part of the present invention, showing the plug and receptacle parts of the connector connected and locked together;
Figure 8 is a perspective view of the connector of Figure 7 and showing the plug and receptacle parts disconnected and with the positive locking means in the inoperative position;
Figure 9 is a perspective view of the connector of Figure 7 showing the plug and socket parts connected, but not locked, together, and
Figure 10 is a perspective view of the plug part of the connector of Figure 7 and with the positive locking means in the operative position.

Best Modes For Carrying Out The Invention

Referring to Figures 1 to 4 of the drawings, there is shown an HDMI connector 1 modified in accordance with the present invention to provide positive locking or latching between the respective connector parts 2,4 in use. The connector 1 comprises a plug part 2 which terminates one end of an electrical lead 3, and a receptacle part 4 which is usually carried by the housing (not shown) of an item of electrical/electronics equipment (not shown) of the kind described above. The plug part comprises a hollow outer casing formed of a plastics material in two similar side parts 6,7 and a front part 48 which all lock together to form a hollow housing containing a contact block 9 by means of integral hook-like snap-action connectors 8 (see Fig 2a) on the casing part 6 which engage in corresponding recesses (not shown) in the casing part 7 in generally conventional fashion. The front casing part is formed with snap action connectors 49 which engage the contact block 9. The casing parts 6,7 are arranged to inter-engage with a cable termination 47 that is usually moulded to the cable 3. As an alternative, the outer casing may be made as a solid over-moulding, again in generally conventional manner. In Figures 2a and 2b, the upper part 7 of the outer casing is not shown to allow internal components of the connector to be seen. The outer casing supports within its interior the contact block 9 (see Fig. 3a) of plastics material in which is mounted an array of electrical contacts 10 (see Fig. 3a) in the form of socket-forming members, the rear ends of which (not shown) are joined to respective wires in the electrical lead 3, e.g. by soldering or by crimping, in known manner.
The contact block 9 is at least partially shrouded within an open-ended box-like shell structure 12, which can be made from metal sheet or formed from a conductive material, e.g. as a metal injection moulding so that the shell structure is seamless, and which has a forward open end 16 through which the contact array 10 is accessible. In known fashion, the shell structure is formed with a pair of apertures 14 in its upper face 13, as seen for example in Figure 3c, which as mentioned above are intended to receive spring loaded detents on the receptacle part 4, see below, to assist in preventing the unintended disconnection of the respective connector parts in use. Narrow slots 15 emerging through the inner face 39 of the shell structure 12 join the apertures 14 in the upper face and the rearward open end 17 of the shell structure. A latching member 18, (see Fig. 4) which is formed as a unitary wire member e.g. of high tensile steel, has an intermediate portion 46 thereof snugly mounted in each of the slots 15 so that it is rotatable therein about its long axis. A forward end 19 of the latching member 18 projects into the aperture 14 and is bent at right angles to the long axis to form a hook-like latch or lock 21. The rear end 20 of the latching member is formed with a cranked portion 22 which engages in a slot 24 in a laterally slidable member 23 (see Fig. 3d) over the contact block 9. The contact block is formed with a lateral guide rail 51 which engages snugly in a slot 52 in the member 23 to guide the member 23 in its sliding movement.
As shown in Figures 1a and 1b, a sleeve 53 surrounds the casing 6,7 of the plug part of the connector so as to be slidable longitudinally along the casing and the sliding sleeve 53 forms a manually actuatable means or mechanism by which the positive locking or latching of the present invention is achieved. For this purpose, the casing is formed with a recessed or waisted portion 54 in which the manually actuatable sleeve 53 is disposed whereby the opposed ends 55,56 of the recess limit the forward and backward sliding movement of the manually actuatable sleeve. The sleeve may, if desired, be formed in two opposed parts to facilitate manufacture and assembly.
An inner face of the sleeve 53 is formed with an inwardly projecting peg 57, see Figures 1c and 1d, that engages in an oblique or diagonal slot 58 in the laterally slidable member 23. In this way on longitudinal movement of the sleeve 53 on the casing 6,7 of the plug part of the connector, the peg 57 causes the laterally slidable member 23 to move laterally because of the cam effect of the peg in the slot. The laterally slidable member, because of its engagement with the cranked rearward end 20 of each of the latching members 18 causes the latching members to rotate in the grooves 15 in the shell 12 to move the hooked ends 21 between an inoperative position, as shown in Fig. 2a, where the hooks are disposed entirely within the apertures 14 to an operative position, as shown in Figs. 2b, 3d, 3e where the hooks project from the apertures, for the purpose to be described below.
The manually actuatable sleeve 53 thus causes the hooks 21 to be rotated through substantially 90 degrees. The sleeve preferably engages a detent arrangement, not shown, so that it latches positively in its two end positions.
The receptacle part 4 of the connector is generally conventional and comprises a contact block 27 of a plastics material and which carries an array of electrical contacts in the form of pins (not shown) configured to be received the corresponding socket-like contacts 10 of the plug part and the rearward ends 29 of which pin contacts are adapted to be connected to electrical wires within the electrical/electronics apparatus (not shown) e.g. by soldering or by crimping. The contact block of the receptacle part is shrouded within an open-ended box-like shell structure 30 dimensioned to be a sliding fit over the corresponding shell structure 12 of the plug part. The shell structure of the receptacle part is integrally formed with leaf springs 31 which are defined by substantially U-shaped slots 32 cut through the shell structure 30. The leaf springs are bent to form detents 34 which will rest under tension in the apertures 14 in the shell structure of the plug part 2 when the two parts are slid together to help prevent unintended disconnection of the plug and receptacle parts of the connector in use. As shown in Figure 2b, the upper face 37 of the shell structure 30 is formed with a pair of the leaf springs 31. A similar pair of leaf springs is, or may be, formed in the lower face (not shown) of the shell structure, the arrangement being such that the leaf springs in the lower face point in the opposite direction to those in the upper face, that is to say the leaf springs in the upper face 37 point towards or have their detents disposed towards the forward open end 35 of the shell structure 30 whereas the leaf springs (not shown) in the lower face of the shell structure point towards or have their detents disposed towards the rearward open end 36 of the shell structure 30.
In operation, after the plug and receptacle parts 2,4 of the connector 1 have been slid together into engagement as shown in Figs. 2a and 2b, the sleeve 53 is moved from its rearward position to its forward position as shown in Figs 1a and 1b to move the hooks 21 from their inoperative position, as shown in Fig. 2a to their operative position as shown in Figs. 1a and 1b to move the hooks to engage in the forward ends of the slots 32 in the shell structure 30 of the socket part 4 so as positively to lock the connector parts together to prevent accidental disconnection between the respective connector parts.
It is envisaged that the wire of the latch members will preferably be of a high tensile steel to prevent the accidental disengagement of the connector parts by deformation. The latch members are mounted for rotation about their long axis in grooves 15 in the inner faces of the shell structure, see Figs. 3b and 3e, and in corresponding grooves 59 in the contact block 9, the grooves 15 and 59 forming channels sandwiching or enclosing the latch members to prevent their lateral displacement.
An advantage of this embodiment is that positive locking or latching of the connector can be achieved from either side of the housing since the sleeve forming the manually actuatable member extends completely round the casing of the plug part of the connector. Also, as can be seen in the drawings, in this embodiment, only the hooked ends of the latching members are visible through apertures in the shell structure since the intermediate portions of the latching members are located in blind slots in the shell structure.
Figures 5 and 6 show a second embodiment of HDMI electrical connector of the present invention which is generally similar to that described above with reference to Figures 1 to 4, but in which the hooked latch means 21 of the wire latching members 18 engage the detents 40 of the leaf springs 41 in the lower face 38 of the shell structure 30. The leaf springs 41 are similar to those described above and are each defined by a U-shaped slot 42 with the springs being bent to form detents 40. The wire latching members 18 thus have to be made longer to reach further into the receptacle part 4 and are located in grooves (not shown) in the inside of the lower side 45 of the shell structure 12. As in the previous embodiment, corresponding grooves are formed in the contact block so that the latching members are enclosed in channels formed by the opposed grooves.
The alternative HDMI electrical connector of Figures 7 to 10, not part of the present invention, is generally similar to that described above and has positive locking or latching members which are, in common with the previous embodiments, disposed within the thickness of the shell structure. Accordingly only the differences compared to the first embodiment will be described below and where possible the same reference numerals will be used.
In this alternative arrangement, latching members 62 are each in the form of a flat strip e.g. of a plastics material, snugly disposed in a correspondingly shaped slot in the shell structure 12 and arranged with their rearward ends drivingly connected with a longitudinally movable member, not shown, having a button or switch 60 slidingly carried in a slot 61 in the plug part 2. The forward ends 65 of the latching members 62 are arranged to abut the forward end of the slots in the shell structure. Each of the latching members 62 is formed with an intermediately positioned resilient latching part 63 that is arranged so that it hinges or defonns upwardly out of the slot to form a locking projection when the button or switch is moved from its inoperative position, as shown in Figure 8, into the operative position as shown in Figure 10. This may be achieved by forming the latching part with integral hinges by pre-bending and by flattening. As shown in the drawings, the latching part of each latching member is formed with a slot 64 so that it fits around the leaf spring when in its operative position.
In operation of the connector as shown in Figs. 7 to 10, the plug and receptacle parts of the connector are engaged together as shown in Fig. 9, after which the button or switch is operated to move it forward longitudinally of the connector to the position shown in Fig. 7 to cause the local resilient hinging to form hook-like latch means that engage in the ends of the U-shaped slots defining the leaf spring members to positively hold the connector parts together. In this alternative arrangement the button or switch will preferably be bistable in the operative and inoperative positions to hold the switch and thus the hooked portions in their operative state.

Industrial Applicability

The invention thus provides mechanisms for positively preventing accidental displacement of the respective parts of electrical connectors, e.g. of the HDMI varieties.

Claims

An electrical connector plug (2) for interengagement with a receptacle (4), the plug (2) comprising:
electrical contacts (10) interengageable with corresponding interengageable electrical contacts of the receptacle (4);

latch means (21) carried by the plug (2), the latch means (21) being movable between a first position in which it projects laterally from the plug (2) to lock positively with the receptacle (4) when interengaged with the plug (2) and a second position in which the latch means (18) is disengaged from the receptacle (4); and

actuatable means (53) carried by the plug (2) for moving the latch means (21) between the first and second positions;
wherein the plug (2) is formed with an array of electrical contacts that are interengageable with a corresponding array of electrical contacts of the receptacle (4), said contact array being surrounded by an open-ended shell structure (12) that at least in part defines the plug (2) and through the open end (16) of which the contact array is accessible;
characterised in that the latch means (21) comprises an elongated latching member (18) mounted for rotation about its long axis in a groove (15) in the shell structure, one portion of the latching member being formed as a crank and being engaged by the actuatable means to cause the latching member to rotate, and another portion of the latching member being formed as a hook, the arrangement being such that the latching member (18) can be rotated between a first position in which the hook (21) projects laterally from the shell structure (12), and a second position in which the hook (21) is disengaged from the receptacle (4) and is substantially flush with the shell structure (12).
An electrical connector plug (2) according to claim 1, wherein a wall of the shell structure (12) is formed with an aperture (14) configured to receive a detent (34), the aperture (14) being formed integrally with and from the shell structure (12) and being contained substantially wholly within the thickness of the wall of the shell structure (12).
An electrical connector plug (2) according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the groove in the shell structure extends only part-way through the shell structure.
An electrical connector plug (2) according to claim 3, comprising a contact block (9) having a groove (59) corresponding to the groove (15) in the shell structure (12) to form a channel in which the latching member (18) is mounted for rotation.
An electrical connector plug (2) according to any preceding claim, wherein the crank (22) forms one end portion of the latch member (18), and preferably wherein the hook (21) forms the other end portion of the latch member (18).
An electrical connector plug (2) according to claim 5, wherein the latching member (18) is a unitary wire member having the hook (21) formed by bending one end portion (21) of the member substantially at right angles to an intermediate portion (46) of the member (18), and wherein the other end portion (22) is bent to form the crank.
An electrical connector plug (2) according to any preceding claim, wherein the latching member (18) is a unitary wire member, and preferably wherein the wire is of high tensile material, e.g. steel.
An electrical connector plug (2) according to any preceding claim, wherein the actuatable means (53) comprises a manually movable member, preferably arranged to surround the plug (2).
An electrical connector plug (2) according to claim 8, wherein the manually movable member (53) is slidably mounted on the plug (2), and is preferably arranged to move longitudinally of the plug (2).
An electrical connector plug (2) according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the manually movable member (2) is mounted in a recess (54) in the plug (2) so as to be slidable within limits imposed by opposite ends (55,56) of the recess (54).
An electrical connector plug (2) according to any preceding claim, in the form of a high definition multimedia interface.