FR2630864A1 - ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to an electrical connector 22A, 22B of the type comprising a housing surrounding an insulating block 26A, 26B which receives at least one conductive contact body 28A, 28B which extends from a front face of the housing towards its rear face and to the interior of which are arranged at least two contact elements 52A, 52B which are maintained therein parallel to the axis of the connector in an angular position determined by a body 46A, 46B of insulating material received in the contact body. According to the invention, each contact element 52A, 52B comprises a radial groove 60A, 60B which cooperates with a deformable elastic blade 58A, 58B arranged in the insulating body in a direction transverse to the axis of the contact element and of which the transverse parallel edges cooperate respectively with the vis-à-vis radial shoulders 64A, 64B of the groove to axially immobilize the contact element.

Description

* 1 The present invention relates to an electrical connector of the type

  comprising a boûtier surrounding an insulating block which receives at least one conductive contact body which extends from a front face of the housing towards its rear face and inside which are arranged at least two contact elements which are kept parallel there to the axis of the connector in an angular position determined by a body in

  insulating material received in the contact body.

  The invention relates more particularly

  connectors of this type, called "TWINAX",

  two parallel contact elements in each

  contact body and which are used for the connection

  two-wire shielded electrical conductors.

  which are, for example, lines of trans-

  mission, surrounded by a metal shield braid that is electrically connected to the part

back of the contact body.

  The present invention aims to propose

  such an electrical connector.which is a clutter

  particularly low and which allows the user to perform the electrical connection operation in the simplest possible way, including n.n having to handle simultaneously that

minimum of components.

  For this purpose the invention proposes a connection

  electrical type of the type mentioned above.

  characterized in that each contact element comprises a radial groove which cooperates with a deformable elastic blade disposed in the insulating body in a direction transverse to the axis of the contact element and whose transverse parallel edges cooperate respectively with the radial shoulders. in screws to

screw of said groove.

  This arrangement is particularly advantageous

  Thanks to the possibility that the blades

  elastics to deform radially outwards.

  laughing, to introduce each contact element into the insulating block, after having been connected to its conducting wire, from the rear face of the insulating body and to cause the automatic erasure of the contact blade which then falls back into position in its in order to ensure the axial retention of the element of

  contact in position in the insulating body.

  According to another characteristic of the invention

  each contact element is received in a cylindrical bore formed in the insulating body of the contact and the elastic blade is disposed in a transverse notch of the insulating body which intercepts the corresponding cylindrical bore and whose parallel and opposite radial faces cooperate with the edges. vis-à-vis the blade to immobilize

  axially with respect to the insulating body.

  This characteristic makes it possible simultaneously to maintain the axial retention of each contact element in the two axial directions by means of a single element constituted by the deformable elastic blade.

  According to another characteristic of the in-

  vention the notch is open radially outward and the blade there. is maintained radially in

  position by a ring mounted on the insulating body.

  This feature allows a particularly simple embodiment of the contact body and the arrangement of the resilient blades inside this element, prior to complete assembly of the connector.

  According to other features of the invention,

  tion: the opposite radial faces of the ring are received between the radial faces opposite

  the notch with which they cooperate to

  axially align the ring with the insulating body; - The contact body is a cylindrical metal sleeve of stepped profile in which is received an insulating body of complementary profile in which are arranged at least two identical contact elements, each contact element * cooperating with an independent elastic blade - the notches, in addition to radial planes and their opposite faces comprise a secant plane intercepting the cylindrical bores, the planes

  secants being aligned and parallel to the long axis

  of the contact, and the elastic blades are

maintained by a single ring.

  This set of characteristics allows a particularly compact construction of the assembly and therefore of very small dimensions. The two notches being, in the case of a connector for shielded conductor with two coaxial wires, diametrically opposite with respect to the axis of the insulating body, the two blades being held by a single ring which can be

  mounted by elastic deformation on the insulating body.

  According to other features of the invention,

tion:

  - The connector comprises means for

  angular dexation of the insulating body with respect to

  contact corps as well as positioning

  angle of the contact body with respect to the

connector housing.

  These characteristics are necessary for the correct alignment of the contact bodies of two connectors, male and female, respectively, for the purpose of producing a connection assembly in order to avoid, on the one hand, any deterioration during the nesting of the connectors. two connectors one in the other, contact elements that would be misaligned, and secondly to ensure a correct connection of

  different signal lines without error.

  According to another characteristic of the invention

  the angular positioning means are constituted by at least one indexing lug fixed to the rear part of the contact body protruding out of the insulating block, which cooperates with a corresponding flat formed in the insulating block and which extends in a plane parallel to the general axis of the connector. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention the tab may be constituted by the free branch of a bracket * whose end of the other perpendicular branch is fixed on the

  rear part of the contact body.

  According to a particular embodiment variant

  interestingly in the case where the connector

  electrical type is of the type comprising a parallel box

  The positioning means may be constituted by an elastic gripper comprising two parallel jaws which form two indexing lugs which cooperate respectively with two parallel faces of the housing or the insulating block, the two jaws being interconnected by a branch of link c.mportant a mounting hole on the rear part of the contact body and means of angular indexing of the elastic clip by

report to the contact body.

  The indexing tab may be made of a conductive element which cooperates with a portion of the metal shell surrounding the insulating block, to establish a mass contact between the latter and the contact body. Other features and benefits of

  the invention will appear on reading the description of the

  DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is an axial sectional view of a connection assembly comprising a male electrical connector and a complementary female electrical connector made in accordance with the teachings. of the invention; - Figure 2 is a sectional view of the contact body of the female connector according to the line 2-2 of Figure 1; FIG. 3 is an axial sectional view of a preferred embodiment of the contact body of the male connector of FIG. 1; - Figure 4 is an axial sectional view of the insulating body of the male connector shown in Figure; FIG. 5 is a view in axial section of a female contact element of the male connector of FIG. 1; FIG. 6 is an end view along the line F6 of FIG. 4; FIG. 7 is a section along the line 7-7 of FIG. 4; FIG. 8 is a side view of the contact body shown in FIG. 3 equipped with the preferred embodiment of the angular positioning means constituted by an indexing bracket; Figure 9 is a top view of the rear portion of the contact body of Figure 8; - Figure 10 is an end view along the line F9 of Figure 8 showing only the positioning bracket; - Figure 11 is an end view along the line Fll of the angular positioning elastic clamp equipping the contact body mixes the male connector of Figure 1; - Figure 12 is a sectional view along the line 12-12 of Figure 11; FIG. 13 is a view from above of the elastic clip shown in FIG. 12; FIG. 14 represents a variant of

  making an electrical connector according to the

  type connection with elbow connection; and - Figure 15 is a sectional view according to the

line 15-15 of Figure 14.

  FIG. 1 shows a connection assembly 20 consisting of a female connector 22A and a male connector 22B which are represented nested

one in the other.

  The denomination male, or female adopted here

  corresponds to the gender, male or female of the body type.

  contact fitted to the connector. For the sake of clarity, all components of the female connector (on the left) are labeled "A" and those of the male connector "8". FIG. 1 is a view in axial section of a

  connection assembly 20 which, in this embodiment,

  sation, consists of two parallel connectors

  pipedic rectangle- each with a two-part outer protective metal shell

24A, 248.

  However, the invention is not limited to this type of rectangular connector but also finds its application in the case of a cylindrical sleeve connector. Each of the metal shells 24A, 24B constitutes a connector housing enclosing a block of electrically insulating material 26A, 26B. In order to facilitate the construction and assembly, each of the

  two insulating blocks is made in two parts.

  Each insulating block 26A, 26B receives a body

  female contact 28A, or 28B respectively.

  Each contact body is constituted by a metal bushing which is electrically conductive

  general cylindrical stepped profile.

  Each contact body 28A, 28B extends substantially from the front face 30A, 30B of the

  connector towards its rear face 32A, 32B.

  As can be seen in FIG. 1, each contact body 28A, 28B projects towards

  the rear out of the insulating block 26A, 26B.

  Each insulating body 28A, 28B is immobilized axially inside the insulating block 26A, 26B by an external radial shoulder 34A, 34B which cooperates on the one hand with a radial inner shoulder 36A, 36B of the insulating block and, on the other hand, in a manner known per se, with the free end 38A, 38B deformable elastic tabs of an axial retention element 40A, 40B of the insulating body consisting of a

split cylindrical ring.

  In order to allow the subsequent disassembly of the contact body 28A, 28B by the rear face of the

  connector, it is equipped with an extrac-

  42A, 42B constituted by a rotating shell capable of sliding between the outer peripheral surface of the contact body 28A on which it is mounted and the axial retention element 40A in order to cause the radial spacing of the free ends

38A, 38B.

  The front portion 44A of the female contact body 28A has a diameter slightly greater than that of the front portion 448 of the male contact body 28B and is axially slit so as to allow insertion of the contact body 288 into the contact body 28A . Each contact body 28A, 28B comprises angular positioning means relative to the connector housing 22A, 22B which will be

described later.

  An insulating body 46A, 46B of stepped cylindrical external profile is mounted inside the contact body 28A, 28B. More precisely each insulating body 46A, 46B is disposed in the two smaller diameter sections of the internal bore 48A, 48B of the

contact body.

  As can be seen in Figures 1 and

  2, each insulating body 46A, 46B has two holes

  cylindrical arms 50A, 50B, which extend parallel

  to the axis of the connector, in a diametral plane of the insulating body and which open towards the rear in

  a cylindrical wiring chamber.

  The two cylindrical bores 50A of the insulating body 48A each receive a male contact element 52A which is arranged to protrude out of the insulating body 48A towards the front face 30A to cooperate each with a female contact element 52B which is disposed in one of the two

  50B cylindrical bores of the insulating body 48B.

  According to the invention, each insulating body 46A, 46B comprises two diametrically opposed transverse notches 54A, 54B. Each notch 54A, 54-B intercepts one of the cylindrical bores 50A, 508, so that a deformable elastic blade 56A, 56B can cooperate, in a manner to be explained further, with an internal radial groove A 60B formed in each contact member 52A, 52B. Each of the elastic blades 58A, 58B extends transversely with respect to the axis of the contact elements 52A, 528 as well as the notches 54A, 548. The notches 54A, 548, the blades 58A, 58B and the grooves S0A, 60B present substantially the same

width in the axial direction.

  In this way the parallel edges trans-

  versaux of each elastic blade 58A. 58B are received between the radial faces facing 62A, 628 of the notch and between the radial shoulders 64A, 64B delimiting the radial groove 62A, 62B so that, when the elements are in the position shown in FIGS. and 2, the contact element 52A, 52B is held axially in both

  directions within the insulating body 46A, 46B.

  The blades 58A, 588 are held in their respective notches 54A, 548 by a common ring 66A, 668. Each ring 66A, 66B is a ring made of insulating material which is mounted on the insulating body 48A, 48B by elastic deformation so as to to engage axially between the opposed radial faces 62A, 62B of the notches which cooperate with the opposite radial faces of the ring and to hold the blades 58A, 58B which have been

previously put in place.

  We choose the internal diameter of the ring

2630864-

  1 66A, 66B slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the insulating body in the corresponding area so that, in the mounted position and shown in Figures 1 and 2, the ring 66A, 66B is slightly deformed and has a substantially elliptical profile. With this characteristic, the ring 66A, 66B gives each elastic blade 58A, 58B a

  additional elasticity in the radial direction.

  Each contact body 28A, 28B comprises in its median section a radially inwardly deformed zone 68A, 68B. This zone, which can be obtained either by a flat or a shot, cooperates with a corresponding deformed zone 70A, 70B of the insulating body 46A, 468 on the one hand to ensure an axial retention of the latter in the contact body 28A, 288 and on the other hand it constitutes angular indexing means of the insulating body 46A, 468 inside the contact body 28A, 28B. The zone 70A, 708 may alternatively consist of a counterbore

axial.

  FIG. 4 shows a preferred embodiment of a male insulating body 46B in which it may be noted that the insertion face 72B of the contact elements 52B comprises a conical flared profile 74B which cooperates with a beveled edge 768 of the axial partition 78B separating the two internal cylindrical bores 508. This set of surfaces 748 and 768 facilitates the introduction of the

  contact elements during connection operations.

electricity.

  To further improve this cooperation, and according to a feature not shown, the front end 808 of each contact element 60B may also have a profile rounded in a plane parallel to the slot. All of the characteristics that have just been mentioned in connection with a female contact element 52B apply, of course, to a male contact element 52A which has a semi-spherical end. Each contact element 52A, 52B comprises at its rear part a blind bore 82A, 82B for crimping connection of the stripped end of an electrical wire 86A belonging to a conductor

shielded electrical 88A.

  The shielded electrical conductor 88A represents

  The left-hand part of FIG. 1 comprises electrical wires 86A each surrounded by an individual sheath 90A. The ends of the two sheaths 90A bear against the rear ends vis-à-vis the contact elements 52A. The two sheaths 90A are surrounded by a shielding metal braid 92A itself surrounded by an insulating sheath

driver 94A.

  The electrical connection between the rear portion 96A of the contact body 28A and the braid 92A is provided by crimping the latter on a cylindrical ferrule 98A, 988 so as to pinch it

between these two elements.

  A preferred embodiment of the angular positioning means of a contact body, for example a male, is shown in FIGS. 8 to 10. Positioning is ensured by means of an indexing bracket 1008 whose free plane branch 102B extends in a plane parallel to the axis of the contact body 288 towards the front and the other leg is welded to the outer peripheral surface

contact body 288.

  The flat lug formed by the branch 102B is provided to cooperate with a corresponding flat surface formed on the body of the electrical connector, that is to say for example on the upper face of the insulating block 26B or, in the case of a connector cylindrical, with the inside of a corresponding profile notch formed at the rear face of the

insulation block.

  In addition to its simplicity of implementation, the angular positioning bracket 100B is particularly advantageous in that it leaves free on a large angular zone 106B (greater than 180 ') access to the extractor element 42B

  to facilitate disassembly of the contact body 28B.

  FIGS. 11 to 13 show to the right of FIG. 1 another embodiment of angular positioning means of the contact body.

  28B relative to the housing of the connector 22B.

  This is a positioning clamp 108B having a U-shaped cross-section whose two branches 110B constitute parallel jaws that cooperate with the opposing flat faces 112B of the block

insulation 26B of the connector 228.

  The branches 110B are interconnected by a central branch 114B which has a mounting hole 116B on the contact body 28B. The mounting hole 116B has two parallel flats in

  vis-à-vis 118B which cooperate with flats corres-

  unrepresented, trained on the part

  back of the contact body 28B to index angularly

  The contact body 28B must also have means, not shown in FIG. 1, for axial positioning of the clamp 108B, constituted by the angular pliers 108B with respect to the contact 28B.

example by a shoulder.

  As can be seen on the left-hand side of FIG. 1, a similar clamp 108A equips the contact body 28A. However, this clamp differs from the clamp 1088 in that each of the branches 110A is extended forward by a ground connection lug 120A which cooperates with the metal shell 2-4A. Thanks to this characteristic, the connection clamp 108A, which is made of an electrically conductive metal, ensures a continuity of mass by the outside of the conductor, between the body of the

  contact 28A and the metal shell 24A of the connector

22A.

  The connection mode will now be described.

  from a shielded conductor 88A to a 22A connector

according to the invention.

  For the user, the connector 22A is

  already equipped with the contact body 28A inside the

  with the insulating body 46A fitted with

  its deformable elastic blades 58A.

  After stripping the wires 86A so that the two sheaths 90A end substantially in the same plane, the user crimped two electrical contacts, in this case male contacts 52A, on the stripped ends of the son 86A. This operation is a classic crimping operation

  with contact elements of a known type.

  After threading the ferrule 98A on the

  conductor sheath 94A, itself cut to a length

  In order to allow the metal braid 92A to be turned over on the outer peripheral surface of the ferrule 98A, the user then presents the assembly constituted by the shielded conductor 88A equipped with its two contact elements 52A.

  at the rear face of the contact body 28A.

  It axially introduces the front ends of the two contact elements 52A into the corresponding bores 50A of the insulating body. Under the effect of the axial thrust exerted by the user, the

  contact elements 52A then penetrate progressively

  inside until it provokes the

  radial cement towards the outside of the blades 58A which fall, under the action of their elastic deformation and the additional force applied to them by the ring 66A, in the corresponding grooves 60A

contact elements 52A.

  To compensate for any defects

  axial alignment between the two grooves 60A, resulting in

  both of a defective crimping operation, the axial width of the grooves is chosen slightly greater than that of the blades 58A, for example

about 0.2 mm.

  Once this position is reached, the contact elements 52A are immobilized axially with respect to the insulating body 46A, to the contact body

  28A and therefore with respect to the connector 22A.

  It then remains for the user 2 5 to crimp the rear portion 96A of the contact body

  28A on the ferrule 98A so as to immobilize axially

  the shielded conductor 88A relative to the contact body 28A and to provide electrical continuity between the shielding braid 92A and the body

contact 28A.

  It is therefore found that during the introduction operation, the user has in hand only two sets, on the one hand the connector 22A itself and on the other hand the driver 88A equipped with ses.deux

52A contacts crimped.

  If the user wishes to disassemble the contact body 28A in order to change the electrical connections of the contact elements 52A, it acts on the extractor element 42A. This action is facilitated by the two opposite axial slots 117B formed in the positioning clamp (see FIG. 13) which make it possible to introduce an extraction tool to push the extractor towards the inside of the

connector.

  The user can then introduce a new contact body 28A and proceed, as described above to the connection and installation of new contacts 52A. The mode of use which has just been described is identical for the connection of an armored conductor to a

male connector 22B.

  FIGS. 14 and 15 show a variant enabling the connection of a shielded conductor (not shown), forming a 90-degree bend;

  relative to the general axis of the connector 22A.

  In this embodiment, the conductive wires are respectively welded in forks 122A formed at the rear end of each

contact element 52A.

  The rear part of the contact element comprises a plug 124A making it possible to access the forked rear ends 122A of the contact elements 52A to carry out the welding operation of the lead wires which are introduced in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the contact body 28A, in a connecting body 126A which is attached to the rear part of the contact body 28A

  and forms an angle of 90 'to it.

  As can be seen in FIG. 14, the extractor element 42A has a clearance 128A making it possible to leave the passage around the upper end 130A of the connecting body 126A and thus the retraction of the extractor element 42A towards the left

as shown in Figure 14.

  The connection operation is carried out as follows: - after stripping the ends of the conductors son and prepared the shielding braid on a ferrule identical to the ferrule 98A of. FIG. 1, the user introduces the assembly, from the bottom up looking at FIG. 14, into the body of

connection 126A.

  It then proceeds to weld the ends of the conductive wires in the forks 122A by accessing them through the open rear end of the body of the

contact 28A.

  It then remains for the user to crimp the connecting body 126A on the mass contact ferrule and then to close the contact body 28A by means of the plug

124A which is welded to the body.

  In this variant the indexing lug of the contact body with respect to the connector 22A is

  constituted by the flat upper face 134A of the shoulder

  132A radial formed on the connecting body 126A. It can also be seen that, in this version, the two contacts 52A are in a diametral plane angularly offset 90 'with respect to the embodiment represented in FIGS. 1 and 2.

  must of course choose one of these two

  in order to standardize the same series of connectors with straight and / or angled connections.

Claims (15)

  An electrical connector (22A, 228) of the type comprising a housing surrounding an insulating block (26A,   26B) which receives at least one conductive contact body   tor (28A, 28B) which extends from a front face of the housing towards its rear face and inside which are arranged at least two contact elements (52A, 52B) which are kept parallel thereto to the axis of the connector in an angular position determined by a body (46A, 46B) of insulating material received in the contact body, characterized in that each contact element (52A, 52B) has a radial groove (60A, O60B) which cooperates with a blade deformable elastic member (58A, 58B) disposed in the insulating body in a direction transverse to the axis of the contact element and whose transverse parallel edges cooperate respectively with the radial shoulders in   vis-à-vis (64A, 64B) of said groove.   2. Electrical connector according to the   cation 1; characterized in that each element of   contact (28A, 28B) is received in a cylindrical bore   jig (50A, 50B) formed in the insulating body, and in that each elastic blade (58A, 58B) is disposed in a transverse notch (54A, 54B) of the body   insulation of the contact which intercepts the cylindrical bore   that (50A, 508) corresponding and whose parallel and opposite radial faces (62A, 62B) cooperate with said edges vis-à-vis the blade (58A, 58B) to immobilize axially relative to the body insulating.   3. Electrical connector according to the claim   2, characterized in that said notch (54A, 54B) is open radially outwardly and in that the blade (58A, 58B) is held radially in position by a ring (66A, 668) mounted on the body insulation (46A, 468).   4. Electrical connector according to the claim   3, characterized in that the opposite radial faces of the ring (66A, 66B) are received between the radial faces (62B) vis-à-vis the notch (54A, 54B) with which they cooperate to immobilize axially the ring (66A, 668) with respect to the body insulation (46A, -46B).   5. Electrical connector according to any one   of the preceding claims, characterized in that   the contact body (28A, 286) is a cylindrical metal sleeve of stepped profile in which is received an insulating body (46A, 46B) of complementary profile in which at least two contact elements are arranged (52A, 526). identical, and in that each contact element (52A, 52B) cooperates with   an elastic blade (58A, 588) independent.   6. Electrical connector according to the   cation 5 taken in combination with one of the   3 or 4, characterized in that the   notches (54A, 54B), in addition to radial planes (62A, 62B) and their opposite faces comprise a secant plane intersecting the cylindrical bores (50A, 50B),   intersecting planes aligned and parallel to the long axis   of the contact, and that the elastic blades   (58A, 588) are held there by a single ring (66A, 66B).   7. Electrical connector according to one   any of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that   the ring (66A, 668) is mounted by deformation elastic on said insulating body.   8. Electrical connector according to one   any of the preceding claims, characterized   in that it comprises means for angular indexing (68A-70A, 68B-708) of the insulating body relative to the contact body.   9. Electrical connector according to the   8, characterized in that it comprises angular positioning means (100B, 108B) of the contact body (28B) relative to the housing of the connector (22B).   10. Electrical connector according to the   cation 9, characterized in that said angular positioning means are constituted by at least one lug (102B, 110B, 134A) indexing attached to the rear part of the contact body protruding from said insulating block, which cooperates with a flat part corresponding formed in the insulating block and which extends in a plane parallel to the general axis of the connector.   11. Electrical connector according to the   cation 10, characterized in that said tab.is constituted by the free branch (102B) of a square   (100B) with the end of the other branch perpendicular   eyelet (104B) is fixed on the rear part of the contact body (288).   12. Electrical connector according to the   cation 10 of the type comprising a box parallelepiped   pedicure rectangle characterized in that said positioning means are constituted by an elastic clamp (108B) comprising two parallel jaws (1108) which form two indexing tabs which respectively cooperate 'with two parallel faces (1128) of said housing' u said insulating block, said two jaws being interconnected by a connecting leg (1148) having a mounting hole (116B) on the rear portion of said contact body and angular indexing means (1188) of the elastic clip (1088) ) in relation to the contact body (288).   13. Electrical connector according to one   any of claims 10 to 12, characterized in   this said tab is a conductive element which cooperates with a metal portion of the housing to establish a mass contact between the latter and the contact body.   14. Electrical connector according to the   cation 10 of the type comprising a connecting body (126A) attached to the rear part of the contact body, characterized in that said tab is constituted by the flat face (134A) of a shoulder (132A) of said connecting body.   15. Electrical connector according to one   any of the preceding claims characterized   in that two contact elements (52A, 52B) are arranged in the contact body and extend into a   diametral plane, and in that the rear part (96A.   96B) of the contact body (28A) is provided for   with the metallic braid (92A) for shielding an electrical conductor (88A) having two conductor wires [86A) each of which is respectively connected to the rear portion of one of said two contact elements.