FR2917541A1 - Shielded sub miniature connection assembly for cable connector, has molded thermoplastic receptacle shell comprising flange provided with oblong apertures into which projecting dimples of back plate are locked - Google Patents

Abstract

The assembly has two sub miniature connectors (2) with housings consisting thermoplastic half-shells (4', 4'') and shielded by surface treatment. The connectors has a high contact density miniature sub assembly (8) with a molded thermoplastic insulating body (9) comprising contact cavities (10) for positioning and retention of contacts. A black plate is provided with a contact retaining clip, and the side walls of the plate have projecting dimples. A molded thermoplastic receptacle shell (12) comprises a frangle (13), with oblong apertures (14) into which the dimples of are locked. An independent claim is also included for a process of forming a shielded sub miniature connection assembly.

Description

Shown sub-miniature connection assembly 5 The present invention

  object a shielded sub-miniature connection assembly and more particularly a connection assembly consisting of two sub-miniature connectors provided with removable modules with high contact density. The invention finds particular application as cable connectors in the field of computing, audiovisual communication, telecommunications and more generally in the fields requiring multiple network signal processing. In the field of shielded miniature connectors, it is known to use an insulating block, provided with cells for positioning and holding electrical contacts, housed in a shielding casing. This shielding case is generally composed of two metal half-shells provided with means allowing their assembly around the insulating block and the son strand extending the contacts inserted in the insulator. The assembly and positioning of the elements are not easy and once the metal half-shells are assembled it is common to over-mold thermoplastic material which infiltrates during the operation inside the shielding box making impossible all subsequent disassembly operations.

  It is also known to use thermoplastic housings obtained in presses in which overmoulding of the contacts and their associated wires or the insulating block equipped with its contacts and associated wires is carried out. According to this technique all disassembly operations, either in manufacture for the purpose of repair or after commissioning prove impossible.

  With the development of audio-visual and computer technologies made available to passengers of large civil aviation aircraft, for example, it becomes imperative to achieve significant gains in terms of space, weight and maintenance for all the equipment needed for this purpose. available.

  There is therefore a need to provide equipment that overcomes the disadvantages of the products of the prior art and that meet the needs of extreme miniaturization, easy assembly and assembly while being removable for the replacement of defective components or for the performance improvement.

  For this purpose, the present invention relates to a shielded sub-miniature connection assembly consisting of two subminiature connectors comprising housings consisting of two molded half-shells made of thermoplastic material and provided with locking means and in which each sub-miniature connector comprises a sub-miniature connector. miniature miniature high density of contacts.

  According to a main feature of the invention, the subassembly is removable.

  According to the invention, the thermoplastic material of the two half-shells is coated with a nickel protection.

  According to another main feature of the invention the housing comprises a positioning site whose profile is adapted to receive a subset.

  According to one embodiment, the subassembly comprises a molded insulating body made of thermoplastic material provided with cells for positioning and holding contacts, a rear plate provided with a contact retaining clip and whose side walls comprise bosses made of protrusion, a molded base body made of thermoplastic material having a flange provided with oblong openings in which snap the protruding bosses of the rear plate.

  According to this embodiment the contact retaining clip allows the passage in the center of the insulation of the electrical son, equipped with crimped contacts constituting a strand which comprises a shielding ferrule.

  According to this embodiment, the base body is inserted into the site of the half-shell, the strand is positioned in the space whose rear open end constitutes a son pass receiving the ferron armor of the strand so to ensure the continuity of the shielding of the strand and the half-shells.

  The invention will be better understood with the aid of the following description and the accompanying drawings in which,

  Figure 1 shows in perspective a connection assembly 1 according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a partial section along the line AA of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view of an assembly according to the invention and an embodiment of the prior art; Figs. 4a, 4b show a first connector of the connection assembly; Figs. 5a, 5b show a second connector complementary to the connection assembly; Figure 6 is a top view of a cable connector being manufactured; Figure 7 shows the assembly step of the complementary connector;

  Figures 8a and 8b show an embodiment of an assembly lock;

  Figure 9 shows the implementation of a connector equipped with a type Ethernet network cable;

  Figures 10a to 10c show the wiring steps of a connector of the present invention.

  FIG. 1 shows a shielded sub-miniature connection assembly 1 consisting of two sub-miniature connectors 2, 15 3 comprising housings 4 and 5 consisting of two half-shells 4'-4 "and 5'-5" molded of thermoplastic material coated with a nickel protection and provided with complementary coupling means such as a locking mechanism of the lock type 6 and such as guiding means to allow assembly of the connector 2 with its complementary connector 3 The connectors 2 and 3 are likewise equipped with means for maintaining contacts. These contacts, not shown, may be electrical contacts copper or electrically conductive alloy or optical contacts or a provision with these different types of terminations.

  The contact holding and guiding means for coupling the connectors are shown in FIG. 2, which is a partial sectional view along the line AA of FIG.

  On the one hand, the housing 4 of the connector 2 comprises a groove 7 whose profile is adapted to receive a subassembly or removable module 8 itself constituted by a miniature connector with a high contact density whose front face is formed by an insulating body 9 molded thermoplastic material having cells 10 for positioning and maintaining contacts that will be inserted when wiring the module. On the rear face of the insulating body 9 is disposed a rear plate 11 provided with a contact retaining clip and whose side walls have projecting bosses. A base body 12 molded of thermoplastic material has a flange 13 itself obtained during molding of the base body and is provided with oblong openings 14 in which snap the protruding bosses of the rear plate 11.

  On the other hand, the housing 5 of the complementary connector 3 which has a space 7 'whose profile is adapted to receive a subassembly or removable module 8' itself consisting of a miniature connector with high density of contacts comprising the same components as the subset 8 and which is identical with two exceptions. The first relates to the insulating body 9 'whose front end coupling surface is at the plane defined by the upper surface of the base body 12'. The second concerns the flange 15 which is likewise obtained during the molding of the base body and which is located on the face of the base body opposite to the face comprising the flange 13. This flange 15 serves as a receiving cavity for the insulating body 9 when connecting the subassemblies 8 and 8 'and thus the coupling of the connectors 2 and 3.

  The groove 7 and the space 7 'are preferred positioning sites, because of easy access, subsets 8 and 8' once they have been wired or re-wired as will be described below. .

  Figure 3 shows, on the left, a connection assembly 1 of the type of that of the present invention in an uncoupled position. On the right of this figure is shown a connection assembly currently used and commonly called miniature Sub-D 16, the purpose of which is to provide transmission characteristics of electrical signals close to those provided by the connection sets of the present invention.

  The use of removable connection sub-assemblies 8, 8 'integrated in half-shells of nickel-plated thermoplastic material has led to the surprising result of being able to effectively miniaturize the components of the connection assembly and to make gains, both in weight than in space. Thus, for a connection set Sub D equipped with 25 contacts whose weight is about 60 grams the invention makes it possible to obtain a reduction in weight of approximately 45%, that is to say that it allows achieve effective results with a total component weight of about 33 grams. It is the same with regard to the space requirement since the total length of the coupled assembly 16 represents a value of approximately 72.5 mm and the value of the length of the assembly 1 of the present invention is about 62 mm, a gain of about 32%.

  It is obvious that the object achieved by the invention makes it possible to envisage significant gains in terms of space and weight for all the equipment used in audiovisual applications offered for example to public transport passengers and more particularly to passengers of passengers. large carriers of civil aviation.

  FIG. 4a shows an exploded view of the elements constituting the housing 4 of the connector 2 which comprises an upper half-shell 4 'of nickel-plated thermoplastic material provided on its upper surface with a recess 17 for the positioning of the removable lock 6. A slot 18 s extends, from one of the edges of the half-shell 4 ', to the recess 17 to allow the positioning of the removable lock 6, recess in which the lock will be maintained as will be explained below.

  This half-shell 4 'is provided on its inner face with elements identical to those shown on the lower half-shell 4 ", also made of nickel-plated thermoplastic material, namely: a groove 7 allowing the positioning of the base body 12 of the subassembly 8, a space 19 allowing the positioning of the cable strand during the finishing of the connector 2, steps 20 for guiding the housing 5 when coupling the connectors 2-3, pins 21 for positioning relative and fastening with screws 22 of the two half-shells 4 ', 4 ", as shown in Figure 4b. As will be seen below the half-shells are assembled once the sub-assembly 8 has been wired and put in place in the groove 7.

  FIG. 5a shows an exploded view of the elements constituting the housing 5 of the connector 3 which comprises an upper half-shell 5 'of nickel-plated thermoplastic material provided on its upper surface with a slot 23 having a projecting edge and cooperating with the removable lock 6 for locking connectors 2 and 3.

  This half-shell 5 'is provided on its inner face with elements identical to those shown on the lower half-shell 5 ", also made of nickel-plated thermoplastic material, namely: a space 7' allowing the positioning of the base body 12 'of the subassembly 8', a space 24 allowing the positioning of the cable strand during the finishing of the connector 3, tenons 21 for the relative positioning and the fastening with screws 22 of the two half-shells 5 ', 5', as shown in Figure 5b. The half-shells 5 ', 5 "have at one of their ends a side wall 25 having on its front face a threaded bore 26 for fixing the subassembly 8' by means of screws 27 passing through the openings 28 provided in The two identical half-shells thus define the positioning space 7 'of the subassembly 8' as shown in FIG. 5b. As will be seen below, the half-shells are assembled together. once the sub-assembly 8 'has been wired and put in place in the space 7'.

  The joint use of thermoplastic half-shells, covered by a passing shield in a surface treatment station with nickel baths, their possibility of assembly and disassembly by screws associated with removable sub-assemblies cabled before their insertion into the groove and space 7 and 7 ', provides a final product, namely the shielded subminiature connection assembly, having very high electrical performance, reduced dimensions, possibilities for replacing modules and easy maintenance.

  Figure 6 shows a connector 2 during the phase preceding the final assembly of a cable connector. A strand 29 of electrical wires whose ends are equipped with crimped contacts has been wired onto a subassembly 8. As can be seen in FIG. 6, the subassembly 8 itself constitutes a miniature connector whose front face is formed. by the insulating body 9 molded thermoplastic material which has cells for positioning and maintaining crimped contacts inserted in this body. The rear face of the insulating body 9 is equipped with a rear plate provided with a contact retaining clip permitting the passage at their center of the insulators of the wires constituting the strand 29. The side walls of the wafer comprise protruding bosses which come into contact with each other. snap into the oblong openings 14 of the collar of the base body 12. The base body 12 is then inserted into the groove 7 of the half-shell 4 ', the strand 29 is positioned in the space 19 of which the front open end is provided with guide steps 20 for coupling the connectors 2, 3, and whose rear open end constitutes a wire pass 30 receiving a ferrule 31 shielding the strand 29 so as to ensure the continuity of bet to the ground of the shield of the strand and 41.4 "half-shells.

  Figure 7 shows a connector 3 during the final assembly phase of a cable connector. The strand 29 of electrical wires whose ends are equipped with crimp contacts has been wired on a sub-assembly 8 '. As can be seen in FIG. 7, the subassembly 8 'itself constitutes a sub-miniature connector whose front face is formed by the molded thermoplastic insulating body 9' which has cavities for positioning and maintaining crimped contacts inserted into this body. The rear face of the insulating body 9 'is equipped with a rear plate provided with a contact retaining clip permitting the passage at their center of the insulators of the wires constituting the strand 29. The side walls of the wafer comprise projecting bosses which come snap into the oblong openings 14 of the flange 13 'of the base body 12'. The base body 12 'is then inserted in the space 7' defined by the half-shell 5 ', 5 "and by the walls 25, the strand 29 is positioned in the space 24 whose open end constitutes a wire pass 30 adapted to receive a ferrule 31 shielding the strand 29 which ensures the continuity of grounding the shielding of the strand and the half-shells 5 ', 5 ".The half-shell 5" is positioned and fixed to the half-shell 5 'using screws 22 and tenons 21.

  FIGS. 8a and 8b show in detail the locking of the assembled connectors 2 and 3 by means of a metal clip forming the removable lock 6, its method of fixing in the recess 17 of the upper surface of the half-shell 4 ' and its mode of attachment in the slot 23 of the upper surface of the half-shell 5 'when the connectors 2 and 3 are coupled. Note that in this embodiment a single locking means is shown on the upper outer surface of the half-shells but it is obvious that the lower outer surfaces are equipped with this type of lock which works identically on the surfaces. upper and lower.

  The lock 6 of Figure 8b is a clip machined in a resilient metal plate cut and shaped so as to maintain the latch and its attachment in the complementary connector. A central cut-out 32 defines two elastic branches 33 and the free part of the metal resulting from the cut is folded back to 180 by forming a recessed elastic loop 34, after it has been put in place via the groove 18, in a compartment 35 of the recess 17. An elastic end loop 36 is provided at the resting end in the recess 17 so as to improve the mechanical strength of the lock and the recovery of the background effects when an operator presses with the finger on the branches 33 to separate connectors 2 and 3. The other end of the clip, that is to say the one in contact with the complementary connector, is folded on itself and the fold 37 thus produced is positioned at an angle substantially less than 90 relative to the plane defined by the horizontal surface of the clip to firmly hold the connectors 2 and 3 through the action of the fold 37 engaged in the slot 23.

  This arrangement thus makes it possible to use a removable lock which is removed during the nickel-plating treatment of the surface of the half-shells made of thermoplastic material, which makes it possible not to expose the lock in the treatment baths. The use of a metal lock thus makes it possible to greatly increase the number of coupling / uncoupling maneuvers of the connectors relative to the molded plastic locks at the same time as the half-shells.

  FIG. 8a shows passages 38 made at the rear of the half-shells 4 ', 4 ", 5' and 5" which allow the passage of fasteners and make it possible to fix connectors 4 and 5 in all configurations. 2 and 3.

  FIG. 9 shows an exemplary embodiment of wiring a removable module or subassembly 8, 8 'using twisted quadraxial type cables, ie cables allowing the use of very high frequencies in particularly in avionics networks of the type used in avionics.

  According to this example, the four wires of 3 cables are implanted in 12 of the cells 10 of the insulating body 9, 9 '. In this arrangement, four contiguous cells are grouped and referenced C1, C2, C3 and are separated by cells T1, T2 or L1, L2, L3 which represent locations for ground contacts or free line contacts.

  As shown in FIGS. 10 to 10c, the method of wiring a removable module 8 or 8 'takes place, by way of example, according to the following phases: a first cable Q1 comprising a spacing spider 40 making it possible to remove the distortions between the wires and disposed between the four wires composing the cable. The cable is unsheathed along a length v1 allowing each of the wires thus released to be housed in the space of the half-shell and thereby strips a length of braid 39 for shielding the cable; - Each wire is stripped and a contact of electrically conductive material is crimped on the end of the wire; each contact equipped with its wire is inserted into the bore made in a clip of the rear plate 11 and positioned in a cell 10 of the insulating body 9 contiguous with the other three cells for receiving the contacts of the same cable C 1 by example; a second cable Q2 is prepared in the same manner and the contacts are positioned at C2; a third cable Q3 is likewise prepared and the contacts are positioned at C3; - Ground contacts are crimped on the braid 39 and positioned at T1, T2, while son carrying low value signals are equipped with crimped contacts and positioned in the free line locations L1, L2, L3; the parts of the strands 39 stripped of the cables Q1, Q2, Q3 are grouped and form a set of the same potential thanks to a metal sheet 41 which joins the three braids 39 of the cables Q1, Q2, Q3 - the ground wires and the wires of free line are arranged around this sheet 41 and the assembly thus formed is covered by a metal sheet enclosing the son and the sheet 41.

  From this last step results a ferrule 31 making it possible to ensure the continuity of mass between the strand 29 and the shielded housings 4 and 5 of the sub-miniature connectors 2 and 3, ie to ensure the continuous shielding of a set subminiature connection component connecting the cable connectors.

  The removable module 8, 8 'is thus wired it is easy to continue mounting connectors 2 and 3 according to the method described above and in particular in the description made for Figures 6 and 7 above. The embodiments of the invention as described are not limiting and the variations and modifications made do not depart from the scope or the spirit of the present invention. 20

Claims (8)

  1. Shielded sub-miniature connection assembly (1) consisting of two sub-miniature connectors (2, 3) comprising housings (4, 5) consisting of two molded half-shells made of thermoplastic material and provided with locking means (6) characterized in that each sub-miniature connector (2, 3) has a miniature subset (8, 8 ') with a high density of contacts.   2. Shielded sub-miniature connection assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the subassembly (8, 8 ') is removable.   3. Shielded sub-miniature connection assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the thermoplastic material of the two half-shells (4 ', 4 ", 5', 5") is coated with nickel protection. 20   4. Shielded sub-miniature connection assembly according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the housing (4,   5) comprises a positioning site (7, 7 ') whose profile is adapted to receive a subset (8, 8'). 5. Shielded sub-miniature connection unit according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the subassembly (8, 8 ') comprises an insulating body (9, 9') molded of thermoplastic material provided with cavities (10) for positioning and maintaining 30 contacts, a rear plate (11) provided with a contact retaining clip and whose side walls have protruding bosses, a base body (12, 12 ') molded in thermoplastic material having a flange ( 13) provided with oblong apertures (14) in which the protruding bosses of the rear plate (11) engage.   6. Shielded sub-miniature connection assembly according to claim 5 characterized in that the contact retaining clip allows the passage at its center of the insulator electrical son, equipped with crimped contacts constituting a strand (29).   7. Shielded sub-miniature connection assembly according to claim 6, characterized in that the strand (29) comprises a shielding ferrule (31).   8. Shielded sub-miniature connection assembly according to Claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the base body (12, 12 ') is inserted into the site (7, 7') of the half-shell (4 ', 4 '), the strand (29) is positioned in the space (19, 24) whose rear open end constitutes a wire pass (30) receiving the shielding ferrule (31) of the strand (29) so as to ensure the continuity of the grounding of the strand and the half-shells (4 ', 4 ", 5', 5").