GB1568189A - Electrical connectors - Google Patents

Description

(54) ELECTRICAL CONNECTORS (71) We CANNON ELECTRIC (GREAT BRITAIN) LIMITED, a British Company, of Lister Road, Winchester Road, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to electrical connector arrangements, and especially to edge connectors for use, for instance, with printed circuit boards.

Many electronic systems use edge-connectors such as referred to above, and in such cases it is desirable to ensure that the plug element is inserted into the socket element the right way round. It is also necessary to ensure that only the correct plug element-socket element interconnections are made.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved polarisation arrangement for connectors of the linear type, such as edge connectoXs.

According to the present invention, there is provided an electrical connector arrangement of the linear type in which the plug connector element and the socket connector element are each provided with a polarising strip on one side of the connector body, in which each said strip has a plurality of slots arranged along its length, said slots being so located that when the connector elements are mated the slots on the plug element strip are each aligned with a slot on the socket connector element strip, in which pegs are fitted into slots of said polarising strips, each said peg being a push-fit into its one of said slots, and in which the arrangement of the pegs, at least one of which is in the slots of said plug element's strip and at least one of which is in the slots of said connector element's strip, is such that only the correct mating can take place.

Such an arrangement provides polarisation for edge connectors which satisfies the criteria referred to above. It also permits the connector user to set up his own polarisation arrangements, and to rearrange them, on site, should this be necessary.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing, which is a perspective view of as much of a mating pair of connector elements as is necessary to understand the invention.

In the drawing, the plug connector element is indicated at 1, this being the fixed element in the present case, the socket connector element being - indicated at 2, this being the free element in the present case. Mounted on the front face of the element 1 there is a polarising strip 3, a similar polarising strip 4 being mounted on the element 2. These strips can be separate items each fastened to the body of its one of the elements, e.g. by adhesive or heat welding. Alternatively, each strip can be moulded integrally with the body of its element.

Each polarising strip has a number of slots such as the slot 5 in the strip 4. As can be seen, each of these slots has a crosssection which is rectangular with rounded ends, i.e. "sausage-shaped".

Associated with the slots there are a number of pegs such as 6, each of which also has a "sausage-shaped" cross-section.

Each such peg is in two portions one of slightly smaller cross-section than the other, and the larger cross-section portion of a peg has a size such that it is a firm push-fit into a slot. That is, it can be fitted into a slot by hand, but is a sufficiently firm enough fit that it won't fall out of its slot. Thus the smaller end of a peg does not contact the walls of the slot into which it extends when the connector arrangement does not contribute any extra resistance to the connector mating force.

To set up a mating pair of connector elements pegs are inserted into the slots of the two strips in a pattern individual to that pair. Thus some of the pegs are in slots of one strip and some in slots of the other strip. As long as these patterns differ for all of the connectors in the same equipment, incorrect mating is prevented.

The patterns are such unsymmetrical to ensure that a given pair cannot be mated the wrong way round.

Each slot has a shallow undercut, formed by a chamfer, as indicated at 7, for the insertion of a fiat-ended tool such as a screw driver, to facilitate removal of a peg when this is necessary.

An important advantage of the abovedescribed polarising arrangement is that its provision does not cause any reduction in contact capacity as happens with many known arrangements.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. An electrical connector arrangement of the linear type in which the plug connector element and the socket connector element are each provided with a polarising strip on one side of the connector body, in which each said strip has a plurality of slots arranged along its length, said slots being so located that when the connector elements are mated the slots on the plug element strip are each aligned with a slot on the socket connector element strip, in which pegs are fitted into slots of said polarising strips, each said peg being a push-fit into its one of said slots, and in which the arrangement of the pegs, at least one of which is in the slots of said plug element's strip and at least one of which is in the slots of said connector element's strip, is such that only the correct mating can take place.

2. An arrangement as claimed in claim 1, in which each said peg has a crosssection which is rectangular but with rounded ends, and in which each said peg has the portion fitted into one of said slots of larger cross-section than the portion fitted into the other of the two slots which it interconnects when the elemens are mated.

3. An arrangement as claimed in claim 2, and in which each said slot is provided, on the outer face of the strip, with an undercut to permit the insertion of a fiat tool (e.g. a screwdriver) to remove the peg from its said slot.

4. An electrical connection arrangement, substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (4)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. into which it extends when the connector arrangement does not contribute any extra resistance to the connector mating force. To set up a mating pair of connector elements pegs are inserted into the slots of the two strips in a pattern individual to that pair. Thus some of the pegs are in slots of one strip and some in slots of the other strip. As long as these patterns differ for all of the connectors in the same equipment, incorrect mating is prevented. The patterns are such unsymmetrical to ensure that a given pair cannot be mated the wrong way round. Each slot has a shallow undercut, formed by a chamfer, as indicated at 7, for the insertion of a fiat-ended tool such as a screw driver, to facilitate removal of a peg when this is necessary. An important advantage of the abovedescribed polarising arrangement is that its provision does not cause any reduction in contact capacity as happens with many known arrangements. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. An electrical connector arrangement of the linear type in which the plug connector element and the socket connector element are each provided with a polarising strip on one side of the connector body, in which each said strip has a plurality of slots arranged along its length, said slots being so located that when the connector elements are mated the slots on the plug element strip are each aligned with a slot on the socket connector element strip, in which pegs are fitted into slots of said polarising strips, each said peg being a push-fit into its one of said slots, and in which the arrangement of the pegs, at least one of which is in the slots of said plug element's strip and at least one of which is in the slots of said connector element's strip, is such that only the correct mating can take place.

2. An arrangement as claimed in claim 1, in which each said peg has a crosssection which is rectangular but with rounded ends, and in which each said peg has the portion fitted into one of said slots of larger cross-section than the portion fitted into the other of the two slots which it interconnects when the elemens are mated.

3. An arrangement as claimed in claim 2, and in which each said slot is provided, on the outer face of the strip, with an undercut to permit the insertion of a fiat tool (e.g. a screwdriver) to remove the peg from its said slot.

4. An electrical connection arrangement, substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawing.