GB1584910A

GB1584910A - Electrical connector housing and electrical connector

Info

Publication number: GB1584910A
Application number: GB38238/79A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: AMP Inc
Current assignee: TE Connectivity Corp
Priority date: 1977-05-06
Filing date: 1978-04-12
Publication date: 1981-02-18
Also published as: SE428982B; JPS53139195A; NL184930B; DE2819868A1; FR2390030A1; NL7803772A; SE7805193L; IT7822706A0; JPS6311749B2; DE2819868C2; CA1082325A; NL184930C; FR2390030B1; SE8201580L; IT1094534B; GB1584909A

Description

PATENT SPECIFICATION

( 21) Application No 38238/79 ( 62) Divided out of No 1 584 909 ( 22) File( ( 31) Convention Application Nos 794 429 859 067 ( 33) United States of America (US) ( 44) Complete Specification published 18 Fel ( 51) INT CL A HOIR 4/24 ( 52) Index at acceptance H 2 E 111 DCJ ( 72) Inventor CHARLES HARRY WEIDLI ( 11) 112 April 1978 ( 19) ( 32) Filed 6 May 1977 9 Dec 1977 in O ) 1981 ( 54) ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR HOUSING AND ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ( 71) We, AMP INCORPORATED, a corporation organised and existing under the laws of the State of New Jersey, United States of America, of Eisenhower Boulevard, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States of America, 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 an electrical connector housing and to an electrical connector.

According to one aspect of the invention, an electrical connector housing which is intended to receive electrical terminals and portions of electrical wires which extend from the terminals, comprises: an insulating body having a mating face, a wire receiving face, external side walls, and external end walls, the side walls and end walls extending between the mating face and the wire receiving face; a plurality of juxtaposed cavities extending through the housing from the mating face to the wire receiving face, each of the cavities having a pair of opposed internal end walls which are parallel to the external end walls and a pair of opposed internal side walls which are parallel to the external side walls, the internal end walls each having a pair of juxtaposed channels therein extending towards the mating face, at least one of the external side walls having a plurality of wire receiving openings therein, each of these openings communicating with one of the cavities and extending from the mating face partially along the or each external side wall, each of the openings having a resilient constriction which permits movement of a wire laterally of its axis past the constriction and which restrains movement of the wire from the opening whereby:

each of the cavities is adapted to receive a terminal through the wire receiving face, which terminal has spaced apart planar portions, the channels being adapted to receive the spaced apart planar portions.

According to another aspect of the invention, an electrical connector comprises an insulating housing having a mating face and a wire receiving face, oppositely directed side walls and oppositely directed end walls extending between such faces, a plurality of juxtaposed, terminal receiving, elongate cavities extending through the housing from its wire receiving face to its mating face, each of the cavities having a wire receiving portion which is adjacent to the wire receiving face of the housing, an electrical terminal in each of the cavities, each terminal having a wire receiving portion which is proximate to the wire receiving face and a contact portion which is proximate to the mating face, each of the wire receiving portions of the terminals comprising a pair of spaced plate members having corresponding ends connected by spaced strap members, the plate members each having a wire receiving slot therein, so that a wire can be moved laterally of its axis, between the strap members, and into the slots, the wire receiving portion of each terminal being oriented so that the plate members extend substantially longitudinally of their respective cavities, the internal surfaces of the end walls having juxtaposed channels receiving edge portions of the plate members, at least one of the external side walls having a plurality of wire receiving openings therein, each of these openings communicating with one of the cavities and extending from the mating face partially along the or each side wall, each of the openings having a resilient constriction to permit movement of a wire laterally of its axis past the constriction and into the slot of the terminal in the cavity and to restrain movement of the wire from the opening.

For a better understanding of the invention reference will now be made by way of example to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing an insulating panel having electrical terminal posts thereon and a first form of electrical e:

1 584 910 1,584,910 connector in alignment with the posts; Figure 2 is a fragmentary, exploded perspective view of the connector; Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the connector; Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing the connector mated with a terminal post; Figure 5 is a plan view of a portion of a wire-receiving face of the connector housing; Figure 6 is a plan view of a portion of a mating face of the housing with parts removed to show features within a cavity of the housing; Figure 7 is a sectional side view of a second form of electrical connector; Figure 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of a section of carrier tape having connectors according to the first form mounted thereon; Figure 9 is a perspective view of an electrical terminal which may be inserted into a cavity of the housing as shown in Figures 1 to 8; Figure 10 is a plan view of the terminal of Figure 9; Figure 10 A is an end view of Figure 10; Figure 11 is a sectional side view of a housing of a connector according to Figures 1 to 8 having a terminal according to Figure 9 contained in a cavity of the housing; Figure 12 is a top plan view of the housing of Figure 11 showing a terminal according to Figures 1 to 4, contained in another cavity of the housing; and Figure 13 is a perspective view showing a cover on a modified form of the connector of Figures 1 to 6.

Figure 1 shows an electrical connector 2 for disengagably connecting individual insulated wires 4 to spaced electrical terminal posts 6 upstanding from an insulating panel 8 which is of a kind known in the art as a "panel board" The posts 6 extend through a header 10 resting on the surface of the panel 8 The posts 6 may be soldered to conductors (not shown) on the underside of the panel 8 or may be connected to other conductors (not shown) by point-to-point wiring (not shown), for example.

Reference will now also be made to Figures 2 to 6 The connector 2 comprises an insulating housing 12 containing a plurality of electrical terminals 14 The housing 12 is advantageously of nylon or of another insulating material from which'the housing can be formed by injection moulding The housing 12 has a wire receiving face 16, an oppositely directed mating face 18, side walls 20 and 22, and end walls 24 and 26 A plurality of juxtaposed cavities 28 extend through the housing 12 from the wire receiving face 16 to the mating face 18 and each cavity 28 has a wire receiving portion 30, a transition portion 32, and a receptacle or post receiving portion 34 which is proximate to the mating face 18.

The portion 30 is somewhat enlarged relative to the receptacle portion 34 and has first opposed internal end walls 38 and 381 70 (Figure 5) which extend transversely of the side walls 20 and 22 Since the end walls 38 and 381 are in rotational symmetry with each other only one of these end walls will be described herein Internal side walls 40 75 and 42 of the portion 30 are proximate and parallel to the side walls 20 and 22, respectively, and are dissimilar from each other.

The end wall 38 is generally flat but has a central rib 44 extending from the lower part 80 of the portion 34 of the cavity 28 towards the face 16 The rib 44 tapers towards the face 16 at its upper end 46, as seen in Figures 2, 3 and 4 and has a shoulder 48 which is parallel to the face 16 and is spaced there 85 from inwardly of the housing 12 As explained below, the shoulder 48 and sides 47 of the rib 44 serve to support and to locate, a terminal 14 in the housing 12 during insertion of a wire 4 into the terminal 90 12 The lower portion 50 of the rib 44 is relatively wider than its upper portion and merges at a shoulder 52 with, and is coplanar with, one end wall 57 of the portion 34 of the cavity 28 A channel 43 is defined 95 above the shoulder 52 by one side 47 of the rib 44 and the side wall 42, as shown in Figure 2.

A further channel 54 is provided in each end wall 38 and 381 beside the lower portion 100 of the rib 44 adjacent to a side wall 56 of the portion 34, the channel 54 extending up to the base wall 74 of the cavity 28.

Opposite to the side wall 56 is a side wall 58 of the portion 34 defining an angular 105 section recess (Figures 5 and 6) The side walls 56 and 58 of the portion 34 merge at the transition portion 32 with the side walls and 42 of the portion 30.

The portion 32 is defined by a flat surface 110 facing towards the mouth of the portion adjacent to the side wall 40 and a ramp surface 62 which extends to the side wall 56.

A shoulder 64 and ramp 66 are also provided on the side wall 42, the ramp 66 115 merging with the side wall 42 as shown in Figure 3 An opening 72 is provided in the side wall 22 for receiving a wire 4 to be connected to the terminal 14 as described below, the base wall 71 of the opening 72 120 being coplanar with the shoulder 60.

External ribs 76 on the side wall 22 have at their upper ends, barbs 78 with trailing edges 82 providing a form of one way gate to permit a wire 4 to be depressed into a 125 terminal 14 in the associated cavity 28 but to prevent return movement of the wire The barbs 78 also provide strain relief for the wire when it is attempted to pull it away from the terminal 14 130 1,584,910 An elongate opening 68 in the side wall 20, communicating with the portion 34 of the cavity 28 receives a retention lance 106 of the terminal 14 to restrain withdrawal of the terminal from the cavity 28 after it has been inserted thereinto As shown, the openings 68 extend lengthwise of the ribs 44 and are positioned nearer to the mating face 18 than to the wire receiving face 16 A square opening 36 for receiving a post 6 extends through the mating face 18 and the base wall 74 of the cavity 28.

Each terminal 14 comprises an elongate strip of sheet metal which has been folded about its longitudinal centre to form an elongate loop, to provide spaced opposed contact arms 100 and 102 constituting a post receptacle portion of the terminal and the two spaced, opposed plate members 88 and 90 constituting a wire receiving portion 84 of the terminal, and being connected by a bight formed by spaced juxtaposed strap members 92 between which the wire is depressed when connecting it to the terminal.

Each plate member 88 and 90 has a wire receiving slot 94 outer ends of the walls of each slot 94 merging with transition ramps 96 extending laterally and obliquely to the strap members 92 so that a mouth is provided in the upper end of the terminal 14 for guiding the wire between the ramps 96 and thus into the slots 94 U-shaped bosses 98 are provided on the members 88 and 90 to reinforce and stiffen them, since the terminal is produced in practice from thin metal stock.

The contact arm 100 extending from the plate member 88 has the lance 106, mentioned above, stamped out therefrom for -40 co-operation with the opening 68 The arm has a free end surface 114 The plate member 90 normally extends slightly obliquely with respect to the plane of plate member 88, the contact arm 102, which is movable, depending from the plate member and being of reduced width to provide downwardly facing, as seen in Figure 2, shoulders 104.

The arm 102 has been bent at 108, so that an elongate contact spring 109 of the arm 102 converges towards the arm 100 The free end portion 110 of the spring 109 diverges from the arm 100 and has a blunt point 112 for reception in the complementary angled recess of the side wall 58, when the terminal is being inserted into the housing and also when it has been mated with a post 6, as shown in Figure 4.

In the terminal 14 shown in Figure 2 the arm 102 is in its normal or relaxed position relative to the arm 100 When the terminal is 'to be inserted into the housing 12 with the aid of guiding chamfers 80 on the walls 38 and 381, the arm 102 is initially flexed towards the arms 100 and the terminal is then depressed from the position of Figure 2 into its fully inserted position as shown in Figure 3 The lateral edge portions of the arm 100 are received in the channels 54 ' and the end portion 110 of the arm 102 being 70 guided between the ramp surfaces 66 along the side walls 42 and into the angular recess of the side wall 58 during the insertion of the terminal When the terminal has been fully inserted into its cavity 28, the arm 102 75 is pre-stressed and held against the arm 100, by virtue of the engagement of the bent portion (at 108) of the arm 102 against the side wall 58.

The insertion of the terminal into the 80 cavity is limited by the engagement of the internal surfaces of the strap members 92 against the shoulders 48 on the upper ends of the ribs 44 the sides 47 of which serve laterally to locate the terminal The lance 85 106 which is flexed inwardly during the insertion of the terminal 14, finally snaps into the opening 68 to restrain withdrawal of the terminal from the cavity 28 In the fully inserted position of the terminal 14, 90 the channels 43 and 54 in the end walls 38 and 381 receive lateral edge portions of the terminal.

As shown in Figure 3, the free end surface 114 of the arm 100 is spaced from the base 95 wall 74 of the cavity 28 when the terminal is in its fully inserted position The terminal 14 and the cavity 28 are relatively dimensioned so that this is achieved, i e so that the surface 114 does not bear against the 100 wall 74 The relative dimensioning of the terminal and the housing is also such that the shoulders 104 of the terminal 14 lie slightly above the shoulders 52, of the housing 12 when the terminal has been fully 105 inserted there into and so that the shoulders 48 of the ribs 44 touch the under surfaces of the strap members 92.

In use, the wires 4 are connected to the terminals 14 by locating each wire in align 110 ment with the opening 97 between the strap members 92 of one of the terminals 14 then depressing the wire, guided by the ramps 96, until it has been fully inserted into the slots 94 of the terminal The movement of 115 the wire into the terminal imposes a substantial load on the terminal which gives rise to high stresses in the terminal Since the terminal is made of thin metal stock, for example, metal stock having a thickness 120 of about 0 3048 mm, such stresses can damage the terminal unless they are effectively controlled and the loading of the terminal which takes place during wire insertion can damage the receptacle portion 125 of the terminal if these stresses are transmitted to the receptacle portion However, in the connector under discussion, the downwardly directed forces imposed upon the terminal as the wire is moved into the slots 130 1,584,910 94 produce only isolated stresses in the wire receiving portion of the terminal, these stresses being totally contained between the strap members 92 and the portions of the plate members 88 and 90 which lie between the wire and the strap members 92 During its insertion, a wire will impose a downwardly directed force on each of the plate members 88 and 90 but since the shoulders 48 support the strap members 92, the downwardly directed forces imposed by the insertion of the wire will be counteracted by the upwardly directed reaction forces developed in the strap members 92 so that only the upper portion of the terminal is loaded The receptacle portion of the terminal will therefore be unaffected by the high stresses developed in the upper portion of the terminal.

It will be apparent from the above discussion that the wire receiving portion is subjected to tensile rather than compressive stress.

The wire insertion stresses which are imposed upon the wire receiving portion of the terminal during movement of the wire into the slots 94 are not related to the stresses which serve to establish electrical contact between the electrically conductive core of the wire and the opposed edges of the slots 94 when these edges have penetrated the insulation of the wire When the wire is positioned in the slots 94, it flexes portions of the plate members 88 and 90 on opposite sides of the slots 94 outwardly, because the wire is oversized relative to the width of the slots 94 and it is these stresses upon the plate members 88 and 90 which establish, and maintain, electrical contact These stresses remain in the terminal after the wire has come to rest in the slots and they must be maintained in order to turn, to maintain electrical contact between the wire and the terminal Although the wire insertion stresses are developed only during the insertion of the wire and are relieved after the wire has come to rest, such stresses albeit that they are only temporary can nevertheless damage the terminal and it is to avoid such damage that the shoulders 48 are provided.

As explained above, the end surface 114 of the arm 100 is spaced from the base wall 74 of the cavity 28 and the shoulders 104 are spaced from the shoulders 52 The shoulders 48 will therefore bear all the wire insertion forces.

If, however, the end surfaces 114 of the arm 100 were to bear against the surface 74 (which it does not), the straps 92 would be spaced from the shoulders 48 and the arm would be leaded as a column as a result of the wire insertion forces and might therefore buckle under the action of the wire insertion forces.

After their insertion, the wires extend laterally through the openings 72 and bear against the trailing edges 82 of the barbs 78, so that the wires are retained in the openings 72.

The connector can be made in miniature 70 size, the lateral dimensions of the housing, particularly of the wire receiving portion thereof being advantageously small These advantages are achieved because each terminal 14 is formed as an elongate simple 75 loop, the overall dimensions of the wire receiving portion of the terminal being little greater than those of the receptacle portion as will be apparent from Figures 2, 3 and 4.

The terminal, by virtue of its simple loop 80 shape, can be hung from the shoulders 48 to protect it against the action of the wire insertion force as described above.

It will be apparent from Figures 3 and 4 that the contact arm 102, which acts as a 85 movable contact spring, has a long lever length in relation to the overall length of the terminal, that is to say the distance between the straps 92 and the free ends of the arms 100 and 102 This feature is highly 90 desirable because the contact force developed between the arm 102 and the inserted post 6 can be accurately controlled by appropriately choosing the metal stock thickness, the metal temper and the extent to which 95 the arm 102 is preloaded.

The connector is economical to manufacture by virtue of the simple form of the terminal 14 and the simple means by which it is suspended from in the cavity 28 100 Whereas in the connector described above, with reference to Figures 1 to 6, the ends of the wires 4 bear against, or lie adjacent to, the internal side wall 40 as shown in Figure 1, the connector of Figure 7 is 105 intended for installation on intermediate portions of wires 4 This second form of connector is generally similar to the first excepting that an opening 1141 is provided for each terminal cavity, in the side wall 110 a (corresponding to the wall 20) and barbed strain relief means 116 similar to the barbs 78 are provided between adjacent cavities Stiffening ribs 118 on which the means 116 are formed are also provided on 115 the wall 20 a A connector in accordance with Figure 7 can be used, for example, where it is desired to connect wires to two or more groups of terminal posts to extend in both directions to further circuitry (not 120 shown).

As shown in Figure 8, a plurality of connectors 2 in accordance with Figures 1 to 6 can be mounted in spaced relationship on a continuous carrier tape 120 Each is bonded 125 or otherwise secured to the tape 120 with the tape extending along a recessed portion of the side wall 20 A strip of connections, so formed, can conveniently be stored and shipped to an ultimate user The connectors 130 1,584,910 2 can then be applied to wires by means of a wire insertion machine (not shown) provided with means for feeding the tape to a wire insertion station to locate the leading connector on the tape in alignment with wire trimming and inserting means at the insertion station Such a machine is described in United States Patent Specification No 4,043,034 Connectors according to Figure 7 could be similarly mounted on tape.

Reference will now be made to Figures 9 to 12 Terminals 122 for crimping to insulated wires 144 can advantageously be produced in the form of a continuous strip comprising a carrier strip 124 from which the terminals 122 (only one is shown) extend at intervals.

Each terminal 122 comprises a generally Ushaped crimping ferrule 126 which is connected to the carrier strip 124 by a neck 128 with the crimping ferrule 126 extending transversely of the length of the carrier strip 124 An L-shaped web 130 extending from the base of the ferrule 126 connects the latter to a post receptacle portion of the terminal 122, which lies alongside the carrier strip 124 The receptacle portion comprises contact arms 138 and 140 which are similar to the respective contact arms 100 and 102 of the terminal 14 The arm 138 has a stamped out locking lance 142 Planar rear end plate portions 132 and 134 of the arms 138 and which are arranged in substantially parallel relationship, have stabilizing projections 136 which extend below (as seen in Figure 9) the web 130 to an extent shown in Figure la The portions 132 and 134 are of substantially the same width as the plate members 88 and 90 of the terminal 14, so that the terminal is receivable in a cavity 28 of the housing 12 as shown in Figure 12, to meet certain conditions outlined below.

In use, the ferrule 126 is crimped at 126 ' to the stripped end portion of a wire 144 by means of a crimping machine (not shown) which also severs the terminal from the carrier strip 124 The terminal and wire are thereafter inserted into the cavity 28 until the lance 142 of the terminal, snaps into the opening 68 of the housing The insertion of the terminal 122 into its housing is limited by the abutment of the free end of the arm 138 against the base wall of the cavity As shown in Figures 11 and 12, the crimped connection 126 ' is accommodated in the wire receiving portion 30 of the cavity 28, lateral edges and the projections 136 of the portions 132 and 134 being received in the channels 43 and grooves 54 respectively, of the cavity 28, the arm 140 being pre-stressed by engagement with the wall 58, in a similar manner to the arm 102 of the terminal 14.

The circumstances under which it may be desirable to insert one or more terminals 122 in a housing 12, as well as terminals 14, are for example, where one or more of the wires are of too large a gauge for use with the terminals 14 or where it is desirable to provide a common ground connection for shielded wires to be connected to the con 70 nector Such a ground connection may be made by separating the shielding from the conductors of the shielded wires and crimping a terminal 122 onto the shielding separated from several individual shielded wires 75 The conductors of the shielded wires are then connected to the terminals 14 of the connector, the terminal 122, to which the shielding has been connected, being inserted into the cavity 28 of the housing, which is 80 not occupied by a terminal 14.

As shown in Figure 13 a cover 146 of synthetic plastics material may be provided on the housing in order to inhibit the ingress of dirt or moisture into the cavities 28 of 85 the housing and to provide further strain relief for the wires extending from the terminals in the housing The cover 146 comprises a generally flat plate 147 having depending side walls 148 and 150 with 90 hooked margins 152 and 154 The cover 146 is so dimensioned such that the hooked margins 152 and 154 can be snapped over appropriate counter abutments 156 on the housing The cover might be arranged, for 95 example, to snap over the barbs 82 (best seen in Figure 2).

The electrical connectors described above are also described and are claimed in our corresponding Patent Application No 100 14245/78 (Serial No 1,584,909).

Claims

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: -

1 An electrical connector housing which is intended to receive electrical terminals 105 and portions of electrical wires which extend from the terminals, the housing comprising:

an insulating body having a mating face, a wire receiving face, external side walls, and external end walls, the side walls and end 110 walls extending between the mating face and the wire receiving face; a plurality of juxtaposed cavities extending through the housing from the mating face to the wire receiving face, each of the cavities having a pair of 115 opposed internal end walls which are parallel to the external end walls and a pair of opposed internal side walls which are parallel to the external side walls, the internal end walls each having a pair of 120 juxtaposed channels therein extending towards the mating face; at least one of the external side walls having a plurality of wire receiving openings therein, each of these openings communicating with one of the 125 cavities and extending from the mating face partially along the or each external side wall, each of the openings having a resilient constriction which permits movement of a wire laterally of its axis past the constriction 130 6 1,584,910 and which restrains movement of the wire from the opening whereby each of the cavities is adapted to receive a terminal through the wire receiving face, which terminal has spaced apart planar portions, the channels being adapted to receive the spaced apart planar portions.

2 A housing according to Claim 1, in which both the external side walls are provided with the said wire receiving openings, such openings of one external side wall being aligned with those of the other external side wall, the resilient constriction of each opening being defined by a pair of barbs having trailing edges which are directed away from the wire receiving face of the housing, to permit a wire to be depressed into the opening but restrain return movement of the wire.

3 A housing according to Claim 1 or 2, in which the resilient constrictions are formed on ribs on the, or each, external side wall, each rib extending from the wire receiving face towards the mating face.

4 A housing according to Claim 1, 2 or 3, in which one of the external side walls is provided with elongate openings each communicating with one of the cavities and extending lengthwise of the channels, these 3 P openings being positioned nearer to the mating face than to the wire receiving face.

An electrical connector comprising an insulating housing having a mating face and a wire receiving face, oppositely directed side walls and oppositely directed end walls extending between such faces, a plurality of juxtaposed, terminal receiving, elongate cavities extending through the housing from its wire receiving face to its mating face, each of the cavities having a wire receiving portion which is adjacent to the wire receiving face of the housing, an electrical terminal in each of the cavities, each terminal having a wire receiving portion which is proximate to the wire receiving face and a contact portion which is proximate to the mating face, each of the wire receiving portions of the terminals comprising a pair of spaced plate members having corresponding ends connected by spaced strap members, the plate members each having a wire receiving slot therein, so that a wire can be moved laterally of its axis, between the strap members, and into the slots, the wire receiving portion of each terminal being oriented so that the plate members extend substantially longitudinally of their respective cavities, the internal surfaces of the end walls having juxtaposed channels therein receiving edge portions of the plate members, at least one of the side walls having a plurality of wire receiving openings therein, each of these openings communicating with one of the cavities and extending from the mating face partially along the, or each, side wall, each of the openings having a resilient constriction to permit movement of a wire laterally of its axis past the constriction and into the slot of the terminal in the cavity and to restrain movement of the wire from the opening.

6 A connector according to Claim 5, in which the movement of each terminal towards the mating face is limited by the abutment of a portion of the terminal against an internal surface of the housing, the movement of the terminals towards the wire receiving face being limited by the engagement of locking lances on the terminals, in elongate openings provided in one of the side walls and each communicating with one of the cavities, the elongate openings being positioned nearer to the mating face than to the wire receiving face.

7 A connector according to Claim 5 or 6, in which there extends from one of the plate members, towards the wire receiving face, a movable spring contact member of smaller width than the plate member, the spring contact member abutting an internal wall surface of the cavity so that the spring contact member is pre-stressed therein.

8 An electrical connector housing substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 6, or as modified in accordance with Figures 7 or 8, or Figure 13 of the accompanying drawings.

T G TERRELL.

Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office by Burgess & Son (Abingdon), Ltd -1981 Published at The Patent Office, 25 Southampton Buildings, London, WC 2 A I AY.

from which copies may be obtained.

1,584,910