GB2249222A

GB2249222A - Electrical connector and insert therefor

Info

Publication number: GB2249222A
Application number: GB9117893A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Alan James Minnis
Original assignee: AMP Inc
Current assignee: TE Connectivity Corp
Priority date: 1990-08-20
Filing date: 1991-08-19
Publication date: 1992-04-29
Anticipated expiration: 2011-08-19
Also published as: GB9018265D0; GB2249222B; GB9117893D0

Abstract

An electrical connector (2') comprises an insulating housing (4') formed with a mouth (6') for receiving a multi-wire, electrical cable. The mouth (6') communicates with a row of passageways (10') for receiving the individual wires of the cable. A moulded plastic insert (32) is inserted into the mouth (6') and has a row of wire guiding mouths (47) each for guiding an individual wire into a respective passageway (10') as the cable is inserted into the mouth (6'). The cable has at least one wire less than the number of the passageways (10') and the insert (32) has at least one solid blanking-off portion for blanking off the, or each, unused passageway (10'). The wire guiding mouths (47) of the insert (32) are defined by at least one longitudinal opening having scalloped longitudinal edges. <IMAGE>

Description

ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY AND INSERT THEREFOR This invention relates to an electrical connector assembly comprising an electrical connector having an insulating housing formed with a mouth for receiving a multi-wire electrical cable and opening into a rear end of the housing and communicating internally thereof with a row of cable wire receiving passageways extending towards a front end of the housing in alignment with respective electrical terminals thereof. The invention also relates to a cable wire guiding and passageway blanking off insert for the assembly.

In anticipation of future requirements, such a connector is often provided with an excess number of wire receiving passageways and terminals, but present requirements may dictate that not all of these are to be used. The need therefore arises for means for ensuring that a cable which is undersized with respect to the insulating housing has only selected wires thereof inserted into respective predetermined passageways of the housing for connection with the terminals associated therewith, the remaining passageway or passageways being blanked off.

There is described in US-A-4,577,920, a one-piece metal cable guide member for guiding an undersized cable into a shielded plug housing which, although it has proved to be most efficacious in use, is of somewhat complex construction and must be assembled to the cable by the user before the cable is inserted into the cable receiving mouth of the connector housing. The present invention is intended to provide a cable guiding and wire receiving passageway blanking off means which can readily be moulded from a suitable insulating material and which can be assembled to the housing before the cable is inserted thereinto so that the housing can be supplied to a customer, ready for the insertion of the cable.

According to one aspect of the invention, an electrical connector assembly comprises an electrical connector having an insulating housing formed with a mouth for receiving a multi-wire electrical cable and opening into a rear end of said housing and communicating internally thereof with a row of cable receiving passageways of a given number, said row being of given length, the passageways extending towards a front end of the housing in alignment with respective electrical terminals of the housing; and a cable wire guiding and passageway blanking off, elongate insert defining at least one row of wire guiding mouths, the wire guiding mouths being of a number which is less than said given number, and the length of the insert being at least equal to said given length, the insert being dimensioned for introduction into the cable receiving mouth of the housing with each wire guiding mouth of the insert aligned with a respective one of the wire receiving passageways and the insert blankingoff the remaining passageway or passageways.

Such an insert can readily be moulded in one piece, from a synthetic plastics material and may be retained in position in the housing by means of a cantilever flap projecting into the cable receiving mouth from a metal shield extending about the housing.

The insert may have one or more longitudinal openings therethrough having scalloped longitundal edges defining the wire guiding mouths. In dependence upon the number of positions with which the connector is provided, the insert will have a single longitudinal opening for receiving the wires of a single cable, or a plurality of such openings for receiving the wires of a plurality of cables. The insert may be arranged to receive jumper wires for short circuiting selected pairs of the terminals.

According to another aspect of the invention, an elongate moulded insulating, wire guiding and passageway blanking-off insert for an electrical connector assembly according to said one aspect of the present invention, has a longitudinal opening therethrough which is offset towards one end of the insert, a portion of the insert towards the other end thereof being in the form of a solid block, the opening being formed with longitudinal edges defined arcuate, inwardly concave, wire guiding surfaces of equal length and radius and each pair of adjacent wire guiding surfaces defining a cusp projecting inwardly of the opening, the insert having a leading side and a trailing side and the wire guiding surfaces tapering from the trailing side towards the leading side.

The tapered form of the insert enables it to conform with the shape of a tapered transition portion of the cable guiding mouth of the housing, communicating with the passageways thereof.

According to a further aspect of the invention, an insert as defined above, has a plurality of longitudinal openings therethrough spaced from each other longitudinally of the insert and the insert being unapertured between these openings.

For a better understanding of the invention and to show how it may be carried into effect, reference will now be made by way of example to the accompanying drawings in which; Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a known multi-contact, shielded electrical connector; Figure 2 is an isometric view of the known connector terminated to a flat, shielded electrical cable which is undersized with respect to the connector and having assembled thereto a known, metal cable guide compensating for the undersize of the cable; Figure 2a is an isometric view of the known cable guide when assembled to the cable before its insertion into the connector; Figure 3 is an enlarged front view of a cable wire spacer and blanking-off insert according to a first embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 is an isometric view of the insert drawn to a smaller scale than Figure 3;; Figure 5 is a view taken on the lines 5-5 of Figure 3; Figure 6 is a diagrammatic longitudinal sectional view showing the insert in section taken on the lines 5-5 of Figure 3, when assembled to a shielded electrical connector; Figure 7 is another longitudinal sectional view showing the insert in section taken on the lines 7-7 of Figure 3, when assembled to the shielded electrical connector; Figure 8 is a similar view to that of Figure 6 but showing a multi-wire, flat shielded cable assembled to the shielded electrical connector; Figure 9 is a front view of a wire spacer and blanking-off insert according to a second embodiment of the invention; Figure 10 is a isometric view of the spacer of Figure 9; Figure 11 is an isometric view of an electrical harness illustrating an example of use of the insert of Figures 9 and 10; Figure 12 is an underplan view of Figure 11;; Figure 13 is a front view of a spacer and blanking off insert according to a third embodiment of the invention; Figure 14 is a side view of the insert of Figure 13; Figure 15 is a isometric view of the insert of Figures 13 and 14; Figure 16 is an enlarged isometric view of an electrical harness illustrating an example of use of the insert of Figures 13 to 15; and Figure 17 is an underplan view of Figure 16.

A known electrical connector assembly for receiving an undersized cable will now be described with reference to Figures 1 to 2a. As shown in Figure 1 a known electrical connector 2 according to US-A-4,577,920, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein, by reference, comprises an insulating housing 4, having a cable receiving mouth 6 opening into a rear end 8 of the housing 4 and communicating internally with a row of parallel passageways 10 (only one of which is shown) extending towards the front of the housing for receiving respective individual insulated wires W of a multiwire, flat shielded electrical cable C which is undersized with respect to the housing 4, and guiding the wires W into alignment with respective terminals 12 preloaded in the housing 4. The passageways 10 communicate with one another by way of transverse slots 11 in the housing 4. The mouth 6 has a forwardly tapered transition portion 13 communicating with the passageways 10. The lower, as seen in Figure 1, side of the housing 4 is formed with rearwardly positioned keyways 15.

A metal shield 14 is secured about the housing 4 to extend forwardly from the rear end 8 where it surrounds the mouth 6. The shield is formed with a resilient flap 16 bent back about a lip 18 to extend into the mouth 6 in cantilever fashion, and is partially received in a longitudinal recess 19 in the mouth 6. The flap 16 has a free end 17 facing towards the passageways 10. A cable guide member 20 stamped and formed from sheet metal comprises a cable supporting base 22 having cable wire locating flanges 24 and cable jacket locating flanges 26.

Before the cable C is inserted into the mouth 6, the cable jacket J is cut away to expose end portions of the wires W and the cable shield S is bent back to extend along the jacket J. The cable end portion so prepared is then loaded onto the guide member 20 as shown in Figure 2a. The guide member 20 is then inserted into the mouth 6 so that each wire W is guided into a respective passageway 10. The terminals 12 are then driven into the wires W and strain relief clamps 28 are depressed against the cable C to secure it in the mouth 6, strain relief clamps 30 being also depressed to secure the wires W in the passageways 10. The connector 2 is further described in US-A-4,457,575, the disclosure of which is also incorporated herein by reference.

An insert according to a first embodiment of the present invention, for compensating for the undersize of a cable C/ with respect to a connector 2 will now be described with reference to Figures 3 to 8. The connector 2/, which is shown diagrammatically only, in Figures 6 to 8 is identical with the connector 2, excepting that it is an eight position connector, that is to say it has eight wire receiving passageways, the cable C/ having only seven wires W/. In Figures 6 to 8, parts which are the same as those described above with reference to Figures 1 to 2a bear the same reference numerals or letters, as the case may be, but with the addition of a prime symbol.The terminals, the wire strain relief clamps described above, and some other details which are shown in Figure 1 are present in the connector 2/ but are not shown in Figures 6 to 8, which, as mentioned above, are only diagrammatic.

The disparity between the cable and connector sizes, is compensated for by means of a wire spacer and blanking off insert 32 in the form of simple plastics moulding, for example of polycarbonate. The insert 32, which is elongate and is of substantially rectangular shape, as seen in Figure 3, has a leading side 33 and a trailing side 35. A portion 34 of the insert 32, nearest to its leading side 33 is tapered theretowards, somewhat unsymetrically, in order to match the wall contour of the transisition portion 13/ of the mouth 6/. The insert 32 is formed with an elongate, longitudinal, through opening 36 which is offset towards one end 38 of the insert 32, the part of the insert 32 nearest to its other end 40, being in the form of a solid block 42.As best seen in Figures 3 to 5 the opening 36 is formed with scalloped longitudinal edges 44 defined by adjacent, inwardly concave wire guiding surfaces 46 of equal length and radius, each pair of adjacent surfaces 46 co-operating to define an inwardly projecting cusp 48. The surfaces 46 taper from the trailing side 35 towards the leading side 33, whereby the surfaces 46 of each pair of opposite surfaces 46 co-operate to define a mouth 47 for guiding an individual wire W/ through the opening 36, from the trailing side 35 of the insert 32. The opening 36 has longitudinally outwardly convex ends 50 and is symmetrical about its longitudinal axis.

Before the insertion of the cable C/ into the mouth 6/, the insert 32 is introduced into the mouth 6/ to extend longitundally thereof as will be apparent from Figures 6 and 7, so that the tapered portion 34 of the insert 32 is appropriately received in the tapered transistion portion 13/ of the mouth 6/. As the insert 32 is being introduced into the mouth 6/ a shoulder 50 proximate to the trailing end 35 of the insert 32 and being provided on its lower, as seen in Figure 6 face, resiliently depresses the flap 16/ of the shield 14/ into the recess 19/ in the mouth 6/ until the insert 32 has passed the free end 17/ of the flap 16/ whereafter the flap 16/ resiles, so that its free end 17/ prevents withdrawal of the insert 32 through the mouth 6, as will be apparent from Figures 6 and 7.In this home position of the insert 32, each wire guiding mouth 47 thereof is aligned with a respective one of seven of the eight passageways 10/ of the connector 2/ (Figure 6), whereas the block 42 of the insert 32 lies in alignment with the eight and extreme end passageway 10// of the housing 4/ as shown in Figure 7 thereby blanking off that passageway. The cable C/ is now inserted into the mouth 6/ (Figure 8) so that each of the seven wires W/ is guided by a respective guiding mouth 47 of the insert 32 into a respective one of said seven passageways 10/, the wires W/ and thus the cable C/ being restrained against lateral movement in the mouth 6/ by the ends 50 of the opening 36. Although the cable C/ depresses the flap 16/ as shown in Figure 8, the insert 32 is now held in place by the end of the unstripped part of the cable C/.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing, that the connector 2/ can be supplied to a customer with the insert 32 in place therein, so that all the customer need do I I is to insert the cable C/ into the mouth 6/. The insert 32/ could, of course, instead, be threaded onto the wires W/ before their insertion into the connector 2/.

The number of the wire guiding mouths 47/ may be less in number, by a covenient plurality (instead of one), than the wire receiving passageways, the block of the insert being dimensioned to blank off, all of the passageways which are not to be used.

According to the embodiment of Figures 9 and 10, the insert 32 is intended for use where the eighth wire receiving passageway in a sixteen position connector (Figures 11 and 12), instead of an eight position connector, is to be blanked off.

The insert 52 has two longitudinal openings 54 and 56 formed for guiding individual wires in the same way as the opening 36 in the insert 32, each opening 54 and 56 being for receiving the wires of a different cable. The insert 52 like the insert 32, is shaped for reception in the tapered transition portion of the mouth of the connector 211.

The opening 54 has seven wire guiding mouths, the opening 56 having eight wire guiding mouths. Between the openings 54 and 56, the insert 52 is unapperatured, thereby comprising a block 58 for blanking off said eighth passageway. As shown in Figures 11 and 12, an eight wire flat cable C8 is terminated to an eight position connector 2a, a seven wire flat cable C7 being terminated to a seven position connector 2b and both cables being terminated to the sixteen position connector 2", all of these connectors being of the same type as those described above.For their termination to the connector 2//, the wires of the cables C7 and C8 were inserted through the openings 54 and 56, respectively, of the insert 52 which had been preloaded into the II connector 2 An insert 60 shown in Figures 13 to 16, according to a third embodiment is intended for use where two pairs of terminals 121 of a sixteen position connector 2c (Figures 16 and 17), of the type described above, namely the pair of terminals at the tenth and thirteenth positions and the pair of terminals at the eleventh and twelfth positions are to be jumpered, and the ninth, and fourteenth to eighteenth position wire receiving passageways of the connector 2c are to be blanked-off.To these ends, the insert 60 has two longitudinal openings 62 and 64, respectively, formed for guiding individual wires in the same way as the openings 36, 54 and 56 described above, the opening 62 defining four wire guiding mouths 66 and the opening 64 defining eight wire guiding mouths 68. Between the opening 62 and its adjacent end, the insert 60 is unapertured and thus provides a block 70 for blanking off said fourteenth to eighteenth wire receiving passageways, the insert 60 also being unapertured between the openings 62 and 64 to provide a block 72 for blanking off said ninth wire receiving passageway. As best seen in Figure 14, the insert 60, like the inserts 32 and 52, is shaped for reception in the tapered transition portion of the connector 2c.

As shown in Figures 16 and 17, an eight wire flat cable C8/ is terminated to eight position connector 2d of the type described above, and to the connector 2c.

For terminating the cable to the connector 2c, the wires thereof were inserted through the opening 64 of the insert 60 which had been preloaded into the connector 2c. The blocks 70 and 72 blanking off the wire receiving passages at the fourteenth to eighteenth positions, and the ninth position, respectively.Before the insert 60 was so preloaded jumper wires J1 and J2 of the same gauge as the wires of the cable C81 were looped through the opening 62 from the trailing side 74 of the insert 60 to project from its leading side 76 to extend into the wire receiving passageways at said tenth to thirteenth positions, for termination by means of the terminals 12/ associated therewith, the jumper wire J1 extending through the two outer wire receiving mouths of the opening 62 to short circuit the terminals 12/ at said tenth and thirteenth positions, and the jumper wire J2 extending through the two inner ones of those mouths to short circuit the terminals at said eleventh and twelfth positiorb ,the wire J1 being looped about the wire J2 on the trailing side of the insert 60 and both wires projecting therefrom.

In the electrical harness shown in Figures 11 and 12, the connector 2" is intended to be mated with a jack connector (not shown) on a printed circuit board of an electronic apparatus, for example an audio system in an automotive vehicle.

The harness shown in Figures 16 and 17 is used where at least one item of the system is not provided in the model concerned, so that the appropriate lines need to be shorted out.

Claims

1. An electrical connector assembly comprising an electrical connector having an insulating housing formed with a mouth for receiving a multi-wire electrical cable and opening into a rear end of said housing and communicating internally thereof with a row of cable wire receiving passageways of a given number, said row being of given length, the passageways extending towards a front end of the housing in alignment with respective electrical terminals of the housing; and a cable wire guiding and passageway blanking off, elongate insert defining at least one row of wire guiding mouths, the wire guiding mouths being of a number which is less than said given number, and the length of the insert being at least equal to said given length, the insert being dimensioned for introduction into the cable receiving mouth of the housing with each wire guiding mouth of the insert aligned with a respective one of the wire receiving passageways and said insert blanking-off the remaining passageway or passageways.

2. As assembly as claimed in Claim 1, wherein a metal shield extending about said housing has a cantilever flap protruding obliquely into the cable receiving mouth of the housing and said insert is dimensioned resiliently to depress the flap during the introduction of the insert into the cable receiving mouth of the housing, and so that upon the insert reaching a home position in the cable receiving mouth, the flap resiles thereby to restrain withdrawal of the insert from the wire receiving mouth.

3. An assembly as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein the insert has a longitudinal opening therethrough having scalloped longitudinal edges defining said wire guiding mouths, said opening being offset towards one end of the insert.

4. An assembly as claimed Claim 1 or 2, wherein the insert has at least one longitudinal through opening, opposed longitudinal edges of which define adjacent, arcuate, inwardly concave, pairs of opposed wire guiding surfaces of equal length and radius and tapering towards a leading end of the insert.

5. An assembly as claimed in Claim 4, wherein the, or each, through opening has longitudinally outwardly convex ends.

6. An assembly as claimed in Claim 4 or 5, wherein the insert has two of said longitudinal openings spaced from each other longitudinally of the insert and each defining different number of wire guiding mouths.

7. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 or 2, whereinthe insert has a plurality of longitudinal openings spaced from each other longitudinally of the insert and each defining a plurality of said wire guiding mouths, the assembly further comprising at least one jumper wire, the, or each, jumper wire being looped through a pair of the wire guiding mouths and extending into the wire receiving passageways aligned therewith into alighment with the terminals associated with those passageways.

8. An elongate, moulded, insulating, wire guiding and passageway blanking-off insert for an assembly as claimed in Claim 1, the insert having a longitudinal opening therethrough which is offset towards one end of the insert, a portion of the insert towards the other end thereof being in the form of a block, the opening being formed with longitudinal edges defined by arcuate, inwardly concave, wire guiding surfaces of equal length and radius and each pair of adjacent wire guiding surfaces defining a cusp projecting inwardly of the opening, the insert having a leading side and a trailing side and the wire guiding surfaces tapering from the trailing side towards the leading side.

9. An elongate, moulded, insulating, wire guiding and passageway blanking off insert for an assembly as claimed in Claim 1, the insert having a plurality of longitudinal openings therethrough spaced from each other lengthwise of the insert and the insert being in the form of a block between the long inal openings, each opening being formed with longitudinal edges defined by arcuate, inwardly concave, wire guiding surfaces of equal length and radius and each pair of adjacent wire guiding surfaces defining a cusp projecting inwardly of the opening, the insert having a leading side and a trailing side and the wire guiding surfaces tapering from the trailing side towards the leading side.

10. An insert as claimed in Claim 8 or 9, which is externally tapered in the direction of said leading side.

11. An electrical connector assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 3-10 of the accompanying drawings.

12. An elongate, moulded, insulating, wire guiding and passageway blanking off insert, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 3 to 8 of the accompanying drawings.

13. An elongate, moulded, insulating, wire guiding and passageway blanking off insert, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 9 and 10 of the accompanying drawings.

14. An electrical harness incorporating an electrical connector assembly as claimed in Claim 1, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 9 to 12 or Figures 13 to 17 of the accompanying drawings.