GB2278507A

GB2278507A - Securing electrical connectors together

Info

Publication number: GB2278507A
Application number: GB9322282A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter Roche
Original assignee: Lear Automotive EEDS Spain SL
Current assignee: Lear Automotive EEDS Spain SL
Priority date: 1993-05-25
Filing date: 1993-10-29
Publication date: 1994-11-30
Anticipated expiration: 2013-10-29
Also published as: BE1008165A5; NL9400860A; ES1024776Y; FR2705837B3; GB2278507B; SE9302800D0; ES1024776U; SE508056C2; GB9322282D0; FR2705837A3; DE9311533U1; SE9302800L

Abstract

An electrical coupling includes a male connector (16) insertable into a female connector (not shown). The male connector (16) includes a lever (11) for urging the male connector (16) into the female connector. The lever is movable around a pivot (17) and has an end (15) which, in use, abuts a protrusion (22) on the female member (20) which acts as a fulcrum. A latch (12b) may secure the lever once connection is established. The lever is in the form of a stirrup (11) which may include a release element for the latch (12b) located near the bight of the stirrup (11). <IMAGE>

Description

AN ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR The present invention relates to electrical connectors.

There exists on the market and, therefore, can be considered as state of the art, a series of models whose function is that of providing for electrical connections en bloc, by means of the union of a male and a female element in which a number of conductors have been gathered together, with the intention of simultaneously effecting their electrical continuity or discontinuity, that is to say, that on joining or separating the said male and female elements, the contact or non-contact of the said electrical conductors is produced in a simultaneous manner.

The manner of achieving the simultaneous connection of the said male and female elements is effected in various ways, among them there exists a type of connector-holder that is called "lever connector-holder", which bases its function by the application of pressure by means of one or more fulcrums located in the female element and a lever located on the male element, or vice versa, effecting the simultaneous connection of the conductors included within the above mentioned pieces.

The greater or lesser suitability and technical efficiency, from the electro-mechanical point of view, in this type of connector-holder is based on the power that must be applied to either the male or the female elements, in the characteristics and the number of fulcrums or fulcrum surfaces located in the said elements, and in the degree of connection that is achieved between them both from the electrical point of view, as well as on the physical space that is occupied by the said elements, lever and fulcrum, from the point of view of the space that they occupy.

Accordingly the present invention provides an electrical connector including a male element provided with a first set of one or more electrical contacts, the male element being insertable into a female element provided with a corresponding second set of one or more electrical contacts, and a lever for urging the male element into the female element, the lever being movable around a pivot located on the male element and having an id portion which in use abuts a protrusion on the female member which acts as a fulcrum.

Other preferred features of the present invention as set out in the appended claims.

The present invention aims to improve the electrical connection between the conductors or terminals located in the male and female pieces, as well as the parallelism between the said pieces and also including the power that must be exerted on the lever in order that the contact between the said pieces is perfectly established and the space that they must occupy in relation to other assemblies, onto which they are mounted.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an electrical connector with the male part and lever separated.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an electrical connector with the male part and lever engaged.

Fig. 3 is a side view of a complete connector.

These details are given by way of example, making reference to a possible case of embodiment, but are not limited to the details that are therein expounded; this description must therefore be considered from an illustrative point of view and without limitations of whatsoever kind.

We will proceed to list the different elements numbered in the diagrams attached to the present specification: (10) connector-holder, (11) lever, (lea) wings, (lib) junction area, (12) side lugs, (12a) arm, (12b) arm, (13) ribs, (14) bore, (15) cavity, (16) box, (17) stub, (18) guide ledge, (19) partition, (20) container-connector element, (21) slots, (22) tabs, (22a) upper part, (22b) lower part, (23) hollow.

Figure no. 1 is a perspective in which we can see the lever (11) separated from the box (16), on which it oscillates by means of the stubs (17) and bores (14).

Figure no. 2 is a lateral perspective in which we can see the box (16) to which the lever (11) has been attached, the wings (lea) having been located in relation to the said box by means of the stubs (17).

Figure no. 3 is a side elevation of the connector-holder (10) with all its main elements mounted inside the other main elements, that is to say, the box (16) inside the container element (20) and the lever (11) immobilizing (16) inside of (20), through cavity (15) with the tabs (22), the container element (20) being strongly retained by means of the arms (12a) and (12b) that are hooked under one of he said tabs (22).

In one of the preferred embodiments of that which is the object of the present application, such as can be seen in figure 3, the connector-holder (10) consists of three main elements, a container, or properly speaking, connector element (20), with a slightly prismatic configura ion without its upper base, and one of the sides of which is occupied by both tabs (22), as well as in the proximity of its extreme vertices, by vertical positioning slots (21).

Insider the container element (20) and as the second main element, a box (16) is included, whose shape is slightly prismatic, without its upper base and with its internal space divided by a partition (19) . In order to guide the entrance of the box (16) into the container element (20), vertical guide ledges (18) in the proximity of the corners of the said container element (20), have been affixed to the sides of said box (16), and in order to mount the corresponding lever (12) and allow it to rotate, stubs or semi-axels (17) have been provided for, perpendicular to the sides.

In order to facilitate the entry of the electrical conductors into the inside of the box (16), a hollow-shaped overhang (23) has been located at one of the edges of the non existent upper base, the object of which is to guide, as mentioned above, the entering electrical conductors without sulking in an obstruction of the upper plane of the box (16), for this the lower plane of the said hollow (23), maintains a certain distance from the upper plane of the non-existent base of the box (16).

In order to insert the box (16) into the container-connector element, properly speaking, a third main element is provided for, a lever (11), slightly U-shaped, with wings (lla), placed in a vertical position and joined by a flat junction area (lib), perpendicular to the wings (lea). In order to reinforce the wings (lea) a series of ribs (13) are placed perpendicular forming a cavity (15), at the end of the said wings (lea) together with the internal vertical plane of the said wings.

As retaining elements of the said lever (11), arms (12a) and (12b), whose lower extremes end in the form of a spur, are situated perpendicular to the wings (lla).

The connection or disconnection of the electrical elements, located on the inside of the box (16) as the male element, and the container or connector element (20) as the female element, is achieved by means of rotating and interlocking the lever (11), and the locking of the tabs (22) located on one of the sides of (20), with the cavity (15) located at the end of the wings (lla), serving as an element of retention for the arm (12b) with one of the tabs (22), which also ends in a spur.

In order to free the male element (16) from the female element (20), the upper part of the arm (12b) is pushed back in such a way as to free the tabs (22), followed by a clockwise twist of the lever (11) with which the cavity (15) is separated from the tabs (22), totally separating the box (16) from the container (20).

In order to effect the connection between (16) and (20), a set of guide ledges (18) are located on the sides of (16), and as can be seen in figure no. 3, they (18) are pushed down, at the moment of the connection, into the slots (21), assuring that the connection of the electrical elements is effected vertically, as result of which the deterioration, or the lack of an electrical connection between the male and female elements contained inside (16) and (20), is avoided.

The fulcrum for the lever (11) to apply the required power on (16), in order for the box (16) to enter the container element (20), is provided by the tabs (22), whose upper part (22a) serves as a fulcrum at the moment of separation, once the upper part of the arm (12b) has been pushed back, while in the reverse operation, that is the interlocking of (16) into (20), it is the lower part (22b) of the said tabs (22), that acts as a fulcrum with the end of the cavity (15).

The most external plane passing through the wings (lea) of the lever (11) is to be found in complete alignment with the most external plane of the sides of the container element (20), with which, and as opposed to other types of lever connector-holders, it is possible that the connector-holder (10) can be situated within elements that are more complex, without the stubs (17), or even the lever (11), interfering with other connector-holders or w=th other elements or larger assemblies, the sides of the container-element (20) being completely flush, and easily insertable in the other larger assemblies mentioned above.

Claims

CLAIMS:

An electrical connector including a male element provided with a first set of one or more electrical contacts, the male element being insertable into a female element provided with a corresponding second set of one or more electrical contacts, and a lever for urging the male element into the female element, the lever being movable around a pivot located on the male element and having an end portion which in use abuts a protrusion on the female member which acts as a fulcrum.
2. An electrical connector according to claim 1 wherein the lever member has a hook portion which is lockably engagable with a tab on the female element when the male element is fully inserted into the female element.
3. An electrical connector according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein both the female and male elements are box-shaped, and a first lever member is mounted on one side of the male element and a corresponding second lever member is mounted on the opposite side of the male element to the first lever member, said first and second lever members being connected and operable in unison.
4. An electrical connector according to claim 3 in which the male element is formed by a box with a prismatic configuration without its upper base, and containing in the centre a partition that is perpendicular to the sides and the only existing base, incorporating as guide elements between the said male element and the female element itself guides ledges in the vicinity of its edges and two stubs or semi axles protruding from the area between the sides presenting, on the upper part of one of the lesser bases and in the style of an overhang, a hollow.
5. An electrical connector according to any of the above claims in which the lever is made up of two vertical wings connected by a flat junction area perpendicular to the wings, a set of ribs, acting as reinforcing elements, being located on the external part of the said wings, and arms whose lower parts terminate in the form of a spur, emerging perpendicularly from the flat junction area.
An electrical connector according to claim 5 wherein the fulcrum or fulcrum surface between the male elements and the female element, are formed by a cavity located at the end of the vertical wings fixed by the ribs and the vertical internal plane that passes through the wings, in combination with the upper and lower ends of the arms as the retaining elements between the male and female elements.
7. An electrical connector according to any of the previous claims including a releasing element for releasing the male element with respect to the female element, the releasing element including the upper part of the arms.
8. An electrical connector substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.