GB2295500A

GB2295500A - Adaptor for connectors

Info

Publication number: GB2295500A
Application number: GB9514319A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Magrina Francisco Nolla
Original assignee: Lear Automotive EEDS Spain SL
Current assignee: Lear Automotive EEDS Spain SL
Priority date: 1994-11-23
Filing date: 1995-07-13
Publication date: 1996-05-29
Anticipated expiration: 2015-07-13
Also published as: FR2727254B3; ITUD950046V0; DE29505990U1; ITUD950046U1; IT239074Y1; ES1029510U; GB2295500B; SE9504155L; ES1029510Y; SE509178C2; GB9514319D0; SE9504155D0; FR2727254A3

Abstract

An adaptor 10 for a connector 11 having a substantially parallelepiped body within which are located terminal-receiving cavities 20 which are also substantially parallelepiped and are defined by dividing walls 19, comprises a wall 12 on which U-shaped sections 13 are formed with a spacing corresponding to the spacing of the dividing walls 19. The U-shaped sections 13 partially fill the cavities 20 such that the connector can be used to accommodate smaller terminals than usual. <IMAGE>

Description

ADAPTOR SYSTEM FOR CONNECTORS This invention relates to an adaptor system for connectors.

There are on the market various types of connectors which can be fitted to connector boxes, which can therefore be regarded as the state of the art. The connectors house within them an electrical connection formed by male and female terminals which are connected together electrically. The male terminals are inserted into the female terminals and both are appropriately secured to the ends of the electrical conductors, with the connector serving as a centering and contact member for the two terminals.

The mass production of this type of connector in its various sizes is affected in terms of cost by the great variety of male and female terminals for which it must serve as a support and centering member in order to connect them electrically, and all this makes it necessary to have a plurality of moulds for their injection. This means a high cost for the work of making centred electrical connections by means of connectors included in connector boxes, in any type of equipment.

The purpose of this application is to provide the capacity to adapt different types of connectors of different size and configuration by introducing a piece or adaptor which permits the same type of connector having the same volume geometry and dimensions to be capable of housing within itself different types of terminals1 both male and female, on the basis of a modification of the volumetric characteristics of the cavities which are arranged in a regular form about the interior of the connector.

According to the invention there is provided an adaptor for a connector having a substantially parallelepiped body within which are located a set of cavities which are also substantially parallelepiped and are formed by means of dividing walls extending across the body, in which the adaptor comprises a wall to which U-shaped sections are found perpendicularly with a spacing corresponding to the spacing of the dividing walls of these U-shaped sections being formed by longitudinal walls which are parallel to each other and which effectively cover the adaptor, lateral dividers 14 being located at the ends of the said adaptor and perpendicular to the wall.

The purpose of the adaptor is to be pressed into the cavities of the connectors, covering the dividing walls thereof, and thus achieving a decrease in the width of the cavities forming part of the connector, so that male and female terminals of smaller size can be inserted therein without the need for investing in new moulds, thus providing a new type of connector having a separate configuration and dimensions.

The subject matter of this Utility Model will apply to all types of connectors and will bring about a change in the measurements of the internal cavities thereof with the result that using a single adaptor and different types of connectors it will be possible to achieve dual types of the said connectors and to insert a whole range of male and female terminals into the cavities. As the sections in one of the adaptors vary in thickness, so greater or lesser narrowing of the cavities serving as a housing for the male and female terminals is also achieved.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective lateral view of an exploded assembly of a connector into which an adaptor is inserted; Figure 2 is a lateral perspective view of a connector identical to that in Figure 1, in which an adaptor is inserted into the interior thereof, surrounding the corresponding dividing walls by means of corresponding longitudinal walls; Figure 3 is a partial and cross-sectional lateral perspective view of a positioner or adaptor which is partly inserted into a connector; Figure 4 is a partial transverse cross-section in elevation of an adaptor at the time of being inserted into a connector, in which it is immobilised through the insertion of projections into retaining holes; Figure 5 is a lateral view in elevation of an adaptor;; Figure 6 is a front view in elevation of a positioner incorporating angular "U"-shaped sections at regular distances, provided with longitudinal walls which are parallel to each other and which run from the vicinity of the uppermost plane of to its base; and Figure 7 is a view in plan from above of the adaptor.

In one preferred embodiment as may be seen in Figure 1, there is shown a conventional connector 11 which has within it a set of cavities 20 of substantially rectangular parallelepiped form in which the corresponding male and female terminals attached to the ends of the corresponding conductors which are to be joined and centered electrically in the connector 11 are housed at the appropriate time.

When for reasons of assembly it is necessary to have different types of male and female terminals with wholly different dimensions of both width and depth, different situations are achieved using the same connector 11 in which these varieties of male and female terminals can be housed, by inserting an adaptor 10 as shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4.

As may be seen in Figures 5, 6 and 7, adaptor 10 has an upright wall 12 from which a set of "U"-shaped sections 13 emerge perpendicularly with a regular spacing and which extend from the vicinity of the uppermost plane of the wall 12 to its base and perpendicular to the wall 12. At the ends of the wall there are also lateral dividers 14 perpendicular to the wall 12 which attain the effective height of the wall 12.

As may be seen in Figures 2, 3 and 4, the adaptor 10 is fitted and mounted in a conventional connector 11 by inserting it into the interior of the connector in such a way that the "U"shaped sections 13 surround dividing walls 19 of connector 11 on the left and the right, surrounding them completely and placing wall 12 wholly parallel to the major side 21 of the connector 11.

In order that the adaptor 10 may be firmly fixed to the connector 11, as may be seen in Figure 4, projections 17 are located approximately one third of the way up the external surface 16 of the wall 12 with the purpose of being inserted under pressure as a snap fit in retaining holes 18 which are regularly spaced along one horizontal to the major side 21 of the connector 11.

The combination of different types of connector 11 with adaptors 10 or of a given connector 11 with different types of adaptor 10 offers a multiplicity of dimensions for cavities 20 within which are to be housed various male and female terminals.

Thus an appreciable saving is made in the manufacture of moulds and in the operation of injection moulding the said members, with a consequent saving in the task of centering the electrical connection between cables provided with male and female terminals at their ends.

Claims

1. An adaptor for a connector having a substantially parallelepiped body within which are located a set of cavities which are also substantially parallelepiped and are formed by means of dividing walls extending across the body, in which the adaptor comprises a wall to which U-shaped sections are found perpendicularly with a spacing corresponding to the spacing of the dividing walls of these U-shaped sections being formed by longitudinal walls which are parallel to each other and which effectively cover the adaptor, lateral dividers being located at the ends of the said adaptor and perpendicular to the wall.

2. An adaptor as claimed in Claim 1 in which projections project from the wall on the surface opposite to the U-shaped sections in the vicinity of the upper plane thereof and are located at the same height and are arranged to engage regularly spaced retaining holes in the wall of the connector.

3. An adaptor for a connector substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

4. The combination of an adaptor as claimed in any preceding claim joined to a connector.