JPS5951108B2 - Flat cable pitch conversion connector - Google Patents

Abstract

Two rows of identical double ended contacts (32a-h) provide insulation- piercing ends (32), the separation between successive ends (32) (ie the distance between the centre lines of slits 32a etc) being equal to the conductor separation (ie pitch) of a flat cable (28, Fig. 1, not shown). The contacts have their other ends (34) arranged in mutually laterally aligned pairs (eg for the contacts 30a and 30e, the ends (34) fall on the line 38). The pairs are spaced by a predetermined pitch exceeding the flat cable pitch. A zero-insertion force connector incorporating the contacts comprises a base (14, Figs. 6 and 7, not shown) with flexible terminals (16) and an actuator (20) which is operable to engage the ends (34) with the terminals (16) and lock the two parts of the connector (24, 14) together by means of a tab and slot arrangement (54, 56). <IMAGE>

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to electrical connector assemblies, and more particularly to a 1-theta connector assembly for connecting a flat multi-conductor cable to a series of electrical terminals of different pitches.

Various connection mechanisms are known for terminating a flat multi-conductor cable and converting it to electrical terminals of a different pitch.

Typical examples include standard pitch multi-conductor cables, where individual conductors are spaced 350.050 inches (1.27 mm) center to center, to so-called D-connector cables, where adjacent pins are spaced 0.054 inches apart. (1.37
There is a structure that performs pitch conversion to a pin arrangement (mm).

Conversion between such differently pitched elements may be achieved using preformed electrical transfer contacts carried within the connector housing and extending between the cable and the terminals, or with fixed ends and a bendable center portion that is pitch-convertible. This is accomplished by using a connector that includes contact elements adapted to accommodate. It is an object of the present invention to provide pitch conversion connections from flat cables to pin arrangements other than D-type.

A more specific object of the present invention is to include laterally spaced pairs of pins from said standard flat cable, with adjacent pairs being separated by a preselected pitch different from the pitch of the flat cable. An object of the present invention is to provide a pitch conversion connector for performing pitch conversion in a pin arrangement. Another object of the present invention is to provide a zero insertion force pitch conversion connection between a flat cable and an attached circuit terminal.

To accomplish the foregoing and other objects, the present invention provides a pitch convertible electrical connector assembly for making connections to a predetermined pitch of flat multiconductor cable, wherein a plurality of identical electrical contact elements are connected to an elongated housing. each contact element has a first insulator-pierced contact and an opposite second contact axially offset therefrom, the first contact being a flat multi-conductor wire; It is placed in line with the cable conductors.

That is, a connector assembly is provided in which the contact elements are oriented such that the contact elements are at the predetermined pitch and the second contacts are disposed at a pitch different from the predetermined pitch of the cable conductor. In a particularly preferred embodiment, a base is provided for receiving a housing, the base enclosing a fixed row of terminals adapted to align with the second contact of the contact element, and the base and the housing being actuated by the actuator. The relative movement is adapted to effect an electrical connection between the second contact and the fixed terminal, thereby providing continuity between the individual conductors of the flat cable and the terminal. These and other objects and features of the present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment and the drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like parts. Referring to FIG. 1, a connector assembly 10 is mounted to a printed wiring board 12 and includes a male connector or base 14 that connects conductive strips on the printed wiring board 12. (not shown) surrounds a header terminal pin 16 electrically connected to the header terminal pin 16 (not shown).

The base 14 is elongated along the axis 158, and the terminals 16 are spaced apart in the longitudinal direction, as shown in FIGS.
They are arranged in laterally aligned pairs. for example,
A laterally aligned pair of terminals 16a, 16b are spaced along base 14[theta] from the pair of terminals 16C, 16d. An actuator 20 is pivotally attached to one end of the base 14 for a purpose to be described later. connector 10
further includes a female socket 22 having a housing 24 and a cover 26.

This cover can be separated from the housing and is adapted to position the flat multi-conductor cable 28 specifically in line with the contact elements shown in FIGS. A group of contact elements 30a-30h is shown in plan view in FIG. 2, of which contact elements 30e and 30c are shown in front view in FIG.

Contact elements 30a-30h are all identical and each include an insulator-pierced first end contact 32 and an opposite, axially offset second end contact 34. The first contact 32 is specifically described in U.S. Patent No. 3,964,8
Cable 28 may be of the form shown in No. 16.
A slot 32a along the axis of the contact 32 is provided for receiving the conductor and for simultaneously puncturing the cable and making an electrical connection. In the illustrated embodiment, contact 34
is a socket type, and there is a finger 3 on the side of its center axis.
4a and 34b. As you can see from Figures 2 and 3,
The housing contact element extends along the longitudinal axis 3 of the housing 24.
They are arranged in the first and second rows beside the number 6.

The contact elements in the row shown above axis 36 in FIG. 2, contact elements 30a-30d, are oriented or oriented such that insulation piercing contact 32 is to the right of contact 34 in each contact element. On the other hand, each of the housing contact elements in the lower row of FIG. 2 has an opposite orientation or orientation from contact elements 30a-30d. Thus, in contact elements 30e-30h, the insulation piercing contact is located to the left of contact 34. The contact elements are further supported within the housing 24 such that the longitudinal spacing between the centerlines of adjacent insulation piercing contacts is equal to the pitch of the cable 28.
Thus, the spacing along axis 36 between the centerlines of the insulation piercing contacts of contact elements 30e, 30a, between the centerlines of the insulation piercing contacts of contact elements 30a, 30b, etc. equal to the spacing between the center lines of . This arrangement allows alignment of the insulator contacts of all contact elements with the cable 28. Electrical connection therebetween is made by locking the cover 26 with the housing 24 with a suitable tool, with the individual conductors being pushed into the slots 32a of the contacts 32. Contact elements in opposite rows are 1
Because they can be rotated 80 degrees out of phase, and because the centerline spacing of contacts 32, 34 is the same for all contact elements, the centerlines of the second contacts of laterally oriented contact elements are laterally aligned. are doing.

Thus, the contacts 34 of contact elements 30a, 30e are aligned along the lateral axis 38. contact elements 30b and 30f,
The contacts 34 of 30C and 30g, 30d and 30h are laterally aligned along lateral axes 40, 42, and 44, respectively. With this method of supporting identical contact elements and the geometry given to the connector as a result of its antiphase arrangement, conversion pitches that are multiples of two can easily be obtained.

That is, the spacing between the longitudinally aligned, laterally aligned pairs of contacts 34 is twice the spacing between the longitudinally aligned insulator piercing contacts 32. In other words, the pitch of the rows of contacts 34 can be of a predetermined size that exceeds the predetermined pitch of the flat cable. Referring to FIG. 6, the socket assembly 22 is shown in combination with the base 14, and the terminal]6
is aligned with the lateral alignment axis of contact 34 and is centrally located on contact 34.

The terminal 16 is characterized in that it does not interfere with the contact 34 at this stage, and the socket assembly 22 and base 14 can be assembled with zero insertion force. Upon actuation of the attachator 20, i.e., when the actuator handle 46 is rotated clockwise on the pivot pin 48 of the base 4, the actuator cam 50 moves and engages the cover 26, causing the socket assembly 22 to move toward the base. 14 in the longitudinal direction. The state upon completion of this relative movement between the socket assembly and base is shown in FIG. In the FIG. 7 arrangement of the connector sections, contact fingers 34a engage terminals 16 and extend outside of base 14 to connect to printed wiring board conductive strips or other attached circuitry. Provides an electrical connection between cable conductor 28a and pin 52. Various structures for mechanically locking the components of the connector assembly are possible.

Referring to FIG. 1, a stepped slot 54 may be provided on the inner wall surface of the base 14, and a tab 56 protruding outward may be provided at a portion of the housing 24 corresponding to the slot 54, so that the tab 56 may be inserted into the slot during assembly. good. During longitudinal movement of the socket assembly relative to the base 14, the tabs and slots are moved into a locked position (FIG. 7). Element 5 in Figures 6 and 7
The cover 26 may be releasably assembled to the housing 24 by suitable fastening mechanisms shown at 8 and 60. Finally, the actuator handle 46 may be releasably locked with the slot 62 (FIG. 6) when the actuator is in the operative position shown in FIG. Although the invention has been described in terms of embodiments, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

For example, socket shape for contact 34 and terminal 1
The pin configuration for 6 may be reversed so that the housing contact element includes a first insulator-piercing contact and an opposite, axially offset, pin-shaped second contact. It should also be understood that the socket assembly 22 need not be used to connect with a base formed as a header, and may be used so that zero insertion force is required. Accordingly, the embodiments described above are for illustration only and are not meant to be limiting. The true spirit and scope of the invention is set forth in the claims. According to the present invention, an electrical connection is created between the socket and the pin by surrounding the pin with the socket and moving the actuator to engage the two.

The movable actuator also increases the contact force between the socket and the pin.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 is a perspective and partially exploded view of a connector assembly according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partial plan view showing the arrangement of contact elements within the housing of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a line 111-111 of FIG. 2. 4 is a front view showing the inside of the front wall of the base member of the assembly of FIG. 1; FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the base of the connector assembly of FIG. 1; FIG. 7 is a front view of the connector assembly of FIG. 1 showing the actuator member in an inoperative position, and FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 showing the actuator member in an activated position. Explanation of symbols of main parts, 10... Connector assembly, 1
2...Printed wiring board, 14...Base, 16...
・Terminal, 20... Actuator, 22... Socket, 24... Housing, 26... Cover, 28...
... Flat multi-conductor cable, 30a-30h... Contact element, 32, 34... Contact.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A pitch-changing electrical connector assembly for connecting a flat multi-conductor cable 28 with a predetermined pitch and a series of fixed electrical terminals 16 with predetermined external dimensions with zero insertion force, The connector assembly includes a first contact (e.g., 32) each having an insulating bar and a second contact (e.g., 34) opposite the first contact and axially displaced.
) having a plurality of identical electrical contact elements (e.g. 30a-
30h), the second contact has a socket portion defining a terminal receiving area larger than the predetermined external dimensions of the fixed electrical terminal, and the connector assembly receives the cable and connects it to the contact element. an elongate housing 24 configured to engage the contact elements in first and second laterally spaced rows of first contacts;
The first contacts connected in the vertical direction are supported so as to be spaced apart by the predetermined pitch, and the housing supports the second contacts in pairs (for example, 34a and 34b), the second contacts of each pair are laterally aligned and spaced apart from each other, and longitudinally adjacent ones of the pairs are spaced apart by a predetermined pitch that is greater than the predetermined pitch; , an elongated base 14 surrounding the fixed electrical terminal, the base receiving the housing and disposing the terminal receiving area of the second contact in individually circumferential relation around each terminal of the fixed electrical terminal. Forming a predetermined engagement with the terminals in a disengaged state, the connector assembly individually engages the terminal contact members (e.g., 34a, 34b) of the second contact by longitudinal relative movement of the housing and base. A pitch-changing electrical connector assembly comprising an actuator placed in electrical connection with the fixed electrical terminal. 2. The connector assembly according to claim 1, further comprising a cover removably attached to the housing and defining, together with the housing, a passage for disposing the cable within the assembly. Three-dimensional. 3. The connector assembly according to claim 1, wherein the terminal is pin-shaped.