WO1998048481A1

WO1998048481A1 - Method for contacting multi-core round cables without skinning, and corresponding contacting device

Info

Publication number: WO1998048481A1
Application number: PCT/EP1997/004219
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bernd Hagmann; Folke Michelmann; Gerhard Wehrle; Peter Kuhn; Jürgen Sahm
Original assignee: Richard Hirschmann Gmbh & Co.
Priority date: 1997-04-24
Filing date: 1997-08-02
Publication date: 1998-10-29
Also published as: JP2000509884A; EP0981841A1; DE19717216A1; KR20000022477A

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for contacting the conductive lead cores of a round cable electrically, said round cable having at least two twisted, insulated leads encased in a sheathing consisting of insulating material. According to the inventive method, the contacting is carried out without the sheathing being removed and the positions of the points of contact are determined from the course of the leads. The invention also relates to a contacting device for carrying out this method. The penetrating contact elements (8-10, 34, 62, 71, 79, 82) are arranged on a contact piece (18, 31) to correspond with the positions of the points of contact determined from the course of the leads. Said contact piece consists of insulating material and can be pushed forward with the penetrating contact elements (8-10, 34, 62, 71, 79, 82) against the sheathing (3, 45) of the round cable (7, 36). The inventive contacting method and contacting device therefore provide a more simple and economical means of contacting the leads of a multi-core round cable safely, compared with known devices. As a result, these inexpensive round cables, which are always provided as standard cables, can be used in a substantially wider range of applications and use can be made of the advantages that they have over coded flat cables. The invention also presents advantageous ways of carrying out the method and various embodiments or designs for the contacting device.

Description

Process for stripping-free contacting of multi-core round cables and contacting devices therefor

The invention relates to two contacting methods and contacting devices according to the preambles of claims 1, 12, 16 and 29.

For contacting insulated single wires, it is already known to penetrate the insulation by means of contact spikes (e.g. DE 39 09 648 C2) or insulation displacement terminals (e.g. DE 42 14 71 1 Cl, DE 44 37 791 Cl). This technique is simpler and cheaper than the known contacting of the core cores after stripping them by soldering or clamping.

In the case of multi-core round cables, however, the known connection technology is very expensive because the wires have to be separated. To do this, first remove the cable sheath in the vicinity of the contact points. This is complex even at the end of the cable and is also not easy to carry out with regard to the risk of damage to wires by the stripping tool. This applies in particular to cases in which the contacting should not take place in the beginning or end region of the cable and for this purpose an annular jacket part has to be removed, as is described, for example, in EP 0 392 422 B1.

For separation purposes, the twisted wires must also be disentangled so that they can be positioned at the desired contact points with sufficient mutual spacing and arranged there. Additional resources are required for this - e.g. contact chambers formed by partitions, as disclosed in the connector according to the aforementioned EP 0 392 422 B1 (see FIG. 2), are required.

For the reasons mentioned, economic use of multi-core roundcables is only possible to a limited extent despite their favorable price. In particular, they are not suitable for the versatile connection options in networks, such as bus systems, house distribution systems, ring lines and the like. The object of the invention is therefore to provide a contacting method and a contacting device of the type mentioned at the outset, with which it is possible in a simpler and more cost-effective manner to contact the cores of multi-core round cables safely.

This object is achieved according to the invention by the contacting method according to claims 1 and 12 and the contacting device according to claims 16 and 29. The two methods and the associated devices differ only in terms of the type of contacting, namely through the jacket on the one hand and over the end faces of the core cores on the other. In both cases, however, the idea of contacting the wires of round cables without stripping and wire separation, which is fundamentally new compared to the prior art, is realized.

The removal of the stripping not only eliminates a complex and expensive operation, but also eliminates the risk of wire damage from the stripping tool. In addition, the veins no longer have to be separated; Rather, they can be contacted in their unchanged twisted position, the position of the wires at any point on the cable being known by knowing the wire course (claims 1, 16), so that an exact and thus reliable contact can be made. When contacting at the end (claims 12, 29), this is already possible due to the known wire configuration at the beginning or end of the cable.

Contacting without stripping is already known from flat cables coded by asymmetrical cross-section with regard to the correct contacting, such as are used, for example, as two-core bus lines in so-called actuator-sensor-interface bus systems, in which the contact points result from the wire course ( see DE 43 20 327 Cl). The contact points along the cable always have the same axis due to the straight line of the wire parallel to the cable axis. distance, so that a safe contacting of all cores, for example, can be easily achieved by piercing.

However, in contrast to multi-core round cables, these known shape-coded flat cables are special cables which are difficult to obtain and which do not correspond to any standard on the market. Above all, however, they are much more expensive and require a corresponding number of cables with different cross-sectional shapes for different codings.

In addition, a whole series of technical requirements are not met by such cables, which are easily achieved by commercially available multi-core round cables. For example, the latter can be bent in all directions without restriction, whereas in flat cables this is only possible about an axis transverse to the cable axis. The so-called interchangeability is, however, often an important prerequisite, for example when used on handling machines such as robots, in movable cable ducts, as drag chains or when laying in bushings. In addition, there is a risk of getting caught due to unwanted loop formation when moving flat cables.

With regard to the choice of materials for the sheath, the tensile strength and the space requirement, multi-core round cables have clear advantages over the coded flat cables, in which the required dimensional stability of the sheath can only be achieved with a few insulating materials, the non-twisted wire routing allows a considerably lower tensile load and in particular the cable dimension in the direction of the cores arranged parallel to one another increases so much with their number that such a flat cable is unsuitable for many possible uses due to the high space requirement. Finally, in the case of multi-core round cables, in contrast to asymmetrical flat cables, the core arrangement can advantageously be selected.

Because of the advantages described, there has long been a need to use multi-core round cables instead of coded flat cables. However, this has so far failed on the one hand, in particular because of the time-consuming preparation for contacting due to the stripping of the cable and the separation of the wires, and on the other hand because the known simple flat cable contact cannot be used with multi-core round cables because of their twisted wire routing. The invention according to claims 1 and 16 now makes it possible to make the inexpensive multi-core round cable, which is always available to a sufficient extent as standard cable, in a considerably broader field of application than has been accessible since then. Due to the twisted wires, which occur in their course in all angular positions on the cable circumference, it is possible in a particularly advantageous manner to use the contacting method and the contacting device even in the case of composite cables made up of several multi-core individual cables, the individual cables either running parallel to the axis or in turn again can be twisted. If the penetration technique is used for contacting, it is only necessary to design the penetration contact elements in such a way that they are able to penetrate two cable sheaths and additionally the core insulation.

The invention according to claims 1 and 16 makes use of the fact that in the mechanical production of multi-core round cables, the wires are twisted and this results in a calculable "blow" depending on the winding speed, the feed and the number and diameter of the wires which is the same over the entire cable length and can be selected and reproduced for each cable type by keeping the parameters mentioned constant. The term "lay" means the axial distance of the same wire after a full winding revolution (360 °).

In addition, the axial distance between adjacent cores can also be calculated with the aid of the variables mentioned.

In conjunction with the knowledge of the wire arrangement (configuration) at the beginning of the cable or the configuration and the position of at least one wire at any cable location and the sense of winding, the position of all wires along the entire cable can thus be determined, so that a safe location at any desired point on the cable Contacting the or certain wires without stripping the cable and without their isolation is possible. The contact points of the individual cores must first be determined when using round cables, while in the case of flat cables they are fixed from the outset due to the axis-parallel conductors; however, this additional effort is type only once and is therefore of little importance - especially when used on a larger scale.

Due to the elimination of the complex and expensive stripping and core separation and thus a simple contacting, the use of cheap round cables is altogether considerably cheaper in comparison to the known flat cables. There is also no risk of wire damage when stripping.

The advantages mentioned also apply to the case of the end-face wire contacting according to claims 12 and 29. Because it is already known from DE 44 18 259 Cl and DE 43 18 800 C2 to contact the wire cores of round cables on the face side by axially penetrating contact spikes . In both cases, however, as with the known contacts already cited, the end regions of the cables have to be stripped and the individual wires in this region have to be separated from one another.

With the contacting method according to the invention and the associated or the contacting devices according to the invention, the inexpensive round cables, which are always available as standard cables, can finally be used for the user for a much broader field of application, for example also on handling machines, but above all as bus and ring cables. Especially when used in systems with long cable lengths such as branched bus networks, the cost advantage compared to the use of coded flat cables can be of crucial importance. However, special applications are also conceivable, e.g. the branching of currents or signals from building distribution systems constructed with round cables, for example from control lines.

The possibility of using round cables is not only an advantage from a cost perspective. So z. B. the space required in comparison to flat cables in the wire level - in particular with many wires - is considerably less, so that contacting devices can be dimensioned considerably smaller, which mostly improves their applicability. The cheaper sealing options can also be important, because while expensive profile seals are required for the known asymmetrical flat cables, cheap standard seals (e.g. sealing rings) can be used for round cables Due to the inventive method and contacting for this, the contacting is considerably cheaper compared to the previous method with stripping of the cable and separation of the wires, and the more the more contacting points are provided. With flounder cables there is also a much larger selection with regard to their material properties such as the chemical resistance of the sheath or the bendability. They are therefore more adaptable to the different requirements in practice than flat cables and therefore also have a wider range of applications

Finally, in contrast to flat cables, the spatial core arrangement (core configuration) can be selected for round cables. This also increases their adaptability to the circumstances of the individual case

The contacting devices can be designed in a variety of ways as connectors, taps, distributors or connection modules, possibly also with integrated devices such as actuators or sensors, with and without connectors, and can be connected to the wires of round cables both at cable ends and at any point in the cable run

This also creates a simple, inexpensive and particularly practical connection and connection technology using round cables.It does not matter whether the wires contain strands or solid wires, but the main area of application is in the easier contacting of stranded cables

Advantageous embodiments of the methods according to claims 1 and 12 and the contact device according to claims 16 and 29 are specified in the subclaims If the cable type and thus the lay, the number and the configuration of the wires are known, then it is sufficient to know the position and the winding direction of a wire at any point on the round cable in order to be able to calculate the desired contact points of all wires at any other cable locations. Thus, the contacting method according to claim 2 is not only suitable for round cable connections at the cable ends but also at any desired point in the cable run. Above all, however, the target configuration of contact elements of a contacting device can also be easily determined and the device can be implemented accordingly. If a contacting element is now attached to the determined position of the associated wire, all other contacting elements are automatically assigned to the correct contacting points. This makes contacting very easy.

A marking of the wire position according to claim 3 by a marking enables the application of the contacting method according to the invention in a simple manner even when no cable end is visible or accessible at which the wire position could be determined, which is particularly the case when using longer bus or Ring lines are often the case. The prerequisite for this, however, is that the marking takes place in an accessible area of the cable and this is within reachable proximity of the desired contacting point or points. This is usually the case with short cable lengths, so that in such applications it is usually sufficient to provide only one marking according to claim 4. The marking effort is minimized.

A contacting method according to claim 5 is slightly more complex, but is considerably more suitable for practical use, because both the position of a wire and the sense of winding at any point in the cable run can be recognized directly regardless of the cable length and need not be determined first. With the data known from the cable type, namely lay, number and configuration (sequence) of the differently colored wires, it is possible with minimal time and computing effort to determine defined contact points of all wires and thus also to define the configuration of the contacting elements of a contacting device. Alternatively, the marking can advantageously be applied to the jacket surface (claim 6) or inside the jacket (claim 7). In the former method, the production is easier and more cost-effective with exact positioning of the marking. The second method guarantees wear-resistant markings regardless of external mechanical and / or chemical influences, but their exact positioning is not easy.

The marking can optionally be applied as a continuous (claim 8) or openwork (claim 9) line, the embodiment according to claim 8 - at least when the marking is applied to the surface of the jacket - both with regard to the manufacture (for example by means of a colored pencil running with the winding axis) and also the easier and safer way to find the correct contact point, which lies in a gap with a broken line and could therefore not be exactly defined. In contrast, the advantage of the lower consumption of marking agents in the method according to claim 9 has less importance.

A particularly advantageous contacting method is specified in claim 10. A coded pattern not only allows the exact course of one or more cores or their exact position to be marked (due to its position), but also the type of cable (encrypted) as information. This information about the cable data in particular also enables automatic assembly, with the machine e.g. queries the relevant cable data from a barcode and is therefore able to supply each cable with an associated contacting device in the required position and orientation for contacting. The method according to the invention is therefore also suitable for economical series production of assembled multi-core round cables.

The method according to claim 1 1, in which the marking is formed by electrically conductive material, also has this advantage of automatic assembly with position detection by querying cable identification data. This is particularly suitable for an arrangement inside the jacket, because it is "legible" from the outside and is not only protected against damage, but also - with appropriate coding - at least complicates the undesired use of such cables by third parties. When contacting spikes are pressed in at the front, the core cores are expanded radially, whereby their already small mutual distance becomes even smaller, so that the prescribed air and creepage distances between the core cores on the cable end face are no longer maintained. This danger can be avoided in a simple manner by the features of claim 13.

Of course, the lack of isolation means that the free end faces of the core cores can already be too close to one another with regard to the required air and creepage distances, even without the frontal axial penetration of contact spikes. The increase in distance e.g. according to claim 13 by a splicer is therefore also advantageous in the event that the cable end region is contacted through the cable sheath.

In the case of the end-side wire contacting, the cable end is expediently encompassed by an insulating part which is already present for receiving the penetrating contact elements, preferably contacting spikes. Such a sleeve on the one hand keeps the spreading of the wires within limits and at the same time builds up a counter pressure when the contacting spikes penetrate, which increases the contact pressure and thus the contact reliability.

Both the contacting through the cable sheath and via the end faces of the core cores is advantageously either contactless (claim 14), that is to say by capacitive or inductive coupling, or galvanically according to claim 15 by means of penetrating contact elements such as contact spikes or insulation displacement elements. The latter method is characterized by simple and reliable contacting at precisely determined points and is suitable for the transmission of direct currents as well as alternating currents of all frequencies, while contactless contacting is essentially limited to high-frequency applications. In both cases, the tightness of the contact points is achieved without special sealing measures. An advantageous embodiment of the contacting device according to the invention according to claim 16 consists, according to claim 17, in that the sealing ring contact elements are arranged one behind the other in the axial direction at the same distance on the contact piece, which have adjacent wires from one another. This is a very simple construction, relatively uncritical with regard to the exact positioning of the penetrating contact elements given the contacting device, which is thus inexpensive to produce. Such a structure is particularly advantageous with small numbers of wires, but with multidirectional cables, it has a relatively large axial length that is not portable in all applications

Due to the twisted construction of multi-core round cables, it is possible to achieve a substantial shortening of the contact piece and thus the contacting device with an arrangement of the penetrating contact elements, which can thus also be realized in short lengths with multi-core cables. A minimal axial length is one Execution achieved in which all penetrating contact elements lie in a single plane perpendicular to the cable axis.

If the mutual spacing of the contacting elements penetrating into the wires is too small with regard to their space requirement and in particular the prescribed air and creepage distances, this can be prevented extremely simply by arranging the penetrating contact elements in a spiral in the axial direction

The penetrating contact elements are covered by the contact piece or parts thereof during the contacting process, so that an exact penetration, particularly when contacting by hand, cannot be easily guaranteed. This is advantageously avoidable in that, according to claim 19, the contact piece has a certain vein Assigned visible mark The same effect can be achieved if this marking is assigned to a penetration contact element that is visible during assembly.An equivalent solution is that the round cable has a mark whose distance from the target contact point of a specific penetration contact element corresponds to that of this penetration contact element from the contact piece end has, so that only this contact piece end has to be made to coincide with the brand for exact contacting.

Finally, as a further possibility, the distance between the first penetrating contact element and the contact piece end can be chosen to be the stroke. In order to make contact, only this end then has to be made to coincide with the marking on the cable at the desired contact point of the relevant wire.

The contact elements that penetrate the cable sheath and penetrate into the wires already provide sufficient strain relief in many cases. If higher demands are made of this, this can be achieved in a simple manner by designing the contact piece according to claim 20. These means consist, for example, of webs injection-molded in one piece with the contact piece, as a result of which high cable clamping is achieved practically at no additional cost and, at the same time, the penetration points of the cable sheath and wires are no longer stressed in the event of an axial pull. This means that the sealing of the penetration points is not endangered and does not require any additional sealing measures.

A particularly advantageous embodiment of the contacting device according to claim 16 is described in claim 21. With this simple construction it is ensured that all penetrating contact elements arranged offset on the circumference penetrate radially into the wires and thereby bring about an optimal penetration depth and thus contact security. At the same time, short circuits between the wires through penetration of penetration contact elements into two wire cores are avoided, as would be possible with flat contact pieces.

Advantageously, the penetrating contact elements are arranged distributed over the individual shell-shaped parts of the contact piece. On the one hand, maximum distances between the penetrating contact elements and, on the other hand, as already stated, a minimum length of the contact piece and thus of the contact device can be achieved. The penetration contact elements can be held in the shell-shaped parts in a conventional manner by means of extrusion, injection or adhesive technology. It is particularly expedient to provide shell parts with a different number of penetrating contact elements. This makes it possible to connect devices, such as a 5-pin connector, with cables with different numbers of wires as required. For example, 2, 3, 4 and 5-core cables can be assembled with only three different types of shells, namely those without, with two and with three penetration contact elements or with one, two and three penetration contact elements. In addition, using shell parts with different configuration of the penetration contact elements, both an adaptation to various cable types and differently configured connections (different assignment of penetration contact elements to wires) of a cable type can be achieved.

The arrangement of the penetrating contact elements in the shell-shaped parts of the contact piece (e.g. half-shells) is adapted to the wire sequence of the cable to be connected. With 2- and 4-core cables, it is possible to use half shells with the same configuration of the penetrating contact elements at the beginning and at the end of the cable due to installation offset by 180 °.

In a further advantageous embodiment of the contacting device specified in claim 23, the shell-shaped parts of the contacting piece are elastically connected to one another at their end facing away from the cable. According to claim 24, these connections can be simple film hinges that can be produced in the same operation. As a result, the contact piece is in one piece, so that the number of parts of the contact device that can be lost is minimized.

For assembly, the contact piece is opened at the cable end, pushed over the cable end and closed in the desired position, the penetrating contact elements penetrating through the cable sheath into the cable cores.

If the contact is not to be made at the end of the cable, but in the course of the cable, a configuration of the contact piece according to claim 25 is advantageous because the shell-shaped parts can be folded around the cable before being pressed together.

For permanent securing, a sleeve is expediently provided according to claim 26, which tightly encompasses the contact piece after the contact has been made. With an un- complicated, yet effective design, the sleeve is an attached to an external thread of the contact piece union nut (claim 27). With a closed sleeve, of course, the enclosure is only possible at the end of the cable. For installation in the cable run either a split or a sleeve constructed analogously to claim 25 is required, which is closed after contacting. If the contact piece does not need to be protected, the shell-shaped parts of the contact piece itself can alternatively also be fastened to one another, for example screwed together.

A further advantageous embodiment of the contacting device according to claim 16 is set out in claim 28. Both the contacting itself is brought about in a simple manner by compressing the (e.g. half-shell-shaped) contacting piece and the securing by the sleeve.

In the second contacting device according to claim 29 for contacting at the end by axially pressing penetrating contact elements into the core cores, the cable end is widened. This is even more the case if, in order to achieve sufficient air and creepage distances, a spread is carried out by means of a splicer. An advantageous design of the part of the cable holder comprising the round cable according to claim 30, this necessary widening of the cable end is easily and without additional effort.

According to a further embodiment according to claim 31, the end of the cable holder has a marking assigned to a specific wire, which according to claim 32 can be formed by a coding recess (or a complementary coding lug). The correct positioning of both the round cable in the cable holder and the penetration contact elements assigned to the individual wires is thus achieved in a simple manner. In addition, only one measure is to be provided for the identification and coding, as a result of which the production outlay is reduced. In an advantageous embodiment of the contacting device according to claim 33, it is expedient both for reasons of cost and in view of greater stability and ease of handling to design the connector part with the remaining parts of the contacting device as a structural unit. For example, the sleeve provided in claims 26 to 28 can simultaneously form the connector housing.

With this unit, apart from simple cable assembly, detachable connections of two or more suitably assembled cables to one another or to devices are possible either as direct connections or as distributors or branches, the connector parts being designed as straight or angled connectors.

A further advantageous embodiment of the contacting device according to the invention is also listed in claim 34. The circuit can e.g. be a consumer at the end of the cable or a participant (e.g. actuator) who is to be connected to a continuous bus line. The circuit is usefully designed as a structural unit with the rest of the contacting device and arranged in a common housing. It can also only be part of a device (e.g. a circuit board).

According to a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention according to claim 35, at least two contact pieces are combined to form a unit. This easy to manufacture, inexpensive and compact unit can be designed as a simple and inexpensive straight or angled cable connector, as a two or multiple distributor or as a single or multiple tap. By connecting the penetration contact elements of the at least two contact pieces appropriately, different types of cables with the same number of wires can also be connected to one another.

No connector is required with this unit. Nevertheless, it is of course possible to provide a plug connection on one or more contact pieces.

Instead of interconnecting two or more contact pieces directly or via plug connectors, it can be advantageous to achieve this according to claim 36 via a connecting piece. In particular when a plurality of contact pieces are interconnected, the mechanical structure can thereby be made simpler. In the simplest version, this unit represents a connector for the electrical connection of cables or circuits to one another or of cables with circuits (claim 37). In the case of cables with different numbers and / or cross-sections, the associated wires are connected to one another.

According to an advantageous embodiment according to claim 38, the connecting piece can also contain circuits such as amplifiers, attenuators, distribution or branch circuits, signal conditioners, repeaters, etc. as required. In some applications, a combination of circuits and galvanic connections in the connector is advantageous. All such designs can be designed both as direct connections or with connector connections.

An advantageous embodiment of the penetrating contact elements is specified in claim 39. With this simple and inexpensive means, the contacting device can also be used with shielded multi-core round cables without a short circuit between the shield and the wires being feared. If the cable shield is also to be contacted, this can be done in a simple manner by designing the contacting device according to claim 40.

Advantageous alternative designs of penetrating contact elements are described in claims 41 to 45, wherein particularly reliable contacting with penetrating contact elements according to claims 43 and 44 is achieved. In the embodiment according to claim 43, the core core is contacted both in the middle by the piercing spit and by squeezing between the insulation displacement arms. Since the core cores are held between the insulation displacement arms and therefore cannot escape when the piercing spike penetrates, a high contact pressure is achieved at all contact points.

By designing the insulation displacement arms with tips according to claim 44, a safe penetration of the core insulation is achieved with little effort, so that even when using multi-core cables, contacting by compressing the contact piece by hand is easily possible. When using insulation displacement arms designed according to claim 45, undesired cutting into the core cores is effectively prevented.

In an embodiment of the insulation displacement clamps according to claim 46, the two insulation displacement arms are deflected in the opposite direction from the plane of the common insulation displacement shaft. As a result, the contact is not made transversely to the wire axis as with standard insulation displacement terminals; rather, the insulation displacement arms lie one behind the other in the direction of the cable axis. The level of the insulation displacement shaft also runs in the axial direction of the cable. As a result, these contact elements have a significantly smaller space requirement in this direction than normal insulation displacement clamps with insulation displacement arms lying transversely to the axis, which in turn achieves a greater mutual safety distance between the piercing contact elements. This advantage requires practically no additional costs because the penetrating contact elements are produced as stamped and bent parts in one operation. The insulation displacement arms can also be made comparatively stronger without significantly increasing the space requirement, so that their stability is increased.

Finally, the insulation displacement arms are pressed into the wires by the twisted wires running at an angle to the cable axis with the edges facing the respective wire (and not with flat parts), which ensures a safe cutting of the wire insulation without damaging the wire core and thus ensures effective contacting.

The same effect can alternatively be achieved in that, according to claim 45, standard insulation displacement clamps with uncleaned, essentially square, insulation displacement arms are arranged obliquely to the wire axis.

The invention is explained in more detail below on the basis of exemplary embodiments of various contacting devices and parts thereof in the figures. Show it:

1 - a section through a cable connector connected at the end of a three-core round cable by means of a contacting device according to the invention, wherein the cable sheath is shown broken in the interior to make the wire run visible; Figure 2 is a perspective view of this cable connector with the contacting device open; 3 - perspective views of a contacting device to be connected to the end of a four-core round cable with plug connector and splicer in the unmounted (FIG. 3a) and assembled (FIG. 3b) state; 4 shows a perspective view of a unit constructed as a cable connector from two contacting devices for penetrating contact elements; 5 shows a perspective view of a further unit constructed as an amplifier or branch from three contacting devices for penetrating contact elements; 6 is a perspective view of a section of a round cable bus line with subscribers connected to it; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of an eight-way cable splitter; 8 shows a schematic perspective view of a penetrating contact element which makes contact with a cable wire and is designed as a two-armed insulation displacement connector with crossed arms; Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a three-pronged penetrating contact element connected in two to a partially broken-open cable core

10 - A schematic sectional illustration of a contacting of a shielded

Round cable and Fig. 1 1 - a partially sectioned side view of a contacting device for front wire contacting in the pre-assembled state.

The cable connector 1 shown in Figures 1 and 2 consists of a contacting device 2 for contacting the insulated and surrounded by a jacket 3 wires 4, 5, 6 of a three-core round cable 7 by means of three piercing spikes 8, 9, 10, a plug contact carrier 1 1 for receiving of plug-in contacts designed as knife contacts contact elements 12, 13, 14, a union nut 15 with a knurled handle 16 and a sealing ring 17 for sealing the cable entry opening of the union nut 15.

The contacting device 2 has two shell-shaped plastic injection molded parts 19 and 20 which form a contacting piece 18 and which are connected to one another at the cable-side end by an injection-molded film hinge 21 and can be opened around the latter. The shell-shaped part 19, which takes up about three quarters of the circumference, has an external thread 19a, onto which the union nut 15 can be screwed when the contact piece 18 is folded.

The first shell-shaped part 19 is produced in one piece with the plug-in contact carrier 11 by injection molding and carries the piercing spikes 8, 9, 10 cast therein, which are connected in one piece to the associated knife contacts 12, 13, 14 via conductive connections 22. The piercing spikes 8-10 are designed and arranged one behind the other in the axial direction so that their tips penetrate exactly into the associated cable core to be connected to the corresponding knife contact without piercing the core insulation 23 on the opposite side. Their positions are calculated based on the known data of the cable type used.

The second shell-shaped part 20 has inwardly projecting webs 24, between the inner surfaces and the inner wall of the shell the round cable 7 is guided. The webs 24 also effect effective strain relief when the shell-shaped parts 19, 20 are compressed.

The round cable 7 carries a continuous marking line 25 applied to the surface of the jacket 3, which shows the course of a selected wire. According to this course, the cable 7 is cut off mechanically at a certain point and then in a fixed orientation, in which the tip of a marking arrow 26 on the end face 27 of the shell-shaped part 20 points exactly at the marked wire, until it stops at one in the plug-side Webs 24 provided shoulder 28 introduced. In this position there is an exact assignment of the piercing spikes 8-10 to the associated contact points of all three wires. The assembly of the round cable 7 is therefore extremely straightforward and therefore not only ideally suited for simple assembly by hand, but also for cost-effective machine series production. In the latter case, a sleeve is generally not used, but the contact piece is extrusion-coated. First of all, the union nut 15, the sealing ring 17 and the shell-shaped part 20 of the opened contact piece 18 are pushed onto the end section of the round cable 7 previously cut as described until the front face strikes the shoulder 28. The cup-shaped part 20 is then rotated until the tip of the arrow 26 points exactly to the center of the marked wire. The two shell-shaped parts 19, 20 are then pressed together, the piercing spikes 8-10 penetrating into the associated core cores and establishing a permanently secure galvanic connection of the cable cores 4-6 with the associated knife contacts 12-14. At the same time, the webs 24 are pressed against the cable 7 in such a way that good strain relief is achieved, so that the contacting points are not stressed even in the event of a strong train.

Finally, the union nut 15 is screwed onto the contact piece 18 until it stops on an annular flange 29 of the plug contact carrier 11. As a result, on the one hand the shell-shaped parts 19, 20 are held together for permanent securing of the contact and on the other hand the sealing ring 17 and another annular seal 30 arranged on the outer surface of the plug-in contact carrier 11 are pressed together in such a way that the cable connector 1 is tight.

In the cable connector according to Figures 3a and 3b, the contact piece

31 from two identical half-shell parts 32, which are held together by a rubber ring 33 (in FIG. 3a, the half-shell parts 32 are shown in a spread-apart state, for example by finger pressure, for mounting on the round cable 36). The half-shell parts 32 each have two penetrating spikes 34 projecting radially from their inner surfaces for contacting the four wires 35 of a four-core round cable 36, which are connected directly in one piece to four knife contacts 37 projecting axially from the half-shell parts 32. The two end regions 38 of each half-shell part

32 are tapered towards the free end. Furthermore, a connector part 39 is provided, which has a contact carrier plate 40 with recesses for the passage of the knife contacts 37 and a thread, not shown, onto which the union nut 42 is screwed up to a stop 41. The connector part 39 and the union nut 42 each have one with one of the Koni see end regions 38 of the half-shell parts 32 corresponding conical inner surface 43, the plug-in part 39 additionally a so-called splicer 44 for radially pressing apart and thus increasing the mutual spacing of the wires 35

In this embodiment of a cable connector with a contacting device according to the invention for round cables, the assembly is very simple, quick and inexpensive and suitable for mechanical implementation

For this purpose, the union nut 42 and then the pair of half-shell parts 32 spread apart against the force of the rubber ring 33 are applied to the end section of the cable 36 in such a way that the contacting spikes 34 lie exactly at the desired contact points determined from the cable data and the course of a wire 35 After releasing the half-shell parts 32, the contact spikes 34 are already pressed somewhat into the cable sheath 45 by the force of the rubber ring 33 and thus stabilize the position of the contact piece 31. The plug part 39 and the union nut 42 are then pushed over the contact piece 31 from both sides and screwed together, the corresponding conical surfaces 38 and 43 slide along one another, as a result of which the contact spikes 34 penetrate radially into the associated core cores and the half-shell parts 32 are held in this position

At the same time, the knife contacts 37 penetrate the recesses of the contact carrier plate 40 to form the actual plug-in area and also the tip 46 of the splicer 44 is inserted centrally into the end face of the cable 36, the mutual spacing of the wires in the plane of the stone being increased so much that the required air and creepage distances are met with certainty

The cable connector according to FIG. 4 and the distributor or branch shown in FIG. 5 consist of two or three contacting devices 47, as have already been described in more detail for the cable connectors according to FIGS. 1 and 2 The contacting devices 47 are each combined into a unit 48 or 49 to form a unit, that is to say electrically and mechanically connected to one another. The electrical connection can, for example, be a purely galvanic connection of the piercing spikes 8-10, thereby creating a "classic" cable connector However, it can also consist of any electrical circuits, such as, for example, an intermediate amplifier or a repeater for signal processing. Particularly in the embodiment according to FIG. 5 for high-frequency applications, distributor or branch circuits, for example, are sensible, which ensure adequate decoupling of the connections In these exemplary embodiments, the connection pieces 48, 49 are produced mechanically in one piece with the shell-shaped parts 19 in the casting molding process. Alternatively, the connection pieces 48, 49 could, however, also be provided with threaded connections which screwed onto the union nut ar are

The contacting and sealing of the contact pieces 18 are secured, as in the exemplary embodiments according to FIGS. 1 and 2, by screwing the union nuts 15 onto the threads 19a

The application of the invention to a bus system is shown in FIG. 6. The bus line is formed by a multi-core round cable 51 from which, for example, data signals to subscriber stations 52, 54 are coupled out and / or into which, for example, control signals from the subscriber stations 52, 54 Infeed banks are typical participants are, for example, actuators (such as solenoid valves and solenoids) or sensors (such as light barriers, proximity switches, etc.). Since they must be sealed and mostly protected against jamming, appropriate housings 53 are seen for the electrical connection of the participants' circuits or devices Contacting devices designed as branches are provided, the through-contact elements of which are pressed directly into the wires of the bus line 51. The subscriber stations 52 located in the immediate vicinity of the bus line 51 are expediently accommodated with the branches in a single housing 53

The more distant subscriber station 54, on the other hand, has a branch connector connected to the bus line 51 and arranged in its own housing 55 Branch cable 56 connected, the wires of which are contacted with the device connections. The contact is also made here in the manner already described with the aid of the marking line 57 of one wire of the round cable 51.

The above-mentioned branching principle is also applied to the eight-way branch shown in FIG. 7, as can be used, for example, in bus networks for connecting eight consumers without significantly weakening the signals on the continuous bus line 58. Due to the simple and inexpensive contacting according to the invention and its compact construction in a housing 59 with built-in sockets 60 for connecting subscriber devices, this multiple tap is particularly favorable in construction, manufacture and contacting.

The insulation displacement contact 62 according to the invention shown in FIG. 8 (claim 46) has two clamping arms 63, which are deflected somewhat from the plane of their shaft 64 in the opposite direction and are designed to end in a cutting edge 65. With these improvements achieved compared to conventional insulation displacement clamps without much additional effort, the insulation displacement contact 62 requires considerably less space transversely to the axis, easy penetration of the sheath 66 of the round cable 67 and the wire insulation 68, and reliable contacting. It is therefore particularly well suited for contacting twisted wires 69 of a multi-core round cable 67.

An alternative embodiment of the insulation displacement contact shown in FIG. 8 is shown in FIGS. 9a and 9b. Between the two insulation displacement arms 70 of this penetration contact element 71, a penetration spike 72 is also provided, which penetrates into the core 73. A further increase in contact reliability is thus achieved without great additional effort in the production of this penetrating contact element 71. Even if in individual cases - as shown in FIG. 9b - the insulation displacement arms 70 do not contact the core 73, the penetration spike 71 ensures contact. All contact arms 70, 72 are provided with tips 74 for easier penetration of the cable sheath and penetration into the cable core 73 or the core insulation 68. Conventional piercing skewers or insulation displacement contacts are not suitable for the contacting method according to the invention without cable sheathing, because they would be conductively connected to the screen when it penetrated the screen and were short-circuited with the wires. FIG. 10 shows a contacting of the souls 75 of the wires 76 and one with a metallic screen 77 Multi-core round cable 78 and, in addition, the shield 77 itself are shown in principle, in which this disadvantage is simply and effectively avoided. For this purpose, the piercing spikes 79, with the exception of the tips 80 penetrating into the core cores 75, are provided with an insulating sleeve 81, so that no galvanic connection between the Screen 77 and the core cores 75 is possible. A normal metallic piercing spike 82 is provided for contacting the screen 77

The second contact device 83 shown in FIG. 1 1 and designed according to claims 29-32 consists of a cable holder 84 for receiving and fixing a round cable 85 and a contact animal part 86 which can be joined and screwed to the cable holder 84

The cable holder 84 has a front piece 87 receiving the round cable 85, a collar 88 with an external thread 89 that surrounds it at a distance, a sealing ring 90 arranged between the front piece 87 and collar 88, and a so-called PG consisting of a nut 91, a spring cage 92 and a seal 93 - screw on

The contacting part 86 consists of a contact carrier 94, a plug-in union nut 95 and a cable-side screw sleeve 96 for screwing onto the external thread 89 of the collar 88

The contact elements 97 to be arranged in the contact carrier 94 each have a plug socket 98 on the plug side and a penetration spike 99 that is integral therewith on the cable side. The contact holder 94 is designed on the cable side as a splicer 100 and has recesses

101 for guiding the piercing spikes 99 In addition, a coding lug 102 with a triangular cross section is provided on the contact carrier 94 and has an arrow-shaped tip to the axis of the

Contacting device 83 shows. The front piece 87 has a corresponding coding recess 103 on the plug-side end region and a cone 104 which tapers the wall of the contact piece 87 towards the front end.

For assembly, the round cable 85 is first inserted through the cable gland parts 91-93 up to an end stop in the front piece 87 and turned so that the tip of the coding recess 103 points centrally to a selected cable core. To fix the round cable 85 in this position, the PG screw connection is then tightened. Then the contacting part 86 is inserted with the splicer 100 first into the contact holder 84 until the coding lug 102 engages in the coding recess 103 and the internal thread of the screw sleeve 96 grips the external thread 89 of the collar 88. The described alignment of a wire on the tip of the coding recess 103 and the insertion of the coding lug 102 into the coding recess 103 achieve the desired assignment of cable cores and penetration spikes 99 in a simple and effective manner.

During the subsequent screwing of the cable holder 84 and the contacting part 86, the tips 105 of the splicer 100 first penetrate into the end-to-end interstices of the round cable 85 and then the piercing spikes 99 into the core cores. The widening of the cable end area made possible by the cone 104 has the effect that the mutual spacings of the wire cores on the end face of the round cable 85 meet the requirements with regard to sufficiently large air and creepage distances with certainty. In addition, the wall of the cone 104 provides a counterforce which ensures sufficient contact pressure between the piercing spikes 99 and the stranded wires of the core cores.

The described second contacting device thus also enables a quick and safe end-face contacting without stripping the round cable.

Claims

claims

1. A method for the electrical contacting of the conductive core cores of a round cable having at least two twisted cores surrounded by a jacket made of insulating material, characterized in that the contact is made without removing jacket parts through the jacket and the position of the contact points is determined from the course of the wires.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the wire course is determined from the position of a wire at at least any point on the round cable, its winding sense at this point and the lay of the wires, their number and configuration.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the position and the winding sense of the wire are made recognizable by marking.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that the respective position and the winding sense of the wire is made recognizable by a single marking (25, 57).

5. The method according to any one of claims 3 or 4, characterized in that the marking (25, 57) makes the course of the wire and its winding sense recognizable over the entire length of the round cable.

6. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the marking (25, 57) is applied to the surface of the jacket.

7. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the marking is made in the jacket.

8. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 7, characterized in that the marking of the wire position is attached as a continuous line (25, 57).

9. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 7, characterized in that the marking of the wire position is applied as a broken line.

10. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 7, characterized in that a coded pattern, in particular a bar code, is attached as a marking of the position and the winding sense of the wire.

1 1. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 10, characterized in that the marking is formed by electrically conductive material.

12. A method for the electrical contacting of the conductive core cores of one having at least two twisted cores surrounded by a jacket made of insulating material

Round cable, characterized in that the contact is made without removing sheath parts over the end faces of the core cores.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the

Round cable (36) in the area of the end faces is preferably widened by insulating parts of a splicer (44) penetrating between the wires (35) in such a way that the required air and creepage distances on the end face of the round cable (36) between the wire cores are maintained.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the contact is made without contact.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the contact galvanically by means of penetrating contact elements (8 to 10, 34, 62, 71, 79,

82, 99).

16. Contacting device for electrical contacting of the conductive core cores of a round cable having at least two insulated cores surrounded by a jacket of insulating material by means of penetrating contact elements, characterized in that the penetrating contact elements (8 to 10, 34, 62, 71, 79, 82) correspond to those from the Positions of the contact points determined on the course of the wire are arranged on a contact piece (18, 31) made of insulating material, which with the penetrating contact elements (8 to 10, 34, 62, 71, 79, 82) first against the sheath (3, 45) of the round cable (7 , 36) can be pressed.

17. Contacting device according to claim 16, characterized in that the penetrating contact elements (8-10) are arranged one behind the other in the axial direction on the contact piece (18).

18. Contacting device according to claim 17, characterized in that the penetrating contact elements (34) are arranged on the contacting piece (31) such that they penetrate the circumferential offset in the round cable (36).

19. Contacting device according to one of claims 16 to 18, characterized in that the contacting piece (18) has a visible mark (26) assigned to a specific wire (e.g. 4).

20. Contacting device according to one of claims 16 to 19, characterized in that the contacting piece (18) has means (24) for strain relief of the round cable (7).

21. Contacting device according to one of claims 16 to 20, characterized in that the contacting piece (18, 31) consists of at least two the round cable (7, 36) comprising shell-shaped parts (19, 20, 32).

22. Contacting device according to claim 21, characterized in that the penetrating contact elements (34) on the individual shell-shaped parts (32) of the contact piece (31) are arranged distributed.

23. Contacting device according to claim 21 or 22, characterized in that the shell-shaped parts (19, 20) are elastically connected to one another at their end part facing the round cable (7).

24. Contacting device according to claim 23, characterized in that the contact animal piece (18) is a one-piece plastic injection-molded part, the shell-shaped parts

(19, 20) are connected at one end by molded film hinges (21).

25. Contacting device according to claim 24, characterized in that n shell-shaped parts are connected to one another by n-1 film hinges (21).

26. Contacting device according to one of claims 16 to 24, characterized in that the contacting piece (18) and the round cable (7, 36) in the contacted state of a sleeve (15, 42) are closely embraced.

27. Contacting device according to claim 26, characterized in that the sleeve is a screw sleeve (15) which can be screwed onto an external thread of the contacting piece (18).

28. Contacting device according to claim 26 or 27, characterized in that the sleeve (42) and the contact piece (31) have corresponding conical surfaces (38) which are dimensioned and arranged such that the shell-shaped parts (32) of the contact piece (31 ) when pushing into the sleeve (42) in the radial direction against the round cable (36).

29. Contacting device for electrical contacting of the conductive core cores of a round cable having at least two insulated cores surrounded by a jacket made of insulating material by means of penetrating contact elements penetrating into the core cores on the end face, characterized in that a for receiving and holding an end part of the

Round cable (85) trained cable holder (84) and a mating contact part (86) made of insulating material is provided, which has a contact carrier (94) for receiving contact elements (97), which is formed on the cable side as penetrating contact elements (99) and when joining the cable holder (84) and contact animal part (86) with the associated wires are arranged axially corresponding.

30. Contacting device according to claim 29, characterized in that the inner diameter of a round piece (85) comprising the front piece (87) of the cable holder (84) towards the free end of the front piece (87) is a funnel-shaped extension

(104).

31. Contacting device according to claim 29 or 30, characterized in that the cable holder has on the end face a marking assigned to a specific wire.

32. Contacting device according to claim 32, characterized in that the identification is formed by a coding recess (103) of the front piece (87) which interacts with a corresponding coding lug (102) of the contacting part (86).

33. Contacting device according to one of claims 16 to 32, characterized in that the contacting piece (18) or the contacting part (86) has a connector part (1 1, 39 or 86), the plug contact elements (12 to 14, 37 or 98) are galvanically connected to the penetrating contact elements (8 to 10, 34 or 99).

34. Contacting device according to one of claims 16 to 33, characterized in that the contacting piece has an electrical circuit whose connections are galvanically connected to the penetrating contact elements.

35. Contacting device according to one of claims 16 to 34, characterized in that at least two contacting pieces are combined to form a unit.

36. Contacting device according to one of claims 16 to 35, characterized in that at least two contacting pieces (18) are interconnected via a connecting piece (48, 49).

37. Contacting device according to claim 36, characterized in that the penetrating contact elements (8 to 10) in the connecting piece (48, 49) are directly galvanically connected to one another.

38. Contacting device according to claim 36, characterized in that the penetrating contact elements (8 to 10, 34) in the connecting piece (48, 49) are connected to one another via electrical circuits.

39. Contacting device according to one of claims 16 to 38, characterized in that the penetrating contact elements (79), with the exception of the part (80) penetrating into the core cores (75), has an insulating layer (81).

40. Contacting device according to claim 39, characterized in that a further non-insulated penetrating contact element (82) for contacting a cable shield

(77) is arranged on the contact piece.

41. Contacting device according to one of claims 16 to 40, characterized in that the penetrating contact elements are designed as skewers (8 to 10, 34, 71, 79, 82) with at least one tip.

42. Contacting device according to one of claims 16 to 40, characterized in that the penetrating contact elements are designed as insulation displacement terminals (62, 70).

43. Contacting device according to one of claims 16 to 40, characterized in that the penetrating contact elements (71) have at least two insulation displacement arms (70) and a spit (72) lying between them.

44. Contacting device according to claim 42 or 43, characterized in that the insulation displacement arms (63, 70) end in tips (65, 75) which penetrate the wire insulation (68).

45. Contacting device according to claim 42, characterized in that the insulation displacement arms have rounded end parts.

46. Contacting device according to one of claims 42 to 45, characterized in that the insulation displacement arms (63) are crossed.

47. Contacting device according to one of claims 42 to 45, characterized in that the insulation displacement device is arranged such that it penetrates into the associated wire at an angle to the wire axis.