WO2009043862A1

WO2009043862A1 - Connector cover

Info

Publication number: WO2009043862A1
Application number: PCT/EP2008/063114
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jan Ulander
Original assignee: Nordia Innovation Ab
Priority date: 2007-10-04
Filing date: 2008-10-01
Publication date: 2009-04-09

Abstract

The invention relates to a connector cover for an electrical connector housing (30) comprising a first connector member (10) and a second connector member (20) connected to each other arranged to accommodate at least a part of the electrical connector housing (30) wherein the first connector member (10) comprises at least one locking pin (13) adapted to engage a slot (202) of an aperture (201) in a housing (200) for fixating the connector cover to the housing (200).

Description

CONNECTOR COVER

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a connector cover, an assembly comprising said cover and a method of assembling such an assembly. More particularly, the invention relates to a connector cover to be used in connection with an electrical connector.

BACKGROUND ART

In the area of connecting a plurality of input lines to a plurality of output lines a plurality of cables are used. The different lines are connected to a connecting board that receives the lines through a pin and mate arrangement or the like. The boards are in their turn mounted in a housing or the like. It is important that the connection lines are hooked up with associated pins /or the ap- ertures in order to get the appropriate connection input line hooked up with the appropriate output line or vice versa. The assembling of connection housings is today rather time consuming and complex in order to get the connections right and in place.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is to provide an arrangement to facilitate the process of hooking up the outputs/inputs of a printed circuit board to a cable.

The invention relates to a connector cover for accommodating at least a part of an electrical connector housing comprising a first connector member and a second connector member arranged to be connected to each other wherein the first connector member comprises at least one protruding locking pin adapted to engage a slot of an aperture in a housing for fixating the connector cover to the housing.

The locking pin may be arranged centrally with respect to the connector housing. Thereby the connector cover exerts a symmetrical force on the con- nector housing, and the so-called drawer effect is avoided.

Additionally the first connector member may comprise at least one guide/key pin arranged eccentric of a centre line of said connector cover.

In an embodiment the at least one locking pin is arranged eccentric of a centre line of said connector cover.

Furthermore, the first connector member may comprise a number of latching means to engage latching means arranged at the second connector member in order to be able to assemble the connector cover around an electrical connector housing when the electrical connector housing already has been connected to a cable.

The first connector member and the second connector member may form an internal cable passage ending in an opening arranged at an angle with the centre line of the connector cover.

The invention further relates to a connector assembly comprising a connector cover according to the above, a cable comprising a number of electrical lines, and an electrical connector housing comprising a plurality of terminals passages connected to said electrical lines of said cable and extending from a rear portion of said electrical connector housing through said electrical connector housing to open on a front face of said electrical connector housing; the front face comprises mating apertures arranged to receive pins arranged at a housing, wherein the connector cover is arranged to accommodate at least a part of the electrical housing and at least a part of the cable.

In an embodiment the housing comprises a side plate element and two elements perpendicular to the side plate facing each other, the side plate ele- ment comprises at least one aperture arranged with a slot to fixate a connector cover of the connector assembly.

The invention furthermore relates to a plate element comprising a number of connector assemblies according the above mounted to the plate.

The connector assemblies may be mounted in columns and rows over the plate element, resulting in a backplane that is flexible and easy to deliver and install on site.

Additionally, the invention relates to a method for preparing a mating housing intended to contain a printed circuit board for hooking up electrical lines of a cable to inputs/outputs arranged on said printed circuit board, comprising the steps of: connecting the electrical lines of the cable to inputs of terminal passages extending from a rear portion of an electrical connector housing to open on front face of the electrical connector housing, assembling a first cover member of a connector cover to a second cover member around a part of the cable and a part of the electrical connector housing, mounting the assembled connector assembly to a side element of a mating housing intended to accommodate the printed circuit board, wherein at least one locking pin arranged at the first cover member engages a slot of an aperture in the mating housing fixating the connector assembly to the mating housing.

The invention further relates to a method for connecting electrical lines of a cable to inputs/outputs of a printed circuit board comprising the steps of the method according to the above followed by the step of: installing the printed circuit board into the mating housing and connecting a pin header arranged on the printed circuit board to the front face of the electrical connector hous- ing, thereby, hooking up the electrical lines of the cable to the input/output lines of the printed circuit board.

The invention provides a solution that is easily handled and manufactured. The process of hooking up circuit boards to cables is facilitated and less time consuming. The risk of connecting the outputs/inputs of the printed circuit board to the wrong input/output lines of the cable is deleted.

In the embodiment wherein the cables are fixated to a housing before the printed circuit boards are inserted into the housing the process of hooking up the circuit boards to the cables is accelerated and the implementation of a telecommunication switch station on site is less time consuming.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention, together with further objectives and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in con- junction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a exploded view of a connector assembly,

Figure 2 shows a front view of a connector assembly,

Figure 3 shows a side view of a connector assembly,

Figure 4 shows a perspective view of a connector assembly,

Figure 5 shows a perspective view of a connector assembly,

Figure 6 shows a cross sectional view of a connector assembly separated from a mating housing,

Figure 7 shows a cross sectional view of a connector assembly, in fixed but not locked in plate,

Figure 8 shows a cross sectional view of a connector assembly, in fixed and locked position in plate,

Figure 9 shows a perspective view of a connector assembly mounted to a plate of a mating housing, and Figure 10 shows a block diagram of a method for connecting a cable to a printed circuit board.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a connector cover to be used in connection with an electrical connector in order to selectively vary the profile of the connector to provide both keying, latching and cable handling for the connector. A cover assembly 1 comprises a first end adopted to engage an associated electrical cable and an opposite end profiled to latchingly engage with a mating device 200 (see figures 7 and 9). In the embodiment shown in figure 1 , the cover assembly 1 comprises a first cover member 10 comprising a first guide and key pin 11 and a second guide and key pin 12. The first cover member further comprises a first locking pin 13 and a second locking pin 14 and has a formed opening 18 arranged to receive an electrical cable. The assembly further comprises a second cover member 20 comprising a first guide and key pin 21 and a second guide and key pin 22. The second cover member 20 further comprises a first locking pin 23 and a second locking pin 24 and has a formed opening 28 arranged to receive an electrical cable. The second cover member 20 further has latching means for latching the second cover member 20 to the first cover member 10. In the illustrated embodiment the second cover member comprises a first snap hook 25 arranged to engage with a first snap slot arrangement 15 in the first cover member 10, a second snap hook 26 arranged to engage with a second snap slot arrangement 16 in the first cover member 10, and a third snap hook 27 arranged to engage with a third snap slot arrangement 17 in the first cover member 10.

In the illustrated embodiment of figure 1 the cover members are further arranged to accommodate an electrical connector housing 30 arranged to be hooked up with electrical lines from a cable. The electrical connector housing may be a plastic housing arranged to receive a plurality of electrical lines such as input/output communications lines or the like. The electrical housing carries a plurality of terminals, each terminating an electrical line. It should be understood that the cable may be secured in the connector cover in order to relief the strain on the cable.

It should further be understood that the interior of the both cover members may be arranged with elements to accommodate and secure the electrical connector housing in a suitable manner.

It should also be understood that at least one of the cover members is provided with keying means. At least one of the cover members is provided with latching means to secure the assembly to the mating housing. The cover members together define at least one cable passage. An electrical connector provided with the covers according to the present invention can be mated with a pin header in connection with a circuit board.

In figure 2 a front view of an embodiment of a cover assembly is disclosed. A first and second locking pin 13 and 14 are wider than key pins 11 , 12. The cover assembly comprises the connector cover, cover members 10, 20, ar- ranged with an opening 5 for a cable, wherein the cable should be connected to the electrical connector housing 30. As shown the opening may be arranged with a protection collar in order to avoid external bending directly on the cable at the outlet of the connector cover. The opening 5 is arranged with an angle in relation to the centre line of the connector assembly in order to facilitate the mounting of the connector assemblies to a backside. That is, the operator that mounts the connector housing will know visually how to mount a cable to the backside by merely looking at another mounted connector assembly as well as this feature requires less space in front of the backside.

Figure 3 shows a side view of an embodiment of the invention. The connec- tor cover comprises a first locking pin 14 arranged with a snap protrusion 141 forming a slot 142 on the locking pin 14. Similarly, a snap protrusion 241 on a second locking pin 24 is arranged on the pin 24 and forms as well a slot 242 on the locking pin 24. The connector cover accommodates a connector housing 30. In Figures 4 and 5 perspective views of an embodiment of the connector assembly are shown. A connector cover of the assembly accommodates an electrical connector housing comprising a first and second elements 31 , 32 with a number of terminals arranged to receive pins. It should be understood that the terminals may as well be pins arranged for engaging apertures. As shown in the figures the connector cover is arranged with supporting ribs 19,

29 on each side of the connector housing 30.

In figures 6-8 a way of mounting said connector cover assembly in a circuit board 100 is shown (it should be understood that the cable is not shown in the illustrated example, however, the cable is connected to the electrical connector housing 30).

In figure 6, a cross section of a cover assembly 1 is disclosed. The cover assembly 1 comprises a first locking pin 13 of a first cover member arranged with snap protrusion 131 and a first locking pin 23 of a second cover member is also arranged with a snap protrusion 231. Furthermore, a housing 200 arranged to accommodate a number of printed circuit boards or the like, is arranged to receive said connector assembly. The housing 200 comprises a number of slots 210 arranged to support the boards when securing the boards in the housing. That is, the material bulged from the slots 210 form a slide slot arranged to receive the printed circuit board. Furthermore, the housing comprises a number of apertures 201 arranged to receive said electrical connector housing, that is, the part of the electrical connector housing

30 that protrudes under the pins 11 -14, 21 -24 of the connector cover. Along the edges of the apertures a first slot 202 is arranged and a second slot 203 is arranged to act as a lock mechanism in a snap engagement with the locking pins of the connector cover. It should also be noted that the apertures have a first and a second key slot (not shown in figure 6, see details 204, 205 in figure 9) arranged to receive key pins 21 , 22 (not shown, see i.a. figures 1 and 4). Figure 7 shows a cross sectional view of a connector assembly when the connector assembly has been mounted in the housing 200. As shown in figure 7 an aperture 201 arranged on the backside of the housing 200 have received a connector assembly 1 whereas the locking pins 13 and 23 have snapped into the housing through said slots 202, 203. Thereby, the connector assembly is fixated. It should be understood that an embodiment of mounting a number of said connector covers assemblies onto a housing before connecting the pins to terminals of the electrical connector housing 30 is time efficient and facilitates the handling of the system.

Each locking pin 13, 14 is centhcally arranged with respect to the respective electrical connector housing 30. This is clearly shown in figure 2. Thereby the connector cover exerts a symmetrical force on the connector housing, and the so-called drawer effect is avoided, especially when the connector cover is made from a flexible material such as plastic. As is shown in figure 5, each electrical connector housing 30 is surrounded by locking pins 13, 23, 14, 24 on a first and a second side thereof, which ensures symmetrical connecting force.

The backside of the housing 200 may be mounted with a number of connector assemblies covering the complete backside before hooking up the boards, PCBs, to said connectors. By this embodiment a backside with a number of connector assemblies, arranged in columns and rows, is provided that facilitates the instalment on site.

In Figure 8 a PCB or the like is installed in said housing 200. That is, the board 100 is secured in the housing and the pins of the board 100 are hooked up to the terminals of the electrical connector housing 30. The connector assembly is in a locked position.

In figure 9 a connector assembly hooked up to housing is disclosed. The apertures 201 of the housing 200 comprise as stated above slots 202, 203 for the locking pins 13, 14, 23, 24 of the connector cover. However, the aper- tures 201 further comprise key slots 204, 205 in order to receive the key pins 11 , 12, 21 , 22 of the connector assembly 1. By providing the connector assembly with key pins and associated slots in the housing 200 the connector assembly will always be mounted in the appropriate manner. That is, the connector assembly will never be mounted up side down and thereby never hooking up the wrong terminal to an output/input pin of the board 100. It should be understood that the keying function may be achieved by merely using one pin in the connector assembly and one slot along the edge of the aperture 201. The slot may in an alternative embodiment be a separated hole. However, in order to guide the connector into the aperture of the illustrated embodiment the key pins 11 , 12, 21 , 22 are placed eccentrically at the same side of the centre lines of a connector housing elements 31 , 32 making it impossible to mount the connector assembly up side down as well as providing a good guidance of the connector assembly when mounting the con- nector assembly 1 to the housing 200.

When the connector assembly is inserted into the aperture 201 the protrusions 131 , 141 , 231 , 241 of the locking pins 13, 14, 23, 24 come in contact with the upper/lower edge of the slots 202, 203 and cause the locking pins 13, 14, 23, 24 to flex towards the electrical connector housing 30. When the locking pins 13, 14, 23, 24 have reached their end position the locking pins 13, 14, 23, 24 flex outwards and the upper/lower edges of the slots 202, 203 engages the locking pins in the slots 132, 142, 232, 242. Thereby, the connector assembly is fixated to the housing 200.

It should be understood that the locking pins 13, 14, 23, 24 may be arranged eccentrically at the same side of the centre lines of a connector housing elements 31 , 32, thereby providing the key feature of pins 11 , 12, 21 , 22, resulting in an embodiment without the key pins 11 , 12, 21 , 22.

Figure 10 shows a block diagram of a method for connecting electrical lines of a cable to inputs/outputs arranged at a printed circuit board. In step 82, the cable is stripped and the electrical lines of said cable are laid open. These electrical lines are connected to terminal passages of an electrical connector housing.

In step 84, a connector cover comprising a first cover member and a second cover member is assembled, for example, by snap locking the first cover member to the second cover member, around the electrical connector housing in a way that a part of the electrical connector housing protrudes in front of said connector cover. A part of the cable may be covered as well. The connector cover may be assembled by snapping latch elements arranged on one cover member to shoulders arranged on the other cover member.

In step 86, the assembled connector assembly is then mounted into a plate of a mating housing. The locking pins of the connector cover are inserted through slots arranged along an edge of an aperture arranged in said plate. Said aperture is arranged to receive the electrical connector housing.

In step 88, inputs/outputs of the circuit board may be connected to a pin header. In step 88 the printed circuit board is inserted in two slide slot arranged in the mating housing and said pin header is connected to front openings of the electrical connector housing by merely pushing the board towards plate of the housing.

It should be understood that step 88 may be performed before step 86.

The foregoing has described the principles, preferred embodiments and modes of operation of the present invention. However, the invention should be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive, and not as being limited to the particular embodiments discussed above. It should therefore be appreci- ated that variations may be made in those embodiments by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.

Claims

1. A connector cover for accommodating at least a part of an electrical connector housing (30) comprising a first connector member (10) and a second connector member (20) arranged to be connected to each other characterized in that the first connector member (10) comprises at least one protruding locking pin (13) adapted to engage a slot (202) of an aperture (201 ) in a housing (200) for fixating the connector cover to the housing (200).

2. A connector cover according to claim 1 , wherein the first connector mem- ber comprises at least one guide/key pin (11 ) arranged eccentric of a centre line of said connector cover.

3. A connector cover according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one locking pin (13) is arranged eccentric of a centre line of said connector cover.

4. A connector cover according to claim 1 , wherein the first connector mem- ber comprises a number of latching means to engage latching means arranged at the second connector member in order to be able to assemble the connector cover around an electrical connector housing when the electrical connector housing already been connected to a cable.

5. A connector cover according to claim 1 , wherein the first connector mem- ber (10) and the second connector member (20) form an internal cable passage ending in an opening (5) arranged at an angle with the centre line of the connector cover.

6. A connector assembly (1 ) comprising a connector cover according to any of claims 1 -5, a cable comprising a number of electrical lines, and an electrical connector housing (30) comprising a plurality of terminals passages connected to said electrical lines of said cable and extending from a rear portion of said electrical connector housing through said electrical connector housing to open on a front face of said electrical connector housing; the front face comprises mating apertures arranged to receive pins arranged at a housing (200), wherein the connector cover is arranged to accommodate at least a part of the electrical housing and at least a part of the cable.

7. An arrangement of a housing structure and a connector assembly according to claim 6, wherein the housing comprises a side plate element and two elements perpendicular to the side plate facing each other, the side plate element comprises at least one aperture (201 ) arranged with a slot (202) to fixate a connector cover of the connector assembly.

8. A plate element comprising a number of connector assemblies (1 ) according to claim 6 mounted to the plate.

9. A plate element according to claim 8, wherein the connector assemblies are mounted in columns and rows over the plate element, so that the plate element together with the connector assemblies forms a backplane.

10. A method for preparing a mating housing intended to contain a printed circuit board for hooking up electrical lines of a cable to inputs/outputs arranged on said printed circuit board, comprising the steps of:

- connecting the electrical lines of the cable to inputs of terminal passages extending from a rear portion of an electrical connector housing (30) to open on front face of the electrical connector housing (30),

- assembling a first cover member (10) of a connector cover to a second cover member (20) around a part of the cable and a part of the electrical connector housing (30),

- mounting the assembled connector assembly to a side element of a mat- ing housing (200) intended to accommodate the printed circuit board

(100), wherein at least one locking pin (13) arranged at the first cover member (10) engages a slot (202) of an aperture (201 ) in the mating housing (200) fixating the connector assembly to the mating housing.

11. A method for connecting electrical lines of a cable to inputs/outputs of a printed circuit board comprising the steps of the method according to claim 10 followed by the step of:

- installing the printed circuit board into the mating housing (200) and connecting a pin header arranged on the printed circuit board to the front face of the electrical connector housing, thereby, hooking up the electrical lines of the cable to the input/output lines of the printed circuit board.