This application claims the benefit of the filing date under 35 U.S.C. ยง 119(a)-(d) of French Patent Application No. 1854181, filed on May 18, 2018.
The present invention relates to a cable clamping device and, more particularly, to a cable clamping device for a sealed electrical connector.
For sealed electrical connectors, a rear grid associated with a sealing joint is commonly used at an opening of a housing of the sealed electrical connector, at which the electrical cables are inserted. The rear grid has orifices dimensioned to receive the electrical cables and retains and compresses the sealing joint.
In sealed connectors, the insulation of the electrical cables, unlike the crimping terminals situated further inside the housing, is not crimped. This makes the sealed housings vulnerable to tensile stress when the cables are pulled in a direction opposite the direction of insertion of the cable into the housing, for example, during handling and/or use of the connector.
A cable clamping device for a housing of a sealed electrical connector comprises a grid having an orifice adapted to receive a cable and clamp the cable in the orifice.
The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying Figures, of which:
Embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter in detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that the disclosure will convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art.
The person skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be applied substantially to any type of electrical connector, in particular to any type of sealed electrical connector.
An electrical connector 100 according to an embodiment is shown in
In the shown embodiment, the electrical connector 100 is a sealed electrical connector, and the insulation 106 of the electrical cable 105 is not crimped for sealing reasons. In order to ensure the sealing, the electrical connector 100 has a sealing plug 203 with a plurality of lips 205 sealing of the connector 100.
The clamping device 1, as shown in
The cable clamping device 1, in the shown embodiment, is produced from a single monolithic piece in an elastically deformable plastic material. This makes it possible to reduce the number of components in the sealed electrical connector 100 and to offer an easy assembly.
In the embodiment shown in
The first jaw 5 is positioned in the U-shaped opening of the second jaw 7, as shown in
As shown in
The two hinges 31, 33 are elastically deformable in such a way as to permit a rotary pivoting of the first jaw 5 with respect to the second jaw 7. A rotation axis B is perpendicular to the insertion direction A. The two hinges 31, 33, which are integral with and perpendicular to the two internal side walls 35, 37 of the second jaw 7, are also perpendicular to the direction of insertion A of the clamping device 1 into an opening of a housing.
The two hinges 31, 33 define between them the rotation axis B around which the first jaw 5 can pivot. The first jaw 5 is thus pivoted in rotation around the axis B which links the two hinges 31, 33 as indicated by the arrow C in
As shown in
The wall 49 of the first jaw 5 facing the orifices 9, 11 as well as the circular kerfs 19, 21 of the second jaw 7 are provided with retaining shapes 51, 53, as shown in
The wall 39 of the second jaw 7, adjacent to the lower side 41 of the first jaw 5, has a protrusion 55, shown in
In the embodiment shown in
The clamping device 1 is shown in an assembly state in
As shown in
In the step shown in
The height 14 of the rear wall 44 of the first jaw 5 confers a dimension on the grid 3 considerably larger than the height L of the opening 103 of the housing 101. However, the structure in the shape of a ramp 42, 43 of the first jaw 5 makes it possible to facilitate the insertion of the clamping device 1 into the opening 103. In addition, the beveled periphery 47 of the wall 39 of the second jaw 7 likewise makes it possible to facilitate the insertion of the second jaw 7 into the opening 103, especially since a periphery 109 of the opening 103 of the housing 101 is likewise beveled.
The side walls 111, 113 of the housing 101, which are situated on either side of the opening 103, each have a hole 115, 117 configured to receive the protrusions 55 of the second jaw 7, permitting a snap-locking of the clamping device 1 in the housing 101.
A second step of assembling the clamping device 1 in the electrical connector 100 is shown in
As shown in
The pivoting of the jaw 5 is further facilitated by the difference in length, along the introduction direction A, between the depth 15 of the first jaw 5 and the depth 17 of the second jaw 7, with 15 longer than 17. Thus, a portion of a length 16 of the first jaw 5 towards the rear wall 44 extends beyond the second jaw 7 in a direction parallel to the introduction direction A. The portion of length 16 corresponds specifically to the side opposite the vertex 42a of the ramp 42.
The clamping device 1 and the electrical connector 100 are shown in an assembled state in
By pushing the clamping device 1 further in the insertion direction A, the abutment of the vertex 42a, 43a of the ramp 42, 43 of the first jaw 5 against the beveled periphery 109 of the opening 103 brings about the pivoting of the first jaw 5 around the rotation axis B as indicated by the arrow C. It is the difference in dimensions between the grid 3, especially the height 14 of the first jaw 5, and the height L of the opening 103 of the housing 101, which makes it possible to trigger the pivoting of the first jaw 5 during the introduction of the housing 101 into the opening 103.
The rotary pivoting of the first jaw 5 makes it possible to lower the internal wall 49 of the first jaw 5 towards the second jaw 7 as indicated by the arrow C, and thus to close the first jaw 5 and the second jaw 7 on the electrical cable 105 so as to jam the electrical cable 105. In addition, the protrusion 51 of the first jaw 5 and the protrusion 53 of the second jaw 7 hold the electrical cable 105 further, especially since the protrusions 51, 53 have a ramp shape, the slopes of which have directions opposed to one another, so as to improve the clamping of the electrical cable 105. The protrusions 51, 53 apply pressure on the insulation 106 of the electrical cable 105, which causes a jamming by friction and/or by shape between the protrusions 51, 53 and the insulation 106. The same is true of, and applies to, the second cable 107.
In the assembled state shown in
The clamping device 1 makes it possible to ensure the holding of the electrical cables 105, 107 in a sealed electrical connector 100, in particular when they are under tensile stress shown by the arrow T in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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1854181 | May 2018 | FR | national |
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4299363 | Datschefski | Nov 1981 | A |
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Number | Date | Country |
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1701410 | Sep 2006 | EP |
2016135303 | Sep 2016 | WO |
Entry |
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Search Report, App. No. FR1854181, dated Jan. 15, 2019, 10 pages. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20190356087 A1 | Nov 2019 | US |