Patent Application
20130237095
The present disclosure relates generally to electrical connectors and more particularly, to an electrical connector with a push-in type contact.
The present disclosure is directed towards a connector for an electrical circuit and more particularly to an electrical connector for a DC power supply. In general, the disclosed example connector provide a convenient and safe way to quickly connect, replace, and/or wire circuit elements together. In one known connector described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,661, a single piece molded connector housing is provided with a plurality of receiving bores each having an entry segment of a given diameter leading to a contact bearing of a lesser diameter and a forward segment of a larger diameter than the diameter of the bearing segment. Each of the bores includes a shoulder or step extending radially between the contact bearing segment and the forward segment defining a surface receiving the end of one or more lances formed in an electrical contact that preclude contact backout when fully inserted.
The connector described, however, typically requires a complicated molding process to create the thickness of the housing with the required flexibility and a complicated boring process to create the through holes. Additionally, the conductors described require sophisticated manufacturing techniques complicating the assembly process. Furthermore, the described conductors are cylindrical in shape, thereby limiting the size of wire that the conductor can accept. Still further, the connector does not include any external visual indication that the conductors are properly seated behind the step, thus the conductors may be subject to backout over time and/or when removing the wire.
Accordingly, there is an identifiable need for a connector that is adapted for use with a DC power supply including a universal pin-type DC power supply such as a universal MATE-N-LOK connector available from Tyco Electronics. The disclosed example connector provides for a different manufacturing technique, a push-in type contact for acceptance of multiple conductor sizes, and/or a connector that provides an indication that the contact is properly seated within the housing. The present disclosure provides one such connector.
The following description of example electrical connectors is not intended to limit the scope of the description to the precise forms detailed herein. Instead the following description is intended to be illustrative so that others may follow its teachings.
Referring now to the figures, an example electrical connector 10 is generally shown. The example electrical connector 10 shows a push-in type contact having a 2-pole design for connecting two sets of conductors, such as wires to a corresponding receiving connector, not shown. It will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that the connector 10 could be designed for use with any number of poles and/or combinations of poles as desired.
Referring in particular to
Returning to
Still further, in the illustrated example, each of the hooks 32 includes a cammed surface 32a and a stepped surface 32b to securely engage the aperture 30 in a snap-fit arrangement. As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, in the example shown, the proper seating of each of the hooks 32 in the proper aperture 30 will provide an externally visible confirmation of the proper seating of the cap 22 within the housing 12. For instance, if the cap 22 is not properly seated, the cammed surface 32a will force the housing defining the opening 26 outwards from the cap 22, providing a visual and physical indication that the cap 22 is improperly seated in the housing 12. In still other examples, the hook 32 may be provided with a color indicator and/or other visual marker to identify when the cap 22 is properly retained in the aperture 30.
In at least one example, the housing 12 and the cap 22 are formed of a non-conductive material such as, for example, a thermoplastic material. As noted above, the housing 12 and/or the cap 22 may be formed of a flexible material to allow the deflection of the exterior tabs 19 and the insertion of the cap 22 into the housing 12. It will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, however, that the material used to form the housing 12 and the cap 22 need not be the same material, and furthermore, may be any suitable material including thermoplastics, thermosets, ceramics, conductive and non-conductive materials alike.
The upper portion 52 of each compartment 50A, 50B includes a pair of support rails 56A, 56B. The support rails 56A, 56B engage lateral edges of a support surface of the contacts 24. A spring shoulder 76 provides a flat surface for the contacts to rest and can also be used to indicate that the contact 22 has been inserted to the proper depth. As previously noted, the interior of the housing 12 is open to and joins to the interior apertures 18 of the extending sleeves 17.
The lower portion 54 of each compartment is generally an enclosed structure having outer walls. An upper spring stop 60 extends between the upper portion 52 and the lower portion 54. The spring stop 60 prevents over-deflection of the blade portion of the contact 24 and cooperates with inwardly convergent sloping surfaces, such as a guide wall 62 to direct incoming conductors into a seat defined by the outer walls and the guide walls. In operation, the lower portion 54 constrains the wire 40 to a confined area which may be of particular importance for some conductors, such as for example, with stranded wire conductors because the confined seats prevent the conductors from flattening out or splaying, which if it occurred could cause a reduction in the holding force of the push-in type contact elements 24. As noted, the spring stop 60 may also limit deflection of the spring finger of the contact elements 24. With the larger wire sizes it may be possible to cause plastic deformation of the spring fingers during insertion of the wire, and thus the spring stop 60 is disposed in the path of spring finger movement to limit flexure of the spring finger to an amount no more than their elastic limit.
At an end opposite to the spring finger 72, there is the contact portion 74. In this example, the contact portion 74 is suitably sized and shaped to electrically engage an electrical contact in the corresponding receiving connector. Accordingly, because in this instance the contact portion is designed to matingly engage a post-type contact in a corresponding connector, the contact portion 74 defines a mating surface having a generally cylindrical shape. Thus, it will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that in the instance where the corresponding receiving connector includes a different type of contact, the shape and/or size of the contact portion 74 will vary.
Having described the individual components of the connector 10, attention can now be focused on
The use, operation, and function of the example disconnect 10 are as follows. To use the connector 10, stripped wires 40 are pushed into the housing 22. The stripped wires 40 fit through the apertures 42 formed in the cap 22 and slide under the resilient contact 72 (e.g., the spring fingers) of the contacts 24. As noted above, the resilient contacts 72 flex to receive the wires 40. Because any withdrawal of the wires 40 would tend to make the resilient contact 72 rotate toward the bottom edge of the housing, the contacts 24 are self-locking. Once the wires 40 are thus installed, the connector 10 is ready for use.
It will be appreciated that while the example connector 10 is described as maintaining a single wire in each contact finger it will be appreciated that in some instances, their may be multiple wires retained by at least one finger as desired. For example, in some instances, multiple wires may be inserted into a single finger.
Furthermore, it will be understood that throughout this description, relative designations such as “top”, “bottom”, “front”, “rear”, “down”, “up”, etc, are used herein for reference purposes only, as there is nothing inherent in the orientation of the example disconnects that would make a particular orientation necessary.
Although certain examples have been described herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope of the appended claims either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 13416432 | Mar 2012 | US |
| Child | 13724570 | US |
