In the electrical field, especially in the electronics field, it is common to manufacture electrical cable assemblies having a multiplicity of insulated wires attached to a single electrical connector having an array of electrical contacts. Typically, the insulated wires are stripped of the insulating material a small distance from the end of the wires, and a contact is crimped, soldered, or welded to the end of the wire. These contacts are then inserted into a connector body forming the array aforementioned.
A wire management comb is presented wherein insulated electrical wire is attached to an electrical contact array such that very high voltage can exist between adjacent wires without voltage breakdown or leakage. The ability of these connections to sustain a voltage between adjacent contacts depends largely upon the distance between them, the shortest path along any joining surface being the important consideration. In the electronics field, these distances can be very small such that voltages of as little as 100VDC can cause deleterious leakage. A configuration that will allow voltage of 5000VDC between adjacent wires and these contacts would be desirable.
According to one aspect of the invention, the tails of a contact array are positioned in slots of an insulated management comb. The slots are deep enough to provide distance from one tail to its nearest neighbor along the surface of the insulation greater than the direct distance between them.
According to another aspect of the invention, weld locations are provided in staggered array such that the distance along the surface of the management combs from one weld site to its nearest neighbor is larger than the distance between contacts.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, the tails of the contacts stop short of the end of the management combs such that the distance allowing the surface of the combs from one contact end to its nearest neighbor is larger than the distance between contacts.
According to still another aspect of the invention, the wires are welded without removing the insulation by utilizing a heated electrode that melts through the insulation to contact the electrical conductor. This site and the end of the insulated wire constitute the only exposed conductor. These sites are isolated by the configuration of the management comb.
According to a further aspect of the invention an electrical connector includes: an array of contacts; and a header that holds the contacts in position relative to one another; wherein the connector may include one or more of the following: the header is made of plastic; the header is molded around the contacts; the header includes a comb that supports contact tails of the contacts; the contact tails are in slots of the comb; the slots have open spaces adjacent to a back face of the header, that the contact tails do not extend into; the slots have widened portions that allow insertion of an electrode for electrically welding conductors to the contact tails; the widened portions are staggered, at different distances from the back face of the header; the widened portions alternate being relatively close to the back face, and relatively far from the back face; the comb has bottom holes at locations corresponding to the locations of the widened portions; the bottom holes are configured to allow insertion of an electrode for welding; and the bottom holes allow access to undersides of the contact tails.
According to a still further aspect of the invention, a method of securing wires to contact tails of contacts includes: placing the wires in slots in a dielectric material comb, wherein the contact tails are in the slots; and electrically welding conductors of the wires to the contact tails, within the slots; wherein the method may include one or more of the following: inserting a first welding electrode into widened portions of the slots; the widened portions are located at different distances relative to a back face of the comb; the first electrode is a heated electrode; insulation of the wires in the vicinity of the widened portions, is thereby melted with the heated electrode, exposing portions of the conductors of the wires; inserting a second electrode into bottom holes of the comb that correspond in location to the widened portions; the second electrode is an unheated electrode; the unheated electrode contacts a metal surface of a contact tail to be welded; and the welding includes welding the exposed portions of the conductors to the contact tails using the electrodes.
According to another aspect of the invention, an electrical connector includes: an array of contacts; and a header that holds the contacts in position relative to one another. The header includes a comb that supports contact tails of the contacts. The contact tails are in slots of the comb.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, a method of securing wires to contact tails of contacts includes: placing the wires in slots in a dielectric material comb, wherein the contact tails are in the slots; and welding conductors of the wires to the contact tails, within the slots.
To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention. These embodiments are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed. Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the drawings.
The annexed drawings, which are not necessarily to scale, show various features of the invention.
A linear connector contact array is presented with focus on the tails of the contacts that are connected to individual wires. A wire management comb made from dielectric material positions each wire over its contact's tail. The wire is attached to the tail by electrically welding the wire to the tail without removing the insulating material. This is accomplished with a heated welding electrode that melts through the insulator material until electrical contact is made with the wire. A non-heated electrode is beneath the tail to complete this circuit. The wire management comb has deep channels into which each wire resides. These channels form insulating ribs between adjacent wires such that the path along the surface of the management comb from one wire to its closest neighbor is very much larger than the distances between wires. Also, the weld sites are staggered such that the distance between weld sites is larger than the distance between wires. Finally, the exposed ends of the contact tails are held short of the end of the management comb such that the path along the surface of the comb from the end of one contact to its nearest neighbor is much longer than the distance between adjacent wires.
As a result of these extended paths, a much larger voltage can be supported between adjacent contacts and wires. To support 5000VDC, a path of approximately 4 mm is required, whereas typical distances between adjacent contacts might be as small as 1 mm. By the methods outlined above, the size of a connector requiring high-voltage isolation can be considerably reduced.
The header 12 is a single molded plastic piece that includes a comb 20 that is used for managing electrical connections between wires (not shown in
The comb 20 has a series of slots 28 in its top surface 30 that allow wires to be placed therein to make contact with the tails 24. The slots 28 are deep enough to provide enhanced electrical isolation between adjacent of the contact tails 24. This is illustrated in
As also shown in
The staggered locations for the widened portions 40 aid in electrically isolating the contact tails 24 from one another. An electrical isolation path 52 from the widened portions 40 of adjacent of the contact tails 24 is longer than the direct spacing 34 between the contact tails 24. Due to the staggering of the widened portions 40, the omission of dielectric material for the widened portions 40 does not result in a shorter electrical path between adjacent of the widened portions 40. The path 52 may be about the same length as the path 32 (
The configuration of the comb 20 provides good electrical isolation between the contact tails 24. The isolation paths 32, 52, and 62 are all significantly longer than the direct spacing 34 between the contact tails 24. These long isolation paths reduce the risk of current leakage and voltage breakdown.
Many variants are possible regarding the above device and method. For example the comb of the header may include any suitable number of contacts. Also, other configurations may be used in coupling wires to contacts.
Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to a certain preferred embodiment or embodiments, it is obvious that equivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art upon the reading and understanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described elements (components, assemblies, devices, compositions, etc.), the terms (including a reference to a “means”) used to describe such elements are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any element which performs the specified function of the described element (i.e., that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs the function in the herein illustrated exemplary embodiment or embodiments of the invention. In addition, while a particular feature of the invention may have been described above with respect to only one or more of several illustrated embodiments, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other embodiments, as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/US2012/036267 | 5/3/2012 | WO | 00 | 1/30/2014 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61481851 | May 2011 | US |