Claims
- 1. A housing assembly for terminations of terminal means to an end of flat power cable, comprising
- an integral housing member having upper and lower cover sections and a mating face and a terminal-receiving rearward end, and including terminal-receiving cavity means extending forwardly from said terminal-receiving rearward end to rearwardly facing stop surfaces said cavity means being adapted to receive said terminal means thereinto to adjacent said rearwardly facing stop surfaces from rearwardly of said housing member, and further including passageway means extending forwardly from said cavity means through which contact means of said terminal means extend after insertion to matingly engage corresponding contact means of another electrical article; and
- a rearward member securable onto said terminal-receiving rearward housing end after insertion of said terminal means into said terminal-receiving cavity means, said rearward member including a slot between upper and lower strut members, said slot having a width approximately equal to the width of the flat power cable and having a height at least after being secured to said terminal-receiving rearward housing end approximately equal to the thickness of the flat cable, and said rearward member defining forwardly facing stop surfaces corresponding to rearwardly facing stop surfaces of said terminal means,
- whereby after being secured to the housing member, the rearward member retains the terminal means terminated to the flat cable within the cavity means of the housing member, provides dielectric material closing the terminal-receiving rearward housing end, and the slot thereof defines a cable exit which is spaced rearwardly from terminations of the terminal means to flat cable which protects the terminations from cable torque relative to the housing member.
- 2. A housing assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said rearward member is bifurcated with said upper and lower struts being integrally joined at a joint at a first lateral end and separated at a second lateral end, whereby the rearward member is adapted to be inserted over the flat cable from a lateral edge thereof with said upper and lower struts respectively passing over and under upper and lower major surfaces of the flat cable rearwardly of the terminal means terminated to an end of the flat cable.
- 3. A housing assembly as set forth in claim 2 wherein said rearward member includes a first latch arm extending forwardly from said first lateral end and including first latching means at a forward end of said first latch arm, and further includes second latch arms coextending forwardly from said upper and lower struts at said second lateral end and having second latch means at respective forward ends thereof, said second latch arms comprising a cooperable latch arm pair opposed from said first latch arm, and said housing member including corresponding latching means along side walls thereof proximate said terminal-receiving rearward end adapted to establish latching engagement with said first and second latching means of said first latch arm and cooperable latch arm pair respectively when said rearward member is urged axially forwardly along the flat cable and against said terminal-receiving rearward housing end, securing said rearward member to said housing member and retaining said terminal means in said housing member.
- 4. A housing assembly as set forth in claim 3 wherein said cooperating latching means is adapted to hold said second latch arms of said cooperable latch arm after latching against movement relatively apart.
- 5. A housing assembly as set forth in claim 3 wherein said first and second latching means comprise latching projections extending relatively toward each other and define rearwardly facing latching surfaces, and said corresponding latching means comprise laterally outwardly facing latching recesses adapted to receive said latching projections thereinto upon latching and defining forwardly facing latching surfaces corresponding to said rearwardly facing latching surfaces to latchingly secure said rearward member to said housing member.
- 6. A housing assembly as set forth in claim 5 wherein said rearwardly facing latching surfaces are slightly angled outwardly and said forwardly facing latching surfaces are slightly angled inwardly, whereby the latching system defined by the rearward member and the housing member is adapted to hold the latch arms relatively toward the side surfaces and to thereby resist unlatching upon stress applied by the terminated flat cable urging said rearward member rearwardly from said housing member.
- 7. A housing assembly as set forth in claim 2 wherein said cable exit is defined by facing surfaces of said upper and lower struts spaced to abut the upper and lower major surfaces of the flat cable after assembly, and by inwardly facing surfaces defined on said integral joint at said first lateral end and on respective second lateral ends of said upper and lower struts after said rearward member is secured to said housing member, which are spaced to abut the lateral edges of the flat cable after assembly.
- 8. A housing assembly as set forth in claim 7 wherein rearward edges of said facing surfaces of said upper and lower struts are rounded.
- 9. A housing assembly as set forth in claim 1 for said terminal means comprising a pair of separate terminal members terminated onto respective tab-shaped portions of the flat cable, wherein said cavity means comprises a pair of cavities for respective ones of said pair of separate terminal members, said housing member including a central barrier wall between said pair of cavities establishing insulative material between the separate terminals after insertion thereof into said pair of cavities and joining said upper and lower cover sections of said housing midway thereof transversely, whereby the upper and lower cover sections are held a fixed spacing apart transversely thereacross along said terminal-receiving rearward end.
- 10. A housing assembly as set forth in claim 9 wherein pairs of upper and lower ledges are defined axially along inner surfaces of said upper and lower cover sections defining said pair of cavities and adjacent upper and lower surfaces of the terminals after insertion thereof into said cavities, said ledge pairs being disposed at both lateral ends of each of said pair of cavities, upper and lower ones of each of said pair of ledges having facing surfaces spaced apart a precise distance approximately corresponding to the nominal vertical height of each of the terminals of said pair, whereby the housing member maintains an assured effective vertical height to the respective cavities and vertical movement of the separate terminals is thereby closely limited.
- 11. A housing assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said upper and lower struts of said rearward cover member each include at least one latching projection extending forwardly therefrom to extend within said cavity means of said housing member and enter and latchingly engage a cooperating latching recess along said upper and lower cover sections respectively, said upper and lower cover sections thereby supporting said upper and lower struts of said rearward cover member to resist rearward upward and downward deflection of said upper and lower struts upon being stressed by the flat cable or the terminals terminated thereto.
- 12. A housing assembly as set forth in claim 11 wherein each said latching projection is disposed at a free end of an arm extending forwardly from a respective said strut, each said arm being deflectable inwardly by a respective said cover section as said latching projections rides over portions of said cover section prior to entering a respective said latching recess and latching.
- 13. A housing assembly as set forth in claim 12 wherein each said latching projection includes an angled forwardly and outwardly facing bearing surface to engage a rearward end of a respective said cover section upon initial engagement of said rearward cover member and said housing member during assembly, to initiate outward deflection of the engaged portions of said cover section.
- 14. A housing assembly as set forth in claim 11 wherein each said latching projection defines a rearwardly facing latching surface angled slightly inwardly, and each said latching recess defines a forwardly facing corresponding latching surface angled slightly outwardly.
- 15. A housing assembly as set forth in claim 11 wherein said upper strut includes a first pair of said latching projections and said lower strut includes a second pair of said latching projections, and said housing member includes corresponding first and second pairs of latching recesses, ones of each of said first and second pairs of latching projections and latching recesses being disposed on either side of a vertical barrier wall dividing said cavity means into separate cavities.
- 16. A housing assembly as set forth in claim 15 wherein ones of said first pair of latching projections and corresponding first pair of latching recesses, are offset from ones of said second pair of latching projections and corresponding second pair of latching recesses, whereby said rearward cover member is securable onto said rearward housing end in either of two opposing angular orientations.
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/338,790 filed Apr. 14, 1989.
US Referenced Citations (10)
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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338790 |
Apr 1989 |
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