1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electrical connector and, more particularly, to an electrical connector having a mate assist system for mating to another member.
2. Brief Description of Prior Developments
U.S. Pat. No. 6,254,407 discloses a mechanical assist cam slide device for connecting two electrical connectors to each other.
There is a desire to provide a push-pull mate assisted connector that acts in the connector mating direction and also serves as the wire dress cover.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, an electrical connector is disclosed. The electrical connector includes a user contact member, a housing, a plurality of electrical contacts, and a slide. The user contact member has a first extending arm. The first extending arm includes a first cam projection. The housing has a first arm slot. The first arm slot receives the first extending arm. The plurality of electrical contacts are mounted in the housing. The slide is positioned between the first extending arm and the second housing. The slide includes a first cam slot and a second cam slot. The first cam slot receives the first cam projection. The second cam slot is adapted to receive a second cam projection of a mating electrical connector. The electrical connector is configured to receive at least one wire between the housing and the user contact member.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an electrical connector is disclosed. The electrical connector includes a housing, a plurality of electrical contacts, a user contact member, and a pair of slides. The plurality of electrical contacts are mounted in the housing. The user contact member has at least two extending arms. The extending arms are positioned within the housing. The user contact member forms a wire dress cover. The pair of slides are located between the extending arms. The slides engage with the extending arms. The second housing is disposed between the pair of slides. The slides are adapted to engage with a mating electrical connector. The electrical connector is configured to receive at least one wire between the housing and the user contact member.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, an electrical connector is disclosed. The electrical connector includes a user contact member, a housing, a plurality of electrical contacts, and a slide. The user contact member has a first extending arm. The housing has an arm slot and a slide slot. The arm slot and the slide slot intersect each other. The arm slot receives the first extending arm. The plurality of electrical contacts are mounted in the housing. The slide is positioned within the slide slot. The slide includes a first cam slot on a first side of the slide and a second cam slot on a second side of the slide. The first cam slot and the second cam slot are reversely angled to one another. The first cam slot is aligned with the arm slot. The second cam slot is adapted to engage with a mating electrical connector. The electrical connector is configured to receive an electrical cable between the housing and the user contact member.
The foregoing aspects and other features of the present invention are explained in the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Referring to
The connector 10 is adapted to be connected to an electrical cable 14 (shown in phantom lines in
The housing 16 generally comprises a bottom side with an aperture 24 for receiving a top portion 26 of the mating electrical connector 12, a cable entrance area 28 at the top side and the end side of the housing, and two side walls 30. The side walls 30 each have two intersecting slots 32, 34. The first slots 32 extend vertically downward into the side walls from the top side of the housing 16. The second slots 34 extend inward from the end 36 of the housing 16; generally orthogonal to the top side.
As shown best in
The user contact member 40 generally comprises a top section 48 and two downward extending arms 50. The top section 48 forms a top to the interior area of the rest of the housing and, thus, is able to cover the top side of the cable(s) and wires. Hence, the top section forms a wire dress cover for the connector. The arms 50 are substantially mirror images of each other. The arms 50 extend from opposite lateral sides of the top section 48. Each arm 50 comprises a bottom section with two cam projections 52 extending in inward directions. The user contact member 40 is movably mounted to the housing 16 between an up or unactuated position as shown in
As illustrated in
Referring also to
The user contact member 82 generally comprises a top section 88 and two arms 90. The top section 88 forms a top to the interior area 73 and, thus, is able to cover the top side of the cable(s) and wires. Thus, the top section forms a wire dress cover for the connector. The arms 90 extend downward from lateral sides of the top section 88. Each arm comprises two inward projecting cam projections 92 and a snap-lock latch 94.
The housing 72 has lateral side walls with first slots 96 extending into the side walls from a top side of the housing 72, and second slots 98 extending into the side walls from an end of the side walls. The slots 96, 98 are joined to each other at a junction. The slides 80, 81 are slidable mounted into the second slots (or slide slots) 98 and into the junctions. The bottom ends of the arms 90 are inserted into the top open ends of the first slots (or arm slots) 96 and into the junctions. When the user contact member 82 is initially inserted into the housing 72, the cam projections 92 are positioned into the top open ends 89 of the first slots 84.
When the connector 62 is initially connected to the mating connector 64, the cam projections 68 are received in the bottom open ends 91 of the second slots 86. Subsequently, the user pushes down (toward the mating electrical connector 64) on the top side of the top section 88 of the user contact section 82 as indicated by arrow 100. Comparing
In the embodiment shown, the top cam slots 84 form a slide ramp with an angle of about 30° or more and the bottom cam slots form a slide ramp with an angle of about 20° or more. This can provide a total efficiency of about 0.70 (efficiency of 1 for the top slide ramp, and efficiency of 0.7 for the bottom slide ramp). For connectors requiring 100N direct mating force for mating the electrical contacts to each other, for example, the mating force with the efficiency of 0.7 would be 70N. This is only an example. In alternate embodiments any suitable angles could be provided. Preferably, the angled cam slots create a mechanical advantage that can reduce the overall connector mating force experienced at the user contact member.
It should be understood that the foregoing description is only illustrative of the invention. Various alternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances which fall within the scope of the appended claims.
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/764,169 filed Jan. 31, 2006 which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20070178737 A1 | Aug 2007 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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60764169 | Jan 2006 | US |