This application claims the benefit of the filing date under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d) of German Patent Application No. 102021100679.1, filed on Jan. 14, 2021.
The invention relates to a ribbon cable connector which is configured to be fixed at one end of a ribbon cable that comprises multiple electrical conductors extending parallel and distanced to one another.
In a ribbon cable, several electrical conductors extend parallel to each other, wherein they are applied to a common insulation. Ribbon cables are often used for transmitting signals, for which they are also attached to ribbon cable connectors. In this context, the ribbon cables should occupy as little space as possible. However, miniaturization of the ribbon cable is accompanied by a risk of unwanted transmission of signals due to current flow between the parallel conductors, since the leakage path between directly adjacent conductors also decreases.
A ribbon cable connector is fixed at an end of a ribbon cable. The ribbon cable has a plurality of electrical conductors extending parallel and distanced to one another. The ribbon cable connector includes an insertion slot extending in a plugging direction and receiving the ribbon cable, a plurality of contact element receptacles extending parallel and distanced to one another, a plurality of structures in the insertion slot extending parallel to one another and aligned with the contact element receptacles, and a clamping device configured to clamp the ribbon cable in the insertion slot. An end of the insertion slot inside of the ribbon cable connector adjoins the contact element receptacles in the plugging direction. The structures are each separated from one another by a partition wall.
The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying Figures, of which:
In the following, the invention is exemplarily described in more detail by way of embodiments. Features of the embodiments can be omitted if the technical effect associated with these features is not important for a particular application. Conversely, further features can also be added to the embodiments if their technical effect should be important for a particular application. In the following, the same reference signs are used for features that correspond to each other in terms of function and/or spatial-physical configuration.
Initially, a first exemplary configuration of a ribbon cable connector 1 according to the invention is explained in more detail with reference to
As shown in
As shown in
With a ribbon cable connector 1 according to the invention, it is now possible to fix one end 2 of the ribbon cable 4 between the conductors 6 without any cuts or punch-outs in the insulation 8. For this purpose, the ribbon cable connector 1 has an insertion slot 12 shown in
As shown in
The partition walls 20 effect a deflection of the leakage path 23 around the corresponding partition wall 20 between the adjacent conductors 6 and thus lengthen the leakage path 23 so that a safe application of the ribbon cable connector 1 can be ensured without an unwanted transmission of signals between the individual conductors 6. In
To fasten the ribbon cable 2 in the ribbon cable connector 1, a clamping device 24 is further provided, which is configured to clamp the ribbon cable 2 in the insertion slot 12. Therefore, the ribbon cable 4 can be additionally secured against falling out in the connector assembly 100. A tensile load of the ribbon cable 2 is damped by the clamping device 24, whereby the contacting of the contact elements 11 and the corresponding conductors 6 remains unaffected by this tensile load. Consequently, the contact element 11 can be prevented from breaking off.
As shown in
The partition walls 20 or also the side walls 22 can close the insertion slot 12 in the plugging direction S at the end 14 so that the ribbon cable 4 can be prevented from being inserted too deeply into the ribbon cable connector 1. In an embodiment, the partition walls 20 can extend in the plugging direction S up to the contact element receptacles 16, whereby the partition walls 20 extend along the entire depth of the insertion slot 12 in the plugging direction S. In an embodiment, the partition walls 20 of the insertion slot 12 can seamlessly merge into partition walls 20 between the contact element receptacles 16. Thus, the respective pairs of partition walls 20 can be molded integrally with each other, for example as an injection-molded part.
structures 18 and contact element receptacles 16 can each be assigned to a conductor 6 so that an individual conductor 6 can be arranged in each structure 18. In an embodiment, the structure 18 can extend substantially transversely to the frontal plane E. This allows insertion of the conductors 6 after termination with the respective contact elements 11. In an embodiment, a cross-section transverse to the frontal plane E of a structure 18 can overlap or even coincide with a cross-section of the corresponding contact element receptacle 16, as can be seen in
A wall 26 may be provided to limit the protrusions 18 in the direction transverse to the frontal plane E. The wall 26 can extend in the transverse direction T over the entire width of the insertion slot 12, as shown in
The partition walls 20 or also the side walls 22 can in this case project from the wall 26 substantially transversely to the frontal plane E. If the stability of the partition walls 20 and the side walls 22 is to be reinforced, for example against bending, the partition walls 20 and the side walls 22 can have an increasing material thickness in the transverse direction T in the direction transverse to the frontal plane E. The material thickness of the partition walls 20 and the side walls 22 can be increased in the transverse direction T. For this purpose, for example, reinforcing ribs 28, shown in
The end of the respective partition walls 20 facing away from the wall 26 may have a material thickness smaller than the distance between the conductors 6 of the ribbon cable so that it can be ensured that the partition walls 20 are opposite the section of insulation 8 exposed from the conductors 6 when the ribbon cable 4 is plugged into the ribbon cable connector 1.
The structures 18 and the contact element receptacles 16 may be spaced apart from one another in the plugging direction S, and the region 30 may be open substantially transversely to the frontal plane E. Thus, the region 30 can form a receiving pocket 32 shown in
In
In an embodiment, the secondary latch 34 can be locked in the locking position 40, for example by latching with the wall 26, as can be seen in
To deflect the leakage path between the adjacent conductors 6 in the region 30 as well, the partition walls 20 or also the side walls 22 project beyond the structures 18 in the plugging direction S and extend as far as the contact element receptacles 16. In particular, the partition walls 20 and the side walls 22 can merge into partition walls 44 between the contact element receptacles 16 or the side walls 46 bounding the outer contact element receptacles 16. In this case, the partition walls 20 can be narrowed transversely to the plugging direction S, in particular transversely to the frontal plane E, in the region between structures 18 and contact element receptacles 16.
In an embodiment, the respective partition walls 20 can form part of the clamping device 24, at least in sections. Consequently, it can be ensured that clamping of the ribbon cable 4 takes place in the region between the conductors 6. This prevents the conductors 6 from being damaged by the clamping. In addition, clamping with the partition walls 20 extends an air gap between the adjacent conductors 6. The air gap no longer merely leads in a transverse direction T from one conductor 6 to the adjacent conductor 6, but extends around the respective partition wall 20 between the conductors 6. In this exemplary configuration, the partition walls 20 serve both to clamp the ribbon cable 4 and to insulate the adjacent conductors 6 from one another.
If the secondary latch 34 is to be continuous along the transverse direction T, as is the case in the first exemplary configuration, the partition walls 20 may be narrowed in the region 30 substantially transversely to the frontal plane E, in particular in the direction toward the insertion slot 12.
Now, with reference to
The clamping device 24 may comprise a pressing element 54 movable from a release position 48 (
In an embodiment, the lever arm 58 with the pressing element 54 and the lever arm 36 with the secondary latch 34 may be arranged on opposite sides of the ribbon cable connector 1 substantially transversely with respect to the transverse direction T. In particular, the partition walls 20 and the pressing element 54 can be arranged on different sides with respect to the insertion slot 12. The pressing element 54 may be configured to bound the insertion slot 12 substantially transversely to the frontal plane and to be opposite the partition walls 20 and the side walls 22, at least in the clamping position 50.
In the clamping position 50 shown in
The clamping device 24 can limit the insertion slot 12 essentially transversely to the frontal plane E, in particular on both sides, at least in sections. For this purpose, the pressing element 54 and the counter-holder element 60 can lie opposite each other with respect to the insertion slot 12.
If the partition walls 20 form the pressing element 54 at least in sections, the corresponding sections of the partition walls 20 can be integrally connected to one another on a module that is movable in the plugging direction in order to implement a synchronous, in particular simultaneous, movement of the corresponding sections of the partition walls 20. The movable portion can slide along a run-up slope in the plugging direction S, via which a translation of the movement in the plugging direction S to a movement transverse to the plugging direction S, in particular transverse to the frontal plane E, takes place.
Accordingly, the ribbon cable 4 is only clamped in the region of the insulation 8 between the conductors 6. Instead of being clamped, the conductors 6 can move into the corresponding structures 18 and are thus protected from any stress caused by the clamping.
A latching mechanism 62 can be provided for locking the pressing element 54 in the clamping position 50. For this purpose, the pressing element 54 can have a latching lug 64 projecting essentially against the plugging direction S, which engages in a complementary latching lug 66 in the clamping position 50, as shown in
As shown in
To achieve a gentle and stable clamping, the clamping device 24 may extend substantially parallel to the plugging direction S over at least half of a depth of the insertion slot 12. In an embodiment, the clamping device 24 can extend over at least two thirds of the depth of the insertion slot 12 or even over the entire depth of the insertion slot 12. The clamping device 24 can extend essentially perpendicular to the plugging direction S, in particular perpendicular to the transverse direction T over the entire width of the ribbon cable 4 or the insertion slot 12. Thus, the clamping force can be distributed over a large area and there is no punctual loading of the ribbon cable 4.
The solution according to the invention allows the ribbon cable 4 to be inserted into the insertion slot 12, wherein the combination of the clamping device 24 and the structures 18 separated from each other by the partition walls 20 ensure a secure fixation of the ribbon cable 4 in the insertion slot 12 with an increased leakage path 23 between adjacent conductors 6. The leakage path 23, i.e. the shortest distance along the surface of the insulation 8 between two conductive parts 6, is no longer the perpendicular to the longitudinal axis L of the cable 4 between the adjacent, parallel conductors 6, since this path is blocked by the partition wall 20. Therefore, the leakage path 23 extends around the partition wall 20, lengthening it compared to the leakage paths in conventional ribbon cable connectors. Furthermore, processing of the end 2 of the ribbon cable 4, such as cutting slots in the insulation 8 between the conductors 6, can be avoided to allow insertion of the ribbon cable 4 into the ribbon cable connector 1. If the ribbon cable 4 had to be processed, a minimum width of the insulation 8 between the conductors 6 that allows processing would be mandatory. Consequently, miniaturization of the ribbon cable 4 would be limited by the minimum width.
With the clamping device 24, not only is the correct positioning of the ribbon cable 4 in the insertion slot 12 protected against displacement due to a tensile load, but also the vibration resistance of the connector assembly 100, comprising the ribbon cable connector 1 and the ribbon cable 4, can be improved.
According to the second configuration, the pressing element 54 may be formed by the secondary latch 34. Consequently, a second lever arm is no longer provided. By moving the secondary latch 34 from the open position 38 (
For example, as shown in
In this second exemplary configuration, the partition walls 20 do not extend across the region 30 to allow access by the teeth 70 to the insulation 8 of the ribbon cable 4 in the clamped condition. Each of the teeth 70 may be received between two partition walls 20 in the receiving pocket 32 when latched.
The first and second exemplary configurations show a ribbon cable connector 1 integrally formed as a monolithic component 73. The production of the ribbon cable connector 1 as a monolithic component 74 allows a simple and cost-effective fabrication, especially in high volumes. For example, the ribbon cable connector 1 may be a 3D printed or injection molded part.
However, the ribbon cable connector 1 can also be configured as a multi-part, in particular two-part component 74, which permits simple and cost-effective replacement of individual components. Exemplary configurations of a ribbon cable connector 1 as a two-part component 74 are described in more detail below with reference to
In particular, the pressing element 54 may be subjected to a high load to exert the necessary clamping force on the ribbon cable 4. Therefore, the pressing element 54 is a separate component 76 which is configured to be attached to a housing 78 of the ribbon cable connector 1. In particular, the pressing element 54 can be repeatedly attachable, which ensures that the pressing element 54 can be easily replaced. This allows rapid and cost-effective replacement of the individual components in the event of damage.
Another advantage resulting from the two-part structure of the cable connector 1 is the possibility of optimizing the individual components for their individual tasks. For example, the pressing element 54 can be formed from a material with a high rigidity, which makes it possible to avoid undesirable deformation of the pressing element 54.
In the third exemplary configuration shown in
As can be seen in
A receptacle 84 can be formed in the housing 78, as shown in
In
The complementary sections 82 may include a guiding that presses at least a part of the portions 80 in a direction transverse to the frontal plane E toward the outer wall 72, thereby reducing the clear width of the insertion slot 12 in the clamping position 50. Consequently, the movable pressing element 54 can be moved from the release position 48 to the clamping position 50 without high frictional resistance. Furthermore, the guiding holds the pressing element 54 in the clamping position 50 between the ribbon cable 4 and the complementary portions 82 in a force-fit manner.
In another embodiment not shown, the pressing element 54 may be locked in the clamping position 50 and/or in the release position 48, for example, by a latching mechanism. Thus, the pressing element 54 may be latched to the housing 78 in the release position 48, which may prevent loss of the pressing element 54. In this context, the pressing element 54 may protrude out of the receptacle 84 such that the portion 80 is not pushed toward the outer wall 72 by the complementary portion 82.
In an embodiment, in the clamping position 50, the pressing element 54 may be located entirely within the receptacle 84, whereby the clamping position 50 may be uniquely characterized. In particular, a surface of the pressing element 54 extending substantially perpendicular to the plugging direction S can be aligned with a surface of the housing 78 in the clamping position 50.
In the fourth exemplary configuration shown in
As can be seen in
In the fourth exemplary configuration, the pressing element 54 may also be substantially comb-shaped, and the teeth 70 may be arranged directly opposite the partition walls 20, at least in the clamping position 50.
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102021100679.1 | Jan 2021 | DE | national |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20220224033 A1 | Jul 2022 | US |