Abstract:
The inventive system for automatically connecting the main electric circuit of a vehicle to the auxiliary circuit of a subset like a seat comprises an auxiliary contact carrier ( 5 ) fixed to said subset and a main contact carrier ( 4 ) which is movable along a structural element. Said main contact carrier ( 4 ) is oscillatingly mounted on the support ( 1 ) of a structural element in such a way that it is supported by a spring ( 6 ) and is provided with protruding members for guiding the auxiliary contact carrier ( 5 ) during a connecting movement.

Description:
TITLE OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Background of the Invention 
   The invention relates to a system of automatic connection of two electrical circuits of a vehicle, and more precisely a system for automatic connection of a principal electric circuit of the vehicle to an auxiliary electrical circuit of a sub-assembly, such as a seat, of the vehicle. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   U.S. Pat. No. 5,752,845 describes an arrangement in which the sub-assembly is mounted on a structural element of the vehicle in a substantially vertical mounting direction, an auxiliary element of the electrical connector, fixed on the sub-assembly, being coupled to a principal electrical connector element carried by the principal electrical element carried by the structural element. The principal electrical connector element is movable relative to the structural element, between a rest position toward which it is resiliently urged, and a connection position toward which it is moved automatically by the sub-assembly. 
   EP 1 135 833 describes an arrangement of the same type in which the principal electrical connector element is swingably mounted relative to the structural element of the vehicle, about a horizontal swinging axis, the auxiliary electrical connector element carrying a control tongue to swing the principal connector element from its rest position toward its connection position. 
   Because the principal electrical connector element is swingably mounted about a horizontal swinging axis, it is necessary, in order to ensure the taking up of the play at the time of connection, to use an intermediate guided plate, urged by several springs acting in different directions. The principal connector element is mounted on this intermediate plate and is urged toward its rest position by another spring. 
   The arrangement thus described is complicated, it comprises a high number of pieces to be assembled and several springs; it is accordingly sensitive to assemble and to use. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   An object of the present invention is to avoid the complexity of the known arrangements and to propose a connection system that is simple and easy to use, whilst being reliable. 
   Another object of the present invention is to propose a connection system without interaction with the support structure of the connection. 
   The invention has for its object an automatic connection system of a principal electrical circuit of a vehicle to an auxiliary electrical circuit of a sub-assembly such as a seat of the vehicle, movable for its securement to a structural element of the vehicle in a substantially vertical mounting direction, said system comprising an auxiliary contact carrier, fixed on the sub-assembly, and a principal contact carrier movable on the structural element, between a rest position toward which it is resiliently urged and a connection position toward which it is automatically moved by the auxiliary contact carrier during mounting of the sub-assembly on the structural element of the vehicle, the connection between the principal contact carrier and the auxiliary contact carrier being ensured in a substantially vertical plane, characterized in that: the principal contact carrier is swingably mounted in a support of the structural element, bearing on a spring, and comprises projecting members to ensure the guidance of the auxiliary contact carrier during the connection movement. 
   According to other characteristics:
         the projecting members comprise protuberances disposed on the lateral surfaces of the principal contact carrier and adapted to guide the lateral surfaces of the auxiliary contact carrier;   the protuberances have a rear profile adapted to coact with a ramp carried by the auxiliary contact carrier;   the principal contact carrier has on its front surface a lower lip adapted to coact with the lower portion of the auxiliary contact carrier;   the principal contact carrier has on its front surface an upper lip adapted to coact with a ridge of the auxiliary contact carrier;   the principal contact carrier has an actuating finger for an actuator carried by the auxiliary contact carrier to ensure the deshunting of the auxiliary contacts at the end of connection;   the spring has one end fixed to the support, its other end being free, and it is bent in a curve below the principal contact carrier.       

   According to a particular embodiment of the invention, said principal contact carrier and said auxiliary contact carrier each comprise a protection means covering their respective contact elements, each of said protection means comprising a conductive portion, each of said protection means being movable between an inactive position in which said conductive portion is not in contact with said corresponding contact element and an active position in which said conductive portion is in contact with said corresponding contact elements, said protection means being adapted to assume automatically said active position when said principal contact carrier is moved to said connection position, said conductive portions of each of said protection means being in contact when said protection means are in said active position. 
   Preferably, each of said protection means comprises a flexible membrane, said membrane being fixed in a sealed relation to a flange surrounding said contact elements, said conductive portion comprising metallic lugs passing through said membrane. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other characteristics will become apparent from the description which follows given with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
       FIG. 1  is a fragmentary axial cross-sectional view of the automatic connection system according to one embodiment of the invention, at the beginning of the descending movement of the auxiliary contact carrier, 
       FIG. 2  is a fragmentary axial cross-sectional view of the connection system of  FIG. 1  at the time of entry into mechanical contact of the auxiliary contact carrier with the principal contact carrier, 
       FIG. 3  is a fragmentary axial cross-sectional view of the connection system of  FIG. 1  at the time of entry into electrical contact of the contacts of the lower row of the auxiliary and principal contact carriers, 
       FIG. 4  is a fragmentary axial cross-sectional view of the connection system of  FIG. 1  after completion of connection, 
       FIG. 5  is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the contacts of  FIG. 3 , 
       FIG. 6  is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the contacts of the upper row after their entry into contact, 
       FIG. 7  is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the contacts of  FIG. 6  before deshunting, 
       FIG. 8  is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the contacts of  FIG. 7  after deshunting, which is to say in the condition of  FIG. 4 , 
       FIG. 9  is a view similar to  FIG. 1  showing a second embodiment of the invention, and 
       FIG. 10  is a fragmentary axial cross-sectional view of the connection system of  FIG. 9  after completion of connection. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   In  FIG. 1 , a support  1  secured to the floor of the vehicle constitutes a sort of housing open at its upper portion, having a rear partition and a front partition  3  between which will move on the one hand the principal contact carrier  4 , on the other hand the auxiliary contact carrier  5 . 
   The support  1  comprises two lateral partitions, parallel to the plane of the sheet, each having a vertical slideway upwardly open like a funnel, adapted to receive, freely slidably, a finger carried laterally by the principal contact carrier  4 , substantially at its base and forwardly. The principal contact carrier is thus guided during its insertion into the support  1 . 
   At the bottom of the support  1  is disposed a spring  6  in the form of a blade, whose forward end  7  is rigidly fixed to the front of the base of the support  1 . The blade is bent upwardly to be offset from the bottom of the support  1 , then bent in a rounded shape toward the base below the principal contact carrier and its other end  8  or rear end is free and elbowed below the base of the support  1 , by passing through an opening of the base of the support  1  through which it can pass in the case of pressure on its rounded portion. 
   On their upper edge, the partitions of the support  1  have chamfers such as  9  to guide the principal contact carrier  4  during its emplacement in the support  1 , and the auxiliary contact carrier  5  during its descending movement. 
   The principal contact carrier  4  is in the general shape of a rectangular parallelepipedal. Its rear surface  10  is, in the rest position, bearing against the rear partition  2  of the support  1 . This forward surface  11  lets pass the electrical contacts distributed in a lower row  12  and an upper row  13  in the illustrated embodiment, without the number of these rows being limiting. The lower surface  14  of the principal contact carrier  4  is prolonged forwardly by a lower oblique lip  15 . 
   The upper surface  16  of the principal contact carrier  4  is prolonged forwardly by an upper oblique lip  17 . The lips  15  and  17  diverge. The lateral surfaces of the principal contact carrier  4  bear protuberances such as  18  having forwardly a profile in the form of a horn directed upwardly. 
   In a manner known per se, the electrical contacts of the two rows  12  and  13  are connected at their rearward portion to a cable which is part of the electrical circuit of the vehicle and is not shown. 
   The auxiliary contact carrier  5  is in the form of a block having a forward portion and a rear portion. The forward portion comprises at its lower portion two rows of contacts adapted to be placed against the contacts of the principal contact carrier, and distributed respectively in a lower row  19  and an upper row  20 . These two rows of contacts are disposed in a parallepipedal volume corresponding substantially to the volume of the principal contact carrier  4 . 
   The forward surface  21  of the auxiliary contact carrier  5  is adapted to bear on the forward partition  3  of the support  1 . The rear portion of the auxiliary contact carrier  5  has lateral walls such as  22  of which the lower edge is provided at the rear with a chamfer  23  adapted to coact with the chamfer  9  of the rear partition  2  of the support  1 . At its upper portion, the rear portion of the auxiliary contact carrier  5  has a ridge  24  adapted to coact with the upper lip  17  of the principal contact carrier  4 . 
   In the rest position, the principal contact carrier  4  bears with its lower surface  14  on the rounded portion of the spring  6 , and with its rear surface against the rear partition  2  of the support  1 . It is in the rearwardly swung position, its forward surface  11  being slightly oriented upwardly. 
   The auxiliary contact carrier  5 , in its descending movement, is guided at the inlet of the support  1  by the chamfers  9 . The role of the chamfers  23 , in addition to aiding the insertion into the support  1 , is to move the auxiliary contact carrier  5  forwardly, its forward surface  21  entering into contact with the forward partition  3  of the support. 
   When the descending movement takes place ( FIG. 2 ), the lateral walls of the auxiliary contact carrier  5  are guided by the protuberances  18  of the principal contact carrier  4 , which ensures a centering of the auxiliary contact carrier  5  in the median plane of the support  1 . Then, the ridge  24  comes into contact with the upper lip  17  of the principal contact carrier  4 , and a ramp  25  of the lateral wall  22  of the auxiliary contact carrier  5 , comes into contact with the rear profile  26  of the protuberance  18  of the principal contact carrier  4 . 
   When the descending movement takes place ( FIG. 3 ), on the one hand the lower front portion of the auxiliary contact carrier  5  comes to bear against the lower lip  15 , on the other hand the ridge  24  slides on the upper lip  17 , which gives rise to forward swinging of the principal contact carrier  4  which pivots on the rounded portion of the spring  6 . The ramp  25  slides on the rear profile  26  and causes rearward movement of the auxiliary contact carrier, which retreats until its lateral walls  22  come to bear against the rear partition  2  of the support  1 . In the course of this combined movement the electrical contacts of the lower rows  12  and  19  respectively of the principal and auxiliary contact carriers come into contact with each other. 
   Moreover, in the median portion of the principal and auxiliary contact carriers  4  and  5  there is provided a mechanical connection between a crosspiece  27  of the principal contact carrier and a hook  28  of the auxiliary contact carrier. Finally, the pressure applied to the principal contact carrier  4  is exerted on the spring  6  whose rear end  8  is moved away from bearing relation with the bottom of the support  1 . 
   When the descending movement is completed ( FIG. 4 ), the pivoting of the principal contact carrier  4  is terminated: its forward surface is substantially vertical; the contacts of the two upper and lower rows  12 ,  19  and  13 ,  20  bear against each other respectively; the ramp  25  bears stably against the rear profile  26  of the protuberance  18 ; the hook  28  is hooked stably to the crosspiece  27 ; the spring  6  is urged downwardly and its end  8  is substantially separated from the bottom of the support  1 ; the pressure of the spring  6  upwardly ensures the stable maintenance of the connection between the various electrical contacts. The over-movement of the spring  6  permits taking up the vertical movement at the end of the connection movement. 
     FIG. 5  is an enlarged view of the electrical contacts of the lower rows  12 ,  19  at the time of their entry into contact. The principal contact  29  of the lower row  12  and the auxiliary contact  30  of the lower row  19  are vertically offset. An equipotential shunt  31  is shown, in electrical contact with the auxiliary contact  30 . 
   In  FIG. 6 , the principal and auxiliary contacts  29  and  30  face each other, after relative movement which has the effect of cleaning the electrical contacts. Similarly, the respective contacts  32  and  33  of the upper rows  13  and  20  are in contact. 
   In  FIG. 7 , the shunt  31  begins its retraction forwardly and arrives in abutment against the insulating wall. In  FIG. 8 , the retracting movement of the shunt  31  is ended, the shunt being insulated from the electrical contacts by the insulating wall  34 . This retraction movement of the shunt is ensured by an actuator carried by the auxiliary contact carrier  5  which is pressed by an actuating figure of the principal contact carrier  4 . At the end of the connection, the electrical contacts are in compression. 
   The automatic connection system according to the invention ensures the connection without interaction with the structural elements which support the connection elements. 
   The auxiliary contact carrier ensures taking up the play in the horizontal plane perpendicular to the connection movement. The principal contact carrier is swingably mounted and serves to guide the auxiliary contact carrier thanks to its projecting elements: upper and lower lips, protuberances with their rear profile. 
   The support with a single spring permits ensuring the holding in the rest position of the principal contact carrier, and at the end of connection, ensures taking up the play in the vertical direction of the connection movement, and the locking in connected position. 
   The connection movement combines a descent of the auxiliary contact carrier and a swinging of the principal contact carrier. In the course of this movement, there takes place a cleaning of the electrical contacts. 
   The actuator ensuring the deshunting is preferably constituted by a drawer moved, at the end of connection, by a finger carried by the principal contact carrier. 
   This drawer movement can be used to control other functions. 
   In the course of the connection movement, the principal contact carrier pivots on the rounded portion of the spring, and the spring does not maintain the same position: as a result, the principal contact carrier does not pivot relative to a fixed axis. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 9 and 10 , there will now be described a second embodiment. The elements of the connection system identical or similar to the first embodiment are shown by the same reference numeral increased by  100  and are not described again. Here, the contacts of the principal contact carrier  104  are distributed in a single row  112 , this number not being limiting. The auxiliary contact carrier  105  also comprises a single row of contacts  119 . 
   The contact carrier  104  comprises on its forward surface  111  a flange  140  surrounding the row  112 . The flange  140  comprises on its lower surface  140   a  a peripheral groove  141 . A flexible membrane  142 , for example of elastomer, is inserted in the groove  141 , such that the connection between the groove  141  and the membrane  142  will be sealed. The massive metallic lugs  143 , disposed respectively in line with each contact of row  112 , pass through the membrane  142  and are fixed to the membrane  142  in a sealed manner. The lugs  143  have for example a substantially cylindrical shape and project on opposite sides of the membrane  142 . In the rest position ( FIG. 9 ), the membrane  142  extends in the plane of the groove  141 , the contacts of the row  112  and the lugs  143  being separated by a distance d, the distance d being preferably greater than 0.5 mm. 
   The contact carrier  105  has in a similar manner a flange  150  surrounding the row  119 . The flange  150  comprises on its lower surface  150   a  a peripheral groove  151 . A flexible member  152 , for example of elastomer, is inserted in the groove  151 , such that the connection between the groove  151  and the membrane  152  will be sealed. The massive metallic lugs  153 , disposed respectively in line with each contact of the row  119 , pass through the membrane  152  and are fixed in a sealed manner to the membrane  152 . The lugs  153  have for example a substantially cylindrical shape and project on opposite sides of the membrane  152 . In the rest position ( FIG. 9 ), the membrane  152  extends in the plane of the groove  151 , the contacts of the row  119  and the lugs  153  being separated by a distance h, the distance h being for example equal to the distance d. 
   In the rest position, the principal contact carrier  104  is in rearwardly swung position, its forward surface  111  slightly upwardly oriented, such as has been previously described. The membranes  142  and  152  are flat and the lugs  143  and  153  are separated from the contacts of the row  112  and the row  119 , respectively. 
   The descending movement is similar to the first embodiment. During this movement, the lugs  143  and  153 , which face each other, come into contact. 
   During the course of the descent, the pressure exerted by the lugs  143  and  153  against each other causes the deformation of the membranes  142 ,  152 . The depth of the flanges  140 ,  150  and the length of the projecting portions of the lugs  143 ,  153  are provided so as to permit a sufficient deformation of the membranes  142 ,  152 , such that, when the descent takes place, the lugs  143 ,  153  will be adapted to come into contact against the contacts of the rows  112 ,  119  and compress the spring integrated with these contacts. 
   In the connected position, the contacts of the row  112  are in contact with the lugs  143 , the lugs  143  are in contact with the lugs  153  and the lugs  153  are in contact with the contacts of the row  119 . The current can thus flow between the contact carrier  104  and the contact carrier  105 . This position is shown in  FIG. 10 . 
   Thus, the membranes  142 ,  152  permit protecting the contacts of the rows  112 ,  119  against any flow, particularly of water, adapted to degrade their mechanical and/or electrical qualities. Moreover, even if the contacts of the rows  112 ,  119  remain powered when the contact carriers  104 ,  105  are in rest position, the metallic lugs  143 ,  153 , which are spaced from the contacts by the membranes  142 ,  152 , are not supplied, which increases the safety of the connection system.