Abstract:
Connector assembly ( 10 ) includes a wire carrier section  14  pivotably mounted to a housing ( 12 ) and adapted to be mounted directly to a circuit board without separate fasteners to terminate a discrete wire ( 180 ) to a contact ( 24 ) that is electrically connected to the board. A wire end ( 182 ) is inserted into a respective passageway ( 16,18 ) of the wire carrier  14 , and the wire carrier section ( 14 ) is pivoted toward housing ( 12 ) pressing the wire into a slot of an IDC section ( 26 ) of the contact. The compact profile occupies minimal board real estate.

Description:
This application claims benefit of provisional application Ser. No. 60/090,969 filed Jun. 29, 1998. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This relates to the field of electrical connectors and more particularly to connectors for terminating a discrete wire conductor to a contact. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,402 is disclosed an electrical connector module that facilitates termination of one or more conductor wires to respective terminals of the module, especially for electrical connection of tip and ring wires to a network interface device module, in telephone. The module includes a pair of wire carriers at respective wire termination sections of a housing, each wire carrier having two wire-receiving passageways. Each wire carrier is affixed to the housing at a pivot section enabling pivoting of the wire carrier between wire insertion positions and wire termination positions. A contact is associated with each wire and is mounted to the housing such that it extends outwardly to be received into a slot of the wire carrier when the carrier is pivoted to the wire termination position, the slot intersecting the wire-receiving passageway. A wire is inserted into each passageway of the carrier, and the carrier is then pivoted to the termination position urging the wires into slots of insulation displacement sections of the respective contacts held by the housing. 
     It is desired to provide a wire carrier that is mountable to a circuit board to enable termination of at least one wire to a respective contact mounted to the circuit board. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a wire carrier assembly that is mountable to a circuit board and includes a housing and a wire carrier section pivotably mounted thereto. The housing includes preferably a single board-mounting section that extends into a mounting hole of the circuit board in a force fit, thus occupying minimal circuit board real estate allowing close side-by-side spacing of several such modules, if desired. A stop section limits pivoting upwardly and also secures the wire carrier to the housing in cooperation with a pair of stop members of the housing; a pair of first detents secures the wire carrier in its wire-receiving position; the first and second detents ride over the stop members of the housing when the carrier is pivoted to its wire-terminating position, and the second detents secure the carrier in the second position. 
    
    
     An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the assembly of the present invention; 
     FIGS. 2 and 3 are side elevation views of the assembly of FIG. 1 illustrating the wire-receiving and wire-terminating positions of the pivotable wire carrier section, respectively; 
     FIG. 4 is a plan view of the assembly of FIGS. 1 to  3  in the wire-receiving position; 
     FIG. 5 is an isometric view of another embodiment of the assembly having a short wire carrier section; 
     FIG. 6 is an isometric view of the assembly of FIG. 5 with the wire carrier section and a pair of contacts exploded from the housing; 
     FIG. 7 is an isometric view of the assembly of FIGS. 5 and 6 from below; 
     FIGS. 8 and 9 are cross-sectional views of the assembly of FIGS. 5 to  7  receiving a wire and terminating the wire, respectively; and 
     FIG. 10 is a front view illustrating the side-by-side placement of two assemblies in abutting relationship. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Connector assembly  10  of FIGS. 1 to  4  includes an insulative housing  12  and a wire carrier section  14  that is pivotably mounted to housing  12 . Wire carrier section  14  is shown to include a pair of wire-receiving passageways  16 , 18  extending rearwardly from a wire-receiving face  20 , and also includes a manually engageable tab  22  to facilitate pivoting of the wire carrier section between wire-receiving position (FIGS. 1 and 2) and a wire-terminating position (FIG.  3 ). A pair of contacts  24  are affixed in housing  12  (see FIGS. 2 and 3) for termination to respective wires, with wire-terminating sections  26  projecting upwardly from housing  12  into corresponding slots (see FIGS. 8 and 9) of wire carrier section  14  and intersecting respective passageways  16 , 18 . Wire-terminating sections  26  are of the insulation displacement (IDC) type, defining a wire-receiving IDC slot between a pair of upstanding beams that includes an entrance adjacent upper portions of the beams, with the passageway passing above the entrance when the wire carrier is in the open position. The beams will penetrate the wire insulation as the wire disposed in the passageway, is urged downwardly into and past the entrance to the wire-receiving slot and compressively engage the conductor of the wire for electrical connection therewith, when the wire carrier section is pivoted to the wire-terminating or second position. 
     Housing  12  includes preferably a pair of projections  28 , 30  at opposed sides of front face  32  that extend upwardly to rearwardly extending stop members  34 . Wire carrier section  14  is shown to include depending wall  36  adjacent projections  28 , 30  concluding in a corresponding stop section  38  that will abut stop members  34  of projections  28 , 30  of the housing to define the uppermost pivot position of the wire carrier, that is, the wire-receiving or first position. Wire carrier section  14  further includes first and second detents  40 , 42  vertically aligned with stop section  38  and projections  28 , 30 . First or open position detent  40  is closely spaced from stop section  38  and is engageable with stop member  34  of the housing projection when the wire carrier section is in its wire-receiving position, thus holding the wire carrier section in that position by resisting inadvertent pivoting, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. First detent  40  will ride over stop member  34  during pivoting of the wire carrier section to its second or wire-terminating position. Second or clasp position detent  42  also rides over stop member  34  and seats therebeneath when wire carrier section  14  has been fully pivoted to its second or wire-terminating position, thus securing it in that position as seen in FIG.  3 . 
     A board-mounting projection or peg  44  is seen in FIGS. 2 and 3 to depend from board-mounting face  46  of housing  12  for securing the assembly to a circuit board (not shown) when force-fitted into a corresponding mounting hole of the board. Contacts  24  are seen to include pin sections  48  that depend from board-mounting face  46  to be electrically connected with corresponding circuits of the circuit board when inserted into plated through-holes thereof, as is conventional. FIG. 3 illustrates that top surface  50  of wire carrier section  14  is flush with the top surface of housing  12 , the top ends of projections  28 , 30  and tab  22  when in the wire-terminating or second position. Forward section  52  projects forwardly between and beyond projections  28 , 30  and is shown to be substantially elongate in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to  4  to protrude beyond front face  32  of the housing. 
     In the embodiment of connector assembly  110  shown in FIGS. 5 to  10 , forward section  152  of wire carrier section  114  is foreshortened and protrudes only slightly between projections  128 , 130  and beyond front face  132  of housing  112  to minimize the overall length of the connector when compactness is necessary. Otherwise, assembly  110  is identical to assembly  10  of FIGS. 1 to  4 . 
     FIG. 6 shows wire carrier section  114  exploded above housing  112 , with contacts  124  also exploded above the housing. Contact-receiving slots  154  are adapted to receive contacts  124  thereinto in a force fit during assembly, with board-connecting pin sections  148  to pass through the bottoms of the slots to project beyond board-mounting face  146  of the housing (FIGS. 7 to  10 ). Wire carrier section  114  includes a pivot bar  160  along its rearward end that is seatable between side walls  162  of housing  112  and under ledge  164  that defines the housing&#39;s cooperating pivot section, with the carrier section being assembled to the housing by urging stop member  138  beneath stop members  134  of projections  128 , 130 . In FIG. 7 is seen the board-mounting face of connector  110 , with board-mounting peg  144  shown to include several, preferably four, deformable ribs that establish a force fit with the board-mounting hole having a diameter slightly less than the major dimension of peg  144 , as is known. 
     FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate the termination of a representative wire  180  to connector assembly  110 . Wire end  182  is first inserted into passageway  116  until abutted against rear wall  166  of housing  112 , thus intersecting IDC-receiving slot  168  midway along the passageway and being assuredly positioned above IDC section  126  of contact  124 . Then wire carrier section  114  is pivoted to the second or wire-terminating position as seen in FIG. 9, with the top of the passageway pressing wire  180  into the IDC section for assured mechanical and electrical connection with contact  124 . 
     FIG. 10 is illustrative of the compact design of connector assembly  110 . Using only a single board-mounting peg  144 , minimal real estate of the circuit board is thus used, allowing several connector assemblies  110 , 110  to be positioned adjacent each other, side-by-side in a row. 
     Modifications and variations may occur to the specific embodiment disclosed herein, that are within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims.