An electrical wire connector

Abstract: An electrical wire connector (2) comprises a female insulating housing (4) receiving a male insulating housing (8). The female housing (4) has anchored therein, a plurality of electrical terminals (6) each having a wire receiving part (30) comprising a pair of arms (28) connected by a bight (32) and defining a wire receiving slot (44) between upper parts (36) of the arms (28). The arms (28) are resiliently deflectable away from each other as a wire (W) is inserted into the wire receiving slot (44) up to wire contact surfaces (37) between the upper parts (36) of the arms (28). The male housing (8) has a row of wire receiving passageways (48) each intersecting a slot (56) in the male housing (8), which slot receives the wire receiving part (30) of a respective terminal (6) when the male housing (8) has been fully inserted into the female housing (4). Wires (W) previously inserted into the wire receiving passages (48) are forced into the wire receiving slots (44) of the terminals (6) during the insertion of the male housing (8) into the female housing (4). The parts (34 and 36) of each arm (28) are so dimensioned that the wire insertion force is desirably low. Since the arms (28) of the terminals (6) are not plastically deformed by the insertion of the wires (W), the connector (2) can be used as a switch.

Description: This invention relates to an electrical wire connector comprising mating first and second insulating housings, the first housing containing a plurality of electrical terminals each defining a wire receiving slot, and being secured in the first housing, the second housing defining a like plurality of terminal receiving slots and a wire receiving passage communicating with each terminal receiving slot, the housings being mateable to cause each terminal to enter a respective one of the terminal receiving slots,thereby to force a wire inserted into the wire receiving passage communicating with that terminal receiving slot, into the wire receiving slot of that terminal. The present invention consists in an electrical wire connector as defied in claim 1. US-A-4 652 070 discloses a connector according to the preamble of claim 1. Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic side view shown partly in section, of an electrical wire connector comprising a female housing containing a plurality of wire receiving electrical terminals, and a male housing for mating with the female housing and for receiving stripped end portions of insulated electrical leads; FIGURE 2 is a front view of the female housing shown partly in section and with parts omitted; FIGURE 3 is a diagrammatic sectional view of the male housing illustrating an aspect of the operation of the connector where the terminals thereof are according to the embodiment of Figure 9; FIGURE 4 is a side view of a conventional bare wire receiving terminal; FIGURE 5 is an isometric view of one of the terminals; FIGURES 6 and 7 are of similar views to that of Figure 5 but illustrating successive stages in the insertion of a stripped wire end portion into the terminal; FIGURE 8 is a graph illustrating the force exerted by the terminal shown in Figure 4 and a terminal of the connector against a wire inserted thereinto, plotted against the depth of insertion of the wire into the terminal; FIGURE 9 is an enlarged isometric view similar to that of Figure 7 but showing a terminal according to another embodiment and further illustrating that aspect of the operation of the connector, which is illustrated in Figure 3; FIGURE 10 is an isometric view of the female housing; FIGURE 11 is an enlarged isometric view of the male housing; FIGURE 12 is an isometric view of the connector showing the male housing partially mated with the female housing for the insertion of the end portions of the insulated electrical leads into the male housing; FIGURE 13 is a similar view to that of Figure 12, shown partly in section and showing the lead end portions inserted into the male housing; FIGURE 14 is a similar view to that of Figure 13 showing the male housing fully mated with the female housing; and FIGURE 15 is an isometric view showing the male housing fully mated with the female housing. An electrical wire connector 2 for making galvanic connection to the stripped end portions of insulated electrical leads will now be described with particular reference to Figures 1 to 9. The connector 2 comprises a one piece molded female insulating housing 4, having wire receiving electrical terminals 6 secured therein, and a one piece molded male insulating housing 8 for mating with the housing 4. The female housing 4 comprises a base 10 having through, terminal receiving slots 12 therein front and rear side walls, 14 and 16, respectively, and opposite end walls 18, upstanding from the base 10. The walls 14, 16 and 18 cooperate with the base 10 to define an elongate socket 20. The rear side wall 16 comprises an upstanding resilient latch arm 17 having a latching shoulder 19. Each terminal 6, which has been stamped and formed from a single piece of sheet metal stock is uniplanar and is of rectangular cross section. Each terminal 6 comprises a pin 22, extending from one side of a substantially square anchoring part 24 from the opposite side of which projects a neck 26 supporting a slotted, resilient wire receiving part 30. The part 30 comprises a bight 32 connecting a pair of arms 28, parts 34 of which converge towards each other in a direction away from the bight 32 and which, at their position of closest convergence merge at junctions 35 with upper, parallel parts 36 of the arms 28 terminating in chamfered surfaces 38 defining a wire guiding mouth 40. Inner faces of the arms 28, cooperate to define a slot having a part 42 tapering away from the neck 26 and adjoining a narrow rectilinear wire receiving part 44 of the slot. The opposite planar inner faces of the parts 36 of the arms 28 cooperate to provide final wire contact surfaces 37 immediately adjacent to the parts 34 of the arms 28. Each arm 38 has a lever length 11 between its chamfered surface 38 and the bottom of the bight 32, the length 12 between the contact surfaces 37 and the bottom of the bight 32 being greatly shorter than the length 11 as will be apparent from Figure 6. The arms 28 are capable of resilient torsional movement about their junctions with the bight 32. The ratio of the lengths 11 and 12 is approximately 4:2.5. In contradistinction, in a conventional slotted, wire receiving terminal 6a shown in Figure 4, the arms 28a converge towards each other from the wire receiving mouth and thereafter extend parallel to each other up to the anchoring part of the terminal. As shown in Figure 1, the male housing 8 comprises an elongate block 46 having a row of five wire receiving passages 48 (only one of which is shown in Figure 1) extending in parallel relationship from a transverse wire receiving channel 50 defined by a hood 51 projecting forwardly from the block 46 and having an enlarged insulating receiving mouth 52 opening into a forward face 53 of the hood 51. There intersects each of the passages 48, a respective one of five terminal arm receiving slots 56 extending perpendicularly to the passages 48 and each opening both into a top face 58 of the block 46 and a bottom face 60 thereof. The block 46 has on a rear face 64 thereof, opposite to the hood 51, a latch member 66 resting on the top of the latch arm 17 for subsequent latching under the latching shoulder 19 of the latch arm 17 of the female housing 4. As shown in Figure 3, each slot 56 has therein a pair of abutment shoulders 68, the shoulders 68 being located on each side of the respective passage 48 with which the slot 56 communicates the shoulders 68 being provided where the terminals are according to the embodiment of Figure 9. In use of the connector 2, the male housing 8 is located in the female housing 4 in an initial position shown in Figure 1 with the hollow plug 62 of the housing 8 partially inserted into the socket 20 of the housing 4. The end portions of five insulated wires W (only one of which is shown in Figure 1) of insulated leads L, for example of a ribbon cable, are stripped of their insulation I for termination by means of the connector 2. Each wire W is inserted into a respective one of the passages 48 in the direction of the arrow A in Figure 1 by way of the mouth 52 of the hood 51 so that the stripped portion of each wire W is fully received in the passage 48, the end portion of the insulation I of the wire being received in the hood 51. The housing 8 is then depressed in the direction of the arrow B in Figure 1, so that the latch member 66 after resiliently displacing the latch arm 17 snaps under the latching shoulder 19 at which time the plug 62 is fully inserted into the socket 20. During the insertion of the plug 62, the arms 28 of each terminal 6 enter a respective slot 56 of the housing 8, so that, initially, as shown in Figure 6, the wire W in its passage 48 is forced into the rectilinear wire receiving part 44 of the slot of the terminal 6, guided by the chamfered surfaces 38 thereof. As the plug 62 is pushed home into the socket 20, the wire W is forced down between the parts 36 of the arms 28 of the respective terminal 6 until, as shown in Figure 7, wire W reaches the final wire contact surfaces 37, at which time the plug 62 bottoms on the base 10 of the socket 20 so that the wire W is retained in its final position between the contact surfaces 37 of the arms 28. Each wire W is thereby securely galvanically connected to a respective one of the terminals 6. In the graph of Figure 8, the ordinate represents the contact force F exerted by the arms 28 against the inserted wire W and the abscissa represents the insertion depth D of the wire W between the arms 28. The curve X indicates the wire insertion characteristic of a terminal 6, whereas the curve Y indicates the wire insertion characteristic of a conventional bare wire receiving terminal 6a shown in Figure 4. By virtue of the long lever length 11 and the shorter length 12 referred to above, and thus the soft spring characteristic of the parts 30 of the terminals 6, the curve X rises gradually and does not peak so that the force needed to insert the housing 8 fully into the housing 4 is desirably low, which is of considerable advantage given that five wires W need to be inserted simultaneously into respective terminals 6. In contradistinction to the curve X, the curve Y rises initially very steeply as the wire is forced down between the arms 28a. In the terminal 6' shown in Figure 9, the arms 28' have been pretorsioned during manufacture of the terminal, about their parts 38' so that their parts 36' are angled with respect to each other. If a lead L is accidentally pulled in the direction of the arrow C in Figures 3 and 9, the galvanic connection between the wire W and the arms 28' will still be maintained, since, as will appear from Figures 3 and 9, arms 28' will be torsioned resiliently about their junctions with the bight 32 as shown in Figure 9, whereby the parts 36' of the arms 28' will be swung about their longitudinal axes Z as indicated by the arrows E in Figure 3, so as to engage against the shoulders 68 in the respective passage 48, whereby corners of the parts 36' of the arms 28' of the terminals 6 are driven against the wire W. Upon the tension on the wire W being released, the parts 36' will be returned to their initial positions by virtue of the natural resilience of the arms 28'. The connector 2 will now be further described with particular reference to Figures 10 to 15. As best seen in Figure 10, the rear side wall 16 of the housing 4 comprises two end portions 70 between which the latch arm 17 upstands beyond them. The latching shoulder 19 is provided by the upper end of a vertical slot in the arm 17. Each latching shoulder is provided by the upper end of a vertical slot in the arm 17. Each side wall 18 is in the form of a further latch arm, having a central vertical slot, the upper end of which provides a latching shoulder 72. The five terminals 6 are arranged in an array comprising a front row of three terminals 6 and a rear row of two terminals 6. Each side wall 18 is separated from the adjacent rear wall portion 70 by a vertical keyway 74, the bottom of which is provided by the base 10 of the housing 4. As shown in Figure 11, there projects from each end of the plug 62 of the housing 8, a latch member 76 (only one of which is shown) and rearwardly of the latch member 76 a vertical key 78 extending over the full height of the block 46 and the plug 62. The slots 56 are arranged in the same array as the terminals 6, namely an array comprising a front row of three slots 56 and rear row of two slots 56. The housing 8 is of substantially the same length as the distance between the side walls 18 of the housing 4, that is to say of substantially the same length of the socket 20. As shown in Figure 12, in the aforesaid initial position of the housing 8, the latch member 66 engages against the upper edge of the latch arm 17, each key 78 of the housing 8 engaging in a respective keyway 74 of the housing 4, each latch member 76 of the housing 8 engaging against the latching shoulder 72 of a respective side wall 18. The housing is stabilized in the housing 4 by the engagement of the keys 78 in the keyways 74. As the housing 8 is inserted into its initial position of the housing 4, the side walls 18 are spread resiliently part by the latch members 76 of the housing 8 and then resile as the latch members 76 pass the shoulders 72, whereby the housing 8 is captive in the housing 4. Figure 13 shows the wires W when they have been inserted in the direction of the arrow A in Figures 1 and 12, into the wire receiving passages 48, with the insulation I of the leads L received in the hood 51. As shown in Figure 13, in said initial position, each wire W lies just above the mouth 40 of a respective one of the terminal 6. Figure 14 shows the connector 2 when the housing 8 has been fully depressed in the direction of the arrow B in Figure 1, guided by the engagement of the keys 78 in the keyways 74, so that each wire W lies between the contact surfaces 37 of the respective terminal 6, the latch member 66 being engaged against the shoulder 19 of the latch arm 17. As indicated in Figure 15, the housing 8 can be withdrawn from the housing 4 back to its initial position, by manually pulling back the latch arm 17 in the direction of the arrow X, while simultaneously withdrawing the housing 8 in the direction of the arrow Y, thereby disconnecting wires on the terminals 6. The connector 2 can accordingly act as a switch, aided by the soft spring characteristics of the arms 28 of the terminals 6. The connector 2, is, therefore, suitable for use in an apparatus, for example domestic television or video apparatus, in which circuits are required to be broken when the apparatus is serviced. By virtue of the long insertion length of each wire W between the parts 36 of the arms 28, the wire engaging surfaces of these parts clean from the wire any intermatallics arising from the production of the wire, before the wire reaches the contact surfaces 37.

Claims: An electrical wire connector (2) comprising mating first and second insulating housings (4 and 8), the first housing containing an electricai terminal (6) having a wire receiving slot (44), the second housing (8) having a wire receiving passage (48) communicating with a terminal receiving slot (56), the housings (4 and 8) being mateable to force a wire (W) inserted into the wire receiving passage (48) into the wire receiving slot (44) of the terminal (6); wherein said first housing (4) contains a socket (20) having a plurality of discrete electrical wire receiving terminals (6) positioned in an array in said socket (20), said second housing (8) being mateable with said first housing (4) with said second housing being at least partly insertable in said socket (20) and being movable relative thereto, said second housing (8) having a plurality of discrete terminal receiving slots (56) for enclosing individual wire terminals (6); characterized in that said second housing (8) has a cable receiving channel (50) profiled for receiving a flat cable, the channel (50) being in communication with a plurality of wire receiving passages (48) transversely communicating with said terminal receiving slots (56), said wire receiving passages (48) being profiled to receive bared wires (W) therein, and to align them with said wire receiving slots (56) of the terminals (6), whereby movement of said second housing into said socket, positions the wires (W) in said wire receiving terminals (6). The electrical wire connector of claim 1, characterised in that each wire receiving passage (48) has a reduced diameter portion for receiving the respective bared wire (W) and an enlarged insulating receiving mouth (52) profiled to guide said flat cable into said channel (50). A connector as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the first housing (4) is a female housing defining a socket (20) having a base (10) in which anchoring parts (24) of the terminals (6) are secured, part of a side wall (16) of the socket (20) being formed as a first latch arm (17), the second housing (8) being a male housing having a plug portion (62) for reception in the socket (20) of the female housing (4), and a first latch member (66) for latching engagement with the latch arm (17) of the female housing (4), the latch arm (17) projecting above the remainder of the side wall (16) to provide a handle for unlatching the latch arm (17) from the latch member (66) when the plug (62) of the male housing (8) is fully received in the socket (20) of the female housing (4). A connector as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the socket (20) has a pair of end walls (18) constructed as second latch arms having second latching shoulders (72) and being adjacent to said side wall (16) but each end wall (18) being separated from the said side wall (16) by a keyway (74), the male housing (8) having end second latch members (76) for engaging the respective ones of the second latching shoulders (72) in an initial, wire insertion position of the male housing (8) with the first latch member (66) resting on the first latch arm (17), the male housing (8) being depressible to flex the first latch arm (17) so that the first latch member (66) latches beneath the latching shoulder (19) of the first latch arm (17), whereby the second latch members (76) are displaced from the second latching shoulders (72) and keys (78) engaging in said keyways (74) guide the male housing (8) with respect to the female housing (4).

Inventors: GILISSEN HERMANUS PETRUS JOHAN, SOES LUCAS, GILISSEN, HERMANUS PETRUS JOHANNES, SOES, LUCAS
Applicants: WHITAKER CORP, THE WHITAKER CORPORATION
Application year: 1991
Main classification: H01R9
IPC codes: H01R12, H01R4