ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR

Abstract: To simplify the manipulation and to reliably stop the parts of the housing, in the case of an electrical connector with a first housing part, receiving socket contacts, and with a second housing part, receiving knife contacts, where the two parts of the housing can be locked together and released by means of pins or the like, firmly attached to said parts of the housing, and swivelable clamps - there is provided an arrangement of a single U-shaped clamp (9), which is swivel-mounted on one part (1) of the housing and whose legs (9') exhibit in the region of the board-shaped expansions (9'') linking grooves (10), which can be swung onto pins (11) of the other part (6) of the housing; the legs (9') are provided with springy chamfers, which in the opening position are braced as stop elements against that part (1) of the housing that carries the clamp (9); and a cutout, notch, hole or the like (13), into which a locking hook (14) mounted resiliently on a part (1 or 6) of the housing reaches releasably when the clamp (9) is in the locking position, is designed in the cross piece (9''') of the clamp (9).

Description: Specification Electrical Connector The invention relates to an electrical connector with a first housing part, receiving socket contacts, and with a second housing part, receiving knife contacts, where the two parts of the housing can be locked together and released by means of pins or the like, firmly attached to said parts of the housing, and swivelable clamps. In the case of a known connector of this kind, one part of the housing has two U-shaped clamps, which can be swung with recesses provided in the legs onto pins of the other part of the housing and can be locked by means of expansions, formed in the rim surfaces of the recesses as detents, at these expansions. Apart from the fact the clamps can be operated only separately in succession, whereby it is possible to tilt the parts of the housing with respect to each other, the expansions acting as detents require a significant amount of energy to swing on or release the clamps, having a negative mechanical effect on pins and clamps. In addition, the detents provided at the clamps do not function reliably. In addition, this known connector is difficult to manipulate due to the independently uncontrollable swivelling of the clamps before or during the plugging operation of the parts of the housing. The object of the invention is to provide for a connector of the aforementioned class measures to simplify the manipulation and to reliably stop the parts of the housing. According to the invention, a solution is found by means of the arrangement of a single U-shaped clamp, which is pivot-mounted on one part of the housing and whose legs exhibit in the region of the board-shaped expansions linking grooves, which can be swung onto pins of the other part of the housing; the legs are provided with springy chamfers, which in the opening position are braced as stop elements against that part of the housing that carries the clamp; and a cutout, notch, hole or the like, into which a locking hook mounted resiliently on a part of the housing reaches releasably when the clamp is in the locking position, is designed in the cross piece of the clamp. In the case of housing parts whose cross section is substantially rectangular, the articulated points for the clamp are designed preferably in the narrow sides of the first part of the housing. In this manner a connector is provided in which the clamp can be stopped in the open position and locked in the coupling position, thus enabling both parts of the housing to be pre-plugged without hindrance and thus achieving by subsequently swivelling the clamp, with or without additional tightening effect during the plugging operation, a reliable contact between socket and knife contacts as well as locking of the clamp; and in the coupling position a reliable stay of the parts of the housing at each other is achieved. Since the locking means are separated from the linking groove or that part of the legs that acts with the pins, the pins and the clamp remain in an advantageous manner virtually free of disturbing mechanical stresses. The springy segments of the clamp allow the formation of a pre-plug position, where simply strip-shaped chamfers are used in the region of the clamp legs, whose one segment is bent in or bent down in the direction of the first part of the housing and which enable by reaching behind the first part of the housing with the bent in or bent down parts a resilient fixation. In addition, it has proven to be advantageous if the linking grooves exhibit bends, extending at right angles to the swivel planes of the legs, on at least the boundary surfaces reaching behind the pins. The bends allow the compression of surfaces to be kept to a minimum, thus preventing the boundary surfaces of the linking grooves to cut into the circumferential surfaces of the pins, even in the case of repeated locking operatings. Finally it is also provided that the locking hook for the clamp is arranged preferably on a strip-shaped extension of the first part of the housing and the extension is designed counter to the effect of a restoring force to release the locking hook and can be bent down out of the cutout, recess, hole or the like of the clamp. To release the clamp with a small amount of energy, it is also provided that the thickness of a segment of the extension is reduced in comparison to the walls of the part of the housing. It is obvious that when the clamp is swung into the locking position, the locking hook is first automatically swung inwardly with a sloped butting face counter to the restoring force of the extension and subsequently under the influence of the restoring force also enters automatically into the cutout, recess or hole of the clamp. By depressing the locking hook and bending down the extension, the clamp is freed of the locking forces and can be swung back with a small amount of energy into the releasing position of the parts of the housing. The invention is explained with reference to the embodiment shown in the drawings. Figure 1 is a side view of a connector with two housing parts. Figure 2 is a side view and in part a sectional view of a clamp. Figure 3 is a sectional view of a connector. Figure 4 is a front view, in part a sectional view, of a first part of the housing of a connector. Figure 5 is a top view, in part a sectional view, of a first part of the housing; and Figure 6 is a front view of a second part of the housing. In Figure 1 a first part of the housing is denoted as 1, which receives a number of socket contacts 2 in openings 3. The socket contacts 2 are fixed in position in the openings 3 by means of extensions 4, which can be bent in and can be fixed into the bent-in position by means of sliders 5 (Figure 3). A second part of the housing is denoted as 6, which receives a number of knife contacts 7, according to Figures 3 and 7. As evident from Figures 1 and 3, the two parts of the housing 1 and 6 can be plugged together, thus the knife contacts 7 making contact with the socket contacts 2. At the housing part 1 a U-shaped clamp 9, whose legs 9' exhibit expansions 9 11 into which linking grooves 10 are designed, is swivel-mounted on pin 8. The clamp 9 can be slid with the linking grooves 10 on the pins 11, provided at the second housing part 6 (Figures 4 and 6), resulting thus in an optional tightening movement being exerted on the second housing part 6, pre-plugged at the housing part 1. The clamp 9 is stopped in the release position or in the pre-plug position of the housing part 6 by means of strip-shaped chamfers 12 projecting into the cutouts 19, whereby the chamfers 12 reach with bend-ins 12' behind the housing part 1. By swivelling the clamp 9 out of the release position, which is drawn with solid lines in Figure 1, into the locking position, shown with dash-dotted lines, the pins 11 of the housing part 6 slide into the linking grooves 10, thus locking together the housing parts 1, 6 while assuming the final position. A recess 13, into which a locking hook 14 automatically springs when the clamp 9 is in the locking position (Figure 3), is designed in the cross piece 9' ' ' of the clamp 9. The locking hook 14 prevents the clamp 9 from swinging back unintentionally. If it is desired that the clamp 9 swings back for the purpose of separating the parts 1, 6 of the housing, a pressure force must be exerted from the top on the locking hook 16, whereby the strip-shaped extension 15 carrying the locking hook 14 is bent inwardly and the clamp 9 can be released. Expediently the linking grooves 10 are defined in the region of the boundary surfaces, reaching behind the pins 11, by bends 16, which reduce the surface compression between the pins 11 and the clamp 9. Furthermore, the regions of the expansions 9 1 ' that can be guided in front of the pins 11 have other bends 17, which serve to stabilize or fasten the expansions 9' '. It is obvious that preferably the locking hook 14 is mounted on an extension 15, which is deposited at least over one segment, optionally opposite the walls of the housing part 1, in order to keep the contact force for the locking hook 14 at a minimum. Finally it is also provided in order to lock the housing parts 1,6 reliably, to swivel the parts of the expansions 9 1 that reach behind the pins 11 into extensions 18 of the first housing part 1 that serve as guides, thus ruling out any unintentional lateral deflection of the expansions 9' , which could result in a release of the pins 11.

Claims: Patent Claims 1. Electrical connector with a first housing part, receiving socket contacts, and with a second housing part, receiving knife contacts, where the two parts of the housing can be locked together and released by means of pins or the like, firmly attached to said parts of the housing, and swivelable clamps, characterized in that there is an arrangement of a single U-shaped clamp (9), which is pivot-mounted on one part (1) of the housing and whose legs (9' ) exhibit in the region of the board-shaped expansions (9 11 ) linking grooves (10), which can be swung onto pins (11) of the other part (6) of the housing; the legs (9 1 ) are provided with springy chamfers (12), which in the opening position are braced as stop elements against that part (1) of the housing that carries the clamp (9); and a cutout, notch, hole or the like (13), into which a locking hook (14) mounted resiliently on a part (1 or 6) of the housing reaches releasably when the clamp (9) is in the locking position, is designed in the cross piece (9 1 ' ' ) of the clamp (9). 2. Connector as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the swivelable clamp (9) is mounted on the first housing part (2) receiving the socket contacts. 3. Connector as claimed in claim 1, with housing parts (1, 6) whose cross section is substantially rectangular, in order to receive socket or knife contacts, characterized in that the articulated points for the clamp (9) are designed in the narrow sides, which are opposite one another and belong to the first part (1) of the housing. 4. Connector as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the linking grooves (10) exhibit bends (16), extending at right angles to the swivel plane of the legs (9 1 ) / on at least the boundary surfaces reaching behind the pins (11). 5. Connector as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the chamfers (12) serving as stop elements for the clamp (9) are designed as strips and their one sublength (12') is bent in or bent down in the direction of the first part of the housing. 6. Connector as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the locking hook (14) for the clamp (9) is arranged on a strip-shaped extension (15) of the first part (1) of the housing and in that the extension (15) can be bent down against a restoring force to release the locking hook (14) out of the cutout, recess, hole or the like. 7. Connector as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the thickness of a segment of the extension (15) is reduced in comparison to the walls of the part (1) of the housing. 8. Connector as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the U-shaped clamp (9) is formed by means of a shaped sheet metal piece with attachment beads in the region of the cross piece (9'' 1 ) and/or the legs (9'). 9. Connector as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that at least one sublength of the segments of the legs (9 1 )/ which can be guided in front of the pins (11), exhibits bends (17), extending at right angles to the swivel plane. 10. Connector as claimed in claims 1 and 4, characterized in that those parts of the expansions (9 ! ) that reach behind the pins (11) can be swung into the extensions (18) that serve as guides and belong to the first housing part.

Inventors: BIERINGER ANTON, NUETZEL PETER, BIERINGER, ANTON, NUETZEL, PETER
Applicants: BIERINGER ANTON, FRAMATOME CONNECTORS INT, NUETZEL PETER, BIERINGER, ANTON, FRAMATOME CONNECTORS INTERNATIONAL, NUETZEL, PETER
Application year: 1993
Main classification: H01R13
IPC codes: H01R13