Electrical connector for conductive leads

Abstract: An electrical connector (2) for electrically connecting leads to a device having a contact (10) with a first end (24) for electrically engaging the lead and a second end for electrically engaging the device. The contact is retained within a housing (4). A fastener (12) maintains engagement of the lead with the contact (10). The forces exerted to maintain the lead in electrical engagement with the contact (10) by way of the fastener (12) are isolated from the insulative body (6).

Description: This invention relates to an electrical connector for electrically connecting leads, such as insulated wires with or without terminals attached thereto, to an electrical device, such as a printed circuit board. Conductive leads, such as insulated wire, may be attached to an electrical device, such as the conductive pads of a printed circuit board in a number of ways, for example soldering directly or by way of connectors where the conductive lead is permanently affixed thereto. In some applications, it is desirable to be able to both disconnect the conductive lead from the device, such as by way of a connector, and to be able to disconnect the conductive lead from the contact within the connector. In known connectors of this type, a fastener, for example a screw would hold the conductive lead, or a terminal attached thereto, against a contact, whereby tightening or loosening the fastener engages or releases the conductive lead. A problem with connectors of this type is that the connector housing is typically an insulative body formed of a plastic material and, in order to fix the conductive lead against the contact forces must be exerted on the housing to draw the two components together. When plastic is placed in compression, creep may occur allowing the conductive lead to become disengaged from the contact, thereby creating an unreliable electrical interconnection. What is needed is an electrical connector that forms an electrical interconnection between a device and conductive leads, where the leads can be connected and disconnected from the contact within the connector, where any forces exerted to maintain the lead in electrical engagement with the contact are isolated from the insulative body. What is further needed is a simple connector where a connector for conductive leads may be removably attached to a device and where the leads are removably attached thereto. It would be advantageous if the connector formed a wiping engagement with the device. It is an object of this invention to provide a connector in which conductive leads may be reliably engaged with contacts within the connector housing. It is another object of this invention to provide an electrical connector in which the forces exerted to maintain the lead in electrical engagement with the contact, are isolated from the insulative body of the connector so that creep does not lead to a failure of the interconnection. A prior art electrical connector for releasably connecting a plurality of wires to an electrical device (on which the pre-characterising part of claim 1 is based) is described in patent US 4174147. The connector includes an insulative housing with through passages in each of which a contact is positioned which has a first end for engaging a wire and a second end for engaging an electrical device. Each contact first end has resilient detents for engaging recesses in the housing and a threaded hole in which a wire clamping screw is engaged. According to the invention there is provided an electrical connector for electrically connecting leads to a device, the connector comprising a contact having a first end for electrically engaging the lead and a second end for electrically engaging the device; a housing having an insulative body wherein the contact is positioned, the body including a lead side and a device side with a passageway therebetween, the contact being disposed in the passageway such that the first end is exposed on the lead side within a port and the second end is exposed on the device side; the connector further comprising a fastener to maintain engagement between the contact and the lead, the forces exerted to maintain the lead in electrical engagement with the contact being isolated from the insulative body, characterised in that the port includes a wall wherein a retention member is retained, the retention member being coupled to the fastener in such a manner that the fastener can exert forces thereupon for drawing the first end of the contact and the lead into electrical engagement. In one particular embodiment of this invention, the retention member comprises a nut having tapered sides which is received within a complementary slot within the insulated body. The nut includes a bearing surface extending from the slot, such that the fastener captivates the lead and the contact relative the bearing surface, such that the forces exerted by the fastener act between the fastener and the nut without compressing the insulative body. In a further embodiment, it is possible to include a tab as part of the contact to engage the tapered nut in order to captivate the contact within the connector independently of the fastener. In yet another embodiment, a probe point is advantageously included at the first end of the contact, whereby a testing device may engage the contact and be interconnected with the actual circuit, as opposed to prior art devices where it would be necessary to contact the fastener. An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which; Figure 1 is a partially-exploded, front isometric view of an electrical connector according to this invention; Figure 2 is a rear isometric view of the partially-exploded connector of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a cross sectional view along a terminal receiving cavity of the connector, and Figure 4 is an isometric view of the contact of Figure 1. With reference first to Figure 1, an electrical connector is shown generally at 2. This connector 2 includes a housing 4 having an insulative body 6 and a retention member 8, shown as a tapered nut. The connector further includes a contact 10 and a fastener 12. The fastener 12 is shown as a machine screw 16 having a head 18 and a threaded body 20. A washer 14, advantageously having a square configuration to prevent rotation, is also included as part of the fastener 12. The threaded body 20 of screw 16 is to be received in a complementary threaded aperture 22 in the retention member 8. With reference now to Figure 4, the contact 10 includes a first end 24 for electrically engaging a lead (not shown) and a second end 26 for electrically engaging a device (not shown), such as a printed circuit board. The first end 24 includes a upstanding wall 28 that has an opening 30 therethrough that is sized so that the threaded body 20 of the screw 16 can pass therethrough. The wall 28 also includes a probe point 32 that extends outward therefrom. The probe point 32 enables trouble shooting of the electrical interconnections by way of electrical contact directly with a testing device, as opposed to having to contact the fastener 12 in order to test the interconnection, thereby improving the accuracy of the measurement and eliminating the need to provide expensive plating upon the screw 16. The upstanding wall 28 is interconnected with the second end 26 by way of a base 34. In this embodiment, the second end 26 includes a pair of bowed contact arms 36 that are deformed to be resilient so that as conductive pads of printed circuit board pass thereover, contact surfaces 38 upon the arms 36 will make a wiping interconnection. As will be described more fully below, a tab 40 is folded upwards out of base 34. The insulative body 6 of the housing 4 has a lead side 42 and a device side 44 interconnected by passages 46 (Figure 3) that extend through the body 6 so that the first end 24 of the contact 10 is disposed on the lead side 42 and the second end 26 of the contact 10 extends from the device side 44. The device side 44 includes an outer shell 48 having a keying slot 50 that could be used to assure proper mating. A principle slot 52 open to receive the device, extends longitudinally along the shell 48. Exposed within the principle slot 52 are a plurality of channels 54 within which the bowed contact arms 36 of the second end 26 of the contact 10 are disposed in order to make electrical interconnection with the device. The outer shell 48 further includes locking members 56 which would secure the connector 2 to the device. The lead side 42 includes 6 ports 58 having two adjacent open sides, two side walls 60, a base 62 and a back wall 64. The back wall 64 includes dove-tail slot 66 that is also open on one end and includes tapered walls 68. This slot 66 is configured to receive and retain the retention member 8. The retention member 8 is configured to fit within slot 66 of the insulative body 6. In this embodiment, the retention member 8 is a tapered nut formed of a short length of material having a threaded aperture 22 therethrough to threadably receive the threaded body 20 of fastener 12. Two of the side walls 70 of retention member 8 are complementarily tapered with respect to the tapered walls 68 of slot 66. The retention member 8 further includes a bearing surface 72 through which the threaded aperture 22 extends. The retention member 8 is configured so that when the complementarily tapered side walls 70 would be against the tapered walls 68 of slot 66, the bearing surface 72 would extend beyond back wall 64 into the port 58, thereby assuring that the forces exerted by the fastener 12 to hold the lead in electrical engagement with the contact 10 are isolated from the insulative body 6, as is described below. The components described above are assembled into the electrical connector 2 as follows. First, the contact 10 is inserted into the insulative body 6 from the lead side 42 such that the bowed contact arms 36 extend through passage 46 and into channels 54 of the device side 44. Next, the retention member 8 is inserted into slot 66 such that the tapered walls 68 of the slot and the complementary tapered side walls 70 of the retention member 8 correspond. Where the contact 10 includes tab 40, the retention member 8 may be fitted between the upstanding wall 28 and the tab 40 in order to lock the contact in place relative to the insulative body 6, this is best seen in Figure 3. Now, the threaded body 20 of screw 16 of fastener 12 is received within the complementary threaded aperture 22 of the retention member 8. The lead (not shown), or a terminal affixed thereto, may be placed between the head 18 of screw 16 and the wall 28 of contact 10 so that as the screw 16 is tightened, the lead will be retained between the contact 10 and the head 18 of screw 16. As the bearing surface 72 extends beyond the back wall 64 of the ports 58 in the insulative body 6, when the fastener 12 is fully tightened, the lead will be compressed between the head 18 of screw 16 and the upstanding wall 28 of contact 10 while the upstanding wall 28 bears against the bearing surface 72 of the retention member 8 without loading the insulative body 6. Where the retention member 8 is metal, this provides for full metal-to-metal interconnection which is resistant to the effects of creep. Furthermore, the forces exerted to maintain the lead in electrical engagement with the contact, are isolated from the insulative body as the upstanding wall 28 of the contact 10, the square washer 14 of the fastener 12, and the lead are all compressed between the head 18 of screws 16 and the bearing surface 72 of retention member 8, all of which is retained within the insulative body 6 by way of the interaction of tapered walls 68 within dovetail slot 66 and their complementary tapered side walls 70 of the retention member 8. Advantageously, an electrical connector 2 is provided for interconnecting leads to another device where the electrical connector 2 has a contact 10 within a housing 4 and a fastener 12 to maintain engagement between the contact 10 and the lead where the forces exerted by the fastener 12 to maintain the lead in electrical engagement with the contact, are isolated from the insulative body 6, thereby assuring a reliable electrical interconnection. Furthermore, a metal-to-metal interconnection may be formed that is highly resistant to the effects of creep. Additionally, a probe point 32 may be included as part of the first end 24 of the contact 10 so that trouble shooting may be preformed in a manner that directly tests the interconnection. Finally, the contact 10 may include a tab 40 that is engageable with the retention member 8 to retain the contact 10 within the housing 4 independent of the fastener 12.

Claims: An electrical connector (2) for electrically connecting leads to a device, the connector (2) comprising a contact (10) having a first end (24) for electrically engaging the lead and a second end (26) for electrically engaging the device; a housing (4) having an insulative body (6) wherein the contact (10) is positioned, the body (6) including a lead side and a device side (44) with a passageway (46) therebetween, the contact (10) being disposed in the passageway (46) such that the first end (24) is exposed on the lead side (42) within a port (58) and the second end (26) is exposed on the device side (44); the connector further comprising a fastener (12) to maintain engagement between the contact (10) and the lead, the forces exerted to maintain the lead in electrical engagement with the contact (10) being isolated from the insulative body (6), characterised in that the port (58) includes a wall (64) wherein a retention member (8) is retained, the retention member (8) being coupled to the fastener (12) in such a manner that the fastener (12) can exert forces thereupon for drawing the first end (24) of the contact and the lead into electrical engagement. The electrical connector (2) according to claim 1 wherein the retention member (8) is retained in the wall (64) by complementary structures (66, 70) of the body (6) and the retention member (8), where the retention member (8) includes a bearing surface (72) extending beyond the wall (64) into the port (58). The electrical connector (2) according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the contact (10) includes a base (34) between the first end (24) and the second end (26) whereby the first end (24) extends generally perpendicularly therefrom and includes an opening (30) through which the fastener (12) passes, thereby retaining the contact (10). The electrical connector (2) according to claim 3 wherein the base includes a tab (40) for retaining the contact (10) within the housing (4). The electrical connector (2) according to any preceding claim wherein the second end (26) of the contact (10) is formed in a bowed manner having contact surfaces (38) at an apex thereof for wiping engagement with the mating device. The electrical connector (2) according to any preceding claim wherein the contact (10) includes a tab (40), between the first end (24) and the second end (26), engageable by the retention member (8) to retain the contact (10) within the insulative body (6). The electrical connector (2) according to any preceding claim wherein the housing (4) includes a transverse slot (52) for receiving the mating device in position for engagement with the contact (10). The electrical connector according to any preceding claim wherein the contact (10) includes a probe point (32) extending therefrom enabling direct contact therewith.

Inventors: DUKE CHRISTOPHER JAMES, WHEELER-KING FRANK, WHELAN MICHAEL J, DUKE, CHRISTOPHER JAMES, WHEELER-KING, FRANK, WHELAN, MICHAEL J.
Applicants: WHITAKER CORP, THE WHITAKER CORPORATION
Application year: 1995
Main classification: H01R4
IPC codes: H01R13, H01R9, H01R4