Patent GB-1318496-A (GB)
Title: Electrical connectors
IPC: H01R12/78
Filed: 1971-12-20
Abstract: 1318496 Two part couplings AMP Inc 20 Dec 1971 [11 Jan 1971] 59156/71 Heading H2E A socket connector (Fig. 3) for a tape cable comprises a housing 16 of hard nylon or diallylphthalate which nests in a cavity in a resilient sealing gland 14 of silicone rubber, which in turn is enclosed and compressed by a diecast aluminium shell 12. Clamping plates 84 engage the gland 14 by means of studs 58 and holes 92, protect it during assembly, and lock it in the shell 12. Teeth (82, Fig. 6, not shown), on the inside of the shell, pass through holes 90 in the clamping plates into detents 56 in the sealing gland. As shown in Fig. 8 the housing has parallel channels containing contacts 30 which comprise socket portions and portions for connection to the cable 10. The channels are connected at their rear ends to form a groove extending over the width of the housing. The contacts are held by spring fingers 202 against the roofs of the channels, in engagement with forward- and backward-facing shoulders. The housing 16 has a trapezial groove at its rear which mates with a ridge 48 on the sealing gland. The cable passes through a slot 64 and a slit 60 in the sealing gland, the slit 60 having recesses 62 and being compressed on to the cable. The casing is tapered so that tension on the cable tends to compress the sealing gland. In assembly, first the contacts are crimped to the cable conductors, then the cable end and contacts are threaded through the shell and the gland, and the contacts are inserted en masse into the housing. Next the sealing gland is slid over the housing, the clamping plates are placed in position, and the shell is moved to cover the subassembly. The front ends of the channels in the housing open into conical apertures 34 which guide the pins 101 of a mating plug connector into correct engagement. The apertures 34 are offset from the centre line of the connector, and blind apertures 38 are provided to prevent damage to the pins if the plug is presented the wrong way round. The plug includes a hood 98 which fits a complementary cavity 205 in the socket. The remainder of the plug (Fig. 10, not shown) is similar to the socket, When the connectors are mated the housing (16<SP>1</SP>) of the plug compresses its corresponding sealing gland (14<SP>1</SP>), while the hood 98 which is formed as an extension of the housing (16<SP>1</SP>) compresses the sealing gland 14 of the socket. Between the housing (16<SP>1</SP>) and the hood 98 is a collar (96) which helps to protect the sealing glands when the connectors are mated. As shown in Fig. 2, the plug 4<SP>1</SP> and socket 4 are held in engagement by a mounting bracket 6 which comprises a web 104 and blocks 106 which have holes 105 to allow the bracket to be fixed to a support. Hooks 112, held to the blocks by screws 110, engage lugs 130, 130<SP>1</SP> which lie between extensions 128, 128<SP>1</SP> of the upper and lower walls of the connectors. Flanges 107 on the blocks fit between lugs 130, 130<SP>1</SP> and the upper extensions 128. The screws 110 are loosened to allow the connectors to be mated, and tightened to lock them to the bracket. The connector may be used for individual wires as well as tape cables.