Patent Publication Number: US-10320110-B2

Title: Plug-in connector

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a plug connector for reversibly connecting electrical lines or connections to one another. Plug connectors and mating plug connectors are used in the prior art to produce an electrical and mechanical connection between two electrical lines or an electrical line and a device or an installation. In particular for transmitting high currents, plug connectors are required which are protected against environmental influences by the housing. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
     DE 20 2006 003 204 U1 discloses a plug connector which is formed as a plug or an attachment housing. The plug connector comprises a plug connector housing in which an insulating body with electrical contacts is received. The electrical contacts are provided for the connection of electrical lines which lead out of the plug or attachment housing on the rear side of the plug connector. 
     The known solutions for plug connectors are disadvantageous in that the size of the plug connector is influenced by the design and connectivity. In the plug connectors known from the prior art, electrical lines or cables are connected to the electrical contacts in most cases. The connection region for these lines or cables takes up a lot of space, which has to be provided in the plug connector since the connection region is received in the plug connector. The overall size of the plug connector is thus increased. 
     Plug connectors which have a very flat structure are especially required in the region of device connections. Very tall plug connectors provide many opportunities for faults resulting from undesired mechanical effects. Moreover, the connection of cables and lines to contacts in the plug connector is difficult when the plug connector is formed as an attachment housing and little space is provided on the device side for guiding the cables and lines. 
     OBJECT OF THE INVENTION 
     The object of the invention consists in forming a plug connector in such a way that the required installation and assembly space is as small as possible. The aim here is to enable the assembly of the plug connector to be as simple as possible and at the same time to reduce the connection space for cables and lines outside the plug connector. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a plug connector which at least has a plug connector housing, an insulating body and an electrical contact. The insulating body is received in the plug connector housing and the electrical contact is received in the insulating body. On one side, the plug connector forms a plug side which is provided for contacting a mating plug connector. On a further side, the plug connector forms an assembly side which is provided to fasten the plug connector to a surface of a housing or a device. 
     The plug side of the plug connector is formed such that the electrical contact in the plug connector is arranged in the plug side and can contact a mating plug connector. A locking means is arranged on the outside of the plug side, which locking means can lock the plug connector mechanically to a contacted mating plug connector. The locking means is preferably constructed as a locking clip, but can also be designed in other ways known from the prior art. 
     The assembly side of the plug connector preferably has an assembly means which enables the plug connector to be fastened to a surface. The assembly means is preferably constructed as an assembly flange having at least one bore. A screw can therefore be guided through the bore, for example, and the plug connecter can be tightly screwed to a surface. A preferred embodiment provides for at least two bores to be arranged in the fastening flange to ensure reliable fastening. According to the invention, the electrical contact is arranged in the assembly side of the plug connector such that it can contact a mating contact directly. 
     According to the invention, the electrical contact is formed such that it forms two contact sides. A first contact side, which is arranged in the plug side of the plug connector, and a second contact side, which is arranged in the assembly side of the plug connector. This form of the electrical contact makes it particularly advantageously possible for the plug connector to be contacted directly by mating contacts on two sides. The connection of a cable or line is unnecessary. The respective contact sides of the electrical contact can be formed here as socket or pin contacts. The contact can therefore have two similar or two different contact sides. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the two contact sides of the electrical contact are constructed identically. A particularly preferred embodiment provides for the two contacts sides to be formed as pin contacts. The contact can thus be produced favorably and easily. 
     In an advantageous embodiment, the plug side and the assembly side of the plug connector are provided on two adjacently arranged sides of the plug connector. The plug and assembly side are therefore preferably arranged at an angle of approximately 90 degrees with respect to one another. This arrangement enables a particularly space-saving assembly of the plug connector on a device or a surface. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the insulating body of the plug connector is designed in two parts, comprising a first insulating body part and a second insulating body part. The first insulating body part here is that which is arranged on the plug side in the plug connector housing and the second insulating body part is that which is arranged on the assembly side in the plug connector housing. The two insulating body parts are provided to be mechanically latched to one another. They have latching means for this purpose, which enable the insulating body parts to be latched to another through being joined together. 
     In a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the first insulating body part can be inserted into the plug connector housing via the plug side. The second insulating body part, on the other hand, can be inserted into the plug connector housing via the assembly side. The insulating body parts can thus be inserted into the plug connector housing from two directions. At the same time, it is thus possible for the first insulating body part to latch to the second insulating body part in the plug connector housing when both are inserted into this. 
     The electrical contact is expediently received and mechanically held in one of the two insulating body parts. The electrical contact can thus be inserted into one of the two parts before they are pushed into the plug connector housing and latched to one another therein. An advantageous embodiment provides for one part of the two insulating body parts to in turn be designed in two parts. The electrical contact can thus be received and held in the insulating body part in an improved manner. 
     A particularly preferred embodiment provides for the electrical contact to be rectangular in form so that the first contact side is arranged at an angle of approximately 90 degrees with respect to the second contact side. The insulating body is formed likewise. One of the insulating body parts can thus be inserted into one of the sides of the plug connector housing with the electrical contact received in said insulating body part. As a result of the rectangular construction of the plug connector housing, electrical contact and insulating body, one of the insulating body parts has to be guided into the plug connector housing by means of a rotational movement. After its insertion, the other insulating body part can be inserted into the plug connector housing via the second side and connected to the first insulating body part. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       An exemplary embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the drawings and will be explained in more detail below. The drawings show: 
         FIG. 1  a perspective illustration of a plug connector according to the invention; 
         FIG. 2  a perspective sectional illustration of a plug connector according to the invention; 
         FIG. 3  an exploded illustration of an insulating body with the electrical contact; 
         FIG. 4  a perspective sectional illustration of a first assembly step of a plug connector according to the invention; and 
         FIG. 5  a perspective sectional illustration of a second assembly step of a plug connector according to the invention. 
     
    
    
     The figures contain partially simplified schematic illustrations. Identical reference numerals are sometimes used for elements which are similar but possibly not identical. Different views of similar elements could be drawn to different scales. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       FIG. 1  shows a plug connector  1  according to the invention in a perspective illustration. The plug connector  1  is formed by a plug connector housing  2 . The plug connector housing  2  is rectangular in form and forms a plug side  10  and an assembly side  20  arranged at approximately 90 degrees. 
     The plug side  10  is fitted with a locking means  11 . The locking means  11  formed as a locking clip is arranged around the plug side  10  and serves for locking the plug connector  1  to a contacted mating plug connector. 
     The assembly side  20  of the plug connector  1  is fitted with an assembly means  21 . The assembly means  21  here is formed as a fastening flange  21 A which is provided on two opposite sides of the plug connector housing  2 . Two bores (only one is visible here) are provided in the fastening flange, which bores serve for fastening the plug connector  1  by means of two screws. 
     The insulating body  3  is arranged in the plug connector housing  2 . The insulating body  3  here is formed in two parts from a first insulating body part  3 . 1  and a second insulating body part  3 . 2 . The first insulating body part  3 . 1  here is inserted into the plug side  10  of the plug connector  1 . The second insulating body part  3 . 2  is inserted into the assembly side  20  of the plug connector  1 . According to the invention, the two insulating body parts  3 . 1 ,  3 . 2  are latched to one another in the plug connector housing  2  and thus mechanically connected. An electrical contact  4  is received in the insulating body  3 , which electrical contact forms a first contact side  41  in the plug side  10  of the connector  1 . 
     The plug connector  1  of  FIG. 1  is shown in  FIG. 2 , but in a sectional illustration. In addition to the components of the plug connector  1  which can already be seen in  FIG. 1 , the insulating body  3  and the electrical contact  4  can be seen in detail in  FIG. 2 . The electrical contact  4 , bent at a right angle, forms a first contact side  41  and a second contact side  42 . The first contact side  41  is arranged in the plug side  10  of the plug connector  1  here. The second contact side  42  is arranged in the assembly side  20  of the plug connector  1 . Both the first contact side  41  and the second contact side  42  project out of the plug connector housing  2  here, at least in some regions. 
     The insulating body  3  is formed from a first insulating body part  3 . 1  and a second insulating body part  3 . 2 . The second insulating body part  3 . 2  here surrounds the assembly-side second contact side  42  of the electrical contact  4 . The first insulating body part  3 . 1  surrounds the plug-side first contact side  41  of the electrical contact  4 . The two insulating body parts  3 . 1  and  3 . 2  are latched to one another within the plug connector housing  2 . 
     An isolated insulating body  3  is illustrated with an inserted electrical contact  4  in an exploded view in  FIG. 3 . In the specific embodiment shown, the second insulating body part  3 . 2  is in turn designed in two parts. It comprises a first insulating body part half-shell  3 . 2 . 1  and a second insulating body half-shell  3 . 2 . 2 . As a result of the two-part insulating body part  3 . 2 , the electrical contact  4  can be received and held in the insulating body  3  in an improved manner. 
     The first insulating body part  3 . 1  is arranged in the front, plug-side region and can be latched to the second insulating body part  3 . 2 . 
     As a result of the rectangular form of the plug connector housing  2 , the contact  4  and the insulating body  3 , the assembly of the plug connector  1  differs according to the invention from the other plug connector. The assembly is therefore illustrated in  FIGS. 4 and 5 . 
     The assembly of the plug connector  1  requires the contact  4  to be inserted into the second insulating body part  3 . 2  as already illustrated in  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 4  furthermore shows a first assembly step. In this, the second insulating body part  3 . 2  having the inserted contact  4  is positioned on the assembly side  20  of the plug connector housing  2 . The alignment of the insulating body part  3 . 2  is rotated through approximately 45 degrees with respect to the end position in the plug connector housing  2 . 
     As a result of a rotational movement in the movement direction A, the insulating body part  3 . 2  is inserted into the plug connector housing  2  until it has reached a final position (see  FIG. 5 ). The second assembly step shown in  FIG. 5  shows the insertion of the first insulating body part  3 . 1 . This is inserted into the plug side  10  of the plug connector housing  2  in the movement direction B. With this, the first insulating body part  3 . 1  latches in its end position to the second insulating body part  3 . 2 . The fully assembled plug connector corresponds to  FIG. 2 .