Patent Document

FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to connector assemblies, and more particularly to a connector assembly having at least one connector body that includes a plurality of independently removable and replaceable segments.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Military and commercial electronics often employ cabling or wiring harnesses for transmitting electrical or optical signals. Such cabling and wiring harnesses often have connections at a termination point that can be disconnected and reconnected through the use of electrical plugs such as connector assemblies. Many such connector assemblies have a male component and a female component that are joined together to complete one or more circuits. Typically the male connector includes one or more electrical or optical conductors, and the female connector includes one or more receptacles for receiving the conductors of the male connector portion. When joining a male and female connector portions together, it is crucial that each of the conductors of the male member make contact with the appropriate structure within each opening in the female connector. Present day connector assemblies have mating tabs and grooves on the connector body mating surfaces. This assures that the pattern of pins on one connector body is precisely aligned and matched with the pin receptacles on the mating connector body, as the connector plug is inserted into the connector receptacle. These tabs also are used as retention pins to help hold the plug and receptacle together. Typically, when an electrical connector is involved, the female connector includes conductive contacts in a recess (i.e., receptacle) that receive conductive pins of the male connector.  
         [0003]     On occasion, one or more of the conductive elements within the male or female connector components will become damaged and need repair. When such damage to a connector occurs, the normal procedure is to replace the defective conductive part. This may involve replacing defective contacts in the female connector component or replacing one or more pins in the male connector component. Damage can also extend to other parts such as a portion of the connector body of either the male or female connector. When there is damage to either of the male or female connectors, whether the damage is to a single conductive pin, a single conductive contact or a plurality of defective pins or contacts, repairing or replacing the defective pin or contact can be a time consuming process. Such repair may involve significant man hours in replacing the damaged pin or conductor and performing verification of all connections. If there is damage to the body of the connector, then the entire body has to be replaced, which represents removing and reattaching all of the conductors to the new connector body. When such damage occurs to a connector having dozens or more of individual conductors, one can appreciate the significant time and costs that can be incurred in the repair process.  
         [0004]     Accordingly, there still exists a need for a connector assembly that can be repaired more quickly and easily in the event one or more conductive elements or the body portion of the assembly become damaged and need to be replaced.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     The present invention is directed to a connector assembly that incorporates at least one connector body portion that is formed from a plurality of independently replaceable connector body segments. Each connector body segment includes one or more conductors. The conductors may be conductive pins or conductive contacts housed within openings in the segment. Since the connector body is segmented into a plurality of independent component parts, if one of the connector body segments becomes damaged, it is not necessary to replace the entire connector body. Rather, only the segment containing the damaged pin or contact needs to be replaced. This significantly reduces the time to repair the damaged connector. For example, when a four segment connector body is incorporated, and one of the segments of the connector body becomes damaged, only the conductors associated with that particular damaged segment need to be removed and reattached to a new segment of the connector body. This reduces the overall time to repair the connector body by 75% over what would be required if all of the conductors of all four segments the connector body needed to be removed and reattached to a single new connector body.  
         [0006]     In various preferred embodiments different shapes of connector bodies are employed. The independently replaceable segments of the connector body may be precisely positioned and held together with an interlocking structure formed on outer surface portions of each connector body segment. The interlocking structure allows selected ones of the connector body segments to be removed from the remaining segments and replaced when needed. The ability to replace only a portion of the connector body also enables modifications to the connector to be implemented more easily, quickly and cost effectively than would be the case if the entire connector body had to be replaced.  
         [0007]     The features, functions, and advantages can be achieved independently in various embodiments of the present inventions or may be combined in yet other embodiments. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]     The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a connector assembly in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is a front end view of the first connector body shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view of the first connector body shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0012]      FIG. 4  is a simplified side cross sectional view of the assembled connector body of  FIG. 3  to illustrate the engagement of the fasteners and the housing;  
         [0013]      FIG. 5  is an illustration of a plurality of rectangular shaped connector body segments in accordance with an alternative preferred form of the connector body;  
         [0014]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of another alternative preferred form of the connector body in which the body segments are square shaped;  
         [0015]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a plurality of connector body segments in accordance with another alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention, wherein each connector body segment incorporates both a groove and a tab for enabling interlocking of the body segments with one another;  
         [0016]      FIG. 8  is a front view of the connector body segments shown in  FIG. 7  lined up to be coupled together; and  
         [0017]      FIG. 9  is a side cross sectional view of the connector body of  FIG. 8  showing two of the body segments assembled together. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0018]     The following description of the preferred embodiment(s) is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses.  
         [0019]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a connector assembly  10  in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The connector assembly includes a first connector body  12  and a mating second connector body  14 . Connector body  12  is illustrated as having a plurality of electrically conductive pin receptacles  16 , while second connector body  14  has a housing  14   a  and a body segment  14   b  having a plurality of electrical conductor pins  18 . It will be appreciated, however, that the connector system  10  could be configured such that the conductor pins  18  are included within the first connector body  12  and pin receptacles  16  are formed as part of the second connector body  14 . Alternatively, connector body  14  could also be formed as a segmented assembly with the same number, or a different number of body segments as connector body  12 . The preferred embodiment shown in  FIG. 1  is therefore intended merely for illustrative purposes as to one preferred implementation of the connector assembly  10 . Each pin receptacle  16  essentially forms an opening that has an electrically conductive sleeve or socket (not shown) inserted in it. Each sleeve or socket is electrically coupled to a wire, and the wires collectively form a wiring harness  12   a . Similarly, each pin  18  is coupled to a wire, and the wires collectively form a wiring harness  14   c.    
         [0020]     With reference to  FIGS. 2-4 , connector body  12  includes a circular connector housing  20  having a flange  22 . The housing  20  holds a plurality of four pie-shaped connector body segments  24   a - 24   d  positioned adjacent one another to form a circular configuration. Again, a circular configuration is merely for illustrative purposes, and a greater or lesser plurality of independent body segments may be included. Moreoever, the body segments need not be pie-shaped, but rather might be square, rectangular, or form any other geometric shape needed to form a desired/needed shape.  FIG. 5  illustrates connector body segments  24   a ′- 24   d ′ as an illustration that each of the body segments  24  could be rectangular shaped.  FIG. 6  illustrates segments  24   a ″- 24   d ″ as being square shaped. Other possible shapes could be triangular, hexagonal, or pentagonal, just to name a few. The body segments  24 ,  24 ′ and  24 ″ are preferably formed from high strength plastic such as Diallyl Phthalate, or even possibly from other metal or non-metal materials.  
         [0021]     Referring further to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the connector body segments  24   a - 24   d  can be seen in greater detail. Each connector body segment  24   a - 24   d  preferably includes a tab or rib  25  extending along a portion of its circumferential wall portion. A tab  23  can also be formed at a precise position on the housing  20  (e.g., at the 12:00 o&#39;clock position), and a mating notch  21  formed on the housing  14   a  to enable precise alignment of the pins  18  to the receptacles  16  when the connector bodies  12  and  14  are matingly engaged. The housing  20  preferably includes a plurality of grooves  27  formed on an interior wall portion  20   a  thereof. The connector body  12  also includes a retaining ring  28  having a plurality of openings  30 . Threaded fasteners  32  extend through the openings  30  and into separate threaded blind holes  34  ( FIG. 4 ) in the housing  20 . While only two holes  34  are visible in  FIG. 4 , it will be appreciated that four such holes are employed to each receive one of the fasteners  32 . When the independent body segments  24   a - 24   d  are inserted into the housing  20 , they are positioned closely adjacent one another to form essentially a single, unitary connector body. Ribs  25  help to precisely locate the body segments  24   a - 24   d  relative to the housing  20 , and to key the position of the body segments  24   a - 24   d  to the tab  23 .  
         [0022]     A principal advantage of the connector body  12  is that if one of the body segments  24   a - 24   d  is damaged, then the entire connector body portion does not need to be replaced. Rather, only the damaged connector body segment needs to be removed and replaced. Forming the connector body portion as a plurality of independent body segments also allows easier updating of the connector body in the event modifications need to be made to one or more pin receptacles  16  because of changes to a portion of the wiring harness  12   a . For example, if only connector body segment  24   a  becomes damaged, there is no need to remove and reconnect the wires connected to the pin receptacles  16  in body segments  24   b - 24   d ; only those wires connected to pin receptacles  16  of the damaged body segment  24   a  need to be disconnected and re-connected to a new body segment  24   a . With a four segment connector body, this reduces the repair time by 75%. Similarly, if modifications to only one or more pin receptacles in body segment  24   a  are required (such as coupling different gage wiring to one or more pin receptacles), then the time needed to implement this modification would be reduced by 75% over that which would be needed if all of the pin receptacles  16  needed to be re-wired. Accordingly, the connector body  12  can be repaired/altered/updated as needed with much greater ease and more quickly than would be the case if the entire connector body portion needed to be replaced because of repair or modification to only a few select pin receptacles  16 .  
         [0023]     Referring to  FIGS. 7 and 8 , a plurality of connector body segments  36   a - 36   d  are illustrated to show an alternative preferred form of the body segments. Connector body segments  36   a - 36   d  each include a plurality of pin receptacles  37 . Each body segment  36   a - 36   d  also includes a groove or recess  38  and a protruding tab  40  formed on adjacent planar wall portions. The recesses or grooves  38  interlock with the tabs  40  when the connector body segments  36   a - 36   d  are assembled together.  FIG. 9  shows the interlocking of one groove  38  and one tab  40  to help hold the connector body segments  36   a - 36   d  in precise alignment with one another. It will be appreciated that any form of tongue and groove arrangement could also be implemented to allow the connector body segments  36   a - 36   d  to be slidably engaged with one another. Also, such an interlocking tongue and groove arrangement could be formed on interior facing surfaces of the body segments.  
         [0024]     The connector body  12  of the present invention also provides the advantage of enabling one of the connector body segments  24  to be assembled at a different work area or work station than the remainder of the body segments, and then all of the body segments  24  can be brought to a central location for final assembly. In some instances this may simplify and ease construction of the connector body  12  because all of the conductors needed to assemble the connector body component would not be required to be located in a single area.  
         [0025]     The various preferred embodiments have been described as forming an electrical connector body. However, it will be appreciated that the present invention could just as readily be implemented in optical applications, as well as virtually any other application where a plurality of independent connections need to be made via a pair of coupled connectors. The present invention is also not limited to use with pin or blade type conductors, but could also be implemented with a connector assembly having flat, abutting conductive contact elements.  
         [0026]     While various preferred embodiments have been described, those skilled in the art will recognize modifications or variations which might be made without departing from the inventive concept. The examples illustrate the invention and are not intended to limit it. Therefore, the description and claims should be interpreted liberally with only such limitation as is necessary in view of the pertinent prior art.

Technology Category: 3