IE59696B1 - Electrical connector - Google Patents

Description

Electrical gowntector The invention relates to an electrical connector and in particular to an electrical connector of the plug-and-socket type, particularly for audio and communications applications.

According to the invention there is provided an electrical connector comprising:an inner insulator member having a plurality of axially extending bores; a plurality of contacts mounted in the bores of the insulator member; each contact having a forward end for mating with a coxaplementary contact of another connector and a rear end including means for attachment to ® conductor of a multi-core cable; a longitudinally extending shielding shell having a forward portion embracing the insulator member and a rearward portion extending rearwardly over the contacts j the rearward portion of the shielding shell having an outer rearwardly inclined wedge surface and a circumferentially extending groove; j an outer body of flexible plastics Insulating 5 material moulded around the rearward portion of the shell, the rear end of the contacts and conductors, and portion of the cable to encapsulate the connections between the conductors and the contacts, to engage the wedge surface and groove of the shell, and to define a cable strain and flexure relief so that the connector is non-rewirable· In another aspect the invention provides an electrical connector assembly comprising; a male connector and a female connector, means for 15 locating one connector relative to the other for mating engagement, and means for engaging the connectors one with the other, the male connector comprising:an inner insulator member having a plurality of 20 axially extending bores; a plurality of male contacts mounted in the bores of the insulator member; each male contact having a forward end and a rear end including means for attachment to a conductor of a multi-core cable; a longitudinally extending shielding shell having a 5 forward portion embracing the insulator member and a rearward portion extending rearwardly over the contacts; th® rearward portion of the shielding shell having an outer rearwardly inclined wedge surface and a circumferentially extending groove; and an outer body of insulating material moulded around the rearward portion of th© shell, the rear end of the contacts and the conductors and portion of th® cable to encapsulate the connections between the conductors and the contacts, to engage the wedge surface and groove of the shell, and to define a cable strain and flexure relief so that the connector is non-rewirable,, the female connector comprisings20 an inner insulator member having a plurality of axially extending bores; a plurality of female contacts mounted in the bores of the insulator member; each female contact having a forward end for mating with the forward end of the corresponding male contact of the male connector, and a rear end including means for attachment to a conductor of a multi-core cable? a longitudinally extending shielding shell having a forward portion embracing the insulator member and a rearward portion extending rearwardly over the contacts % the rearward portion of the shielding shell having an outer rearwardly inclined wedge surface and a circumferentially extending groove;, and an outer body of insulating material moulded around the rearward portion of the shell, the rear end of the contacts and the conductors and portion of the cable to encapsulate the connections between the conductors and the contacts, to engage the wedge surface and groove of the shell, and to define a cable strain and flexure relief so that the connector is non-rewirable; the locating means comprising a polarising groove formed on the inner bore of one shielding shell and a polarising key formed in the shielding shell of th© other connector, the key engaging in the polarising groove on mating engagement between the connectors? and the engagement means comprising a latch mechanism, the latch mechanism comprising a latch member and a latch biasing spring for the latch member, the latch member having a catch which is spring biased by the ·. latch spring into engagement with a complementary receiver formed in the shielding shell of another connector and a finger engaging portion for overcoming the biasing of the latch spring to release the catch from the receiver.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description thereof given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a male connector according to the invention, Fig. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the connector of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is an exploded cross-sectional view of the connector of Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a female connector according to th© invention.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the connector of Fig. 4, Fig. S is an exploded view of the connector of Fig. 4, Fig. 7 is a side view of a connector assembly 5 comprising the male connector of Fig. 1 and the female connector of Fig. 4 assembled.

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the assembly of Fig. 7, Fig. S is a cross-sectional view of portion of a 10 connector according to another embodiment of the invention, Fig. 10 is a side elevational view of a latch member forming part of the connector of Fig. 9, and Fig. 11 is a plan view of the latch member of Fig.

. Referring to the drawings there is illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 a male audio connector indicated generally by the reference numeral 1. A female connector also according to the invention is indicated generally by the reference numeral 2 and is illustrated in Figs. 4 to 6. An electrical connector assembly, also according to the invention, and comprising the male connector ox Figs. 1 to 3 and the female connector of Figs. 4 to 6 is illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9 and is indicated generally by the reference numeral 3.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 to 3£? the male audio connector 1 comprises an inner insulator member 4 having a plurality of male contacts, in this case three male contacts 5 mounted therein. Each of the contacts 5 has a forward plug end 6 for mating with a complementary contact of the female connector 2 and a rear end 7 including means for attachment to one conductor 12 of a multi-core audio cable 13. In this case the contact 5 is connected to a bared end of the conductor 12 by a double crimped lug arrangement.

A metal shielding shell 20 embraces the insulator member 4 and 15 extends in use over the contacts 5 including the connections to the conductor 12 of the cable 13 to shield the contacts and connections from outside electrical interference. The shell 20 may be of a die-east metal such as sine or may be & deepdrawn component.

The shielding shell 20 includes a forward enlarged diameter portion 2o and a reduced diameter rear portion 27 into which the insulator member 4 with the contacts 5 in place is inserted. A shoulder 28 separates the front 23 and rear portion 27 of the shell 20 and in use the shoulder 28 engages with a step portion 29 of the insulator member 4 to locate the insulator member 4 in position in the shell and provide shutoff during encapsulation.

The outer surface of the shell 20 is formed with a plurality 5 of circumferentially extending grooves 30 which define fingergripping portions.

The shell 20 includes a hole 24 to which a wire from the screen terminal of the cable may, if desired, be attached and held in position by solder.

The connections between the contacts 5 and the conductors 12 of the cable 13 are encapsulated by an outer body 35 of flexible plastics P.V.C. material which is moulded around portion of the rear 27 of the shell 20 and the connections between the conductors 12 and contacts 5. In this case the outer moulded body 35 is also moulded around portion of the cable 13 to define a cable strain and flexure relief 36.

It will be noted that the rear portion 27 of the shell 20 is formed with key means in this case comprising a circumferential groove 37 and a rearwardly inclined wedge surface 38 for engagement with the moulded body. The moulded body 35 is also formed with a plurality of substantially wedge-shaped longitudinally extending finger grips 40.

Referring to Figs. 4 to o the female connector 2 according to the invention is similar to the male connector described above with reference to Figs. 1 to 3 and like parts are assigned the same reference numerals, which are dashed. An outer crimping * lug 15 is bent over the insulator of the conductor 12 to retain it in position. It will be noted that each of the contacts 5' is formed with one or more barbs 16 which engage in an enlarged portion of a bore 18 in which the contacts are mounted. The contacts 5’ are loosely fitted into the insulator member 4' and to allow the contacts to move transversely a short distance as illustrated in Fig. 5. This loose fit facilitates mating engagement with complementary male spigot contacts 5 of the male connector 1 described above with reference to Figs. 1 to 3, or any other standard male connector.

Latch means for retaining the male and female connectors together is in this case provided by a latch member 50 having a forward catch portion 51 and push-button 52. Biasing means for retaining the latch member 50 in the raised position illustrated in Fig. 5 is provided by a leaf spring 55 which is housed in a groove 56 of the insulator member 4'. As will be apparent from Figs. 12 to 13, on engagement of the male and female connectors together, the catch 51 engages in a receiver 60 formed adjacent to the forward end of the shielding shell 20 of the male connector to latch the connectors 1,2 together.

To release the connectors the push-button 52 is depressed to overcome the biasing of the spring 55 and release the catch 51 from the receiver SO and allow the connectors to be separated. The insulator member 4* of the female connector 2 is also formed with an additional plastics spring 62 which in use engages against the inner surface of the shell 20 of the male connector 1 to ensure positive engagement between the connectors 1,2. As will be apparent from Figs. 6 to 11 the shell 20' of the female connector 2 includes a longitudinally extending keyway 63 along which the spring 62 travels on assembly of the insulator member 4' Into the shell 20'. When the insulator member 4 has been inserted up to a forward locating nose portion 64 of th® shell 20' the spring 62 projects through a groove 65 in the shell 20' to engage, on assembly, against the inner surface of the shielding shell 20 of the male connector 1.

As will be particularly apparent from Fig. 5 the latch member 50 is housed between the metal shell 20' and the groove 56 of the insulator member 4'. The latch member 50 Is of metal material and the Insulator member 4' is of a plastics, slightly resilient material, which allows the latch member to be assembled into the groove 56 after the insulator member 4' has been inserted into the shell 20' by first engaging a forward leg 70 of the latch member 50 underneath the forward portion of the shell 20' and then pushing the latch member 50 downwardly until a rear catch member 71 of the latch member 50 engages underneath a ledge 72 of the shell 20'. To disengage the latch member 50 from its groove a screw driver or similar implement is inserted underneath a ledge 73 of the latch 50 and the latch member 50 is prised up.

Locating means for ensuring the correct orientation between the male 1 and the female connectors 2 on assembly is provided by a longitudinally extending polarising key 75 which projects outwardly through the metal shell 20' of the female part to engage in a complementary-shaped polarising groove 76 in the shell 20 of the male part.

On assembly., and referring particularly to Figs. 7 and 8 the user turns the connectors 1 and 2 until the polarising key 75 is in alignment with the keyway 76 in which orientation the catch 51 of the latch member 50 is in line with the receiver 60. During assembly the spring 62 is deformed slightly and the spring biasing in the spring 62 ensures good electrical contact between th© contact with the male and female connectors and also between the metal shells of the connectors to ensure that the shielding of the contact is maintained at the joint between the connectors 1,,2.

By encapsulating the connections between the contacts and the connectors of multi-core cable of this type and providing strain and flexure relief for the cable 13 there is little or no risk of a fault developing at the connections. Thus, in addition to being particularly robust the construction of connectors according to the invention ensure that good electrical contact is maintained between the conductors of the cable and the contacts so that the integrity of the audio system in which the connectors are used is maintained.

Referring to Figs. 9 to 11 there is illustrated portion 100 of a connector according to another embodiment of the invention in which parts similar to those described with reference to previous embodiments are identified by the same reference numerals. In this case the connector includes a primary engagement means comprising a latch mechanism of the same construction as that described above, particularly with reference to Figs. 5 and 8, and a secondary engagement means to prevent unauthorised or accidental disconnection. In this case the secondary engagement means comprises a locking means provided by a screw 101 which is threaded through a hole 102 in the latch member 50. The locking screw 101 is movable from a release position in which movement of the latch mexaber 50 is not restricted to a locking position projecting into the recess 56 as illustrated in Fig. 9. In this position the latch member 50 cannot be moved down and hence the connector cannot be disengaged from another connector thus, accidental or unauthorised disconnection Is prevented. The screw 101 may be operated by a screw-driver, alien key or ths like for movement between the release and locked positions.

The screw 101 may also be extended to prevent the connector from being attached to another connector, if desired, for example, to prevent a connector from being accidentally connected to an amplifier/mixer which is being serviced.

To retard corrosion of the shielding shells, particularly in outdoor use, the shells may be coated with a corrosion resistant Sn/Ni formulation. Similarly, to provide corrosion resistance the terminals may also be coated with a Sn/Ni formulation. Treatment of the terminals in this way will provide more uniform contact resistance over a prolonged period of use.

It will be appreciated that either the male or female connector according to the invention may be used in combination with different components for example, the male connector may be plugged into a female receiver of a main frame audio or video unit.

It will also be appreciated that while the invention has been specifically described with reference to connectors for use with audio equipment it is envisaged that they may have applications in other areas.

It will further be appreciated that the shielding shells used in connectors according to the invention may be of any suitable material. For example, instead of die-cast metal they may comprise a deep-drawn metal component or sintered metal.

It will also be appreciated that while the double crimped lugs are particularly useful in ensuring good connection between the conductors and the contacts any suitable type of connection may be employed, for example, the contacts way comprise hollow or solid pins having solder pots to which the bared ends of the conductors are soldered.

It will be appreciated that Indicating means may be provided to differentiate between the pins. For example, the outer face of the male insert 4 may be marked with appropriate numerals adjacent the corresponding hole for the pin. The end face may also be provided with an advertising logo.

It will also be appreciated that, if desired, separate grounding terminals mounted in the outer body of the male and female connector may be used to make grounding electrical contact between the shells rather than attaching the grounding wire directly to the shell.

Claims (5)

1. An electrical connector comprising: an inner insulator member having a plurality of axially extending bores; 5 a plurality of contacts mounted in the bores of the insulator member; each contact having a forward and for mating with a complementary contact of another connector and a rear end including means for attachment to a 10 conductor of a multi-core cable; a longitudinally extending shielding shell having a forward portion embracing the insulator meraber and a rearward portion extending rearwardly over the contacts; 15 the rearward portion of the shielding shell having an outer rearwardly inclined wedge surface and a circumferentially extending groove; an outer body of flexible plastics insulating material moulded around the rearward portion of the IS shell, the rear end of the contacts and conductors, and portion of the cable to encapsulate the connections between the conductors and the contacts, to engage the wedge surface and groove of the shell, 5 and to define a cable strain and flexure relief so that the connector is non-rewirable.

2. A connector as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the outer moulded body is formed with a plurality of substantially wedge-shaped longitudinally extending Integrally moulded 10 finger grips.

3. A connector as claimed in Claim 1 or 2 wherein the inner insulating member comprises a plastic member having a plurality of bores for reception of contacts.

4. A connector as claimed in Claim 3 wherein the contacts 15 are loosely mounted in the insulator member bores to permit transverse movement of the contact for mating engagement with complementary contacts.

5. A connector as claimed In any of claims 1 to 4 wherein the rearward portion of the shell includes a bore to which a screen terminal of th© cable is connected and fixed in place.