EP0152690B1

EP0152690B1 - Multi-wire insulation displacement connector assembly

Info

Publication number: EP0152690B1
Application number: EP19840308607
Authority: EP
Inventors: Stephen A. Colleran; William Lenz; Bill Wilson
Original assignee: Molex LLC
Current assignee: Molex LLC
Priority date: 1984-02-16
Filing date: 1984-12-11
Publication date: 1987-10-28
Also published as: JPS6227505B2; EP0152690A1; CA1242007A; JPS60182671A; DE3467071D1

Description

Background of the invention

1. Field of the invention

The present invention relates to electrical connector assemblies employing insulation displacement type terminals and, more particularly, to connector assemblies of this type which can be used to mass terminate a plurality of insulated wires.

2. Brief description of the prior art

Because of the labor saving advantages, insulation displacement type connectors have enjoyed an ever increasing share of the electrical connector market. Typically, connectors of this type include a housing having one or more terminal , receiving cavities therein and a terminal mounted in the cavity. The terminal has an insulation displacement slot for receiving a wire conductor. When the wire conductor is moved laterally of its longitudinal axis into this slot, the insulation is displaced so that the terminal electrically contacts the conductor.
If it is desired to mass terminate a plurality of insulated wire conductors in the type of connector described, it is necessary to position the conductors over the insulation displacement slots prior to moving them into their respective slots. This type of process is used most commonly in association with certain application equipment such as that disclosed in United States Patent No. 4,235,015 issued November 25, 1980 or in association with the fabrication of a harness on a board which is disclosed in United States Patent No. 3,859,724 issued January 14, 1975.
If equipment is used, there is normally a built-in means for holding and locating the wire conductors in alignment over the slot of the terminal. However, when fabricating a harness or mass terminating a connector without automatic or semi-automatic machinery, it is necessary for the means for holding and locating the wire conductors to be provided either on the connector itself or in close proximity to the connector.
Examples of an arrangement which receives the connector in a jig or fixture is disclosed in United States Patent No. 4,101,189 issued July 18, 1978 and United States Patent No. 3,859,724 issued January 14,1975. The wire conductors are held in the fixture separate from the connector prior to termination.
Another means of locating the wire conductors is disclosed in United States Patent No. 4,191,442 issued March 4, 1980 and United States Patent No. 4,262,984 issued April 21,1981. These patents show the terminal or connector housing holding the wire conductors in their proper locations prior to termination.
In particular, United States Patent No. 4,262,984 shows a connector assembly for connecting an insulated wire conductor to another circuit member including a housing having a terminal receiving cavity therein, a terminal mounted in said cavity having an insulation displacement slot for receiving (and terminating) a wire conductor therein, and means for holding and locating a wire conductor in alignment over the slot of said terminal prior to connection thereto, whereby movement of said wire conductor laterally of its longitudinal axis into the slot causes displacement of the insulation so that the terminal electrically contacts said conductor; said holding and locating means comprises an upwardly facing, U-shaped clamp member having wire receiving area defined between two resilient legs, the legs position the wire conductor in the wire receiving area in the initial position and exert an inward lateral force against the insulated wire conductor when the wire is moved into the slot.
Still another means of locating and holding wire conductors prior to their termination is disclosed in United States Patent No. 3,990,762 issued November 9, 1976 and United States Patent No. 3,937,549 issued February 10, 1976.
While all of the arrangements and structures disclosed in the above identified patents have achieved different degrees of success in mass terminating a plurality of insulated wire conductors, these designs are deficient in at least one of two respects. Either the connector is expensive to manufacture or the application tooling used to move the wire into the insulation displacement slots is expensive to manufacture and/or cumbersome to use.
United States Patent No. 3,142,524 describes an insulation displacement connector for a pair of insulated conductors comprising a clamp member mounted for movement with the wire conductor from an initial position wherein the wire conductor is positioned over the terminal slot downwardly to a final position wherein the wire conductor is terminated.

Summary of the invention

The present invention is an electrical connector assembly for connecting an insulated wire conductor to another circuit member including a housing having a terminal receiving cavity therein, a terminal portion mounted in said cavity having an insulation displacement slot for receiving a wire conductor therein, and means for holding and locating a wire conductor in alignment over the slot of said terminal portion prior to connection thereto, whereby movement of said wire conductor laterally of its longitudinal axis into the slot causes displacement of the insulation so that the terminal portion electrically contacts said conductor, said holding and locating means comprising an upwardly facing, U-shaped clamp member having a wire receiving area defined between two resilient legs characterised in that said clamp member is mounted for movement with the wire conductor independently of the terminal portion, into the cavity alongside the terminal portion, from an initial position wherein said wire conductor is positioned over said terminal slot downwardly into the cavity to a final position wherein said wire conductor is terminated, whereby the legs position the wire conductor in the wire receiving area in the initial position and exert an inward lateral force against the insulated wire conductor when the clamp member is moved to the final position thereby providing strain relief against accidental pull out of the conductor from the housing.

Brief description of the drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the connector assembly of the present invention wherein the insulated wire conductors are shown held and positioned prior to their termination;
Fig. 2 is a partially fragmented, sectional perspective view of the connector assembly of the present invention wherein the insulated wire conductors are shown terminated;
Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken generally along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and
Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken generally along the line 4--4 of Fig. 2.

Description of the preferred embodiment

Turning now to the drawings, the connector assembly of the present invention, generally designated 10, is shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The particular connector assembly 10 shown in the drawings is a splice connector for the purpose of connecting one set of insulated wire conductors 12 to another set of insulated wire conductors 14. It is understood that the connector assembly 10, which will be discussed in greater detail hereinafter, can be used to electrically connect an insulated wire conductor 12 with any other type of circuit element.
The connector assembly 10 is seen to generally include a housing, generally designated 16, which comprises a floor 18 (Fig. 2) surrounded by a pair of upstanding side walls 20 and a pair of upstanding end walls 22. A plurality of cavities, generally designated 24a, 24b and 24c, are formed between the side walls 20 and are defined between the side walls 20 and a plurality of parallel intermediate spaced apart upstanding barrier walls 26.
Each cavity 24a, 24b and 24c has pairs of opposing vertical channels 28 and 30 formed in the barrier walls 26 or side walls 20. Each cavity 24a, 24b and 24c also includes an opening 34 in the end walls 22 at opposite ends thereof. Slots 36 (Fig. 2) are formed in the floor 18 of each cavity 24a. 24b and 24c for purposes which will become more apparent hereinafter.
Looking at Fig. 2, each cavity 24a, 24b and 24c has a metal terminal, generally designated 40 mounted therein. Each terminal 40 has two upstanding wire connecting plate portions 42 integrally joined by a horizontal portion 44. Each wire connecting portion 42 has a pair of bosses 46 formed on either side thereof. In addition, each wire connecting portion 42 has a conventional insulation displacement slot 50 (Fig. 3) formed therein for receiving a wire conductor 12 or 14 therein.
Each terminal 40 is mounted in its respective cavity 24a, 24b and 24c by sliding motion. This is accomplished by the cooperation of bosses 46 within channel 28 to guide and locate the terminal within its cavity.
Prior to terminating the wire conductors 12 and 14 into their corresponding terminals 40, it is necessary to position the conductors over the respective insulation displacements slots 50. To this end, there is provided holding and locating means in the form of an upwardly facing, U-shaped clamp member, generally designated 56. The clamp member 56 may be stamped from metal or formed from plastic.
The clamp member 56 has a horizontal bight portion 58 with two resilient legs 60 extending upwardly therefrom at an outward angle as best seen in Fig. 3. The region in between legs 60 defines a wire receiving area which is adapted to receive wire conductor 12 or 14.
Opposing protrusions 62 are formed on the innersides of the free ends of legs 60. The area between protrusions 62 defines an entrance which is constricted relative to the remaining width of the area between legs 60. Preferably, the width of the entrance is not greater than the diameter of the insulated wire conductor. Thus, when the wire conductor 12 or 14 is inserted into the wire receiving area through the constricted entrance, the legs 60 are forced apart. As the wire conductor is moved through the entrance the legs 60 spring back to their normal position thereby capturing the wire conductor in the receiving area as is best shown in Fig. 3.
The clamp member 56 is mounted for movement into a cavity 24a, 24b or 24c by providing a pair of opposing bosses 64 formed on either side of the clamp member 56. Bosses 64 are received within channels 30 in each cavity 24a, 24b and 24c. As the clamp member 56 is moved downwardly in channels 30, the legs 60 move toward one another as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 3. The legs 60 of clamp member 56 exert an inward lateral force against the insulation of the insulated wire conductor 12 or 14 as it is moved from the initial position shown in Fig. 3 to a final position as shown in Fig. 4.
Looking at Fig. 4, the legs 60 of clamp member 56 act as a strain relief against accidental axial pull out. In addition, clamp members 56 move the wire conductor 12 or 14 with it as it is moved from its initial position to its final position.
It is not necessary to provide a special application tool to terminate the connector assembly 10. Any kind of a noncontoured ram (not shown) which presses down on the top of the clamp members 56 is sufficient. By providing a platform or ram of sufficient area to cover the top of the connector assembly 10, all of the wire conductors 12 and 14 will be simultaneously mass terminated when all of the clamp members 56 are pushed downwardly from the initial position to the final position.
If, after termination, it is desired to disconnect one of the wire conductors 12 or 14, the user will not be faced with the same problems as with prior art devices. In the past, the disconnection of a terminated wire always destroyed the strain relief and usually destroyed the terminal. However, connector assembly 10 provides the slot 36 for the purpose of permitting a thin flat blade of a tool (not shown) to push up against the bottom of the bight portion 58 of clamp member 56. When this occurs, the clamp member 56 pops upwardly releasing the wire conductor 12 or 14 without destroying terminal 40.

Claims

1. An electrical connector assembly for connecting an insulated wire conductor (12) to another circuit member (14) including a housing (16) having a terminal receiving cavity (24a) therein, a terminal portion (42) mounted in said cavity having an insulation displacement slot (50) for receiving a wire conductor therein, and means (56) for holding and locating a wire conductor in alignment over the slot of said terminal portion prior to connection thereto, whereby movement of said wire conductor laterally of its longitudinal axis into the slot causes displacement of the insulation so that the terminal portion electrically contacts said conductor, said holding and locating means comprising an upwardly facing, U-shaped clamp member (56) having a wire receiving area defined between two resilient legs (60) characterised in that said clamp member is mounted for movement with the wire conductor, independently of the terminal portion, into the cavity alongside the terminal portion, from an initial position wherein said wire conductor is positioned over said terminal slot downwardly into the cavity to a final position wherein said wire conductor is terminated, where by the legs (60) position the wire conductor in the wire receiving area in the initial position and exert an inward lateral force against the insulated wire conductor when the clamp member is moved to the final position thereby providing strain relief against accidental pull out of the conductor from the housing.

2. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the wire receiving area has an entrance defined between the free ends (62) of the legs (60), said entrance being constricted relative to the remaining width of said area so that the width of the entrance is not greater than the diameter of the wire conductor, whereby, while in the initial position, the legs are forced apart when the wire conductor is moved through the entrance and spring back to their normal position when the wire conductor is captured in the receiving area.

3. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that said clamp member includes a bight portion (58) joining the legs (60), said legs extending upwardly at an outward angle from the bight portion so that the free ends are spaced a greater distance apart than the bight portion, whereby the legs move inwardly as the clamp member is moved to the final position.

4. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, characterised by a second terminal portion (42) mounted in said cavity spaced from said first terminal (42) and having insulation displacement slot means spaced from said first terminal.

5. An assembly as claimed in claim 4, character- isd by an electrically conductive portion (44) integrally formed with said first and second terminal portions.

6. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that each cavity has a floor (18) with a slot (36) formed therein to allow engagement with the bottom (58) of the clamp member when said clamp member is in its final position, whereby an upward force exerted against the bottom of the clamp member through said slot causes the clamp member and the wire conductor to move upwardly back to its initial position.