EP0696091A2 - Right angle pin or socket connector - Google Patents

Abstract

The socket rail or 90 degree pin rail has front and rear sections, each provided by an insulator block, with both the front and rear part formed from individual modules of a module group in which each module is twice the size of the next smallest module. The assembled front and rear sections are of identical length and are coupled together so that the smaller modules of one section are bridged by the longer modules of the other section, e.g. by arranging their longer and shorter modules in reverse order.

Description

The invention relates to a female header or a 90 ° pin header or a female and male header for an electrical connector, each consisting of an insulating body front part provided with a plurality of contact elements and an insulating body rear part pluggably connected thereto, at least the front part of the Socket strip consists of at least two modules and simple, double, quadruple, eightfold etc. modules form a row of modules.

Socket strips have become known from EP 0 408 212 A1. Furthermore, is the mentioned module series, in which the next larger module is twice the length and number of contact elements compared to the next smaller module, known or standardized on its own.

In the case of the socket strip mentioned, the modules are plugged onto a perforated plate, the perforation corresponding to the geometric arrangement of the contact elements of the modules. All modules are then held together by means of an L-shaped rail and locking clips, the rail itself being held in a form-fitting manner on the plate. This creates a relatively stable socket strip.

The disadvantage of this socket strip is that, depending on the total length of all modules of the respective connector, the L-shaped rail must be cut from a meter-long piece or manufactured to this length from the beginning. Given the large number of customer requests, the resulting, often small series of connectors of different lengths lead to relatively high manufacturing costs. At most, if a particularly large number of a specific connector is to be produced, the separate production of the L-shaped rail is not so important, especially for this series. But this is rather rare.

In another known connector (EP 0 422 785 A2), all insulating body front parts or modules are of the same length - of course, all other geometrical parts are also correct Dimensions and the number of contact elements of the modules match - but the insulating body back part is made up of very short elements, with six insulating body back parts being assigned to one insulating body front part. In the case of a quite long socket strip with, for example, several hundred contact elements, a very large number of insulating body back parts is therefore necessary. This also leads to quite high manufacturing costs. In the case of a mass-produced article, which is the case with such socket headers and pin headers, even the smallest cost savings on a single socket headers or pin headers, as seen in series or daily production, lead to a considerable total amount.

The prior art on which the invention is based consists of individual modules, each with an associated or molded-on rear part, which, however, can have different sizes, for example a length of 12 mm for a 24-pole module and 24 mm for a 48-pole module, for a 96-pole module 48 mm, for a 192-pole module 96 mm etc. They are also individually mounted on printed circuit boards. For example, the user has to order four different parts, receive four different parts, check them, keep them in stock and process them. The work steps are that he has to reach into a magazine four times, grip four times, place the parts on the circuit board four times, join the parts four times and press four times.

It is therefore the task of further developing a socket strip or 90 ° pin strip so that with a relatively small number of parts, within the framework of the gradation of the modules of the module series of the front part, socket strips or 90 ° pin strips of almost any length, regardless of the number of series or the order volume, can be produced at the lowest cost, so that only a part has to be handled.

This object is achieved in a socket strip or 90 ° pin strip of the type mentioned by the features specified in claim 1.

If you take a simple case, for example that of a socket strip with a quadruple module of the insulating body front panel, you can combine this with a quadruple module of an insulating body rear part to form a socket strip. However, it is also conceivable that a four-module front part is combined with two double-module rear parts, for example if four-module module back parts are currently not in stock. In extreme cases, a four-module front part or a four-module rear part can be combined with four single-module front parts or back parts, for which the same reason can be decisive. However, this is only one advantage of this socket or 90 ° pin header. As a rule, one gets a socket strip or 90 ° pin strip, the insulating body front part of which a certain number of modules of a certain size is built, use an equal number of modules of the same size for the insulating body back.

Any number of contact elements are conceivable, the simplest module preferably having 24 contact elements, in several rows arranged one above the other, e.g. four rows of six arranged one above the other. The double module therefore has 48 or more contact elements, etc. The largest module currently in use in the insulating body front part is an eight-way module with 8 times 24 or 96 or more contact elements. So if a socket strip e.g. Should have 200 contacts, the insulating body front part can be easily constructed by using an eight-way module and a single module. Accordingly, it is best to use an eight-way module and a single module for the back of the insulating body. Some of the contacts e.g. of the single module is available as reserve contacts.

It is easy to see that the single module does not necessarily have to have 24 contacts or 30 contacts for 5 rows or correspondingly more contacts for more rows or contact elements, but that there may also be fewer, which is the case, for example, if one Combination of different types of contact elements is required. The same applies analogously to the other modules in the module series.

With the system described, the following connector strips can be created, for example:
Female Solder Signal, Female Solder Power, Female Solder Signal + Power combined and other special modules or Female Press-fit Signal, Female Press-fit Power, Female Press-fit Signal + Power combined and other special modules. With regard to the 90 ° pin header, for example, the following options are available: Male 90 ° signal, male 90 ° power, male 90 ° signal + power combined and other special modules.

For example, from just seven individual parts, namely four front parts of a module row and three back parts of an identical module row, in which the longest module is dispensed with, if one starts from the 24-point grid mentioned, socket strips or 90 ° pin strips with 24 to 528 contacts can be made create using eg two to 22 or more modules. This means that practically every customer request can be met, even for small series, without incurring additional costs compared to the large series.

A further development of the invention provides that in the case of one of two modules of the insulating body front part of different lengths, the modules of the insulating body rear part likewise are of different lengths, the longer module of the insulating body rear part engaging over the joint of the modules of the insulating body front part or vice versa. So you have two modules of the same length, but you do not attach the long back part to the long front part directly, but to the short front part, so that it overlaps the joint between the other two modules, resulting in good stability of the entire socket strip or pin strip leads. The same applies to a female header or pin header, which is made up of more than two modules. In any case, the joint between adjacent modules of the front part should be overlapped by a module of the rear part or vice versa.

At least the front part of the socket strip is constructed from at least two modules. This does not rule out that the front part of the 90 ° pin header is also made from at least two modules. However, the invention is also very advantageous if, instead of a front part of the 90 ° pin strip constructed from several modules, a one-piece front part is provided which extends over the entire 90 ° pin strip. Such production may make sense for large series. Such a design of a 90 ° pin strip is described in claim 3. The back part of this knife or pin strip, in contrast to the two previously known embodiments mentioned at the outset, consists of claim 1 at least two modules of the same or different lengths, the latter being usually the more common case.

Figur 1

perspektivisch und explosionsartig eine Buchsenleiste;

Figur 2

ebenfalls perspektivisch die zusammengebaute Buchsenleiste der Figur 1;

Figuren 3 und 4

analoge Darstellungen einer 90°-Messerleiste oder -Stiftleiste.

The invention is explained below with reference to the drawing. The drawing shows two embodiments of the invention. Here represent:

Figure 1

perspective and explosive a female header;

Figure 2

also in perspective the assembled socket strip of Figure 1;

Figures 3 and 4

analog representations of a 90 ° knife strip or pin strip.

The socket strip 1 of FIG. 2 essentially consists of the insulating body front part 2 and the insulating body rear part 3, both of which are pluggably connected to one another in a known and therefore not shown and described manner. The direction of insertion is symbolized by arrows 4 and 5. The insulating body front part 2 receives in a known manner the contact elements 6, the shape, size, grouping and placement in the insulating body of which is also known prior art, but the known designs differ from one another in details. The Socket strip 1 is mechanically and electrically connected to a printed circuit board 7, for example, in which respect known prior art can also be used. The free ends 8 of the contact elements 6 then pass through corresponding groups of holes in the printed circuit board 7. The electrical connection is made by soldering or solderless connection techniques, for example pressing in, the mechanical connection, for example by melting the free ends of plastic pins which protrude beyond the underside of the printed circuit board 7 , or positive plastic pins or solderable connections.

The insulating body front part of the socket strip 1 consists of modules which differ from one another in terms of their length 9. In the exploded view of Figure 1, the smallest module is shown at the bottom right. It has e.g. four rows, each with six insertion openings 10. The next largest module has a double length and number of contacts. Additional modules can be four and eight times longer. Larger modules, i.e. twice as long, are usually not used. Apart from the length, all other dimensions of the modules of different lengths are the same.

The socket strip of Figures 1 and 2 consists of a single module 11 and a quadruple module 12. The total length therefore corresponds to five times the length of a single module. According to the invention, the insulating body rear part 3 is also made up of modules, the length 13 of the single module 14 corresponding to the length 9 of the simple module 11 of the insulating body front part 2. The same applies to the double, quadruple module etc.

In the same way as the insulating body front part 2 of the socket strip 1 consists of a single module and a quadruple module, the insulating body rear part 3 is also composed of a single module 14 and a quadruple module 15. However, the quadruple module is not installed behind the other quadruple module, rather the longer module, in this case the quadruple module, which is flush with the outside of the single module of the front part 2, covers the joint 16 of the insulating body front part 2. Accordingly, the joint 17 of the two modules of the insulating body rear part 3 is then located on the rear side of the quadruple module 12 of the front part 2.

It is easy to see that when using the module series mentioned with the staggering 1, 2, 4, 8 etc. for the front part 2 and the rear part 3 socket strips of almost any length can be created, which due to the offset of the joints 16 and 17 a good one Ensure the stability of the socket strip. For a long socket strip, of course, the largest possible number of eight-fold or at least four-fold modules will be used, and only if there are Plug-in openings or similar connection points do not result in the required number, additionally add a single or double module. It is advisable to provide the same number of modules for the front part and the back part, each with the same length dimensions. However, this can also be deviated from in accordance with the above explanations in the event of need or emergency.

The advantages of the construction of a socket strip in the manner described above and of course also the 90 ° pin strip or knife strip of FIGS. 3 and 4 consist primarily in the fact that one obtains better machine utilization and no mold conversion is necessary in injection molding machines. The retrofitting effort for the plastic injection mold and assembly, which was previously unavoidable, is largely eliminated. This optimizes resource utilization, which leads to a reduction in overhead costs. You also get a high degree of flexibility, which enables the shortest delivery times. This also applies to prototypes and small series. The logistical effort is minimized and the limited length of the individual modules means that inexpensive material can be used.

With new pole numbers, no investments are required and the latter also applies to mixed pole patterns and to assembly machines for higher pole numbers. With a mixed pole pattern, the single module 11 does not have 24 contact elements, but a smaller number and additional, in particular larger contact elements for the power connection, while the "normal" contact elements serve for signal connection.

As a result, the delivery times for such socket headers, but also pin headers with new or different pole patterns, can be kept very short. Because less changeover is required, lead times can also be reduced.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show a 90 ° knife or pin strip, analogously to FIGS. 1 and 2 as an exploded drawing and according to FIG. 4 as an assembly drawing. This pin strip also consists of an insulating body front part and an insulating body rear part 3. The choice of the same reference number shows that the insulating body rear part 3 of this pin strip corresponds to that of the socket strip in FIG.

The design of the insulating body front part 18 is already known as such with regard to its shape, dimensions and contact arrangement, as well as contact design. The free ends 8 of its contact elements 6 also penetrate here, for example, a printed circuit board 7 to which they are electrically and mechanically connected in the manner described.

The plug-in openings 10 of the socket strip correspond to the pin-like ends 19 of the contact elements 6 of the 90 ° knife strip or pin strip in terms of number and arrangement, so that the socket strip 1 of FIGS establish the electrical connection between the printed circuit board of the socket strip and the printed circuit board of the 90 ° pin strip.

In the exemplary embodiment in FIGS. 3 and 4, both the insulating body front part 2 and the insulating body rear part 3 of the 90 ° pin strip are constructed from individual modules. In this respect, there is agreement with the design of the socket strip and, for this reason, no further explanations are required in this regard. The explanations for the socket strip also apply mutatis mutandis to the 90 ° pin or knife strip.

Deviating from FIGS. 3 and 4, if there are special reasons for this, one can do without the use of modules from a row of modules in the insulating body front part 18, and instead use a front part 18 which is produced in one piece in this regard. The structure of the back part 3 is in any case carried out by means of modules from a row of modules, so that the universality is retained. All other advantages, such as large quantities. The stability of a one-piece insulating body front part 18 is slightly higher than with an assembled front part, however, this higher stability is not required in most cases because the assembled socket strip and pin strip with an insulating body front part from modules ensures high stability.

Claims (3)

Socket strip (1) or 90 ° pin strip (21) for an electrical connector, each consisting of an insulating body front part (2, 18) provided with a plurality of contact elements (6) and an insulating body rear part (3) which can be plugged in, at least the front part (2) of the socket strip (1) consists in particular of at least two modules (11, 12) and simple, double, quadruple, eightfold etc. modules form an even or odd row of modules, characterized in that the rear part (3) consists of one , two or more modules (14, 15) and, for example, single, double, quadruple, etc. modules form a module row, in particular the lengths of both module rows, measured in the longitudinal direction of the strip, are identical, and in particular an insulating body rear part (3) the joint ( 16) overlaps two insulating body front parts (2, 18) or vice versa. Socket strip (1) or 90 ° pin strip (21) according to Claim 1, characterized in that, in the case of one of two modules (11, 12) of the insulating body front part (2) of different lengths, the modules (14, 15) of the insulating body rear part (3) also are of different lengths, the longer module (15) of the insulating body rear part (3) overlapping the joint (16) of the modules (11, 12) of the insulating body front part (2, 18) or vice versa. Socket strip (1) or 90 ° pin strip (21) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the length of a one-piece insulating body front part of the 90 ° pin strip (21) is equal to the length of at least two identical or different modules (14, 15) of the insulating body back part (3) corresponds or vice versa.

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