EP3973596B1 - Contact carrier - Google Patents

Description

The invention is based on a contact carrier according to the preamble of independent claim 1.

Such contact carriers are required to hold at least one plug contact inserted into them and to absorb the insertion forces acting on it during the insertion process. The plug contact can have a cable connection area on the connection side, namely a crimp connection. In this case, the plug contact is a crimp contact. On the plug side, the plug contact can have a plug area, e.g. a contact pin or a contact socket. Furthermore, the plug contact can have a locking groove arranged between the plug area and the cable connection area.

State of the art

In the prior art, single-part and multi-part contact carriers for receiving and holding crimp contacts are known.

To fix the aforementioned crimp contacts, locking methods are known in which a contact carrier holds such a crimp contact on its circumferential locking groove against the insertion forces that occur. The locking groove is rectangular in cross-section, i.e. it has two locking surfaces facing each other, which are aligned at right angles to the insertion direction/axis of symmetry of the plug contact.

The disadvantage is that due to the design-related space requirement in the contact carrier, in the current state of the art only crimp contacts which are designed for the connection of electrical conductors with a cross-sectional area of up to 4 mm ^2. However, these crimp contacts are already available in large quantities on the market and should continue to be used, particularly due to their excellent long-term behavior, which has been tried and tested in practice. Customers therefore require contact carriers that can be used both for the aforementioned crimp contacts and for crimp contacts for larger conductor cross-sections, for example for conductor cross-sections of up to 10 mm ² .

The German Patent and Trademark Office has searched the following prior art in the priority application for this application: EN 10 2017 211 983 A1 , DE 690 32 353 T2 and FR 2 337 949 A1 .

Task

The object of the invention is to design a contact carrier of the type mentioned at the outset in such a way that it is designed for the largest possible conductor cross-sections, e.g. of up to 10 mm ² cross-sectional area.

Disclosure of the invention

This problem is solved by the features of the independent claims.

A contact carrier is used to hold and fix at least one crimp contact. The contact carrier has a plug-in side for connecting to a mating connector and, opposite, a connection side for inserting a cable on the connection side. Furthermore, the contact carrier is designed in at least two parts and has an insulating body and a holding plate that can be mounted on the connection side. The insulating body has at least one locking element that, when not mounted, has both a locking element for the crimp contact and a locking element for the can assume a position that unlocks the crimp contact. The holding plate has at least one locking element which, when mounted, fixes the at least one locking element in its position that locks the crimp contact and thus prevents its transition from the locking position to the unlocking position. According to the invention, the locking element is designed as at least one locking arm pointing in the direction of the connection side and has a locking formation for locking in a locking groove of the crimp contact.

The term "connection side" is to be understood here and below as cable connection side, i.e. on the respective cable connection side and/or at least inclined or aligned in the direction of the respective cable connection side. The term "connection side" therefore basically stands for cable connection side.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention are specified in the subclaims.

An additional advantage of the contact carrier is that it can also be used for certain crimp contacts already available on the market, which are designed for electrical conductors with cross-sectional areas of up to ^4mm2 .

The contact carrier has the holding plate and the insulating body. At least one locking arm is part of the insulating body. The locking arm can have an inner locking flange as a locking formation. This inner locking flange is used to engage positively in the circumferential locking groove of the crimp contact for particularly stable locking.

The retaining plate further comprises at least one locking element which, when mounted, fixes the at least one locking arm in its position locking the crimp contact and thus ensures its transition from the locking position into the unlocking position is prevented. In the assembled state, the locking element can be inserted in a force-fitting and in particular also form-fitting manner between the locking arm and an inner side of a preferably cylindrical through-opening of the insulating body. The locking arm is thereby locked in its locking state.

The locking element is a sleeve segment. This is particularly advantageous because the locking element can be inserted not only force-fittingly but also positively between the at least one locking arm, preferably in the form of a hollow cylinder segment, on the one hand and one of the insides of a preferably cylindrical through-opening of the insulating body.

The insulating body preferably has at least two, in particular at least three, for example at least four locking arms for locking the inserted crimp contact against movement in the plugging direction. "In the plugging direction" means both in the direction of the plugging side and in the direction of the connection side, thus specifying the direction in terms of a movement axis, but not the orientation of the movement vector.

To facilitate assembly, the retaining plate can be latched in two different positions on the insulating body in a preferred embodiment, namely in an assembly position and a locking position. In the assembly position, the crimp contact can be inserted into the contact carrier on the connection side and latched. The locking position, on the other hand, corresponds to the assembled state in which the latching element is fixed in the plug-in direction in its position latching the crimp contact by the locking element, and the crimp contact is thus finally held stable in the contact carrier.

For this purpose, the holding plate can also have at least one fastening plate with two locking windows, namely a first locking window and a second locking window. The insulating body can have at least two locking pins on the outside that correspond to this, namely at least one first locking pin and at least one second locking pin. The holding plate is in the assembly position when the at least one fastening plate locks with its first locking window onto the second locking pin. The holding plate is in its locking position when the first locking window locks onto the first locking pin and the second locking window locks onto the second locking pin. In this way, particularly convenient operation is guaranteed during assembly using simple means.

The holding plate can have a rectangular base plate with at least one insertion opening for inserting the at least one crimp contact. One of the fastening plates formed at right angles to the base plate and running in the plugging direction can be arranged on each of two opposite sides of the base plate. These two fastening plates then point in the same direction as the at least one locking element.

1. A. Verrasten der Halteplatte am Isolierkörper in ihrer Bestückungsposition;
2. B. Einführen mindestens eines anschlussseitig mit einem elektrischen Litzenleiter vercrimpten Crimpkontakts in den Isolierkörper;
3. C. lösbares Verrasten des mindestens einen Crimpkontakts mit seiner umlaufenden Rastnut an dem mindesten einen Rastarm;
4. D. Bewegen der Halteplatte von ihrer Bestückungsposition in ihre endgültige Verriegelungsposition;
5. E. Fixieren des mindestens einen Rastarms in seiner verrastenden Position durch das Sperrelement der Halteplatte;
6. F. besonders stabiles Halten des mindestens einen Crimpkontakts im Kontaktträger und Aufnahme hoher auf den mindestens einen Crimpkontakt wirkender Steckkräfte durch den Isolierkörper.

A method for mounting a crimp contact in such a contact carrier is characterized by the following steps:

1. A. Locking the retaining plate on the insulating body in its assembly position;
2. B. Inserting at least one crimp contact crimped to an electrical stranded conductor on the connection side into the insulating body;
3. C. releasably locking the at least one crimp contact with its circumferential locking groove on the at least one locking arm;
4. D. Moving the retaining plate from its loading position to its final locking position;
5. E. Fixing the at least one locking arm in its locking position by the locking element of the holding plate;
6. F. Particularly stable holding of the at least one crimp contact in the contact carrier and absorption of high insertion forces acting on the at least one crimp contact by the insulating body.

The invention is particularly advantageous because the at least one crimp contact can be locked onto the insulating body instead of the retaining plate. The mounted retaining plate, for its part, only ensures that the at least one locking arm of the insulating body is fixed in its position locking the crimp contact by means of the locking element. The retaining plate itself does not absorb any plugging forces. This means that the contact carrier can absorb the forces that occur during the plugging process particularly effectively, because the retaining plate is relieved of the plugging forces that naturally act in the direction of the connection side - and thus in the direction of its disassembly.

The design of the contact carrier according to the invention ultimately allows the use of the crimp contacts already available on the market with crimp cross-sections of up to 4 mm ² as well as new crimp contacts that can accommodate cable cross-sections of up to 10 mm ^2. The latter is made possible in particular by the fact that the locking element is designed as at least one locking arm pointing towards the connection side. Finally, this creates enough space in the connection area of the contact carrier, to accommodate cables with these relatively large cross-sectional areas. For this reason, the use of a circumferential locking groove of the crimp contact is particularly advantageous because the at least one locking arm can hold the contact in its circumferential locking groove with high holding force in both the connection side and the plug-in side, even in this orientation.

In a preferred embodiment, the insulating body can have a cuboid basic shape with a preferably essentially cylindrical through-opening, which extends from the connection side to the plug-in side, i.e. whose axis of symmetry runs in the plug-in direction if necessary. The locking arm is molded onto the through-opening on the inside and protrudes into the through-opening to lock the crimp contact, in particular with the locking flange molded onto it on the inside. The insulating body preferably has at least two such locking arms. In a further embodiment, at least three, in particular at least four locking arms or more are molded onto the inside of the respective through-opening of the insulating body for each crimp contact, with all locking arms pointing in the direction of the connection side. By using a large number of locking arms, the insertion and removal forces can be absorbed by the insulating body in an even more evenly distributed manner.

In particular, the insulating body has at least two, in particular at least three, preferably at least four, for example two, three, four, five, ..., n locking arms for locking each inserted crimp contact in its circumferential locking groove and thus for preventing movement of the respective crimp contact in the direction of the connection side of the contact carrier as well as in the opposite direction.

In a further preferred embodiment, the holding plate itself can be locked onto the insulating body in two different positions, namely in a placement position and a locking position. In the placement position, the crimp contact can be inserted into the contact carrier on the connection side and initially locked onto the locking element. The locking position corresponds to the assembled state in which the crimp contact is finally held stable in the contact carrier. In this assembled state (locking position), the contact carrier can therefore absorb particularly high insertion forces.

As already mentioned, the holding plate can have the two fastening plates mentioned for this purpose, which are arranged on two opposite sides of the base plate at right angles to the latter. For the purpose of the aforementioned multi-stage locking, locking elements, in particular the two locking windows, namely the first locking window and the second locking window, can be arranged on each fastening plate. The insulating body can have on two opposite outer sides a recess that is open outwards and adjoins the connection side and runs in the direction of the plug-in side, which are delimited by two outer webs. One of the fastening plates of the holding plate can then be inserted into the respective recess, in particular precisely fitting between the webs, in order to mount the contact carrier. In the area of the recess, two locking pins are arranged on the respective outer side of the insulating body, namely a first and a second locking pin, which correspond to the locking windows of the fastening plates and are offset from one another in the plug-in direction. Of course, locking means of a different design are also conceivable. For example, in a further embodiment, the fastening plates could be provided with locking formations and corresponding locking recesses on the insulating body, which fulfil a comparable function.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the assembly of the contact carrier with the crimp contact can take place as follows:
When the fastening plates of the holding plate are pushed into the recesses of the insulating body, the first locking pin of the insulating body initially locks into the second locking window of the respective fastening plate. In this state, the holding plate on the insulating body is in its assembly position.

The crimp contact, which is a pin or socket contact, for example, can be crimped to an electrical stranded conductor of an electrical cable on the connection side. The crimp contact with the cable can then be inserted with its plug-in area first through the insertion opening of the holding plate into the through-opening of the insulating body and locked in its final position in the insulating body by at least one locking arm. To lock in place, the locking arms engage with their inner flange in the circumferential locking groove of the crimp contact. This fixes the crimp contact both in the direction of the plug-in area and in the direction of the connection area.

Now the holding plate is moved from its assembly position to its final locking position. The contact carrier is then finally mounted and the crimp contact is fixed in its final position with the desired high holding force in the contact carrier. For this purpose, the locking element is arranged between the locking arms and the inside of the through hole. The locking element thus prevents the locking arms from moving outwards, i.e. towards the inside of the through hole. The locking arms are thus locked against a transition to their unlocking position. The crimp contact cannot push the locking arms apart even under the influence of particularly high insertion forces. This makes it particularly stable in the contact carrier. The high insertion forces are absorbed by the insulating body, on which the locking arms are located. This means that the retaining plate is not subjected to any forces that would unlock or dismantle it.

The locking element is a sleeve segment. If it is necessary to subsequently remove the already installed crimp contact, an unlocking tool is provided. First, the holding plate can be brought into its assembled state so that the locking arms can be unlocked. They can then be pushed apart using a hollow-cylindrical unlocking section of the unlocking tool. For this purpose, it is advantageous if the locking arms are tapered at their free-standing ends. It is also advantageous if the cylinder wall of the hollow-cylindrical unlocking section also tapers towards the free-standing end of the locking arm. Unlocking can then take place by inserting the unlocking tool on the connection side and the crimp contact can be pulled out of the contact carrier using the cable crimped to it.

For the sake of completeness, it should be mentioned that the need for an unlocking tool could be avoided if the circumferential locking groove of the crimp contact did not have parallel locking surfaces in cross-section, but rather inclined, i.e. non-parallel locking surfaces that open outwards, and if the inner locking flange of the locking arms were designed to taper outwards. The crimp contact would then still be secured by the locking element when mounted, but could also be unlocked in the assembled state without an unlocking tool with a certain amount of force, for example by pulling on the cable. However, this is not possible in the preferred embodiment is not desired because, according to the above-mentioned specification, the crimp contacts already available on the market with crimp connections of up to 4 mm ² are also to be used and their circumferential locking groove is ultimately rectangular in cross-section.

In general, subsequent dismantling is rather unusual anyway. Stability and operational safety are to be given priority.

Example

Fig. 1a - b

einen Crimpkontakt in zwei verschiedenen Ansichten;

Fig. 2a - d

einen Isolierkörper in verschiedenen Ansichten und in einer Schnittdarstellung;

Fig. 3a - c

eine Halteplatte aus verschiedenen Blickwinkeln;

Fig. 3d

einen Kontaktträger im Bestückungszustand von außen und

Fig. 4a - b

in je einer Schnittdarstellung im Bestückungszustand und im montierten Zustand;

Fig. 5a - b

den Kontaktträger im Bestückungszustand mit einem Entriegelungswerkzeug.

An embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawings and is explained in more detail below. They show:

Fig. 1a - b

a crimp contact in two different views;

Fig. 2a - d

an insulating body in different views and in a sectional view;

Fig. 3a - c

a mounting plate from different angles;

Fig. 3d

a contact carrier in the assembled state from the outside and

Fig. 4a - b

in a sectional view in the equipped state and in the assembled state;

Fig. 5a - b

the contact carrier in the assembled state with an unlocking tool.

The figures contain partly simplified, schematic representations. In some cases, identical reference symbols are used for the same, but possibly not identical, elements. Different views of the same elements may be scaled differently.

The Fig. 1a and 1b show a crimp contact 1 that is designed as a socket contact. Its plug-in area 11 is thus formed by a contact socket and is designed as a hollow cylinder and segmented by several slots. Its connection area 12 is designed as a crimp connection for connecting an electrical conductor, for example the strand of an electrical cable. Between the connection area 12 and the plug-in area 11, the crimp contact 1 has a circumferential locking groove 10.

The Fig. 2a to 2d show an insulating body 2 with several through-openings 20, which are provided as contact receptacles. This insulating body 2 has two recesses 28 with a rectangular cross-section on two opposite outer narrow sides. Each of the two recesses 28 is delimited by two lateral webs 29. In these two recesses 28, two locking pins 284, 284', namely a first locking pin 284 and a second locking pin 284', are arranged offset from one another in the plugging direction. These each have a sliding bevel, which is not provided with a reference number for reasons of clarity.

Furthermore, the insulating body has several hollow cylindrical plug-in sections 21 on the plug-in side S, through each of which one of the through openings 20 runs.

Within each through-opening 20, two locking arms 232 are arranged opposite each other and point in the direction of the connection side A (i.e. in the direction of the cable connection side). As can be seen from the Fig. 2a As can be seen, these locking arms 232 have a hollow cylinder segment-like basic shape. On the inside, a locking flange 231 protruding into the through opening 20 is formed onto this basic shape for fixing the respective crimp contact 1 to its circumferential locking groove 10.

From the Fig. 2d It is particularly clearly visible that the locking arms 232, coming exclusively from the direction of the plug-in side S, point with their free-standing end in the direction of the connection side A. This creates a particularly large amount of space in the connection area, as this is free of locking arms 232 or parts thereof. This means that crimp contacts 1 with particularly large connection areas/crimp areas 12 and electrical conductors/cables with particularly large cross-sections can be used.

You Fig. 3a to 3c show a retaining plate 3 as a single part from several different perspectives. The Fig. 3d shows the holding plate 3 together with the insulating body 2 in its assembly position. The holding plate 3 and the insulating body 2 together form the contact carrier K.

The holding plate 3 has a rectangular base plate 32 with several insertion openings 330, which are in the Fig. 3d are particularly easy to see from the direction of the connection side A. These insertion openings 330 are used to insert the crimp contacts 1 during assembly. Two hollow cylinder segment-like locking elements 33 are connected to each insertion opening 330 opposite one another and protrude at right angles from the base plate 32.

A fastening plate 38 is formed at right angles to the base plate 32 on each of two opposite narrow sides of the base plate 32. For multi-stage locking, two locking windows 384, namely a first locking window 384 and a second locking window 384', are arranged on each fastening plate 38. To construct the contact carrier K, the fastening plates 38 can be inserted in particular with a precise fit between the lateral webs 29 into the recesses 28 of the insulating body 2, whereby the locking windows 384, 384' can lock onto the locking pins 284, 284'.

At the same time, the locking elements 33 can be inserted into the respective through openings 20.

The Fig. 3d shows the contact carrier K, which has the insulating body 2 and the retaining plate 3 locked to it in a mounting position, whereby the contact carrier K is in a mounting state. The Fig. 4a shows the same arrangement in cross-section. In this assembly state of the contact carrier K, the crimp contact 1 can be inserted into the contact carrier K from the connection side A. The crimp contact 1 is usually crimped beforehand at its crimp connection 12 with an electrical stranded conductor (not shown in the drawing).

In the assembly state, the first locking windows 384 of the holding plate 3 lock onto the second locking pin 284' of the insulating body 2. In this state, the locking elements 33 are only partially inserted into the through-opening 20 and in this position do not yet lock the locking arms 232 against movement into their unlocking position. In this state, the crimp contact 1 can be inserted into the contact carrier K from the direction of the connection side A.

By further movement of the holding plate 3 in the plugging direction, ie in the direction of this plugging side S, the first locking window 384 locks onto the first locking pin 284 and the second locking window 384' locks onto the second locking pin 284'. The holding plate 3 then assumes a position relative to the insulating body 2 as shown in the Fig. 4b is shown. The holding plate 3 is thus in its locking position. The locking arms 232 are now prevented from unlatching by the locking elements 33. The contact carrier K is then in its assembled state together with the inserted crimp contact 1, in which the crimp contact 1 is fixed in the contact carrier 3 with particularly high holding forces both against movement in the direction of the connection side A and against movement in the direction of the plug-in side S.

The Fig. 5a and 5b show unlocking by means of an unlocking tool 4. The contact carrier K is in its assembled state. The unlocking tool 4 has a hollow cylindrical unlocking section 41 at its free-standing end, the diameter of which corresponds to the distance between the opposing locking hooks 232 and the outer wall of which tapers to a point at the end, namely flattened towards the inside. Advantageously, the locking pins 232 also taper to a point towards their end, namely flattened towards the outside. The depth of the locking flange 231 does not exceed the width of the outer wall of the unlocking section 41 of the unlocking tool 4. The crimp contacts 1 can thus be unlocked from the locking arms 232 by inserting the unlocking tool 4 into the respective insertion opening 330.

List of reference symbols

1

Crimp contact

10

circumferential locking groove

11

Plug-in area, contact socket

12

Connection area, crimp connection

2

Insulating body

20

Passage opening

21

Plug-in section

231

inner locking flange

232

Locking element, locking arm

284, 284'

first, second locking pins

3

Retaining plate

32

Base plate

33

Locking element

330

Insertion openings

38

Mounting plate

384, 384'

first, second rest window

4

Release tool

41

Unlocking contour

K

Contact carrier

A

Connection side

S

Plug-in side

Claims (6)

1. Contact carrier (K) for accommodating and fixing at least one crimp contact (1), wherein the contact carrier (K) has a plug-in side (S) and, situated oppositely, a connection side (A), and wherein the contact carrier (K) furthermore is of at least two-part design and has an insulating body (2) and a holding plate (3) which is able to be fitted thereon on the connection side, wherein the insulating body (2) has at least one latching element (232) which, in the non-fitted state, can assume both a position in which the crimp contact (1) is latched in place and a position in which the crimp contact (1) is unlatched, wherein the holding plate (3) has at least one blocking element (33) which, in the fitted state, fixes the at least one latching element (232) in its position in which the crimp contact (1) is latched in place and thus prevents it from transferring from the latching position into the unlatching position, wherein the latching element is designed as at least one latching arm (232) which points in the direction of the connection side (A) and which has a latching formation (231) for being latched in a latching groove (10) of the crimp contact (1), characterized in that the blocking element (33), in the fitted state, is arranged in a force-fitting manner between the at least one latching arm (232) and an inner side of a passage opening (20) of the insulating body (2), and in that the blocking element (33) is a sleeve segment.
2. Contact carrier (K) according to Claim 1, characterized in that the at least one latching arm (232) is of hollow-cylinder-segment-like design, and in that its latching formation is formed by an inner-side latching flange (231) by way of which it projects into the interior of the passage opening (20) of the insulating body (2) and which serves for engaging into the latching groove (10) of the pin contact (1) in a form-fitting manner for latching purposes.
3. Contact carrier (K) according to Claim 2, characterized in that the insulating body (2) has at least two latching arms (232) for latching the inserted crimp contact (1) against movement in the plug-in direction.
4. Contact carrier (K) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the holding plate (3) is able to be latched to the insulating body (2) in two different positions, specifically in an equipping position and a locking position, wherein, in the equipping position, the crimp contact (1), on the contact side (A), is able to be inserted into the contact carrier (K) and is able to be latched therein, and wherein the locking position corresponds to the fitted state, in which the latching arm (232) is fixed by the blocking element (33) in its position in which the crimp contact (1) is latched in place and in this way the crimp contact (1) is finally held in a stable manner in the contact carrier (K).
5. Contact carrier (K) according to Claim 4, characterized in that the holding plate (3) has at least one fastening plate (38) with two latching windows (384, 384'), specifically a first latching window (384) and a second latching window (384'), and in that the insulating body (2) has at the outside at least two latching pegs (284, 284') corresponding thereto, specifically at least one first latching peg (284) and at least one second latching peg (284'), and in that the holding plate (3) is in the equipping position when the at least one fastening plate (38) latches by way of its first latching window (384) to the second latching peg (284'), and in that the holding plate (3) is in its locking position when the first latching window (384) latches to the first latching peg (284) and the second latching window (384') latches to the second latching peg (284').
6. Contact carrier (K) according to Claim 5, characterized in that the holding plate (3) has a square or at least rectangular base plate (32) with an insertion opening (330) for insertion of the crimp contact (1), and in that, on two mutually oppositely situated sides of the base plate (32), there are arranged in each case one fastening plate (38) which extends at a right angle to the base plate (32), wherein these two fastening plates (38) point in the same direction as the at least one blocking element (33).

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