FR2631748A1 - Electrical connector made of two parts, one of which acts as a support for components, and method of manufacturing this support - Google Patents

Abstract

An electrical connector having multiple contacts includes, according to the invention, a support plate 20 folded in the form of a U with a printed circuit on the inner surface 18 and consists of three rigid zones 16a, 16b, 17 and two flexible zones 21. Electronic components 22 and male or female contacts 4 are mounted on the outer surface of the U-shaped support plate 20 and come into contact with the printed circuit. The support plate 20 is enclosed in a casing 3 whose bottom 13 is penetrated by the contacts 4. A cover 23 of T-shaped profile, the central portion 24 of which acts as a partition between the side walls of the support plate 20 and the lower end 25 of which presses the central rigid zone 17 against the bottom 13 of the casing, is joined to the casing 3 by means of a clip-in mechanism 26.

Description

TWO-PART ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR, ONE OF WHICH SUPPORTS
COMPONENTS, AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME.

 The present invention relates to an electrical connector with multiple contacts consisting of two separable and complementary parts from one another, one of them comprising an insulating case and male or female contacts and serving as a support for components. , and a method of manufacturing this support.

 Electrical connectors are electromechanical components whose role consists in assembling both electrically and mechanically, in a removable manner, more or less complete constituent elements of electronic assemblies.

 The present invention relates to the production of a compact electrical connector with a simple structure and a low manufacturing cost.

 More particularly, the subject of the present invention is the production of an electrical connector with multiple contacts consisting of two separable and complementary parts from one another, one of them comprising an insulating housing and male or female contacts mounted through a wall of the case ensuring electrical interconnection with the other party.

 The object of the invention is achieved by producing an electrical connector comprising, in one of its parts, a printed circuit on a support plate having at least one flexible zone without connection point of the circuit and two rigid zones covering the connection points and provided with perforations leading to the connection point, the electronic components and the contacts being mounted respectively on one and 11 other of the rigid zones through the perforations.

 According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the printed circuit is single sided. The electronic components and the contacts are mounted on the unprinted side of the support plate and connected to the circuit through the perforations in the rigid zones.

 The support plate can advantageously consist of two flexible zones and three rigid zones formed alternately. The plate is then folded according to the flexible U-shaped zones with the middle rigid zone for the male or female contacts and the lateral rigid zones for the electronic components. The U-folded plate has on its inner surface the face of the printed circuit and therefore on its outer surface the electronic components and the contacts. The case is substantially parallelepipedic with an open side opposite the contacts. The U-shaped folded plate is held inside the case with its central rigid zone at the bottom of the latter by suitable fixing means.

 The electrical connector may include an insulating cover for the open side of the housing. This cover preferably constitutes by itself the means for fixing the U-shaped plate. Such a cover has a T-profile, the middle part of which serves as a partition separating the two side walls of the U-shaped plate and whose l he lower end of the middle part presses the middle rigid zone of the plate against the bottom of the shoemaker. This lower end of the T-shaped cover can be in the form of a comb, so that it does not touch the contacts mounted through the case, the central rigid zone and the printed circuit. The bottom of the boot housing receiving the contacts has an extension serving, on the one hand, to guide the boot housing and, on the other hand, to protect male or female contacts. The electrical components can be of any kind depending on the need for use. for example non-return protection diodes. The support plate can be constituted by a flexible plate which, comprising a single-sided printed circuit, is reinforced on the non-printed face by rigid plates to form rigid zones supporting the components and the contacts.

According to a preferred manufacturing process of the invention, a single-sided printed circuit is produced on a flat plate of insulating material comprising, on three successive localized zones, connection points and corresponding perforations, said localized zones being rigid and separated by flexible zones, said plate comprising, on the unprinted side, electronic components on the two localized end zones and male or female contacts on the central localized zone, the ends of the contacts and of the tabs of the components passing through the perforations and being soldered to the connection points of the printed circuit, for example by wave soldering known per se; we fold in
U the plate according to the flexible zones, so that the printed face constitutes the internal face of the U-shaped plate; it is mounted in a bolier open on one side with the central rigid zone at the bottom of the latter and the casing is closed with a T-profile cover, the middle part of which serves as a partition between the two lateral walls of the U-shaped plate and serves as means of fixing the latter to the bottom of the housing.

The invention will be better understood on studying the detailed description of a particular embodiment of the invention given by way of nonlimiting example and illustrated by the appended drawings, in which
Figure la is an elevational view with a cutaway of a first part of an electrical connector according to the invention;
Figure lb is a schematic elevational view of the second part of the electrical connector complementary to the first part shown in Figure la;
Figure 2 is a schematic side view of the first part of the electrical connector shown in Figure la;
Figure 3 is a sectional view along 'III-III of Figure la; and
FIG. 4 shows an example of a printed circuit according to the invention.

 As shown in Figures la and lb, the electrical connector with multiple contacts, according to the invention, consists of two parts 1 and 2 separable and complementary to each other.

Each part 1 or 2 is connected to electrical circuits not shown. Part 1 of the connector comprises a housing 3 substantially in the shape of a parallelepiped, one side of which is provided with electrical contacts, for example male contacts in the form of pins 4. The pins 4 are protected around by a guide 5. Two captive screws 6 passing through wings 7 of the shoemaker are oriented parallel to pins 4.

 Part 2 of the connector has a housing 8, one side of which is provided with contacts complementary to those of part 1. These are for example female contacts in the form of sockets receiving the pins 4 of part 1. Around these sockets is a protective guide 9 cooperating with the guide 5. The casing 8 is provided with two tapped holes cooperating with the screws 6. The electrical interconnection between the two parts 1 and 2 of the connector is ensured by means of the complementary contacts of the two parts.

 The present invention relates more particularly to the production of part 1 of the electrical connector. Unless otherwise indicated, the description which follows is limited to part 1 of the electrical connector.

 In Figure 2, we can see the side of the boot 3 comprising the male or female contacts 4. The generally male contacts 4 are protected by the guide 5 of substantially trapezoidal #dale section to avoid possible connection errors. The housing 3 comprises on either side of the guide 5 two wings 7 provided with perforations 11 serving to house the screws 6 not shown in this figure.

 As illustrated in FIG. 3, the part 1 of the electrical connector according to the invention comprises an insulating casing 3 parallelepiped with an open side 12 and a bottom 13 provided with perforations 14 through which the male contacts 4 in the form of pins provide electrical connections on either side of the bottom 13 of the shoemaker- 3. The bottom 13 of the shoemaker is extended externally by a part 5 forming both a guide and protection around the pins 4. A flexible plate 15 of insulating material is reinforced on one of its faces by three rigid plates 16a, 16b and 17 also in insulating material. The other face 18 of the flexible plate 15 comprises a printed circuit not shown, the connection points of which are grouped together on the three reinforced zones by the rigid plates 16a, 16b and 17.

 The support plate 20, consisting of the flexible plate 15 reinforced by the rigid plates 16a, 16b and 17, is folded in a U shape inside the case 3. The folding is carried out in the unreinforced zones 21 of the plate flexible 15. The face 18 of the support plate 20 comprising the printed circuit not shown constitutes the inner surface of the U-shape. The rigid central plate 17 is placed at the bottom 13 of the shoemaker 3.

 The support plate 23 is perforated on the reinforced areas at points corresponding to the connection points of the printed circuit not shown. The pins 4 pass through the perforations # 14 of the bottom 13 of the shoemaker and those of the middle rigid zone 17 of the support plate 20. The electrical contact between the pins 4 and the connection points of the not shown printed circuit is made by welding .

 Through the perforations in the lateral walls of the U-shaped support plate, are mounted, on the side of the rigid reinforcement plates 16a, 16b, components 22 each provided with conductor tabs 22a. The tabs 22a pass through the perforations and are in electrical contact with the connection points of the printed circuit on the face 18 of the support plate 20 with fixing by welding for example.

 A T-shaped insulating cover 23 in profile closes the open side 12 of the case 3. The middle part 24 of the cover extends and presses with its lower end 25 the middle rigid area 17 of the support plate 20 on the bottom 13 of the shell 3. The end 25 is made in the form of a comb in order to avoid any mechanical contact between this end and the pins 4 passing through the central rigid zone. The central wall 24 of the cover also serves as an insulating partition between the two side walls of the support plate 20 provided with the electrical components 22. The upper end of the cover 23 is assembled to the open side 12 of the housing 3 by a latching system 26.

 The flexibility of the zones 21 of the support plate 20 can be chosen so that the components 22 are pressed against the side walls 27 of the case thus creating a mechanical blocking preventing any movement of the components during use. Other means can also be provided for blocking the components 22 inside the housing 3.

 In Figure 4 is shown schematically a support plate 40 having a printed circuit 30 on one of its faces.

The printed circuit 30 consists of electrical conductive paths 31 and connection points 32 and 33. Each conductive path 31 connects at one of its ends a connection point 32 and a connection point 33. The connection points -32 are grouped together in a zone 41 in the form of a strip in the middle of the plate 40. The connection points 33 are distributed over two zones 42a, 42b in the form of a strip on either side of the zone 41 comprising the points 32.

 The zones 42a, 42b and 41 of the support plate 40 are rigid and spaced from one another by flexible zones 43 crossed by the conductive paths 31. The connection points 32 are intended to provide the electrical junction between the male or female contacts and the printed circuit 30. The connection points 33 are intended to provide the electrical junction between the electronic components and the printed circuit 30. When the electronic components and the male or female contacts are mounted on the unprinted side of the support plate 40 via the connection points 32 and 33, the electrical interconnection between the electronic components and the contacts is ensured. The support plate 40 can be folded according to the flexible zones 43 in a U shape with the rigid zones 42a and 42b as side walls. With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, it can be noted that the support plates 20 and 40 are equivalent and that the rigidified zones of plate 20 by the plates 16â, 16b and 17 correspond to rigid zones 42a, 42b and 41 of the plate 40. The flexible zones 21 and 43 are also equivalent.

 The support plate 40 can for example be manufactured in the following manner: a printed circuit 30 is first produced on one side of a flexible rectangular flat plate as illustrated in FIG. 4. This plate is reinforced flexible on its second face by three rigid plates 16a, 16b and 17 to form three rigid zones 42a, 42b and. 41 covering the connection points 33 and 32. The perforations are made on the support plate 40, thus formed and equivalent to the plate 20 in FIG. 3, at the connection points 32 and 33. It is mounted on the reinforced face of the support plate 40 for electronic components 22, the tabs 22a of which pass through the perforations in the rigid zones 42a, 42b and the connection points 33. The pin-shaped male contacts 4 pass through the perforations in the middle rigid zone 41 and the connection points 32. Welds are made at connection points 32 and 33 on the printed face of the support plate 40, for example by wave soldering over a tin bath.

 The support plate 40 or 20 comprising the electronic components 22 and the male contacts 4 is folded into a U shape according to the flexible zones 43 or 21. The interior surface of the plate 20 folded into a U is formed by the face provided with printed circuit 30. The support plate 20 folded in a U is introduced into a bolier 3, the bottom 13 of which is provided with perforations 14. The pins 4 pass through the perforations 14 and the central rigid zone 17 comes into contact with the bottom 13 of the housing. The housing 3 is closed by the cover 23 with a T-shaped profile, the middle part 24 of which separates the side walls of the support plate 20 (FIG. 3).

  It can be seen that the invention enables part of an electrical connector with a compact and simple structure to be produced with low manufacturing cost. A particularly interesting application of the invention is found in electrical installations used in aeronautics. The electronic components 22 may consist only of non-return protection diodes for devices supplied with direct current or other components.

Claims (12)

 1. Electrical connector with multiple contacts consisting of two separable and complementary parts from one another, one of them (1) comprising an insulating boot (3) and male or female contacts (4) mounted through a wall of the case ensuring electrical interconnection with the other part (2), characterized in that it comprises a printed circuit (30) on a support plate (20, 40) having at least one flexible zone (21 , 43) without connection points (32, 33) of the circuit (30) and two rigid zones (16a, 16b, 17, 42e, 42b, 41) covering the connection points and provided with perforations leading to the connection points, electronic components (22) and the contacts (4) being mounted respectively on one and the other of the rigid zones through the perforations.  2. Electrical connector according to claim 1, characterized in that the printed circuit (30) is single-sided, and that the electronic components (22) and the contacts (4) are mounted on the unprinted side of the support plate (20, 40) and connected to the circuit through the perforations.  3. Electrical connector according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the support plate (20, 40) consists of two flexible zones (21, 43) and three rigid zones (16a, 16b, 17, 42a, 42b , 41) formed alternately, and that the plate is folded according to the flexible U-shaped zones with the central rigid zone (17, 41) for the male or female contacts (4) and the lateral rigid zones (16a, 16b , 42a, 42b) for the electronic components (22).  4. Electrical connector according to claim 3, characterized in that the plate (20) folded in a U has on its inner surface (18) the face of the printed circuit.  5. Electrical connector according to claim 4, characterized in that the bolt bolt (3) is substantially parallelepipedic with an open side (12) opposite the contacts (4), the plate (20) folded in the shape of a U being held inside the shoemaker, with its central rigid zone (17) at the bottom (13) of the latter, by suitable fixing means.  6. Electrical connector according to claim 5, characterized in that it comprises an insulating cover (23) for the open side of the shoemaker, and that the cover alone constitutes the means for fixing the plate (20) in shape from U.  7. Electrical connector according to reveqdication 6, characterized in that the cover (23) has a T-profile, the middle part (24) of which serves as a partition separating the two side walls of the U-shaped plate (20) and the lower end (25) of the central part of which presses the rigid central zone (17) of the plate against the bottom of the shoemaker.  8. An electrical connector according to claim 7, characterized in that the lower end (25) of the T-shaped cover is in the form of a comb, so that the end does not touch the contacts (4) mounted through the case. (3), the middle rigid zone (17) and the printed circuit.  9. Electrical connector according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the bottom (13) of the boot housing receiving the contacts has an extension (5) serving on the one hand for guiding the boot assembly and on the other part of contact protection.  10. Electrical connector according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the said electrical components (22) are non-return protection diodes.  11. Electrical connector according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the support plate (20) is constituted by a flexible plate (15) reinforced on a face not printed by rigid plates (16a, 16b, 17 ) to form rigid areas.  12. A method of manufacturing an electronic component support for an electrical connector, characterized by the following steps: a printed circuit (30) is produced on one side on a flat plate (40) of insulating material comprising three successive localized zones ( 41, 42a, 42b) connection points (32, 33) and corresponding perforations, said localized areas being rigid and separated by flexible areas (43), said plate (40) comprising, on the unprinted side, components- electronic (22) on the two localized end zones (42a, 42b) and contacts (4) rales or females on the central localized zone (41), the ends of the contacts and lugs (22a) of the components passing through the perforations and being soldered to the connection points of the printed circuit, for example by wave soldering known per se; the plate (40) is folded in U according to the flexible zones (43), so that the printed face constitutes the interior surface of the plate in U; it is mounted in a housing (3) open on one side with the central rigid zone (41) at the bottom of the latter and the housing is closed with a cover (23) with a T-profile whose central part (24) serves as partition between the two side walls of the U-shaped plate and means for fixing the latter to the bottom of the shoemaker.