[0001] The present invention relates to miniature electrical-connectors for densely packing
electrical contacts in a housing and in particular to an electrical contact having
locating means for orienting contact retention means in a cavity.
[0002] The contemporary trend towards miniaturization in electrical systems has developed
a need for combining electrical contacts into very compact lightweight units. To obtain
further savings in space and mass, means employed to ensure proper electrical interconnection
between the miniature units during mating have also been greatly reduced in size.
Mateable electrical connectors such as plug and receptacle connectors are typically
adapted to link as many as 100 separate circuits and are preferably miniaturized to
the highest degree consistent with maintaining insulated separation between the circuits
and at a reasonable manufacturing cost.
[0003] Placement of a plurality of contacts in a plug or receptacle has been found to occasion
some difficulties with respect to ease of assembly and precision of contact orientation.
It has been found that the arrangement of the contacts in an associated contact carrying
unit must be highly exact if the interconnection between connectors parts is to be
effected with ease and rapidity.
[0004] Previously, prior art contacts have used a plurality of tines to retain a contact
in a housing cavity or bore and the tines orientation was not fixed in their respective
cavities thereby allowing the contact to rotate relative to its cavities thereby allowing
the contact to rotate relative to its cavity. Some bores or cavities were large and
often complex to mold. It has been proposed that proper design of a housing contact
cavity and of the contacts retention means could increase the number of contacts a
given housing could secure within the given housing size.
[0005] .Provision of locating means for orienting a contact terminal's housing retention
means would permit efficient dense packaging of a plurality of contacts in a housing
having a plurality of cavities, would only require a minimum amount of housing material
to secure the contacts and thereby reduce material cost and weight, would provide
means for ensuring proper interconnection and would provide protection for the mateable
portion of the contact.
[0006] The invention proposes an electrical connector assembly characterized by as comprising
:
a housing of insulating material having front and rear faces and a cavity extending
between the faces with means adjacent said cavity defining oppositely inwardly facing
shoulders, the cavity having contiguous therewith a grooved keyway portion extending
from the rear face forward to a region adjacent one of said shoulders; and
a metallic terminal member disposed in the cavity, said terminal member comprising
;
a tubular body having front and rear ends,
a resilient deflectable tine struck from said body and extending angularly outward
toward the rear of said body, said tine having an edge portion adapted to engage the
other shoulder of the cavity to resist unauthorized withdrawal of the contact rearwardly
of said housing; and
a locator key adapted to be slidably received.in the keyway portion and extending
transversely from a front end portion of the tubular body, said locator key serving
to orient the tine and to engage the one shoulder of the cavity to limit iward movement
of the terminal member.
[0007] Accordingly, the invention is characterized by an electrical connector assembly comprising
an insulative housing having a plurality of cavities or bores extending between front
and rear faces and a contact removably mounted in each cavity. Each cavity includes
a contiguous keyway slot and oppositely inwardly facing shoulders, the keyway slot
extending from the rear face inwardly to the shoulder. The contact comprises a tine
having an edge for engaging the rear shoulder to prevent unauthorized rearward withdrawal,
a locator for orienting the tine and for engaging forward shoulder to limit forward
insertion of the contact into the housing and an outwardly frared portion for centering
the contact in the cavity and as an aid to insertion.
[0008] , It is an important advantage of the present invention to provide an electrical
contact having improved means for mounting the contact in a cavity of an insulating
connector housing so that contact retention means are oriented in a predetermined
position relative to the connector housing.
[0009] Still another advantage of this invention is the provision of means which non-rotatably
positions a contact in a bore of a connector housing.
[0010] Yet another advantage is the provision of a contact which may be oriented and secured
to an insulative base and which may include an erect mateable portion disposed inwardly
of or extending outwardly of the housing base.
[0011] Another advantage is to provide an electrical contact in which the contact is resiliently
self supporting in an erect mateable position both radially and longitudinally with
respect to an associated connector block.
[0012] The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying
drawings wherein :
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a removable electrical contact according to the
invention.
Figure 2 is a view of a sheet of conductive metal from which the contact of Figure
1 is formed.
Figure 3 is a side view in section of the formed contact taken along lines III- III
of Figure 2.
Figure 4 is a front end view of the contact taken along lines IV-IV of Figure 3.
Figure 5 is a rear end view of the contact taken along lines V-V of Figure 3.
Figure 6 is a side view in section of a connector housing receiving the electrical
contact of Figure 1.
Figure 7 is a front end view of the connector housing taken along lines VII-VII of
Figure 6.
Figure 8 is a rear end view of the connector housing taken along lines VIII-VIII of
Figure 6.
[0013] Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in Figure 1, a releaseable electrical
contact terminal 10 comprising a tubular body.or sleeve 12 of conductive material
terminated at the rear end 14 to an electrical wire 50 and at the front end 13 to
a plurality of conductive brush-type wires 60, the wires 50, 60 being terminated to
the sleeve respectively by crimps 51, 61. The contact terminal 10 comprises a resilient
tine 20 struck from an intermediate location of the sleeve and extending angularly
or diagonally outwardly and rearwardly of the sleeve, a locator key 30 disposed at
the front end 13 of the sleeve and an abutment 40 disposed at the rear end of the
sleeve.
[0014] Figure 2 shows a flat sheet 11 of resilient metal material from which the tubular
body 12 is roll-formed and includes the front and rear ends 13, 14 and longitudinal
edges 15, 16 having respectively a t
ab 17 and a tab receiver 18 extending therefrom. The tab 17 and tab receiver 18 are half-moon
in shape and interfit to provide additional rigidity to the formed sleeve 12. The
tine 20 includes a rounded edge portion 21 and the locator key 30 extends transversely
from the longitudinal edge 15 and is disposed adjacent a cutout 31. If desired, the
edge portion 21 could be flat, squared or otherwise shaped. The cutout 31 aids in
the forming of the key by providing a region of reduced rigidity.
[0015] Figure 3 shows the roll formed section of the sleeve 12 defining the tubular body
having an interior bore 19. In forming the sleeve, a longitudinal slot or seam is
developped wherein the first and second longitudinally extending edges 15, 16 face.
In the section view, only one longitudinal edge 15 with part of tab 17 is shown. The
sleeve rear end 14 is provided with the abutment 40 which flares outwardly substantially
frusto-conically to provide an installation.abutment surface 41.
[0016] Figure 4 shows the front end 13 of the sleeve 12. Locator key 30 and tine 20 are
disposed diametrically to one another in substantially the same plane.
[0017] Figure 5 shows the rear 14 of the sleeve 12 and more clearly defines the longitudinal
seam which is defined by the longitudinally extending edges 15, 16.
[0018] Figure 6 is a sectioned view of an insulative connector housing 70 showing the releasable
electrical contact terminal 10 mounted in a cavity 73 which extends therethrough between
a rear entry face 72 and a front mating face 71, the bore including a pair of opposite
and inwardly facing shoulders a forwardly facing shoulder 76 facing the front end
and a rearwardly facing shoulder 75 facing the rear end and a contiguous keyway slot
74 extending inwardly from the rear face 72 forwardly to a region adjacent the rearwardly
facing shoulder 75. Forwardly facing shoulder 76 is adapted to provide an abutment
for the edge portion 21 of tine 20 to engage for preventing unauthorized rearward
withdrawal of the contact terminal from the bore. Rearwardly facing shoulder 75 is
adapted to provide an abutment for locator key 30 to engage for limiting inward position
of the contact terminal 10 in the housing cavity.
[0019] The contact 10 is oriented and secured in the cavity 73 of the insulative housing
so that an erect mateable portion (brush wires 60) extends outwardly of the housing.
If desired, a mateable portion of contact sleeve 12 could be disposed inwardly of
the housing and need not include the brush wire shown but could be a traditional pin-socket
type interconnection. The contact is resiliently self supporting in the erect mateable
position both radially and longitudinally.
[0020] Figure 7 shows the front end face 71 of the connector housing 70 with a plurality
of contacts 10 mounted in a like plurality of cavities, each contact having brush
wires 60 secured thereto. One cavity is shown without a contact to show the shoulder
76 which the edge portion 21 of the tine 20 engages to prevent withdrawal of the contact.
[0021] The contacts are disposed in the housing in an array defined by a first set of contacts
transversely and uniformly separated in a first plane and a second set of contacts
transversely and uniformly separated in a second plane, the first set of contacts
being off-set from the second set of contacts and the contact planes being generally
parallel.
[0022] Figure 8 shows the rear end face 72 of the contact housing 70. Preferably, and in
accord with the invention, the keyway slots of the first set of contact receiving
cavities and the slots of the second set of contact receiving cavities are facing
and extend in between each other. The locator key 30, in conjunction with keyway slot
74, orients the tine 20 upwardly and into engagement with the shoulder 76, thereby
allowing the contact to be provided with and retained by only one deflectable tine
20. This allows the cavity to be reduced in volume while still assuring the engagement
thereof with the shoulder 76, thereby allowing for a dense packing of the contacts.
The contact key 30 and cavity keyway 74 prevent the contact from rotating when installed
in a respective cavity.
[0023] Although the terminated contact terminal 10 of Figure 1 is shown disposed in the
cavity 73, the contact terminal of Figure 3 could also be utilized if the forward
end were appropriately sized for mateability. Further, although the brush wires 60
are shown extending outwardly of the front face 71 of the housing, some application
may find it desirable to have the contact terminal entirely disposed within the cavity.
[0024] The locator key 30 of a contact terminal 10 is slidably inserted into the keyway
slot 74 of cavity 73 entering the rear end face 72 of the housing 70. Progressive
insertion of the contact into the cavity causes the tine 20 to deflect downwardly
and into a generally horizontal position. As the tine 20 passes into the bore cavity
beyond shoulder 76, the edge 21 springs upwardly to engage the shoulder. The locator
key is substantially in engaging abutment with shoulder 75 to axially position the
contact terminal in its forwardmost position in the cavity. For withdrawal, a flat-
bladed tool is inserted into the cavity 73 openings on front face 72 and deflects
the tine 20 downwardly from engagement with shoulder 76, thereby releasing the contact
terminal.
1. An electrical connector assembly (100) characterized - by as comprising :
a housing (70) of insulating material having front and rear faces (71, 72) and a cavity
(73) extending between the faces with means adjacent said cavity defining oppositely
inwardly facing shoulders (75,76) the cavity having contiguous therewith a grooved
keyway portion (74) extending from the rear face forward to a region adjacent one
(75) of said shoulders ; and
a metallic terminal member (10) disposed in the cavity, said terminal member comprising
:
a tubular body (12) having front and rear ends (13,14),
a resilient deflectable tine (20) struck from said body and extending angularly outward
toward the rear of said body, said tine having and edge portion (21) adapted to engage
the other shoulder (76) of the cavity to resist unauthorized withdrawal of the contact
rearwardly of said housing ; and
a locator key (30) adapted to be slidably received in the keyway portion (74) and
extending transversely from a front end portion of the tubular body, said locator
key serving to orient the tine and to engage the one shoulder (75) of the cavity to
limit inward movement of the terminal member.
2. An electrical connector assembly according to Claim 1 characterized in that said
tubular body (10) is rolled-formed from a sheet of conductive material (11) into a
sleeve (12) having a longitudinal seam extending between the ends thereof and wherein
the rear end (14) of the sleeve flares substantially frusto-conically outwardly to
provide an abutment surface (41) for use during installation of the terminal member
and for centering the rear end (14) of the sleeve in the cavity.
3. An electrical connector assembly according to Claim 2 characterized in that the
locator key (30) and the tine (20 ) extend longitudinally outwardly from the sleeve
(12)..
4. An electrical connector assembly according to Claim 2 characterized in that the
locator key (30) extends outwardly from an edge (15) defining part of the longitudinal
slot and is disposed in in substantially the same plane as the tine.
5. An electrical connector assembly according to Claim 4 characterized in that the
locator key (30) and the tine (20) are diametrically disposed on opposite sides of
the sleeve (12) and wherein the contact terminal further comprises means at the rear
end (14) terminating a bared conductive wire end (50).
6. An electrical connector assembly according to claim 2 characterized in that the
tine (20) and the projection (30) are integrally formed with the tubular body (12)
from a single flat piece of metal (11).