[0001] This invention relates to a sealed insulation displacement connector.
[0002] It is common to find sealed electrical connectors in the electrical industry, and
in particular in automobiles whereby connectors in the engine compartment are subject
to harsh environmental conditions and corrosive agents. Electrical connectors in an
automobile engine compartment must be able to withstand high water pressures due to
the high splashing pressure that may occur when the vehicle is at speed. Sealed connectors
for automobile use, commonly have crimped connections and are quite costly to produce
as there are more parts, manufacturing steps and more complicated assembly procedure
compared to unsealed connectors.
[0003] In providing electrical connectors for the automobile industry, for example, it is
desirable to reduce the number of manual operations during assembly of the automobile
as these are costly procedures. There is therefore a need to provide electrical harnesses
that can be manufactured in an automated manner, requiring as little manual handling
as possible thereof during the assembly process, but nevertheless meeting the rising
demands on reliability and electrical current carrying capacity.
[0004] It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a reliable electrical connector
that is cost effective and that can be easily and rapidly assembled.
[0005] It is another object of this invention to provide a sealed connector for insulation
displacement technology.
[0006] It is yet another object of this invention to provide a cheap and reliable sealed
branch connector that can be used for distributing electrical power or grounding a
plurality of conductors, for example for use in an automobile. The objects of this
invention have been achieved by providing a connector having insulation displacement
contacts therein, a base member and a cover member having wire mounting means for
mounting electrical wires thereto, the cover member fixable to the base member such
that electrical connection is made between the wires and the IDC contacts, characterized
in that wire sealing means are provided between the cover and the wire, and elastomeric
cover sealing means are provided between the base and cover members such that the
electrical connection is completely sealed off from the exterior.
[0007] One of the embodiments of this invention will now be described in more detail with
reference to the drawing figures whereby;
Figure 1 is an isometric view of a sealed electrical branch connector about to be
connected to conducting wires;
Figure 2 is a cross sectional view through a base member of the connector of Figure
1;
Figure 3 is a top view of the base member of the electrical connector of Figure 1;
Figures 4 and 5 are top and side cross sectional views of a cover member as shown
in Figure 1;
Figure 6 is a side cross sectional view through the connector of Figure 1 showing
an electrical conducting wire electrically connected thereto;
Figure 7 is a detailed partial cross sectional view of strain relief means provided
on the connector.
[0008] With reference to Figure 1, one embodiment along the lines of this invention is generally
shown at 2 as a two position branch connector for electrical connection to conducting
wires 4. The branch connector 2 comprises a base member 6 and cover members 8.
[0009] Referring to Figures 1, 2 and 3, the base member 6 is shown comprising a stamped
and formed sheet metal conductor 10, an insulative housing 12, and sealing means 14.
The conductor 10 comprises a substantially flat interconnecting base portion 16, insulation
displacement contact portions 18 in parallel and juxtaposed manner upstanding from
the interconnecting portion 16, and an exterior contact portion 20 having a bolt or
rivet hole 22. The insulation displacement contact (IDC) portions 18 comprise a pair
of opposing upstanding IDC walls 24 comprising slots 26 for receiving the electrical
conducting wire 4 and making electrical contact therewith. The housing 12 comprises
compartments 28 having a base wall 30, and upstanding side walls 32, a back wall 34
and an opposing wire receiving front wall 36, whereby the walls 32, 34, 36 surround
a pair of IDC contact portions 18 and extend past upper ends 38 thereof. The compartments
28 also comprise cover retention means in the form of window cutouts 40, and a V-shaped
wire receiving slot 42 having a tapered profile 44.
[0010] Referring now to Figures 1, 4 and 5, the cover member 8 is shown comprising an insulative
housing 46, having a wire receiving cavity 48, transversely intersected by IDC contact
portion slots 50 extending from a mating face 52, and a single wire seal cylindrical
receiving cavity 54 aligned and adjoined to the wire receiving cavity 48 and extending
from a wire receiving face 56 of the cover member 8. The cover member 8 also has retention
means 58 consisting of tapered projections cooperable with the windows 40 of the base
member housing 12. The mating face 52 comprises an outer sealing surface 60 surrounding
the IDC receiving slots 50, the contour of the sealing surface 60 being continuous
and planar.
[0011] The branch connector 2 is manufactured by first stamping and forming the branch conductor
10 from sheet metal and then placing it in a mould whereby the insulative housing
12 is overmoulded to the branch conductor 10. The sealing means 14 can then also be
overmoulded over the conductor 10 and base 30 of the compartments 28 so as to provide
a planar sealing surface on the floor of the compartments 28 that surrounds the IDC
contact portions 18 and is biasable against the cover sealing surface 60. The in-moulding
of the branch conductor 10 to the housing 12 and sealing floor 14, enables electrical
connection between the exterior conducting portion 20 and the IDC portions 18 yet
ensuring that the IDC contact portions 18 are completely sealed off from the exterior
except for a cover receiving face 62 (Figure 2) that is then sealed off by the cover
member 8 as described hereinafter. The compartment walls 32, 34, 36 extent past ends
38 of the IDC contact portions 18 which provides, among other things, protection thereof
against damage during handling and assembly.
[0012] In order to make electrical connection between the branch conductor 10 and the electrical
wires 4, a single wire seal 64 (Figure 5) is first inserted into the seal receiving
cavity 54 of the cover member 8, the conducting wire 4 is then inserted through a
wire receiving cavity 66 of the seal 64 and into the wire receiving cavity 48 until
it abuts an end wall 68 of the cover 8. The single wire seal 64 has sealing ribs on
its outer and inner surfaces that are resiliently biased against the seal receiving
cavity 54 and the wire 4 such that the wire is sealed with respect to the cover member
8 except for the mating face 52. The cover member 8 can than be pressed into the compartments
28 whereby the IDC contacts 24 are inserted into the receiving slots 50 such that
the wire 4 is forced into the IDC slots 26 that cut through the insulation and make
electrical contact with conducting strands of the wires 4. Simultaneously to the latter,
the exterior portion of the wire 4 adjacent the seal 64 is inserted into the V-shaped
slot 42 whereby the wire 4 is squeezed between opposing edges 70, 72 thereof, the
tapered profile 44 creating acute angled edges 70, 72 for effectively digging into
the wire 4 in order to act as a retention means. The tapered profile 44 is such that
the smallest width between edges 70, 72 is adjacent the inner side of the compartment
28 so as to effectively retain the wire from an external pulling force therealong.
When the cover member 8 is almost fully inserted into the compartment 28, the sealing
surface 60 thereof abuts the sealing floor 14 whereby the cover member 8 can then
be further inserted by resiliently biasing the sealing surface 60 thereagainst until
the projections 58 of the cover engage in the windows 40 of the compartments 28. The
cover member 8 is thus securely latched to the compartments 28 and resiliently biased
against the sealing floor 14, the IDC connection between wire 4 and contact portion
18 thus being completely sealed off from the exterior.
[0013] It must be appreciated that the embodiment disclosed hereinabove, is only an example
of the invention whereby many other embodiments can be imagined without departing
from the spirit thereof. More particularly, the sealing means 14 may not be moulded
over the whole floor of the compartment but only at a position adjacent the sealing
surface 60 of the cover, or the sealing means 14 could be provided as a loose piece
or even moulded to the sealing surface 60 of the cover member 8. The connector 2 may
also not be a branch connector having a common interconnecting portion 16, but may
have separate terminals each having exterior contact portions (20), the exterior contact
portions 20 could be of any form known in the prior art. The branch connection is
a two position branch connector but of course if need be, a large plurality of IDC
contacting portions 18 can be provided by simply extending the interconnecting portion
16 and moulding more compartments thereto. It could even be imagined to provide sealing
means along the inner surfaces of the compartment walls 32, 34, 36 surrounding the
IDC contact portions 18.
[0014] Advantageously therefore the base member 6 of the connector can be assembled to a
structure, for example the body work of an automobile, and the conducting wires 4
can be very rapidly and simply electrically connected thereto at a later assembly
stage. Yet advantageously is the provision of a reliable sealed connector without
requiring the use of sealing gels or greases whereby insulation displacement technology
is used. As the seal 64 is compressed between the wire 4 and the seal receiving cavity
54 of the cover member 8, the wire 4 can be assembled to the cover member 8 and provisionally
held thereto during preparation of the harness in an automated process at the harness
making location, the seal 64 provisionally holding the wire to the cover member 8.
The wire 4 can then be electrically connected to a branch connector, for example,
in a very simple manner by merely pushing the cover member 8 into the compartments
28. Yet advantageously, is the cost effective and simple sealed IDC branch connector
with stamped and formed terminals 18, 16 that can comprise a large plurality of terminals
as desired.
1. An electrical insulation displacement connector (2) comprising a base member (6) having
insulation displacement contacts (IDC) (18) therein, and a cover member (8) having
wire mounting means (48) for mounting an electrical wire (4) thereto, the cover member
(8) fixable to the base member (6) such that electrical connection is made between
the wires (4) and the IDC contacts, characterized in that wire sealing means (64)
are provided between the cover (8) and the wire (4), and elastomeric cover sealing
means (14) are provided between the base and cover members such that the electrical
connection is completely sealed off from the exterior.
2. The electrical connector of claim 1 characterized in that the cover sealing means
(14) is in-moulded to the base member (6).
3. The electrical connector of claims 1 or 2 characterized in that the IDC contacts (18)
are in-moulded with the base member (6).
4. The connector of any preceding claim characterized in that the base member (6) has
a plurality of the insulation displacement contacts (18) for receiving a plurality
of wires (4).
5. The connector of claim 4 characterized in that the plurality of IDC contacts (18)
are electrically interconnected by an interconnecting base portion (16).
6. The connector of claim 4 or 5 characterized in that the IDC contacts (18) are disposed
in a parallel juxtaposed manner.
7. The connector of any preceding claim characterized in that there is one cover member
(8) for each wire (4).
8. The connector of any preceding claim characterized in that the IDC contacts (18) are
integrally formed with an exterior contact portion (20) for electrically connecting
the IDC contacts (18) to an external conductor other than the wires (4).
9. The connector of claim 8 characterized in that the exterior contact portion (20) also
serves to securely mount the base member (6) to a structure via mounting means (22)
of the contact portion (20).
10. The connector of claims 8 or 9 characterized in that the IDC contacts (18), interconnecting
base portion (16) and exterior contact portion (20) are of one integral stamped and
formed sheet metal part.
11. The connector of any preceding claim characterized in that the base member (6) comprises
an insulative housing (12) having compartments (28) surrounding the IDC contacts (18),
whereby the cover member (8) is receivable within the compartment (28) and securely
fixable thereto.
12. The connector of claim 11 characterized in that there is one separate compartment
(28) for each wire (4) and corresponding IDC contact portion (18).
13. The connector of claim 11 or 12 characterized in that the compartment (28) comprises
walls (32, 34, 36) extending from a base wall (30) below the upstanding IDC contacts
(18) in a direction parallel to the contacts and past a wire receiving end (38) thereof.
14. The connector of any of claims 11-13 characterized in that the compartment (28) comprises
a wall (36) substantially transverse to the direction of the wire (4) and parallel
to the IDC contacts (18), the wall (36) comprising a V-shaped slot (42) for receiving
the wire (4) therein during mounting of the cover member (8) to the base member (6),
the spacing between edges (70, 72) of the V-shaped slot (42) such that when the cover
member (8) is securely fixed to the base member (6), the wire (4) is tightly squeezed
therebetween.
15. The connector of claim 14 characterized in that the edges (70, 72) of the V-shaped
slot (42) have transversely thereof a tapered profile (44), whereby the smallest distance
between opposing edges (70, 72) is adjacent the cover member (8).
16. The connector of any preceding claim characterized in that the cover member (8) comprises
an insulative housing (46) having a wire receiving cavity (46) aligned and adjoined
thereto, and IDC receiving slots (50) transversely intersecting the wire receiving
cavity (46).
17. The connector of any preceding claim characterized in that the wire sealing means
(64) comprises a cylindrical shaped single sire seal (64) of elastomeric material.
18. The connector of any preceding claim characterized in that the cover member (8) has
a continuous outer sealing surface (60) on an IDC contact receiving side (52) thereof,
the whole sealing surface pressable against the cover sealing means (14) on the base
member (6) such that when the cover is retained to the base member by retention means
(40, 58), the elastomeric sealing means (14) is resiliently compressed against the
cover sealing surface (60).
19. The connector of claim 18 characterized in that the sealing surface (60) is planar.