Rotatable cable outlet nipple for a plug-in connector housing

Abstract

The invention relates to a plug connector housing having a cable feed-through opening (8) which has a substantially circular cross-section, wherein the plug connector housing (1) has a cable outlet socket (5) in the form of a substantially angular cylinder, wherein the cable outlet socket (5) can be fixed on the cable feed-through opening (8) of the plug connector housing and is mounted in a rotationally fixed manner relative to the cable feed-through opening (8) in the peripheral direction.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The invention relates to a plug connector housing according to the preamble of independent claim 1.

[0002] Such plug connector housings are used in particular in harsh industrial environments. The plug connectors used here must be particularly robust and at the same time be able to adapt to the available installation space. Heavy-duty plug connectors are therefore also mentioned. BACKGROUND

[0003] A plug connector housing is known from DE 10 2017 118 918 A1, which has a fixed and angled cable outlet. Here, the cables leave the plug connector housing in a predetermined exit direction. Depending on the application conditions, different plug connector housings are used.

[0004] DE 10 2013 102 886 A1 shows a set-on angle (Aufsteckwinkel) for the cable outlet of a plug connector. The bending angle of the cables can be changed by the angle of the set-on angle, so that an angled cable outlet is achieved.

[0005] The set-on angle is designed as a separate component, which is easily damaged or lost in harsh industrial environments. The bending force of the set-on angle is limited, so that cables of large diameter cannot be bent.

[0006] The German Patent and Trademark Office has searched the following prior art in the priority application of the present application: DE 10 2014 102 930 A1 and US 6,338,645 B1. SUMMARY

[0007] It is the task of the present invention to propose a plug connector housing which is robust and at the same time can be flexibly adapted to the installation environment.

[0008] This task is achieved by the subject matter of the independent claim.

[0009] Advantageous embodiments of the invention are given in the dependent claims and the following description.

[0010] The plug connector housing according to the invention has a cable passage opening which is substantially circular in cross section. By "substantially circular" it is meant that the cross section can also be oval, for example. The only important thing is that the cable passage opening does not have any sharp edges which could damage the cable sheaths of the connected cables.

[0011] The plug connector housing has a cable outlet socket which is substantially in the shape of an angled cylinder. The cable outlet socket is an integral part of the plug connector housing. The cable outlet can be described geometrically by two cylinders which are connected by a cross section The cable outlet socket is assembled. In other words, the cable outlet socket has a bending angle. The bending angle is enclosed by the main axis of symmetry of the aforementioned assembled cylinder.

[0012] By means of the angled cable outlet socket, the connected cable also exits the plug connector housing or plug connector at an angle. This can create a space advantage in many installation situations. In particular when the plug connector is plugged into a machine wall, the cable can exit upwards, downwards, to the right or to the left in order to save space.

[0013] The cable outlet socket is fixed on the cable feed-through opening. At the same time, it is mounted in a rotationally fixed manner in the circumferential direction. Due to the rotational fixity, the cable exit direction (left, right, up or down) can be chosen flexibly. It is not necessary to reserve a specific plug connector housing with a specific exit direction. In addition to the flexible availability, the inventory of such plug connector variants is thus also reduced.

[0014] The cable feed-through opening preferably has a collar which protrudes from the plug connector housing, the collar having at least one fixing opening, wherein the fixing opening is provided in a collar mantle. The cable outlet socket has a circumferential recess on the outside, wherein a ring is inserted into this recess and is mounted in a rotationally fixed manner in the circumferential direction. The ring has at least one radially protruding fixing bolt, wherein the at least one fixing bolt is inserted into the at least one fixing opening of the collar. The cable outlet socket can thus be fixed on the cable feed-through opening of the plug connector housing and is mounted in a rotationally fixed manner in the circumferential direction.

[0015] Advantageously, the collar has a substantially cylindrical outer mantle surface. This geometry can be easily realized in an injection molding or die casting process. The plug connector housing can consist of plastic, but can also consist of metal (zinc die casting or aluminum die casting).

[0016] In an especially preferred embodiment of the application, the collar of the cable feed-through opening has two opposite fixing openings. In correspondence thereto, the ring has at least two radially protruding fixing bolts. The fixing bolts are respectively inserted into the fixing openings assigned to them. This has proven to be particularly robust and reliable.

[0017] The cable feed-through opening has at least one internal step, but preferably two opposite internal steps. In correspondence thereto, the cable outlet socket has at least one axially protruding lug, but preferably two opposite axially protruding lugs. These lugs are guided against the steps upon radial rotation along the circumferential direction of the cable outlet socket. The rotation of the cable outlet socket is thereby mechanically limited. The steps are thus stop edges for the lugs. The steps and lugs or the steps or lugs jointly limit the angle of rotation.

[0018] Advantageously, the steps have the above-mentioned fixing openings, respectively. Thus, the installation space required for the steps is less, and the overall implementation can be very narrow. From the rotational direction, the rotational angle possible for the cable outlet socket can be set by the width of the steps. The wider the steps, the more the rotational angle is limited, and vice versa. The steps, in combination with the lugs, serve as radial rotation limiters for the cable outlet socket. Preferably, the rotational angle is between 120° and 60°, with the limited range included in the interval.

[0019] The cable outlet socket is preferably designed to be angled. The angle of curvature is between 140° and 90°. This means that the directional vector of the cable insertion direction and the directional vector of the cable exit direction can enclose an angle of between 140° and 90°, with the edge range included in the required angle interval. These angle ranges can sufficiently cover all possible applications of the plug connector housing. The cable can be routed at an obtuse angle, without the cable being excessively bent. Of course, a stronger right-angled bend can also be implemented.

[0020] The plug connector housing according to the application is used in so-called heavy-duty plug connectors, also referred to as industrial plug connectors. Such plug connector housings preferably have a substantially rectangular cross section. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0021] Embodiments of the application are shown in the drawings and explained in more detail below. Therein:

[0022] Figure 1 A perspective view of a heavy-duty plug connector with a plug connector housing according to the application is shown;

[0023] Figure 2 A partial sectional view of the plug connector housing in the region of the cable outlet socket is shown;

[0024] Figure 3 A sectional perspective view of a plug connector housing according to the application is shown; and

[0025] Figure 4 An exploded view of a part of a plug connector housing according to the application is shown.

[0026] The drawings contain partly simplified schematic representations. In some cases, the same reference signs are used for the same, but possibly not identical, elements. Different views of the same element can have different scales. Directional indications such as "left", "right", "upper" and "lower" are to be understood with reference to the respective drawing and can vary from object to object in the respective view. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] Figure 1 A perspective view of a heavy-duty plug connector with a plug connector housing 1 according to the application is shown. The plug connector is plugged into a so-called mounting flange 2. Such a mounting flange 2 is located, for example, on a plant wall (not shown) and is secured to the plant wall via threaded openings 3.

[0028] For securing the plug connection, the mounting flange 2 has two laterally arranged, narrow-side-mounted and pivotable locking clamps 4, which each overlap a locking pin (not visible) of the plug connector housing 1.

[0029] The plug connector housing 1 has a cable outlet socket 5, which has a cable joint 6 on its cable outlet end for securing and stress relief of the connected cable 7.

[0030] It can be seen, for example, in Figure 2 that the cable outlet socket 5 is essentially an angularly cylindrical body. This means that the cable outlet socket 5 initially extends straight out of the plug connector housing 1 in the direction of the cable outlet and then curves in a direction deviating from this direction. The cable 7 initially exits the plug connector housing 1 in the direction Rl and then curves in the direction R2. The direction vectors Rl and R2 enclose a bending angle a. The bending angle a is between 140 and 90°.

[0031] The cable outlet socket 5 can be secured on the cable feed-through opening 8 of the plug connector housing 1 and is mounted in a rotationally fixed manner with respect to the cable feed-through opening in the circumferential direction. The direction of rotation is indicated by the double arrow 9. Figure 3

[0032] The functional elements for realizing the rotatability of the cable outlet socket 1 are explained in Figure 4 . The cable feed-through opening 81 has a collar 10, which projects out of the plug connector housing 1, in which two opposite securing openings 11 are formed.

[0033] The cable outlet socket 5 has a recess 12, which surrounds it from the outside, in the lower connection region. Inserted in this recess is a ring 13, wherein the friction coefficient between the surface of the recess 12 and the inside of the ring 13 is chosen such that the ring 13 is mounted in the circumferential direction in a rotationally fixed manner in this recess 12. The cable outlet socket 5 is locked to the plug connector housing 1 in the direction of the arrow 17.

[0034] The ring 13 has two opposite, radially projecting securing bolts 14. However, in Figure 4 ​Only one fixing bolt 14 is shown for display reasons. These fixing bolts 14 are respectively embedded in fixing openings 11, whereby the cable outlet sleeve 5 is fixed on the plug connector housing 1. Due to the rotatability of the ring 13, the entire cable outlet sleeve 5 is mounted on the plug connector housing 1 in a rotatable manner in the direction of the double arrow 9 (circumferential direction).

[0035] In the cable feed-through opening 8, two opposite inner steps 15 are provided. The fixing openings 11 are provided in these steps 15. The cable outlet sleeve 5 has two opposite, axially protruding lugs 16 on the outside. During the rotation of the cable outlet sleeve 5, the lugs 16 of the cable outlet sleeve 5 are respectively rotated towards the steps 15 of the cable feed-through opening 8, whereby a rotation limitation is achieved. A rotation limitation is necessary, in particular, because the connected cable 7 is not to be subjected to too high a torsion and can thus be damaged.

[0036] In Figure 3 The rotation angle β is indicated, with which the cable outlet sleeve 5 can be rotated relative to the plug connector housing 1 or relative to the cable feed-through opening 8. It has been proven that a rotation angle β between 120° and 60° is sufficient.

[0037] Even if different aspects or features of the application are shown in combination in the drawing, it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that, unless otherwise indicated, the combinations shown and discussed are not the only possible combinations. In particular, respective units or groups of features from different embodiments can be interchanged.

[0038] List of reference signs

[0039] 1 plug connector housing

[0040] 2 mounting flange

[0041] 3 screw opening

[0042] 4 locking collar

[0043] 5 cable outlet sleeve

[0044] 6 cable joint

[0045] 7 cable

[0046] 8 cable feed-through opening

[0047] 9 double arrow

[0048] 10 collar

[0049] 11 fixing opening

[0050] 12 recess

[0051] 13 ring

[0052] 14 fixing bolt

[0053] 15 step

[0054] 16 lug

[0055] 17 arrow

[0056] α bending angle

[0057] β rotation angle

Claims

1. A plug connector housing (1) having a cable through opening (8) having a circular cross-section, wherein the plug connector housing (1) has a cable outlet sleeve (5) having an angled cylindrical shape, wherein the cable outlet sleeve (5) is fixable to the cable through opening (8) of the plug connector housing (1) and rotatably mounted circumferentially relative to the cable through opening (8). Its features are, The cable through opening (8) has a collar (10) extending from the plug connector housing (1), the collar having at least one fixed opening (11), wherein the cable outlet sleeve (5) has a circumferential groove (12) on the outside, wherein a ring (13) is rotatably mounted in the groove (12) in a circumferential manner, and The ring (13) has at least one radially extending fixing bolt (14), wherein the at least one fixing bolt (14) engages in the at least one fixing opening (11).

2. The connector housing (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that, The cable outlet sleeve (5) is rotatable relative to the cable penetration opening (8) at a rotation angle (β) between 120° and 60°.

3. The connector housing (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that, The collar (10) has a cylindrical outer cover.

4. The connector housing (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that, The collar (10) through which the cable passes (8) has two opposing fixed openings (11), the collar (13) has at least two radially extending fixing bolts (14), and the fixing bolts (14) are respectively engaged in the fixed openings (11).

5. The plug connector housing (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The cable penetration opening (8) has at least one internal step (15).

6. The connector housing (1) according to claim 5, characterized in that, The cable penetration opening (8) has two opposing internal steps (15).

7. The connector housing (1) according to claim 6, characterized in that, The steps (15) each have a fixed opening (11).

8. The plug connector housing (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that, The cable outlet sleeve (5) has at least one axially protruding lug (16).

9. The plug connector housing (1) according to claim 8, characterized in that, The cable outlet sleeve (5) has two opposing, axially extending lugs (16).

10. The plug connector housing (1) according to claim 9, characterized in that, The lug (16) of the cable outlet sleeve (5) is rotatable relative to the step (15) of the cable through opening (8) or the lug (16) of the cable outlet sleeve (5) is rotatable relative to the step (15) of the cable through opening (8).

11. The plug connector housing (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The cable outlet connector (5) has a bending angle (α) between 140° and 90°.

12. The plug connector housing (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The plug connector housing (1) has a rectangular cross-section.

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