Multi-pole electrical plug-in connector

Abstract

The invention relates to a multi-pole electrical plug-in connector, comprising a plug-in connector housing, which has, perpendicularly to the plug-in connector housing longitudinal axis, a housing bottom having a plurality of insertion openings, into each of which a contact element is inserted. The contact elements each have a contact portion, which can be connected to a mating plug-in connector. The contact elements each have a press-in portion having a fir-tree profile, which press-in portion can be pressed into an insertion opening in the housing bottom. The contact elements each have, at an end portion, a connection portion for connecting an electrical connection line. The contact elements each have, between the press-in portion and the connection portion, a retaining portion. The retaining portions of all the contact elements are interlockingly fastened in a mounting block. The invention further relates to a method for producing a plug-in connector of this type.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a multipole electrical connector with a connector housing which has a housing base with several through-holes perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the connector housing, into each of which a contact element is inserted, wherein the contact elements each have a contact section that can be connected to a mating connector, wherein the contact elements each have a press-fit section that is pressed into a through-hole of the housing base, and wherein the contact elements each have a connection section at an end section for connecting an electrical connecting line, wherein the contact elements each have a retaining section between the press-fit section and the connection section, wherein the retaining sections of all contact elements are positively locked in a mounting block, and wherein the mounting block consists of a plate with through-holes.

[0002] German patent application DE 195 41 805 A1 discloses a connector arrangement with such a connector. This connector has a plug-like housing element with a series of through-holes designed to receive contact elements. The contact elements can be positively locked to the housing element by means of a frame-like locking key having molded-on pins, projections, and recesses. For this purpose, the locking key is moved transversely to the insertion direction on the housing element.

[0003] US patent 5,554,055 discloses a connector in which a retaining plate is provided for a plurality of contact elements. The contact elements are fixed to the retaining plate by means of a locking slide that is movable relative to the retaining plate perpendicular to the mating direction. The retaining plate, fitted with the locked contact elements, is received in a housing body, which is then closed with a base plate. Lateral sections of the base plate are provided to fix the locking slide relative to the retaining plate in the position that secures the contact elements.

[0004] Another electrical connector is known from German patent application DE 10 2007 042 589 A1. A fir tree profile is integrally molded onto each contact element in sections, and the sections with the fir tree profile are pressed into through-holes in a housing base, enabling the creation of a fluid-tight connector.

[0005] The contact elements have a mating side where they can be connected to a mating contact element. Longitudinally opposite the mating side, they have a connecting side where a connecting wire can be attached, for example by crimping or soldering. The connecting wires are often pre-assembled, meaning they are connected to the contact elements before the contact elements are inserted into the connector housing.

[0006] The insertion of the contact elements into the through-holes can, in principle, be carried out from both the plug side and the connecting cable side, whereby in each of the two cases the fir tree profile on the contact element must have a suitable orientation.

[0007] Pressing in connectors from the mating side is generally easier, as the housing base is more accessible from this side. However, a disadvantage is that before pressing in a contact element, its attached connecting wire must first be threaded through the corresponding opening and pulled through. This is particularly cumbersome and time-consuming with connectors that have many contact elements and / or long connecting wires.

[0008] Pressing in the contact elements from the side of the connecting wires avoids threading the wires through the through-holes. However, a disadvantage of this method is that the housing base on the connecting wire side of the connector is more difficult to access with a tool for pressing in the contact elements, due to the typically greater length of the connector housing on this side. This is especially true if the connector has a high number of pins and therefore a large number of contact elements. The use of the tool is also problematic because the number of connecting wires inside the connector housing increases with each contact element already inserted, further hindering tool access.

[0009] The task was to create a generic connector that allows the contact elements to be inserted from the connecting cable side of the connector housing, avoiding or at least reducing the aforementioned disadvantages.

[0010] This problem is solved according to the invention by arranging a transverse slide on the mounting block that is movable perpendicular to the through-openings, by having elongated holes that taper in width on the transverse slide, and by having the press-in sections each have a fir tree profile.

[0011] An embodiment of the invention is illustrated and explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing. The drawing shows... Figure 1 is an exploded view of a multi-pole connector, Figure 2 shows the connector in the assembled state, Figure 3 shows a rear view of the connector, Figure 4 shows a rear view of the connector housing, Figure 5 shows a plate as a single component, Figure 6 shows a transverse slide as a single component, Figure 7 shows a contact element as a single component, Figure 8 shows a first connection state of plate, transverse slide and contact elements, Figure 9 shows a second connection state of plate, transverse slide and contact elements, Figure 10 shows the second connection state of plate, transverse slide and contact elements from another perspective.

[0012] The Figure 1Figure 1 shows an exploded view of a multipole connector designed according to the invention. The connector consists of a connector housing 10, which has a structured outer contour. This contour features two parallel annular grooves 13 for securing sealing rings, in particular O-rings 50, and a bayonet guide 14, which enables the quick and easy attachment of a mating connector (not shown) by means of a bayonet locking mechanism. The O-rings 50 enable moisture-tight installation in a recess (also not shown) at the intended installation location.

[0013] Below the connector housing 10 is in the Figure 1A mounting block 20 is visible, consisting of a plate 21 and a transverse slide 22 that can be attached to it. The mounting block 20 allows the attachment of a large number of contact elements 30, each of which is shown here with a connecting cable 40 attached to it.

[0014] The connection of the connecting leads 40 to the contact elements 30 can be carried out in different ways, preferably by soldering or crimping, and takes place before the contact elements 30 are inserted into the mounting block 20.

[0015] The Figure 2 Figure 1 shows the fully assembled connector. In the front opening of the connector housing 10, some contact sections 31 of contact elements 30 are visible, and on the rear of the connector housing 10, the connecting leads 40 connected to the contact elements 30 are visible.

[0016] To achieve this assembly state, the mounting block 20, equipped with the contact elements 30, which is located in the Figure 10 shown, attached to the connector housing 10 from the rear, which is shown in the Figure 3 is illustrated.

[0017] The plate 21 of the mounting block 20 has a plurality of through-openings 23. In the Figures 1 to 3 as in the Figures 8 to 10 For the sake of clarity, the through-openings 23 are shown only partially fitted with contact elements 30.

[0018] To illustrate the fastening of the contact elements 30 in the mounting block 20, the following are shown in the Figures 5 to 7 the plate 21, the cross slide 22 and a contact element 30 as individual parts and in the Figures 8 to 10 Represented in their interconnected state.

[0019] The number of through-holes 23 in the plate 21 corresponds to the intended number of contact elements 30 to be mounted. Along its lateral circumference, the plate 21 forms a wide edge section 25 extending in the axial direction, on which spring-loaded locking projections 29 are arranged, which enable the plate 21 to be snapped into place within the connector housing 10.

[0020] Along an end edge of the edge section 25, the plate 21 forms an insertion collar 26, which is positioned at a distance in front of the base surface 60 of the plate 21. The insertion collar 26 extends along approximately 2 / 3 of the circumference of the plate 21 and allows a transverse slider 22 to be inserted between the insertion collar 26 and the base surface 60 of the plate 21.

[0021] The one in Figure 6The transverse slide 22, shown as a separate component, is a flat plastic part with a number of elongated holes 24. The elongated holes 24 taper along their width, giving them an approximately keyhole-like shape.

[0022] As the Figures 8 and 9 As shown, the elongated holes 24 are aligned with the through-openings 23 of the plate, whereby, depending on the position of the transverse slide 22 relative to the plate 21, either the wider sections ( Figure 8 ) or the narrower sections ( Figure 9 ) the elongated holes 24 lie in a line with the circular through-holes 23 of the plate 21. In the Figure 9 In the illustrated end position of the transverse slide 22, the locking hooks 28 molded onto the transverse slide 22 engage in a locking recess 27 formed by the insertion collar 26 (see Figures 5 and 6), whereby the position of the transverse slider 22 is subsequently fixed on the plate 21. The mounting block 20 formed from the plate 21 and the transverse slider 22 serves to fasten several contact elements 30.

[0023] A contact element 30 as a single component shows the Figure 7 The contact element 30 has a contact section 31, a press-fit section 32, a mounting section 35 and a connection section 34 arranged successively in the longitudinal direction.

[0024] The cylindrical contact section 31 serves to contact a socket-type contact element of a mating connector (not shown). Alternatively, the contact section can be configured as a sleeve-type contact socket, which can be connected to a pin-type contact element of a mating connector.

[0025] Next to the contact section 31 is the press-fit section 32, which has a so-called fir tree profile 33. This consists of several successive, longitudinally conical projections. The fir tree profile 33 enables the press-fit section 32 to be pressed into one of the through-holes 12 of the connector housing 10 ( Figure 4 ).

[0026] The fir-tree profile 33 tapers towards the contact section 31, so that the contact element 30 can be inserted into the through-hole 12 with the contact section 31 leading the way. This is particularly advantageous because, with pre-assembled connecting cables 40 equipped with contact elements 30, the connecting cables 40 do not need to be threaded and pulled through the through-holes 12, which would cause considerable additional assembly effort when a large number of contact elements 30 and potentially long connecting cables 40 are to be installed.

[0027] The mounting section 35 of the contact element 30, located next to the press-fit section 32, consists of a section 37 with a relatively small diameter, which is bounded on both sides by a wider, integrally formed collar 36. The diameters of the two collars 36 are slightly smaller than the cross-sections of the through-openings 23 of the plate 21 and also smaller than the wider width of the elongated holes 24 of the transverse slide 22. The same applies to the maximum diameter of the fir-tree profile 33.

[0028] The diameter of the narrow section 37 between the two collars 36 is, however, somewhat smaller than the narrower width of the elongated holes 24 of the transverse slide 22. In addition, the longitudinal extent of the narrow section 37 is less than the material thickness of the transverse slide 22.

[0029] This makes it possible to insert the contact elements 30 into the openings of the mounting block 20 if the wider sections of the elongated holes 24 of the transverse slide 22 are precisely aligned with the through-openings 23 of the plate 21. This assembly condition is shown in the Figure 8 depicted.

[0030] If all the narrow sections 37 of the contact elements 30 are at the level of the transverse slide 22, the transverse slide 22 can be moved relative to the plate 21 until the narrow sections of the elongated holes 24 abut the narrow sections 37 of the contact elements 30. In this position of the transverse slide 22, its locking hooks 28 engage with the locking recesses 27 on the insertion collar 26 of the plate 21.

[0031] The contact elements 30 are now locked onto the mounting block 20 by the transverse slide 22, since the two collars 36 of all contact elements 30 are located on both sides of the narrow sections of the elongated holes 24 of the transverse slide 22. The resulting assembly state is described in the Figure 10 depicted. The Figure 10 It also shows that the press-fit sections 32 of the contact elements 30 protrude from the mounting block 20.

[0032] To assemble the connector, the mounting block 20, equipped with all the necessary contact elements 30, is connected to the connector housing 10. The [unclear text] in the Figure 4 The connector housing 10, shown as a separate component, has inside a housing base 11 perpendicular to its longitudinal extent, with a plurality of through-holes 12, the number and arrangement of which correspond to those of the contact elements 30 pre-assembled in the mounting block 20.

[0033] The width of the through-holes 12 is matched to the cross-sectional width of the press-fit sections 32 of the contact elements 30, so that the contact elements 30 can each be fixed by pressing them into the through-holes 12 on the housing base 11.

[0034] To mount the contact elements 30, the entire mounting block 20 with the pre-mounted contact elements 30 is attached to the connector housing 10 from the rear, so that the contact sections 31 of the contact elements 30 engage in the through-holes 12 of the housing base 11. This positioning can advantageously be supported by guide grooves 61 and guide ribs 15 molded onto the mounting block 20 and the connector housing 10.

[0035] The mounting block 20 is then forcefully pressed against the connector housing 10, so that all press-fit sections 32 are simultaneously pressed into the corresponding through-holes 12. The mounting block 20 locks into its intended final position with molded-on locking lugs 29 inside the connector housing 10. This secures the connector in the Figure 3 The outlined assembly state is reached, at which point the assembly of the connector is complete.

[0036] The contact sections 31 of the contact elements 30 pressed into the housing base 11 protrude through the housing base 11 and are therefore, as shown in the Figure 2 shown, accessible from the front of the connector. Reference sign

[0037] 10 Connector housing 11 Housing base 12 Through holes 13 Ring slots 14 Bayonet guide 15 Guide ribs 20 Mounting block 21 Plate 22 Cross slide 23 Through holes 24 Slotted holes 25 Edge section 26 Insertion collar 27 Detent recess 28 Detent hook 29 Detent projections 30 Contact element 31 Contact section 32 Press-fit section 33 Fir tree profile 34 Connection section 35 Retaining section 36 Collar 37 Narrow section 40 Connection lead 50 O-rings 60 Base area 61 Guide slots

Claims

1. Multi-pole electrical connector with a connector housing (10) which, perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the connector housing, has a housing base (11) with a plurality of through openings (12), into each of which a contact element (30) is inserted, wherein each of the contact elements (30) has a contact section (31) that can be connected to a mating connector, wherein the contact each of the elements (30) has a press-fit section (32) which is pressed into a through-hole (12) in the housing base (11), and wherein the each of the contact elements (30) has a connection section (34) at one end section for connecting an electrical connection line, wherein the contact elements (30) each have a retaining section (35) between the press-in section (32) and the connection section (34) wherein the retaining sections (35) of all contact elements (30) are fixed in a mounting block (20) by a form-fit, and wherein the mounting block (20) consists of a plate (21) with through-openings (23), characterized in that a cross slide (22) is arranged on the mounting block (20) and can be moved perpendicular to the through openings (23), that the cross slide (22) has elongated holes (24) that taper in width, and that the press-in sections (32) each have a fir tree profile (33).

2. Connector according to claim 1, characterized in that the retaining section (35) is bounded by two parallel collars (36) molded onto the contact element (30) in the circumferential direction.

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