Plug connector having a plurality of insulation displacement connections

Abstract

In order to specify as uncomplicated a design as possible for a plug connector, by means of which the contacting of a plurality of electrical lines (5) by a plurality of insulation displacement terminals (45) of the plug connector is made possible in a single movement sequence, the following is proposed: A plug connector has a contact carrier which has two separate parts, specifically a contact carrier housing (1) and a contact insert (2). The contact insert (2) can be inserted in the contact carrier housing (1). In the non-inserted state, the connection regions (42) of individual plug contacts (4) protrude from the contact insert (2), come into mechanical contact with the outer wall (12) of the contact carrier housing (1) during insertion, and are thereby bent into the contact insert (2), in order to use their insulation displacement terminals (45) to cut through the insulation (50) of a core (5) of an electrical cable (500) to be connected to the connector, which core (5) is inserted into the contact chamber on the connection side, and to make electrical contact with the respective core (5).

Description

[0001] Title: Connector with multiple insulation displacement terminals

[0002] Description

[0003] The invention is based on a connector according to the preamble of independent claim 1, comprising a plurality of insulation displacement connections.

[0004] Such insulation displacement connectors are required, for example, to electrically connect electrical lines comprising electrical conductors, e.g., stranded wires, each surrounded by insulation, to a plug-in contact of the connector without first having to strip the wire. This allows an electrical cable containing these wires to be connected to the connector quickly and easily. The cable typically also has a sheath surrounding the electrical lines, comprising a shield, e.g., a braided shield and / or a shielding foil, and an overall insulation surrounding the shield.

[0005] State of the art

[0006] US Pat. No. 2,673,968 A shows a mechanism for multiple piercing contacts that electrically contact a two-wire cable on both sides by penetrating the respective insulation with the tip of each piercing contact and contacting the wire. For this purpose, the respective piercing contact is folded inward using a complex pivoting mechanism.

[0007] The document DE 10 2011 000 460 A1 relates to a contacting device for electrically contacting an electrical conductor or multiple conductors of a cable to be connected to a connector. The connector consists of an insulating body, which can be inserted into a chamber provided for this purpose in a connector housing, and at least one pressure piece, which is suitable for receiving at least one electrical conductor. The at least one pressure piece is pivotally connected to the insulating body. The insulating body has at least one recess, which in turn contains at least one insulation displacement terminal. The pressure piece can be countersunk into the at least one recess of the insulating body, so that the end section of the conductor is electrically contacted by the insulation displacement terminal.

[0008] The disadvantage of this state of the art is that the existing devices have many different parts and are complex to manufacture.

[0009] The German Patent and Trademark Office has searched the following prior art in the priority application for the present application: US 2,673,968 A, DE 10 2011 000 460 A1 , FR 2 351 514 A1 ,

[0010] DE 299 09 822 U1, DE 23 55 873 A, GB 1 109 914 A and US 5,066,248 A.

[0011] Task

[0012] The object of the invention is to provide a design for a connector that is as uncomplicated as possible and which enables the contacting of several electrical lines by means of several insulation displacement terminals of the connector in a single movement sequence.

[0013] In particular, the connector in this design should have as few parts as possible and should also be as easy to assemble as possible.

[0014] The problem is solved by the subject matter of independent claim 1.

[0015] A connector has a contact carrier that has two separate parts, namely a contact carrier housing and a contact insert.

[0016] The contact carrier housing has a plug-in side and a connection side opposite the plug-in side, as well as a continuous outer wall connecting the plug-in side and the connection side. Furthermore, the contact carrier housing has a plug-in section on the plug-in side and a connection-side contact carrier housing opening.

[0017] The contact insert can be inserted into the contact carrier housing through the connection-side contact carrier housing opening in the plug-in direction.

[0018] The contact insert is made of an electrically insulating material and, when assembled, has a mating surface facing the mating side and a connection surface opposite the mating surface. The contact insert also has several contact chambers designed as through-holes, which connect the mating surface to the connection surface. Furthermore, the contact insert has a circumferential outer surface, which connects the mating surface to the connection surface and runs in the mating direction and thus parallel to the contact chambers. Each of the contact chambers has a lateral connection opening, which connects the respective contact chamber to the outer surface, so that the respective contact chamber is open to the outer surface.

[0019] The connector further comprises an electrically conductive, in particular metallic, plug contact arranged within each contact chamber. Each plug contact has a plug-in area arranged on the plug side in the assembled state, which can be designed, for example, as a contact pin or, for example, as a contact socket, as well as a connection area arranged on the connection side. Preferably, at least this connection area consists of deformable, in particular elastically deformable, sheet metal. Particularly preferably, the connection area is a stamped and bent part. The connection area has an insulation displacement contact.

[0020] When the contact insert is not inserted, the connection area of ​​the plug contact protrudes through the connection opening from the side surface of the contact insert, so that when the contact insert is inserted into the contact carrier housing, the connection area of ​​the plug contact comes into mechanical contact with the outer wall of the contact carrier housing and is thereby bent into the contact insert in order to sever the insulation of a wire of a cable inserted into the contact chamber on the connection side, e.g. of an electrical cable to be connected to the connector, with its inwardly directed insulation displacement contact and to make electrical contact with the wire.

[0021] Advantageous embodiments of the invention are specified in the subclaims and the following description.

[0022] The aforementioned design is particularly advantageous because it ensures very easy operation when connecting a multi-core electrical cable to the connector. At the same time, the construction is very simple and straightforward, as the connector has very few parts.

[0023] In a preferred embodiment, the contact carrier housing is also made of an electrically insulating material. This allows the contact carrier housing to carry the plug contacts, especially on the plug side, without, for example, causing a short circuit. It is then particularly advantageous for the entire contact carrier to be made of an electrically insulating material.

[0024] In a preferred embodiment, at least the respective connection area of ​​the plug contacts can be manufactured at least partially, in particular largely, and particularly preferably entirely using stamping and bending technology. This is particularly advantageous because, in addition to cost-effective production, the desired deformability, in particular elasticity, can be achieved particularly easily through the choice of material, e.g., a suitable deformable, in particular elastic, sheet metal, and the material thickness. In a preferred development, the entire plug contact can thus also be made of sheet metal and, in particular, be designed as a single piece, e.g., as a stamped and bent part. In this case, the plug area can be rolled, for example.

[0025] In a further preferred embodiment, each plug contact can have at least two separate, yet mechanically and electrically interconnected metallic parts, namely a first part and a second part, wherein the first part of the plug contact is formed by said plug-in region, and wherein the second part of the plug contact is formed by said deformable connection region, which is fastened to the aforementioned plug-in region and electrically connected to the plug-in region. For example, the plug-in region can then be rotated, and the connection region can be designed as a stamped and bent part, fastened to the plug-in region and electrically connected to it, e.g., riveted.

[0026] In a further preferred embodiment, the connector can have at least one lever. The lever can be pivotally mounted on the outer wall of the contact carrier housing. Furthermore, the lever can engage the contact insert. This is particularly advantageous because it simplifies the insertion of the contact insert into the contact carrier housing. The lever can reduce the amount of force required to insert the contact insert into the contact carrier housing and to electrically contact the said wires at the said insulation displacement terminals, which naturally requires a certain amount of force.

[0027] In an advantageous embodiment, the connector has exactly one lever. This continues the advantageous principle of using as few parts as possible and enables a compact design. In an alternative embodiment, the connector can have two levers. These can be arranged opposite each other on the contact carrier housing. This allows twice as much force to be applied during operation without additional effort. Nevertheless, the aforementioned insertion process can advantageously be carried out easily with one hand, e.g., with the thumb and index finger of one hand.

[0028] In an advantageous embodiment, the at least one lever can have a toothed ring with which it engages the contact insert. This allows the lever travel to be increased and thus advantageously reduces the required force.

[0029] In an advantageous embodiment, the said connection openings of the contact chambers can be located on a common plane when viewed in the plug-in direction, so that the insulation displacement contacts of the plug contacts simultaneously sever the insulation of the respective wires and simultaneously electrically contact the respective wires. This advantageously enables a particularly compact design.

[0030] In an alternative design, the connection openings of the contact chambers can be located at different levels when viewed in the plug-in direction, so that the insulation displacement terminals of the plug contacts sequentially cut through the insulation of the respective wires and electrically contact the respective wires one after the other. This also reduces the force required during insertion and contacting, as the individual wires are contacted one after the other by their respective insulation displacement terminals.

[0031] In an advantageous embodiment, the connector has a metallic connector housing that encloses the contact carrier. The connector housing can have a plug-in opening on the plug side and a cable outlet opening on the cable connection side. In an advantageous embodiment, the connector can be a circular connector, i.e., a connector with a substantially cylindrical basic shape.

[0032] Then, the outer wall of the contact carrier housing can be designed essentially as a hollow cylinder and the contact insert can be designed essentially as a cylinder, ie it can, for example, have the said through openings with their connection openings, but otherwise be designed as a solid one.

[0033] In a preferred embodiment, the insulation displacement terminals can be directed radially inward. This is particularly advantageous for circular connectors.

[0034] In an advantageous development, the connector housing can have a screw thread on the connection side. The connector can have a cable gland that can be screwed onto said screw thread. This advantageously seals the connector housing on the connection side and fixes the inserted cable to the connector housing, advantageously providing strain relief.

[0035] In a further advantageous embodiment, the at least one lever can be fixed in its actuated position by the connector housing and / or by screwing on the cable gland on the connection side. This automatically fixes the contact insert in its contacting position on the contact carrier housing.

[0036] In a further advantageous embodiment, the connector can have a plurality of concentrically arranged and inwardly pivoting blade contacts and / or dome contacts for contacting the shield of the cable and thus for grounding the connector housing. This also considerably simplifies the ground / shield connection. The blade and / or dome contacts can be pressed inwards, in particular by screwing on the cable gland. The blade contacts can be pivoted inwards, for example, by screwing the cable gland onto the connector housing, and / or the dome contacts can be moved translationally inwards, for example by screwing on the cable gland, in order to penetrate the overall insulation of a cable sheath and a shield of the cable, e.g.to contact a metallic braided shield and / or a shielding foil of the cable and thus to connect it electrically to the metallic connector housing via the blade and / or pin contacts.

[0037] Example

[0038] An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the drawings and explained in more detail below. They show:

[0039] Fig. 1a - c a contact carrier, comprising a contact carrier housing and a contact insert in the unconnected and in the connected state;

[0040] Fig. 2a, b the contact carrier in the unconnected state in a semi-transparent representation and a sectional representation;

[0041] Fig. 3a, b the contact carrier in the connected state in a semi-transparent representation and a sectional representation;

[0042] Fig. 4a the contact carrier with a cable;

[0043] Fig. 4b, c a connector comprising the contact carrier and a connector housing surrounding it;

[0044] Fig. 4d shows a sectional view of the connector. Some of the figures contain simplified, schematic representations. Identical reference symbols are used for similar, but possibly not identical, elements. Different views of similar elements may be scaled differently. Directional references such as "left," "right," "top," and "bottom" are to be understood with reference to the respective figure and may vary in the individual illustrations relative to the object depicted.

[0045] Figures 1a-c show a contact carrier of a connector. The contact carrier is made of a non-electrically conductive material and has two separate parts, namely a contact carrier housing 1 and a substantially cylindrical contact insert 2. A lever 3 is pivotably mounted on the contact carrier housing 1.

[0046] Fig. 1a also shows separate electrical lines 5, each having an inner electrically conductive wire 51 surrounded by an outer insulation 50. (See Fig. 2b)

[0047] The contact carrier housing 1 has a plug-in side 10 and a connection side 13 opposite the plug-in side 10, as well as a circumferential, essentially hollow-cylindrical outer wall 12 connecting the plug-in side 10 and the connection side 13. Furthermore, the contact carrier housing 1 has a plug-in section 11 on the plug-in side and a connection-side contact carrier housing opening 130.

[0048] The contact carrier housing opening 130 is not visible here because, as shown in Fig. 1b, the contact insert 2 is pushed into the contact carrier housing 1 through this connection-side contact carrier housing opening 130 in the plug-in direction. As a result, the contact carrier opening is visually concealed in this illustration, but is indicated and labeled in Fig. 2b. The contact insert 2 has a plug-in surface 21 (see also Fig. 2b) facing the plug-in side 10 in the assembled state of this arrangement, as shown in Fig. 1c, as well as a connection surface 23 opposite the plug-in surface 21. In addition, the contact insert 2 has a plurality of contact chambers 20 designed as through-openings, which connect the plug-in surface 21 to the connection surface 23. An electrical line 5 is inserted or arranged in each of these contact chambers 20.Furthermore, the contact insert 2 has a circumferential outer surface 22, which connects the plug-in surface 21 to the connection surface 23 and runs in the plug-in direction and thus parallel to the contact chambers 20. Each of the contact chambers 20 has a lateral connection opening 24, which connects the respective contact chamber 20 to the outer surface 22, so that the respective contact chamber 20 is open to the outer surface 22.

[0049] A plug contact 4 is arranged in each contact chamber 20. Each plug contact 4 is constructed in two parts. It has two metallic parts that are mechanically and electrically firmly connected to one another, namely a first part 41 arranged on the plug side and a second part 42 arranged on the connection side. The first part of the plug contact 4 is a plug-in area 41. The second part of the plug contact 4 is a connection area 42. This connection area 42 is fastened to the plug-in area 41—e.g., by rivets—and is thus also electrically connected to the plug-in area 41. The connection area 42 is made of elastic sheet metal. The connection area 42 is preferably a stamped and bent part. The connection area 42 has an insulation displacement connector 45.

[0050] In the not yet inserted state of the contact insert 2 shown in Fig. 1 b - as well as semi-transparently in Fig. 2a and in section in Fig. 2b - the connection area 42 of the plug contact 4 protrudes through the connection opening 24 from the outer surface 22 of the contact insert 2.

[0051] In the inserted state shown in Fig. 1c - as well as in the semi-transparent state in Fig. 3a and in section in Fig. 3b - in which the contact insert 2 is pushed into the contact carrier housing 1 as far as it will go, the respective electrical wire 51 of the respective electrical line 5 makes contact. For this purpose, the insulation displacement terminal 45 has previously severed the insulation 50 of the line 5.

[0052] This contacting process proceeds as follows: The lever 3 is pivotally held with its axis 31 in a cylindrical recess 120 in the outer wall 12 of the contact carrier housing 1. By pivoting the lever 3 about its axis 31 from the vertically shown open position into a horizontally shown locked position in the drawing, the contact insert 2 is inserted into the contact carrier housing 1. The force is transmitted from the lever 3 to the contact insert 2 via a toothed ring 33 of the lever 3 and via a toothed contour 223 of the outer surface 22 of the contact insert 2. The aforementioned pivoting is carried out by manually actuating its lever arm 32.When the contact insert 2 is inserted into the contact carrier housing 1, the deformable connection area 42 of the plug contact 4 comes into mechanical contact with the outer wall 12 of the contact carrier housing 1 and is thereby bent into the contact insert 2 in order to sever the insulation 50 of a line 5 of an electrical cable 500 connected or to be connected to the plug connector, which line 5 is inserted into the contact chamber 20 on the connection side, with its inwardly directed insulation displacement contact 45, and thereby to electrically contact the electrical wire 51 of the line 5.

[0053] For this purpose, the outer wall 12 can have the sliding slope 124 shown and designated in Fig. 2b, over which the elastic connection area 42 of the plug contact 4 can be

[0054] The connection opening 24 is bent into the contact chamber 20 of the contact insert 2 when the contact insert 2 is pushed into the contact carrier housing 1 as mentioned above.

[0055] Fig. 4a shows the assembled contact carrier. The contact carrier housing 1 and the contact insert 2, which is inserted into it and locked thereto by means of the lever 3, are electrically connected, as described above, to the cable 500, which has the conductors 5.

[0056] Figs. 4b and 4c show the complete connector, in which the contact carrier is enclosed by a metallic connector housing 6. The connector housing 6 has a plug-side 61 and a connection-side 62 sub-housing.

[0057] The cable 500 is secured by a cable gland 7 to a connection-side cable outlet opening of the connection-side sub-housing 62 (not visible in the drawing). This provides strain relief, particularly for the mechanical relief of the insulation displacement terminals 45.

[0058] In a further embodiment expressly disclosed in connection with the invention, the connector, as indicated in the sectional view of the connector in Fig. 4d, can have a plurality of concentrically arranged and inwardly pivotable blade contacts 63 and / or a plurality of pin contacts (not shown) for shield contacting the cable 500 and thus for grounding the connector housing 6. This also considerably simplifies the ground-to-shield connection. The blade contacts 63 can be pivoted inward, in particular by screwing the cable gland 7 onto the connector housing 6, in order to penetrate an overall insulation 550 of a cable sheath of the cable 500—this penetration is not visible in this sectional view—and to contact a shield 52 of the cable 500, e.g., a metallic braided shield and / or a shielding foil of the cable 500, and thus to electrically connect it to the metallic connector housing 6.Although various aspects or features of the invention are shown in combination in the figures, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art—unless otherwise stated—that the illustrated and discussed combinations are not the only possible ones. In particular, corresponding units or feature complexes from different embodiments can be interchanged.

[0059] List of reference symbols

[0060] 1 contact carrier housing

[0061] 10 Plug-in side

[0062] 11 Plug-in section

[0063] 12 exterior wall

[0064] 120 cylindrical recess

[0065] 124 Sliding slope

[0066] 13 Connection side

[0067] 130 Contact carrier housing opening

[0068] 2 contact insert

[0069] 20 contact chambers

[0070] 21 Plug-in area

[0071] 22 exterior surface

[0072] 223 Tooth contour

[0073] 23 Connection surface

[0074] 24 connection opening

[0075] 3 levers

[0076] 31 Axis

[0077] 32 lever arm

[0078] 33 sprocket

[0079] 4 plug contact

[0080] 41 Plug-in area

[0081] 42 Connection area

[0082] 45 insulation displacement terminal 5 electrical cable

[0083] 50 Insulation

[0084] 51 core, electrical conductor, stranded wire

[0085] 52 shield 500 cable

[0086] 550 total insulation

[0087] 6 connector housings

[0088] 61 , 62 plug-side, connection-side partial housing 63 blade contacts

[0089] 7 Cable gland

Claims

Claims 1. A plug connector comprising a contact carrier having two separate parts, namely a contact carrier housing (1) and a contact insert (2), wherein the contact carrier housing (1) has the following: o a plug-in side (10) and o a connection side (13) opposite the plug-in side (10), o and a circumferential outer wall (12) connecting the plug-in side (10) and the connection side (13), o and a plug-in section (11) on the plug-in side, o and a connection-side contact carrier housing opening (130); and wherein the contact insert (2) o through the connection-side contact carrier housing opening (130) can be inserted into the contact carrier housing (1 ) in the plug-in direction, o consists of an electrically insulating material o and has a plug-in surface (21) facing the plug-in side (10) in the assembled state, o and a connection surface (23) opposite the plug-in surface (21), o and has several contact chambers (20) designed as through-openings running in a plug-in direction, ■ wherein the contact chambers (20) connect the plug-in surface (21) with the connection surface (23), o wherein the contact insert (2) further comprises a circumferential outer surface (22), ■ which connects the plug-in surface (21) with the connection surface (23), ■ wherein the outer surface (22) extends in the plug-in direction and thus parallel to the contact chambers (20), o wherein each of the contact chambers (20) has a lateral connection opening (24), ■ which connects the respective contact chamber (20) to the outer surface (22) so that the respective contact chamber (20) is open towards the outer surface (22), o wherein the plug connector has an electrically conductive plug contact (4) arranged in the respective contact chamber (20) for each contact chamber (20), ■ wherein each plug contact (4) has a plug-in area (41) arranged on the plug-in side in the assembled state and a connection area (42) arranged on the connection side in the assembled state, • wherein the connection area (42) has an insulation displacement terminal (45), wherein the connection area (42) of the plug contact (4) protrudes through the connection opening (24) from the outer surface (22) of the contact insert (2) when the contact insert (2) is not inserted, so that when the contact insert (2) is inserted into the contact carrier housing (1), it comes into mechanical contact with the outer wall (12) of the contact carrier housing (1) and is thereby bent into the contact insert (2) in order to press with its inwardly directed insulation displacement terminal (45) the insulation (50) of a line (5) of an electrical cable to be connected to the plug connector, said line being inserted into the contact chamber (20) on the connection side (500) in order to electrically contact a wire (51) of the cable (5).

2. Connector according to claim 1, wherein at least the respective connection area (42) of the plug contacts (4) is at least partially produced from a deformable sheet metal using stamping and bending technology.

3. Connector according to one of the preceding claims, wherein each plug contact has at least two mechanically and electrically interconnected metallic parts, namely a first part and a second part, wherein the first part of the plug contact (4) is formed by the plug-in region (41), and wherein the second part of the plug contact (4) is formed by a connection region (42) made of deformable sheet metal, which is fastened to the plug-in region (41) and electrically conductively connected to the plug-in region (41).

4. Connector according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the connector has at least one lever (3) pivotally mounted on the outer wall (12) of the contact carrier housing (1) and engaging the contact insert (2) to facilitate the insertion of the contact insert (2) into the contact carrier housing (1).

5. Connector according to claim 4, wherein the at least one lever (3) has a toothed ring (33) with which it engages the contact insert (2).

6. Connector according to one of claims 4 to 5, wherein the connector has exactly one lever (3), or wherein the connector has two levers (3) which are arranged opposite one another on the contact carrier housing (1).

7. Connector according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the connection openings (24) of the contact chambers (20) are located on one plane when viewed in the plugging direction, so that the insulation displacement terminals (45) of the plug contacts (4) simultaneously sever the insulation (50) of the respective lines (5) and simultaneously electrically contact the respective wires (51).

8. Connector according to one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the connection openings (24) of the contact chambers (20) are located on different levels when viewed in the plugging direction, so that the insulation displacement terminals (45) of the plug contacts (4) successively cut through the insulation (50) of the respective lines (5) and successively electrically contact the respective wires (51).

9. Connector according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the connector has a metallic connector housing (6) which surrounds the contact carrier and has a plug-side plug-in opening and a cable connection-side cable outlet opening, wherein the connector further has a plurality of concentrically and inwardly movable blade contacts (63) or dome contacts for shield contacting the cable (500) and thus for grounding the connector housing (6).

10. Connector according to claim 9, wherein the connector housing (6) has a screw thread on the connection side and wherein the connector has a cable gland (7) that can be screwed into or onto the said screw thread 11. Connector according to claim 10, wherein the at least one lever (3) can be fixed in its actuated position by the connector housing (6) and / or by the screwed-on cable gland (7).

12. Connector according to one of claims 10 to 11, wherein the blade contacts (63) or the dome contacts are pressed radially inwards by screwing on the cable gland (7) in order to penetrate an overall insulation (550) of a cable sheath of the electrical cable (500) and to electrically contact a shield (52) of the cable (500).

13. Connector according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the connector is a circular connector having a substantially cylindrical basic shape.

14. Connector according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the outer wall (12) of the contact carrier housing (1) is substantially hollow-cylindrical.

15. Connector according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the contact insert (2) is substantially cylindrical.

16. Connector according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the insulation displacement terminals (45) are directed substantially radially inwards in the mounted and connected state.

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