Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
505
r
The invention relates to electrical connectors
particularly to connectors for splicing corresponding
wires of wire pairs together.
An electrical connector according to the invention
compri.ses an insulating housing moulded of plastics
material with a pair of terminal-receiving cavities
opening to opposite ends of the housing, a pair of
electxical terminals received in respective cavities in
back-to-back relation, each terminal being stamped and
formed from a single piece of sheet metal stock with first
and second parallel wire-receiving slots spaced apart -
laterally of their axes with open axial ends towards ~he
cavity opening, so that the terminals face in opposite . -
directions away rom each other, first walls of each cavi~y
lying in a common plane and each first wall being formed
; .. . .
;~l with.a pair of wire-receiving slots aligned with the
. . respective slots of its associated termlnal, with open
i axial ends of the terminal slots adjacent ~he cavity
openings, longitud1nal.walls de~ining the terminal slots
lying in a pla~e parallel to the first wall so that insulated
. wires located in straight condltion to extend perpendicular
.. : - to the first wall in alignment with the terl~inal slots can
~ . .
: be inserted in strai~ht condition transverse~y of thelx axes
i~to ~he respectlve aligned slots through ~he open end, khe
: edges o~ ~he terminal slots, penetrating the insulation to
::!
esta~lish an electrical connection wi-th respective wire
`I cores~
Examples of connectors according to the invention will
now be described with reference to the ~ccompan~ing drawings
-` 30 in which:
. , .
: 2
"~ ...
,. - . .
. , ,
, .. ., , ., ~ . .. . . .. . ~ . ...... . . . .. .
` 5058
'` ~ ~ ' '
Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of the
connector;
Figure 2 is a plan view partly in cross-section taken
. . along line 2-2 of Figure l;
: 5 Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line
3-3 of Figure 2;
Figure 4 is an end view in direction 4-4 of Figure 3;
Figures 5 - 7 are end~views showing stages o insertion
o a wire;
Figure 8 is an exploded perspective view of a second
~ example of connectZor; and,
; Figure 9 is a wirLng diagram of a tap connector to
~he second exZample of co~nector-
. ~ The connector 10 comprises an insulating housing 11
moulded in one piece of suitable plastics material and two
metal terminals 12 mounted as a snug fit in cavities 13
:1 : : .
., formed in opposite ends of the housing.
' Each terminal is of channel section having side~alls
provided wi~h spaced pairs of wlre-receiving slots 14 and
.20
` :: . , .~, . .
, -
.
,,, j
:.~ "
I~- 25
`
~ .
~::
']~ . .
..
'! ,
: -
,
:. 3
.~'
3~
15 respectively and an intermediate slot pair 17 permitting independent
flexure of the walls of the wire-receiving slots. The wire-receiving
slots of each pair are aligned and differ ln wldth to provide a core-
; contacting and strain relief function.
Upper and lower sidewalls 19 and 20 of each housing cavity 13are also provided with slots 21 and 22 respectively, aligned with the wire-
receiving slots 14 and lS. The upper side walls are relieved at 23 to
define resiliently flexible fingers 24 extending obliquely across slots 14
and 15 and having free ends terminating intermediate ends of the slots.
The inner ends 25 of the slots 21 are enlarged and define a necked resil-
iently flexible divider 26. The slots 21 diverge at their outer ends pro-
viding stepped mouths 27.
The housing base 29 is of reduced width to provide access for
wire insertion tooling to each end of the housing.
The connector housing may be manufactured in strip form by
eeding a perorated carrier strip 31 of *MYLAR, a suitable plastiGs `
such as *KAPTON, or metal through the mould of a moulding machine and
moulding the housings onto the strip, the mould cavities having recesses
to permit the flow of moulding meterial through the holes in the carrier
so that studs 32 are formed on the underside of the carrier strip. The
: .
^ studs securely hold the connectors onto the strip but permit ready release
therefrom using the apparatus described in our United States Patent No.
. .
3,975,812 issued August 24, 1976.
` Corresponding wires of wire pairs may be spliced in turn using
.~ .
the apparatus described in our above referenced United States Patent~
`'! *Trade mark
~.
,
', ~' :
La~
5058
~, .
Mo. 576,~ (5~59~ As each wire is forced by a ram into
the housing 510ts 21, the slot walls defined inter alia by
divider 26 and finger 24 are resiliently flexed apart
(Figure 6) to permit the wire to enter terminal slots 15
or 16. During insertion, the walls of the slots adJacent
the fingers 24 penetrate the insulation to establish ,
electrical connection with the wire core while the other
aligned slots qrlp or penetrate the insulation to provide
strain relief. When the wire is fully inserted into the
slots, the finger 24 resiles so that its free end overlies
the wire retaining it in the slot (Figure 7). The strip
can then be indexed forward to splice the next wire of the
pair.
~ The connectors can be manufactured in a very small
;~ 15 size, (e.g. 0.5 x .29 x .26 inches~ so that they occupy a
:. . .
small volume when splicing a cable. The flexible fingers
not only relieve the electrical connection from strain
,
~ axially of the slot but also assist in retaining the
.~ .termlnals in the housing after connection. As the terminals
are retained in the cavities they are insulated from
terminals of adjacent connectors when the splices are
~ .
~ bundled toqether after cable connection and the individual
~. .
; wlres of the two spliced pairs are located together which
is important for speedy repair. The adaptatlon of the
... .
J 25 connector strip feed enables a larqe number of insu1ated
connections to be made automatically hy relatively unskilled ~-; i
~j! operators with little operator fatigue which is very
!, advantageous where several thousand indlvidual connections
are to be made in spliclng to~ether two telephone cables.
l 30 Manipulation of the ~ires is also facilitated as the wires
.-,,
~ 5
:~ .
. ' :
'' . ~ ',.'.' ''': ' '''' ,.'. ".,
. ,, ' , '.... ' , , ', .: :,' , . ' ~ ' , , '
. . . .
5058
of each pair extendinq from one cable end can be connected
simultaneously to the terminals using the above-mentioned
apparatus.
A second example of connector, particularly useful
for making tap connections is shown in Figure 8. This
is of similar construction to the first connsctor bu~ three
pairs of wire-receiving slots 35 are provided to achieve
the tap connection shown in Figure 9. . , :~
,, ,, ,~ , ,"
.
- 15 . ~:.
., .
.,, ; .
. . ~ . .
:
, ~ ' ' ~, ' .
,` - ' ''- '. ' :' .
.,~ : . .
.
,1, .
. 25
;',i - .. ~:
,, ' ' ,' ,
:, . , . ~ ,., '
' 30
~`' ' :
: 6
-
~ , .
