Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
FTEL.O OF THE INDENTION
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This invention relates to an electrical conductor
connector for connecting the conductors of electrical
cables to each other and more particularly to so
connecting the conductors of mufti-strand ribbon tape ,
cab le s.
BACKGI~OUNO TO THE INDENTION
Electrical conductor connectors of the type with
which
this invention is concerned are well known, many
of the
known connectors such as those disclosed in U.S,
patent
No.4,552,429, European patent No.0150593 and
Canadian
patent No.10?0403 all to RmP Incorporated include
terminal
carriers which have a removable coves which is,
in one way
or another, engaged with the terminal carrier
to hold
conductors in 'the connector in engagement with
the
terminals of the terminal carrier. Problems that
frequently arise with conductor connecaors of
the above
type are that the conductors, whether single
conductors or
contained in ribbon tapes, may easily be torn
from the
terminals in the connectors by stress applied
to the
conductors on the outside of the connector with
which they
are er~aged to cause electrical disconnection
of the
conductors with the terminals and more often
than not
irreparable damage to the terminals themselves.
A second
problem with the known conductor connectors is
that the
covers for holding the conductors on the terminal
carriers
are components which are separate from the carriers
and so
easily become misplaced and prior to location
over
conductors engaged with 'the carrier terminals
permit, in
hostile environmental conditions such as in mines
and in
many industrial applications, the ingress of particulate
matter and other dirt on to or into the terminal carriers
with the possible consequence that the covers may be
irr~roperly located and in time become dislodged from the
terminal carriers and further that the dirt rr~y interfere
with the proper electrical connection of the conductors
with the terminals on those connectors in which the covers
press the conductors into electrical engagement with the
terminals on the terminal carriers.
OBJECT OF THE INDENTION
It is the object of this invention to provide an
electrical conductor connector which will at least
minimize the problems discussed above with known conductor
connectors.
SUhInIARY OF THE INDENTION
Zs
An electrical conductor cable connector according to the
invention includes a housing; made from an electrical
insulating material, having side walls which between them
define an enclosure, a floor which extends between the
side walls to define an open topped compartment in the
housing on one side of the floor, a plurality of suitably
spaced conductor engaging elements in and extending from
the Floor into the compartment with each element including
a formation in the floor of the housing 'For electrically
connecting an electrical conductor in a cable in the floor
to the conductor engaging element, a press member which is
made from an electrical insulating material, for pressing
a conductor ribbon tape cable into the compartment, and
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the conductors which are carried by the tape, into
electrical engagement with the conductor engaging
elements, means for clamping the ribbon tape in the
compartment between the conductor engaging elements and
the/or each tape exit from the housing and a catch
arrangement for locking the press member in the
compartment to hold the tape clamped in the housing.
Further accordirx~ to the invention each conductor engaging
element includes a first blade which extends
perpendicularly from the housing floor into the
compartment with the connecting formation on each
conductor eler~nt being a second oppositely directed blade
which is located in the floor with each blade of each
conductor engaging element including a cutting edge for
cutting the ribbon tape insulation on a conductor when
pressed onto the blade and a slot for electrically
engaging a conductor in the insulation when cut by the
blade with the press member including slots for receiving
the blades which project from the housing floor when the
ribbon tape is pressed by the press mf:mber into the
compartment over the hlades.
In one form of the invention the housing floor includes,
on its side opposite to that in the compartment, a recess
defining a second compartment into which the second blades
of the conductor engaging elements project with the
connector including a second press r~mber, having blade
slots, for pressing a second conductor ribbon tape into
the second compartment and the tape conductors, through
the cut tape insulation, into electrical engagement with
the blade slots and a catch arrangement for locking the
second press member in the second compartment.
Conveniently the second compartment includes clamping
means for clamping the ribbon tape in the floor in a
position between the conductor element blades in the
second compartrr~nt and the/or each tape exit from the
compartment.
The ribbon tape clamping means may be mating tape
direction changing formations between the housing in
the/or each compartment and the/or each press member
between which the/or each ribbon tape is clamped in use.
Still further according to the invention the catch
arrangement for holding the/or each press member in the/or
each compartment is a resiliently deformable male
formation on a surface of one of the components and a
1S recess in an adjacent surface of the other into which the
male formation is pressed to lock the components together
when the/or each press member is fully pressed into the/or
each compartment.
In a preferred form of the invention the housing includes
a ribbon tape entry slot which extends through the wall of
at least the first compartment above the conductor
engaging elements and the cable connector includes in
the/or each compartment, a first catch arrangement for
holding the press member in the compartment clear of the
tape entry slot and a second catch arrangement for holding
the press member in pressure contact with the tape when
pressed into clamping contact with the tape.
Conveniently the/or each housing compartment is filled
with a flowable liquid sealant.
In many electrical circuit applications in which the cable
connector will find application it will be convenient to
~S open a conductor in the connector and 'the housing may, for
this ~rpose, include a cutting blade which extends from
the floor nr press member into the/or each compartment for
cutting and so open circuiting a pre-selected cable
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conductor when pressed by the press member into the
compartr~nt with a conductor engaging element on at least
one side of the cutting blade in the path of the cut
conductor through the housing for electrically engaging
the conductor on one side of the blade. Preferably, the
base of the press member and the floor in the/or each
corr~rtment which carries a cutting blade includes mating
forma+.ions in the cut conductor path through the housing
on one side of the cutting blade for deforming the cut
conductor to shorten it out of electrical contact with 'the
cutting blade.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention is now described by way of example only with
reference to the drawings in which:
FIGI~E 1 is a perspective view of the electrical conductor
cable connector of the invention shown connecting two
ribbon tape cables at right angles to each other,
FIGt~tE 2 is a sectioned side elevation of the connector
housing shown sectioned on the line 2 -2 in Figure 3,
FIGL~tE 3 is a plan view of the Figure 2 housing shown
sectioned on the line 3 - 3 in Figure 2,
FIGI~tE 4 is a partially ghosted perspective view of a
single conductor connecting element of the connector of
the invention shown connected to two insulated electrical
conductors,
' FIGLfRE 5 is a fragmentary end elevation of the~upper
portion of one of the conductor connecting element blades
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of Figure 4,
FIGURE 6 is a sectioned side elevation of one of the press
members for use with the housing of Figures 2 and 3,
FIGI~E 7 is an end elevation of the press member of Figure
6,
FIGC~E 8 is a side elevation of a second press merrier for
use with the Figure 2 and 3 housing,
FIGIA~E 9 is a sectioned end elevation of the cable
connector of the invention in use,
FIGL~iE 10 is a fragmentary sectioned side elevation
illustrating the first stage of engagement of the Figure 6
press member With the Figure 2 housing,
FIGt~tE 11 is a schematic electrical da.agram illustrating
the function of the cable connector of the invention,
FIGI~tE 12 is a fragmetary sectioned end elevation of a
2S cable cutting blade arrangement in the connector housing.
FIGURE 13 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of
the conductor connecting element of the invention,'and
FIGL~'E 14 is a fragmentary sectional side elevation of 'the
Figure 13 connecting element shown located in the floor of
the connector housing.
DET~RII.ED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED Ef~BODImENT
The cable connector 10 of the invention is shown in Figure
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1 to be connecting two mufti-conductor ribbon tape cables
12 and 14 at right angles to each other.
The housing of the connector 10 of Figure 1 is shown in
Figures 2 and 3 to include side walls 16 and 18, opposite
end walls 20 with a compartment 22 defined between the
four walls and a floor portion indicated generally at 24.
The floor portion of the housing is recessed to provide a
second compartment 26 which is located below and separated
from the first compartment by a floor 28.
The walls 18 and 20 of the housing compartment 22 are
slotted to pmvide an entry slot 30 for the ribbon tape
12.
A plurality of conductor engaging elements 32, which are
more clearly seen in Figure 4 each include two oppositely
directed blades 34 which are joined at right angles to
each other by a connector strip. The connector elements
32 are punched from a common strip of Electrically
conductive sheet metal such as a suitable copper or brass
alloy. As is more clearly seen in Figure 5, the upper
edge of each of the blades 34 includes spaced points for
piercing the insulation of a ribbon tape on either side of
one of the conductors of the tape, a U-.shaped formation
for guiding the conductor into a slot 36 while at the same
time slicing through the insulation on either side of the
conductor. The width of the slot 36 is very slightly
narrower than the diameter of the conductor so that the
conductor in the cut insulation is in firm physical
engagement with the blade 34 when fully pressed into the
slot 36. The edges of the cable locating U could include
small ripper teeth 38 to facilitate cutting of the ribbon
tape insulation as a conductor is pressed into the slot 36
of tip blades 34.
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The central portion of the conductor engaging elements 32
including the connector strip between the blades is
embedded in the material of the floor 28 with only the
slotted portion of the blades 34 projecting from above and
below the floor into the compartments 22 and 26 as shown
in Figure 2.
The conductor engaging elements 32, in the compartment 22,
are each located across a groove in the floor which
extends, up and over a rounded formation 40 in the end
walls 20 to the slot 30. The grooves serve as locators
for the conductor carrying portions of the ribbon tapes
which are to be used with the connector. The floor of the
compartment 26 is similarly grooved with the grooves
running down and over a formation 42 which forms a side
wall of the compartrr~nt to a tape outlet from the
compartment.
Figures 6 and 7 illustrate a press member 44 for use in
pressing the ribbon tape 12 into the compartment 22 and
into engagement with the conductor engaging elements 32 in
the compartment. The press member is shown in the
drawings 'to include side walls 46 and 48, opposite end
walls 50 which are joined by a central rib 52 and a base
portion 54.
The base 54 of the press member 4La is solid material and
carries on its underside and its side walls grooves which,
when the press member is located in the compartment 22 of
the connector housing are in register with the locating
grooves on the floor of the compartment and the formations
and slots 56 which are in register with the conductor
35 engaging elements 32 on the Floor of the compartment 22
and in which the blades of the elements are fully located
when the press member is fully pressed into the
compartment to clamp the ribbon tape 12 in the
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compartment, The side walls 46 and 48 of the press member
are separated from the walls 50 by slots 58 which,
together with the resilience of the plastics material from
which the press member is made, enable the walls to be
flexed inwardly towards the vertical edges of the walls 50
when the walls are pressed inwardly in the direction of
the arrows in Figure 6. Catch formations 60 and 62 are
positioned on the outer surfaces of the side walls 46 and
48 as shown in Figure 7. The inner surfaces of the side
walls 16 and 18 of the connector housing are recessed at
64, as shown in Figure 2, to receive the catches 60 and 62
of the press member.
Figure 8 shows a second press member 66 for location in
the compartment 26 of the floor portion 24 of the Figure 2
housing. As is the case with the press member 44 of
Figure 6 conductor locating grooves extend over the upper
surface of the press member 66 and over onto its left hand
vertical edge in Figure 8 and slots for receiving 'the
blades 34 of the conductor engaging elements 32 in the
compartment 26. The grooves in the prsas member are
located to be in register with grooves an the underside of
the floor 28 and the inner surface of the formation 42 in
the compartment 26. The compartment 26 grooves, as with
those on the upper surface of the floor, are in register
with the slots in 'the blades 34 of the conductor engaging
elements in the compartment. The end walls of the press
member 66 include outwardly projecting catch formations 68
which, when the press member :is fully pressed into the
compartment 26 engage in slots 70 in the end walls of the
compartment 26 to lock the press member in the
compartment. This press ember, as is the case with that
of Figures 6 and 7, ancludes on one end wall two vertical
grooves 72 and on the opposite end wall a single centrally
located groove, not shown. The purpose of the grooves on
the two press members is to ensure that the press members
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and the slots 56 in them for receiving the conductor
engaging blades 34 are correctly oriented by keying with
inwardly projecting ribs ?4 on the inner surfaces of the
end walls of the compartments 22 and 26.
In use, the compartments 22 and 26 of the connector 10 are
at least partially filled with a water resistant highly
viscous grease. The ribbon tape 14 is located in the
compartment 26 with its free end up against the wall on
the right hand side of the compartment. The width of the
compartment 26 conveniently corresponds to that of the
ribb~ tape 14 so that the raised conductor carrying
portions of the ribbon tape insulation are located over
the grooves and conductor engaging element blades 32 in
the compartment. Alternatively, the compartment could be
wider than the tape 14 but would then include one or more
stops on the underside of the Floor 28 accurately to
locate the tape 14. The press member 66 is now located
over the mouth of the recess 26 with the grooves ?2
engaged with the locating ribs 74 on the inner surfaces of
the end walls of the compartment. The press member is now
pressed, conveniently by a suitable tool, into the
compartment to press the ribbon tape 14 down over the
blades 34 which cut through the insulation on the sides of
the conductors in the tape and press the conductors into
the slots 36 in the blades. The catch formations 68 on
the end walls of the press member are pressed, by
resilient deformation of the catch formations and/or
deformation of the walls 20 over the inner surfaces of the
recess end walls until they clip into the slots ?0 with
the upper surface of the press member bearing on the
ribbon tape 14. The raised conductor insulation of the
tape lL4 is now firmly located in the grooves in the
compartment floor and in the press member. The formation
42 is dimensioned to be almost a friction fit with the
left hand vertical side wall of the press member so that
a~~~~~'~'~~
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the ribbon tape is firmly pressure clamped in the
compartment between the vertical side of the press member
S and the formation 42 to lock the ribbon tape in the
compartment against any stress applied to the ribbon tape
on tt~ outside of the cable connector 10.
With the ribbon tape 14 now located in the compartment 26
and its conductors in electrical contact with the
conductor engaging element blades 34 in that compartment
the press member 44 is pressed into the recess 22 of 'the
housing until its catches 60, again by resilient
deformation of the material of the press merrier, engage in
the recesses 64 in the walls 16 and 1B of the housing.
With the catches 60 so engaged in the recesses the '
underside of the base 54 of the press member is situated
above the upper edge of the slot 30 in the housing walls
as shown in Figure 10.
At its place of use the ribbon tape 12, to which one or
more of the connectors 10 are to be connected, is slid
sideways into the slot 30 until its leading edge abuts the
and of the slot 30 in the compartment 22. The entrance to
the compartment could, as shown in FicDure 2, include a
flared mouth which terminates in a very slightly raised
projection ?6 over which the.ribbon tape 12 is
frictionally moved into the slot 32 and which, once in the
slot, engages the outer edge of the tape 12 accurately to
locate the tape in the slot 30 with its raised conductor
insulation over the grooves in the floor of the
corr~artment and on the underside of the base 54 of the
press member. As has been mentioned previously, the
grooves ?2 in the press member which are keyed with the
ribs ?4 on the end walls 20 of the compartment ensure that
the slots 56 in the base of the press member are located
directly over the blades of the conductor engaging
elements 32 in the compartment. The press member 44 is
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now pressed downwardly into the compartment 22 with the
sick walls 46 and 48 hinging inwardly to permit the
catches 62 to engage in the recesses 64 in the side walls
of the housing to lock the press member in the housing in
pressure contact with the ribbon tape 12. The ribbon tape
conductors, as described with reference to the compartment
26, are now firmly located in the slots 36 of the blades
34 in the compartment 22. As will be seen from Figures ?
and 9 the side walls of the base 54 of the press member
are rounded complementally to the formations 40 in the
compartment 22. The side walls of the press member base
are dimensioned, as is the case with the formation 42 of
the compartment 26, to clamp the ribbon tape firmly
bet~seen the press member and the vertical portions of the
formations 40 against movement in the compartment by
stress imposed on the ribbon tape 12 on the outside of the
connector. This is illustrated in Figure 9 which more
clearly illustrates 'the direction changing clamping
formations on both the housing and press member 44.
To release the cable connector of the invention from the
ribbon tape 12 the side walls of 'the press member 44 are
pressed inwardly in the direction of the arrows in Figure
6 to clear the catches 62 of the recesses 64 in the walls
16 and 18 of the housing and, when cleared, the press
member is merely lifted in the compartment 22 until the
catches 60 abut the upper edges of the recesses 64. The
ribb~ tape 12 may then merely be tensioned to lift it
from the conductor engaging element blades 34 and, when
straightened, is merely slid from the slot 30 in the
conr~ctor housing.
Tn see applications, it may be desirable to open circuit
one of tt~ ribbon tape conductors in the connector as
illustrated in Figure 11. To achieve this, as shown in
Figures 2, 3 and 12, a blade ?8 is embedded in the floor
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28 of the housing to project into one of the compartments,
in this case compartment 22, with its sharpened upper edge
projecting into the compartment. The press member 44
ir~ludes a recess for receiving the sharpened edge of the
blade in use as illustrated in Figure 12. The blade ?8 is
located in the conductor path between two blades 34 of
linearly spaced conductor engaging elerr~nts 32 with a
raised formation 80 on the floor 28 extending across the
conductor insulation groove between the blade ?8 and one
of the blades 34. The underside of the press member 44
includes a complementally shaped female formation 82, as
shown in Figures 2 and 6, in which the formation 80 is
located in use. As the press member 44 now presses the
ribbon tape 12 down onto the floor of the compartment 22
the blade ?8 severs the conductor in whose path it lies
with the conductor being deformed and so shortened by the
formations 80 and 82 out of electrical contact with the
blade 7B to ensure a clean open circuit 84 as. shown in
Figure 11. The open conductor on either side of the break
is now connected, through the blades ;i~E on either side of
the cutting blade 78, to conductors ar~~the ribbon tape 14.
It will be noticed from Figure 11 that the ribbon tape 14
in this drawing includes five conductors whereas the
connector, as shown in the remaining drawings, has
provision only for Four. This is not amiss as the
connector of the invention could be designed for any
reasonable width of ribbon tape having however many
electrical conductors are required for a specific
application.
The invention is not limited to the precise details as
herein described. For example as an alternative to the
conductor engaging elements 32 being moulded into the
floor 28 of the housing, the floor could include, as shown
in Figure 14, an L-shaped recess into which the elements
32 are pressed on completion of the plastics moulding
_14_
process. One of the legs of the L extends through the
floor 28 and is shaped as shown in the drawing to include
a step 86: The portion of the recess defining the outer
leg of the L extends from the underside of the floor to
terminate at 88 below the upper surface of the floor. The
press in conductor engaging elements 32 in this
application are modified from that of Figure 4 in that
they include a locking tang ~ which extends downwardly
and inwardly from the base of one of the blades 34, as
shown in Figure 13, and a dimple 92 on the remaining blade
34. With the conductor engaging elements 32 held as shoran
in Figure 13 they are pressed into the L--shaped recesses
in the underside of the housing floor 28 until the upper
blade 34 projects from the upper surface of the floor 28
and the lower edge of the locking tang engages over the
recess step 869 as shown in Figure 14, to lock the element
32 in the recess. The dimple 92 serves firmly to locate
the other blade 34 in its recess against flexing in the
recess.
Additionally, the conductor cutting blade ?8 described
with reference to Figures 11 and 12 could be fixed to 'the
press member 44 in place of the floor 28 with the blade
receiving recess located in the upper surface of the floor
28.
35
