GB2153161A - Locking latch retainer of two- part electrical connector - Google Patents

Abstract

A retaining clip 19 for a plug 2 and a socket 1 connector has a gap 20 through which a cable 3 may be slid. A side latch 6 of the plug 2 may be pressed towards the plug to release the connector. The clip 19 freely slides over the protruding part of the plug when the plug and socket are connected, and a tapered side face 21 of the clip is wedged against the side latch, thereby preventing the connector from becoming accidentally unlatched. Recesses 15 in the plug body correspond with internal wedge shaped protrusions 22 in the clip, thereby preventing the clip from sliding back towards the cable. The clip may be prised open to enable disconnection. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or relating to the retention of pluggable connectors Pluggable connectors which comprise a fixed socket mating with a plug attached to a flexible lead or cord, the plug having a sidelatch which engages with the body of the socket, have been designed and developed for use with telephones and ancilliary equipment.

A range of such side-latched connectors is described in BICC-VERO publication No. BVE 1 28/83 entitled "Pluggable Telephone Con nectors".

Double ended line cords having a plug at eachtend may be used to connect a telephone or ancilliary equipment to a wall socket connected to telephone lines. Voltages in British telephone lines are sufficient to render them potentially hazardous, and a plug assembled to a socket mounted on such equipment may present a danger if it is disconnected, exposing the plug contacts. In order to avoid this danger, sockets have been mounted on equipment such that the plug is protected under cover of the equipment or, alternatively, the exposed part of the side-latch has been broken off after plug insertion. In either case, the plug at the equipment end of a connector cannot be readily removed from its associated socket, and the advantage to using a pluggable connector rather than a fixed lead or cord is partially lost once initial assembly has been completed.It will be appreciated that such connectors are suitable for connecting flexible leads to a wide range of electronic devices besides telephones and associated equipment, and a similar danger would exist when such leads have a potentially hazardous voltage if the plug is disconhected.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved means for retaining sidelatched pluggable connectors.

According to the invention there is provided a retaining clip for use with a plug-and-socket connector, said connector incorporating a latch, by means of which the plug and socket can be releasably secured together, and which includes a lever member disposed, when the plug and socket are secured together, to be outstanding from an external surface of said connector, the lever member being movable towards said surface to disengage the latch, wherein said clip is removeably attachable to said connector and, when so attached, includes a part disposed between said lever member and said external surface to prevent the movement of said lever member towards said surface, at least to an extent sufficient to inhibit accidental disengagement of said latch.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a perspective view of the socket of a known side-latched pluggable connector, horizontally disposed, Figure 2 shows the plug of the connector, viewed from beneath, Figure 3 shows a perspective view of the assembled connector and of a retaining clip according to the invention, and Figure 4 shows a perspective view of the assembled connector and with the retaining clip in position to protect the side latch.

The plug 2 and socket 1 each have moulded bodies of a resilient plastics material, typically a thermoplastic polyester. Referring to Fig. 2, a multi-core flexible lead or cord 3 enters the rear of the plug and the cores terminate at conducting strips 4 which rest in parallel recesses 5 on the underside of the plug. The plug body is of substantially cuboid shape and has an integrally moulded side latch 6 lying at an acute angle to the length of the plug and joined to the plug at its front.

The outer side of the latch 6 has a centrally disposed protruding guide portion 7 extending from its front to substantially midway along its length. The guide portion 7 is substantially wedge-shaped and has its outer edge 8 parallel to the length of the plug. The portions of the outer wall of the latch lying above and below the guide portion 7 form upper and lower shoulders, the lower shoulder being shown at 9. The outer side wall of the latch 6 has two vertically disposed latching recesses lying adjacent to the apex of the wedgeshaped guide portion 7, the lower recess being shown at 1 0. The under face of the plug has a rectangular shaped recess 11 and the upper face of the plug is correspondingly recessed, shown at 1 5 in Fig. 3.

Referring to Fig. 1, the socket 1 has a substantially rectangular aperture 1 2 into which the plug 2 may slide. Spring conductors 1 3 are connected to terminal pins 14, the spring conductors being mounted to mate with the plug conductors 4 when the plug is fully inserted. A keyway 1 6 for the guide portion 7 of the plug is provided at one side of the aperture 1 2 such that when the plug enters the socket, the vertical edges 1 7 and 1 8 of wall portions adjacent to the keyway engage with the lower shoulder 9 and upper shoulder of the plug respectively, thereby pressing the latch 6 towards the body of the plug until the plug is fully inserted.The edges 1 7 and 1 8 then engage with the lower latching recess 10 and upper latching recess respectively and the latch 6 springs back to its original position, latching the plug in its fully inserted position as shown in Fig. 3. The plug may be readily unlatched by pressing the latch towards the body of the plug.

It will be apparent that when using a connector as described above, there can be a danger of a plug becoming accidentially unlatched if the latch is exposed. Fig. 3 shows a retaining clip 1 9 according to the invention which may be readily clipped on to a plug, after assembly to its socket, such that the latch is held in a locked position and the plug is protected from accidental unlatching in a manner which avoids the necessity for mounting the latch under cover of the equipment or, alternatively, for breaking off the latch. The retaining clip is of a moulded resilient plastic material, typically a thermoplastic polyester, and is of a substantially rectangular C shaped section, having a gap 20 through which the flexible lead 3 may be slid. The clip has internal faces which are dimensioned such that the clip will freely slide over the main body of the plug.The external side face 21 is tapered to lie parallel to the latch 6 when the clip is slid over the plug and is positioned such that when the clip fully covers the plug, the side face 21 lies closely adjacent to the inner face of the latch, as shown in Fig. 4.

The lower internal face of the clip has a wedge-shaped protrusion 22 which mates with the lower rectangular recess 11 of the plug, and a corresponding wedge shaped protrusion (not shown) is provided on the upper internal face of the clip to mate with the upper recess 1 5 of the plug. These two protrusions prevent the clip from sliding back towards the cord when the clip is positioned over the plug, and the latch remains firmly locked and protected against accidental unlatching. The retaining clip may be readily removed from the plug by prising open the gap 20 with a screwdriver or the like, thereby separating the wedge shaped protrusions in the clip from their mating recesses in the plug. The retaining clip described above represents only one embodiment of the invention, and other embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Claims (5)

1. A retaining clip for use with a plug-andsocket connector, said connector incorporating a latch, by means of which the plug and socket can be releasably secured together, and which includes a lever member disposed, when the plug and socket are secured together, to be outstanding from an external surface of said connector, the lever member being movable towards said surface to disengage the latch, wherein said clip is removeably attachable to said connector and, when so attached, includes a part disposed between said lever member and said external surface to prevent the movement of said lever member towards said surface, at least to an extent sufficient to inhibit accidental disengagement of said latch.

2. A retaining clip according to Claim 1 wherein the connector comprises a plug to which the lever member is attached and a socket in to which the plug and the lever member are partially inserted when the plug and socket are connected, the retaining clip being of a resilient material and having a substantially C-shaped section dimensioned such that it will freely slide over the exposed portion of the plug and having a tapered external surface such that the tapered portion of the clip is wedged between an external surface of the plug and the lever member when the clip is assembled to the connected plug and socket.

3. A retaining clip according to either preceding claim wherein one or more mating surfaces of the plug and of the clip have recesses and corresponding protrusions such that the clip is prevented from sliding away from the socket when assembled to the connector during normal use but may be prised open to enable disconnection.

4. A retaining clip according to Claim 3 wherein the exposed portion of said plug is of substantially cuboid shape having the lever member to one side of the plug and having recesses in the upper and lower faces, the clip having a substantially rectangular section with wedge-shaped protrusions in its upper and lower internal faces which correspond with the recesses in the plug.

5. A retaining clip substantially as herein described with references to the accompanying drawings.