JPS59949B2 - modular electrical connector - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to modular electrical connectors.

It has been proposed in the past to form electrical connectors from modules that snap together or are secured together to obtain a connector of a desired size. In general, connector assemblies consisting of connector modules of this type are often required to have small longitudinal dimensions.

In order to satisfy this requirement, it is necessary that the wall thickness of the electrical contact receiving cavity in each module in the longitudinal direction be as thin as possible. Further, such a connector assembly needs to be assembled such that the pitch of the cavities in the longitudinal direction, that is, the spacing between all cavities is constant. Utility Model Publication No. 50-4705 discloses that the walls at both ends of each connector are formed complementary in the longitudinal direction so that their longitudinal thickness is half the longitudinal thickness of the wall within the connector, that is, the intermediate wall. The connector is disclosed.

In order to further reduce the longitudinal dimension of the connector described in the above-mentioned Jikkosho, it is necessary to further reduce the wall thickness in the longitudinal direction.

However, further reducing the wall thickness at both ends, which is half the longitudinal thickness of the intermediate wall, will affect the flow characteristics of the molding material.
There are limitations in terms of preventing damage and maintaining insulation. The present invention solves the problem of such limitations and provides a modular connector whose longitudinal dimensions are even smaller than those of the known modular connectors.

In the modular connector according to the invention, unlike the known one, the longitudinal thickness of the walls at both ends has the same dimensions as the longitudinal thickness of the intermediate wall.

However, the walls at both ends do not completely close the contact-receiving cavities at both ends, but have a width approximately half the lateral width of the cavities to partially close the cavities; The remainder of the cavity is open to form a slot. Therefore, the longitudinal thickness of both end walls as well as the intermediate wall can be reduced to the molding limit, and a modular connector with the smallest possible longitudinal dimension can be obtained. As described above, the present invention improves the length of the connector by forming the walls at both ends of the connector to be complementary in the width direction instead of being formed complementary in the longitudinal direction as in the known connector. It has the advantage that the directional dimensions can be made considerably smaller than the known connectors.

According to the invention, an electrical connector is provided which comprises a module containing between its ends a generally rectangular block of resilient insulating material having at least two cavities for accommodating each electrical contact. In a modular electrical connector having complementary engagement devices in which the ends are adapted to snap engage complementary portions of a similar module, each cavity at each end has a width approximately half the width of the cavity. having an open slot approximately half the width of the cavity so as to be partially surrounded by walls extending to a width of When extending inwardly from opposite side walls of a module and then engaged with a complementary portion of a similar module, said open slot of each module is obstructed by said half-width wall portion of a mating module. A modular electrical connector is provided.

The approximately half-width dimension of the wall is sufficient to ensure that contacts inserted into the contact-receiving cavities at the ends of each connector are safely retained within the cavities prior to mating the connectors together. The complementary snap-engaging device includes a pair of resilient locking arms at one end of the pair of ends of the module and a pair of resilient locking arms complementary to the locking arms at the other end. It is desirable to provide a recess.

Such a recess is provided with a suitable rib extending laterally with respect to the arm and capable of engaging a transverse groove in the arm. An upper shoulder and a lower shoulder are provided in the recess to prevent lateral movement of adjacent modules relative to each other, and the upper shoulder and the lower shoulder engage the upper and lower sides of the locking arm, respectively. It is preferable to form it as follows.

Preferably, one shoulder is provided in each recess, one on the lower side of one recess and one on the upper side of the other recess. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments with reference to the drawings.

The assembly shown in FIG. 1 contains a modular connector 1 consisting of eight modules shown unfolded.

The modular connector 1 is adapted to engage a connector frame 2 comprising a row of terminal posts 3, said terminal posts 3
can be inserted into the electrical contact 9 housed in the contact receiving cavity 8 of the connector 1 through the terminal post entrance portion 20 (see FIG. 2) below the cavity 8. Said cavity 8 has a shoulder 21 at its lower end.
to stop the insertion of the contactor 9 into the cavity 8.
Each connector module 4, 5, 6, 7 has at least two contact receiving cavities 8 which can removably receive said contacts 9 in a known manner.

Connector 1 includes one module 4 with four cavities 8,
4 modules 5 each with 2 cavities 8, 3 cavities 8
and one module 7 with two cavities 8. Modules 4 and 7 located at both ends are modules 5 and 6 located between them.
It differs from the following in the following points. That is, a complementary engagement device 10 is provided at one end of the modules 4 and 7 located at both ends.
, 11 having a portion 12 formed at the other end so as to define both ends of the connector 1;
is received in the guide slot 13 of the frame 2. Engagement devices 10 and 11 are formed at both ends of the intermediate modules 5 and 6, respectively, and can be fitted in a complementary manner in a snap-like manner.

The shape of the engagement devices 10, 11 is shown in more detail in FIGS. 2-5. One end of the module has a pair of resilient locking arms 11, the opposite sides of which are provided with transverse grooves 14. The other end of the module has a pair of recesses 10 complementary to the locking arms 11;
The recess 10 is provided with a transverse rib 15 which can fit into the groove 14 to allow the arm 11 of one module to snap into the recess 10 of an adjacent module. Of the pair of recesses 10, in FIG. 2, the visible recess 10 has a lower shoulder 16, and the invisible recess 10
has an upper shoulder 17, which upper shoulder 17 is shown in FIG.
5 and 6 which shows different configurations of the module. Thus, the shoulders 16, 17 are configured to engage the upper and lower portions of the locking arms of adjacent modules to prevent lateral movement of the modules relative to each other. As shown in FIG. 2, the contact receiving cavity 8 adjacent to the mutually snap-engaging engagement device, recess 10 and arm 11, has a slot opening 8.

Slot 18 spans the entire length of cavity 8 and occupies approximately half the width of cavity 8. A pair of slots 18 are provided in each cavity 8 adjacent to each side wall of the module, with a wall 19 occupying approximately half of the remaining width of the cavity 8.

When adjacent modules are interconnected as shown in FIG. 8 and cavity 8 are spaced apart from each other by a single wall thickness.

Therefore, it is possible to maintain a constant distance between the contacts in the longitudinal direction of the connector 1.

Although in the embodiments described above the slot 18 is shown communicating with the terminal post entrance 20 over the length of the cavity 8, it will be readily appreciated that it could be formed to terminate near the entrance. Good morning.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a modular connector assembly.
Each module and electrical contact are shown in an exploded state, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the two-lumen module of the connector shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the same module, and FIG.
FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view of the module, FIG. 5 is an enlarged bottom view of the module, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the four-lumen module forming the end of the connector assembly. 1...Module type connector, 4, 5, 6, 7
...Module, 8...Contact receiving cavity, 9...Contact, 10...Recess, 11
...Arm, 18...Slot, 19
・・・・・・Wall part.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An electrical connector consisting of a module containing a generally rectangular block of resilient insulating material having between its ends at least two cavities for accommodating each electrical contact,
In a modular electrical connector with complementary engagement devices adapted for snap-engaging said ends of said module with complementary portions of a similar module, each lumen 8 at said ends is connected to said lumen 8. so that it is partially surrounded by a wall 19 extending to a width approximately half the width of the
an open slot 18 having a width approximately half the width of the cavity 8;
The half-width walls 19 of the cavity 8 at the ends extend inwardly from the side walls of the module and when engaged with complementary parts of similar modules, the open slot 18 of each module is closed by the half-width wall portion 19 of the mating module.