WO2008122844A1

WO2008122844A1 - Electrical connector and method of manufacture

Info

Publication number: WO2008122844A1
Application number: PCT/IB2007/052676
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ould Yahya
Original assignee: Fci
Priority date: 2007-04-06
Filing date: 2007-04-06
Publication date: 2008-10-16

Abstract

Electrical connector comprising: a housing (20), a grid (24), a sealing gasket (2) and electrical connection members (4). The sealing gasket comprises a recess (16). The housing or the grid comprises a compression feature (19). The grid comprises retention features (23). The housing comprises a first and a second set of retention features (15, 25) for mechanical connection of the grid to the housing. The housing is connected on the grid in a pre- assembled condition, in which the compression feature (19) cooperates with the recess (16) to limit a lateral displacement of the gasket relative to the housing.

Description

ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The instant invention relates to electrical connectors and methods of manufacturing these connectors. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

EP-I 296 415 already describes such a connector, which is globally satisfactory. Yet, one always strives to improve the retention and sealing ability of such gaskets in normal use while ensuring easy insertion or removal of the electrical contacting members and maintaining low the risk of damage of the gasket during their insertion/removal .

An object of the instant invention is notably to provide such an improvement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To this aim, the invention provides an electrical connector according to claim 1.

With these features, good sealing properties are obtained, while insertion/extraction of the electrical members, which is performed in the pre-assembled condition, is facilitated.

In some embodiments, one might also use one or more of the features defined in the dependant claims., considered either independently or in combination. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will readily appear from the following description of one of its embodiments, provided as a non- limitative examples, and of the accompanying drawings. On the drawings :

- Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a first embodiment of the invention,

- Fig. 2 is a schematic partial perspective view of an electrical connection member suitable for the connector of Fig. 1,

- Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a connector according to the embodiment of Fig. 1, in a pre-assembled condition, along line III-III in Fig. 1, - Fig. 4 is a view corresponding to Fig. 3 after insertion of an electrical connection member,

- Fig. 5 is a view corresponding to Fig. 3 and 4 in the assembled condition of the connector,

- Fig. 6 is a view corresponding to Fig. 5, where the electrical connection member is not shown, for a second embodiment of the invention, and

- Fig. 7 is a view corresponding to Fig. 6 for a third embodiment of the invention.

On the different Figures, the same reference signs designate like or similar elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Fig. 1 is an exploded partial view of an electrical connector 1. This connector comprises a housing 20 made of an electrically insulating material such as glass-fiber reinforced poly-butylene terephtalate (PBT) . The housing comprises a front part 20a arranged in columns and rows of passageways 13, 14 for receiving electrical connection members to be described in further details later on with respect to Fig. 2. For example, the front part of the housing comprises two columns of broad passageways 13, and ten columns of narrow passageways 14. The back portion of the passageways 13, 14 define a back face 28 of the housing for reception of a sealing gasket 2. The housing also comprises a back part 20b, for accommodation of the sealing gasket 2 and of a grid 24.

The back part 20b comprises a first set of retention features 15, for example performed as four longitudinal slots extending on the same level in the back part of the housing, two of them being visible on Fig. 1 of the right face of the back part of the housing, and two others being not visible on Fig. 1 and performed symmetrically on the left face of the housing.

The back part 20b comprises a second set of retention features 25, for example performed as four longitudinal slots extending on the same level, each above a respective slot of the first set of retention features

(only two of these slots are visible on Fig. 1) .

A sealing device such as a sealing gasket 2 is inserted between the front part 20a of the housing and the grid 24.

The sealing gasket 2 is for example made of a soft deformable quasi incompressible material such as Liquid Silicone Rubber. A suitable example could be a material provided by GE-Bayer under reference Silopren 3596/30 (30 Shores A) . The above material also has an auto-lubricating property of 5%, thereby facilitating the contact insertion.

Other materials such as Heat Curing Rubers (HCR) ,

Silicone or Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomers (EPDM) , thermoplastic elastomers (ETP) , or others, could also be used for the sealing gasket 2.

The sealing gasket 2 comprises a front face 2b facing the back face 28 of the housing and an opposing back face 2a facing the grid 24 (Fig. 3) . In the described example, two series 7, 12 of passageways are defined in the sealing gasket, corresponding to the passageways 13, 14 of the housing. A first series comprises broad passageways 7 of maximal diameter about 3 mm for receiving thick electrical connection members for insertion into broad passageways 13 of the housing, and a second series comprising narrow passageways 12 of maximal diameter about 1 mm for receiving thin electrical connection members for insertion into small passageways 14 of the housing. The back face 2a of the sealing gasket 2 further comprises compression recesses 16. For example, these extend longitudinally between two consecutive rows of passageways. For example, a first recess 16 extends between a first and second row of narrow passageways, and a second recess extends between a third and fourth rows of narrow passageways . The grid 24 is made of a rigid plastic body which will in the assembled condition of the connector, be mechanically connected to the housing, to compress the sealing gasket between the housing and the grid. It also comprises broad passageways 17 and narrow passageways 18 which correspond to the passageways 7, 12 of the sealing gasket, and 13, 14 of the housing. The grid 24 comprises a front face 29 facing the back face 2a of the sealing gasket. In the first embodiment, the front face 29 of the grid comprises compression features which face the recesses 16 of the sealing gasket. The compression features are for example performed as ribs 19 of a shape similar to a shape of the recesses 16, for example of a triangular cross section and which extend longitudinally on the front face 29 of the grid between rows of passageways. Further, the grid 24 comprises, on its sides, mechanical retention features 23 for example in the form of tabs 23 which are elastically deformable with respect to the body of the grid. The tabs 23 are located so as to cooperate with the slots 15, 25 of the first and second set for mechanical retention of the grid in the housing.

The dimensions of the sealing gasket, the number of ribs and the number, positions and sizes of passageways of the gasket, of the grid and of the housing depend on the application required for the connector. The dimensions, positions and sizes pictured on Fig. 1 are only exemplary and could vary from one connector to another.

In the present example of a female connector, an electrical contact member 4 such as the one shown on Fig. 2 comprises a contact portion 22 inserted into a passageway 13, 14 of the front part 20a of the housing, for connection with a mating male contact.

This contact portion is connected to a cable element which is covered with an insulating sheath 6 which extends through the housing to the outside of the housing. The sheath 6 comprises a first junction portion 6a located proximate to the contact portion, and a more remote external portion, or sheath body, designed to extend outside of the connector for connection to another electric equipment. In this example, the proximate junction portion 6a is somehow cylindrical, and exhibits a diameter D_c.

In the example embodiment, the contacts to be inserted in the broad passageways 13 have a somehow rectangular section of 2.40 millimetres (mm) times 2.70 mm. Contacts to be inserted in the narrow passageways are of similar shape, but with a smaller cross section.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the sealing gasket along the insertion direction, along line III-III of Fig. 1. The axisymmetric passageways 12 extend axisymmetrically about a symmetry axis from the back face 2a of the sealing gasket to the front face 2b of the sealing gasket. The electrical connection member is to be inserted from the top of Fig. 2. The passageways 12 can be sealed by a sealant membrane 26.

As can be seen on Fig. 3, in the pre-assembled condition of the connector, the sealing gasket 2 rests sensibly uncompressed, on the back face 28 of the front part of the housing. Further, the sealing gasket rests with its upper portion on a complementary shoulder 27 of the housing. The grid is placed in pre-assembled condition, as shown on Fig. 3. In this condition, the retention tabs 23 of the grid cooperate with the upper retention slots 25 of the housing. In this pre-assembled condition, the ribs 19 of the grid 24 extend at least partially into the recesses 16 yet, without compressing the sealing gasket. The grid being maintained in this pre- assembled condition, the electrical contact members 4 are inserted into position, as shown in Fig. 4. During this insertion, the membrane 26 will be torn by the electrical connection member 4. Since, in the pre-assembled condition of the connector, the sealing gasket 2 is not compressed, but simply rests inside the housing, the insertion of the electrical connection member 4 into the housing through the sealing gasket is easy. Thus, during this insertion, the sealing gasket will be displaced. However, due to the insertion of the ribs 19 inside a recess 16, the ribs 19 and the recesses 16 will cooperate mechanically to limit the lateral displacement of the sealing gasket 2 during the insertion of the electrical connection members. For example, for the leftmost shown electrical connection member 4 on Fig. 4, the right face 19a of the left rib 19 will mechanically cooperate with the facing right face 16a of the sealing gasket at the left recess 16 to limit the displacement to the left of the sealing gasket 2. Although further away, depending on the dimensions and mechanical characteristics of the relative elements, it is possible that a similar behaviour will be witnessed also on the rightmost rib and recess of Fig. 4 at the insertion of the leftmost electrical connection member.

It will be readily apparent to a man skilled in the art that, when an electrical connection members is inserted into the right most passageway on Fig. 4, the left face 19b of the left and/or right rib will cooperate with the left face 16b of the sealing gasket at the left and/or right recess 16, to prevent lateral displacement to the right of the sealing gasket.

Once, all necessary electrical connection members are inserted into the housing, the grid is displaced, as shown on Fig. 5 from its pre-assembled condition to its assembled condition in which it compresses the sealing gasket 2 for ensuring the sealing ability of the connector. Although only one electrical connection member is represented on Fig. 5, it should be understood that all the passageways could receive a similar electrical connection member, or that some of them might not receive any electrical connection member. In this later case, the membrane 26 is not torn for keeping the sealing ability of the sealing gasket.

When the grid 24 is displaced from the pre- assembled condition of Fig. 3 to the assembled condition of Fig. 4, the tabs 23 are elastically deformed in order to be inserted into the slots 15 of the lower set of retention features in the housing. Due to the incompressible behaviour of the sealing gasket, the grid 24 will be pushed up by the sealing gasket to abut on an abutting face 30 of the housing.

As can be seen of Fig. 5, in the assembled condition of Fig. 5, the ribs 19 are totally inserted into the recess 16 of the sealing gasket in order to impart a lateral compression (transversal to the insertion direction) on the sheath 6 of the electrical connection member. This will improve the lateral retention of the sheath. For example, the shape of the recesses 16 will be defined a little bit narrower than the shape of the ribs 19, so that material of the sealing gasket is compressed upon full insertion of the rib 19 into the recess 16. This comes in addition to the vertical compression of the sealing gasket between the back face 28 of the housing and the front face 29 of the grid.

If it is necessary to remove one of the electrical connection members, for example for replacement, elastic deformation of the tabs 23 can be applied, for example by an appropriate tooling. In this way, the tabs 23 will disengage from the abutting face 30 of the housing, and the grid 24 will be pushed naturally up by the sealing gasket 2. It can be displaced back into the pre-assembled condition of Fig. 4. It should be noted that, upon removal of the electrical connection member 4, in the pre-assembled condition, the ribs 19 and recesses 16 will also cooperate to limit the lateral displacement of the sealing gasket in a way similar to that disclosed in relation to insertion.

Fig. 6 now represents a connector according to a second embodiment of the invention, in its assembled condition, on which the electrical connection members are not represented for the sake of clarity. As can be seen when compared to Fig. 5, in this embodiment, the compression features 19 can be formed in the back face 28 of the housing and the corresponding recesses of the sealing gasket in its front face 2b. A shape of the ribs 19, of the recesses 16 and the distance of the grid between its pre-assembled condition and its assembled condition are similarly defined so as to prevent a lateral displacement of the sealing gasket upon insertion/extraction of the electrical connection members.

In a third embodiment, as shown on Fig. 7, it should be noted that the teachings of the first and second embodiments could be combined. In this embodiment, a fist set of ribs 19 are formed in the front face of the grid 24 for cooperation with recesses 16 in the back face 2a of the sealing gasket, and a second set of ribs 19 are formed in the back face 28 of the housing for facing with corresponding recesses 16 of the front face 2b of the sealing gasket 2. For example, as shown, the ribs 19 of the grid and the ribs 19 of the housing are located so as to remotely face each other. It should be noted that, although the compression features, in the present examples were exemplified as longitudinal ribs inserted into longitudinal recesses, the invention could also be applied with other types of compression features such as features which apply an uniformly radial pressure on the sheath.

Claims

1. Electrical connector comprising: a housing (20) , - a grid (24) , a sealing gasket (2) pressed between the housing and the grid, and comprising a plurality of pathways (7, 12) each extending along a longitudinal axis through said gasket, wherein the sealing gasket comprises at least a recess (16) on a compression face (2a ;2b), and wherein at least one of the housing and the grid comprises a compression feature (19) facing the recess of the sealing gasket.

2. Electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein

- the grid comprises retention features (23) ,

- the housing comprises a first set of retention features (15), complementary to the retention features of the grid, for mechanical connection of the grid to the housing in an assembled condition of the connector, in which said compression feature (19) is inserted into said recess (16) to apply, at a neighbouring pathway, a pressure which is transverse to the longitudinal axis.

3. Electrical connector according to claim 2, wherein

- the housing further comprises a second set of retention features (25) , also complementary to the retention features of the grid, for mechanical connection of the grid to the housing in a pre-assembled condition of the connector, in which said compression feature (19) cooperates with said recess (16) to limit a lateral displacement, transverse to the longitudinal axis, of the gasket relative to the housing, and the grid (24) is displaceable from a first position in which the retention features (23) of the grid cooperate with the second set of retention features (25) of the housing in pre-assembled condition of the connector, to a second position in which the retention features (23) of the grid cooperate with the first set of retention features (15) of the housing in assembled condition of the connector .

4. Electrical connector according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the grid comprises the compression feature (19) and wherein, in pre-assembled condition, a face (2b) of the sealing gasket which is opposite to the compression face (2a), is facing a back face (28) of the housing.

5. Electrical connector according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the housing comprises the compression feature (19) and wherein, in pre-assembled condition, a face (2a) of the seal which is opposite to the compression face, is facing a front face (29) of the grid.

6. Electrical connector according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein both the grid and the housing comprise a compression feature (19), and wherein the sealing gasket comprises two opposite compression faces (2a, 2b) each comprising at least a recess (16) .

7. Electrical connector according to any preceding claim, wherein the compression feature comprises an elongated rib (19) having a sensibly triangular cross- section .

8. Electrical connector according to any preceding claim comprising electrical connection members (4) each comprising: a connection portion (22) accommodated inside the housing, for electrical connection to a complementary electrical connection member of a mating connector, and . an intermediate portion (6a) extending from the connection portion, and partly accommodated in a corresponding pathway of the sealing gasket, and wherein a recess (16) has a first face (16a,

16b), wherein the compression feature has a second face (19a, 19b), wherein, in pre-assembled condition, there is a gap between said first and second faces and wherein, upon insertion of an electrical connection member into said housing through said gasket, or upon extraction of an electrical connection member from said housing through said gasket, said first face (16a, 16b) abuts on the second face

(19a, 19b) to limit a lateral displacement of the gasket relative to the housing.

9. Electrical connector according to any preceding claim wherein, in the assembled condition, the gasket (2) presses the retention features (23) of the grid in abutment on the first set of retention features (15) of the housing.

10. A housing for an electrical connector according to any of the preceding claims.

11. A method for manufacturing an electrical connector comprising the following steps:

(a) providing a housing (20), a grid (24), a sealing gasket (2) to be pressed between the housing and the grid, the sealing gasket comprising a plurality of pathways each extending along a longitudinal axis through said gasket, wherein the sealing gasket comprises at least a recess (16) on a compression face (2a ; 2b), wherein at least one of the housing and the grid comprises a compression feature (19) facing the recess of the sealing gasket, wherein the grid comprises retention features (23) , wherein the housing comprises a first and a second set of retention features (15, 25) complementary to the retention features of the grid, for mechanical connection of the grid to the housing, (b) mechanically connecting the grid to the housing in a first position by cooperation of the second set of retention features (25) of the housing with the retention features (23) of the grid, defining a pre- assembled condition of the connector in which the compression feature (19) cooperates with the recess (16) to limit a lateral displacement, transverse to the longitudinal axis, of the gasket relative to the housing,

(c) inserting, through the grid (24) and the gasket (2), electrical connection members each comprising: a connection portion (22) accommodated inside the housing, for electrical connection to a complementary electrical connection member of a mating connector, and . an intermediate portion (6a) extending from the connection portion, and partly accommodated in a corresponding pathway of the sealing gasket,

(d) displacing the grid (24) from the first position to a second position in which the retention features (23) of the grid cooperate with the first set of retention features (15) of the housing, for mechanical connection of the grid to the housing in an assembled condition of the connector, in which said compression feature is inserted into said recess to apply, at a neighbouring pathway, a pressure which is sensibly transverse to the longitudinal axis.