Insulation displacement contact connector

Details Insulation displacement contact connector Insulation displacement contact connector

2003-04-24

2004-07-13

Vu, Hien (Department: 2833)

Electrical connectors

Contact comprising cutter

Insulation cutter

C439S435000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06761576

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an insulation displacement contact (IDC) connector, and particularly to an IDC connector which can properly position a flat cable therein with minimal risk of damage the IDC connector.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Insulation displacement contact (IDC) connectors, also known as flat cable connectors or ribbon cable connectors, are widely used to mount cables in a cable assembly and thereby transmit signals between computers and peripheral devices. Generally, the flat cable consists of a plurality of parallel conductive cable lines. Each line is enclosed in a sheath made of an insulative material, such as plastic. An IDC connector, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,120,319 and 6,193,545, is commonly used to terminate the flat cable by piercing the corresponding sheath of each line. Referring to
FIG. 4
, a conventional IDC connector
6
comprises a housing
60
, a plurality of electrical contacts
61
received in the housing
60
, an insulative cover
63
, and a locking member
62
.
The housing
60
comprises a main body portion
601
, and a pair of receptacles
604
at opposite ends of the body portion
601
respectively. Each receptacle
604
comprises an inner wall
6043
, two parallel sidewalls
6041
extending from the inner wall
6043
, and an outer wall
6040
interconnecting the two sidewalls
6041
and being opposite from the inner wall
6043
. A wedge
6045
is formed on a lower portion of the inner wall
6043
. The contacts
61
are received in the body portion
601
of the housing
60
. Each contact
61
comprises a forked tail
610
protruding out from a top of the body portion
601
. The cover
63
has two U-shaped latches
630
depending from opposite ends thereof respectively, and the locking member
62
has a pair of arms
620
depending from opposite ends thereof respectively.
When the IDC connector
6
is assembled with a flat cable (not shown), firstly, the latches
630
of the cover
63
are inserted into the corresponding receptacles
604
of the housing
60
, with the latches
630
engaging with the wedges
6045
. The cover
63
and the housing
60
define a receiving space therebetween for receiving a predetermined section of the flat cable. In this process, the forked tails
610
of the contacts
61
pierce the sheaths of the flat cable, and thereby electrically connect with the flat cable. Then the flat cable is folded back over onto a top of the cover
63
. The arms
620
of the locking member
62
are inserted into the corresponding receptacles
604
, and engagingly abut against the outer walls
6040
.
However, when the arms
620
are inserted into the receptacles
604
, the outer walls
6040
are liable to substantially deform or even break due to compression from the arms
620
. Yet if a space between each inner wall
6043
and its corresponding outer wall
6040
is increased to reduce deformation of the outer wall
6040
, the corresponding arm
620
is liable to only loosely clasp the outer wall
6040
.
In view of the above, a new IDC connector that overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages is desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an insulation displacement contact (IDC) connector which can reliably connect with a flat cable with minimal risk of damage to the IDC connector.
To achieve the above-mentioned object, an insulation displacement contact (IDC) connector in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises an insulative housing, a plurality of electrical contacts received in the housing and protruding out from a top of the housing, an insulative cover and a locking member. The housing comprises a body portion and two receptacles at opposite ends of the body portion. Each receptacle comprises an inner wall, two parallel sidewalls extending from the inner wall, and an outer wall interconnecting the two sidewalls. Each of the outer walls defines two gaps respectively adjacent the sidewalls for providing the outer wall with better elasticity. Each gap spans from a bottom edge of the outer wall to a middle section of the outer wall, and has a determined height. The cover has two U-shaped latches depending from opposite ends thereof respectively, and the locking member has two arms depending from opposite ends thereof respectively. The latches and the arms insert into the receptacles with the outer walls elastically deforming, thereby the cover and the locking member engaging with the housing in order to force the forked tails of the contacts to electrically connect with a determined section of a flat cable, while not damage the outer walls of the receptacles.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become parent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction accompanying drawings, in which:


REFERENCES:
patent: 5100342 (1992-03-01), Olsson
patent: 5762513 (1998-06-01), Stine
patent: 5967832 (1999-10-01), Ploehn
patent: 6120319 (2000-09-01), Lee et al.
patent: 6193545 (2001-02-01), Lee et al.
patent: 6309243 (2001-10-01), Tu et al.

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