Cable connector having strain relief

Details Cable connector having strain relief Cable connector having strain relief

2000-04-14

2001-10-16

Sircus, Brian (Department: 2839)

Electrical connectors

With stress relieving means for conductor to terminal joint

Curved conductor path

C439S942000, C439S701000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06302724

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to electrical connectors and more particularly to cable connectors.
2. Brief Description of Prior Developments
FIG. 1
shows the current method of making a charger cable connector. This prior art charger cable connector kit includes a top cover
10
, a bottom cover
12
, a V-90 male connector
14
, a paddle board
16
and a cable
18
. It also includes lateral latches
20
and
22
and buttons
24
and
26
. To achieve the strain relief, a flexible grommet is molded onto the cable.
To grip the grommet, a two piece cover is used, that is closed around the grommet, and secured by screwing or riveting the two covers together, trapping the grommet, the terminal block, and the cable connector metal latches.
When the cable is pulled, the force is transmitted from the copper wires, through the insulation, to the grommet. The grommet then transmits the force to the cover body. The cover body transmits the force to the metal latches, which transmit the force to the body of the mating connector which, for this connector, is located in the case of a mobile telephone. This procedure avoids a situation in which force is transmitted to either the solder joints or the contacts.
The grommet does not prevent all forces from being transmitted to the solder joints or contacts particularly when the cable is flexed. Sometimes, however, a paddle board is used to further relieve the forces which will be transmitted to an individual contact to spread the forces over a larger number of electrically non-functional contacts.
The paddle board is used particularly with miniature connectors, where the strength and retention of the contact in the housing is small compared to the forces which can be applied to the cable in the use of such a product.
Disadvantages of the above described apparatus are as follows.
The number of components used means a high investment in tooling, a high material cost, and a labor intensive assembly process.
For a cable type B to work effectively, the adhesion between the copper wires and the insulation, and the insulation and the jacket, must be extremely high. Otherwise, when the cable is pulled, the insulation and jacket will stretch, and the force will be conducted via the copper wires direct to the solder joints and contacts, resulting in either a broken solder joint, or a displaced contact or paddle board, if used.
If, however, the cable is made with very high insulation and jacket adhesion, it becomes very difficult to strip during the assembly process, and becomes less flexible, making it less user friendly for the end user.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a cable connector which avoids the above described disadvantages.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a cable connector assembly which includes a concave housing comprising a proximate cable receiving opening and a distal terminal block opening and an interior retaining block engagement means. A cable extends axially through the proximate cable receiving opening into the concave housing. A transverse cable extension is adjacent the distal block opening. A terminal block has an axial projection and a metallic contact and is mounted in the distal retaining block opening of the concave housing such that the projection engages the interior block retaining means and the projection and contact engage the transverse cable extension.
Preferably, the terminal block has a primary strain relief groove, which the wire is placed into from above. The plastic housing squeezes the insulation of the wires onto the copper, holding the wire into position in the terminal block. This holds the parts in position while the wire is soldered to the contact, and also functions as a strain relief, isolating forces from the solder joint.
Further, when the housing is preferably fitted to the terminal block, by sliding it forward, a ramp in the cover pushes a secondary strain relief tongue towards the cable, and finally clamps the cable insulation (or jacket in the case of cable type B) firmly to the housing. Plastic barbs in the secondary strain relief tongue also exert a locally high pressure to the cable jacket, clamping the jacket to the insulation, to the copper wires.
The housing is also preferably held in position against the terminal block by means of a latching device. The housing is shaped at the back to provide an area where the cable is restrained in a straight length, so that any cable flexing forces will only be seen as an axial force at the point where the cable is clamped to the cover. Further, the cable exit portion of the housing is provided with a radiused edge, to avoid any cutting of the cable jacket by repeated flexing.
The housing also preferably incorporates plastic latches, which will transmit the forces from the cable to the mating connector. The plastic latches are molded with a bias, and are squeezed inwards while the cover is assembled to the terminal block. When the latches are released, the flanges on each side of the main latch body rest against pre-load guide in the terminal block. This ensures that the latches always have a pre-load force holding them against the terminal block, thus eliminating a large part of the effect of manufacturing tolerances on the latch depression force.


REFERENCES:
patent: H113 (1986-08-01), McNeel
patent: 2027853 (1936-01-01), Benander
patent: 2713669 (1955-07-01), Cahn

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Cable connector having strain relief does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Cable connector having strain relief, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Cable connector having strain relief will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2605039