Electrical connectors – With insulation other than conductor sheath – Plural-contact coupling part
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-24
2002-11-26
Vu, Hien (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With insulation other than conductor sheath
Plural-contact coupling part
C439S677000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06485336
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a coding arrangement including a pair of matched coding elements that are respectively connected between a pair of components, such as a terminal block and a printed circuit board, so that only authorized components can be electrically connected with each other. The invention also relates to a method for mounting the coding elements on their respective components.
2. Background of the Invention
Various coding arrangements are well known in the prior art. In the German patent No. DE 38 30 187, for example, there is disclosed a coding device for switchboard plug-in modules for the purpose of definite match up of plug-in modules and plug-in chambers with the help of coding projections on the module and coding devices corresponding therewith on the module support. The coding projections are attached on the underside of a module bottom, standing perpendicularly in a row at a right angle to the direction of insertion. On the bottom sheet metal piece of the module block, there is provided a coding plate with grooves located in the direction of insertion whose interval corresponds to the interval between the coding projections. The coding projections protrude into the grooves. Coding systems such as these entail the disadvantage that coding in practice is often dispensed with due to the effort connected with assembly. But this can lead to problems or damage, for instance, because various potentials, (for example, 24 V and 230 V) can be combined.
According to the prior art coding arrangement of
FIG. 6
, the problem arises that codings with few projections can be stuck into coding receptacles with free socket holes. For instance, pin “1” in
FIG. 6
can be stuck not only in socket “1” but also into sockets “3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15.” This does not reliably rule out the possibility of making a mistake in sticking the pin in. The problem therefore is this, as
FIG. 6
furthermore shows by way of example: If one has a total of four peg locations with one and three projections, then out of the theoretical 16, one can make only four coding variants that really differ from each other. If there are five peg positions, then there are ten genuine differentiation possibilities.
Starting with this state of the art, the present invention is intended to provide a simple coding system that is distinguished by high coding assurance and a large number of coding variants that can also be implemented in a narrow space. Another part of this problem involves ensuring the fact that the coding device can be assembled in an uncomplicated and quick manner.
The present invention was developed to avoid the above and other drawbacks of the known coding systems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a coding arrangement in which a pair of coding elements are connected between a pair of authorized components, such as a terminal block and a printed circuit board, whereby only the authorized pair of components can be displaced together toward a fully connected position.
According to a more specific object of the invention, the pair of coding elements each include a pair of angularly arranged coding surfaces each contained in a plane normal to the direction of connection of the components, the corresponding coding surfaces of the coding elements being parallel with each other. One of the coding elements includes a male projection or peg that extends in the direction of the other coding member and that carries one pair of angularly arranged coding surfaces. The corresponding pair of angularly arranged coding surfaces is formed either on projections on the other coding element, or on the walls of a non-circular female socket. The projections and/or sockets that can be assembled in each case essentially have a polygonal cross-section and form a part of a base surface—in particular, a regular polygon or a non-circular surface—on which they are aligned according to a coding system where the projections of the first and the projections and/or sockets of the second coding element in each case essentially rest with one of their outer sides against the circumference of the base surface and where, in case of different coding element variants, they rotate along the circumference of the base surface or are twisted with respect to each other. This coding system ensures a large number of coding variants so that any confusion can be eliminated. This is true, in particular, when two or more of these base surfaces or polygons are lined up directly along each other; one then gets a particularly large number of different reliably plugged-in coding variants in conjunction with the definite position match up (ensuring against twisting) of the components that are provided with the coding device; this can be done in a very tight space.
According to another object of the invention, the corresponding projections and/or sockets essentially have rectangular cross-section that amounts to about half the surface of the base surface that is made as a square area. It is furthermore practical when one of the longitudinal sides of the rectangular projections or sockets rests against one of the outer sides of the square area and/or when the surfaces of the different projection/projection or projection/socket combinations partly overlap each other. This coding system facilitates on a single square area—with an edge that, for instance, amounts to only a few millimeters—the implementation of four different coding variants. The number of coding variants can be multiplied by lining up these square areas to receive the rectangular projections and sockets. In that way, with two areas lined up to each other in a narrow space, one can already implement 16 coding variants, and with three areas lined up next to each other in a row, one can make even 64 coding variants on a particularly narrow surface.
As another preferred embodiment that implements even more coding variants on one base surface, the base surface is made as a hexagon; the pegs are made as half-hexagonal surface or as a third of the hexagonal surface (135″ element) and the pins for various coding variants are offset with respect to each other along the outer circumference in 60° steps. That idea can be carried forward with any number of hexagons; as the number of corners increases, one can, of course, theoretically increase the wide variety of coding variants on one base surface. But some time along the way, one encounters the problem of peg positions that will differ only very little from each other if the base surface is presumed to remain equally large.
The invention, moreover, solves another problem according to a particularly preferred embodiment. In electrical appliances, where in all units a uniform first component must be combined with a different second component, in other words, in electrical appliances that are built up on the basis of terminal blocks, which must be provided with different electronic housings, it so happens that storage is made more difficult by the coding devices, because for each electronic housing with the first coding element section, one must keep in stock a fitting terminal body with the corresponding second coding element section. To solve this problem, the two coding element sections can together be placed upon the first component and are so designed that when the two components are assembled, the second coding element section will so come to rest against the second component that upon separation of the two components from each other, the second coding element section will remain on the second component so that it forms a counterpart for the first coding element section that remains on the first component when the two components are separated from each other.
The present invention is particularly suitable for this embodiment, since the second coding element section that is attached to the base terminal unit is so made that when the housing is the set upon a base component, for example, the base terminal block, it will be ret
Dux Dietmar
Hanning Walter
Schnatwinkel Michael
Steinmeier Rudolf
Wilmes Manfred
Laubscher, Sr. Lawrence E.
Vu Hien
Weidmuller Interface GmbH & Co.
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