Electrical connectors – With sealing element or material for cooperation with... – Combined with distinct cable sheath sealing element or material
Patent
1992-12-14
1994-04-05
Paumen, Gary F.
Electrical connectors
With sealing element or material for cooperation with...
Combined with distinct cable sheath sealing element or material
439589, H01R 1352
Patent
active
052999491
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to electrical connectors of the type comprising an insulating body formed with passages for receiving contacts each provided with a connection wire, and for receiving a rear grommet or feedthrough made of elastomer material formed with at least one row of passages for individual wires (and generally with at least two parallel rows) and held by a plate that is removably fastenable to the body.
Such connectors are in widespread use at present. Numerous applications, e.g. in the automobile industry, require connectors to be sealed, which means that it must not be possible for a polluting liquid to penetrate between the grommet and either the wires or the insulating body.
A solution that is in widespread use at present for ensuring sealing consists in casting a polymerizable material over the wires behind the grommet or as a replacement for the grommet. That solution suffers from the drawback of making the connector unsuitable for disassembly. A solution that allows a contact provided with its insulated wire to be removed and replaced consists in providing a circular sealing lip or lips in the wall of each individual passage for the purpose of bearing against a wire. However, in present grommets, sealing is obtained only if the passages are indeed occupied by wires of sufficient diameter. Unfortunately, particularly in the automobile industry, it is desired that the same connectors should be usable over a range of vehicles, with some contact locations not necessarily being occupied in every case.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved electrical connector of the above-defined type particularly in that it simultaneously makes disassembly possible and provides sealing, even when some positions are not fitted with contacts and wires.
To solve this problem, the invention starts from the observation that there now exist contacts having front ends that are not sharp, and that can therefore be inserted in the orifices of a feedthrough whose section at rest is considerably smaller than that of the contact. Particular mention may be made of a female contact of this type as described in Document EP-A-0 310 487 having a front end that includes two sides formed by folds and in which the edges of the other two sides are set back from the folds, thereby avoiding tearing of the feedthrough. Mention may also be made of a male contact comprising blades designed to be inserted in a female contact of the kind described in DocLunent EP-A-0 310 487, which blades have chamfered front ends.
Consequently, the invention provides a connector of the above-defined type characterized in that each passage of the feedthrough includes at least one sealing lip whose rest shape is such that it closes the corresponding individual passage in the absence of a wire when the feedthrough is held by the plate, and in that voids are left in the feedthrough to receive the elastomer pushed back from the zones surrounding the lips when the lips press against a wire.
The invention also provides a connector of the above-defined type, in which the plate is constituted by a rigid part having flanks designed to be laterally inserted on either side of the rows and to push back said elastomer material transversely, and a partition for each gap between two rows, the partition being designed to be inserted in a notch formed in the feedthrough halfway between the two rows, the thickness of the flanks and of the partitions being proportional to the gap between the sealing lips provided in the passages so as to cause the lips to close onto themselves in the absence of wires, voids being left in the feedthrough to receive the elastomer pushed back from the zones surrounding the lips when the lips press against a wire.
The voids reserved in the feedthrough generally include notches or empty zones each formed between two successive passages on either side of the corresponding row, or less frequently, of the single row. When there are several rows, said notche
REFERENCES:
patent: 4460227 (1984-07-01), Ball
patent: 4662692 (1987-05-01), Uken et al.
patent: 4874325 (1989-10-01), Bensing et al.
patent: 4932875 (1990-06-01), Ogawa et al.
Francelco
Paumen Gary F.
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