Electrical connectors – With insulation other than conductor sheath – Plural-contact coupling part
Patent
1999-10-15
2000-09-26
Bradley, Paula
Electrical connectors
With insulation other than conductor sheath
Plural-contact coupling part
H01R 2500
Patent
active
061235857
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a module for connecting actuators and/or sensors having a housing that can be mounted on a base and has a contact unit with contact pins.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Modules for connecting actuators and/or sensors, which can be purchased on the electronics market, have standardized outer dimensions and mounting hole patterns as well as standardized load feeders. Electric module circuits in the form of p.c. boards, for example, are built into a housing that is mounted on site. For example, a number of modules of this type are provided in a production island in an automobile manufacturing plant. In this case, auxiliary power or control signals, for example, which can be picked off in the form of actuator or sensor outputs at the module load feeders or fed to these circuits via corresponding inputs, are supplied to one or to each of these modules via a cable (actuator/sensor interface bus). For example, a sensor signal of a photoelectric barrier can be supplied to one input of the module in the form of an input signal, while the auxiliary power and/or control signals can be applied via an output of the module, e.g., an actuator in the form of a relay.
The auxiliary power and control signals are conventionally supplied to the module via two flat cables, which are connected to the module after the latter has been positioned and assembled. Contact domes that are provided on the module housing and whose contacts are connected to the p.c. board provided in the housing according to the corresponding electric circuit can be used to establish connections to the various loads. However, the use of flat cables has proven to be highly problematic, especially in areas with extreme external conditions. In welding plants of the metal-working industry, for example, the flat cables are irreversibly damaged by red-hot welding beads, particularly on their corners.
SUMMARY
The present invention is based on the recognition that round cables are more resistant to extreme external conditions of this type. An object of the present invention is therefore to provide a module which has a simple design and also allows a round cable to be contacted and the module to be easily assembled and serviced.
According to the present invention, this object is achieved by providing the base with an accommodating element that projects above the housing and has an accommodating aperture for a plug coupling of a round cable connection that can be brought into contact with a connector, with the connector having contact elements that can engage with the contact pins. A round cable connection is understood to be a rectangular or round plug connection, in particular for a rectangular plug or for a round plug.
According to one advantageous embodiment, the accommodating element is molded onto one free end of the base. This molded projection is suitably designed so that it has a conical shape in the longitudinal direction of the module, with the accommodating aperture for the plug coupling being positioned at a right angle to the plane of the base. The conical free end of the outer member may have a rounded outer contour that matches the shape of the accommodating aperture.
To use the contact pins extending out of the housing, i.e., the electrical connection between the module and the previously used flat cable as well as all mechanical and design properties of the housing, without any changes, the connector suitably has a contact plate which holds both the contact elements and the connecting elements for the plug coupling. The contact plate, and thus the connector, is designed so that the contact elements correspond to the contact pins or contact spikes when the module is assembled. The connector thus forms a kind of adapter for connecting round cables with different mechanical dimensions and wire strand designs which can be easily plugged into the plug coupling for this purpose.
The connector in the form of the contact plate holding the plug coupling can be preferably mounted on the bottom of the ba
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patent: 4995818 (1991-02-01), Saimoto
patent: 5011417 (1991-04-01), Matsumoto et al.
patent: 5581130 (1996-12-01), Boucheron
patent: 5764487 (1998-07-01), Natsume
patent: 5780775 (1998-07-01), Yu
patent: 5788529 (1998-08-01), Borzi et al.
patent: 5914863 (1999-06-01), Shen
Freimuth Michael
Hussong Wolfgang
Schatz Wolfgang
Bradley Paula
Nguyen P
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
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