Electrical connectors – Metallic connector or contact having movable or resilient... – Single operator for securing and joining plural conductors
Patent
1998-05-20
2000-02-22
Stephan, Steven L.
Electrical connectors
Metallic connector or contact having movable or resilient...
Single operator for securing and joining plural conductors
439801, G01R 1103
Patent
active
060273828
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a fastening arrangement with a screw to be used as a weld screw for the arrangement of at least one cable terminal with a cable holder.
Known screws to be used as a weld screw for the arrangement of at least one cable terminal with a cable holder have a shank and an adjoining flange which has a welding surface on its side remote from the shank which is used to weld the weld screw to a metallic structure which can be, for example, a motor vehicle body. Such screws are used, for example, as an earth connection for electrical leads. If an electrical lead is to be fastened on such a weld screw, the shank preferably has an external thread, the leads are provided with a cable terminal via a cable holder, and the cable terminal is fastened on the shank by means of a nut. If an electrical lead is fastened on a screw as earth connection, relatively high turning moments are required to fix the electrical lead to ensure that sufficiently good electrical contact exists between the screw and the electrical lead.
A problem which repeatedly leads to difficulties when fastening components on weld screws lies in the fact that the components are not generally sufficiently protected from twisting. Forces and turning moments of greatly differing natures and values act on the components held by the weld screws owing to vibrations occurring during the movement of the motor vehicle. It is known from German Utility Model No G 84 25 599.4 that such turning moments cause the component to twist with respect to the weld screw. The component is consequently loosened, particularly if the shank has spiral projections, i.e. a thread, so components can no longer fulfil their function to the optimum level.
It is proposed in EP 0 533 421 A2 that a locking screw which cooperates with a plastics part is used as a locking weld screw. The weld screw has a base part with a non-circular outer rim penetrating into the plastics part of which the lower portion has an inner rim. An upper portion of the plastics part has recesses for receiving a cable holder. The non-circular design of the outer rim of the base part of the locking screw and the corresponding non-circular design of the lower portion of the plastics part allow a secure non-rotatable joint between the weld screw and the plastics part. The cable holder of the cable terminal to which a cable is fastened is guided through the recess so the cable terminal is fixed in a rigid position and cannot twist itself during assembly. The cable terminal is fixed by a nut screwed onto a threaded shank of the locking weld screw. The screwing-on process takes place automatically, the tightening moment being relatively high to ensure that sufficiently good electrical contact exists between the cable terminal and the locking screw. Owing to the high tightening moment, the plastics part can be set into rotation by a nut with an exact cable terminal. This can occur because the plastics part cannot absorb the tightening moment or the moment originating from the cable terminal. The cable terminal therefore adopts a position different from that actually intended. In particular in motor vehicle construction, in which the above-described fastening arrangements are used as earth connections, such positional displacement of the cable terminal can lead to short-circuits as the cable terminal can be joined to adjacent electrical devices.
For fixing a cable holder on the weld screw, the cable holder which has a substantially disk-shaped terminal is slipped over the shank of the weld screw and fastened by a nut screwed onto the threaded shank of the weld screw. During installation it can happen that, owing to the resilient properties of a cable joined to the cable terminal, the cable terminal is released from the weld screw necessitating re-application of the cable terminal to the weld screw. This effect is further increased if several cable terminals are to be fixed on one weld screw. If so-called overhead installation is to take place, this leads to quite complex handling.
It is an obj
REFERENCES:
patent: 5292264 (1994-03-01), Blank
Reindl Johann
Schneider Joachim
Duverne J. F.
Emhart Inc.
Murphy Edward D.
Stephan Steven L.
LandOfFree
Fastening arrangement does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Fastening arrangement, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Fastening arrangement will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-516182