EP0576365A1 - Device for the selective electrical interconnection of a series of conductors - Google Patents

Abstract

This device includes: - a shell (case) (10) provided with a series of housings (11) each receiving a pin (20) forming the male connection element, and - a cover (30) provided on the inside with a plurality of strips (40) having a U-shaped cross-section which form female connection elements and are intended to interact with a plurality of pins so as electrically to short-circuit them together. According to the invention, each housing includes retaining members (13), made as single pieces, interacting with a shoulder (23) of the pin after insertion of the latter into its housing so as to oppose the axial force exerted on the pins by the conductors, and thus to permit the axial mechanical retention of the pin in its housing and the holding of the end of the pin between the branches of the U of the strip, the cover and the strips being essentially devoid of means for the axial mechanical retention of the pins. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a device for making selective electrical interconnections between a series of conductors.

These devices are in particular used in the aeronautical field, where the realization of the on-board electrical circuits is done by meeting rows of pins, each connected to one of the conductors, short-circuited together by means of bringing all the conductors to the same potential coming into contact with the same bar.

• un boîtier isolant, pourvu d'une série de logements traversants parallèles propres à recevoir chacun une broche conductrice dont l'extrémité libre forme élément de connexion mâle et dont l'extrémité opposée est reliée à l'un desdits conducteurs, les différentes broches émergeant toutes par leur extrémité libre d'un même côté du boîtier, et
• un capot isolant, venant fermer ledit côté, pourvu intérieurement d'une pluralité de barrettes conductrices à section en forme de U formant éléments de connexion femelles, situées chacune en regard d'une pluralité desdits logements et destinées à coopérer avec une pluralité de broches par venue en contact avec l'extrémité libre émergeante de celles-ci de manière à les court-circuiter électriquement entre elles.

More specifically, such a device comprises:

• an insulating housing, provided with a series of parallel through housings suitable for each receiving a conductive pin whose free end forms a male connection element and whose opposite end is connected to one of said conductors, the different pins all emerging by their free end on the same side of the housing, and
• an insulating cover, coming to close said side, provided internally with a plurality of conductive bars with U-shaped section forming female connection elements, each located opposite a plurality of said housings and intended to cooperate with a plurality of pins by come into contact with the free emerging end of these so as to electrically short-circuit them.

Enclosures are generally found in large numbers; they are produced in a modular form which makes it possible to juxtapose them, for example in mounting them on a common rail. The modularity of these devices, i.e. the possibility, with a reduced number of parts, of modifying the interconnection diagrams, is an important element in the design of these devices, as well as their weight (essential parameter in the aeronautical field) and their cost (due to their very large number).

FR-A-2 578 361 and EP-A-0 214 627 describe such modular interconnection devices, and envisage many possible embodiments.

However, the devices described by these documents always use parts of relatively complex shapes, in particular with regard to the conductive bars, and do not allow very high miniaturization to be achieved, so that they are not applicable to the creation of interconnections between very small pins configured very compactly in the same housing.

The starting point of the invention lies in the observation that these drawbacks (complexity of the shapes of the bars, impossibility of extensive miniaturization) mainly stem from the fact that the conductive bars in fact perform a double function, namely, on the one hand, the establishment of the actual electrical contact with the pins and, on the other hand, the mechanical retention of the pins in the device: this double function implies a more complex shape, therefore more costly to produce and more difficult to miniaturize.

In addition, it is often desirable to ensure not only the short circuit between a given row of pins, but also between two adjacent parallel rows. to this end, it is possible, as is for example proposed in the EP-A-0 214 627 cited above, to produce the bars no longer in the form of a single U but in the form of a double U. Depending on the case, we use the double U (to short-circuit the pins of two adjacent rows) or we cut this double U into two single U used independently (to short-circuit the pins of a single row). This supposes, of course, that double U bars are manufactured, which are much more complex (and therefore costly) to produce, and that a step of cutting these double bars is further provided, which further complicates the manufacture and preparation of devices.

It is also known from patent application EUP-A-471 602 that the housing comprises, in each housing, retaining members made in one piece with the housing and cooperating with a shoulder of the spindle after insertion of the latter in its housing. so as to oppose the axial stress exerted on the pins by the conductors, and thus allow the axial mechanical retention of the pin in its housing and the maintenance of the end of the pin. It also includes a spring-type interconnection element which does not allow cooperation with neighboring elements.

The object of the invention is to propose a structure of a simple, inexpensive interconnection device of universal use. For this purpose, the device is, according to the invention, characterized in that the cover has U-shaped housings, in that the interconnection elements are U-shaped bars and in that the cover and the bars are essentially devoid of axial mechanical retention means of the pins.

Thus, by dissociating the functions of establishing electrical contact (provided by bars, these having no other role) and mechanical retention of the pins (provided by the retaining members made in one piece with the housing), the structure and therefore the manufacture of the bars are considerably simplified, thereby making it possible to reduce them the cost and miniaturize them in significant proportions.

Advantageously, the retaining members are elastic tabs which are molded with the housing and which protrude axially and in the direction of the shoulder of the spindle. This embodiment makes it possible to have retaining members formed from the molding step, without any other machining operation or insertion of added parts such as the "locking sleeves" proposed in the prior art.

Preferably, each branch of the U of the bar is divided into a plurality of contiguous tongues comprising tongues turned towards the inside of the U forming said female connection elements cooperating with the free end of the pins; this plurality of tongues further advantageously comprises tongues turned towards the outside of the U, which can in particular form mechanical retaining elements of the bar in a recess of the cover, a recess with the walls of which these tongues cooperate by pressing down by force the bar in the socket.

This configuration allows, moreover, to easily overcome the aforementioned drawback encountered when it is desired to make a short circuit between two adjacent parallel rows of pins: in fact, it is then sufficient to provide that the walls separating the adjacent cells of the cover have, depending on the case, two different heights, chosen so that the low walls allow the coming in electrical contact of the tongues turned towards the outside of the respective adjacent bars and thus short-circuit between them all of the pins in contact with these bars, and that, conversely, the walls of great height are interposed between the turned tongues outward of the respective adjacent bars and thus isolate between them the two series of pins in contact with these bars.

As a result, the bars are all identical and made in the shape of a simple U (which greatly rationalizes the manufacture, the tool being thereby simplified by the same amount), and this is the molding of the cover (large wall or short height) which determines the establishment of short circuits between two adjacent or non-adjacent rows, and not the type of strip used (single U or double U), as in the prior art. In addition, this characteristic makes it very easy to produce short circuits between three rows, four rows or even more, without any limitation, whereas, in the aforementioned prior art, due to the impossibility, for reasons of symmetry, to realize triple U, or a fortiori quadruple, etc. multiple interconnection was limited to two adjacent rows.

Furthermore, the height of the tongues facing outwards is preferably chosen so that, when the bar is fully inserted into its socket, these tongues just come flush with the surface of the cover, so as to come into contact with the surface housing counterpart.

We will now describe an exemplary embodiment of the invention, with reference to the drawings attached, on which the same reference numerals designate similar elements.

Figure 1 is an elevational view, in section, of an interconnection device according to the invention, provided with its pins and its shunt bars.

Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the device of Figure 1, showing the manner in which the various parts are assembled.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are views, respectively in perspective and in plan, of one of the shunt bars used in the device of FIGS. 1 and 2.

In the figures, the reference 10 designates a housing made of insulating material, provided with a series of through housings 11 each receiving a conductive pin 20. Each pin emerges from the housing by its free end 21, and its opposite end 22 is connected to the 'one of the conductors that we want to interconnect according to a particular diagram.

The other essential element of the device is a cover 30 made of insulating material, provided with cells 31 arranged in a particular configuration, depending on the desired interconnection diagram, and each receiving a conductive bar 40 with a section in the general shape of a U. The cover previously fitted with its bars is put in place is fixed to the housing in a sealed manner, for example by ultrasonic welding.

Thanks to the flat shape of the cover and the housing, it is possible to juxtapose a very large number of these interconnection devices in the same cabinet, for example by mounting them on a common rail trapping shoulders 12 of the housing and 34 from the hood.

When the device is then wired, by insertion into the housings of the different pins each crimped onto their respective conductor, the free ends 21 of the different pins are inserted between the branches of the U of the bar located opposite , thus establishing an electrical contact and a short-circuiting of all the pins in contact with the same bar.

Characteristically of the invention, each of the housings 11 comprises elastic tabs 13 molded, for example four tabs arranged at 90 °. These tabs protrude from the interior wall of the housing in the axial direction and towards the side of the body on which the cover will be applied (that is to say downwards, with the conventions of FIG. 1). It is thus possible to easily set up from the top (still with the conventions of FIG. 1) the spindle equipped with its conductor, the shape and the elasticity of the tabs allowing free movement of the spindle in this direction.

On the other hand, after the pins have been put in place, they may be stressed by a traction exerted on the conductors, this stress translating into an axial force directed in the opposite direction to the direction of introduction (that is to say upwards in Figure 1); each of the legs 13 will in this case abut against a shoulder 23 of the spindle and brace against it, thereby preventing the spindle from being extracted from the body and therefore maintaining the free end 21 between the two branches of the U of the bar 40.

We will now describe in more detail the configuration of the bar, with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

On each of the branches 41 of the U, we defined a series of alternating tongues 42, 43: the narrower tongues 42 are arched towards the inside of the U (that is to say in the direction of the axis 44 along which the bar extends) and serve to ensure the actual electrical contact by cooperation with the free end 21 of the pin (as illustrated for the pin located at the extreme left of Figure 1). Preferably, to improve contact, the end of these pins 42 forms a slight transverse concavity in order to better match the roundness of the pin; the tongues 43, the widest, are on the other hand curved towards the outside (that is to say away from the axis 44) and have the function of ensuring the mechanical maintenance of the bars 40 when they are put in prior place in the cells 31 of the cover 30 by coming into abutment against the side walls of these cells.

Advantageously, the height of the tongues 43 (that is to say their dimension in the direction perpendicular to the axis 44) is chosen so that, when the bar is fully inserted into its socket 31, the tongues 23 just come flush (at 49 in Figure 1) the surface of the cover, so as to come into contact with the homologous surface (at 14 in Figure 1) of the housing: in this way, the establishment and welding of the cover on the case ensures ipso facto the final immobilization of the bars, trapped between the bottom of the cell and this surface of the case, without it being necessary to provide any specific organ or form of blocking.

These tongues 43 can also play another role, which is the establishment of an electrical contact between two adjacent bars. Indeed, if it is provided by molding that some of the partitions (partitions 32 of Figures 1 and 2) separating the cells 31 have a limited height, the tongues 43 of the adjacent bars, due to their camber towards the outside, will come into contact - as in the case of the second and third bars from the left in FIG. 1. on the opposite, if partitions are provided of greater height (partitions 33 of FIGS. 1 and 2), these will be interposed between the tongues 43 of the adjacent bars and prevent any electrical contact between them - as in the case of the first and second bars from the left in FIG. 1. To improve the contact, the tongues 43 are preferably given a slight axial convexity towards the outside, as illustrated in 46 FIGS. 1 and 3.

It is thus found that the bar produced according to the teachings of the invention provides numerous advantages from the functional point of view despite an extremely simple structure.

It can in particular be produced from a strip of strip produced continuously and where drive holes such as 47 are cut, then notches 48 defining the different tongues, steps followed by folding and folding the branches of the U and, finally, the bending of the different tabs 42 and 43 in order to give them their final shape. The bar, which is of a single model regardless of the type of interconnection sought, is then cut to the desired length, corresponding to the length of the cells 31 formed in the housing. It will be noted that the interconnection pattern depends solely on the molding of the housing 30, this pattern being defined by the configuration of the various cells 31, which defines what are the rows of pins to be interconnected, and the height of the walls 32 or 33, which defines the possible interconnection between two adjacent parallel rows of pins. It is not necessary to carry out any adaptation of the bars, other than the simple cutting to the length of the cell, according to the interconnection diagram.

Claims (7)

A device for making selective electrical interconnections between a series of conductors, of the type comprising: - an insulating housing (10), provided with a series of parallel through housings (11) suitable for each receiving a conductive pin (20) whose free end (21) forms a male connection element and whose opposite end ( 22) is connected to one of said conductors, the different pins all emerging through their free end on the same side of the housing, and - an insulating cover (30), closing said side, provided internally with at least one interconnection element (40) forming female connection elements, each located opposite a plurality of said housings and intended to cooperate with a plurality pins by coming into contact with the free emerging end thereof so as to electrically short-circuit them, the housing comprising, in each housing, retaining members (13) made in one piece with the housing and cooperating with a shoulder (23) of the spindle after insertion of the latter in its housing so as to oppose the axial stress exerted on the pins by the conductors, and thus allow the axial mechanical retention of the pin in its housing and the retention of the end of the pin, characterized in that the cover has U-shaped housings, in that said elements interconnection are U-shaped bars and in that the cover and the bars are essentially devoid of axial mechanical retention means of the pins. The device of claim 1, in which the retaining members are elastic tabs molded with the housing and projecting axially and in the direction of the shoulder of the spindle. The device of claim 1, in which each branch (41) of the U of the bar is divided into a plurality of contiguous tongues comprising tongues turned towards the inside of the U (42), forming said female connection elements cooperating with the free end of the pins. The device of claim 3, wherein said plurality of contiguous tabs also includes tabs facing outward from the U (43). The device of claim 4, in which said tongues turned towards the outside of the U form mechanical retaining elements of the bar in a recess (31) of the cover, a recess with the walls of which these tongues cooperate by forcefully pressing the bar in the socket. The device of claim 4, in which the walls separating the adjacent cells of the cover have, as the case may be, two different heights, chosen so that the walls of low height (32) allow the tongues turned towards the electrical contact the exterior of the respective adjacent bars and thus short-circuit between them all of the pins in contact with these bars, and that, conversely, the very high walls (33) are interposed between the tongues facing outwards from the bars adjacent respective and thus isolate between them the two series of pins in contact with these bars. The device of claim 4, in which the height of the tongues facing outwards is chosen so that, when the bar is fully inserted into its socket, these tongues just come flush (49) with the surface of the cover, so coming into contact with the homologous surface (14) of the housing.

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