JPS60241686A - Method of connecting electric ribbon cable to electric connector - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a method for connecting flat electrical ribbon cables, and more particularly, to a method for connecting flat electrical ribbon cables, and more particularly, to increase the ability to be terminated into electrical connector assemblies by eliminating the insulation surrounding the cable conductors. A method of connecting an insulated ribbon cable to an electrical connector.

Electrical ribbon cables have gained wide acceptance in a variety of applications including interconnect wiring in electrical and electronic assemblies. It is used for low voltage applications such as in telecommunications or in the interconnection of computer subassemblies where multiple discrete electrical signals are required to be transmitted from one subassembly to another. Especially suitable. Typically in these applications, interconnect ribbon cables are connected to each other by an electrical connector that has the ability to be attached onto a printed circuit board, for example, by connection to a plurality of spaced wire bins soldered onto the printed circuit board. Terminated at the ends.

To ensure that locally produced ribbon cables conform to generally accepted printed circuit board design formats, industry councils require that ribbon cables be constructed with standard cable conductor center-to-center spacing. I made an arrangement that I would be taken. Generally, the center-to-center spacing of the conductors employed is the spacing found to be favorable for standardized bin separation in the design of printed circuit board circuit layouts. These spacings are typically on the order of several times the conductor diameter in size. It is thus possible to manufacture ribbon cables by an extrusion process in which the conductors are coated with a relatively uniform layer of insulation and adjacent pairs of conductors are joined in spaced apart relationship with a web of extruded insulation. This is normal. The web need only be thick enough to maintain uniform separation of the individual conductors and to ensure the cable as a unitary structure during handling and use.

For manufacturing economy, ribbon cables are extruded with a predetermined number of conductors and then torn to obtain smaller width cables for cases where fewer interconnect circuits are required. It has been found desirable to separate the conductors by. Such a method increases production efficiency as only one extrusion gouer and associated machinery are required to manufacture ribbon cables of various widths. To facilitate even tearing of the master cable into smaller width cables, the master cable is typically extruded with longitudinal grooves formed in the webs that exist between the conductors. In conventional cables, these grooves were equally spaced between adjacent pairs of conductors.

One method of terminating interconnect wiring that has gained wide acceptance in the above applications due to assembly efficiency is mass termination by insulator elimination.
In the insulator removal process (termination), the insulation covering of the conductor is not stripped off before termination, whether the conductor is in the form of a loose insulated wire or a ribbon cable. Instead, the insulation is sheared and removed by the respective terminals where the conductors are electrically connected. Connectors with the capability of insulation-eliminating termination are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,217,022 to Carre, which accepts and It consists of a row of stamped and slotted metal terminals with square ends for making contact.

If a ribbon cable is used instead of loose insulated wire, at the location where the connector is installed,
It is common to make a notch in the cable to remove the web of insulation at a distance from the end of the cable, or along a portion of the interior of the cable. Notching ribbon cables is desirable because it terminates the cable, making it appear as if it were made up of multiple discrete wires. More specifically, the removal of the web in the area of the connector-termination reduces the force required to push the cable conductors into their respective terminals, ensuring a more reliable connection between the cable conductors and the terminals. Ru. Furthermore, if the web is not notched, it will overpack the area of the terminal interface with excess insulation and impose pull-out forces on the conductor as a result of the latent elasticity of the insulation. Over time, this condition results in insufficient electrical conductivity at the terminal-conductor interface of the connector during operation. However, the notching process involves the use of specialized equipment and additional time to properly prepare the cable for termination. Additionally, if the cable user does not have the facilities to notch the cable, and multiple connectors are required to be terminated within a single cable span, the cable must be specifically notched by the cable manufacturer. This increases costs for cable users.

Matasato alliance! Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved ribbon cable connection method that has the ability to be terminated into electrical connectors with better manufacturing efficiency. More particularly, the main object of the invention is that the connection of electrical ribbon cables of the type described does not require notching of the webs of the cables, but still allows the connection of each cable conductor with the corresponding connector. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for connecting electrical ribbon cables that retains the ability to be terminated at a reliable interface between terminals. However, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for connecting a ribbon cable that is easily terminated with a connector at any desired location along the length of the cable.

The above objects are realized in the present invention, in which a method of connecting an electrical ribbon cable to an electrical connector includes a housing with a plurality of terminal receiving cavities formed therein, one for each terminal receiving cavity. a plurality of terminals mounted within the cavity, each terminal having a conductor-engaging end with an insulation displacement slot formed therein, and each conductor-engaging end externally of the housing. extending and separated by walls delimiting said cavity, said cable comprising a plurality of parallel, spaced conductors, each said conductor having an integral connection between said conductors. embedded in a continuous schematic layer of insulator with a plurality of webs formed in the conductor, each web having at least one groove extending parallel to the conductor; The method includes: positioning the web generally on the wall and aligning a conductor above its respective insulation displacement slot; and forcing the conductor downwardly transverse to its longitudinal axis. the conductors are received in their respective slots and said webs are pressed towards the wall to slit each web along its grooves a short distance adjacent to the conductors, so that said conductors is characterized by maintaining a substantially uniform coverage of the insulator around the peripheral portion received within the slot.

The structure and advantages of the method of connecting ribbon cables made in accordance with the present invention will be better understood by considering the following detailed description of two illustrative embodiments, with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dew.

Referring first to FIG. 1, a prior art round conductor ribbon cable, generally designated by the reference numeral IO, is shown. Ribbon cable 10 consists of a plurality of conductors 11 surrounded by an insulator 12 covering.

The conductors 11 are arranged side by side in parallel and evenly separated from each other with standard dimensions maintained by connecting webs of insulators 13. Grooves 14 are formed in the web of the insulator 13, running longitudinally with respect to the conductors 11 and equally spaced between adjacent pairs of conductors 11.

To facilitate termination of the cable 10 to an insulation-displacement type connector, the cable 10 is provided with a notch 1 in the web of the insulation 13 at the location where the connector is provided.
5 is set.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown an improved round conductor ribbon cable 20 comprising a conductor 21 enclosed within a sheath of insulation 22 connected in accordance with the present invention. Ribbon cable 20 is constructed by inserting a continuous length of conductor 2 through a die that forms insulator layer 22 into any cross-sectional shape.
1 will be produced by an extrusion process in which the Preferably, the conductors 21 are arranged parallel to each other and are evenly separated by a web of insulation 23 having a thickness no greater than that necessary to maintain the cable 20 as a unitary structure during handling and use. has been done. Grooves 24 are formed in the webs of insulator 23, with each web 23 being located closest to one of the pair of conductors 21 on which it is formed. Grooves 24 allow manual or mechanical separation of cable 20 into predetermined groups of conductors and also facilitate termination of the cable without notching in a manner to be described in more detail below.

Now, referring to Figure 3, the cable 2 shown in Figure 2
A portion of 0 is shown in conjunction with a dielectric-displacement type connector, generally designated by the reference numeral 30. The connector 30 includes a robust dielectric housing 31 having a plurality of metal insulation-excluded terminals 3 therein.
2 is included. Each terminal 32 is formed with a grooved V-shaped edge portion 33 adapted to receive an individual conductor 21 . It is integrally molded with the housing 31 and extends to a position directly above the terminal 32.
Connect the individual conductors 21 to their respective mating terminals 32
an angled surface 3 which serves to guide the
There are a plurality of strain reliefs 35 in the form of 6. Strain relief 35 also connects conductor 21 after termination.
It serves to hold the terminal in the grooved terminal 32.

Because of their slightly pointed configuration, the strain reliefs 35 begin shearing the web 23 of the ribbon cable as the cable is moved toward the connector 30 to provide termination.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown another embodiment for use in the method of the present invention, in which a ribbon cable, generally designated by the reference numeral 40, is mounted on either side of an individual conductor 41. A web groove 44 is provided immediately adjacent. As a result of the double groove construction, and as best seen in FIG.
Alternatively, it can be sheared completely away from the conductor 41 in a flap along the inner portion (not shown) of the cable 40 by a suitable distance. With this configuration, conductor 4 of the cable
1 is actually equivalent to loose insulated wire,
They can be terminated by the edge portion 33 of the terminal 32 with relatively uniform shearing of their insulation coating.

As best seen in FIG. 3, upon termination of the ribbon cable 20 of FIG.
Shear occurs at each groove 24 formed between adjacent pairs of conductors 21.

When the cable conductors 21 are further forced into the terminals of the connector 30, they are forced around the longitudinal axis due to the pivoting interaction of the webs 23 with the surfaces 33 of the terminals 32 and the surfaces 36 of the strain reliefs 35. Rotate.

Rotation of conductor 21 causes web 23 to pull conductor 21 into the terminal as final termination is achieved. The web 23 thus does not interfere with the displacement of the insulation layer adjacent the conductor 2 by the terminal edge surface. Additionally, there is no over-packing of the opposing terminal edge portions 33 by the web insulation, and thus, as a result of the potential resiliency of the insulation 22, the excess web 23 can cause the conductor 21 to move out of its seating relationship with the terminal 32. Avoid the tendency to withdraw. Alternative cable 4 in Figure 4
Upon termination of the cable 40, as best seen in FIG. Sheared. After shearing, the webs 43 are completely separated from between the conductors 41 and do not enter the area of the opposite edge portions 33 of the connector terminals 32.

Grooves 24 and 44 are configured such that webs 23 and 43 are sheared without exposing conductors 21 and 41 to the environment or reducing the dielectric properties of cable 20.40, respectively, and , in position. The grooves are also configured and located such that, after shearing of the web, conductors 21 and 41 have substantially uniform thicknesses of insulation 22 and 42. In this way, the cables 20 and 40 have a wider width that can be separated along their entire length without a reduction in dielectric properties due to excessive thinness of the insulation sheathing 22.42 along the edges of the cable of origin. Provides a small cable. Furthermore, because the cables 20 and 40 do not require a nonching step to provide termination, connectors can be placed anywhere along the cable span without prior preparation of the cable. Therefore, the cable user is not limited to providing connectors only in the cable sections that have been pre-notched by the cable manufacturer.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a typical prior art cable with notches between the cable conductors; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional end view of a multiconductor flat cable embodying the present invention; FIG. 3 is a typical insulator. FIG. 4 is a perspective view, partially in section, of the ribbon cable of FIG. 2 terminated into a displacement-type connector; FIG. 4 is an alternative implementation of the invention in which the cable insulation is extruded with two longitudinal grooves; In an example end cross section;
and FIG. 5 is a perspective view, partially in section, showing the ribbon cable of FIG. 4 being terminated into a typical insulation displacement type connector. 10- ribbon cable, 11- conductor, 15 notch,
20-Improved round conductor ribbon cable, 21-・Conductor, 22-・Insulator, 23-Insulator (web), 24・
- groove, 30 - connector, 31 - housing, 32 - terminal, 33 - V-shaped edge section, 35 - strain relief, 40 - ribbon cable, 41 - conductor, 42 - insulator, 43 - web, 44 - groove. Agent's name: Kawahara 1) - Ho

Claims (1)

fil A method of connecting an electrical ribbon cable to an electrical connector, wherein the connector includes a housing with receiving cavities having a plurality of terminal receptacles formed therein, one mounted in each cavity. a plurality of terminals, each terminal having a conductor-engaging end with an insulation displacement slot formed therein, each conductor-engaging end extending to the exterior of the housing; separated by walls delimiting the cavity, the cable comprising a plurality of parallel, spaced apart conductors, each of the conductors having a plurality of integrally formed conductors between the conductors; embedded in a continuous generally spherical layer of insulator with webs of conductor, each web having at least one groove extending parallel to said conductor, said method comprising; generally on said wall and aligning the conductors above their respective insulation displacement slofts, and forcing the conductors downwardly transverse to their longitudinal axes, so that A conductor is received within its respective slot and the webs are pressed against the wall to slit each web along its groove a short distance adjacent to the conductor, so that the conductor is received within the slot. A method characterized in that a substantially uniform coverage of the insulation is maintained around a peripheral portion of the insulation.