阅读说明：本技术 密封式电缆连接器及其制造方法和应用 (Sealed cable connector and its manufacturing method and application ) 是由 米歇尔·库萨诺 多雷托·蒙特沙罗 于 2020-04-09 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及一种密封式电缆连接器,包括多条电缆(18、20)、一电绝缘壳体(12)、多个电端子(14、16),每个电端子(14、16)具有电连接到相应电缆(18,20)的端部的端部；所述壳体(12)具有一框架(22),所述框架(22)形成有沿z方向延伸的一凹腔(22a),其中所述电缆(18、20)和所述电端子(14、16)的多个连接的端部设置在所述框架(22)的凹腔(22a)中；其特征在于,所述电端子(14、16)在凹腔(22a)中具有平面形状并且沿xz方向定向,所述壳体(12)模制于连接的电缆(18、20)和电端子(14、16)上,以及所述凹腔(22a)中注入有电绝缘材料,从而密封电缆(18、20)和电端子(14、16)的连接的端部。本发明还提供一种密封式电缆连接器的制造方法和应用。(The present invention relates to a sealed cable connector comprising a plurality of electrical cables (18,20), an electrically insulating housing (12), a plurality of electrical terminals (14, 16), each electrical terminal (14, 16) having an end electrically connected to an end of a respective electrical cable (18, 20); the housing (12) having a frame (22), the frame (22) being formed with a cavity (22a) extending in the z-direction, wherein connected ends of the electrical cables (18,20) and the electrical terminals (14, 16) are disposed in the cavity (22a) of the frame (22); characterized in that the electrical terminals (14, 16) have a planar shape in a cavity (22a) and are oriented in the xz direction, the housing (12) is moulded over the connected electrical cables (18,20) and electrical terminals (14, 16), and the cavity (22a) is impregnated with an electrically insulating material, thereby sealing the connected ends of the electrical cables (18,20) and electrical terminals (14, 16). The invention also provides a manufacturing method and application of the sealed cable connector.)

1. A sealed cable connector (10) comprising:

a plurality of cables (18, 20);

an electrically insulating housing (12) which can be inserted into and withdrawn from a mating connector in the x-direction;

a plurality of electrical terminals (14, 16) mechanically connected to the housing (12), each electrical terminal (14, 16) having an end electrically connected to an end of a respective electrical cable (18, 20);

the housing (12) having a frame (22), the frame (22) being formed with a cavity (22a) extending in the z-direction, wherein connected ends of the electrical cables (18,20) and the electrical terminals (14, 16) are disposed in the cavity (22a) of the frame (22);

characterized in that the electrical terminals (14, 16) have a planar shape in the cavity (22a) and are oriented in the xz direction;

the housing (12) is molded over the connected electrical cables (18,20) and electrical terminals (14, 16);

the cavities (22a) are impregnated with an electrically insulating material so as to seal the connected ends of the electrical cables (18,20) and the electrical terminals (14, 16).

2. Hermetic cable connector according to claim 1, characterized in that said cables (18,20) are electrically connected to said electric terminals (14, 16) by welding.

3. Hermetic cable connector according to claim 1, wherein the electrically insulating material injected into said cavity (22a) is a resin.

4. Hermetic cable connector according to claim 1, wherein an upper cover (26) and a lower cover snap-fit to said frame (22) to close said cavity (22a), said upper cover (26) having an injection hole for injecting the electrically insulating material into the cavity (22a) and an air outlet hole.

5. Hermetic cable connector according to claim 1, characterized in that said frame (22) has a first and a second side wall opposite to each other and extending in the yz direction, and a third and a fourth side wall opposite to each other and extending in the xz direction, said electrical terminals (14, 16) being oriented parallel to the third or fourth side wall.

6. Hermetic cable connector according to claim 1, wherein at least one antijam filter (24) is housed in said cavity (22a) and is electrically connected to a pair of electric terminals (14, 16) by crimping.

7. A method of manufacturing a sealed cable connector, comprising the steps of:

a) connecting ends of a plurality of electrical cables (18,20) to ends of a plurality of corresponding electrical terminals (14, 16);

b) molding an electrically insulating housing (12) over the connected plurality of electrical cables (18,20) and plurality of electrical terminals (14, 16), the electrically insulating housing (12) being insertable into and withdrawable from a mating connector in the x-direction and having a frame (22), the frame (22) having a cavity (22a) extending in the z-direction to accommodate the connected ends of the electrical cables (18,20) and electrical terminals (14, 16), the electrical terminals (14, 16) having a planar shape in the cavity (22a) and being oriented in the xz-direction;

c) an electrically insulating material is injected into the cavity (22a) to seal the connected ends of the electrical cables (18,20) and the electrical terminals (14, 16).

8. The manufacturing method according to claim 7, further comprising the step of mounting an upper cover (26) and a lower cover to two opposite sides of the cavity (22a), respectively, before step c).

9. Use of a sealed cable connector according to any of claims 1-6 for electrically connecting devices in a vehicle.

10. Use of a sealed cable connector according to claim 9, wherein said means is a cooling fan module.

Technical Field

The invention relates to a sealed cable connector and a manufacturing method and application thereof. Sealed cable connectors are particularly useful for electrically connecting devices in vehicles.

Background

Known cable connectors include an electrically insulating housing supporting a plurality of electrical terminals and a plurality of electrical cables connecting the electrical terminals. The plurality of cables are inserted into the housing through a plurality of openings. A plurality of sealing rings are mounted on the plurality of cables and inserted into the plurality of openings to seal the plurality of openings.

However, when the sealing ring is disengaged from the opening or any one of the cables is cut, external moisture or fluid can still enter the housing. Therefore, known cable connectors are unable to adequately seal the electrical connection between the electrical terminals and the cable against environmental influences such as humidity or fluids, e.g. water, unless their dimensions are rather large.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, the present invention provides a sealed cable connector that seals delicate electrical connections in a reliable manner, but at the same time has dimensions that are no larger than those of known cable connectors.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sealed cable connector including a plurality of cables; an electrically insulating housing insertable into and removable from a mating connector in an x-direction; a plurality of electrical terminals mechanically connected to the housing, each electrical terminal having an end electrically connected to an end of a respective electrical cable; the housing having a frame formed with a cavity extending in the z-direction, wherein the connected ends of the electrical cables and the electrical terminals are disposed in the cavity of the frame; characterized in that the electrical terminal has a planar shape in the cavity and is oriented in the xz direction; the housing is molded over the connected electrical cable and electrical terminals; the cavity is impregnated with an electrically insulating material to seal the connected ends of the electrical cable and the electrical terminals.

Preferably, the electrical cable is electrically connected to the electrical terminal by soldering.

Preferably, the electrically insulating material injected into the cavity is a resin.

Preferably, an upper cover and a lower cover are fastened to the frame to close the cavity, the upper cover having an injection hole for injecting the electrically insulating material into the cavity and an air outlet hole.

Preferably, the frame has a first side wall and a second side wall opposite to each other and extending in the yz direction, and a third side wall and a fourth side wall opposite to each other and extending in the xz direction, the electric terminals being oriented in parallel to the third side wall or the fourth side wall.

Preferably, at least one antijam filter is received in the cavity and is electrically connected to a pair of electrical terminals by crimping.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a method of manufacturing a sealed cable connector, comprising the steps of:

a) connecting ends of a plurality of electrical cables to ends of a plurality of corresponding electrical terminals;

b) molding an electrically insulating housing over the connected plurality of electrical cables and plurality of electrical terminals, the electrically insulating housing insertable into and removable from a mating connector in an x-direction and having a frame with a cavity extending in a z-direction to accommodate the connected ends of the electrical cables and electrical terminals, the electrical terminals having a planar shape in the cavity and being oriented in an xz-direction;

c) an electrically insulating material is injected into the cavity to seal the connected ends of the electrical cables and the electrical terminals.

Preferably, the manufacturing method further includes the step of mounting an upper cap and a lower cap to two opposite sides of the cavity, respectively, before the step c).

According to a further aspect of the invention there is also provided a use of a sealed cable connector as described above for electrically connecting devices in a vehicle.

Preferably, the device is a cooling fan module.

The electrical insulating housing of the hermetically sealed cable connector of the present invention is molded over the connected electrical cable and electrical terminal, and the connected ends of the electrical cable and electrical terminal are sealed with an electrical insulating material, so that the hermetically sealed cable connector has reliable sealability. In addition, the electrical terminals are oriented in the xz direction so that the arrangement of the electrical terminals in the y direction is compact, thereby minimizing the size of the cavity, minimizing the amount of electrically insulating material used, and the overall size of the sealed cable connector is no larger than known cable connectors.

Drawings

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, identical structures, elements or components that appear in more than one figure are generally labeled with the same reference numeral in all the figures in which they appear. The dimensions of components and features shown in the figures are generally chosen for convenience and clarity of presentation and are not necessarily shown to scale. These figures are listed below.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a hermetically sealed cable connector according to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which a cavity defined by an electrically insulating housing of said hermetically sealed cable connector is visible, inside which the connected ends of the cables and the corresponding electrical terminals are housed;

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of another angle of the electrical connector shown in FIG. 1;

fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the connection area of an electrical cable and a corresponding electrical terminal shown in fig. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an arrangement of a plurality of electrical terminals connected to the plurality of electrical cables shown in FIG. 1;

fig. 5 is a top view of the sealed cable connector shown in fig. 1;

fig. 6 is a top view of a hermetically sealed cable connector in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic view of a hermetically sealed cable connector in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 shows the sealed cable connector of fig. 7 in a state of being coupled to a support member.

Detailed Description

The present subject matter will be described with reference to the drawings and preferred embodiments. The described embodiments are only some embodiments of the invention, not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments of the present invention without any inventive step, are within the scope of the present invention. It is to be understood that the drawings are for reference only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. The dimensions shown in the figures are for convenience of illustration only and are not intended to be limiting.

Referring to fig. 1-5, a sealed cable connector 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention is shown for electrically connecting devices (not shown) in a vehicle to transmit power and/or control signals to the devices. The device may be a cooling fan module, in particular a motor for driving the cooling fan module.

The sealed cable connector 10 includes a plurality of electrical cables 18,20 and a plurality of electrical terminals 14, 16. Each electrical terminal 14, 16 has an end electrically connected to the end of a respective cable 18,20, preferably by soldering.

A cartesian coordinate system xyz is defined in fig. 1, the x-direction indicates a pluggable direction of the hermetic cable connector 10, the y-direction indicates a vertical direction perpendicular to the x-direction, and the z-direction indicates a direction perpendicular to the xy-direction.

The sealed cable connector 10 further comprises an electrically insulating housing 12, the electrically insulating housing 12 having a connecting portion and a frame 22. The connection portion can be inserted into and pulled out from a mating connector (not shown) in the x direction. The frame 22 defines a cavity 22a extending in the z-direction. The connected ends of the plurality of electrical cables 18,20 and the plurality of electrical terminals 14, 16 are received in the cavity 22 a.

The electrically insulative housing 12 is molded over the connected plurality of electrical cables 18,20 and plurality of electrical terminals 14, 16 to form a unitary structure.

An electrically insulating material is injected into said cavity 22 a. The electrically insulating material, which may be a synthetic resin, is cured in the cavity 22a to seal the ends of the cables 18,20 to the ends of the electrical terminals 14, 16 from the environment of the sealed cable connector 10.

The electrical terminals 14, 16 have a planar shape in the recess 22a and are oriented in the xz direction so that the arrangement of the electrical terminals in the y direction is compact, thereby minimizing the size of the recess 22a, minimizing the amount of electrically insulating material used, and the overall size of the sealed cable connector 10 is no larger than known cable connectors. Furthermore, the xz orientation allows for aligning electrical terminals 14, 16 in a stacking direction without compromising a minimum insulation gap between adjacent electrical terminals 14, 16, and helps to avoid air bubbles entering the cavity 22a during injection molding of the electrically insulating material.

Preferably, the frame 22 has a first sidewall (not numbered), a second sidewall (not numbered), a third sidewall (not numbered), and a fourth sidewall (not numbered). The first and second sidewalls are opposed to each other and extend in the yz direction, and the third and fourth sidewalls are opposed to each other and extend in the xz direction. The electrical terminals 14, 16 are oriented parallel to the third or fourth side wall.

Referring to fig. 6, a sealed cable connector according to a second embodiment of the present invention is shown. At least one anti-electromagnetic interference anti-interference filter element 24 is received in the cavity 22a and is electrically connected to a pair of electrical terminals 14, 16. The filter element 24 is preferably a capacitor. Preferably, since electrical terminals 14, 16 are oriented in the xz direction, filter element 24 is connected to the corresponding electrical terminals 14, 16 by crimping.

Referring to fig. 7 to 8, the hermetically sealed cable connector according to the third embodiment of the present invention further includes an upper cover 26 and a lower cover respectively fixed to, preferably snap-fitted to, two opposite sides of the housing 12 to close the cavity 22 a. In an alternative embodiment, the cavity 22a has a bottom wall, so that a lower cover is not required.

Preferably, the upper cap 26 has an injection hole (not shown) adapted to inject the electrical insulating material into the cavity 22a and an air outlet hole for preventing air bubbles from being trapped in the electrical insulating material.

The frame 22 has a plurality of projecting formations 28 projecting outwardly from the frame 22, each projecting formation 28 being slidably mounted to a respective recess of a support 30.

The invention also provides a manufacturing method of the sealed cable connector, which comprises the following steps:

a) connecting, preferably welding, the ends of the plurality of electrical cables 18,20 to the ends of the respective electrical terminals 14, 16;

b) molding an electrically insulative housing 12 over the connected plurality of electrical cables 18,20 and plurality of electrical terminals 14, 16, the electrically insulative housing 12 insertable into and removable from a mating connector in the x-direction, the electrically insulative housing 12 having a frame 22, the frame 12 having a cavity 22a extending in the z-direction to accommodate the plurality of connected ends of the electrical cables 18,20 and electrical terminals 14, 16, the electrical terminals 14, 16 having a planar shape in the cavity 22a and being oriented in the xz-direction; and

c) an electrically insulating material is injected into the cavity 22a to seal the ends of the plurality of connections of the electrical cables 18,20 and the electrical terminals 14, 16.

Preferably, the manufacturing method further includes the step of mounting an upper cover 26 and a lower cover to opposite sides of the frame 22, respectively, to close the cavity 22a, before the step (c).

Preferably, the step c) is performed by injecting an electrically insulating material through an injection hole formed in the upper cap 26.

The present invention also provides the use of the sealed cable connector of the above embodiment for electrically connecting devices in a vehicle. The device may be a cooling fan module, in particular a motor for driving the cooling fan module.

While certain inventive embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, the present invention should not be construed as limited thereto. Various changes or modifications may be made to the present invention without departing from the scope and spirit thereof.