Restraining Receptacle

This invention relates to socket type terminals, which accept pin and similar type terminals, particularly as are used in telecommunications systems to interconnect circuit boards, connect circuit boards to backplanes, and similar arrangements.

The developments in silicone technology have resulted in an increase in the density of integrated circuits, an increase in the speed of signal transmission, and an increase in functionality of devices. This in turn has created stringent requirements in the interconnection field to provide connectors with a small size, a high number of contacts and a low mating or insertion force. However, these requirements are contradictory and connectors with more than two hundred terminals have been marginal in performance, and in fact connectors with less than two hundred terminals often do not give adequate or acceptable performance. This is because of various factors, such as: (a) the contact normal force required to provide and maintain a reliable connection has been sacrificed in order to provide low insertion force; (b) connectors providing the zero, or very low, insertion forces have been very complex and expensive; (c) the relatively large size has not been conducive to either dense packaging or package size reduction; and (d) connectors with several hundred terminals have the inherent problem of loosening up due to the excessive weight of the cable or technicians brushing past the back panel.

By a contact normal force is meant the force exerted between two contacting surfaces in a direction normal to the contact plane.

The present invention provides a receptacle which is used to hold in place a shouldered connector, such as a level five connector without the help of additional fasteners. The receptacle is fastened to a back panel and the wired shoulder connector is guided into place by the receptacle's vertical tabs. The force applied by the connectors spreads the tabs until the connector reaches its final location, at which point the tabs snap over the shoulders of the connector to keep it in place. The connector may be disengaged from the receptacle by pulling on the connector, thereby spreading the connector's tabs and freeing the connector. This prevents the connector from working loose and hence provide and maintain a reliable connection.

The receptacle is provided with an outer plastic frame designed to increase the rigidity of the receptacle so that the weight of the cable will not cause the receptacle to buckle, or bend whenever several connectors are disengaged (which can require a significant amount of force).

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a receptacle for receiving and restraining shoulder type connectors, comprising: an inner frame member for mating with said connector, said member having first and second oppositely positioned retaining walls spaced to be a sliding fit over said connector; a base extending between first and second walls; and recess means on said base for receiving terminal means, said recess means allowing said terminal means to extend therefrom so as to permit mating with the socket means of said connector.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a receptacle for receiving and restraining shoulder type connectors, comprising: an inner frame member for mating with said connector, said member having first and second oppositely positioned retaining walls spaced to be a sliding fit over said connector, a base extending between said first and second walls and recess means on said base for receiving terminal means, said recess means allowing said terminal means to extend therefrom so as to permit mating with socket means of said connector; and an outer frame member for imparting rigidity to said inner frame member, said outer frame member being comprised of a first side wall extending upwardly from said base along said first retaining wall and a second side wall extending upwardly from said base along said second retaining wall.

The invention will be readily understood by the following description of one form of terminal and a connector for use with the terminal, by way of example, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the receptacle of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the shouldered type connector for use with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view thereof; and

FIG. 5 is a partially sectioned view of the receptacle as it would be used with the shouldered connector.

FIG. 1 illustrates the receptacle of the present invention. It is comprised of an outer frame member 10 and an inner frame member 11. In order to ease insertion of a connector, the inner frame member 11 is subdivided into a plurality of sub-sections 12, each sub-section consists of a pair of oppositely positioned retaining tabs 13 and 14 which are spaced apart in order to provide a sliding fit for a connector. Each tab is provided with an inwardly extending rib 18 adapted to mate with a shouldered edge of the connector.

The outer frame member 10 imparts rigidity to the inner frame member 11 to prevent the buckling of the receptacle when loaded with cables. The outer frame member 10 is provided with a first and second side wall 15 and 16 respectively, which extend from base 17 along the first and second set of tabs 13 and 14. This receptacle can be conveniently molded of plastic.

At reference numeral 20 of FIG. 2 we have shown an isometric view of a shoulder type connector to be used with the receptacle of the present invention. This type of connector is provided with an outer frame member 21 having a plurality of recesses or socket terminals (not shown) extending inwardly at base 22.

Positioned on the outer walls of frame member 21 are longitudinal grooves 23 and 24 having inclined shoulder surfaces 25 and 26 respectively adapted to mate with the ribs of the retaining tabs of inner frame member 11.

Referring now to FIG. 3 we have shown a sectional view of the receptacle taken along lines 3--3 of FIG. 1. As can be more clearly seen, the side walls 30 and 31 extend parallel to tabs 32 and 33 respectively but are spaced apart a predetermined distance to allow tabs 32 and 33 to be spread apart when the connector is guided into place.

Each retaining tab is provided with inwardly extending ribs 34 and 35 for mating a shouldered edge of a connector. In addition, the ribs are provided with inclined surfaces shown at 36 to allow easier removal of the connector. Also, each recess is comprised of a series of apertures 38 which extend through the base for receiving pin terminals adapted to extend therefrom to be received by the socket terminals of the connector.

As shown in FIG. 4, the recesses extend longitudinally along the receptacle and are positioned in pairs. Extending beyond the base of the receptacle are a number of supporting feet 40 which provides a space between the base and the surface on which the receptacle is mounted. This space allows insertion of wrap-around connectors which may be attached to one or any number of pin terminals to allow testing and the like.

Referring now to FIG. 5, we have shown an illustrative partially sectioned view of the receptacle of the present invention retaining a shoulder type connector. In this embodiment, a typical backplane is indicated at reference numeral 50. A plurality of pin terminals 51 have been inserted into the recesses or apertures of receptacle 52. A shoulder type connector 53 has been inserted between guiding tabs 54 and 55 respectively. At this position, the connector has reached its final location at which point the tabs 54 and 55 have snapped back over the shoulders 56 and 57 respectively of connector 53 to keep it in place. The connector may be disengaged from the receptacle by pulling on the connector thereby spreading the connector tabs 54 and 55 apart and freeing the connector.