Title of Invention

CABLE CONECTOR FOR PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARDS

Abstract The invention relates to a cable connector (1) for printed circuit boards, comprising a housing (2, 3) and at least two contact elements (4), each contact element comprising a contact (11) for connecting electrical wires and a fork contact (6, 7) for making contact with a printed circuit board, a surge arrester (17) which is arranged within the housing (2, 3) being arranged electrically between the contact elements (4).
Full Text

Cable connector for printed circuit boards
The invention relates to a cable connector for printed circuit
boards.
DE 102 57 308 B3 has disclosed a connector for printed circuit
boards, comprising a number of contact elements, the contact
elements each having two connection sides, one connection side
being in the form of an insulation displacement contact for
connecting wires and the other connection side being in the form
of a fork contact for making contact with connection areas on a
printed circuit board, and a plastic housing in which the insulation
displacement contacts of the contact elements can be inserted,
the insulation displacement contact and the fork contact being
arranged such that they are rotated towards one another, and at
least one lower edge of the insulation displacement contact being
supported on the plastic housing such that the contact elements
are held in the plastic housing such that they are secured against
falling out in the event of connection forces occurring on the
insulation displacement contacts, the plastic housing comprising
at least one region in the form of a chamber, and the fork
contacts being completely accommodated in the longitudinal
direction by the plastic housing, ribs being arranged on the inner
sides in the region in the form of a chamber and defining the
guides for the fork contacts, the contact regions of the fork
contacts protruding beyond the ribs, and the ribs being beveled in
the front region.
Such cable connectors serve the purpose, for example, together
with a housing part which bears the printed circuit board, of
forming a distribution board connection module, which has also
already been described in DE 102 57 308 B3.
Such a distribution board connection module is also already
known from DE 100 29 649 A1, comprising a housing in which
input and output contacts are arranged such that they are
accessible from the outside for connecting lines and wires, the

housing being formed with a cavity in which functional elements
are arranged between the input and output contacts. The
functional elements are arranged on at least one printed circuit
board which is supported in the housing, the functional elements
providing, for example, overvoltage protection. In addition, the
functional elements may also be filter circuits such as XDSL
splitters.
The arrangement of the filter circuit on the same printed circuit
board as the surge arresters has a few disadvantages, however.
In addition to the increased production complexity in terms of
population, in particular the number of contact points required for
the line path is increased. However, the reliability of the
distribution board connection module is thus decreased in
particular if these contact points need to withstand high current
loads. In addition, owing to the placement of the surge arresters
on the main board, the physical area available there for the filter
circuits is decreased. Furthermore, surge arresters usually require
greater copper thicknesses, which is likewise reflected in the
costs and space requirement. Such main boards are generally
designed for a plurality of subscribers and are arranged in
stacked fashion in rack systems. Furthermore, the complete main
board needs to be removed in order to replace a defective surge
arrester. In this case, subscribers which are not involved would
also be interrupted and adversely affected. As an alternative, the
surge arresters could also be plugged onto the cable connector
from above, in this case, however, the contacts no longer being
freely accessible for jumpering.
The invention is based on the technical problem of providing a
cable connector by means of which overvoltage protection of the
wires or lines to be connected can be implemented in a simple
and cost-effective manner.
The solution to the technical problem is given by the subject

matter having the features of claim 1. Further, advantageous
refinements of the invention are described in the subclaims.
For this purpose, a surge arrester which is arranged within the
housing is arranged electrically between the contact elements.
This brings about a number of advantages. Firstly, a main board
can now be used more effectively in terms of space. Secondly,
the overvoltage protection takes place even before the main
board and overvoltages can be dissipated directly at the point of
entry. In particular, in embodiments having only two contact
elements per subscriber, the cable connector may be withdrawn
in the case of defective surge arresters and the defective surge
arrester or the cable connector as a whole can be replaced
without the other subscribers being disrupted. In an embodiment
having four contact elements, only one other subscriber would be
disrupted.
In one preferred embodiment, the surge arrester is connected to
the contact elements such that it can be detached. This means
that, in the event of there being a defect in the surge arrester,
only this surge arrester need be replaced and not the complete
cable connector. Furthermore, this also has advantages as
regards ease of recycling.
In order to arrange the surge arrester such that it can be
detached, in each case a further fork contact is preferably
arranged on the contact elements. The shape of the fork contacts
is in this case preferably matched to the shape of the contacts of
the surge arrester.
In a further, preferred embodiment, the fork contacts for the
printed circuit board (main board) and the surge arresters are
aligned parallel to one another, the fork contact for the printed
circuit board (main board) being arranged in the region of the
side walls of the housing, and the fork contact for the surge
arrester being moved laterally inwards. This makes optimum use

of the physical space for the cable connector, since the surge arrester is
positioned between the fork contacts for the printed circuit board (main board).
The fork contact for the printed circuit board preferably protrudes up to the
lower edge of the housing such that it is largely guided in the housing.
In a further, preferred embodiment, the fork contact for the surge arrester is
moved back into the housing and/or is displaced parallel to the fork contact such
that the surge arrester with which contact has been made does not hinder the
insertion process on the printed circuit board.
In a further, preferred embodiment, the surge arrester is arranged on a separate
printed circuit board, which significantly simplifies in particular the replacement
process.
In a further, preferred embodiment, fine protection elements such as PTC
resistors and diodes are arranged on the printed circuit board (main board).
In a further, preferred embodiment, the housing of the cable connector is of
two-part design.
In a further, preferred embodiment, the contact elements are of two-part design,
one contact part comprising the contact for connecting the wires and the other
contact part comprising the fork contact for the printed circuit board (main
board), each contact part comprising a resilient contact arm which together form
an isolating contact.
The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to a
preferred exemplary embodiment. In the figures;
Brief description of the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 shows a perspective view from below of the cable connector without a
lower housing part,

Figure 2 shows a perspective view from below of the cable
connector with a lower housing part,
Figure 3 shows a side view of the cable connector with an upper
and a lower housing part,
Figure 4 shows a cross section along the section A-A,
Figure 5 shows a cross section along the section B-B, and
Figure 6 shows a plan view of the cable connector.
Figure 1 shows a perspective lower view of the cable connector 1
without a lower housing part 2 (see figure 2). The cable
connector 1 comprises an upper housing part 3, in which contact
elements 4 can be inserted from below which are guided through
corresponding guides in the housing part 3. The contact elements
4 are of two-part design, a first contact part 5 comprising two
fork contacts 6, 7 which are connected to one another via a U-
shaped bend 8. In addition, a resilient contact arm 9 (which can
be seen particularly well in figure 4) branches off upwards from
the U-shaped bend. The second contact part 10 comprises an
insulation displacement contact 11 (see figure 4) and a further
resilient contact arm 12. The two resilient contact arms 9, 12
then form an isolating contact (see figure 4). The two fork
contacts 6, 7 are in this case aligned parallel to one another, the
fork contact 7 however being moved upwards (in the direction of
the upper housing part 3) and displaced parallel (away from the
U-shaped bend 8). Furthermore, the cable connector 1 comprises
a printed circuit board 13 on which a surge arrester 17 is
arranged (see figure 2). Contact is in this case made with the
printed circuit board 13 via the two fork contacts 7. However, in
this case the fork contacts 6 remain freely accessible owing to the
moved arrangement of the fork contacts 7 such that contact can
be made with a further printed circuit board having functional
elements (main board) via said fork contacts 6. The printed
circuit board 13 also has a ground contact 14, by means of which
a ground connection, for example via a mounting rack, can be
produced. The upper housing part 3 is formed on the side faces

with latching lugs 15 which serve the purpose of latching with the
lower housing part 2, as is illustrated in figure 2. The housing
part 3 also has latching openings 16 which serve the purpose of
accommodating latching knobs of a plug (not illustrated). The
lower housing part 2 likewise has latching lugs 18, by means of
which the cable connector 1 can be latched with a further housing
(not illustrated) which bears the main board.
Figure 3 shows a side view of the cable connector 1, the cross
sections along the section lines A-A and B-B being illustrated in
figures 4 and 5, respectively. Figure 4 illustrates how the second
contact part 10 is supported on a bearing 20 of the lower housing
part 2, as a result of which the connection forces occurring are
absorbed by the housing. It is also illustrated how the two
resilient contact arms 9, 12 form an isolating contact 21.
Provided in the upper housing part 3 is an insertion channel 22,
in which an isolating plug or test plug (not illustrated) can be
inserted which can be used to isolate the isolating contact 21. If
the isolating plug or test plug is withdrawn again, the two contact
arms 9, 12 spring back again and make contact with one another.
Figure 6 shows a plan view of the cable connector 1 such that, in
particular, the elongated insertion channel 22 can be seen as well
as the rotation of the insulation displacement contacts 11 through
45° towards the fork contacts 6, 7.

List of reference numerals
1 Cable connector
2 Housing part
3 Housing part
4 Contact element
5 Contact part
6 Fork contact
7 Fork contact
8 U-shaped bend
9 Contact arm
10 Contact part
11 Insulation displacement contact
12 Contact arm
13 Printed circuit board
14 Ground contact
15 Latching lug
16 Latching opening
17 Surge arrester
18 Latching lug

20 Bearing
21 Isolating contact
22 Insertion channel

WE CLAIM
1. Cable connector for printed circuit boards, comprising a housing (2,3) and at
least two contact elements (4), each contact element (4) comprising a
contact (11)forconnecting electrical wires and aforkcontact (6) for making
contact with a main board, a surge arrester (17) which is arranged within the
housing (2,3) being arranged electrically between the contact elements (4),
characterized in that both each contact (11) for connecting the electrical
wires and each fork contact (6) for making contact with the main board is
accessible from outside the housing (2,3).
2. Cable connector as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the surge arrester (17) is
connected to the contact elements (4) such that it can be detached.
3. Cable connector as claimed in Claim 2, wherein in each case a further fork
contact (7), by means of which contact is made with the surge arrester (17),
is arranged on the contact elements (4).
4. Cable connector as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the fork contacts (6, 7) are
aligned parallel to one another, the fork contact (6) f orthe printed circuit
board being arranged in the region of the side walls of the housing, and the
fork contact (7) for the surge arrester (17) being arranged such that it is
moved laterally inwards.
5. Cable connector as claimed in Claim 3 or 4, wherein the fork contact (6)
forthe main board protrudes up to the lower edge of the housing (2, 3).

6. Cable connector as claimed in one of Claims 3 to 5, wherein the fork contact
(7) for the surge arrester (17) is moved back into the housing (2, 3) and/or is
displaced parallel to the fork contact (6).
7. Cable connector as claimed in one of the preceding claims, wherein the surge
arrester (17) is arranged on a printed circuit board (13).
8. Cable connector as claimed in one of the preceding claims, wherein the
housing (2, 3) is of two-part design.
9. Cable connector as claimed in one of the preceding claims, wherein the
contact elements (4) are of two-part design, one contact part (10) comprising
the contact for connecting the wires and the other contact part (5) comprising
the fork contact (6) for the main board, each contact part (10, 5) comprising
a resilient contact arm (12, 9) which together form an isolating contact (21).



ABSTRACT


CABLE CONNECTOR FOR PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARDS
The invention relates to a cable connector (1) for printed circuit boards,
comprising a housing (2, 3) and at least two contact elements (4), each contact
element comprising a contact (11) for connecting electrical wires and a fork
contact (6, 7) for making contact with a printed circuit board, a surge arrester
(17) which is arranged within the housing (2, 3) being arranged electrically
between the contact elements (4).

Documents:


Patent Number 260056
Indian Patent Application Number 1402/KOLNP/2007
PG Journal Number 14/2014
Publication Date 04-Apr-2014
Grant Date 31-Mar-2014
Date of Filing 20-Apr-2007
Name of Patentee ADC GMBH
Applicant Address BEESKOWDAMM 3-11, 14167 BERLIN
Inventors:
# Inventor's Name Inventor's Address
1 HEIKO NEUMETZLER WEITZGRUNDER STR. 9 12623 BERLIN
2 HARALD KLEIN STOLZENFELSSTR. 20 10318 BERLIN
PCT International Classification Number H04Q 1/14
PCT International Application Number PCT/EP2005/011767
PCT International Filing date 2005-11-03
PCT Conventions:
# PCT Application Number Date of Convention Priority Country
1 10 2004 061 681.7 2004-12-22 Germany