ELECTRIC PLUG CONNECTOR WITH BENDING GUARD

Abstract

An electric plug connector has a locking element configured for releasably connecting to a mating plug connector, a housing for receiving at least one cable and at least one contact element, and a bending guard which is made of an elastic material and prevents excessive bending of the connected cable, wherein the bending guard can be used for different cable cross-sections for field assembly.

Claims

1. An electric plug connector comprising a housing for receiving at least one cable and a bending protection that is manufactured from an elastic material and prevents the connected cable from bending excessively and wherein a connecting element is arranged between the housing and the bending protection, wherein the connecting element is configured to assume at least a first state and a second state, wherein at least the second state is irreversible and that the bending protection is permanently fixed to the cable-side end of the housing by the connecting element, wherein the connecting element is in the second state.

2. The electrical plug connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein a change of state of the connecting element is triggerable by a temperature change of more than 50° C.

3. The electrical plug connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein a change of state is triggerable by heating the connecting element to a temperature above 100° C.

4. The electric plug connector as claimed in claim 1 wherein the connecting element comprises at least two components that are configured to be activated by heat and assume the second state.

5. The electric plug connector as claimed in claim 1 wherein at least one of the components of the connecting element is configured to develop an adhesive effect as soon as the change of state from the at least first state into the at least second state is triggered.

6. The electric plug connector as claimed in claim 1 wherein the change of state of the connecting element from the first state into the second state is an irreversible expansion.

7. An electric plug connector comprising a housing configured for receiving at least one cable and a bending protection that is manufactured from an elastic material and is configured to prevent the connected cable from bending excessively and wherein the bending protection is configured to assume at least a first state and a second state, wherein at least the second state is irreversible, wherein the bending protection is permanently fixed to the cable-side end of the housing, wherein the bending protection is in the second state.

8. The electric plug connector as claimed in claim 7, wherein a change of state of the bending protection is triggered by a temperature change of more than 50° C.

9. The electric plug connector as claimed in claim 7, wherein a change of state is triggered by heating the bending protection to a temperature above 100° C.

10. The electric plug connector as claimed in claim 7 wherein the bending protection comprises at least two components that are configured to be activated by heat and assume the second state.

11. The electric plug connector as claimed in claim 7 wherein at least one of the components of the bending protection is configured to develop an adhesive effect as soon as the change of state from the at least first state into the at least second state is triggered.

12. The electric plug connector as claimed in claim 7 wherein the bending protection has a fundamentally hollow cylindrical form that tapers conically running from the cable-side end of the housing towards the cable and is provided with cut-outs that to a limited extent is configured to allow and/or render possible the cable to bend.

13. The electric plug connector as claimed in claim 2, wherein the connecting element comprises at least two components that are configured to be activated by heat and assume the second state.

14. The electric plug connector as claimed in claim 2, wherein at least one of the components of the connecting element is configured to develop an adhesive effect as soon as the change of state from the at least first state into the at least second state is triggered.

15. The electric plug connector as claimed in claim 2, wherein the change of state of the connecting element from the first state into the second state is an irreversible expansion.

16. The electric plug connector as claimed in claim 8, wherein the bending protection comprises at least two components that are configured to be activated by heat and assume the second state.

17. The electric plug connector as claimed in claim 8, wherein at least one of the components of the bending protection is configured to develop an adhesive effect as soon as the change of state from the at least first state into the at least second state is triggered.

18. The electric plug connector as claimed in claim 8, wherein the bending protection has a fundamentally hollow cylindrical form that tapers conically running from the cable-side end of the housing towards the cable and is provided with cut-outs that to a limited extent is configured to allow and/or render possible the cable to bend.

Description

EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT

[0022] An exemplary embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the drawings and is explained in detail below. In the drawings:

[0023] FIG. 1a illustrates an exploded view of an electric plug connector in accordance with the invention with a bending protection,

[0024] FIG. 1b illustrates a perspective view of an electric plug connector in accordance with the invention with an expanded connecting element,

[0025] FIG. 2a illustrates an exploded view of an alternative electric plug connector in accordance with the invention with a bending protection,

[0026] FIG. 2b illustrates a perspective view of an alternative electric plug connector in accordance with the invention with an expanded connecting element,

[0027] FIG. 3a illustrates a perspective view of an electric plug connector in accordance with the invention with a bending protection in accordance with the invention in a first state,

[0028] FIG. 3b illustrates a perspective view of an electric plug connector in accordance with the invention with a bending protection in accordance with the invention in a second state,

[0029] The figures show in part simplified schematic illustrations. In part, identical reference numerals are used for similar but possibly not identical elements. Different views of the same elements may be scaled differently. Directions such as “top”, “bottom”, “left”, “right”, “front” and “back” refer to the respective illustrations and may vary in relation to the elements shown.

[0030] FIG. 1a illustrates an electric plug connector 1 in accordance with the invention in an in part exploded view. In this case, the electric plug connector 1 is illustrated in FIG. 1a with a locking element 2, a housing 3 and some contact elements 4 arranged therein in combination. The housing 3 is provided in this case on its cable-side end with a thread 5 with the result that it is possible to use cable glands that are usually used in the prior art. A connecting element 6 in accordance with the invention in the form of an O-ring is arranged between a cable-side end of the housing 3 and a bending protection 7 in accordance with the invention. The bending protection 7 is designed in this case as a hollow cylindrical body having a housing-side inner diameter that can be guided over the outer-lying thread 5 of the housing 3. In the illustration, the connecting element 6 is in a first state.

[0031] In FIG. 1b, the plug connector 1 in accordance with the invention is shown in a fully assembled illustration. In this case, the bending protection 7 is guided over a cable 9 that is connected in the housing 3 to the contact elements 4. The bending protection 7 is guided over the thread 5 and by virtue of the activation of the synthetic material of the connecting element 6, said bending protection is expanded as illustrated. The activation is performed in accordance with the invention by supplying heat, for example using a heat gun. Alternatively, it is possible to use for the activation a further component that is arranged for example in a reservoir in the bending protection 7 or is inserted via the cable-side opening of the bending protection 7. In accordance with the invention, the activation causes an irreversible expansion of the connecting element 6 with the result that the connecting element 6 is in a second state, the operating state, in FIG. 1b. The connecting element 6 advantageously expands in such a way that at least a part of the thread 5 is also sealed by the connecting element 6. In FIG. 2, the expanded connecting element 6 produces a material-bonded connection between the housing 3 and the bending protection 7.

[0032] FIG. 2a and FIG. 2b illustrate a comparable construction such as in the previously mentioned FIG. la and FIG. lb but a hollow cylindrical connecting element 6′ is used in lieu of a connecting element 6 that is in the form of an O-ring. Comparable to the connecting element 6, the connecting element 6′ can develop a sealing effect through expansion, as well as create a positive-locking or material-bonded connection between the cable-side end of the housing 3 and the bending protection 7.

[0033] An alternative embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 3a and FIG. 3b. In this embodiment, the bending protection 8 is designed as a shrinkable molded element. As a result, in particular a connecting element 6 such as illustrated in alternative embodiments can be omitted. Efficient crosslinking of the materials in the bending protection 8, for example by means of the method of electron beam crosslinking, can achieve a form that retains its shape even after activation of the bending protection 8, for example by supplying heat. As a result, a connection of the cable 9 and housing 3 of the electric plug connector 1 is produced which also leaves a visually professional impression. FIG. 3a shows the form of the bending protection 8 on the housing 3 of the electric plug connector 1, said bending protection having been expanded after the electron beam crosslinking process. In this case, the cable 9 is encompassed by the bending protection 8. Polyethylene and/or polybutene are particularly suitable as a material for this. The bending protection 8 can in its expanded form, in other words in its first state, be guided over the cable-side end of the housing 3, in other words it is possible to cover an existing thread 5. By virtue of transferring the bending element 8 from its first state into its second state illustrated in FIG. 3b, the thread 5 can be used as a particularly advantageous fixing arrangement of the bending protection 8 on the housing. A further advantage of the bending protection 8 that is formed in this manner is the ability to receive different cross-sections of cables 9 having a similar bending protection 9. This means that the illustrated cable 9 can be designed for example both with a 10 mm.sup.2 cross-section area and also with a 5 mm.sup.2 cross-section area and yet be equally reliably accommodated and sealed by the bending protection 9 in accordance with the invention. An efficient further development provides to coat the inner face of the embodiment of the bending protection 8 that is illustrated in FIGS. 3a and 3b with an adhesive material. Even more advantageously, a material is used which acquires an adhesive effect when the bending element 8 is activated from a first state into a second state.

[0034] Even if different aspects or features of the invention are illustrated in the figures in each case in combination, it is obvious to the person skilled in the art—unless otherwise indicated—that the illustrated and discussed combinations are not the only possible combinations. In particular, units or feature complexes of different exemplary embodiments that correspond to one another may be exchanged with one another.

Electric plug connector with bending guard

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0035] 1 Electric plug connector [0036] 2 Locking element [0037] 3 Housing [0038] 4 Contact element [0039] 5 Thread [0040] 6, 6′ Connecting element [0041] 7 Bending protection [0042] 8 Bending protection [0043] 9 Cable