SECURED PLUG CONNECTION AND METHOD FOR ITS PRODUCTION

• US 20100068910A1
• Filed: 10/25/2007
• Published: 03/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Knorr-Bremse Systeme Fur Nutzfahrzeuge GMBH (Estate of Heinz Hermann Thiele)
• Original Assignee: Knorr-Bremse Systeme Fur Nutzfahrzeuge GMBH (Estate of Heinz Hermann Thiele)
• Inventors: Klinger, Herbert, Thomas, Gerhard, Behrendt, Norbert
• Granted Patent: US 7,950,942 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 439/271
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/6215 using one or more bolts
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/6315 allowing relative movement between coupling parts, e.g. floating connection for coupling devices specially adapted for printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures, H01R12/91 takes precedence

Abstract

A plug connection between electrical and/or electronic components, in which electrical plug contacts of a plug which is arranged directly adjacently to one component are inserted into a socket which is arranged directly adjacently to the other component, with the components being interlocked with one another by a connection arrangement or being combined to form an assembly, and in which a separate plug connection securing arrangement which is independent of the connection arrangement of the components is provided to secure the plug connection against movements of the plug relative to the socket and vice versa.

Claims

1-15. -15. (canceled)

16. A plug connection between electrical components or electronic components, comprising:

electrical plug contacts of a plug arranged directly adjacently to one component inserted into a socket arranged directly adjacently to another component;

a connection arrangement to interlock the components with one another or to combine the components to form an assembly; and

a separate plug connection securing arrangement, which is independent of the connection arrangement of the components, secures the plug connection against movements of the plug relative to the socket and vice versa.

17. The plug connection of claim 16, wherein the plug connection securing arrangement engages the plug and the socket and connects these with one another in at least one of an integrally locked manner, a positively locked manner, and a frictionally locked manner.

18. The plug connection of claim 16, wherein at least one of the following is satisfied:

(i) the plug is held at the one component, and (ii) the socket is held at the other component via an elastic body so that the latter is deformable due to forces which occur at least one of during the production and during the securing of the plug connection by the plug connection securing arrangement.

19. The plug connection of claim 18, wherein the elastic body is elastically deformable at least in parallel with a plug-in direction of the plug into the socket.

20. The plug connection of claim 19, wherein the elastic area contains at least one of a circuit board which is flexible perpendicularly to the board plane, a lead frame which is flexible perpendicularly to the frame plane, and a cable tree which is arranged inside one of the components.

21. The plug connection of claim 18, wherein the plug connection securing arrangement includes at least one screw connection with a screw which is screwed with its screw shank through a thread of the elastically supported socket or of the elastically supported plug and can be screwed into at least one threaded hole of one of the components so that the elastically supported plug or the elastically supported socket, when the screw is screwed into the threaded hole of one of the components, is screwed in a direction of the socket rigidly supported at the other component or of the plug rigidly supported at the other component.

22. The plug connection of claim 21, wherein the screw is locked with its screw head against the rigidly supported plug or against the rigidly supported socket and is conducted with its screw shank through a through hole in the rigidly supported plug or in the rigidly supported socket.

23. The plug connection of claim 21, wherein at least two screw connections arranged laterally at the plug and the socket are provided.

24. The plug connection of claim 16, wherein the plug connection is arranged between at least one of an actuator assembly and a sensor assembly, and a control device allocated to the assembly.

25. The plug connection of claim 24, wherein the plug is arranged directly adjacently to a housing of the control device and the socket is arranged directly adjacently to a housing of at least one of the actuator assembly and the sensor assembly.

26. The plug connection of claim 16, wherein the plug connection securing arrangement is reachable from the outside with respect to housings of the components.

27. The plug connection of claim 26, wherein the plug connection securing arrangement is arranged accessibly on a side of housings of the components.

28. The plug connection of claim 16, wherein the plug connection securing arrangement interact with seals for sealing the plug connection.

29. A method for producing a plug connection, the method comprising:

positioning housings of two components in an assembly position, as a result of which either (i) a plug and a socket are simultaneously at least aligned with one another for forming a plug connection, or (ii) the plug and the socket are at least aligned with one another separately from the positioning of the housings; and

completing and securing the plug connection by acting on a plug connection securing arrangement;

wherein the plug connection is between electrical components or electronic components, the plug connection including electrical plug contacts of the plug arranged directly adjacently to one component inserted into a socket arranged directly adjacently to another component, a connection arrangement to interlock the components with one another or to combine the components to form an assembly, and the plug connection securing arrangement, which is separate and independent of the connection arrangement of the components, secures the plug connection against movements of the plug relative to the socket and vice versa.

30. The method for producing a plug connection of claim 29, wherein the completing and securing operation is performed by tightening a screw connection.