Crimp-type terminal

• US 4,142,771 A
• Filed: 03/29/1976
• Issued: 03/06/1979
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/1974
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: AMP Limited
• Original Assignee: AMP Limited
• Inventors: Barnes, Ronald B., Swengel, Robert C. Jr., Brinser, Stanley B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Goldberg, Howard N.
• Application Number:
  US05/671,215
• Time in Patent Office: 1,072 Days
• Field of Search: 339/95 R, 339/97 C, 339/98, 339/223 R, 339/223 S, 339/276 R, 339/276 C, 339/276 D, 339/276 F, 339/276 S, 339/276 T, 174/84 C, 174/90, 174/94 R
• US Class Current: 439/442
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 4/184 comprising a U-shaped wire-receiving portion

Abstract

A crimpable terminal device in which the barrel is double walled, with the inner wall being formed from the same sheet of metal as the outer wall and being integral therewith. Specifically, the inner wall is formed by folding over extensions of the outer wall back upon the inner surface of the inner wall and then forming the resulting double thickness of metal into a barrel within which a wire is placed and the barrel crimped thereupon. The inner wall of the barrel can have slots or apertures therein or other irregular surfaces, all designed to bite into the conductor crimped therein to make good electrical and mechanical connection therewith. Because the inner wall has slots formed completely therethrough, and further because the inner wall can move relatively freely with respect to the outer wall, the crimping produces unusually good electrical and mechanical connections and with many side benefits.

Claims

1. The combination of a single cable and a terminating means crimped around said single cable for terminating said single cable, in which said terminating means comprises:

a barrel-shaped outer wall having a convex inner surface and an open seam extending axially along the length thereof; and

an inner wall adjacent to said outer wall and having a concave inner surface;

said inner wall comprising first and second sections each having inner surfaces and each having first and second oppositely positioned edges and each integrally connected at said first edge to said outer wall along one side of said open seam and folded from said open seam towards each other upon said inner surface of said outer wall;

said single cable having a perimeter with first and second portions;

said outer and inner walls crimped around first and second portions of the perimeter, respectively, of said single cable;

the inner surfaces of said first and second sections of said inner wall physically engaging said first and second portions of said single cable and pressing said first and second portions of said single cable therewithin and against each other.

2. A combination as in claim 1 in which:

said inner wall comprises a plurality of slots cut therethrough;

at least two of said slots being substantially parallel and adjacent with respect to each other.

3. A combination as in claim 2 in which the portions of said inner wall existing between adjacent slots are elongated along a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of said slots and which are bent about their elongated axes to present a sharp edge to the interior of said barrel.

4. A combination as in claim 2 in which the walls of said slots are flared outwardly from the inner surface of said inner barrel wall towards the inner surface of said outer barrel wall.

5. A combination as in claim 2 in which the second edge of at least one of said inner wall sections is bent away from the inner surface of said outer wall and into the cavity of said barrel.

6. A combination as in claim 2 in which the second edges of said inner wall sections are bent away from the inner surface of said outer wall and into the cavity of said barrel and in which major surfaces of said bent away portions face each other and are adjacent.

7. A combination as in claim 2 in which the second edges of said inner wall sections are bent away from the inner surface of said outer wall and into the cavity of said barrel and in which said bent away terminating ends are non-continuous along each of said inner wall sections but are constructed with the bent away end of a first of said inner wall sections interleaving with the non-continuous bent away end of said second inner wall section;

and in which said bent away ends of each of said first and second wall sections lie substantially in the same plane; and

in which each of said bent away ends has sharp pointed elements formed thereon to penetrate into a cable crimped within said barrel.

8. A combination as in claim 1 in which the second edges of said inner wall sections are bent away from the inner surface of said outer wall and have the center portion thereof removed to form four bent away portions extending into the cavity of said barrel;

in which said four bent away portions comprise a first and second pair of said bent away portions positioned opposite each other with their surfaces facing each other and spaced apart a predetermined distance;

and in which each of said four bent away portions has a tab attached at that edge of said bent away portion facing the center of said barrel;

in which the tabs of each of said pair of bent away portions are bent towards each other to form slots which a wire can be inserted;

in which the width of at least one of said slots is constructed to be less than the diameter of said wire inserted therein; and

in which the outer and inner walls of said barrel are constructed to cover the top of said slots when said barrel is crimped to lock said cable within said slots.

9. A combination as in claim 1 in which said barrel is formed from a single sheet of bi-metallic material comprised of first and second metal layers bonded together.

10. A combination as in claim 9 in which:

said inner wall comprises a plurality of slots cut therethrough;

said slots being substantially parallel with respect to each other.

11. A combination as in claim 10 in which the portions of said inner barrel existing between said adjacent slots are elongated along a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of said slots and which are bent about their elongated axes to present a sharp edge to the interior of said barrel.

12. A combination as in claim 10 in which the walls of said slots are flared outwardly from the inner surface of said inner barrel wall towards the inner surface of said outer barrel wall.

13. A combination as in claim 10 in which the second edge of at least one of said inner wall sections is bent away from the inner surface of said outer wall and into the cavity of said barrel.

14. A combination as in claim 9 in which the second edges of said inner wall sections are bent away from the inner surface of said outer wall and into the cavity of said barrel and in which the surfaces of said bent away portions face each other and are adjacent.

15. A combination as in claim 9 in which the second edges of said inner wall sections are bent away from the inner surface of said outer wall and into the cavity of said barrel and in which said bent away terminating ends are non-continuous along each of said inner wall sections but are constructed with the bent away terminating ends of a first of said inner wall layer sections interleaving with the non-continuous bent away end portions of said inner wall section;

and in which said bent away ends of each of said first and second wall sections lie substantially in the same plane; and

in which each of said bent away ends has sharp pointed elements formed thereon to penetrate into a cable crimped within said barrel.

16. A combination as in claim 9 in which the second edges of said inner wall sections are bent away from the inner surface of said outer wall and have the center portion thereof removed to form four bent away portions extending into the cavity of said barrel;

in which said four bent away portions comprise a first and second pair of said bent away portions positioned opposite each other with their surfaces facing each other and spaced apart a predetermined distance;

and in which each of said four bent away portions has a tab attached at that edge of said bent away portion facing the center of said barrel;

in which the tabs of each of said pair of bent away portions are bent towards each other to form slots into which a wire can be inserted;

in which the width of at least one of said slots is constructed to be less than the diameter of said wire to be inserted therein; and

in which the outer and inner walls of said barrel are constructed to cover the top of said slots when said barrel is crimped to lock said wire within said slots.

17. A combination as in claim 1 in which the axial length of said inner barrel layer is less than the actual length of said outer barrel layer.

18. A combination as in claim 17 in which said inner barrel layer has a portion thereof which is tapered away from the inner surfaces of said outer barrel layer and into the cavity of said barrel to decrease the cross-sectional area of the barrel opening.

19. A combination as in claim 18 in which said inner wall comprises at least one slot cut therethrough.

20. A combination as in claim 18 in which said inner wall layer has a plurality of apertures formed therethrough.

21. A combination as in claim 1 in which said inner wall comprises a plurality of apertures cut therethrough.

22. The combination of a single conductive cable and terminating means for terminating said single conductive cable, with said terminating means comprising:

a barrel formed from an integral sheet of metal;

said barrel having walls comprised of at least two layers of metal with adjacent layers being in contact with each other over most of at least one major surface thereof;

said at least two layers comprising an open seam outer layer with a concave inner surface and an inner layer having first and second terminating edges;

said inner layer comprising first and second extensions of said outer layer originating at the open seam thereof and which are folded over at said open seam and extend back upon the concave inner surface of said outer layer towards each other for predetermined distances;

said single conductive cable comprising a perimeter having first and second oppositely positioned portions;

said barrel being crimped around said single conductive cable;

said inner surfaces of said first and second extensions of said outer layer which form said inner layer being in physical contact with said opposite perimetric surfaces of said single conductive cable to maintain inwardly directed radial forces around the perimeter of said single conductive cable contained therebetween.

23. A combination as in claim 22 in which:

said inner layer comprises a plurality of slots cut therethrough;

said slots being substantially parallel with respect to each other.

24. A combination as in claim 23 in which the portions of said inner layer existing between adjacent slots are elongated along a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of said slots and which are bent about their elongated axes to present a sharp edge to the interior of said barrel.

25. A combination as in claim 23 in which the walls of said slots are flared outwardly from the inner surface of said inner layer towards the inner surface of said outer layer.

26. A combination as in claim 22 in which the terminating edges of at least one of said inner layer extensions are bent away from the inner surface of said outer layer and into the cavity of said barrel.

27. A combination as in claim 22 in which the terminating edges of at least one of said inner layer extensions are bent away from the inner surface of said outer layer and into the cavity of said barrel and in which the surfaces of said bent away portions face each other.

28. A combination as in claim 22 in which the terminating edges of said inner layer extensions are bent away from the inner surface of said outer layer and into the cavity of said barrel and in which the bent away terminating edges are non-continuous along each of said inner layer extensions but are constructed with the bent away terminating edge of a first of said inner layer extension interleaving with the non-continuous bent away edge of said second inner layer extension;

and in which said bent away ends of each of said first and second inner layer extensions lie substantially in the same plane; and

in which each of said bent away ends has sharp pointed elements formed thereon to penetrate into conductors crimped within said barrel.

29. A combination as in claim 22 in which the terminating edges of said inner layer extensions are bent away from the inner surface of said outer layer and have the center portion thereof removed to form four bent away sections of terminating edges extending into the cavity of said barrel;

in which said four bent away sections comprise a first and second pair of said bent away sections positioned opposite each other with their surfaces facing each other and spaced apart a predetermined distance;

in which each of said four bent away sections has a tab attached at that edge thereof facing the center of said barrel;

in which the tabs of each of said pair of bent away sections are bent towards each other to form slots into which a conductor cable can be inserted;

the width of said slots being constructed to be less than the diameter of said conductor cable to be inserted therein;

the outer and inner layers of said barrel being constructed to cover the top of said slots when said barrel is crimped to lock said conductive cable within said slots.

30. A combination as in claim 22 in which said barrel is formed from a single sheet of bi-metallic material comprised of first and second metal layers bonded together.

31. A combination as in claim 30 in which:

said inner wall comprises a plurality of slots cut therethrough;

said slots being substantially parallel with respect to each other.

32. A combination as in claim 30 in which the portions of said inner barrel existing between said adjacent slots are elongated along a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of said slots and which are bent about their elongated axes to present a sharp edge to the interior of said barrel.

33. A combination as in claim 30 in which the walls of said apertures slots are flared outwardly from the inner surface of said inner layer extension towards the inner surface of said outer barrel wall layer.

34. A combination as in claim 30 in which the terminating edge of at least one of said inner wall extensions is bent away from the inner surface of said outer wall layer and into the cavity of said barrel.

35. A combination as in claim 30 in which the terminating edges of at least one of said inner wall extensions is bent away from the inner surface of said outer wall layer and into the cavity of said barrel and in which major surfaces of said bent away edges face each other.

36. A combination as in claim 30 in which the terminating edges of said inner layer extensions are bent away from the inner surface of said outer layer and into the cavity of said barrel and in which said bent away terminating edges are non-continuous along each of said inner layer extensions and are constructed with the bent away edges of a first of said inner layer extensions interleaving with the non-continuous bent away edges of said second inner layer extension;

in which said bent away edges of each of said first and second wall layer extension sections lie substantially in the same plane; and

in which each of said bent away edges has sharp pointed elements formed thereon to penetrate into conductive cable crimped within said barrel.

37. A combination as in claim 30 in which the terminating edges of said inner wall layer extension are bent away from the inner surface of said outer wall layer and have the center portion thereof removed to form four bent away portions extending into the cavity of said barrel;

in which said four bent away portions comprise a first and second pair of said bent away portions positioned opposite each other with their surfaces facing each other and spaced apart a predetermined distance;

in which each of said four bent away portions has a tab attached at that edge of said bent away portion facing the center of said barrel;

in which the tabs of each of said pair of bent away portions are bent towards each other to form slots into which a wire can be inserted;

in which the width of at least one of said slots is constructed to be less than the diameter of said conductive cable to be inserted therein; and

in which the outer and inner wall layers of said barrel are constructed to cover the top of said slots when said barrel is crimped to lock said conductive cable within said slots.

38. A combination as in claim 22 in which said inner wall comprises a plurality of apertures cut therethrough.

39. The combination of a single conductor and a double walled, barrel-shaped terminating means for terminating said single conductor, said double walled, barrel-shaped terminating means comprising:

an outer wall having an open seam substantially parallel to the axis of said barrel and defining the first and second circumferentially terminating edges of said outer wall; and

an inner wall comprising a first section and a second section each having an outer surface and an inner surface;

said first section of said inner wall being an integral extension of said first terminating edge of said outer wall and folded back within said outer wall with its outer surface laying upon the inside surface of said outer wall and extending along said inside surface of said outer wall a predetermined distance;

said second section of said inner wall being an integral extension of said second terminating edge of said outer wall and folded back within said outer wall with its outer surface laying upon the inside surface of said outer wall and extending along the inside surface of said outer wall a second predetermined distance;

said single conductor having a perimeter with oppositely positioned surfaces;

said outer and inner walls crimped around said oppositely positioned surfaces of said single conductor with the inner surfaces of said first and second sections of said inner wall pressing against oppositely positioned surfaces of said single conductor to make electrical and mechanical contact therewith.

40. A combination as in claim 39 in which:

said inner wall comprises a plurality of slots cut therethrough;

said slots being substantially parallel with respect to each other.

41. A combination as in claim 40 in which the portions of said inner wall existing between said adjacent slots are elongated along a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of said slots and which are bent about their elongated axes to present a sharp edge to the interior of said barrel.

42. A combination as in claim 40 in which the walls of said apertures slots are flared outwardly from the inner surface of said inner barrel wall towards the inner surface of said outer barrel wall.

43. A combination as in claim 39 in which the terminating edges of at least one of said inner wall sections is bent away from the inner surface of said outer wall and into the cavity of said barrel.

44. A combination as in claim 39 in which the terminating edges of said inner wall sections are bent away from the inner surface of said outer wall layer and into the cavity of said barrel and in which the major surfaces of said bent away terminating edges face each other.

45. A combination as in claim 39 in which the terminating edges of said inner wall sections are bent away from the inner surface of said outer wall and into the cavity of said barrel and in which said bent away edges are non-continuous along each of said inner wall sections but are constructed with the bent away edges of a first of said inner wall sections interleaving with the non-continuous bent away edges of said second inner wall section;

in which said bent away edges of each of said first and second inner wall sections lie substantially in the same plane; and

in which each of said bent away edges have sharp pointed elements formed thereon to penetrate into a conductor crimped within said barrel.

46. A combination as in claim 39 in which the terminating edges of said inner wall sections are bent away from the inner surface of said outer wall layer and have the center portion thereof removed to form four bent away portions extending into the cavity of said barrel;

in which said four bent away portions comprise a first and second pair of said bent away portions positioned opposite each other with their surfaces facing each other and spaced apart a predetermined distance;

in which each of said four bent away portions has a tab attached at that edge of said bent away portion facing the center of said barrel;

the tabs of each of said pair of bent away portions being bent towards each other to form slots into which a conductor can be inserted;

the width of at least one of said slots being constructed to be less than the diameter of said conductor to be inserted therein;

the outer and inner wall sections of said barrel being constructed to cover the top of said slots when said barrel is crimped to lock said conductor within said slots.

47. A combination as in claim 39 in which said barrel is formed from a stock of bi-metallic material comprised of a first and a second metal sheets bonded together.

48. A combination as in claim 47 in which:

said inner wall comprises a plurality of slots cut therethrough;

said slots being substantially parallel with respect to each other.

49. A combination as in claim 48 in which the portions of said inner barrel existing between said adjacent slots are elongated along a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of said slots and which are bent about their elongated axes to present a sharp edge to the interior of said barrel.

50. A combination as in claim 48 in which the walls of said apertures slots are flared outwardly from the inner surface of said inner wall section towards the inner surface of said outer wall.

51. A combination as in claim 47 in which the terminating edges of at least one of said inner wall sections is bent away from the inner surface of said outer wall and into the cavity of said barrel.

52. A combination as in claim 47 in which the terminating edges of said inner wall sections are bent away from the inner surface of said outer wall and into the cavity of said barrel and in which said bent away edges are adjacent each other.

53. A combination as in claim 47 in which the terminating edges of said inner wall sections are bent away from the inner surface of said outer wall and into the cavity of said barrel and in which the bent away edges are non-continuous along each of said inner wall sections but are constructed with the bent away edges of a first of said inner wall sections interleaving with the non-continuous bent away edges of said second inner wall section;

in which said bent away edges of each of said first and second wall layer extension sections lie substantially in the same plane; and

in which each of said bent away portions have sharp pointed elements formed thereon to penetrate into a conductor crimped within said barrel.

54. A combination as in claim 47 in which the terminating edges of said inner wall sections are bent away from the inner surface of said outer wall and have the center portion thereof removed to form four bent away portions extending into the cavity of said barrel;

in which said four bent away portions comprise a first and second pair of bent away portions positioned opposite each other with their surfaces facing each other and spaced apart a predetermined distance;

in which each of said four bent away portions has a tab attached at that edge of said bent away portion facing the center of said barrel;

in which the tabs of each of said pair of bent away portions are bent towards each other to form slots into which a conductor can be inserted;

in which the width of said slots are constructed to be less than the diameter of said conductor to be inserted therein; and

in which the outer wall and inner wall sections of said barrel are constructed to cover the top of said slots when said barrel is crimped to lock said conductor within said slots.

55. A combination as in claim 39 in which the axial length of said inner barrel layer is less than the axial length of said outer barrel layer.

56. A combination as in claim 39 in which said inner wall section has a plurality of apertures formed therethrough.

57. A combination as in claim 39 in which the axial length of said inner wall section is less than the axial length of said outer barrel layer.

58. A combination as in claim 39 in which said inner barrel wall has a portion thereof which is tapered away from the inner surfaces of said outer barrel wall and into the cavity of said barrel to decrease the cross-sectional area of the barrel opening.

59. A combination as in claim 39 in which said inner wall comprises a plurality of apertures cut therethrough.