S-shaped cable holding clamp with grounding
First Claim
1. The combination of a connector main part which has a plurality of contacts, a clip, and a plurality of cables that each has an exposed conductive shield and at least one inner conductor within the shield, wherein:
- said connector has an electrically conductive shell and has an insulator that surrounds and holds said contacts and that is mounted in said shell;
said clip comprises a piece of sheet metal that has been bent into a plurality of loops about one of a plurality of corresponding axes, with said cable shields each lying within one of said loops and with said inner conductors connected to said contacts;
said shields on said cables each lies within a different one of said loops, with each loop tightly surrounding a corresponding cable shield, and with said clip being electrically connected to said shell.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A clip (30) grips the shields (24) of each of a plurality of cables to hold the front ends of the cables relative to connector contacts (12) and to ground the shields to a shell (16) of the connector. The clip includes a main part (40) that has been bent into a plurality of loops of about 220° each, with alternate loops opening upward and downward. The shields can be installed in the loops by pressing them into the loops, with the opposite sides of the loops resiliently spreading apart as the shield is installed and then closing around it. The loops have holes (80) that permit inspection of the shield at the side of the cable that would otherwise be hidden. A wire (32) that connects the clip to the connector shell, has a wire inner end (82) that extends across a hole, with a quantity of solder (84) soldering the wire to the clip and soldering the wire to a cable shield. The clip has strain relief parts (50), including holders (56) that can grip the cable and flexible couplings (58) that extend rearwardly from the loop.
43 Citations
14 Claims
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1. The combination of a connector main part which has a plurality of contacts, a clip, and a plurality of cables that each has an exposed conductive shield and at least one inner conductor within the shield, wherein:
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said connector has an electrically conductive shell and has an insulator that surrounds and holds said contacts and that is mounted in said shell;
said clip comprises a piece of sheet metal that has been bent into a plurality of loops about one of a plurality of corresponding axes, with said cable shields each lying within one of said loops and with said inner conductors connected to said contacts;
said shields on said cables each lies within a different one of said loops, with each loop tightly surrounding a corresponding cable shield, and with said clip being electrically connected to said shell. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
a wire having an inner end soldered to one of said loops and having an outer end soldered to said shell;
a quantity of polymer material that is molded around said clip, around portions of said cables, and around said inner and outer ends of said wire.
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3. The combination described in claim 1 wherein:
at least one of said loops has a hole, with solder lying at said hole and soldering the corresponding loop to the shield of the corresponding cable.
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4. Apparatus for holding a plurality of electrical cables that each has an electrically conductive shield comprising:
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a piece of sheet metal that has been bent into at least three loops with each loop having an axis and with each loop extending by more than 180°
about its axis, with first and third of said axes lying on an imaginary first row line and with a second axis spaced from said first row line,each of such loops has opposite sides, with the opposite sides of a second loop that has said second axis merging with the opposite sides of first and third loops that have said first and third axes, and with said first and third loops opening in a first direction and said second loop opening in a second direction that is opposite to said first direction. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7)
each of said loops has a hole lying in a portion of the loop that is opposite its direction of opening, to thereby enable viewing of an otherwise concealed side a shield.
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6. The apparatus described in claim 4 including said plurality of cables with each cable having its shield exposed and lying in one of said loops, including:
a plurality of quantities of solder each lying in one of said holes and soldering a shield of one of said cables to one of said loops.
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7. The apparatus described in claim 4 wherein:
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each of said loops has opposite ends spaced apart in a direction parallel to its axis;
said piece of sheet metal forms at least one strain relief part which includes a holder and a coupler, with said holder bent into a holder loop part that is of about the same shape as a first of said loops as viewed along said axis to hold one of said cables, and which is aligned with said first loop as viewed along said axis, and with said coupler extending axially between said first loop and said holder and with said coupler extending less 90°
about said axis to allow said coupler to bend.
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8. Apparatus for use with a connector, to hold a plurality of cables that each has an electrically conductive shield of a predetermined outside diameter, to enable connection of the shields of said cables to a common ground of the connector, comprising:
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a clip formed of a piece of sheet metal with a main part that has been bent into a plurality of loops of at least 180°
each, with said loops each having a pair of opposite sides with each pair of opposite ends forming a loop gap with said loop gaps alternately opening upwardly and downwardly, with each loop being of a size to hold one of said cable shields and with said sheet metal being deflectable to allow each cable shield to be pushed through one of said loop gaps into one of said loops;
a grounding wire connected to said clip and to said common ground of said connector and extending between them.
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9. Apparatus for use with a connector, to hold a plurality of cables that each has an electrically conductive shield of a predetermined outside diameter, to enable connection of the shields of said cables to a common ground of the connector, comprising:
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a clip formed of a piece of sheet metal with a main part that has been bent into a plurality of loops of at least 180°
each, with said loops each having a pair of opposite sides with each pair of opposite ends forming a loop gap with said loop gaps alternately opening upwardly and downwardly, with each loop being of a size to hold one of said cable shields and with said sheet metal being deflectable to allow each cable shield to be pushed through one of said loop gaps into one of said loops;
said clip has a plurality of holes, with each hole lying between the opposite sides of the loop, to provide a hole to view the hidden side of the shield and to allow soldering through the hole. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
a quantity of solder that lies in one of said holes and that solders the shield of said one of said cables to a corresponding one of said loops of said clip.
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11. The apparatus described in claim 10 including:
a wire of conductive material which has an inner end that lies in said one of said loops at the hole of that loop and which has an outer end that projects from said clip, with said quantity of solder joined to said wire inner end as well as to said one of said loops of said clip.
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12. Apparatus for use with a connector, to hold a plurality of cables that each has an electrically conductive shield of a predetermined outside diameter, to enable connection of the shields of said cables to a common ground of the connector, comprising:
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a clip formed of a piece of sheet metal with a main part that has been bent into a plurality of loops of at least 180°
each, with said loops each having a pair of opposite sides with each pair of opposite ends forming a loop gap with said loop gaps alternately opening upwardly and downwardly, with each loop being of a size to hold one of said cable shields and with said sheet metal being deflectable to allow each cable shield to be pushed through one of said loop gaps into one of said loops;
each of said loops has an axis with said axes being approximately parallel, and each loop has opposite front and rear ends spaced apart in a direction parallel to its axis;
said piece of sheet metal forms a plurality of strain relief parts which each includes a holder that is axially aligned with one of said loops and a coupler, with said holders each bent into a holder loop part that is of about the same shape as a corresponding one of said loops as viewed along a corresponding one of said axes to hold one of said cables, and which is aligned with a corresponding one of said loops as viewed along a corresponding one of said axes;
said couplers each extending axially between one of said loops and a corresponding one of said holders, with each coupler extending less than 90°
about the axis of the corresponding loop to allow the coupler to bend;
alternate ones of said couplers are of different axial lengths, to axially space alternate ones of said holders so they do not touch one another.
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13. Apparatus for use with a connector, to hold a plurality of cables that each has an electrically conductive shield of a predetermined outside diameter, to enable connection of the shields of said cables to a common ground of the connector, comprising:
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a clip formed of a piece of sheet metal with a main part that has been bent into at least three loops of more than 180°
each, with said loops each having a pair of opposite sides with each pair of opposite ends forming a loop gap with said loop gaps alternately opening upwardly and downwardly, with each loop being of a size to hold one of said cable shields and with said sheet metal being deflectable to allow each cable shield to be pushed through one of said loop gaps into one of said loops;
said plurality of loops including first and third loops opening downwardly and having axes that lie on a row line and a second loop connecting said first and third loops and opening upwardly;
said second loop having an axis that lies below said row line.
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14. Apparatus for use with a connector, to hold a plurality of cables that each has an electrically conductive shield of a predetermined outside diameter, to enable connection of the shields of said cables to a common ground of the connector, comprising:
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a clip formed of a piece of sheet metal with a main part that has been bent into a plurality of loops of at least 180°
each, with said loops each having a pair of opposite sides with each pair of opposite ends forming a loop gap with said loop gaps alternately opening upwardly and downwardly, with each loop being of a size to hold one of said cable shields and with said sheet metal being deflectable to allow each cable shield to be pushed through one of said loop gaps into one of said loops;
each of said loops has an axis and has opposite ends spaced apart in a direction parallel to said axis;
said piece of sheet metal forms at least one strain relief part which includes a holder and a coupler with said holder bent into a holder loop part that is of about the same shape as a first of said loops as viewed along said axis to hold one of said cables, and which is aligned with said first loop as viewed along said axis, but with said holder having an axial length that is less than the length of said first loop, and with said coupler extending axially between said first loop and said holder and with said coupler extending less 90°
about said axis to allow said coupler to bend.
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Specification