IDC twist cap strain relief
OwnerDavid B. Hollesen, Ivan Pawlenko +3inventors
InventorsDavid B. Hollesen, Ivan Pawlenko, Thelma E. Cole, Jason A. Kay, David S. Kerr
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An insulation displacement contact (IDC) strain relief cap is employed to interconnect a wire with an electrical contact. The electrical contact has a bifurcated end to engage and retain a wire and may be engaged with the strain relief cap. The cap contains notches, some of which fit on retaining cams that are attached to the electrical contact while others serve as wire exit holes. The cap fastens onto the clip once the retaining cams engage the notches and once the wire is aligned with the appropriate exit hole.
Claims10
An IDC strain relief cap assembly to interconnect a wire with an electrical contact, said assembly comprising:
- a. an IDC contact having
- (i) a first end,
- (ii) means to engage and make electrical contact between said first end and said electrical contact, and
- (iii) a bifurcated end having spaced arms with inwardly facing opposed surfaces to make contact with sides of a wire located between said inwardly facing opposed surfaces;
- b. an open-ended box shaped strain relief cap member having
- (i) surfaces defining a cavity to receive said bifurcated end,
- (ii) a pair of opposed longitudinally extending entry cam slots opening into said open end of said relief cap and each terminating at a mating laterally extending slot to define an "L" shaped opening, and
- (iii) a longitudinally extending entry wire slot opening into said open end of said relief cap and terminating at a mating laterally extending slot to define an "L" shaped opening, said wire slot being located between said cam, slots;
- c. a cam on each arm of said bifurcated end extending outwardly a distance away from said arms toward and beyond said surfaces defining said cavity when said bifurcated end is located within said cavity whereby a wire may be located between said inwardly facing opposed surfaces and said relief cap may be placed over said bifurcated end with said wire in said longitudinally extending wire slot and said cams in said longitudinally extending cam slots and moved longitudinally toward said bifurcated end and then twisted laterally to move said lateral slots relative to said cams and said wire respectively and thereby releasably retain said relief cap relative to said IDC contact.
An assembly to make electrical contact with a protective block having a cylindrical shaped pin, said assembly comprising
- a. a metal IDC contact having
- (i) a first end having a hollow cylindrically shaped portion to engage said pin on said protective block to retain said IDC contact relative to said block,
- (ii) a bifurcated end having spaced longitudinally extending arms with inwardly facing opposed surfaces spaced a distance to retain a wire located between said opposed surfaces, and
- (iii) a cam on each arm extending laterally away from each of said longitudinally extending arms;
- b. an open ended box shaped strain relief cap encircling said bifurcated end and enclosing said bifurcated end on one end, said relief cap having;
- (i) a pair of generally opposed cam slots extending along the circumference of said box shaped member and each engaged with one of said laterally extending cams, and
- (ii) a wire slot extending along the circumference of said box shaped member;
- and
- c. a wire located in said wire slot and between said inwardly facing opposed surfaces in contact with said spaced arms to transmit an electrical signal from said wire to said IDC contact.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.