The present invention relates to a connector, and then particularly, but not exclusively, to a connector for connecting a coaxial cable to an electrical contact terminal which includes a plurality of terminal pins. The invention also relates to a method of using the inventive connector.

When connecting a coaxial cable to an electrical contact terminal, such as a so-called europa-terminal or multi-terminal contact device, which includes a plurality of terminal pins or connector pins, there is often used at present a special screening sleeve and a special soldering pro¬ cess. The soldering process is time consuming and requires the services of people who are trained to carry out the process. However, it has been found extremely difficult to obtain a soldered joint which is of uniform and satisfactory quality, particularly when soldering the centre conduc¬ tor of the coaxial cable. There is a danger that the central conductor will be damaged in the subsequent soldering of a surrounding screening sleeve, without this damage being noticed with the naked eye.

The object of the present invention is to provide a connector and a method which are not encumbered with these drawbacks. This object is achieved with a connector and a method having the characteristic fea¬ tures set forth in the following claims.

The inventive connector enables a connection of the aforesaid kind to be made in the absence of soldering. The inventive method is considerably time saving and requires no particular professional knowledge in obtain¬ ing a serviceable and functionally reliable connection between the coax¬ ial cable and the electrical terminal device. The invention also affords economical and qualitative advantages.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to ex¬ emplifying embodiments thereof and also with reference to the accompany¬ ing drawing, in which Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of a coaxial cable and an inventive connector,- Figure 2 illustrates a stage where the connector is fitted to the coaxial cable, and also shows a so- called europa electrical contact terminal; and Figure 3 is a side view

which shows an established connection between coaxial cable, connector and electrical contact terminal.

Figure 1 illustrates a coaxial cable 1 having a solid central conductor 2 and an insulating core 3 which surrounds the central conductor. In turn, the insulating core 3 is embraced by an electrically-conductive shielding stocking 4. The stocking 4 is embraced by an insulating layer 5, which also forms the exterior of the coaxial cable 1.

The inventive connector 10 includes an electrically-conductive metal connector housing 20, an electrically-conductive metal centre sleeve 40, a spacing element in the form of a sleeve 50, wherein the spacing ele¬ ment isolates the centre sleeve 40 electrically from the connector hous¬ ing 20, and a metal clamping ring 60.

The connector housing 20 has a cylindrical top part 21 which includes a central hole 22 whose size coincides with the size of the insulating core 3 of the coaxial cable 1. The top part 21 also includes a serrated or knurled part 23 on its outer surface.

The connector housing 20 also includes an intermediate part 24 and a bottom part 25. The spacing sleeve 50 is affixed within the aforesaid parts 24 and 25, as illustrated in Figure 1. The bottom part 25 has provided on its undersurface four upwardly extending holes 26 whose diameters and depths are adapted for coaction with pin terminals 71 of the europa terminal device 70. The bottom part 25 has a square external shape and the holes 26 are each placed in a respective corner region of said bottom part. The intermediate part 24 connects the top part 21 to the bottom part 25. The upper end of the central sleeve 40 includes a hole 41 whose diameter and depth are adapted to receive the central conductor 2 of the coaxial cable 1. The bottom end of the central sleeve 40 includes a hole 42 whose diameter and depth are adapted for coaction with a connecting pin or terminal pin 71 on the terminal device 70. The central sleeve 40 has at least one external ring groove 43.

The spacing sleeve 50 includes a central hole 51 whose diameter coin¬ cides with the outer diameter of the central sleeve 40. Although not shown, the spacing sleeve 50 is provided with fastener means which en¬ gage the ring groove 43 when the central sleeve 40 is inserted into the spacing sleeve 50, therewith fixating the central sleeve 40 in relation to the spacing sleeve 50. These fastener means may have a snap-in func¬ tion.

The two central holes 22 and 51 communicate with one another so as to form a hole which extends through the connector housing 20 and the spac¬ ing sleeve 50 affixed therein.

A coaxial cable 1 is connected to the connector 10 in the following manner.

In a first stage, the end of the coaxial cable 1 is stripped and pre¬ pared as shown in Figure 1, whereafter the clamping ring 60 is placed on the coaxial cable 1 in a dislocated position as shown in Figure 1.

The central conductor 2 is then inserted into the hole 41 in the central sleeve 40, whereafter the central sleeve 40 is crimped with the aid of an appropriate crimping tool, so as to affix the central conductor 2 in the central sleeve 40.

In the next stage, the coaxial cable 1 is brought to a position in which the central sleeve 40 fitted thereon is positioned in the hole 51 in the spacing sleeve 50 located in the connector housing 20. The cntral sleeve 40 is thereby snap-fastened in the spacing sleeve 50, by virtue of the aforesaid fastener means on the spacing sleeve 50 engaging the ring groove 43 on the central sleeve 40. At the same time, the stocking 4 is located on the outer surface of the top part 21 and embraces the ser¬ rated or knurled part 23.

The clamping ring 60 is then moved along the coaxial cable 1 to a posi- tion in which it lies on the stocking 4 in abutment with the outer sur¬ face of the top part 21, whereafter the clamping ring 60 is crimped by an appropriate crimping tool so as to firmly press the stocking 4

against the outer surface of the top part 21, wherein the serrations 23 ensure effective electrical and mechanical contact between the stocking 4 and the connector housing 20. In the case of the illustrated embodi¬ ment, the clamping ring 60 has been crimped to an hexagonal shape.

Connection of the coaxial cable 1 to the connector 10 has therewith been completed and the connector and coaxial cable connected thereto can be fitted to an electrical contact terminal in the form of a europa termi¬ nal 70 for instance.

The europa terminal 70 includes a non-conductive housing 72 and is pro¬ vided with connection terminals in the form of pin terminals or pin connectors 71 which when fitting the connector 10 to the terminal 70 are received in the holes 26 and 42 of the connector 10. In this regard, the connector pins 71 have a given diametrical oversize and are resilient to some extent, so that when the pins are pressed into the holes 26 and 42 they will lie against the walls of said holes with a satisfactory con¬ tact pressure and holding force. The aforesaid type of connection be¬ tween pins 71 and holes 26, 42 is referred to in the art as a press-in- connection.

Figure 3 shows two inventive connectors 10 which carry respectively a heavy-gauge and a lighter-gauge coaxial cable 1 and are fitted to a europa terminal 70. Figure 3 thus shows that the connector 10 can be readily adapted to different types of coaxial cable 1.

It will be understood that the design of the inventive connector 10 can be modified in certain respects, and by way of non-limiting example it can be mentioned that the centre sleeve 40 may be divided into two parts. In this case, the bottom part of the central sleeve will include the hole 42 and is affixed to the spacing sleeve 50. The upper part of the central sleeve 40 will include the hole 41 in which the central conductor 2 is fitted by means of a contact pressing process as earlier described. The two parts of the central sleeve can therewith be assem- bled by means of a connection of the plug-in kind, the snap-in kind or some similar kind of connecting means. The method of assembling the connector in the case of this embodiment is, in principle, the same as

the earlier described method, but with the difference that the bottom part of the central sleeve 40 is pre-fitted to the spacing sleeve 50.

The means used to secure the central sleeve 40 to the spacing sleeve 50 may also be varied in different ways. For instance, the active part of the snap-in facility may be provided either on the spacing sleeve 50 or on the central sleeve 40.

It will also be understood that the configuration of the connector 10 may be varied in accordance with the configuration of the coaxial cable 1 and the electrical contact terminal 70. The number of connection holes 26 on the connector 10 may be varied according to requirements. The serrated surface 23 may be replaced with an alternative type of surface structure, if so desired.

The invention is therefore not restricted to the illustrated and de¬ scribed embodiments thereof, since changes and modifications are con¬ ceivable within the scope of the following claims.