EP1012916B1 - Connecteur comportant un element maintenant la position de la borne - Google Patents

Connecteur comportant un element maintenant la position de la borne Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1012916B1
EP1012916B1 EP98938864A EP98938864A EP1012916B1 EP 1012916 B1 EP1012916 B1 EP 1012916B1 EP 98938864 A EP98938864 A EP 98938864A EP 98938864 A EP98938864 A EP 98938864A EP 1012916 B1 EP1012916 B1 EP 1012916B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
terminal
connector
locking
housing
lance
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP98938864A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP1012916A1 (fr
Inventor
Olivier Pamart
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Whitaker LLC
Original Assignee
Whitaker LLC
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Whitaker LLC filed Critical Whitaker LLC
Priority to EP98938864A priority Critical patent/EP1012916B1/fr
Publication of EP1012916A1 publication Critical patent/EP1012916A1/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP1012916B1 publication Critical patent/EP1012916B1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R13/00—Details of coupling devices of the kinds covered by groups H01R12/70 or H01R24/00 - H01R33/00
    • H01R13/40—Securing contact members in or to a base or case; Insulating of contact members
    • H01R13/42—Securing in a demountable manner
    • H01R13/436—Securing a plurality of contact members by one locking piece or operation
    • H01R13/4364—Insertion of locking piece from the front
    • H01R13/4365—Insertion of locking piece from the front comprising a temporary and a final locking position
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
    • H01R13/00—Details of coupling devices of the kinds covered by groups H01R12/70 or H01R24/00 - H01R33/00
    • H01R13/40—Securing contact members in or to a base or case; Insulating of contact members
    • H01R13/42—Securing in a demountable manner
    • H01R13/422—Securing in resilient one-piece base or case, e.g. by friction; One-piece base or case formed with resilient locking means
    • H01R13/4223—Securing in resilient one-piece base or case, e.g. by friction; One-piece base or case formed with resilient locking means comprising integral flexible contact retaining fingers

Definitions

  • This invention relates to an electrical connector with a housing and one or more terminals mounted therein, the terminals retained in a fully inserted position, and secured with a terminal position assurance member.
  • an electrical connector comprising a plurality of electrical terminals retained in a fully inserted position in the housing by resilient locking lances integrally formed with the housing.
  • the locking lances have locking projections that engage in holes of the terminal, cut out from a body section of the terminal.
  • An insulative insert is inserted between the locking lances and a housing outer wall from a mating end of the connector. The insert blocks the locking lances from biasing outwards, thereby securely retaining the terminals in the connector.
  • One of the problems of the latter design is that the terminals are provided with cutouts for engaging the lances. Cutouts in the terminal body reduce the possibilities of providing functional or operational features such as an outer spring member, or contact arms at the position of the cutout.
  • the lances integrally formed with the housing increase the volume of the housing, in order to allow movement of the lances within the housing, and to provide a certain thickness of the lance for sufficient robustness, particularly as the locking lances have free ends facing the mating end of the connector, and therefore risk buckling under excessive traction of the terminal towards the conductor receiving end of the connector.
  • EP-A-374 492 discloses a connector comprising a housing with at least one terminal receiving cavity extending from a terminal receiving end to a mating end, and at least one terminal mounted in the cavity and retained therein by a locking lance attached to the housing at an attachment end, that is positioned towards the mating end of the connector and extending therefrom to a locking portion, that is positioned towards the terminal receiving end, the lance having a locking shoulder for engaging a complementary locking shoulder of said terminal, the locking lance further having a slot separating the lance into a pair of beams joined together at an end at the locking portion, wherein the slot receives an extension of the terminal position assurance member therein when outwardly biased in the terminal position assurance member receiving gap, the extension being adapted to abut the end of the locking lance slot
  • the connector further comprising a terminal position assurance member insertable in a gap between the locking lance and a portion of the housing for blocking the lance in the locked position, whereby the terminal position assurance member is blocked from full insertion in the gap
  • a particularly robust and compact locking lance is provided, with secure retention by the terminal position assurance member accessible from the connector mating end.
  • the locking lance acts in traction which supports greater forces than in compression.
  • the terminal may also be provided with locking lances engaging shoulders of the housing, thereby forming primary locking means, the housing locking lance forming secondary locking means engaging behind a shoulder of the terminal proximate a connection end of the terminal remote from a mating end thereof.
  • the terminal position assurance member may extend in a mating direction of the connector, and slidably movable from a preassembly to a locked position in the mating direction. In the event of a terminal that is not fully inserted in its corresponding cavity, the housing locking lance is outwardly biased into the terminal position assurance receiving gap, thereby blocking full insertion of the terminal position assurance member. Coupling of connectors is prevented by projection of the terminal position assurance member in the mating direction.
  • an electrical connector 2 comprises an insulative housing 4 having a plurality of terminal receiving cavities 6 extending therethrough from a terminal receiving end 8 to a mating end 10, for receiving electrical terminals 12 of the connector therein.
  • the terminal 12 is connected (crimped) to an electrical wire 14.
  • Each cavity 6 is sealed proximate the terminal receiving end 8 by a single wire seal 15, that is retained by crimping tabs 16 to the terminal 12 and wire 14.
  • the terminal 12 comprises a connection section 18 for connection to the wire 14, a body section 20, and a contact section 22 directed towards the mating end 10.
  • the contact section 22 is a receptacle contact section comprising a pair of opposed contact arms for receiving a mating tab terminal therebetween.
  • the terminal 12 further comprises an outer spring body 24 having spring arms 26 that apply pressure on the contact arms 23 of the contact section 22 for increasing the contact pressure thereof.
  • the terminal 12 is further provided with primary locking members 28 in the form of resilient cantilever beam locking lances obliquely projecting out of the body section 20 for engaging complementary primary locking shoulder 30 of the housing 4.
  • the locking lances 28 are stamped out of the outer spring body 24.
  • the terminal body section 20 extends from a rear end 32 facing the connection section 18, to a front end 34 facing the contact section 22.
  • the housing 4 comprises a connection section 36, and a mating section 38.
  • the connection section 36 receives the terminal connection section 18 and seal 15.
  • the mating section 38 receives substantially the body and contact sections 20,22 of the terminals.
  • the mating section 38 comprises an outer shroud 40 surrounding a housing terminal receiving portion 42, separated therefrom by a gap 44 for receiving the shroud of a mating connector therein.
  • the mating connectors are provided with a seal member 46 that seals the connection area between mating terminals.
  • the seal member 46 is provided in the shroud receiving gap 44 of the connector 2, against an intermediate wall 46 arranged proximate the interface between the housing connection section 36 and mating section 38.
  • the shroud of the mating connector (not shown) abuts against a forward sealing face 50 of the seal member 46.
  • the shroud of the mating connector thus encloses the terminal receiving section 42 of the housing.
  • the connector 2 comprises a locking member 52 attached to the housing 4 and having a locking shoulder 54 provided on a locking portion 56 in the form of a protrusion of the locking member, for engaging a complementary locking shoulder of the terminal, which in this embodiment is provided by the rear end 32 of the body section 20.
  • the locking member 52 is integrally formed with the housing 4, and in particular with the terminal receiving section 42 of the housing.
  • the locking member 52 is attached to the housing at an attachment portion 58 proximate the mating end 10, and extends therefrom in a cantilever beam manner to a free end 60 directed towards the connection section 36.
  • the locking portion 56 is provided proximate the free end 60.
  • the gap 64 also enables the locking member 52 to bias into the gap during insertion of the terminal in the terminal receiving cavity 6, whereby as best seen in Figure 6, the locking protrusion 56 rides along the terminal side wall until it latches behind the body section end wall 32 as shown in Figure 4.
  • the terminal is fully inserted into the connector whereby the primary locking members 28,30 are engaged, as well as the locking member 32, which forms part of a secondary locking member.
  • the secondary locking member 52 comprises a pair of spring arms extending in the mating direction M, separated by a slot 53. The arms are joined at an end 68 proximate the locking portion 56.
  • the slot 53 between the spring arms of the locking member 52 enables the locking member to bias outwardly into the gap 64 when the terminal position assurance member 66 is in the gap in a preassembly position as shown in Figure 4.
  • Locking extensions 70 (see Figure 3) of the terminal position assurance member are received in the gap 53 between the locking member spring arms.
  • the retention is particularly robust and compact, in particular due to the extension of the locking member 52 from an attachment end 58 directed towards the connector mating end 10, towards a locking portion 56 directed towards the connection end.
  • the locking member 52 thus acts in traction rather than compression. The risk of buckling is thus eliminated.
  • the locking portion 56 engages behind a rear end 32 of the body section. This avoids provision of a cutout within the body section, which increases the expense or reduces the functionality of the terminal.
  • the terminal position assurance member 66 is in this embodiment in the shape of a generally planar plate with a base wall 72 from which the locking projections 70 extend.
  • the base wall 72 is provided with locking portions 74 in the form of resilient beams for engaging a complementary locking portion 78 of the connector housing.
  • the locking portion 74 is provided with two locking shoulders, a preassembly locking shoulder 75 and a full assembly locking shoulder 77, that determine respectively the preassembled and fully locked position of the terminal position assurance member with respect to the housing.
  • the terminal position assurance member 66 is further provided with a grip 80 at a mating end 81 that is substantially flush with a mating end 82 of the housing terminal receiving portion 42 when the terminal position assurance member 66 is in the fully locked position as shown in Figure 5.
  • the mating end 81 projects beyond the mating end 82 of the terminal receiving section 42 thereby preventing a complementary connector from coupling with the connector 2.
  • the terminal position assurance member 66 cannot be displaced into the fully locked position unless the terminals 12 of the connector are fully inserted, in view of engagement of the connection end 83 of the extension 70 against the end 68 of the locking portion 56 as best seen in Figure 6.
  • the terminal position assurance member is thus particularly simple to access and actuate, yet nevertheless ensures a particularly reliable and robust secondary locking of terminals in the connector.

Landscapes

  • Connector Housings Or Holding Contact Members (AREA)

Abstract

Cette invention concerne un connecteur électrique (2) comprenant un premier système de verrouillage qui comporte des broches de verrouillage de borne (28) entrant en interaction avec des épaulements (30) correspondants du boîtier (4) du connecteur. Le connecteur comprend également un second système de verrouillage qui comprend un verrou élastique (52, 56) faisant partie intégrante du boîtier. Le second verrou (52) est fixé en position de verrouillage complet à l'aide d'un élément (66) maintenant la position de la borne, cet élément ne pouvant être actionné que si les bornes sont complètement insérées dans leurs cavités respectives. Le second élément de verrouillage peut s'allonger de manière à passer d'une partie de fixation (58), dirigée vers l'extrémité correspondante du connecteur, à une partie libre (60) dirigée vers une extrémité de connexion dudit connecteur. Cet allongement permet au second élément de verrouillage d'agir par effet de traction plutôt que par effet de compression, tout écrasement dudit second élément de verrouillage étant ainsi évité.

Claims (7)

  1. Connecteur électrique (2) comprenant un boítier (4) contenant au moins une cavité de réception des bornes (6) s'étendant d'une extrémité de réception des bornes (8) vers une extrémité d'accouplement (10), et au moins une borne (12) montée dans la cavité (6) et retenue dans celle-ci par une lame de verrouillage (52) fixée au boítier au niveau d'une extrémité de fixation (58), positionnée en direction de l'extrémité d'accouplement (10) du connecteur et s'étendant à partir de celle-ci vers une partie de verrouillage (56) positionnée en direction de l'extrémité de réception des bornes (8), la lame comportant un épaulement de verrouillage (54) destiné à s'engager dans un épaulement de verrouillage complémentaire (32) de ladite borne, la lame de verrouillage comportant en outre une fente (53) séparant la lame en une paire de barres reliées au niveau d'une extrémité (68) au niveau de la partie de verrouillage (56), le connecteur comprenant en outre un élément de maintien de la position des bomes (66) pouvant être inséré dans un espace (64) entre la lame de verrouillage (52) et une partie du boítier pour bloquer la lame dans la position verrouillée, une insertion complète de l'élément de maintien de la position des bomes dans l'espace (64) étant ainsi empêchée lorsque la borne n'est pas complètement insérée, caractérisé en ce que la fente reçoit une extension (70) de l'élément de maintien de la position des bornes (66) lorsque la lame de verrouillage (52) est poussée vers l'extérieur dans l'espace de réception de l'élément de maintien de la positon des bornes (64), et en ce que l'extension (70) est destinée à buter contre l'extrémité (68) de la fente de la lame de verrouillage (53) lorsque la lame de verrouillage est poussée vers l'extérieur dans l'espace de réception, empêchant ainsi un verrouillage complet.
  2. Connecteur selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce que la lame de verrouillage (64) est une barre en porte-à-faux comportant une extrémité libre (60) près de la partie de verrouillage (56).
  3. Connecteur selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 ou 2, dans lequel l'élément de maintien de la position des bornes (66) s'étend dans une direction d'accouplement (M), et peut être déplacé par glissement dans l'espace (64) dans la direction d'accouplement (M), l'élément de maintien de la position des bornes (66) comportant une extension (70) au niveau d'une extrémité en vue d'un engagement dans la partie de verrouillage de la lame du connecteur (56), et un élément de préhension (81) au niveau d'une extrémité opposée, dirigée vers l'extrémité d'accouplement (10) du connecteur, l'élément de préhension (81) débordant au-delà d'une face d'accouplement (82) d'une partie de réception des bornes (42) du boítier lorsque l'élément de maintien de la position des bornes (66) se trouve dans la position de préassemblage, permettant l'insertion des bornes (12) dans leurs cavités (6), l'élément de préhension (81) affleurant pratiquement l'extrémité de la partie de réception des bornes (88) lorsque l'élément de maintien de la position des bornes se trouve dans la position à verrouillage complet.
  4. Connecteur selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel l'épaulement de verrouillage complémentaire (32) de la borne est agencé sur une extrémité amère d'une section de corps de prise (20) de la borne, près de la section de connexion (18) de la borne.
  5. Connecteur selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel le connecteur comprend un moyen de verrouillage primaire établi par des lames de verrouillage élastiques (28) découpées (estampées) de la bome, s'engageant derrière des épaulements de verrouillage complémentaires (30) dans le boítier de connecteur.
  6. Connecteur selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel une section de corps et de contact (20, 22) de la borne (12) est reçue dans une partie de réception des bornes (42) du boítier, le boítier comprenant en outre une enveloppe (40) entourant la partie de réception des bornes (42) et un espace (44) recevant une enveloppe d'un connecteur d'accouplement dans une direction d'accouplement (M).
  7. Connecteur selon la revendication précédente, dans lequel un élément de joint (46) comportant une face d'étanchéité (50) faisant face à l'extrémité d'accouplement (10) est agencé contre une paroi d'extrémité (48) de l'enveloppe (40) pour établir l'étanchéité de la partie de réception des bornes (42).
EP98938864A 1997-09-08 1998-08-28 Connecteur comportant un element maintenant la position de la borne Expired - Lifetime EP1012916B1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP98938864A EP1012916B1 (fr) 1997-09-08 1998-08-28 Connecteur comportant un element maintenant la position de la borne

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP97402079 1997-09-08
EP97402079 1997-09-08
EP98938864A EP1012916B1 (fr) 1997-09-08 1998-08-28 Connecteur comportant un element maintenant la position de la borne
PCT/IB1998/001352 WO1999013534A1 (fr) 1997-09-08 1998-08-28 Connecteur comportant un element maintenant la position de la borne

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1012916A1 EP1012916A1 (fr) 2000-06-28
EP1012916B1 true EP1012916B1 (fr) 2002-03-13

Family

ID=8229844

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP98938864A Expired - Lifetime EP1012916B1 (fr) 1997-09-08 1998-08-28 Connecteur comportant un element maintenant la position de la borne

Country Status (4)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1012916B1 (fr)
AU (1) AU8745298A (fr)
DE (1) DE69804229T2 (fr)
WO (1) WO1999013534A1 (fr)

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
ITTO20010072U1 (it) * 2001-05-11 2002-11-11 Framatome Connectors Italia Connettore elettrico.
US7867042B2 (en) * 2008-03-26 2011-01-11 Tyco Electronics Corporation Connector assembly with a low profile terminal position assurance member
US11605912B2 (en) * 2021-06-08 2023-03-14 Dinkle Enterprise Co., Ltd. Terminal block for connecting a circuit board and wires with a slidable fastener on the body

Family Cites Families (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPH02165580A (ja) * 1988-12-19 1990-06-26 Yazaki Corp 電気コネクタ
GB9407293D0 (en) * 1994-04-13 1994-06-08 Amp Gmbh Electrical connector with secondary latch
GB9514797D0 (en) * 1995-07-19 1995-09-20 Amp Gmbh Electrical connector with two step positive contact retention

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE69804229T2 (de) 2002-09-05
WO1999013534A1 (fr) 1999-03-18
EP1012916A1 (fr) 2000-06-28
DE69804229D1 (de) 2002-04-18
AU8745298A (en) 1999-03-29

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