FR2684242A1 - ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A TERMINAL LOCKING ELEMENT. - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to an assembly of an electrical connector for mating with a complementary electrical connector. It comprises an insulating housing element (10) traversed by several pairs of cavities (18, 18 ') intended to receive electrical terminals (14), and a terminal locking element (12) which can be inserted into the cavities (18). ) to secure the terminals (14) to it. The element (12) is designed to assume a pre-assembled position with the element (10) and a final assembled position which can only be reached when the terminals (14) are properly and fully seated in the cavities ( 18). Field of application: connectors intended in particular for automotive electrical circuits, etc.

Description

The invention relates to an electrical connector comprising a housing

  insulation with multiple cavities

  adjacent to each to receive an electrical terminal

  having a recess, a portion of the wall of each cavity being formed to include a terminal abutment projecting into the cavity, and the wall portions

  being close to each other and opposite to each other.

  In the automotive industry, such electrical connectors are needed from which the terminals can not be pulled out by vibration during the use of the connector, but in the cavities of which the terminals can be easily loaded. , the terminals can also be easily

  changed when they have been loaded.

  In a related improvement, which improvement is more fully described in German Patent Application No. 3,720,751 2, there is disclosed a circular connector of the pin and socket type having an insulating housing defining two cavities.

  adjacent to each to receive an electrical terminal

  characterized by the fact that it has a shoulder.

  A portion of the wall of each cavity is formed to include a terminal abutment projecting into the cavity. The connector is further characterized by the fact that each wall portion is resiliently bendable to the other wall portion under the effect of the abutment arrival of an electrical terminal which has been partially inserted into the corresponding cavity to bear against the stop located in the cavity. As a result, the terminal can be inserted further into the cavity beyond the stop, after whereby the wall portion resiliently returns so that the stop engages behind the shoulder of the terminal to prevent the terminal from being removed from the cavity. Therefore, when each terminal has been further inserted into its cavity, the portions walls are spaced apart from each other to receive therebetween a terminal locking member to prevent the parts of

  walls then come closer to each other.

  European Patent No. 0 306 635 discloses an electrical connector having a housing assembly having a plurality of terminal receiving cavities, and flexible wall portions which prevent coupling with a locking member when inserted terminals.

  in the cavities are not fully housed in position.

  In addition, the locking element comprises a central arm which bears against the walls of the cavity in the state

complete coupling.

  According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, an electrical connector is provided which is more efficient than those described above. For example, by using a secondary locking element in the connector of the invention, a strong restraint is obtained. flat electrical plugs In addition, if the lock

  the terminal is damaged, the locking element

  In addition, thanks to this arrangement, if a flat plug is not properly and completely housed in the connector, the secondary locking element can not be activated or inserted into the connector. Thus, there is a physical and visual means by which it can be determined whether the connector is suitably charged. All this is done in an electrical connector assembly having an insulative housing element having a front face at one end. and a mating face at the opposite end The housing is crossed by several

  pairs of cavities for receiving electrical terminals

  within the assembly and extending from the front face to the mating face An electrical terminal locking member is provided to be inserted into the cavities from the mating face for securing the mating surfaces. electrical terminals in a fixed position inside the cavities The assembly is characterized in that each cavity is provided with a terminal-locking cantilever lancet made in one piece with the outer wall of the cavity. the cavity and extending longitudinally towards the coupling face In addition, each pair of cavities comprises, along a common inner wall, two spaced apart and flexible wall extensions and the locking element comprises a first set of arms one for each cavity, one of the locking arms being adapted to fit between each locking lancet and the adjacent wall of the cavity in the fully coupled position and a second set of locking arms adapted to enter the space between the wall extensions, causing the wall extensions to bend outwardly until locking engagement with an adjacent electrical terminal. Finally, means are provided for fixing the locking element in a pre-assembled position and in a final position, the locking element can not be placed in the final position until the terminals are properly and completely housed in

the cavities.

  The invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of non-limiting example and in which: FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the electrical connector assembly according to the invention, illustrating a connector housing electric, an example of a pair of electrical terminals and a locking element of electrical terminals; Figure 2 is a perspective view from above showing the connector housing and the locking member in a preassembled position; Figure 3 is a perspective view from below of the assembly shown in Figure 2; Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the assembled structure of Figure 1; and FIG. 5 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 4, but illustrating the situation in which an electrical terminal is not completely housed inside the assembly, preventing the final coupling of

  the locking element with the connector housing.

  As best seen in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1, the electrical connector assembly of the invention includes a housing member formed of a relatively rigid dielectric material.

  such as a plastic material, a lock element 12

  The terminal wiring and several electrical terminals 14, two of which are shown by way of example before being loaded into the housing element. Since flat plugs are illustrated for the electrical terminals 14, it is understood that 'a complementary connector assembly or casing, containing an equal number of female housings or sockets, must be coupled with them However, for the sake of convenience, the

  description will be limited thereafter to the assembly

illustrated in Figure 1.

  In its preferred embodiment, the housing member 10 comprises a one-piece housing formed of a rigid dielectric material, such as plastic, having a first portion 16 through which a plurality of cavities 18 are provided. are open to the front face 20 to receive electrical terminals 14 The cavities 18, which are arranged in pairs for the most part, comprise two terminal guides 22, intended to facilitate part of the charging of the terminals in the housing part 16 As this is best illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, between pairs of adjacent cavities 18,

  there is provided a wall 24 common to the cavities A

  In contrast, the common wall 24 is characterized by two spaced extensions 26 which, in the relaxed position, i.e. in the absence of terminal loading, see FIG. 5, have their ends 30 which extend to

  inside the space defined by the terminal guides 22.

  This will be described in more detail below with regard to

Figures 4 and 5.

  Another internal feature of each cavity 18 is the presence of a lancet 32 cantilever terminal lock made in one piece with the

  outer wall 34 of the cavity and extending longitudinally

  Each of these lancets 32 further includes a protrusion 38 or terminal stop whose purpose is to engage and fix a terminal

  14 loaded in the cavity 18.

  An external feature of the portion 16 of the housing is that it is traversed by a groove 40 located above the single cavity 18 'Two stops 44, 46, laterally aligned, project from each side wall 42 of the groove 40 function will come out of

  the description of the locking element 12.

  The second portion 50 of the housing member

  sized to receive the locking element 12

  1, is a single cavity 52 extending between the coupling face 36 and the cavity openings 54 in which the flat pin plugs 56 of the terminals 14

protruding for mating purposes.

  The locking element 12, sized to fit into the second housing part 50, essentially comprises an upper wall 60, a lower wall 62 and a mating face wall 68. For reasons of stability, the lower walls and the

  can be connected by two supports 70.

  Projecting externally from the wall 68 of the coupling face along its outer edge is a first set of arms 72, one for each of the cavities 18, 18 ', a second set of arms 74, 74' being disposed Laterally along the center of this mating face Since the preferred arrangement of the cavities is in pairs, there is a single arm 74 for each pair and a single arm 74 'aligned with the single cavity 18' Each arms 74, 74 'of the second set are characterized by a tapered end

  The purpose of which is to exclude

  wall elements 26 in the complete coupling position for the locking element 12 and the housing element

  (see Figure 4) Finally, the inside of the locking element 12 may be provided with coupling guides 78.

  In other words, they provide a stiffening support for the locking member 12, while constituting a coupling guide or key for the housing member.

  complementary to be coupled with them.

  A flexible arm 80 for hanging, door-to-door

  false, extends from the groove 66 to the housing member 10 (see FIG. 1) while being inclined slightly upwards. The coupling end may be provided with two upwardly directed projections 82 whose front edges 84 define a cam follower surface As is evident from FIG. 2, the projections 82 of the latching arm 80, when a positive force F

  coupling is applied to the locking element 12

  1, are engaged in the groove 40 to engage first with the stops 46 This represents the preassembly position (FIGS. 2 and 3) The stops 46 are raised above the stops 44 so that a force positive weaker F is necessary to cross the stops 46 In other words, the bending requested at the latching arm before passing below the stops 46

  is less To obtain the final position or coupling

  (Figure 4), an additional force F is applied between the respective elements, so that the

  80 hook arm penetrates further into the groove 40.

  When the protrusions 82 reach the stops 44, they are deflected downwards until they emerge stops 44 and return elastically to a position

  locked in front of the stops 44, that is to say locks

  to oppose any premature withdrawal.

  The electrical terminal 14, as is known in the art, usually comprises a one-piece assembly cut and stamped into a blank formed of a metal foil. The electrical terminal comprises a portion 90 to be crimped on a wire, an end of a coupling 92 in the form of a flat plug and a medial portion 94 o its cross section is generally rectangular for a suitable alignment and housing in the cavity 18, 18 'The top of the middle portion 94 is characterized by a recess or an opening 96 (Figure 1) Similarly, its underside has an opening 98, this opening being formed by a portion which is cut and folded to form a stop 100 terminal The functions of openings 96, 98 will emerge from a study

Figures 4 and 5.

  Before considering these figures, it should be noted that a feature of the invention is that, at

  unless each electrical terminal 14 is accommodated

  completely and completely in its respective cavity, it is

  impossible to fully couple the lock element

  Fig. 4 shows the fully coupled state in which all the electrical terminals are housed completely in position. In other words, the lancets 32 are in latching engagement with the corresponding terminal 14 at the opening 96. , and the arms 72 are housed in the space between the lancets 32 and the wall 34 of the cavity. In addition, the tapered tab 74 has been inserted between the extensions 26 of walls, causing these extensions to move apart to bring the ends 30 in engagement with the terminal 18 In this position, the ends 30 oppose any premature removal of the terminals 14 being placed behind the abutment 100 of the terminals. With reference to FIG. 5, it will be noted that the lower terminal T has not been completely housed in position in the cavity 18. As a result, the lancet 32 has been pushed against the wall 34, closing the space, so that the arm 72 can not slide between the

lancet 32 and the wall 34.

  It goes without saying that many modifications can be made to the assembly described and shown

  without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (4)

  1 Electrical connector assembly for   to be coupled with a complementary electrical connector   the assembly having an insulative housing member (10) having a front face (24) at one end and a mating face (36) at the opposite end, a plurality of pairs of through cavities (18, 18 '). for receiving electrical terminals (14) within the assembly, and an electrical terminal blocking member (12) insertable into the cavities (18) from the mating face (36) for securing the electrical terminals (14) in a fixed position within the cavities, the assembly being characterized in that each cavity is provided with a lancet (32) made of cantilevered terminal latch a single piece with the outer wall (34) of the cavity and extending longitudinally towards the mating face (36), in that each pair of cavities, along a common inner wall (24), is provided two flexible and spaced apart wall extensions (26), e in that the locking element (12) is provided with a first set of locking arms (72), one for each of the cavities, one of the locking arms being adapted to fit between each lancet (32). ) and the adjacent wall (34) of the cavity in the fully coupled position, and a second set of locking arms (74) adapted to enter the space between the wall extensions (26), bringing the wall extensions (26) to bend outward to locking engagement with an adjacent electrical terminal, and means (44, 46, 80) for securing the locking member in a preassembled position and in a position end, so that the locking element (12) can not be placed in the position   before the terminals (14) are accommodated   completely inside cavities (18).   Electrical connector assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the position fixing means comprises a flexible hooking arm (80) which engages with a first set of stops (46) to define the preassembled position and with a second set of stops (44) to define the position final coupling.   Electrical connector assembly according to claim 2, characterized in that the second set of stops (44) is offset below the first set of stops (46) so that greater force is required for   engage with the second set of stops (44).   Electrical connector assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the coupling ends (76) of the locking arms (74) are tapered to facilitate their entry between the extensions. walls (26).   Electrical connector assembly according to   claim 1, characterized in that the electrical terminals   (14) have a recess (96) for receiving   the terminal lock lancet (32).