GB2413017A

GB2413017A - An electrical connector for a vehicle

Info

Publication number: GB2413017A
Application number: GB0407770A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Stephen John Cook; James Henry Sanders
Original assignee: Ford Global Technologies LLC
Current assignee: Ford Global Technologies LLC
Priority date: 2004-04-06
Filing date: 2004-04-06
Publication date: 2005-10-12
Also published as: GB0407770D0

Abstract

An electrical connector has a plug 23 engageable with a socket 24. The plug 23 has a number of elongate rigid contacts 26, 31, 32 for engagement with complementary pairs of elongate resilient contacts 28, 29, 30 forming part of the socket 24. When the plug 23 is engaged with the socket 24 the rigid electrical contacts 26, 31, 32 are arranged at approximately right angles to the resilient contacts 28, 29, 30 and the length of each of the rigid electrical contacts 26, 31, 32 is greater than the width of the corresponding resilient contacts 28, 29, 30 thereby permitting engagement of the plug 23 with the socket 24 at a greater angle of approach and providing greater lateral or side to side tolerance between the plug 23 and the socket 24. Various arrays of contacts are disclosed (figures 5,6,7, not shown). The connector may provide electrical connection between a vehicle and its sliding door. The connector may be panel-mounted.

Description

AN ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE

This invention relates to an electrical connector for a motor vehicle and in particular to an electrical connector for use on a sliding door of a motor vehicle.

It is often a requirement on a motor vehicle to provide an electrical connection between a moveable closure such as a door, bonnet or boot lid and the main body structure of lo the motor vehicle. This invention is for use in any such application but is particularly suited for use on a sliding door such as that shown in GB-A-2367849.

It is a problem with sliding doors that the whole door moves a large distance relative to the main body of the vehicle and so it is impractical to provide an electrical connection to components mounted on the door via flying leads. It is therefore usual to provide an electrical connector between an edge of the door and a part of the body structure forming a frame for the door.

An example of such a prior art electrical connector is shown in US Patent number 5,248,259. It is a problem with such an electrical connector that circuit integrity is dependent upon the force holding the two parts of the electrical connector together. This can be a problem if the tolerance on the door closed position is too great and can result in a poor connection being made. In addition, if the contact areas become corroded or dirty they may cause a poor or no connection being made.

It is important to obtain a good and consistent electrical connection because such connectors are often used to provide electric current to a door locking motor or solenoid and so if the circuit is faulty the door may remain unlocked thereby compromising the security of the motor vehicle. It is a further disadvantage of such an electrical - 2 connector that it is relatively easy to prevent a connection being made by applying an insulating material such as masking tape or electrical tape to one of the two mating surfaces. As these surface make abutting contact there is no mechanism to remove the tape and so the electrical connector will be rendered inoperative. In the case of commercial vehicles this is especially important because thieves may attempt to overcome the security system of such a vehicle in order to steal the goods being transported.

An improved electrical connector is disclosed in DE-A- 19923705 which overcomes some of the disadvantages of the electrical connector shown in the US Patent 5,248,259. The electrical connector has a plug and socket each of which has contact elements aligned with each other and with a general direction in which the plug is inserted into the socket.

The sets of contacts slide against each other when the plug and socket are placed together. This sliding motion has a self cleaning effect and so reduces the risk of corrosion or dirt preventing the making of a good electrical connection between the contacts of the plug and socket. The electrical connector further includes at least one centering stud to align the plug and socket. However it is a disadvantage with such a plug and socket arrangement that the plug and socket need to be relatively accurately aligned in order for a connection to be made. Additionally, the door must be moving towards the door frame at almost 90 in order for the plug to readily engage with the socket as any significant variation in the angle of approach will cause a significant side load to be exerted upon the plug and socket as the centering studs try to align the two parts.

In addition, because the contacts of the plug are arranged down opposite side of a central spine, it is relatively quick and easy to apply an insulating tape to all - 3 - of the contacts of the plug thereby preventing a connection from being made.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved electrical connector for a motor vehicle.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided an electrical connector for a motor vehicle comprising a plug and a socket defining at least one lo connector pair, each connector pair comprising a rigid electrical contact formed as part of the plug and extending along a first axis and at least one flexible elongate electrical contact formed as part of the socket and extending along a second axis so that upon engagement of the plug with the socket each rigid electrical contact of the plug slidingly engages with the or each respective flexible elongate contact of the socket wherein one of the first and second axes is arranged to lie substantially transversely with respect to the direction of engagement of the plug with the socket and the other of the first and second axes is arranged to lie substantially parallel to the direction of engagement of the plug with the socket.

Preferably, the first axis of each of the rigid electrical contacts may be arranged to lie substantially transversely with respect to the direction of engagement of the plug with the socket and the second axis of each of the flexible electrical contacts may be arranged to lie substantially parallel to the direction of engagement of the plug with the socket.

Upon engagement of the plug with the socket the first axis of each of the rigid electrical contacts and the second axis of each of the flexible contacts that are in contact with the respective rigid electrical contact may be arranged with respect to one another at angle that is approximately equal to a right angle so that the rigid electrical contacts - 4 lie transversely across the flexible electrical contacts with which they cooperate.

Preferably, the rigid electrical connector may have a depth that is considerably less than the length of the or each flexible elongate contact with which it is engageable and each of the flexible electrical contacts may have a width which is considerably less than the length of the corresponding rigid contact.

Each of the rigid electrical contacts of the plug may be slidingly engageable with two flexible electrical contacts formed as part of the socket.

Preferably, the two flexible contacts may be formed as a single U-shaped component. In which case, the U-shaped component may comprise a base portion from which extend two flexible arms for engagement with the rigid electrical contact of the plug.

Preferably, the distance between the two flexible arms at the position of juncture with the base may be approximately the same as the breadth of the rigid electrical contact with which the flexible arms are engageable and, when the U-shaped component is in a relaxed state, the distance between the two flexible arms at the position of juncture with the base may be greater than the distance between the two arms at free ends thereof.

The plug may have a number of rigid electrical contacts spaced out along a longitudinal axis of the plug and the socket may have a corresponding set of flexible electrical connectors spaced out along a longitudinal axis of the socket for cooperation with the rigid electrical contacts of the plug so as to form a number of connector pairs. - 5 -

The first axis of each rigid electrical contact may be arranged to bisect the longitudinal axis of the plug so that the first axis extends across the width of the plug.

The electrical connector may have at least two connector pairs, a first connector pair for the supply of electric current to an electrical component and a second electrical pair to provide a return circuit from the electrical component.

Advantageously, the electrical connector may have a third connector pair to provide a feedback signal indicative of whether an electrical connection has been established to the electrical component.

The third electrical pair may use the same rigid electrical contact used to form the first electrical pair and may have at least one separate flexible electrical contact for engagement with the common rigid electrical contact.

Alternatively, the third electrical pair may be formed by a separate rigid rod and at least one separate flexible contact.

All of the rigid electrical contacts of the plug may be arranged in a single row extending along the length of the plug.

Alternatively, the rigid electrical contacts of the plug may be arranged in two or more parallel rows each of which extends along the length of the plug. In which case, the first and second electrical pairs may be situated in a first row and the third electrical pair may be situated in a second row. - 6 -

The plug may have a mounting plate for fastening the plug to a surface of the motor vehicle and two upstanding flanges formed on the mounting plate for supporting the or each of the rigid electrical contacts.

Each of the upstanding flanges may have a free end that is angled or chamfered to assist with the engagement of the plug with the socket.

lo The mounting plate may have a pair of elongate apertures formed therein to allow the plug to move relative to the surface upon which it is mounted during engagement with the socket. The width of each of the elongate apertures may be greater than a diameter of the fixing used to mount the respective plug so that the plug can move in two dimensions relative to the surface upon which it is mounted during engagement of the plug with the socket The socket may have a body made from an electrical insulating material and the body may be made from a non- conductive material and may have a number of upstanding walls defining recesses into each of which is fitted a flexible electrical contact for one electrical pair.

Each recess may be bounded on each side by a respective side wall to form a shield preventing access to the respective flexible electrical contact from either side of the socket.

Adjacent recesses housing flexible electrical contacts of different electrical pairs may be separated from one another by a transverse wall extending between the respective side walls of the two recesses.

A free end of each of the side walls may be angled or chamfered so as to assist with alignment of the plug with the socket. - 7

A guard plate may extends from a free end of one of the side walls of each recess to a free end of the other side wall of the respective recess to restrict access to the flexible electrical contact located in the respective recess.

The socket may have a mounting plate extending outwardly from the body for use in fastening the socket to a lo surface of the motor vehicle and the mounting plate may have a pair of elongate apertures to allow the socket to move relative to the surface upon which it is mounted during engagement of the plug with the socket. The width of each of the elongate apertures may be greater than a diameter of the fixing used to mount the respective socket so that the socket can move in two dimensions relative to the surface upon which it is mounted during insertion of the plug into the socket.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided an electrical system for a motor vehicle having an electrical component connected to a source of electrical power by means of an electrical connector in accordance with said first aspect of the invention wherein the electrical connector comprises a first electrical pair to provide power from the source of electrical power to the electrical component, a second electrical pair to provide a connection from the electrical component to earth and a third electrical pair to provide a feedback signal to a microprocessor from the first electrical pair indicative of whether a good electrical connection has been established by the first electrical pair.

The third electrical pair may have one side of the pair connected to a supply line to the electrical component at a position between the first electrical pair and the - 8 electrical component and the other side of the pair connected to the microprocessor.

The microprocessor may be operable to provide a warning signal to an operator of the motor vehicle if a good electrical connection has not been established.

The electrical component may be one of an electrical solenoid and an electric motor used to effect locking of a lo sliding door of the motor vehicle.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a motor vehicle having a sliding door and an electrical connector in accordance with said first aspect of the invention to provide a connection between part of the body structure of the motor vehicle and the sliding door.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing of which:

Fig.1 is a line diagram of a prior art electrical

system for a motor vehicle; Fig.2 is a line diagram of an electrical system in accordance with a second aspect of the invention; Fig.3 is an end view of a diagrammatic representation of an electrical connector according to a first aspect of the invention; Fig.4 is a cross-section along the line A-A on Fig.3; Fig.5 is a cross-section along the line B-B on Fig.4; Fig.6 is a view similar to Fig.5 but showing a second embodiment of an electrical connector according to the invention; 9 - Fig.7 is a view similar to Fig. 5 but showing a third embodiment of an electrical connector according to the invention; Fig.8 is a pictorial representation of a plug according to the invention) Fig.9 is a pictorial representation of a socket for use lo with the plug shown in Fig.8 in a partly assembled states Fig. 10 is a pictorial view of a U-shaped flexible electrical connector for use in the socket shown in Fig.9i Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig.8 showing a modified form of plug in accordance with the invention) and Fig.12 is a view similar to Fig.9 showing a modified form of socket in accordance with the invention.

With reference to Fig. 1 there is shown a prior art electrical circuit or system for a motor vehicle.

The electrical system comprises of an electrical component in the form of a door lock motor or door lock solenoid 2 connected to a selectable source of electrical power 1 by means of an electrical connector formed by a plug 3 and socket 4.

The electrical connector has two connector pairs, one of which provides power from the source of electrical power 1 via a supply line 'SL' to the electrical component 2 and the other of which provides a connection from a return line RL' from the electrical component 2 to earth. With such an arrangement there is no indication as to whether the electrical component is connected to the source of electrical power 1 or not. An operator of the motor vehicle - 10 utilising such a system can therefore send a signal from the source of electrical power 1 to the electrical component 2 to say lock a door but because of a poor connection between the plug and socket 3 and 4 the door remains unlocked. The vehicle can therefore be accidentally left unlocked.

With particular reference to Fig. 2 there is shown an electrical system for a motor vehicle in accordance with the invention.

As before, the electrical system comprises of an electrical component in the form of a door lock motor or door lock solenoid 2 connected to a selectable source of electrical power 1 by means of an electrical connector formed by a plug 3 and socket 4. It will be appreciated that the plug and socket could be arranged differently to that shown so that the plug is on the door and the socket is attached to the body of the motor vehicle.

The electrical connector has three connector pairs, one of which provides power from the source of electrical power 1 via a supply line 'SL' to the electrical component 2 a second of which provides a connection from a return line RL' from the electrical component 2 to earth and a third electrical pair to provide a feedback signal to a feedback line 'FL' from the first electrical pair indicative of whether a good electrical connection has been established by the first electrical pair. The feedback line 'FL' is connected to a microprocessor 7 to sense whether power is flowing through the supply line 'SL'.

The third electrical pair has the side of the pair formed as part of the socket 4 connected to the supply line SL' at a position between the socket side of the first electrical pair and the electrical component 2 and on the plug side the third pair is connected to the microprocessor 7 via the feedback line 'FL'. - 11

The microprocessor 7 senses whether any current is flowing in the feedback line 'FL' and is operable to provide a warning signal via a display device 8 to an operator of the motor vehicle if a good electrical connection has not been established. It will be appreciated that the microprocessor could provide a warning to the operator in many ways including but not limited to an audible warning, a visual warning or by preventing operation of a system used lo to normally indicate that the vehicle has been locked.

Although the system has been described with reference to a preferred use in which the electrical component is one of an electrical solenoid and an electric motor used to effect locking of a sliding door of the motor vehicle it will be appreciated that it could be equally applied to any electrical component mounted in or to a door or closure member such as a wiper motor, electric screen heater or illumination device. It will be appreciated that either of the plug or socket could be mounted on an edge of a sliding door for cooperation with the other of the plug and socket mounted on part of the motor vehicle such as a door frame.

However, it is preferred to mount the plug to the door and attach the socket to the body structure.

With particular reference to Figs. 3 to 5 there is shown a first embodiment of an electrical connector in accordance with the invention which is suitable for use in the system previously described with reference to Fig.2.

The electrical connector comprises of a plug 23 and a socket 24 which in this case defines three separate connector pairs. A first part of each connector pair is formed by a rigid electrical contact made from an electrically conducting material in the form of a brass rod 26, 31, 32 formed as part of the plug 23, each of which extends along a first axis of which the first axis for the - 12 rod 26 is indicated by the line X-X on Fig.2. The first axes for the three rods 26, 31, 32 are parallel to one another and extend across the width of the plug 23 at right angles to a longitudinal axis of the plug 23. That is to say the rods 26, 31, 32 are spaced out along the longitudinal axis of the plug 23. As best seen with reference to Fig.3 each of the rods 26, 31, 32 is arranged transversely to the direction 'E' in which the plug 23 is engageable with the socket 24. That is to say, the first or lo longitudinal axis of each rod 26, 31, 32 is arranged at approximately right angles to the direction of engagement E'.

Each of the rods 26, 31, 32 is supported at each end by an upstanding flange 34 which extends outwardly from a body or mounting plate portion 33 of the plug 23.

The length of each rod 26, 31, 32 is determined by the distance between the two flanges and, as shown on Fig.3, the length of the rod 26 is indicated by the reference 'L' and the depth is indicated by the reference 'd'. As seen on Fig.4, the breadth of the rod 26 is indicated by the reference 'b'.

Each of the rods 26, 31, 32 is engageable with a respective pair of flexible elongate electrical contacts 28, 29, 30 formed as part of the socket 24. Each of the flexible contacts 28, 29, 30 is formed with a base portion as single U-shaped part from an electrically conducting material which in this case is a resilient copper material.

Each of the flexible contacts forming the pairs of flexible contacts 28, 29, 30 has a second axis or longitudinal axis along which each of the flexible contacts extends and these second axes are arranged substantially parallel to the direction of engagement 'E' of the plug 23 with the socket 24. The second axis for one of the pair of - 13 flexible contacts 28 engageable with the rod 26 is generally indicated by the line A-A on Fig.3.

That is to say each of the flexible contacts forming the pairs of flexible contacts 28, 29, 30 extends outwardly from a mounting plate 27 forming part of the socket 24 in the general direction of engagement of the plug and socket.

Upon engagement of the plug 23 with the socket 24 each lo of the rods 26, 31, 32 of the plug 23 slidingly engages with the respective pair of flexible contacts 28, 29, 30 of the socket 24 so as to form an electrical connection therebetween. As best seen in Fig.3, when the plug and socket are engaged, the first axis of each rod 26, 31, 32 and the second axis of each flexible contact are arranged with respect to one another at angle that is approximately equal to a right angle. That is to say the rods 26, 31, 32 are arranged approximately at right angles to the flexible contact pairs 28, 29, 30. The term approximately at right angles as meant herein means that the angle between the rods and the flexible contacts approximates to a right angle so that the angle is in the range of 75 to 105 degrees.

Such a crossing arrangement of contacts has several advantages. Firstly, it permits the plug 23 and socket to be engaged when their respective mounting plates 33, 27 are not parallel. This can happen if the electrical connector is used for a sliding door because it is difficult for the door to be constructed so as to approach a door pillar at exactly right angles.

Secondly, because the longitudinal axes of the rods 26, 31, 32 and the flexible contacts 28, 29, 30 are substantially at right angles, there is considerable scope for misalignment between the plug 23 and socket 24 to occur while still providing an effective electrical connection. - 14

For example, because the length 'L' of the rods 26, 31, 32 is much greater than the width 'W' of each of the flexible contacts, there is considerable scope for lateral or side to side misalignment of the plug 23 with the socket 24.

Similarly, because each of the flexible contacts is of a height 'H' that is considerably greater than the depth 'd' of the rod that it cooperates with there is considerable lo tolerance in terms of engagement between the rods and the flexible contacts. That is to say, so long as a rod is engaged with the flexible contacts it does not matter how far along the flexible contacts it has slid. This means that if the plug and socket are used for a sliding door then the actual closed position of the door is not critical and variations in the closed position will not unduly affect the performance of the electrical connector. This is useful as it is not uncommon for lock mechanisms to wear in use resulting in a variation in the locked position of the door.

As applied to the system shown in Fig.2 the rod 26 and the pair of flexible contacts 28 form a first connector pair used to provide power to the supply line 'SL', the rod 31 and the pair of flexible contacts 29 form a second connector pair used to return power from the electrical component 2 to earth and the rod 32 and the pair of flexible contacts 30 form the third electrical pair used to sense whether a connection has been made via the first electrical pair and provide a signal via the feedback line FL.

In such an arrangement the rods 26, 31, 32 can be said to form a single row extending along the length of the plug 23.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that connections to the rods 26, 31, 32 and the flexible contacts - 15 28, 29, 30 can be moulded as a part of the material forming the plug 23 and socket 24.

It will be further appreciated that instead of the rods lying transversely with respect to the direction of engagement of the plug with the socket the flexible contacts could be position to lie transversely to the direction of engagement and the rods could be aligned with the direction of engagement however to orientation shown is preferred.

With reference to Fig.6 there is shown a second embodiment of an electrical connector according to the invention which is in many respects the same as that previously described with the exception that the means providing a third connector pair is different.

The electrical connector comprises of a plug 125 and a socket (not fully shown) which defines three separate connector pairs. A first part of each connector pair is formed by a rigid electrical contact in the form of a brass rod 126, 131 formed as part of the plug 125. Each of the brass rods 126, 131 extends along a respective first axis across the plug 125 so that the two rods 126, 131 are parallel to one another. The rods 126, 131 are orientated at right angles to a longitudinal axis of the plug 125 and to the direction of engagement of the plug 125 with the socket.

Each of the rods 126, 131 is supported at each end by an upstanding flange 134 which extends outwardly from a body or mounting plate portion 133 of the plug 125.

The effective length of each rod 126, 131 is determined by the distance between the two flanges 134.

Each of the rods 126, 131 is engageable as before with at least one pair of flexible elongate electrical contacts - 16 128, 129, 130 formed as part of the socket. Each of the pairs of flexible contacts 128, 129, 130 is formed from a resilient copper material as a single U-shaped component.

Each of the individual flexible contacts or arms extends along a second axis projecting outwardly from a base or mounting plate (not shown) of the socket so as to extend longitudinally approximately in the direction of engagement of the plug with the socket.

lo That is to say each of the flexible contacts forming the pairs of flexible contacts 128, 129, 130 extends outwardly from the mounting plate.

Upon engagement of the plug 125 with the socket each of the rods 126, 131 of the plug 125 slidingly engages with one or more of the pairs of flexible contacts 128, 129, 130 of the socket so as to form an electrical connection therebetween.

As before the rods 126, 131 when the plug is engaged with the socket are arranged substantially at a right angle to the longitudinal axis of the flexible contacts with which they cooperate so as to achieve the advantages previously discussed.

As applied to the system shown in Fig.2 the rod 126 and the pair of flexible contacts 128 form a first connector pair used to provide power to the supply line 'SL', the rod 131 and the pair of flexible contacts 129 form a second connector pair used to return power from the electrical component 2 to earth and the rod 126 and the pair of flexible contacts 130 form the third electrical pair used to sense whether a connection has been made via the first electrical pair. - 17

In such an arrangement the rods 126, 131 can be said to form a single row extending along the length of the plug 125.

As before, connections to the rods 126, 131 and the flexible contacts 128, 129, 130 can be moulded as a part of the material forming the plug 125 and socket.

In this case, the feedback signal from the contacts lo 130, is not indicative of the fact that a good connection has been made through the first connector pair but merely indicates that there is a good chance that such a connection has been made because the rod 126 is properly engaged.

With reference to Fig.7 there is shown a third embodiment of an electrical connector suitable for use in the system shown in Fig.2.

As before, the electrical connector comprises of a plug 225 and a socket (not fully shown) which define three separate connector pairs. A first part of each connector pair is formed by a rigid electrical contact in the form of a brass rod 226, 231, 232 formed as part of the plug 225.

Each of the rods 226, 231, 232 extends along a respective first axis, the first axes of the rods 226, 231, 232 are arranged parallel to one another and extend across the width of the plug 225 at right angles to a longitudinal axis of the plug 225 and transversely with respect to the direction of engagement of the plug 225 with the socket.

That is to say, the rods 226, 231, 232 are spaced out along the longitudinal axis of the plug 225 and in this case are arranged in two parallel rows. Each of the rods 226, 231, 232 is supported at each end by an upstanding

flange 234 which extends outwardly from a body or mounting plate portion 233 of the plug 225. The - 18 effective length of each rod 226, 231, 232 is determined by the distance between the flanges 234 at each end of the rod 226, 231, 232.

Each of the rods 226, 231, 232 is engageable with a respective pair of flexible elongate electrical contacts 228, 229, 230 formed as part of the socket. Each of the flexible contact pairs 228, 229, 230 is formed as a single U-shaped part from a resilient copper material. Each of the lo individual flexible contacts extends along a respective second axis such that it extends outwardly from a mounting plate (not shown) forming part of the socket and lies approximately parallel to the direction of engagement of the plug with the socket.

Upon engagement of the plug 225 with the socket each of the rods 226, 231, 232 of the plug 225 slidingly engages with the respective pair of flexible contacts 228, 229, 230 of the socket so as to form an electrical connection therebetween. When the plug and socket are engaged the first axis of each rod 226, 231, 232 and the respective second axis of each of the flexible contacts is arranged with respect to one another at angle that is approximately equal to a right angle. That is to say the rods 226, 231, 232 are arranged approximately at right angles to the flexible contact pairs 228, 229, 230. Such a crossing arrangement of contacts has several advantages as previously discussed.

As applied to the system shown in Fig.2 the rod 226 and the pair of flexible contacts 228 form a first connector pair used to provide power to the supply line 'SL', the rod 231 and the pair of flexible contacts 229 form a second connector pair used to return power from the electrical component 2 to earth and the rod 232 and the pair of flexible contacts 230 form a third electrical pair used to 19 sense whether a connection has been made via the first electrical pair.

It will be appreciated that as shown the first and second connector pairs are located in one row and the third connector pair is located in an adjacent row. However, this need not be the case and the connector pairs can be arranged in other combinations and could be combined with further connector pairs if required.

It will be appreciated that the electrical connections to the rods 226, 231, 232 and the flexible contacts 228, 229, 230 can be moulded as a part of the material forming the plug and socket.

It will further be appreciated that although the invention has so far been described with reference to embodiments in which the two flexible electrical connectors are formed as a single U-shaped component it will be appreciated that two separate flexible contacts could be engaged with each of the rods or only one flexible contact could be used. It will be further appreciated that if two separate flexible contacts are used they could act as a switch so that power is supplied to the door via another pair of contacts but is routed into one of these contacts and out through the other to the motor. When the door is closed the two contacts are joined by the interposed solid conductive member and so the operate like a switch.

Furthermore it will be appreciated that, although the invention has been described thus far with respect to an arrangement in which the force used to produce contact between the rods and the flexible contacts is produced solely by deflection of the flexible contacts, the flexible contacts could be biased into contact with the rods by springs. -

With reference to Fig.8 there is shown a further embodiment of a plug according to the invention.

The plug 323 comprises of a substantially flat mounting plate 325 from extend two upstanding flanges 334. The mounting plate 325 and the flanges 334 are moulded as one component from a plastic material. The flanges 334 support four brass rods 326, 331, 336, 337 which form rigid electrical contacts. The rods 326, 331, 336, 337 and the lo electrical connections to the rods 326, 331, 336, 337 are moulded into the flanges 334. Each of the rods forms one half of a connector pair and extends across the plug 323 so that it is arranged transversely with respect to the normal direction of engagement 'E' of the plug 323 with a corresponding socket (not shown). As shown four connector pairs would be formed when the plug is engaged with a

suitable socket.

The mounting plate 325 has two elongate apertures 340 formed therein. The elongate apertures 340 are used to accommodate fixing means such as bolts or screws used to fasten the plug 323 to a surface such as the side of a door or a door frame.

The elongate apertures 340 permit considerable longitudinal movement of plug 323 relative to the surface to which it is attached and if the diameter of the fixing is less than the width of the elongate aperture into which it is fitted some sideways movement is also possible. In this way two dimensional self alignment of the plug 323 is possible in use. That is to say, if the fixing means used are designed so as not to clamp the mounting plate rigidly to the surface upon which it is mounted, then the plug 323 is able to move in two dimensions during connection to a socket. It will be appreciated that the elongate apertures could be orientated differently to that shown. It will be further appreciated that if the width and length of the - 21 elongate is greater than the cooperating fixing then some twisting alignment is also possible.

With reference to Fig. 9 there is shown a socket 324 minus its electrical contacts in accordance with the invention for use with a plug such as that previously described with reference to Fig.8 so that four connector pairs are produced.

lo The socket 324 is moulded as a single piece from a plastic material and comprises of a substantially flat mounting plate 327 extending outwardly from a castellated body 342.

The mounting plate 327 has a pair of elongate apertures 341 to allow the socket 324 to move relative to the surface upon which it is mounted during engagement of a plug with the socket. The width of each of the elongate apertures is preferably greater than a diameter of the fixing used to mount the socket so that the socket can move in two dimensions relative to the surface upon which it is mounted during insertion of the plug into the socket.

The body 342 defines a number of recesses 345a to 345h into each of which is fitted in use one of a pair of flexible electrical contacts (not shown) .

Each recess 345a to 345h is bounded on each side by a respective side wall 344a to 344e to form a shield preventing access to the respective flexible electrical contact housed with the recess 345a to 345h from either side of the socket 324.

To separate adjacent recesses 345b, 345c; 345d, 345e; 345f, 345g housing flexible electrical contacts of different electrical pairs a transverse wall 390a, 390b, 390c extends between the respective side walls 344b, 344c, 344d of the - 22 two recesses 345b and 345c, 345d and 345e, 345f and 345g.

The transverse walls form in combination with the respective side walls three I-shaped buttresses separating adjacent recesses.

A free end of each of the side walls 344a to 344e is angled so as to assist with alignment of a plug with the socket 324. In this case this is achieved by chamfering the free ends of the side walls as indicated generally by the lo reference numeral 360 with respect to only one of the side walls 344b. These chamfered edges are used to guide the rods of the corresponding plug into engagement with the flexible contacts housed within the recesses 345a to 345h.

Between the side walls 344a to 344e there are defined a number of gaps of which one, between the side walls 344b and 344c on the left hand side of the socket 324, is given the reference numeral 392. The gaps allow for the passage of the rods formed as part of the plug previously described with reference to Fig.8 to engage with the contacts that in use are housed in the recesses 345a to 345h.

Fig.10 shows a U-shaped contact pair 328 for use in the socket shown in Fig.9. The contact pair comprises of two flexible contact arms 352 each of which is joined at one end to base portion 351 so that the two flexible arms extend from the base portion 351 for engagement with a rigid electrical contact or rod of a plug such as that shown in Fig.8. It will be appreciated that the arms 352 and the base portion 351 are made from a single piece of copper strip.

A hole 354 is formed in the base portion 351 for use in securing the contact pair 328 to the body 342 of the socket.

As shown on Fig.9, the socket body 342 has a corresponding hole 346 formed in it through which an - 23 electrical connection to each U-shaped contact pair 328 is made by means of a rivet (not shown). The rivet is also used to hold the U-shaped contact pair 328 in position.

It will be appreciated that for the socket body 342 shown in Fig.9 four Ushaped contact pairs are required. It will be further appreciated that the flexible contacts could be moulded into place in the housing or attached in some other way, the contacts, connection and means to connect the lo contacts to the housing could for example be made as a single punched part and be moulded into the housing.

When each of the contact pairs 328 is secured in place it is sandwiched between respective walls 344a of the body 342 and so is both securely located and shielded from edge contact. The free end 353 of each of the arms 352 of each of the contact pairs 328 is bent over to assist with engagement of one of the rods of a corresponding plug with it. When the contact pairs 328 are in position in the recesses in the body 342 the upper surface of each free end of the arms 352 is positioned just below an upper edge of the side walls of the body so that each of the arms 352 is located entirely within the recess in which it is located.

As can best be seen in Fig.10, the distance between the two flexible arms 352 at the position of juncture with the base portion 351 is approximately the same as the breadth of the rigid electrical contact with which the flexible arms is intended to engage with. Furthermore, when the U-shaped contact pair is in a relaxed state, the distance between the two flexible arms 352 at the position of juncture with the base portion 351 is greater than the distance between the two arms 352 at free ends 353. That is to say the two arms 352 converge from the base portion 351. This ensures that, when a rigid connector or rod from a plug is inserted between the two arms 352, the two arms 352 are biased - 24 automatically against the cooperating rod to provide a good electrical connection.

It will be appreciated that when secured in place the flexible arms 352 extend outwardly from the base of the body 342 and are aligned with the general direction of engagement of a plug with the socket and are thus are arranged at approximately right angles with respect to the longitudinal axis of the respective rigid contact of the plug with which lo they cooperate.

With reference to Fig.11 there is shown a plug 323 which is in most respects identical to the plug shown in Fig.8 and which will only be described further in respect to significantly differing features.

The only significant difference between this plug and the plug shown in Fig. 8 is that each of the flanges 334 has a chamfered upper edge 334c to assist with alignment between the plug 324 and a socket of the type shown in Fig.9 or in Fig. 12.

The chamfered edges 334c can engage with upper edges of the side walls of the socket during insertion of the plug into the socket if there is a large misalignment of the two components.

With reference to Fig.12 there is shown a socket which is in most respects is identical to that previously described with reference to Fig. 9 and for which only significant differences will be described.

The primary significant difference is that a guard plate 400 extends from a free end of one of the side walls 344a to 344e of each recess to a free end of the other side wall of the respective recess to further restrict access to - 25 a flexible electrical contact (not shown) located in the respective recess.

In practice the guard plates 400 and the side walls 344a to 344e are moulded as a single component as part of the body 342. To permit a U-shaped pair of flexible contacts to be fitted in each of the recesses, the base of the body 342 has a number of apertures 401 formed in it through which the U-shaped pairs of contacts can be inserted lo and secured in place.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that although the invention has been described by way of example with reference to a number of specific embodiments it is not is limited to these embodiments and that various alternative embodiments or modifications to the disclosed embodiments could be made without departing from the scope of the invention. - 26

Claims

Claims 1. An electrical connector for a motor vehicle comprising a plug

and a socket defining at least one connector pair, each connector pair comprising a rigid electrical contact formed as part of the plug and extending along a first axis and at least one flexible elongate electrical contact formed as part of the socket and extending along a second axis so that upon engagement of the lo plug with the socket each rigid electrical contact of the plug slidingly engages with the or each respective flexible elongate contact of the socket wherein one of the first and second axes is arranged to lie substantially transversely with respect to the direction of engagement of the plug with the socket and the other of the first and second axes is arranged to lie substantially parallel to the direction of engagement of the plug with the socket.
2. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first axis of each of the rigid electrical contacts is arranged to lie substantially transversely with respect to the direction of engagement of the plug with the socket and the second axis of each of the flexible electrical contacts is arranged to lie substantially parallel to the direction of engagement of the plug with the socket.
3A An electrical connector as claimed in claim 1 or in claim 2 wherein the rigid electrical connector has a depth that is considerably less than the length of the or each flexible elongate contact with which it is engageable and each of the flexible electrical contacts has a width which is considerably less than the length of the corresponding rigid contact.
4. An electrical connector as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3 wherein each of the rigid electrical contacts - 27 of the plug is slidingly engageable with two flexible electrical contacts formed as part of the socket.
5. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 4 wherein the two flexible contacts are formed as a single U- shaped component comprising a base portion from which extend two flexible arms for engagement with the rigid electrical contact of the plug.

lo
6. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 5 wherein the distance between the two flexible arms at the position of juncture with the base is approximately the same as the breadth of the rigid electrical contact with which the flexible arms are engageable and, when the U-shaped component is in a relaxed state, the distance between the two flexible arms at the position of juncture with the base is greater than the distance between the two arms at free ends thereof.
7. An electrical connector as claimed in any of claims 1 to 6 wherein the plug has a number of rigid electrical contacts spaced out along a longitudinal axis of the plug and the socket has a corresponding set of flexible electrical connectors spaced out along a longitudinal axis of the socket for cooperation with the rigid electrical contacts of the plug so as to form a number of connector pairs.
8. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 7 wherein the first axis of each rigid electrical contact is arranged to bisect the longitudinal axis of the plug so that the first axis extends across the width of the plug.
9. An electrical connector as claimed in any of claims 1 to 8 wherein the electrical connector has at least two connector pairs, a first connector pair for the supply of electric current to an electrical component and a second electrical pair to provide a return circuit from the electrical component.
10. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 9 wherein the electrical connector has a third connector pair to provide a feedback signal indicative of whether an electrical connection has been established to the electrical component.

lo
11. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 10 wherein the third electrical pair uses the same rigid electrical contact used to form the first electrical pair and has at least one separate flexible electrical contact for engagement with the common rigid electrical contact.
12. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 10 wherein the third electrical pair is formed by a separate rigid rod and at least one separate flexible contact.
13. An electrical connector as claimed in any of Claims 10 to 12 wherein all of the rigid electrical contacts of the plug are arranged in a single row extending along the length of the plug.
14. An electrical connector as claimed in any of claims 1 to 12 wherein the rigid electrical contacts of the plug are arranged in two or more parallel rows each of which extends along the length of the plug.
15. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 14 when dependent upon claim 12 wherein the first and second electrical pairs are situated in a first row and the third electrical pair is situated in a second row.
16. An electrical connector as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the plug has a mounting plate for fastening the plug to a surface of the motor vehicle and two - 29 upstanding flanges formed on the mounting plate for supporting the or each of the rigid electrical connectors.
17. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 16 wherein each of the upstanding flanges has a free end that is angled to assist with the engagement of the plug with the socket.
18. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 16 or lo in claim 17 wherein the mounting plate has a pair of elongate apertures formed therein to allow the plug to move relative to the surface upon which it is mounted during engagement with the socket.
19. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 18 wherein the width of each of the elongate apertures is greater than a diameter of the fixing used to mount the respective plug so that the plug can move in two dimensions relative to the surface upon which it is mounted during engagement of the plug with the socket
20. An electrical connector as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the socket has a body made from an electrical insulating material and the body is made from a non-conductive material and has a number of upstanding walls defining recesses into each of which is fitted a flexible electrical contact for one electrical pair.
21. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 20 wherein each recess is bounded on each side by a respective side wall to form a shield preventing access to the respective flexible electrical contact from either side of the socket.
22. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 20 or in claim 21 wherein adjacent recesses housing flexible electrical contacts of different electrical pairs are separated from one another by a transverse wall extending between the respective side walls of the two recesses.
23. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 21 or in claim 22 wherein a free end of each of the side walls is angled so as to assist with alignment of the plug with the socket.
24. An electrical connector as claimed in any of lo claims 20 to 23 wherein a guard plate extends from a free end of one of the side walls of each recess to a free end of the other side wall of the respective recess to restrict access to the flexible electrical contact located in the respective recess.
25. A connector as claimed in any of claims 20 to 24 wherein the socket has a mounting plate extending outwardly from the body for use in fastening the socket to a surface of the motor vehicle and the mounting plate has a pair of elongate apertures to allow the socket to move relative to the surface upon which it is mounted during engagement of the plug with the socket.
26. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 20 wherein the width of each of the elongate apertures is greater than a diameter of the fixing used to mount the respective socket so that the socket can move in two dimensions relative to the surface upon which it is mounted during insertion of the plug into the socket.
27. An electrical system for a motor vehicle having an electrical component connected to a source of electrical power by means of an electrical connector as claimed in any of claims 1 to 26 wherein the electrical connector comprises a first electrical pair to provide power from the source of electrical power to the electrical component, a second electrical pair to provide a connection from the electrical component to earth and a third electrical pair to provide a feedback signal to a microprocessor from the first electrical pair indicative of whether a good electrical connection has been established by the first electrical pair.
28. A system as claimed in claim 27 wherein the third electrical pair has one side of the pair connected to a supply line to the electrical component at a position lo between the first electrical pair and the electrical component and the other side of the pair connected to the microprocessor.
29. A system as claimed in claim 27 or in claim 28 wherein the microprocessor is operable to provide a warning signal to an operator of the motor vehicle if a good electrical connection has not been established.
30. A system as claimed in any of claims 27 to 29 wherein the electrical component is one of an electrical solenoid and an electric motor used to effect locking of a sliding door of the motor vehicle.
31. A motor vehicle having a sliding door and an electrical connector as claimed in any of claims 1 to 26 to provide a connection between part of the body structure of the motor vehicle and the sliding door.
32. An electrical connector substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawing.
33. An electrical system for a motor vehicle substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawing.
34. A motor vehicle substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawing.