WO1997044866A2

WO1997044866A2 - Electrical connector assembly

Info

Publication number: WO1997044866A2
Application number: PCT/US1997/008769
Authority: WO
Inventors: Takeshi Hashimoto
Original assignee: The Whitaker Corporation
Priority date: 1996-05-24
Filing date: 1997-05-22
Publication date: 1997-11-27
Also published as: WO1997044866A3; JPH09320693A

Abstract

An electrical connector assembly is provided having a male connector (10) and a female connector (40). A flat section (13) is formed in the male housing (11) having male contact receiving passages (15) to secure the male contact pins (31) in place. The upper and lower surfaces of the male contact receiving passages (15) are open so that the upper and lower surfaces of the male contact pins (31) are exposed. Furthermore, the female contacts (46) have upper and lower contact beams (47a and 47b) which respectively make contact with the upper and lower surfaces of the male contact pins (31) through the open upper and lower surfaces of the male contact receiving passages (15).

Description

ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY

The present invention is related to an electrical connector assembly and more particularly to a connector having a plurality of male pin contacts secured in rows. 5 The connector shown in Figure 1 is a conventional electrical connector in which numerous male tab contacts terminating electrical wires are lined up in rows. Such a connector is shown in Japanese patent publication No. 2-86 078.

10 This electrical connector 100 consists of a housing 110, and a plurality of tab contacts 120 which are mounted in upper and lower rows of the housing 110. The housing 110 is equipped with contact-receiving passages 111 which extend from the rear end of the housing shown as the left

15 side in Figure 9, toward the front end of the housing, shown as the right side in Figure 9. These contact- receiving passages 111 accommodate the tab contacts 120. Mating connector-receiving spaces 112 are disposed near the front ends of the contact-receiving passages 111.

20. Lances 113 which prevent the tab contacts 120 from slipping out toward the rear end are installed in the lower portions of the contact-receiving passages 111. Projections 114 prevent the tab contacts 120 from slipping out toward the front and are installed in the upper

25 portions of the front ends of the contact-receiving passages 111. Furthermore, the tab contacts 120 have contact sections 121 which are receivable by the female contacts of a mating connector, and crimp sections 122 to which electrical wires 130 are connected by crimping.

30 These crimp sections 122 each consist of a wire barrel 123 in which a conductor is mounted by crimping, and an insulation barrel 124 in which the insulating covering of a wire is secured by press crimping.

In such conventional electrical connectors, when the 35 tab contacts 120 are mounted in the housing 110, the contact sections 121 of the tab contacts 120 are disposed inside the mating connector-receiving spaces 112 of the housing 110. As a result, the contact sections 121 of the tab contacts 120 can move, so that when the mating connector is engaged, the contact sections 121 move from side to side resulting in stubbing or bending of the contact section 121.

Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector assembly in which the male contacts do not stub or bend upon engagement with a mating connector.

This object has been achieved by providing an electrical connector assembly comprising a male connector which is equipped with a male housing having male contacts profiled to have male contact pins. A female connector is provided with a female housing having female contacts which are profiled to have pin-receiving sections which are engagable by the male contact pins. Furthermore, this electrical connector assembly is characterized in that a flat section having male contact-receiving passages projects from the male housing. The upper and lower surfaces of the male contact-receiving passages of the flat section are open so that the upper and lower surfaces of the male contact pins are exposed, and the female pin- receiving sections have upper and lower contact beams which respectively make contact with the upper and lower surfaces of the male contact pins.

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

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a conventional electrical connector.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the electrical connector assembly of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the male housing.

Figure 4 is a front view of the male housing. Figure 5 is a right-side view of the male housing. Figure 6 shows sectional views of the male housing. Specifically, Figure 6 (A) is an enlarged sectional view along line 6A-6A in Figure 4, and Figure 6 (B) is an enlarged partial sectional view along line 6B-6B in Figure 6 (A) .

Figure 7 illustrates one of the male contacts. Figure 7 (A) is a plan view of the male contact, Figure 7

(B) is a right-side view of the male contact, and Figure 7

(C) is a sectional view along line 7C-7C in Figure 7 (B) . Figure 8 shows one working configuration of the male connector of the present invention. Figure 8 (A) is a plan view of the male connector, Figure 8 (B) is a front view of the male connector, and Figure 8 (C) is an enlarged sectional view along line 8C-8C in Figure 8 (B) . Figure 9 shows another embodiment of the female connector. Figure 9 (A) is a plan view of the female connector, and Figure 9 (B) is a front view of the female connector.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the attached figures.

Referring to Figure 2, the electrical connector assembly 1 consists of a male connector 10 and a female connector 40. The male connector 10 is equipped with a male housing 11 and a plurality of male contacts 30 which are inserted into and held in this male housing 11 at a specified pitch. The female connector 40 is equipped with a female housing 41 and a plurality of female contacts 46 which are inserted into and held in this female housing 41 at a specified pitch. The male contacts 30 have termination sections 38 which are connected to electrical wires 60 by crimping, and male contact pins 31. The female contacts 46 have female contact sections 47 which are engagable with to the male contact pins 31, and contact feet 48 which are soldered to conductive paths on a board (not shown in the figures) . Referring to Figures 3-6, a male housing 11 has a body 12, and a flat section 13 which projects from the body 12. The body 12 has a plurality of male contact- receiving passages 14 which are formed at a specified pitch. A locking lance 16 which is used to anchor the corresponding male contact 30 is disposed above each male contact-receiving passage 14. Furthermore, the flat section 13 has male contact receiving passages 15 which communicate with the male contact-receiving passage 14 of the body 12. Upper and lower surfaces of these male contact-receiving passages 15 are open. A projection 18 is disposed on one side wall of each of the male contact- receiving passages 15. This projection 18 serves to prevent movement of the corresponding male contact 30 and consists of a large part 18a which engages the side edge of the lower contact surface 33 of the corresponding male contact pin 31, and a small part 18b which engages the side wall 35. Furthermore, stop walls 19 which engage and secure ends 36 of the male contact pins 31 are disposed at the ends of the male contact-receiving passages 15. Each of these stop walls 19 consists of an inclined surface which is inclined toward the center from above, and an inclined surface which is inclined toward the center from below. On the upper surface of the flat section 13, projections 17 serve to prevent erroneous engagement of the male connector 10 with the female connector. Steps 20 formed on the undersurface of the flat section 13 engage latches 45 on the female connector 40.

The male contacts 30 will now be described in greater detail with reference to Figure 7. Each of the male contacts 30 has a male contact pin 31 on one end of a base 30a, and a termination section 38 on the other end of the base 30a. The male contact pin 31 has a lower contact surface 33, and an upper contact surface 32 which is formed by being folded back from one side of the lower contact surface 33. As shown in Figure 7 (C) , a stopper 34 which protrudes by a distance of B beyond the lower contact surface 33 is formed on the upper contact surface 32. The undersurface of the rear portion of this stopper 34 is supported by a supporting part 35 which rises from the lower contact surface 33. This stopper 34 prevents the downward movement of the male contact pin 31 by contacting the upper surface of the projection 18 on the male housing 11. Furthermore, the termination section 38 has a wire barrel 38a in which the conductor of an electrical cable is secured by crimping, and an insulation barrel 38b in which the insulation of the cable is secured by crimping. A stopper 37 is formed from both sides of the base 30a and a carrier strip 39 is temporarily connected to the male contact 30 near the insulation barrel 38b. Assembly will now be described in greater detail with reference to Figure 2. Each of the male contacts 30 is inserted into the corresponding male contact-receiving passage 14 from the rear until the tip 36 of the male contact pin 31 contacts the stop wall 19 of the male housing 11. As a result, the male contact 30 is held in place in the male housing 11 with movement of the tip 36 of the male contact part 31 being prevented by the stop wall 19, projection 18 and the opposite side wall. The stopper 37 on the male contact 30 is arranged so that it contacts the end portion of the corresponding flexible lance 16 on the housing 11, thus preventing the male contact 30 from slipping out toward the rear. The projection 18 acts in conjunction with the opposite side wall to prevent movement of the male contact pin 31 from side to side. Furthermore, the stopper 34 prevents movement of the male contact pin 31 in the vertical direction by contacting the upper surface of the projection 18. Accordingly, when each male contact 30 is inserted into the male housing 11, the sides of the male contact part 31 are guided along the projection 18 and the opposite side wall. The stopper 34 of the male contact 30 is guided along the upper surface of the projection 18, so that the male contact part 31 does not slip out through the opening formed in the undersurface of the flat section 13.

The female connector 40 will now be described in greater detail with reference to Figure 8. The female housing 41 features a flat section-receiving recess 43 which accommodates the flat section 13 of the male connector 10 and female contact-receiving slots 44 disposed along the flat section-receiving recess 43. Latches 45 which engage the steps 20 on the male connector 11 project upward on both sides of the female housing 41 and face the ends of the flat section receiving recess 43.

Securing feet 50 are disposed at the ends and along the bottom of the female housing 41 and are used to solder fasten the female connector 40 to a board.

Each female contact 46 has a pin-receiving section 47 on one end, and a surface mounting foot 48 on the other end. The pin-receiving section 47 has an upper contact beam 47a and a lower contact beam 47b which elastically contact the upper and lower surfaces of the male contact pin 31.

Each female contact 46 is inserted into the corresponding female contact-receiving slot 44 of the female housing 41 from the rear, and is fastened to the female housing 41 by an anchoring projection 49 which projects from the upper portion of the female contact 46. Figure 9 shows an alternate embodiment of the female connector. The female connector 40' shown in Figure 9 has a construction which is substantially similar to that of the female connector 40 shown in Figure 8. However, this female connector 40' differs from the female connector 40 in that the attachment surface of the female housing 41' on the board 70', the feet 48' of the female contacts 46' and the securing feet 50', are all located approximately in the center of the female housing 41' . Accordingly, the height from the upper surface of the board 70' to the upper surface of the female connector 40 ' after the female connector 40' has been attached to the board 70 ' is lower than the corresponding height in the case of the female connector 40 shown in Figure 7. Next, mating of the male connector 10 and female connector 40 will be described with reference to Figure 2.

Here, the flat section 13 of the male connector 10 is inserted into the flat section-receiving recess 43 of the female connector 40, and the steps 20 on the male connector 10 are anchored to the latches 45 on the female connector 50, so that the male connector 10 and female connector 40 are engaged and connected, thus completing the electrical connector assembly 1. In this case, the upper contact beams 47a and lower contact beams 47b of the female contacts 46 make contact with the male contact pins 31 while clamping the upper and lower surfaces of these male contact pins 31. If an attempt is made to insert the male connector 10 into the female connector 40 upside down, the projections 17 on the male housing 11 contact the latches on the female housing 41, so that erroneous insertion is prevented.

Claims

We Claim:

1. An electrical connector having a housing and male contacts having pins secured in the housing, said electrical connector being characterized in that a flat housing section is profiled to have pin receiving passages which accommodate the male contact pins such that upper and lower surfaces of pin receiving passages of the flat section are open to expose upper and lower surfaces of the male contact pins.

2. The electrical connector as recited in claim 1 wherein the pin receiving passages are further characterized by lances which cooperate with stoppers on the contacts to secure the contacts in the contact receiving passages.

3. The electrical connector as recited in claim l wherein a projection 18 is disposed along the inside of each passage in the area of the flat section for engaging a surface of each pin and securing the pin therein.

4. A contact which has a male contact part and an electrical wire connecting part to which an electrical wire is connected by press fitting, said contact being characterized in that the male contact is equipped with a lower contact plate, an upper contact plate which is formed by being folded back from a first side of the lower contact plate, and a stopper which projects from the upper contact plate to prevent movement of the male contact, the undersurface of the stopper is supported by a supporting part which rises from a second side of the lower contact plate.

5. An electrical connector for receiving a plurality of contacts each having a pin characterized by: an insulative housing having a main body at a rear end and a flat section extending from the main body toward a mating end, a plurality of contact receiving passageways extending from the rear end through the main body and into the flat section, the contact receiving passageways being profiled to substantially surround the contact pins such that an opening is formed in the passageway along at least one major surface of the pin to expose the pin for engagement with a mating pin receiving contact.

6. An electrical connector assembly having a male connector which is equipped with a male housing and male contacts which are inserted into and held in said male housing, said male contacts having contact pins and a female connector which is equipped with a female housing and female contacts which are inserted into and held in said female housing, said female contacts having pin receiving sections which are engageable with the male contact pins, said electrical connector assembly characterized by: a flat housing section formed in the male housing, the flat section having pin receiving passages for receiving and securing the male contacts, upper and lower surfaces of the pin receiving passages of the flat housing section being open so that upper and lower surfaces of the male contact pins are exposed, and the female pin receiving sections having upper and lower contact beams which respectively make contact with the upper and lower exposed surfaces of the male contact pins.