Patent Application
20180309237
This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) of Patent Application No. 17167068.02 filed in the European Patent Office on Apr. 19, 2017, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
This invention generally relates to a connector assembly, and in particular to an electrical connector assembly including an automotive electrical plug connector connectable to a complementary electrical connector to form an electrical connecting assembly with a large number of pin contacts, of the type used, for example, to connect a vehicle wiring system to an electrical distribution center.
The present invention will now be described, by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
An electrical connector includes a connector housing configured to receive a corresponding mating connector, a cable guide cover attachable to the connector housing, and a mate assist system configured to assist in mating to the corresponding mating connector. The mate assist system includes a lever that is pivotably arranged on the connector housing. The lever is pivotable from a lever assembly position to a lever open position and from the lever open position to a lever closed position. The lever comprises gear means engaged with a slider. The slider is slideably provided in the connector housing. The slider comprises complementary gear means for engaging with the lever. Correspondingly, the lever slides from a slider first position to a slider second position and from the slider second position to a slider third position. The lever is releasable and attachable to the connector housing only in the assembly position. The cable guide cover is attachable to the connector housing only when the lever is in the closed position. The slider is blocked in the slider second position by blocking means of the cable guide cover, cooperating with a blocking means of the slider. The slider comprises releasing means for cooperating with releasing means of the corresponding mating connector, to unblock the slider while mating, enabling movement of the lever to the closed position, thereby moving the slider to the slider third position.
The an electrical connector enables free movement of the lever while assembling the terminals with attached wires. After all necessary terminals are equipped a cover is assembled to the connector housing that locks the lever in a predefined, safe shipping position. Finally arrived in the assembly plant where the mating to the corresponding mating connector is conducted, the lever is unlocked by the corresponding mating connector. Because it is not possible to move the lever of the connector before mating the electrical connector to the corresponding mating connector, there is a feedback for the operator that indicates that the connector is mated properly. The slider and the flexible arm comprise sloped areas that cooperate with each other to allow movement of the slider after assembling the cable guide cover. Due to this the lever is moveable from the closed position to the open position.
A method for assembling an electrical connector, in particular an electrical connector is presented herein. The method comprises the steps of;
A method for assembling an electrically wire harness comprising, electrical wires with terminals on the ends, a corresponding mating connector and an electrical connector is also presented herein. The method comprises the steps of;
The connector may define a mating axis, a mating direction along the mating axis, a sliding axis perpendicular to the mating axis, and a pivoting axis perpendicular to the mating axis and the sliding axis. The lever pivots around the pivoting axis and moves the slider back and forth along the sliding axis. When the electrical connector is mating with the corresponding counter connector the connectors are moved along a mating axis, towards each other.
The gear means may include a rack and pinion system, whereby a gear wheel is formed on a free end of a lever arm of the lever and wherein a plurality of teeth is formed on the slider. The rack and pinion system translates the rotation movement of the lever into a translation movement. This design provides a robust gear system.
A hole may be formed on a free end of a lever arm of the lever, cooperating with a shaft, protruding along the pivoting axis from the connector housing, and pivotably holding the lever. The hole comprises a coding slot extending perpendicular to the pivoting axis. The shaft comprises a rib portion extending perpendicular to the pivoting axis from the shaft. The lever arm is movable along the pivoting axis, when the coding slot and the rib portion are aligned along the pivoting axis. This design provides protection, for the lever, from accidentally slipping from the shaft while being operated. While operation the lever is guided between the connector housing and the coding rib.
The coding slot and the rib portion may be aligned along the pivoting axis, when the lever is in the lever assembly position. The coding slot and the coding rib are only aligned in this position. Only in this position the shaft can be moved into the hole of the lever. Thereby it is moved until it is stopped by the connector housing. To assemble or disassemble the lever, the cover has to be removed.
The cable guide cover may include a cover protrusion protruding outwards, along the pivoting axis from the cable guide cover. The cable guide cover protrusion is positioned accordingly to cooperate with the lever to prevent movement from the lever open position to the lever assembly position. To prevent the movement of the lever to the assembly position while the cable guide cover is mounted, the cable guide cover comprises protrusions protruding from the outer surface of the cover. The protrusions can have the shape of ribs limiting the range of the pivoting lever to positions between the open position and the closed position.
The cover protrusion may prevent the lever from accidental dismounting from the electrical connector. The cover protrusion blocks the lever movement to its assembly position. So it is not possible to dismount the lever from connector before dismounting the cover. The cover protrusion prevents mounting the lever when the cable guide cover is attached to the connector housing. This prevents issues while service e.g. in a garage. The protrusion protrudes close to the shaft from the cable guide cover and blocks the movement opportunity of the lever arm along the pivoting axis, moving towards the connector housing. This makes it impossible to assemble the lever while the cable guide cover is mounted. This prevents misassembling of the electrical connector.
The blocking means may include a tongue protruding from the cable guide cover into a recess in the slider, thereby blocking the slider. This design is a simple but effective locking system for the slider.
The cable guide cover may have a tongue and whereby the releasing means of the slider comprise a flexible arm formed on the slider, whereby an end portion of the flexible arm is arranged adjacent to the tongue and aligned along the sliding axis with the tongue. The flexible arm comprises a release protrusion, protruding inwards the connector housing into a receiving portion, configured to receive a portion of the corresponding mating connector. The releasing means of the corresponding mating connector, push the release protrusion out of the receiving portion while mating, thereby flexing the flexible arm outwards and moving the end portion out of alignment to the tongue. The flexible arm is guided around the tongue of the cable guide cover while mating. The arm can have a rectangular cross section with a bigger extension along the sliding axis to improve the robustness against forces acting along the sliding axis and a smaller extension perpendicular to the sliding axis to improve flexibility perpendicular to the sliding axis.
The slider and the flexible arm may be formed integrally in one part. The flexible arm is a part of the slider and can be manufactured in one turn with the slider. That design safes costs and makes additional parts unnecessary.
The tongue may extend along the mating axis in a mating direction and the flexible arm extends along the mating axis opposite to the mating direction. The cable guiding cover can be assembled also in limited building spaces. The probability of damaging or breaking the tongue is limited because the tongue does not protrude to outside of the cross-section of the cable guiding cover.
The electrical connector assembly may include an electrical connector and may further encompass the corresponding mating connector.
The electrical connector assembly may also include an electric wire, wherein an end of the electric wire is connected to at least one electrical contact connected to the connector housing.
The electrical connector assembly may further include cam means configured to move a terminal positioning assurance member (TPA). The terminal positioning assurance member is movably connected to the connector housing. The TPA member comprising complementary cam means for engaging with the cam means of the slider configured to move the TPA member correspondingly from a TPA first position to a TPA second position and from the TPA second position to a TPA third position
While this invention has been described in terms of the preferred embodiments thereof, it is not intended to be so limited, but rather only to the extent set forth in the claims that follow. For example, the above-described embodiments (and/or aspects thereof) may be used in combination with each other. In addition, many modifications may be made to configure a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from its scope. Dimensions, types of materials, orientations of the various components, and the number and positions of the various components described herein are intended to define parameters of certain embodiments, and are by no means limiting and are merely prototypical embodiments.
Many other embodiments and modifications within the spirit and scope of the claims will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. The scope of the invention should, therefore, be determined with reference to the following claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
As used herein, ‘One or more’ includes a function being performed by one element, a function being performed by more than one element, e.g., in a distributed fashion, several functions being performed by one element, several functions being performed by several elements, or any combination of the above.
It will also be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. are, in some instances, used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. Moreover, the use of the terms first, second, etc. does not denote any order of importance, but rather the terms first, second, etc. are used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first contact could be termed a second contact, and, similarly, a second contact could be termed a first contact, without departing from the scope of the various described embodiments. The first contact and the second contact are both contacts, but they are not the same contact.
The terminology used in the description of the various described embodiments herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used in the description of the various described embodiments and the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that the term “and/or” as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms “includes,” “including,” “comprises,” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
Additionally, directional terms such as upper, lower, etc. do not denote any particular orientation, but rather the terms upper, lower, etc. are used to distinguish one element from another and establish a relationship between the various elements.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17167068.0 | Apr 2017 | EP | regional |
