The present invention relates to an electrical connector having an electrical terminal and a housing including a locking system configured to retain the electrical terminal.
Electrical connectors may have a number of design requirements depending on the their intended use. Some of these requirements include assurance of correct orientation or polarity of the terminal, minimum retention force for a terminal inside a housing, and the ability to remove a terminal and reinsert it, or insert a new terminal, into the same housing, just to name a few such requirements. Examples of electrical connectors are described in the following U.S. patents: U.S. Pat. No. 5,554,051, U.S. Pat. No. 6,425,780, U.S. Pat. No. 7,261,603 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,416,453.
Embodiments of the invention include an electrical connector including an electrical terminal and a housing. The housing has a front end and a back end having an opening configured to receive the electrical terminal therethrough. The housing includes a first lock system configured to allow insertion of the electrical terminal into the housing and prohibit removal of the electrical terminal therefrom. The housing is configured such that the first lock system is accessible from the front of the housing to release the electrical terminal from the first lock system. The electrical connector also includes a second lock system configured for insertion into the housing to prohibit removal of the electrical terminal from the housing independently from the first lock system.
Embodiments of the invention include an electrical connector including an electrical terminal and a housing. The housing includes a front end and a back end including an opening therein for facilitating insertion of the electrical terminal into the housing such that the housing at least partially encloses the electrical terminal. The housing further includes a plurality of walls, a pair of locking beams having a lock position for prohibiting removal of the electrical terminal from the housing and a release position for facilitating removal of the electrical terminal from the housing, and a pair of channels accessible through the front end and disposed adjacent respective locking beams for receiving a removal tool therein to facilitate movement of the locking beams from the lock position to the release position. The electrical connector further includes a blocking member configured for insertion into the housing to block removal of the electrical terminal from the housing.
Embodiments of the invention include an electrical connector including an electrical terminal and a housing configured to at least partially enclose the electrical terminal. The housing includes a pair of locking beams cantilevered toward a front of the housing and disposed on opposite sides of the electrical terminal. The locking beams have a lock position in which the locking beams are engaged with the electrical terminal, and a release position in which the locking beams are not engaged with the electrical terminal. The housing includes a back end through which the electrical terminal is inserted into the housing, and a front end through which a mating terminal can be inserted to mate with the electrical terminal. The front end includes a pair of apertures generally aligned with the locking beams for receiving a removal tool to move the locking beams from the lock position to the release position. A lock system is configured for insertion into the housing such that a portion of the lock system is disposed between the electrical terminal and the back end, thereby prohibiting removal of the electrical terminal from the back end.
As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.
The connector 10 includes a first lock system 28 (shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The elongate member 60 includes a flexible beam 76, which is bounded by an edge 78 of the elongate member 60 and a through-slot 80 that is disposed through the elongate member 60 in a lengthwise direction generally parallel to the edge 78. As shown by the hidden lines in
The lock feature 82 is sized such that as the lock system 30 is inserted into the housing 14, the lock feature 82 contacts an edge 84 (see
In the embodiment shown in
Also shown in
While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the invention.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/510,712 filed on 22 Jul. 2011, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
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