Mechanically assisted blind mate electrical connector

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6435891
  • Patent Number
    6,435,891
  • Date Filed
    Friday, October 27, 2000
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, August 20, 2002
    22 years ago
Abstract
An electrical connector assembly (2) includes a first connector in the form of a printed circuit board header (10) and a second connector in the form of a plug connector that can be attached to wires in a wiring harness. One of the connectors is mounted in an opening (6) in a panel so that the connector is free to float in an X and a Y direction. A protruding alignment post (30) on one connector is received within an alignment cavity (70) on the other connectors so that the connector positioned in the panel opening (6) will shift laterally so that pin terminals (22) in one connector will be aligned with receptacle terminals (50) in terminal cavities of the other connector will be aligned before they are mated. A mechanical assist member, such as a bolt (90) extends through a central opening (32) in the alignment post (30) and through the mating alignment cavity (70) to increase the force available to mate the two connectors.
Description




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




This invention relates to mating electrical connectors that each include mating terminals. More particularly these connectors are blind mate connectors in which mating alignment members align the mating terminals before the terminals come into contact to prevent damage to the terminals during mating. A mechanical assist member is also employed to overcome the mating forces that are in large part due to the large number of terminals in the two connectors.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




Blind mating connectors in which one of the connector is free to laterally float to align the connectors for mating are commonly used in many applications. Mechanically assisted connectors are probably more common because the force to mate many high count connectors is greater than that recommended for hand assembly. However, the prior art does not appear to include any mechanically assisted blind mating connectors.




U.S. Pat. No. 4,963,098 discloses one version of a blind mating electrical connector assembly. That connector employs an alignment post centrally located in a printed circuit board header with a plurality of pin terminals surrounding the alignment post. A frame having a cavity into which the alignment post can be inserted is mounted in a panel cutout which permits limited lateral movement of the frame during alignment. Two electrical connectors terminated to wires are mounted in the frame and mutual engagement between the alignment post and the frame cavity aligns the header pins with receptacle terminals located in the connector housings mounted in the frame. However, this connector does not include any means for mechanically assisting or amplifying the force available to mate the two header to the two plug connectors mounted in the frame.




Conversely, U.S. Pat. No. 5,151,045 discloses another connector that employs a bolt or jackscrew as a mechanical assist member for mating two connectors, but the two connectors cannot be blind mated in any reliable manner. In this prior art connector the bolt is located in a plug connector which is then attached to a printed circuit board header located in a module that is attached to a fixed structure. Any necessary alignment can therefore be easily accomplished by the installer. Although bolt mounted connector assemblies are quite common, conventional connectors of this type do not provide for blind mating or for significant float of a connector mounted in a panel opening.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




High count electrical connectors containing a relatively large number of terminals require higher mating forces than connectors having only a few mating terminals. Connectors employing contacts with a relatively high current carrying capacity or requiring high mating forces or significant wiping action further increase the mating force. These high count connectors are typically used to connect wire harnesses or to connect wires in a wire harness to an external component. When the mating force is too great for manual assembly, some form of mechanical assistance is necessary.




The installation of electrical components and harnesses in automotive applications frequently require a large number of terminals to be mounted in a single connector housing to form high count connectors or as part of multicomponent chunks. Overall assembly is simplified by reducing the number of electrical connectors that must be connected and by reducing the number of connectors that must be assembled, hopefully the number of wiring errors can be reduced.




In a number of automotive applications, one of the connectors is mounted in a panel and this previously mounted connector must be free to float when mated with a second connector or with a electrical component or subassemblies. This often requires blind mating of the connectors. For example, automotive applications in which it is often desirable to include a blind mating capability for electrical connector assemblies include connector assemblies used in door trim panels, floor consoles and headliners. One reason for permitting a panel mount connector typically used in these applications to float during mating is the difficulty of precisely positioning such panel mount connectors in assemblies where assembly tolerances must be kept as large as possible so that the assembly will be relatively uncomplicated.




A principal object of this invention is to combine both blind mating and mechanical assist capabilities in the same electrical connector. However, this combination must be accomplished in a manner that will prevent damage to free standing terminal pins in one of the connectors during mating. Damage can occur when the two connectors are skewed when initially mated and the plug connector scoops or bends the ends of the free standing pins. The instant invention accomplishes these and other objectives without resorting to complicated configurations that would not be suitable for use in automotive applications.




These objections can be realized by an electrical connector assembly comprising first and second electrical connectors. One of these connectors is mounted in a panel such that the one electrical connector floats in both an X and a Y direction. A male alignment member on one of these electrical connectors, either the one mounted in the panel or the mating connector. A female alignment member is located in the other electrical connector. The male and female alignment members are matable such that, during mating of the male and female alignment members the electrical connector mounted on the panel is free to move in an X and a Y direction into alignment with the other electrical connector. The electrical connector assembly includes an opening extending through the male alignment member for receipt of mechanical assist means for applying additional mating force to assist mating of the first and second electrical connectors. Typically a bolt is employed as the mechanical assist member. Both the male alignment post or protrusion and the alignment cavity in the other connector are located in the center of terminal arrays in the two mating connectors.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a three dimensional view of the connector assembly according to the preferred embodiment of this invention showing one connector mounted in a panel opening or cutout.





FIG. 2

is a view similar to

FIG. 1

, but showing the connector components for the opposite direction.





FIG. 3

is a view of the plug connector housing and the header housing.





FIG. 4

is a view of a terminal of the type positioned in one of the terminal cavities in the plug connector housing.





FIG. 5

is a view of a bolt that can be inserted through an opening in the alignment projection of the header and is used to mechanically assist mating the plug connector with the header.





FIG. 6

is a view of a threaded opening in a bulkhead or structural panel that is sized to engage the bolt used to assist mating of the connectors.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION




The electrical connector assembly


2


comprising the preferred embodiment of this invention includes a first connector, here represented by a printed circuit board connector


10


, and a second mating connector, here represented by a plug connector


40


of the type that can be used to terminate wires in a wiring harness (not shown). One of the connectors, here the plug connector


40


is mounted in a panel opening or cutout


6


located in a panel


4


. Although the specific embodiment of the connectors depicted herein are twenty four position connectors, this invention is particularly applicable to any connector configuration containing a large number of mating terminals, including those that contain terminals of different sizes and current carrying capacities. In automotive applications, such high count electrical connectors are often mounted in door trim panels, floor consoles, and headliners, although their use is not limited to such applications. However, when used in such applications, this invention includes both a blind mating capability for aligning contacts during mating and the provision for a mechanical assist member, here in the form of a bolt or jackscrew, to overcome large mating forces due mainly to the relatively large number of mating terminals.





FIG. 1

shows both the mating face


44


of the plug connector


40


mounted in the panel cutout


6


and a portion of the mating face


14


of the header


10


. A portion of the header shroud


20


has been broken away for illustration purposes to show both the mating portion of header pin terminals


22


and the central header alignment protrusion or post


30


. A wire dress cover


80


that is mounted on the rear of the plug connector housing


40


is also shown. Wire dress can be hermaphroditic so that wires can extend outward either to the right or left side of the connector.




The header connector


10


includes both a molded header housing


12


(

FIG. 2

) and a plurality of male terminals or pins


22


that extend between the header mating face


14


to the header rear face


16


. The pins


22


can be positioned in the housing


12


by a number of conventional means, but the pins


22


would normally be inserted into openings in the housing to form an interference fit to secure the terminals in the housing. Header


10


is the type that would normally be mounted on a printed circuit board that would be contained in a component to be mounted on panel


4


. The rear portions of pins


22


would be soldered to the printed circuit board, and the opposite end of the pin terminals


22


would be of the type intended to mate with receptacles terminals


50


(

FIG. 4

) contained in terminals cavities


48


in the plug connector housing


42


. Although individual receptacle terminals


50


would be located in individual housing cavities


48


, the mating portions of pins


22


would be free standing and the pins would be positioned in an array to mate with the plug connector terminals


50


. Although this configuration is commonly used, the unsupported pins


22


can be bent or deformed during mating if the mating terminals are not properly aligned. The pins


22


are surrounded by a shroud


20


, partially broken away in

FIG. 1

for illustrative purposes and shown complete in

FIGS. 2 and 3

, encircling the pins


22


in a header mating cavity


18


. In this embodiment the terminals


22


are in the form of solid rectangular pins, although it should be understood that these male terminals


22


could be in the form of round wire pins, blades or stamped and formed cylindrical pins. Combinations of different terminals can be used in the same connector or chunk. In addition to its use with a header having straight pins


22


, this invention could also be used for right angle headers. Of course when a right angle header is used with a bolt


90


(FIG.


5


), the bolt would not extend through the printed circuit board but would instead extend parallel to the printed circuit board.




The pin terminals


22


are arrayed in surrounding relationship to an oblong alignment projection or post


30


located in the center of the header mating face


14


and in the center of the header shroud


20


. This central alignment protrusion


30


can be integrally molded with the rest of the header housing


12


and extends forward from the header base section. Protrusion


30


is generally oblong with flat upper and lower sections extending from the header base and with rounded ends. The distal or mating end


32


of the protrusion


30


is tapered to provide inclined surfaces on all four sides that are suitable for aligning or guiding the two connectors during mating. The alignment or guiding post


30


extends beyond both the pins


22


and the header shroud


20


so that the post or projection


30


will be the first to engage the plug connector


40


during mating.




Alignment or guiding post


30


also includes an opening or bore


34


that extends from the mating end of the post


30


through the base of the header so that it extends completely through the header housing


12


. This opening or bore


34


is centrally located in the alignment post


30


and is dimensioned to receive a bolt or jackscrew


90


of sufficient size and length to provide mechanical assistance during connector mating.




The plug connector


40


also includes a molded housing


42


with a plug mating face


44


that is dimensioned for receipt in the header mating cavity


18


when the two connectors are mated. The header shroud


20


will surround the plug mating face


44


. Plug housing


42


also has individual terminal cavities


48


that extend from the plug mating face


44


to the plug rear face


46


(FIG.


2


). In the representative embodiment depicted herein, these cavities


48


are configured to receive a stamped and formed receptacle terminal


50


having a mating section and a rear wire crimp section. The receptacle terminal


50


shown in

FIG. 4

is merely representative of one of many different conventional terminals that could be used in this invention. The terminal cavities


48


would include molded terminal latches if used with receptacle terminals


50


. This invention is not, however, limited to use with this type terminal. Furthermore provisions for secondary locks or receipt of terminal position assurance members could also be included in the plug connector without departing from the invention disclosed by the representative embodiment shown herein.




Plug connector


40


is intended to terminate a plurality of wires in a wiring harness (not shown). Individual wires are crimped to terminals


50


and extend into the terminal cavities


48


through the rear of the housing. With reference to

FIGS. 1-3

, a wire dress cover


80


is mounted to the rear of the connector housing


42


by snap latches


86


. A central hole


82


on the wire dress cover


80


is aligned with the alignment or guiding cavity


70


in the housing


42


so that the guiding protrusion


30


on the mating header


10


can extend through the wire dress cover hole


82


when the header


10


is mated to the plug connector


40


. A lateral extension


84


is located at one end of the wire dress cover


80


. Extension


84


is intended to gather the individual wires extending from the terminal cavities


48


around the central alignment cavity skirt


74


so that the wires can be bundled into a harness. A conventional wire tie can then be used to secure the wires forming the harness to the extension


84


so that the wires can exit the connector behind the panel


4


. The wire dress cover


80


would be attached to the plug housing


42


before the plug connector


40


, on one end of an associated wire harness, is mounted in the panel opening


6


.




The female terminals


50


and receptacle terminal cavities


48


are located in sections surrounding a central alignment or guiding cavity


70


that extends between the plug mating face


44


and the plug rear face


46


. This alignment cavity


70


is configured to receive the male alignment post


30


on the mating header


10


. A beveled or tapered front entry is formed on the housing mating face


44


surrounding the alignment cavity


70


to more easily capture the alignment projection


30


. Engagement of this beveled entry with the tapered end


32


of post


30


will cause relative lateral movement of the two connectors


10


and


40


as the two connectors are first mated. Since the tapered post end


32


and the beveled entry surround both the male and female alignment members, this relative movement can be in both an X direction and an orthogonal Y direction, both of which are parallel to the plane of the panel


4


. In the preferred embodiment, the header


10


is being inserted into the plug


40


so that the initial movement or float will occur in the plug connector. However, during mechanically assisted mating, both the header


10


and the plug


40


can travel relative to the panel


4


. The shape of the female alignment cavity


70


to the rear of the beveled entry confirms substantially to the shape of the alignment projection


30


. This guiding cavity


70


extends through the main body of the plug housing


42


and through a skirt


74


on the rear of the connector housing


42


.




Plug housing


42


also includes a peripheral mounting flange


52


for mounting the plug connector


40


in the panel cutout


6


. The panel opening


6


has a relatively larger upper section which is dimensioned to permit insertion of the plug housing and flange


52


through the panel


4


. A relatively smaller lower section of cutout


6


is dimensioned so that front and rear sections of the mounting flange


52


fit on opposite sides of the edges of the panel defining the opening


6


. The front sections of the flange


52


are shown in

FIG. 1

while the rear flange sections are seen in FIG.


2


. The front flange includes end flange extensions


54


that overlap side edges of the panel cutout


6


. Rear end flanges


58


are located on the lower half of the connector housing


42


are offset relative to the front end flanges


54


by a distance that is slightly greater than the thickness of the panel


4


with which the connector is to be employed. Flange


52


also includes a bottom front section


55


that has a central recess


56


that provides clearance for molding a lower rear flange section


60


. These lower flange sections engage opposite sides of the panel


4


adjacent the bottom of the cutout


6


. The panel opening


6


also includes laterally extending sections


8


. Molded wedges


62


on the front face of rear end flange sections


58


are located within these lateral cutout sections


8


to prevent removal of the plug connector without deflection of the flange sections


58


. These wedges


62


are smaller than the lateral open sections


8


so that the plug connector housing can still move or float relative to the panel


4


. The size of the connector housing


42


at the inner edge of the peripheral flange


52


is also such that the connector


40


can travel or float relative to the panel


4


when the header


10


is mated to the plug connector


40


.




Once the two connectors have been aligned and the pins


22


have been aligned with the receptacle terminals


50


located in terminal cavities


48


, the connectors can be mated without damage to the freestanding pins


22


. However, this assembly also provides a means for overcoming a large mating force. The opening


34


provides space for insertion of a bolt or jackscrew


90


which can be torqued to bring the two connectors into full mating engagement. In the preferred embodiment, the bolt


90


is inserted into the header housing


12


through the rear face


16


. The bolt


90


can be inserted after initial alignment and engagement of the two mating connectors. The bolt head


92


can in some applications engage the rear of the printed circuit board on which the header is mounted or it can engage the header itself. Of course the printed circuit board will have an aligned hole for receipt of the bolt


90


. In other applications, the header and the printed circuit board will form a part of a larger component and the bolt head


92


could engage the exterior of this component housing. Bolt


90


has sufficient length such that it extends through the alignment post


30


and beyond the mated connector assembly


2


. A threaded opening


96


will typically be located behind the panel


4


in a bulkhead or structural panel


94


or in a separate mounting component or bracket. See FIG.


6


. The bolt


90


will then be aligned with the fixed opening


96


by moving the bolt


90


and the partially mated connectors


10


and


40


. Since the connector assembly


2


is still free to float or move within panel opening


6


, the bolt can be aligned even though the panel


4


and the connector assembly


2


located in panel opening


6


are not properly positioned relative to the fixed threaded opening


96


. When the bolt


90


is properly aligned, it will be torqued to mechanically assist full mated engagement of the header


10


to the plug connector


40


.




In the preferred embodiment of this invention the bolt


90


is inserted first through the header


10


on the front of the panel


4


. In this configuration the alignment projection passes through both the plug housing


42


and the wire dress cover


80


so that the mating depth of the connector assembly


2


can be reduced. Another approach, within the scope of this invention would mount the bolt


90


in the plug connector


40


. In this alternate embodiment, the alignment post


30


would not extend through the wire dress cover


80


. Instead the bolt would be secured in the wire dress cover


80


with the bolt head located on the rear of the wire dress cover


80


which would not have a post clearance hole


82


. The threaded portion of the bolt


90


would extend beyond the plug mating face


44


so that the threaded end of the bolt


90


would enter the header alignment projection opening


34


. A nut or threaded female cap could then be attached to the bolt


90


and as the nut was progressively rotated around the bolt


90


, a mechanically assisted mating force would be applied to the two connectors. This alternate approach would have the advantage that it would not be necessary to align the bolt with a hidden threaded opening behind the panel


4


after the two connectors were partially mated. Although this invention is suitable for use with a bolt as the mechanical assist member, it is not so limited. For example a rod having a cam follower on its distal end could be engaged by a camming member to force the two connectors into a fully mated configuration. More basically, the representative embodiment shows a connector assembly comprising a printed circuit board header that is mated to a wire connector. The same mechanical assist, blind mate approach could also be used for mating two wire connectors to form a wire to wire interconnection. These and other modifications would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art and the invention is defined, not by the representative embodiment depicted herein, but by the following claims.



Claims
  • 1. An electrical connector assembly comprising first and second electrical connectors:means for mounting one of the first and second electrical connectors on a panel such that the one of the first and second electrical connectors floats in both an X and a Y direction; a male alignment member on the first electrical connector; a female alignment member on the second electrical connector, the male and female alignment members being matable such that, during mating of the male and female alignment members the one of the first and second electrical connectors mounted on the panel is free to move in an X and a Y direction into alignment with the other of the first and second electrical connectors; wherein said means for mounting one of said first and second electrical connectors on the panel comprises non-overlapping, spaced-apart flange members located on front and back surfaces of a base of the one of said first and second electrical connectors; a wire dress cover mounted on a rear face of said second electrical connector, said wire dress cover having a hole aligned with the female alignment member to permit the male alignment member to pass through the hole when the first and second electrical connectors are mated; and fastener means extending through the male alignment member to mechanically assist mating the first and second electrical connector.
  • 2. The electrical connector assembly of claim 1 wherein the means for mounting the one of the first and second electrical connectors on a panel are located on the second electrical connector.
  • 3. The electrical connector assembly of claim 1 wherein the male alignment member comprises a post extending beyond electrical terminals located in the first electrical connector.
  • 4. The electrical connector assembly of claim 3 wherein the post has a tapered forward end.
  • 5. The electrical connector assembly of claim 4 wherein the post has an oblong exterior configuration and the opening extending through the oblong post has a circular cross section.
  • 6. The electrical connector assembly of claim 1 wherein the opening in the male alignment member extends between a mating face and a rear face of the first electrical connector.
  • 7. The electrical connector assembly of claim 6 wherein the female alignment member comprises an alignment cavity extending between a mating face and a rear face of the second electrical connector.
  • 8. The electrical connector assembly of claim 1 wherein the first electrical connector comprises a printed circuit board header having pin terminals.
  • 9. The electrical connector assembly of claim 8 wherein the second electrical connector comprises a plug connector having receptacle terminals attachable to wires.
  • 10. A blind mate electrical connector assembly including mechanical assist means for mating a first and second electrical connector, the assembly comprising:a first electrical connector; a second electrical connector matable with the first electrical connector; a male alignment protrusion on the first electrical connector; a female alignment cavity on the second electrical connector configured to receive the male alignment protrusion; a wire dress cover mounted on a rear face of said second electrical connector, said wire dress cover having a hole aligned with the female alignment cavity to permit the male alignment protrusion to pass through the hole when the first and second electrical connectors are mated; and fastening means extending through the male alignment member to mechanically assist mating the first and second electrical connector.
  • 11. The blind mate electrical connector assembly of claim 10 wherein the fastening means has a length sufficient to engage a treaded opening located behind the second electrical connector and separate from the electrical connector assembly.
  • 12. The blind mate electrical connector assembly of claim 11 wherein the faster means has a head engagable with a rear surface on the first electrical connector, the fastening means being otherwise unattached to the male alignment protrusion.
  • 13. The blind mate electrical connector assembly of claim 12 wherein the male alignment protrusion is centrally positioned in the first electrical connector and the female alignment cavity is centrally positioned in the second electrical connector so that the fastening means is centrally positioned in the assembly.
  • 14. The blind mate electrical connector assembly of claim 10 wherein the second electrical connector includes panel attachment means permitting the second electrical connector to float relative to a panel on which the second electrical connector is mounted.
  • 15. An electrical connector assembly comprising first and second mating electrical connectors:the first electrical connector including a plurality of pin terminals positioned in a single mating cavity in a first electrical connector housing; the second electrical connector including a plurality of receptacle terminals, matable with the pin terminals, positioned in individual terminal cavities in a second electrical connector housing; a central protrusion located in the first electrical connector extending beyond the pin terminals; a central cavity located in the second electrical connector, configured to receive the central alignment protrusion when the first and second electrical connectors are mated; and a wire dress cover mounted on a rear face of said second electrical connector, said wire dress cover having a hole aligned with the central cavity to permit the central protrusion to pass through the hole when the first and second electrical connectors are mated; and a bolt extending through the central protrusion to mechanically assist mating the first and second electrical connector.
  • 16. The electrical connector assembly of claim 15 wherein the central protrusion and the central cavity comprise means for aligning the pin terminals with receptacle terminals prior to mating engagement to prevent damage to the pin terminals.
  • 17. The electrical connector of claim 15 wherein the second electrical connector housing includes flanges comprising means for mounting the second electrical connector in a panel opening to permit the second electrical connector to float as the central protrusion engages the central cavity to align the pin terminals with the receptacle terminals.
Parent Case Info

This application claims the benefit of provisional application No. 60/161,996 filed Oct. 28, 1999.

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Provisional Applications (1)
Number Date Country
60/161996 Oct 1999 US