Patent Application
20230223721
The present disclosure relates to electrical connectors, and more particularly, to electrical connectors having terminal position assurance devices.
Electrical connector systems often suffer from assembly errors. These errors include, for example, the incorrect or insufficient insertion of terminals of the connector within a corresponding housing. As a result, electrical connectors often implement a terminal position assurance (TPA) device or component, which ensures that a partially seated terminal is detected during assembly or mating of the connector system. In this way, an operator may identify and remedy a terminal placement issue during the connector assembly or connector mating processes, avoiding connector damage and/or a failed or unreliable connection.
Given these benefits, the demand for connectors utilizing TPA components has increased. However, their implementation is not without drawbacks. For example, the use of TPA devices increases manufacturing and assembly costs, as well as overall connector complexity. Moreover, these components often take up significant space within the connector. This is particularly problematic when implementing TPA-type solutions into smaller and/or lower cost connectors, or into applications requiring relatively large gauge cables or wires, which limit the available room for one or more TPA devices.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved TPA devices for use in these applications, including devices suitable for use with larger gauge cables and/or in connectors with limited available space.
In one embodiment of the present disclosure, an electrical connector assembly comprises a housing defining a front opening for receiving a mating connector in a mating direction, an electrical terminal arranged within an interior of the housing, and a terminal position assurance (TPA) device received within a rear opening of the housing in an installation direction. The TPA device includes a body defining a central opening for receiving a cable to be attached to the terminal, and an elastic element defined on a front end of the body. The elastic element includes a contact surface protruding from the front end of the body for engaging with the terminal in an installation direction of the TPA device. The contact surface engages with, and is elastically deformed by, the terminal before the TPA device reaches an installed position within the housing in the installation direction.
The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying Figures, of which:
Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described hereinafter in detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will convey the concept of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. In addition, in the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. However, it is apparent that one or more embodiments may also be implemented without these specific details.
Embodiments of the present disclosure include a rear-loaded terminal position assurance (TPA) device for use with an electrical connector. The TPA device comprises a body having an opening for receiving an electrical cable or an electrical wire therethrough, and an elastically-deformable front end for engaging with an electrical terminal fitted (e.g., crimped) to a free end of the cable. The TPA device further includes at least one elastic latch for securing the body to a housing of the connector in an installed position of the TPA device. During an insertion or installation operation of a terminal, cable and associated TPA device into the connector housing, the elastic front end of the TPA device is adapted to engage with the terminal and bias it into an installed position within the housing. Once the terminal is seated, further insertion force on the TPA device compresses the elastically-deformable front end, allowing the elastic latch to lock the TPA device in place relative to the connector housing, and ensuring that a pre-loading force is maintained on the terminal in the latched or locked position. Further, a sealing element is provided on the body of the TPA device for forming a seal between the body, and the connector housing and the cable. In this way, the TPA device further functions as a rear seal and/or wire cover of the connector, saving space and cost.
Embodiments of the present disclosure are shown and described in use with an exemplary electrical connector. Specifically, referring to
As shown in
With particular reference to
The TPA device 20 includes at least one locking feature or element 206 for securing the body 200 to the housing 40 in an installed position of the TPA device. In the illustrated embodiment, the locking element 206 includes at least one elastic latch formed on a rear end 204 of the body 200 for engaging with a complementary catch 48 formed on the housing 40, as shown in
Still referring to
Each beam 212 defines a contact surface 214 protruding therefrom in the axial direction of the body 200 for engaging with a radially-expanded flange 52 formed on an end of a crimping barrel 51 of the terminal 50. The beam 212 is elastically deformable by the terminal 50 in an axial direction opposite to the installation or insertion direction of the TPA device 20, and into the recess 220. The recess 220 may comprise an arcuate shaped channel extending radially-inward and through a sidewall of the body 200. The arcuate shape of the recess 220 may be convex with respect to the front end 202 of the body 200, with the contact surface 214 being generally centered with respect to the recess in a circumferential direction of the body.
While the exemplary beam 212 is supported on each of its ends by a remainder of the front end 202, a cantilevered beam or other elastically deformable structures may also be implemented without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the beam 212 is formed integrally with (e.g., molded with) a remainder of the body 200. However, other embodiments may implement separate elastic elements attached to the front end 202 of the body 200 without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
As shown particularly in
With the terminal 50 seated, the contact surface 214 of the beam 212 is adapted to abut and be compressed by the flange 52 of the terminal 50 before the TPA device 20 reaches the installed or locked position with the housing 40, as shown in
The TPA device 20 further includes a ribbed sealing element 208 (e.g., an over-molded seal) forming a seal between at least one of the body 200 and an interior wall of the housing 40 or the body and an exterior of the cable 30 inserted through the body. In the exemplary illustrated embodiment, as shown in
While the above embodiments describe a TPA device for use with a single terminal (i.e., one TPA device for each terminal), embodiments of the present disclosure may include a single TPA device configured for use with a plurality of terminals simultaneously. In these embodiments, the TPA device includes a single body defining a plurality of independently elastically-compressible ends insertable into a connector housing for engaging with a corresponding plurality of terminals.
The foregoing illustrates some of the possibilities for practicing the invention. Many other embodiments are possible within the scope and spirit of the invention. It is, therefore, intended that the foregoing description be regarded as illustrative rather than limiting, and that the scope of the invention is given by the appended claims together with their full range.
Also, the indefinite articles “a” and “an” preceding an element or component of the invention are intended to be nonrestrictive regarding the number of instances, that is, occurrences of the element or component. Therefore “a” or “an” should be read to include one or at least one, and the singular word form of the element or component also includes the plural unless the number is obviously meant to be singular.
The term “invention” or “present invention” as used herein is a non-limiting term and is not intended to refer to any single embodiment of the particular invention but encompasses all possible embodiments as described in the application.
