Patent Application
20220393383
This application claims benefit of priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202110485862.8 filed on Apr. 30, 2021, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The disclosure relates to a field of connector, and particularly to a terminal position assurance device and corresponding connector assembly.
In conventional design of a connector assembly, a terminal position assurance (TPA) device plays a role of locking the male terminal and enhancing a retention force of the male terminal in a male connector, preventing the male terminal from falling out under an external force to cause a wire power failure. The existing TPA device error-proof structure adopts a cantilever beam design. In such design, there is a problem of cantilever beam degradation due to the fact that the TPA device adopts a cantilever beam structure, resulting in a risk of function failure under repeated use. In addition, since the TPA device is floating, there is a problem of insufficient error-proof force or fracture.
The present disclosure provides a terminal position assurance (TPA) device, and a connector assembly with this improved TPA.
One aspect of the present disclosure provides a terminal position assurance device, which may include a main board, an upper board and a lower board, wherein the upper board and the lower board are perpendicular to the main board and are located on the same side of the main board, and the upper board and the lower board have distal ends away from the main board, an extension arm extending from the distal end of the upper board in a direction substantially perpendicular to the main board, and a stopper extending from an outer edge of the extension arm and thus going beyond the main body.
Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a connector assembly, which may comprise: a first connector comprising a connector housing, the connector housing having a hollow portion in communication with openings at both ends, the hollow portion defining a passage for insertion of a mating connector; a terminal position assurance (TPA) device, the terminal position assurance device is to be mounted onto the connector housing and is to be switched between a pre-installed state and a fully installed state, the terminal position assurance device comprising: a main body including a main board, an upper board and a lower board, wherein the upper board and the lower board are perpendicular to the main board and are located on the same side of the main board, and the upper board and the lower board have distal ends away from the main board, an extension arm extending from the distal end of the upper board in a direction substantially perpendicular to the main board, and a stopper extending from an outer edge of the extension arm and thus going beyond the main body, wherein when the terminal position assurance device is in pre-installed state, the stopper of the terminal position assurance device is in the passage of the connector housing for entrance of the mating connector, and when the terminal position assurance device is in fully-installed state, the stopper of the terminal position assurance device is outside the passage of the connector housing for entrance of the mating connector.
The present invention is now described, by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth. However, it is understood that embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known circuits, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure the understanding of this description.
References in the specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an example embodiment,” etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.
For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrase “A and/or B” means (A), (B), or (A and B). For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrase “A, B, and/or C” means (A), (B), (C), (A and B), (A and C), (B and C), or (A, B and C).
In the connector assembly of the present disclosure, the TPA device 3 is installed on a pre-installed position of a first connector 2. The first connector 2 is illustrated as a male connector for containing male terminal(s), but this invention is not limited to this. The on-site assembly of the connector is accomplished by first inserting a terminal (e.g., male terminal) into a first connector, pushing the TPA device to the end, and then inserting a mating connector into the first connector from the other side. TPA device 3 and the insulated housing of the first connector 3 may be made of plastic and adopts a rigid structure. The plastic housing of the first connector may adopt a design of through hole structure, and the corresponding TPA device is not required to be detached from the first connector.
In the example shown in
The TPA device 3 includes a main body composed of a main board 31, an upper board 32 and a lower board 33. The upper board 32 and the lower board 33 are substantially perpendicular to the main board 31 and are located on the same side of the main board 31 (in the figure, it is shown as the side in the positive Y-axis direction). The upper board 32 and the lower board 33 each extends in a direction away from the main board 31 and they have distal ends 321, 331 respectively.
The distal end 321 may be further provided with an upper engaging portion 322, and the distal end 331 may be provided with a lower engaging portion 332. The upper engaging portion 322 and the lower engaging portion 332 are elongated and protrude from the outer surfaces of the upper board 32 and the lower board 33 respectively, and their length direction is parallel to an extension direction of a boundary between the upper board 32 (lower board 33) and the main board 31, i.e., the X-axis direction.
The upper engaging portion 322 and the lower engaging portion 332 assist to stably maintain the TPA device 3 in a pre-installed position and a fully installed position. Specifically, the upper engaging portion 322 is engaged with a positioning groove 22a of the first connector 2 when the TPA device 3 is in the pre-installed position and is engaged with a positioning groove 22b of the first connector 2 when the TPA device 3 is in the fully installed position. The lower engaging portion 332 is similar to the upper engaging portion 322 and is engaged with the corresponding positioning groove (not shown in
In some embodiments, the TPA device 3 may have only one of the upper engaging portion 322 and the lower engaging portion 332. In this situation, part of the positioning grooves on the first connector 2 may be omitted to improve the strength of the first connector 2. For example, in the case of only one TPA device 3, only two positioning grooves may be provided on the corresponding upper or lower portions of the first connector 2 to define the pre-installed position and the fully installed position. In the case of two TPA devices 3, depending on whether the TPA device installed in a centrally symmetric manner on the other side has an upper engaging portion or a lower engaging portion, only two positioning grooves (the upper two positioning grooves and the lower two positioning grooves are arranged in a centrally symmetric manner) are provided on the upper and lower portions of the first connector 2 respectively, or three positioning grooves are arranged on only one side. It is certainly possible to provide three positioning grooves on the upper and lower portions respectively, as described in the present embodiment.
As shown in
As shown in
The upper engaging portion 322 and the stopper 35 of the TPA device 3 are located on both sides of the main body of the TPA device 3 in the X-direction so as not to interfere with each other. Referring to
In some embodiments, as shown in
In some embodiments, the main board 31 may further include a detaching part 37.
The detaching part 37 may be a bump extending from the edge of the main board 31 to provide a force bearing point when detaching the TPA device 3 from the fully installed position. For example, the upper engaging portion 322 and the lower engaging portion 332 can be pushed out from the positioning grooves 22a, 22b, 22c to be released from the locked state by hand or a tool, and then the TPA device 3 can be pulled out to the pre-installed position by means of the detaching part 37.
The first connector 2 has a hollow connector housing 20. When the first connector 2 is a male connector, the connector housing 20 allows the mating female connector and the male terminal to insert from its both ends. Three positioning grooves 22a, 22b, 22c are provided in parallel on an inner side of the upper portion of the connector housing 20, and three corresponding positioning grooves are provided in parallel on an inner side of the lower portion. The positioning grooves 22a, 22b, 22c extend to the end edge along the insertion direction (positive X-axis direction) of the female connector. The positioning grooves 22a, 22b, and 22c are used for fixing the position of the TPA device 3 by mating with the upper engaging portion 322 and the lower engaging portion 332 described above. The positioning groove 22b in the middle is used to implement positioning of the fully installed position. The positioning grooves 22a, 22c on both sides are used to implement positioning of the pre-installed position. The positioning grooves 22a, 22b, 22c are provided on the inner side of the connector housing 20 so as to face the upper engaging portion 322 and the lower engaging portion 332. In some embodiments, the positioning grooves 22a, 22b, 22c may penetrate the upper portion or lower portion of the housing 20 where they are located to form slits, as shown in
There are openings 27 communicating with the hollow portion 21 of the connector housing 20 on both sides of the housing 20, respectively. The opening 27 communicating with the hollow portion 21 enables the upper board 32, the lower board 33, the extension arm 34 and the stopper 35 of the TPA device 3 to enter into the hollow portion 21 through the opening 27. The opening 27 can also accommodate the main board 31 of the TPA device 3. The housing limiting portion 26 described above is provided in the opening 27. Such sharing design can save space, reduce the volume of the hollow portion 21, and ensure the strength of the connector housing 20.
In the pre-installed state shown in
If the TPA device 3 and TPA device 3′ are further pressed inward such that the respective upper engaging portion 322 and the lower engaging portion 332 are respectively mated with the positioning groove 22b of the three positioning grooves 22a, 22b, 22c of the connector housing 20 that is located in the middle, the stoppers 35, 35′ will extend further into the hollow portion 21 and are positioned out of the passage (in other words, they leave the passage) in the hollow portion 21 into which the mating connector enters, so that the mating connector can further axially (i.e., in X-axis direction) enters into the hollow portion 21 to form an electrical connection with the electrical contacts inside the first connector 2, as shown in
According to the embodiment, the TPA device 3 can form a pre-installed positional relationship and a fully installed positional relationship with the first connector 2 to realize the electrical disconnection and the electrical connection between the male terminal in the first connector and the female terminal in mating connector. The TPA device is not required to be completely detached from the first connector 2, and can adopt a rigid design, avoiding the risk of failure due to material yielding. In addition, it will be less possible for the TPA device to be deformed during actual use, so the TPA device can be used repeatedly.
In the above, the embodiment of the invention is described by taking the male connector as an example. It should be appreciated that the present invention is not limited by the type of terminal mounted in the connector. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the TPA device of the male connector, and a similar structure can also be applied to the TPA device of the female connector.
The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above in detail. However, it should be understood that various embodiments and modifications may be employed in the present invention without departing from its broad spirit and scope. Those skilled in the art can make many modifications and changes according to the concept of the present invention without creative work. Therefore, all those technical schemes that the skilled in the art can obtain through logical analysis, reasoning, or limited experiment on the basis of prior art according to conception of the present invention should be within the protection range determined by the claims of the present invention.
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. 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 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 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.
As used herein, the term “if” is, optionally, construed to mean “when” or “upon” or “in response to determining” or “in response to detecting,” depending on the context. Similarly, the phrase “if it is determined” or “if [a stated condition or event] is detected” is, optionally, construed to mean “upon determining” or “in response to determining” or “upon detecting [the stated condition or event]” or “in response to detecting [the stated condition or event],” depending on the context.
Additionally, while terms of ordinance or orientation may be used herein these elements should not be limited by these terms. All terms of ordinance or orientation, unless stated otherwise, are used for purposes distinguishing one element from another, and do not denote any order of arrangement, order of operations, direction or orientation unless stated otherwise.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202110485862.8 | Apr 2021 | CN | national |
