Electrical connector with terminal position assurance member

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10446969-B2
Application number	US-201815984780-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 21, 2018
Priority date	Dec 1, 2017
Publication date	Oct 15, 2019
Grant date	Oct 15, 2019

Abstract

An electrical connector includes a housing and a terminal position assurance (TPA) member. The housing defines cavities that extend from a cable end of the housing parallel to a cavity axis and hold corresponding terminals therein. The housing includes first and second walls defining a TPA slot therebetween that is open to the cavities. The TPA member is mounted to the housing within the TPA slot such that a front side of the TPA member engages the first wall and a rear side of the TPA member engages the second wall. The TPA member is movable relative to the housing between an unlocked position and a locked position along an actuation axis perpendicular to the cavity axis. The TPA member in the locked position extends into the cavities, and the front side of the TPA member engages the terminals to retain the terminals within the housing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electrical connector comprising:
a housing having a cable end and a mating end, the housing defining cavities that extend from the cable end parallel to a cavity axis, the cavities holding corresponding terminals therein that are connected to one or more cables protruding from the cable end, the housing further including a first wall and a second wall that define a terminal position assurance (TPA) slot therebetween, the TPA slot being open to the cavities; and
a TPA member mounted to the housing within the TPA slot, the TPA member having a front side that engages the first wall of the housing and a rear side that engages the second wall of the housing, the TPA member being movable relative to the housing between an unlocked position and a locked position along an actuation axis that is perpendicular to the cavity axis, wherein the TPA member in the locked position extends into the cavities and the front side of the TPA member engages respective back edges of the terminals to retain the terminals within the housing.

2. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the TPA member in the unlocked position does not extend as far into the cavities as in the locked position such that the TPA member allows loading and unloading of the terminals relative to the cavities when the TPA member is in the unlocked position.

3. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the TPA member includes one or more deflectable locking latches along the rear side of the TPA member, each of the locking latches including a ridge protruding rearward from the respective locking latch, the ridge configured to engage an upper shoulder of the second wall of the housing when the TPA member is in the unlocked position to restrict movement towards the locked position, the ridge configured to engage a lower shoulder of the second wall when the TPA member is in the locked position to restrict movement towards the unlocked position.

4. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the front and rear sides of the TPA member extend between a top end and a bottom end of the TPA member, wherein, when the TPA member is in the locked position, the bottom end is disposed within the cavities and an upper portion of the TPA member is disposed in the TPA slot of the housing between the first and second walls.

5. The electrical connector of claim 4 , wherein the TPA member includes one or more deflectable locking latches along the rear side of the TPA member that engage the second wall of the housing to secure the TPA member in the locked position, each of the locking latches extending from a respective fixed end that is connected to a body of the TPA member to a respective distal, free end, wherein the locking latches extend upward such that the distal, free ends of the locking latches are located more proximate to the top end of the TPA member than the fixed ends.

6. The electrical connector of claim 5 , wherein the TPA member includes two locking latches and the distal, free ends of the two locking latches are connected to each other via a tab member.

7. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the cable end of the housing is oriented perpendicular to the mating end of the housing, the mating end defining an opening configured to receive a mating connector therein along a mating axis that is perpendicular to the cavity axis, the mating axis being parallel to the actuation axis of the TPA member.

8. The electrical connector of claim 7 , wherein the front and rear sides of the TPA member extend between top and bottom ends of the TPA member, wherein the top end of the TPA member faces towards the opening at the mating end when the TPA member is in the locked position.

9. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the housing includes a mating shroud at the mating end that defines a socket configured to receive a mating connector therein, the TPA member in the TPA slot circumferentially surrounded by the mating shroud.

10. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the front and rear sides of the TPA member extend laterally between a first edge side and a second edge side of the TPA member that is opposite to the first edge side, the TPA member including a deflectable mounting latch at each of the first and second edge sides, the mounting latches configured to engage a lower surface of a ledge of the housing to secure the TPA member on the housing.

11. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the front and rear sides of the TPA member extend between a top end and a bottom end of the TPA member, wherein, when the TPA member is in the locked position, the bottom end is disposed within the cavities, wherein the TPA member includes a guide post that protrudes beyond the bottom end of the TPA member and is received within a guide channel of the housing within the TPA slot, the guide post including a keying feature such that the guide post is received in the guide channel in a single orientation.

12. An electrical connector comprising:
a housing having a cable end and a mating end, the cable end of the housing oriented perpendicular to the mating end, the housing defining cavities that extend from the cable end parallel to a cavity axis, the cavities holding corresponding terminals therein that are connected to one or more cables protruding from the cable end, the mating end defining an opening configured to receive a mating connector therein along a mating axis that is perpendicular to the cavity axis, the housing further including a first wall and a second wall that define a terminal position assurance (TPA) slot therebetween, the TPA slot being open to the cavities; and
a TPA member mounted to the housing within the TPA slot, the TPA member having a front side that engages the first wall of the housing and a rear side that engages the second wall of the housing, the TPA member being movable relative to the housing between an unlocked position and a locked position along an actuation axis that is perpendicular to the cavity axis and parallel to the mating axis, wherein, when the TPA member is in the locked position, blocking surfaces along the front side of the TPA member extend into the cavities and engage respective back edges of the terminals to block the terminals from moving towards the cable end of the housing, wherein the TPA member extends farther into the cavities and is spaced farther away from the mating end of the housing when in the locked position relative to the unlocked position.

13. The electrical connector of claim 12 , wherein the cavities of the housing are disposed side by side in a row and the TPA slot extends across all of the cavities in the row.

14. The electrical connector of claim 12 , wherein the front and rear sides of the TPA member extend between a top end and a bottom end of the TPA member, wherein, when the TPA member is in the locked position, the bottom end is disposed within the cavities and an upper portion of the TPA member is disposed in the TPA slot of the housing between the first and second walls.

15. The electrical connector of claim 12 , wherein the housing includes a mating shroud at the mating end that defines the opening that receives the mating connector therein, the mating shroud circumferentially surrounding the TPA member in the TPA slot and contact openings of the housing that are configured to receive mating contacts of the mating connector.

16. An electrical connector comprising:
a housing having a cable end and a mating end, the housing defining cavities that extend from the cable end parallel to a cavity axis, the cavities disposed side by side in a row and contain corre

Assignees

• Te Connectivity India Private Ltd
• Tyco Electronics Brasil Ltda
• Te Connectivity Brasil Ind De Electronics

Inventors

• Bhat Gajanan
• Christiano Fabio Fortunato
• Shanbhag Raghunandan S
• Salaka Tejus Kiran

Classifications

• H01R24/20

  Coupling parts carrying sockets, clips or analogous contacts and secured only to wire or cable · CPC title

• H01R13/514

  composed as a modular blocks or assembly, i.e. composed of co-operating parts provided with contact members or holding contact members between them · CPC title

• H01R13/4365 Primary

  comprising a temporary and a final locking position · CPC title

• H01R24/28

  Coupling parts carrying pins, blades or analogous contacts and secured only to wire or cable · CPC title

• H01R13/5816

  for cables passing through an aperture in a housing wall, the separate part being captured between cable and contour of aperture · CPC title