Self-secured electrical connector

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9608351-B2
Application number	US-201514749741-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 25, 2015
Priority date	Jun 25, 2015
Publication date	Mar 28, 2017
Grant date	Mar 28, 2017

Abstract

An electrical connector includes a housing stack and plural conductors. The housing stack includes a front housing and a rear housing. The rear housing is disposed rearward of the front housing. The housing stack defines plural cavities that extend continuously through the front housing and the rear housing. The front housing includes a forward-facing shoulder within at least some of the cavities. The rear housing includes a rear-facing shoulder associated with the cavities that include the forward-facing shoulder. The conductors are disposed in the cavities of the housing stack. At least some of the conductors have a first projecting feature that engages the forward-facing shoulder in the corresponding cavity and a second projecting feature that engages the rear-facing shoulder to secure the front housing to the rear housing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electrical connector comprising:
a housing stack comprising a front housing and a rear housing, the front housing defining a mating end of the housing stack, the rear housing defining a mounting end of the housing stack, the rear housing disposed rearward of the front housing, the housing stack defining plural cavities that extend continuously through the front housing and the rear housing between the mating end and the mounting end, the front housing including a forward-facing shoulder within at least some of the cavities, the rear housing including a rear-facing shoulder associated with the cavities that include the forward-facing shoulder; and
plural conductors disposed in the cavities of the housing stack, at least some of the conductors having a first projecting feature that engages the forward-facing shoulder in the corresponding cavity and a second projecting feature that engages the rear-facing shoulder to secure the front housing to the rear housing.

2. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the conductors extend across an interface defined between the front housing and the rear housing, the first projecting feature of a respective conductor engaging the forward-facing shoulder at a location forward of the interface and the second projecting feature of the respective conductor engaging the rearward-facing shoulder at a location rearward of the interface to resist separation of the front housing relative to the rear housing at the interface.

3. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the forward-facing shoulder of the front housing is a catch surface of a protrusion that extends into the corresponding cavity from a side wall defining the cavity.

4. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the first projecting feature is a deflectable tab that extends from a stem of the respective conductor.

5. The electrical connector of claim 4 , wherein the respective conductor is configured to be loaded into the corresponding cavity in a loading direction from the mounting end towards the mating end, the deflectable tab being configured to resiliently transition from a biased position towards an unbiased position as a distal end of the deflectable tab moves in the loading direction beyond the forward-facing shoulder of the front housing.

6. The electrical connector of claim 4 , wherein the deflectable tab includes a fixed end at a stem of the respective conductor and a free end that is spaced apart from the stem, the fixed end being more proximate to the mating end of the housing stack than a proximity of the free end to the mating end.

7. The electrical connector of claim 4 , wherein the conductors each have two opposing broad sides and two opposing edge sides that extend between the broad sides, the deflectable tab extending from a first broad side of the two broad sides and configured to deflect inward towards the first broad side in response to a biasing force.

8. The electric connector of claim 7 , wherein the second projecting feature of each conductor extends from a second broad side of the two broad sides.

9. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the conductors have planar stems that extend across an interface defined between the front housing and the rear housing, the first projecting feature of the corresponding conductors extending from the respective stem out of a plane defined by the stem, the second projecting feature extending from the respective stem along the plane of the stem.

10. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the housing stack extends along a stack axis between the mating end and the mounting end, the forward-facing shoulder of the front housing and the rear-facing shoulder of the rear housing that are associated with the same cavity being disposed axially between the first and second projecting features of the respective conductor within the cavity such that the first and second projecting features of the respective conductor resist separation of the front housing relative to the rear housing along the stack axis.

11. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the conductors each have two opposing broad sides and two opposing edge sides that extend between the broad sides, the second projecting feature being a cantilevered beam that extends from one of the broad sides of the respective conductor, the cantilevered beam extending at an angle relative to the broad sides such that a free end of the cantilevered beam is more proximate to the mating end of the housing stack than a proximity of a fixed end of the cantilevered beam to the mating end, the free end of the cantilevered beam defining a hard stop surface that engages the rear-facing shoulder associated with the corresponding cavity.

12. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the conductors each have two opposing broad sides and two opposing edge sides that extend between the broad sides, the second projecting feature being a crossbar that extends from both edge sides of the respective conductor, the crossbar defining a hard stop surface that engages the rear-facing shoulder associated with the corresponding cavity.

13. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the rear-facing shoulder is defined by a rear side of the rear housing that defines the mounting end of the housing stack.

14. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the rear-facing shoulder of the rear housing is a ledge within the corresponding cavity, the ledge dividing a narrow region of the cavity and a broad region of the cavity, the broad region of the cavity having a greater cross-sectional area than the narrow region of the cavity, the broad region extending from the ledge towards a rear side of the rear housing that defines the mounting end of the housing stack.

15. An electrical connector comprising:
a housing stack comprising a front housing and a rear housing, the front housing defining a mating end of the housing stack, the rear housing defining a mounting end of the housing stack, the rear housing disposed rearward of the front housing, the housing stack defining plural cavities that extend continuously through the front housing and the rear housing between the mating end and the mounting end, the rear housing including a rear-facing shoulder associated with at least some of the cavities, the front housing including a forward-facing shoulder within the cavities associated with the rear-facing shoulder, the forward-facing shoulder being a catch surface of a protrusion that extends into the corresponding cavity from a side wall of the front housing that defines the cavity; and
plural conductors disposed in the cavities of the housing stack, at least some of the conductors having a first projecting feature that engages the forward-facing shoulder in the corresponding cavity and a second projecting feature that engages the rear-facing shoulder to secure the front housing to the rear housing,
wherein the first projecting feature is a deflectable tab that deflects in response to a biasing force exerted on the deflectable tab by the protrusion as the respective conductor is loaded into the corresponding cavity.

16. The electrical connector of claim 15 , wherein the respective conductor is configured to be loaded into the corresponding cavity in a loading direction from the mounting end towards the mating end, the deflectable tab being configured to resiliently transition from a biased position towards an unbiased position as a distal end of the deflectable tab moves in the loading direction beyond the forward-facing shoulder of the protrusion within the cavity.

17. The electri

Assignees

• Tyco Electronics Corp
• Te Connectivity Corp

Inventors

• Horning Michael James
• Davis Wayne Samuel

Classifications

• H01R12/73 Primary

  connecting to other rigid printed circuits or like structures · CPC title

• H01R13/432

  by stamped-out resilient tongue snapping behind shoulder in base or case · CPC title

• H01R13/40

  Securing contact members in or to a base or case; Insulating of contact members · CPC title

• H01R13/516

  Means for holding or embracing insulating body, e.g. casing {, hoods} · CPC title

• H01R13/502 Primary

  composed of different pieces (H01R13/514 takes precedence) · CPC title