Electrical connector

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9666972-B2
Application number	US-201414540525-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 13, 2014
Priority date	Nov 13, 2014
Publication date	May 30, 2017
Grant date	May 30, 2017

Abstract

An electrical connector includes a front housing having front terminal channels and rear housing having rear terminal channels aligned with the front terminal channels. An ISL device is coupled to the housing with a front plate positioned in front of the front housing and a lock plate positioned between the front housing and the rear housing. The ISL device has a staged mating sequence with the housing, wherein in a first stage, lock plate channels are aligned with the front and rear terminal channels to allow the terminals to at least partially pass therethrough, and wherein in a second stage, the lock plate is moved relative to the housing to a blocking position where the lock plate blocks the terminals from removal from the front terminal channels.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electrical connector comprising:
a housing including a front housing and a rear housing separately provided from and mateable to the front housing to define the housing;
the front housing having front terminal channels configured to receive terminals, the front housing having front keying features for aligning the front housing with the rear housing for mating thereto;
the rear housing having rear terminal channels aligned with the front terminal channels when the rear housing is mated with the front housing, the rear housing having rear keying features that interact with the front keying features to align the front housing with the rear housing during mating; and
an independent secondary lock (ISL) device coupled to the housing, the ISL device having a front plate positioned in front of the front housing with front plate channels therethrough configured to be aligned with the front terminal channels, the ISL device having a lock plate positioned between the front housing and the rear housing with lock plate channels therethrough, the front plate being formed integral with the lock plate and being movable with the lock plate, the ISL device having a staged mating sequence with the housing, wherein in a first stage, the lock plate channels are aligned with the front and rear terminal channels to allow the terminals to at least partially pass therethrough from the rear terminal channels into the front terminal channels during loading of the terminals into the housing, and wherein in a second stage, the lock plate is moved relative to the housing to a blocking position where the lock plate blocks the terminals from removal from the front terminal channels, the front plate being moved relative to the housing with the lock plate from the first stage to the second stage, the front plate channels being aligned with the front terminal channels in the second stage.

2. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the front housing is manufactured from a first dielectric material and the rear housing is manufactured from a second dielectric material different from the first dielectric material.

3. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the front housing includes terminal latches in the front terminal channels, the terminal latches securing the terminals in the front terminal channels.

4. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the front terminal channels have shoulders proximate to a front of the front housing, the shoulders blocking forward movement of the terminals in the front terminal channels.

5. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the ISL device includes lead-in surfaces to the front plate channels, the lead-in surfaces configured to guide mating terminals into the front plate channels and the front terminal channels during mating with a mating connector.

6. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the ISL device includes blocking surfaces extending along the lock plate channels, the blocking surfaces are not aligned with the front terminal channels in the first stage, the blocking surfaces are aligned with the front terminals channels in the second stage such that the blocking surfaces block the terminals from removal from the front terminal channels.

7. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the front housing includes a bottom, the ISL device is positioned along the bottom, in the first stage, the ISL device is spaced from the bottom, the ISL device is moved upward to the second stage, in the second stage, the ISL device abuts against the bottom.

8. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the front housing includes a front and a rear, the rear housing includes a front and rear, the lock plate being positioned between the rear of the front housing and the front of the rear housing.

9. The electrical connector of claim 8 , wherein at least one of the front housing and the rear housing includes a pocket receiving the lock plate, the lock plate being moveable in the pocket from the first stage to the second stage.

10. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the rear housing includes first and second latches, the ISL device including a latching mechanism, the latching mechanism being latchably secured to the first latch in the first stage, the latching mechanism being latchably secured to the second latch in the second stage.

11. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the front keying features comprise keying posts extending rearward from the front housing, the rear keying features comprise keying slots configured to receive corresponding keying posts.

12. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the rear keying features are arranged to receive different arrangements of front keying features from different front housings to allow different types of front housings to be coupled to the rear housing.

13. The electrical connector of claim 1 , wherein the front keying features and rear keying features are configured to interact with keying features of a mating connector.

14. An electrical connector comprising:
a housing including a front housing and a rear housing separately provided from and mateable to the front housing to define the housing;
the front housing having front terminal channels configured to receive terminals, the front housing having terminal latches configured to latchably secure the terminals in corresponding front terminal channels, the front housing being manufactured from a first dielectric material;
the rear housing having rear terminal channels aligned with the front terminal channels when the rear housing is mated with the front housing, the rear housing being manufactured from a second dielectric material different than the first dielectric material; and
an independent secondary lock (ISL) device coupled to the housing, the ISL device having a front plate positioned in front of the front housing with front plate channels therethrough configured to be aligned with the front terminal channels, the ISL device having a lock plate positioned between the front housing and the rear housing with lock plate channels therethrough, the front plate being formed integral with the lock plate and being movable with the lock plate, wherein the lock plate is configured to be positioned in a blocking position where the lock plate blocks the terminals from removal from the front terminal channels, the front plate channels being aligned with the front terminal channels when the lock plate is in the blocking position.

15. The electrical connector of claim 14 , wherein the front housing includes terminal latches in the front terminal channels, the terminal latches securing the terminals in the front terminal channels.

16. The electrical connector of claim 14 , wherein the ISL device includes lead-in surfaces to the front plate channels, the lead-in surfaces configured to guide mating terminals into the front plate channels and the front terminal channels during mating with a mating connector.

17. The electrical connector of claim 14 , wherein the ISL device includes blocking surfaces extending along the lock plate channels, the blocking surfaces are aligned with the front terminals channels in the blocking position such that the blocking surfaces block the terminals from removal from the front terminal channels.

18. The electrical connector of claim 14 , wherein the front housing includes a front and a rear, the rear housing includes a front and rear, the lock plate being positioned between the rear of the front housing and the front of the rear housing.

19. The electrical

Assignees

• Tyco Electronics Corp
• Te Connectivity Corp

Inventors

• Martin Galen M
• Crawford James O

Classifications

• H01R13/4362

  comprising a temporary and a final locking position · CPC title

• H01R13/506 Primary

  assembled by snap action of the parts · CPC title

• H01R13/514 Primary

  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

• H01R2201/26

  for vehicles · CPC title

• H01R13/642

  by position or shape of contact members · CPC title