EP1117157B1

EP1117157B1 - Holding means for electrical connector

Info

Publication number: EP1117157B1
Application number: EP01500010A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Josep Matamoros Bonillo; José Antonio De La Fuente Romero; Josep Maria Roset Rubio
Original assignee: Lear Automotive EEDS Spain SL
Current assignee: Lear Automotive EEDS Spain SL
Priority date: 2000-01-12
Filing date: 2001-01-12
Publication date: 2008-01-02
Anticipated expiration: 2021-01-12
Also published as: EP1117157A1; DE60132121D1; ES1045059U; DE60132121T2; ES1045059Y

Description

The present application for a Patent of Invention refers, as its title indicates, to "HOLDING MEANS FOR AN IMPROVED ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY", whose new features of construction, shape and cesign fulfil the aim for which it has been specifically planned with maximum safety and effectiveness.
More specifically, the invention refers to improvements introduced into Utility Model No. U9902921/9 of the same applicant, whose object is an improved electrical connector unit.
In said utility model, an improved electrical connector was claimed, of the type in which the coupling of the connector can be carried out by pressure or by using a sliding body provided with inclined side guides, which slides inside the connector box in such a way that when the operator introduces said sliding body into the connector box, the inclination of the guides causes said connector box to anchor in the service box.
This arrangement ensured the correct positioning of the connectors with respect to the box due to said side guides, which positioned the connectors correctly, creating an avalanche effect and guiding them into the anchoring of the same.
In said utility model and as the main purpose, an upper cover was claimed which was arranged so as to slide and provided with parallel arms adapted to couple with projections in the housing in order to fix the cover with respect to said housing and co-operate with the sliding blocking element to hold the connectors in said position.
Said sliding element, insofar as it is a feature of the present invention, has a U shape in which its two arms are provided, as indicated above, with the corresponding inclined side guides. A similar connector unit with a sliding blocking element is disclosed also in document EP 0 831 559 A .
Because of the special application of said type of connectors to the automobile field, in the installation process of said connectors there are two totally different stages. The first stage is carried out in the factory itself where the connectors are manufactured where, after a series of operations completely divorced from the object of the present application, the connector is manufactured, which in this case is provided with four basic parts: the plug part of the connector, the socket part, the sliding body which serves as a coupling so that the plug part and the socket part are perfectly fixed and cannot separate, and the upper cover.
When said connector is manufactured, and so it can be provided to the factories which deal with cabling or in the car factories themselves, the sliding guide is usually placed in a pre-assembly position so that when it is transported from the first factory where the connector is manufactured to where the cabling attached to the same is carried out, small breakages in said guide or sliding body, which may be caused by unwanted effects such as knocks and falls in the packaging operation, are thus prevented. Thus, instead of the parts being sent to the car cabling factories totally separated, the sliding body is introduced into the connector body or connector box itself. However, in some cases, the lack of holding elements in said sliding body causes, either at the time of transport or at the time of manufacture and assembly of said connector, the said sliding body to separate unexpectedly from the body or box of the connector.
To prevent said drawbacks it was believed to be appropriate to provide said improved electrical connector with holding means which prevent the sliding body, once introduced into the connector box, from releasing itself with a slight force, whether due to bad handling by operators or to the vibrations and shaking caused during transport or in the insertion of terminals. To this end, the sliding body represented in said Utility Model No. U9902921 has been modified, so that it incorporates holding means which, as indicated in claim 1, are made up of a spur which emerges from the inner side of the arms of sliding body, provided with the corresponding step and at the same time with a doubly inclined plane which flows, combined with a flange situated in the connector body, to slide easily so that said step goes beyond the flange thanks to the doubly inclined plane which has been provided and is held by said flanges. This does not mean that the sliding body cannot continue to have a pre-assembly position which, by means of the proposed improvements, immobilises the sliding body from a determinate position when it is to be separated from the connector body and another position in which the slicing body is already completely introduced into the connector box, immobilising the plug part together with the socket part.
Other details and features will be made clear in the course of the following description, in which reference is made to the drawings which accompany this specification, in which, in a rather diagrammatic way, the preferred details are represented. These details are given by way of example, with reference to a possible practical embodiment but it is not limited to the details described; therefore this description must be considered as illustrative and without limitations of any kind.
A detailed list of the different elements mentioned in the present application is given below: (1) housing of the connector unit, (2) connectors, (3) blocking element, (4, 5) arms of the blocking element, (6) inclined guides, (7, 8) guide cavities, (9, 10) inner projections of the housing, (11) upper cover of the housing, (12, 13) arms of the cover, (14) raised area of the housing, (15) projections of the raised area, (16) cavity for housing a clamp, (17 - 18) inner sides, (19) spurs, (20) step, (21) inclined planes, (22) flanges.
Figures 1 to 4 are a repetition of those used in utility model No. U9902921 of the same applicant, as the present invention refers to improvements in a connector of the type represented in said figures.
Figures 5 and 6 represent enlarged views of the connector body (1) and of the holding means which are the object of the present invention.
In one of the preferred embodiments of what is the object of the present invention and as maybe seen in Figures 1 to 4, the electrical connector assembly which is the object of utility model No. U9902921 is made up of a blocking element (3) for the connectors (2), which comprises a body provided with sliding parallel arms (4-5) which are capable of moving with respect to the housing (1) of the connector itself. Each arm (4-5) includes a series of inclined guides at a distance below which are introduced into guide cavities (7-8) made in the housing (1), sliding along inner projections made in the sides of said housing (1).
In respect of the object of the present invention, in the inner sides of said arms (4-5) (see figures 5 and 6), in their sides (17-18) said means are provided formed by spurs (19) which emerge from said inner sides (17-18), forming a step (20) with the peculiarity that the plane (21) of the spur is doubly inclined, which facilitates the movement of the sliding and blocking element (3) which this time blocks, when it is in a completely withdrawn position inside the connector body (1), the plug and socket parts of the latter, while in an extended position it is held thanks to the flanges (9) provided in the body of said connector which work in combination with the spurs (19), the step (20) and the doubly inclined plane (21), so that once the sliding and blocking element (3) has been introduced inside and once said spur (19) has gone beyond the flange (22), which prevents said sliding and blocking element (3) from coming out of the connector box or body (1) so that the unwanted effects mentioned above are prevented, that is, the unexpected and unwanted exit of said sliding body (3) from inside the connector body (1), when the connector is being assembled and also during transport and subsequent insertion of the cables in the same is not possible.

Claims

"HOLDING MEANS FOR AN ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR UNIT", of the type made up of a housing (1) inside which connectors (2) are housed with corresponding electrical terminals and a blocking element (3) of the said connectors (2), in which the blocking element (3) comprises a sliding body mounted in the housing (1), said housing (1) being provided with an upper cover (11) arranged so as to slide in the same and provided with parallel arms (12, 13) adapted for coupling with projections (9, 10) of the housing (1) in order to fix the cover (11) with respect to the housing (1) and co-operate with the blocking element (3) to hold the connectors in position, characterised in that said blocking element (3) and its provided arms (4, 5) incorporate in their inner sides (17, 18) spurs (19) which emerge inwards from said inner sides (17, 18) and which are made up of a step (20) with doubly inclined planes (21), which work with flanges (22) which emerge from the connector housing (1).
"HOLDING MEANS FOR AN ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR UNIT" in accordance with claim 1, characterised in that when the spur (19) arranged on the inner side (17, 18) of the arms (4, 5) of the sliding blocking element (3) has gone beyond the flanges (22) which emerge from the connector housing (1), two positions are delimited in said connector, one being that of pre-assembly in which it is prevented that said blocking element (3) comes out of said connector housing (1), and the other being that of assembly in which the blocking element (3) and the connector housing (1) are completely immobilised when the blocking element advances towards the inside of said housing (1).