Patent ID: 6416346
Filing Date: 2002-07-09
Classification: H01R

Abstract:
An electrical connector comprisinga male housing and a female housing, the male housing having a tubular portion with a seal thereabout, male terminals protruding from the tubular portion, and a surrounding male hood about the male terminals to receive the female housing, and the female housing having female terminals to receive the male terminals and a female hood to receive the tubular portion of the male housing and be closely received within said male hood in a fitting direction, wherein the seal engages in a sealing relationship between the female hood and the tubular portion when the housings are fully fitted together, wherein the female housing has external ribs extending in said fitting direction to a free end of the female hood, and the male hood has corresponding grooves on the interior thereof, said ribs and grooves interengaging on mutual fitting of the male and female housings, and the ribs engaging the male hood when the female housing is misaligned to prevent substantial insertion of the female hood into the male hood and thereby prevent the female hood from contacting the male terminals, and wherein the female housing has four sides and rounded corners in a plane perpendicular to the fitting direction, said ribs being distributed around the female housing adjacent the rounded corners and on at least one pair of opposite sides, and at least one rib being positioned to prevent inverting the female housing relative to the male housing during fitting of the housings together.