Connector housing for an electric plug connector

A connector housing for an electrical connector has a housing body having one or more contact receiving passageways and one or more contact-securing members. Each contact-securing member is pivotably mounted on the housing body about a pivot axis, spaced apart from the pivot axis and extending parallel to the pivot axis, and pivotable about the pivot axis into the contact receiving passageway. The contact-securing member has a latching lug, a securing arm extending towards the contact receiving passageway, and a recess positioned on a side of the securing are opposite the latching lug.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a)-(d) or (f) to German Patent Application No. 102014213659.8, filed Jul. 14, 2014.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention is generally related to an electrical connector, and, more specifically to an electrical connector having a pivotable contact-securing member.

BACKGROUND

Conventional electrical connectors often have connector housings that secure the position of electric contacts, such as pin contacts. The electrical contacts generally have regions which form a positive fit with a contact-securing member formed in the housing and extending in at least one direction. In this manner, an undesirable removal of an installed electrical contact from the housing can be prevented. However, these conventional electrical connectors are known to suffer from the fact that the contact-securing notch design often break if manufactured imprecisely and/or if excessive forces act on them.

Publication DE 10 2012 102 966 A1, filed by the Applicants, describes a plug element in which the contact-securing member has at least one elongation portion. As a result, it is elastic and manufacturing tolerances can be compensated. Various described embodiments show contact-securing members having large openings which extend along a pivoting direction through a contact-securing member of the connector housing. While this configuration of a contact-securing member has good elasticity, it suffers from several disadvantages. For example, since an outer surface of the contact-securing member has a number of openings extending over a large area, and the majority are used for the elongation portion, the use of an outside of the contact-securing element for additional elements is no longer possible. For example, handles, latching elements or inscriptions cannot be positioned in the region of the elongation portion. In addition, manufacturing such a contact-securing member and housing is very complex, because the structures of the elongation portions and the structure of the latching lug can only be produced with injection-moulding method by a combination of lateral slides which are movable in different directions. This means that even small changes in the configuration of the elongation portion or the latching lug, require large portions of the tools used, including the lateral slides, to be redesigned or reconfigured. This is generally expensive and complex, and greatly limits the variety of connectors that can realistically be produced.

SUMMARY

A connector housing for an electrical connector has a housing body having one or more contact receiving passageways and one or more contact-securing members. Each contact-securing member is pivotably mounted on the housing body about a pivot axis, spaced apart from the pivot axis and extending parallel to the pivot axis, and pivotable about the pivot axis into the contact receiving passageway. The contact-securing member has a latching lug, a securing arm extending towards the contact receiving passageway, and a recess positioned on a side of the securing are opposite the latching lug.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT(S)

In an embodiment shown inFIG. 1, a connector housing1has a pivot axis S. The connector housing1includes a housing body3. The housing body3has a row of contact receiving passageways5for receiving electrical contacts (not illustrated). The contact receiving passageways5extend through housing body3. The connector housing1includes a contact-securing member7. The contact-securing member7is mounted pivotably on housing body3about pivot axis S, being formed integrally with housing body3and being connected thereto via an integral hinge9. In an embodiment, the integral hinge9forms pivot axis S.

The contact-securing member7extends along longitudinal direction L away from pivot axis S, and has a contact-securing member11spaced apart from pivot axis S in a longitudinal direction L. The contact-securing member11extends along pivot axis S so that it can be used to secure a plurality of electrical contacts. As a result of the pivotable mounting of contact-securing member7on housing body3, contact-securing member11is pivotable into contact receiving passageway5about pivot axis S.

The contact-securing member11has a securing arm13extending towards contact receiving passageway5and a latching lug15positioned on a free end thereof and pointing in the longitudinal direction. A hook-shaped cross-sectional is produced by securing arm13and latching lug15. The latching lug15is positioned to point in the direction of pivot axis S. the securing arm13has recess19on a side17opposite the latching lug15. The recess19provides the securing arm13with the required elasticity. In an embodiment, the recess19has an arcuate end21extending towards the housing body3, and an angled end23which represents a transition to the contact-securing member7. Those of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate, however, that other configurations are also conceivable. For example, both ends21,23of recess19can be configured to be arcuate or also angled. In a manufacturing process of the connector housing1, the recess19is formed by a fixed tool part (not shown) in an injection-moulding process.

The contact-securing member11has a substantially hammer-like shape as a result of a combination of the latching lug15and recess19. A total length25of contact-securing member11in longitudinal direction L can be defined by the dimension and configuration in connector housing1of the electric contact elements used therein. An elastic contact-securing member11can therefore be obtained by the recess19without the total length25of contact-securing member11being changed in comparison to a configuration without the recess19.

The contact receiving passageways5in housing body3each have a securing arm receiving groove27having a complimentary shape to the contact-securing member11. The securing arm receiving groove27extends approximately parallel to the pivot axis S, and the contact-securing member11is pivoted into securing arm receiving groove27and thus into contact receiving passageways5.

The contact-securing member7has rib31positioned between contact-securing member11and pivot axis S. The rib31lies in longitudinal direction L between contact-securing member11and pivot axis S and runs parallel to pivot axis S. The rib31is pivotable into a corresponding rib receiving space33disposed on housing body3. The contact-securing member11is pivotable into stated securing arm receiving groove27. A receiving space35is formed between the rib31and contact-securing member11.

The contact receiving passageways27,33are configured such that a latching head37is formed on housing body3. The latching head37can be latched with the contact-securing member11. As a result, the contact-securing member7can be fastened to housing body3. The latching head37includes a counter-latching lug39which is positioned opposite to the contact-securing member11in longitudinal direction L of latching lug15. If the latching head37is latched with latching lug15, the latching lugs15and39engage in one another, creating a positive locking that prevents a pivoting of contact-securing member7away from housing body3. The latching head37is then received in the receiving space35of contact-securing member7. In the latched state, the rib31is positioned in the rib receiving space33. As a result, a movement of the contact-securing member7away from pivot axis S can be prevented if, for example, the integral hinge9is damaged. In this manner, secure retention of contact-securing member7on housing body3can be ensured.

The embodiment shown inFIG. 1has a second contact-securing member8which is positioned opposite contact-securing member7for a second row of contact receiving passageways5. While the second contact-securing member8is not described in detailed, those of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that the second contact-securing member8having can include any or all of the elements described in regards to the contact-securing member7and be positioned on the opposite side of connector housing1to that of the contact-securing member7.

In an embodiment shown inFIG. 2, the housing body3includes a plurality of contact receiving passageways5which are arranged next to one another parallel to pivot axis S. The securing arm receiving groove27for contact-securing member11also extends parallel to pivot axis S, with the result that it at least partially opens all contact receiving passageways5arranged next to one another.

The contact-securing member7is configured substantially as a cover40, such that it at least partially protect housing body3if it is pivoted towards housing body3. As already described, the cover-type configuration of contact-securing member7is only possible in that the desired elasticity of contact-securing member11at securing arm13is generated, with the result that remaining contact-securing member7can have high stability.

In an embodiment, the contact-securing member7has two reinforcing ribs45positioned at a contact receiving end41pointing away from pivot axis S and on a mating side side43facing away from housing body3. The reinforcing ribs45extend away from housing body3and along longitudinal direction L, and can serve to code a preferred orientation of connector housing1when connecting to a mating plug element.

In a region of the reinforcing ribs45, two further latching hooks47extend towards the housing body3to latch with counter-latching elements49positioned on housing body3, thus fastening the contact-securing member7to housing body3when it is pivoted towards the housing body3. This is helpful particularly if, as in the described embodiment, the contact-securing member7extends in the longitudinal direction beyond contact-securing member11.

An elastically deflectable latching element51is also positioned on the contact-securing member7. The latching element51is connected to the contact-securing member7at the mating end41pointing away from pivot axis S, and extends away in the direction of the pivot axis S and obliquely away from the contact-securing member7. The latching element51can be deflected elastically towards the remaining contact-securing member7, and can be used for latching with a mating plug element (not shown). For example, a mating plug element can have cut-outs in which projections53of latching element51can engage in order to connect connector housing1to a mating plug element. At the free end55, the latching element51can be deflected, for example, by a person in the direction of contact-securing member7. For protection of latching element51, the contact-securing member7has, on side43facing away from the housing body, a safety bar57which partially surrounds the latching element51at a free end55. As a result, the latching element51is secured against an undesirable deflection away from housing body3.

In the above described embodiments, the recess19on securing arm13of contact-securing member11is parallel to pivot axis S with a continuous base58. An embodiment shown inFIG. 3differs from the embodiments shown inFIGS. 1 and 2only in the configuration of contact-securing member11. For this reason, only the differences from the embodiments ofFIGS. 1 and 2are described in detail.

As shown inFIG. 3, the contact-securing member11has a recess19. Additional depressions59are arranged on base58of recess19. The depressions59extend in the longitudinal direction into contact-securing member11, being substantially longitudinal and running transverse to the pivot axis S. The depressions59extend beyond the region of recess19into the region of latching lug15, permitting the elasticity or the rigidity of contact-securing member11to be adjusted.

Additionally, the depressions59can be shaped by a fixed tool part (not shown) like recess19during manufacture of a connector housing according to the invention. The depressions59run equidistantly parallel to the pivot axis S such that they are evenly distributed across the profile of contact-securing member11. In an embodiment, the depressions59have different suitable shapes, such as blind holes.

In an embodiment shown inFIG. 4, the contact-securing member11has a continuous recess19extending parallel to the pivot axis S. The contact-securing member11has apertures61a,61bdisposed at a base58of the recess19. The apertures61a,61bcan penetrate fully, in particular, through the securing arm13. As shown inFIG. 4, two apertures61aand61bof different shapes are disclosed, although these shapes can be interchangeable between the two apertures61a,61b, or have other shapes. The aperture61aruns longitudinally in a direction transverse to pivot axis S and the aperture61bruns longitudinally parallel to pivot axis S. A contact-securing member11can therefore have, for example, one or more apertures according to aperture61aand/or apertures according to aperture61b, depending on which requirements are placed on contact-securing member11.