Connector with integral secondary lock

The connector is constituted by two parts adapted to be coupled to ensure an electrical connection, comprising at least one insulating housing adapted to receive electrical contacts carried by cables and maintained in the housing by means of primary locking. It comprises a secondary lock serving as a portion integrating said housing and adapted, when not in locking position, to prevent the coupling of the connector.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The invention relates to a connector with an integral secondary lock, for 
example an electrical connector with clips and tongues, in which the 
secondary lock is secured to the clip carrier or the tongue carrier. 
In the use of electrical connectors particularly in industry and 
automotives, the technique of soft plugging in, which is to say with low 
force of plugging in or very low force, is more and more used. 
The plugging-in force being very low, it is essential that the clips and 
tongues to be coupled be positioned with exactitude and that their correct 
position can be controlled before the connection operation. 
Connectors use primary locks to lock in position the clips in their housing 
of plastic material. These primary locks are for example fingers which 
move aside during introduction of the clip into the housing and which come 
to constitute a rear abutment, when the clip is in correct position, to 
maintain it in this correct position. These primary locks are in general 
disposed within the housing and they are not visible from outside. If in 
the course of the operation of inserting the clip in the housing, the clip 
is not brought to its correct position, the primary lock remains in 
deflected position and does not play its role, but this cannot be detected 
from outside. Upon an ultimate coupling operation of the connector, the 
clip can recoil under the pressure of the tongue and the contact cannot be 
made unless an operator does it deliberately. 
To avoid this drawback, there is provided a secondary lock, which is to say 
a supplemental member, visible from outside or adapted to prevent the 
mechanical coupling of a connector. Such a secondary lock is in general an 
external member, which must be emplaced on the housing, and which takes 
the correct position only if the electrical members of the connector are 
in the correct position. Ordinarily, these secondary locks are of the 
slide or drawer type, and they are emplaced on the housing in the course 
of an assembly operation. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
One of the objects of the invention is to provide a secondary lock which 
does not require a supplemental member and assembly operation to avoid the 
difficulties of this assembly operation and to reduce the cost of 
production of the connectors. 
Another object of the invention is to provide a secondary lock whose 
swinging into locking position is indispensable to permit mechanical 
coupling of the connector. 
Still another object of the invention is to provide a secondary lock which, 
once in correct locking position, automatically locks in this position, 
and cannot be unlocked except with a tool. 
The invention has for its object a connector with an integral secondary 
lock, constituted by two members adapted to be coupled to ensure an 
electrical connection, comprising at least one insulating housing adapted 
to receive the electrical contacts carried by the cables and maintained in 
the housing by a primary locking means, characterized in that it comprises 
a second lock which is an integral part of the housing and is adapted, 
when it is not in a locked position, to prevent coupling of the connector. 
According to other characteristics of the invention: 
the secondary lock comprises at least one deformable wall, at least one 
rigid wing articulated on the deformable wall, at least one longitudinal 
rod articulated on the rigid wing and at least one cog carried by the bar; 
the secondary lock has two stable positions, a ready position and a locked 
position, the passage from the ready position to the locked position 
taking place with a downward movement; 
the secondary lock is constituted by two deformable side walls carried by 
the housing, two rigid wings each articulated on one of said lateral 
deformable walls, a longitudinal bar disposed between the two wings and 
articulated on each between them, and at least one lug carried by the bar 
and adapted, in a locked position, to be inserted behind the electrical 
contacts; 
the lug is connected to the housing by connectors adapted to be broken by 
pressure on the bar during passage into the locked position; 
the lug carries an elastically deformable stop, and has a hook adapted to 
snap below a shoulder of the housing to ensure a safety locking operation 
when the secondary lock is in the locking position; 
the lug carries a guide heel coacting with a groove in the connector to 
ensure guiding of the lug during its passage toward the secondary locking 
position; 
the passage from the position preventing coupling of the connector to the 
locking position takes place by pressure on the bar and flexural 
deformation of the side walls; 
the lug has a profile adapted to coact shape-matingly with a shape of the 
housing to ensure a safety locking function when the secondary lock is in 
the locked position; 
the lug is inserted in the locking position at the level of the region of 
transition of the electrical contacts; 
the secondary lock is carried by any surface of the housing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
In FIG. 1, the clips carrier 1 of a connector according to the invention is 
shown with two clips 2, 3 ready to be inserted from the rear, each of the 
two clips 2, 3 is seated on a cable, respectively 4 and 5. 
The sleeves 6, 7 of the cables carry seated sealing joints 8, 9 
respectively. 
The clips 2, 3 each comprise a cage 10, 11 of generally parallelepipedal 
shape. 
Between this cage 10, 11 and the seating 4, 5 on the respective cable, the 
clips 2, 3 have a transition region 12, 13 respectively. 
The clips carrier 1 is essentially constituted by a housing of plastic 
material, having a front portion 14 adapted to receive the clips 2, 3 and 
a rear portion 15 adapted to coact with the seated joints 8, 9 for 
ensuring sealing of the clips carrier. 
The rear portion 15 carries a half-shell 16 extending forwardly and adapted 
to ensure mechanical connection with a tongue carrier or a base, for 
example. In its central portion, the clips carrier 1 carries an 
interfacial sealing joint 17. 
The front surface of the front portion 14 of the clips carrier 1 has two 
openings 18, 19 of generally cruciform shape, adapted to let pass the 
electrical contact tongues of the tongues carrier constituting the other 
element of the connector, or of the base, for example. When they are 
correctly mounted, the clips 2, 3 are located in abutment against the 
front surface of the clips carrier, just behind the cruciform openings 18, 
19. 
The recesses adapted to receive the clips 2, 3 behind the openings 18, 19, 
are separated by an intermediate partition 20. 
Above the recesses adapted to receive the clips 2, 3, the clips carrier 
carries a secondary lock. 
The secondary lock is symmetrical relative to the longitudinal plane of 
symmetry of the clips carrier, and is constituted by two deformable side 
walls 21, 22, substantially vertical in rest position, two rigid wings in 
the form of a roof with two symmetrical slopes 23, 24, and a bar 25, 
substantially axial, each of the two wings 23, 24 being articulated on the 
one hand on a deformable side wall 21, 22 respectively, and on the other 
hand on the bar 25. 
The bar 25 has two stable positions, one upper ready position, shown in 
FIG. 1, the other a lower locking position, shown in FIG. 2. In the upper 
or ready position, the bar 25 is disposed in front of the edge of the 
clips carrier 1, in line with the interfacial joint 17, such that, by its 
front surface which is in line with the front surface of the front portion 
14 of the clips carrier 1, it constitutes an obstacle preventing coupling 
of the connector. In its lower or locking position, the bar 25 is applied 
against the intermediate partition 20; it is entirely disposed within the 
internal volume of the clips carrier 1 and permits coupling of the 
connector. 
The passage from the upper position to the lower position takes place by 
bending outwardly the lateral deformable walls 21, 22 under the action of 
a pressure exerted on the bar 25 and transmitted by the rigid wings 23, 
24. In the course of the descending movement of the bar 25, the 
inclination of the wings 23, 24 to the horizontal plane has the tendency 
to decrease until it disappears at the time when the lateral walls are 
deformed maximally outwardly, then this inclination reverses and increases 
to the lowermost position of the bar 25. 
The passage from the stable ready position to the stable locking position 
takes place with an over-center effect, or a snap action, by reason of the 
elasticity of the side walls 21, 22. 
In FIG. 3, the bar 25 is visible bearing against the intermediate partition 
20. At its rear portion, in line with the interfacial joint 17, the bar 25 
has a lug 26 adapted to be inserted behind the transition zones 12, 13 of 
the clips 2, 3. 
FIG. 5 shows the retention of this lug 26 which has a rear heel 27 sliding 
in a vertical groove 28 of the rear portion 15 of the clips carrier 1. The 
groove 28 assures guidance of the lug 26 in the course of its vertical 
movement imposed by the bar 25. The bottom of the groove plays the role of 
a rear abutment for the lug 26 and the bar 25 so as to avoid loss of the 
locking function in the case of a force directed rearwardly to which the 
bar 25 may be subjected before the secondary lock is closed. 
The lug 26 has at its front two lateral chamfers 29, 30 adapted to slide 
behind the transition zones 12, 13 of the clips 2, 3, on the one hand to 
permit descent of the lug 26 to show the correct position of the clips in 
the housing, on the other hand to aid in reinforcing the operation of 
maintaining the primary locks on the clips. 
The lug 26 has forwardly a recess 31 which surrounds a locking stop 32. 
This stop 32 is provided at its lower end with a hook 33 adapted to hook 
below a shoulder 34 of the intermediate partition 20 thereby effecting the 
safety locking function of the assembly 23-24-25-26 in the secondary 
locking lower position. 
In the course of descending movement of the bar 25 and of the lug 26, the 
stop 32 moves aside rearwardly because its lower end is chamfered from the 
side of the hook 33. When the lug 26 arrives in the correct lower 
position, the hook 33 clicks below the shoulder 34. 
FIG. 4 shows that if a clip is not in the correct position in the housing, 
which is to say if it is not in an advance position against the front wall 
of the clips carrier, the transmission zone, 12 for example, and as the 
case may be the cage 10 of the clip prevent the descent of the lug 26 and 
the carrying out of the secondary locking function. In this case, on the 
one hand the bar 25 cannot descend to the end of its course and it 
prevents coupling of the connector, on the other hand the hook 33 of the 
stop 32 cannot snap below the shoulder 34 and the safety locking function 
cannot be ensured. 
FIG. 6 shows a simplified view in which the lug 26 secured to the bar 25 
is, during molding by injection of the clips carrier housing, secured to 
the lateral partitions 35, 36, by means of very thin connectors 37, 38. 
These connectors serve first to facilitate the injection of the lug, then 
to ensure the centering of the lug before manipulation of the secondary 
lock, and finally to take part in the insertion effort of the lug so as to 
avoid accidental insertion before mounting of the clips carrier. 
The secondary lock according to the invention include a deformable portion 
of the casing of plastic material constituting the front portion of the 
clips carrier 1. It comprises essentially: the two deformable side walls 
21, 22 which is secured to the housing by their base and whose upper 
longitudinal edge constitutes a hinge for the rigid wings 23, 24; the two 
rigid wings 23, 24, articulated on the one hand on the deformable side 
walls 21, 22 and on the other hand on the bar 25, the longitudinal bar 25; 
the lug 26 with its connectors 37, 38 and its guide heel 27; and the 
elastically deformable stop 32 carrying the hook 33 to snap below the 
shoulder 34 of the intermediate partition 20. 
The secondary lock can be mounted with the bar 25 in the upper position, 
which prevents coupling of the connector. After correct insertion of the 
clips into the clips carrier, a pressure on the bar 25 first to breaks the 
connectors 37, 38 and frees the lug 26. This is followed by the descent of 
the bar 25 and of the lug 26 with elastic flexure of the side walls 21, 
22, and elastic flexure of the stop 32 rearwardly by bearing on its hook 
33 on the intermediate partition 20; then, after passage to the neutral 
point, the continued descent of the assembly of the bar 25 and the lug 26, 
to the correct low position which corresponds to insertion of the lug 26 
at the level of the transition zone 12, 13 of the electrical contacts 2, 3 
and to the snapping in of the hook 33 below the shoulder 34 of the 
intermediate partition 20. 
The secondary lock according to the invention has been described in a 
symmetrical structure, but it can be constituted solely of one deformable 
lateral wall, one rigid wing and one bar carrying the lug, the bar or the 
lug being simply guided on one side by a rigid wall of the housing. 
The secondary lock according to the invention is applicable as well to the 
case of two clips (FIGS. 1-6) as to the case of several clips. In the case 
of three clips (FIG. 7), the bar 25 carries two lugs 39, 40 each of which 
comes to be inserted between two clips, and it suffices that one lug bear 
a hooking stop. 
The bar 25 can also be replaced by a plate or by an assembly of two bars, 
each forming a lug, and interconnected by a plaque. 
The secondary lock has been described with a lug 26 carrying a stop 32 
coacting with a shoulder 34 of the intermediate partition 20 to ensure 
safety locking. This safety locking can be ensured by other means, and 
particularly by wedging, or by cooperation by agreement as to shape of the 
two profiles, one carried by the lug 26, the other by the housing, for 
example. 
The unlocking of the secondary lock can be carried out by means of a tool 
such as a screwdriver, which ensures the unlocking of the stop 32 and the 
rising of the lug 26 and of the bar 25, which returns the assembly to the 
original position. 
The invention has been described with reference to the example of a clips 
carrier adapted to be coupled to a tongues carrier. It is also applicable 
to the case of a clips carrier adapted to be coupled to a base, for 
example. 
The invention has been described in the case of contacts with clips, but it 
is also applicable to contacts with tongues, to male or female contacts of 
any shape and any cross section. 
The secondary lock according to the invention has been described in an 
arrangement on a lateral surface of a housing of the connector, but it 
could also be disposed on any one of the surfaces of the housing, as a 
function of the arrangement, geometry of the contacts themselves, in a 
line or in a triangle for example, and their relative orientation. 
The connector according to the invention is particularly applicable to 
automobile connections with power contacts.