Plug connector

A plug connector has a housing of insulating material with at least one row of contact chambers into which contact elements can be inserted. The inserted contact elements can be secured with a securing slide which can be inserted orthogonally to a plugging direction of the plug connector into a gap of the housing. The securing slide has a primary detent edge orthogonally to the plugging direction of the plug connector, extending along two long sides of the securing slide and a segmented detent edge extending below the primary edge for secondary securing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Field of the Invention 
The invention relates to a plug connector having a housing of insulating 
material with at least two parallel rows of contact chambers into which 
contact elements can be inserted, and a securing slide to be inserted 
orthogonally to a plugging direction of the plug connector into a gap in 
the housing, for securing the inserted contact elements. 
Plug connectors are known, for instance, from German Published, 
Non-Prosecuted Patent Application DE 35 37 722 A1. In the plug connector 
housings described therein, in order to provide positional securing of the 
contact elements inserted into the various contact chambers, or in other 
words the male plug contacts in the case of male plug connectors and the 
female or bush contacts in the case of female or bush plug connectors, an 
intermediate land is provided in each case in an associated surrounding 
housing, and a securing edge is formed thereon that protrudes into every 
contact chamber upon insertion of the contact housing into the surrounding 
housing and thereby engages one edge of each of the contact elements from 
behind. 
Increasingly, two independently acting securing principles are demanded, 
which necessitate special construction of both the male plug contacts and 
the female contacts. 
Along with a so-called primary locking of the detent type, secondary 
securing of the plug contacts inside the male plug connector and of the 
female contacts inside the female plug connector is also demanded. Once 
the male or female contacts have been inserted into their respective 
housings (plug strips, relay sockets, etc.), which are typically formed of 
insulating material, detent elements engage corresponding openings of the 
housings and lock there in detent fashion. 
Secondary securing is attained by providing that once the male or female 
plug housing has been equipped and the aforementioned primary locking of 
the male or female plug contacts has been accomplished, plastic elements 
are placed in a position in which they engage the contour of the contacts 
from behind. The plastic elements for the secondary securing are 
constructed in the form of slide devices, such as slide strips, which are 
inserted into the male or female plug connector orthogonally to the 
plugging direction and which, with one or more protruding lands, engage 
edges of the contacts inserted into the contact chambers of the housing 
from behind. Those securing slides, for safety reasons, can be inserted 
into the male plug connector housing or female plug connector only 
whenever the various contacts in their contact chambers are in the desired 
position. If one of the contacts has not been inserted completely, the 
securing slide cannot engage the contact from behind with its protruding 
contour, because it abuts against the contact, and insertion of the 
securing slide is thus impossible. A securing slide that cannot be 
inserted will be noticed during assembly, so that it is necessary to 
monitor the connection of the male or female plug connector to the various 
lines. 
In most plug connectors, the securing slide until now has always been made 
in such a way that it only performs a single securing, namely the 
secondary securing of the contacts inserted into the contact chambers. 
Conversely, the primary securing of the contact elements is effected in 
especially constructed protrusions or recesses on the outer walls of the 
contact chambers, which are provided entirely in the plug connector. 
German Published, Non-Prosecuted Patent Application DE 44 07 950 A1 has 
already described a plug connector with the capability of primary and 
secondary securing, in which a primary detent edge, cooperating for the 
primary securing with a first detent tongue of the contact element, is 
disposed on a fixed contact chamber wall. The opposite second contact 
chamber wall is constructed as a securing slide that is movable crosswise 
to the plugging direction and has a segmented and therefore interrupted 
detent edge so that a second detent tongue on the contact element can pass 
through it. 
A problematic aspect of that construction is the compulsory presence of two 
detent tongues on the contact element which has to be inserted into the 
contact chamber of the plug connector housing. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a plug connector, 
which overcomes the hereinafore-mentioned disadvantages of the 
heretofore-known devices of this general type, in which primary and 
secondary securing principles are realizable in a simple way and in which 
a contact element need only have a single detent tongue. 
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in 
accordance with the invention, a plug connector, comprising a housing of 
insulating material having at least two parallel rows of contact chambers 
and having a gap formed therein; contact elements to be inserted into the 
contact chambers, the contact elements having detent hooks and contours; 
and a securing slide to be thrust into the gap for securing the inserted 
contact elements, the securing slide having two long sides, a multiplicity 
of detent protrusions disposed on at least one of the long sides 
orthogonally to a plugging direction of the plug connector for secondary 
detent securing, the detent protrusions engaging the contours from behind 
for secondary securing of the contours, the detent protrusions disposed 
side by side and mutually spaced apart for receiving one of the contact 
elements thrust between two of the secondary detent protrusions, and 
a primary detent edge on which the detent hooks rest and lock with the 
contact elements inserted into the contact chambers, the primary detent 
edge extending along the two long sides orthogonally to the plugging 
direction, the primary detent edge extending above and parallel to the 
detent protrusions. This has the advantage of ensuring that the contact 
elements can be easily inserted into the housing. 
The secondary detent protrusions may engage contours or edges of the 
contact elements from behind for the purpose of providing secondary 
security for them. Upon displacement of the securing slide in the gap of 
the housing it is thus possible to assure both a primary securing and a 
secondary securing of the contact elements inserted into the contact 
chambers. 
In accordance with another feature of the invention, the securing slide has 
wall portions at the contact chambers, and the securing slide has a 
multiplicity of auxiliary openings formed therein, oriented in the 
plugging direction and disposed between the wall portions. 
In accordance with a further feature of the invention, the gap in the 
housing into which the securing slide is inserted has a bottom facing 
toward the plugging direction and the housing has a spring element in 
which the securing slide can be locked in detent fashion. This assures 
that the securing slide cannot easily slip out of the housing if the plug 
connector becomes skewed. 
In accordance with an added feature of the invention, a groove is machined 
into the bottom of the gap in the housing, and a protrusion disposed on 
the lower surface or underside of the securing slide can be locked in the 
groove in detent fashion. 
In accordance with an additional feature of the invention, in order to 
offer a defined predetent position and a defined final detent position for 
the securing slide, the spring element in the housing has a first 
indentation and a second indentation, the second indentation being closer 
to the interior of the housing. 
In accordance with yet another feature of the invention, the contact 
elements are contact bushes (female contacts) or contact pins (male 
contact pins). 
In accordance with a concomitant feature of the invention, the housing has 
an outer contour, a bottom of the gap, openings for the contact chambers, 
and two spaced-apart connecting lands disposed in each of the contact 
chambers, the connecting lands extending from the outer contour as far as 
the bottom of the gap. 
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are 
set forth in the appended claims. 
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a 
plug connector, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the 
details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be 
made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within 
the scope and range of equivalents of the claims. 
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, 
together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best 
understood from the following description of specific embodiments when 
read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring now to the figures of the drawings in detail and first, 
particularly, to FIG. 1 thereof, there is seen a fragmentary, perspective 
view of one possible exemplary embodiment of a plug connector according to 
the invention. Reference numeral 1 indicates a housing of the plug 
connector and reference numeral 20 indicates a securing slide that can be 
inserted into a gap 2 of the housing 1 orthogonally to a plugging 
direction S. FIG. 1 also shows a contact element 40 that has already been 
inserted into a contact chamber 30 and is constructed in this case as a 
female contact or contact bush. As can be seen, the contact chamber 30 is 
first formed by the insertion of the securing slide 20 into the gap 2. To 
that end, the housing 1 has slits 11 on its inner wall surface pointing 
toward the gap 2, and these slits, which are spaced apart from one 
another, each extend parallel in the plugging direction S. As is seen from 
above, the slits have a U-shaped cross section. Respective lands 12 
between the various slits 11 divide the slits 11 from one another. 
These open slits 11 which are oriented toward the securing slide 20 are 
closed by wall portions 21 on the long sides of the securing slide 20 as 
the securing slide 20 is inserted. The slits 11, together with the wall 
portions 21 of the securing slide 20 that close these slits 11, therefore 
form the contact chambers 30 for the contact elements 40. Every contact 
chamber 30 is closed off on its upper edge by an encompassing border 13 of 
the housing 1, which has a smaller diameter than the contact element 40. 
This is done to avoid allowing the contact elements 40 to protrude from 
the openings of the contact chambers 30 at the top because the contact 
elements 40 have been thrust too far into the contact chambers 30. 
As is also visible in FIG. 1, the securing slide 20 has an approximately 
anchor-shaped cross section. Primary detent edges 23 are formed onto the 
long sides of the securing slide 20 to the left and right, and detent 
hooks 41 of the contact elements 40 can lock into place in detent fashion 
on these edges. The primary detent edges 23 preferably extend over the 
entire width of the securing slide 20. In addition, below each of these 
two primary detent edges 23 are respective so-called secondary detent 
protrusions 24, which can engage a contour 42 of the contact element 40 
from behind in order to furnish secondary securing, so that the contact 
element 40 can no longer be pulled out of the contact chamber 30. The 
individual secondary detent protrusions 24 are spaced apart from one 
another so far that one contact element 40 can easily be inserted between 
two adjacent secondary detent protrusions 24. An interstice between two 
secondary detent protrusions 24 is identified by reference numeral 27. 
As FIG. 1 also shows, the securing slide 20 has many longitudinal openings, 
referred to below as auxiliary openings 22, that extend parallel to the 
contact chambers 30. These auxiliary openings 22 are aligned with the 
interstices 27 between the secondary detent protrusions 24 and serve to 
release the detent hooks or tongues 41 from the primary detent edge 23, by 
passing a fitting pin through an auxiliary opening 22 and pressing a 
detent tongue 41 away from a primary detent edge 23. 
When the plug connector is assembled, the securing slide 20 is first 
inserted in the housing 1 into a preliminary position in such a way that 
the contact element 40 can be inserted into the contact chamber 30 formed 
by the securing slide 20 and the slit 11. If the contact element 40 is 
inserted correctly, the detent tongue 41 engages the primary detent edge 
23 from behind, so that a primary securing is accomplished. Next, for 
secondary securing, the securing slide 20 is displaced along the direction 
of an arrow P, and as a result one of the secondary detent protrusions 24 
can engage the contour 42 of the contact element 40 from behind. 
Various views of the securing slide 20 of FIG. 1 are shown in FIGS. 2a-2f. 
FIG. 2a shows a side view, FIG. 2b a view from below, FIG. 2c a view from 
above, and FIGS. 2d and 2e sectional views through the securing slide 20 
of FIG. 2a which are taken along respective section lines D--D and E--E. 
FIG. 2f shows an end view of the securing slide as seen from the left-hand 
side of FIG. 2a. 
The reference numerals which were already used in FIG. 1 are used again for 
the same parts in FIGS. 2a-2f. The wall portions 21 on the two opposed 
long outer sides of the securing slide 20 which are clearly apparent, 
represent a wall of the side by side contact chambers 30, in the assembled 
state of the housing and with the securing slide inserted. 
FIGS. 3a-3f show the housing 1 of the plug connector, which was already 
shown in part in FIG. 1. The housing is shown in a cross-sectional view in 
FIG. 3a, in a plan view in FIG. 3b, in a view from below in FIG. 3c, and 
in sectional views in FIGS. 3d, 3e and 3f respectively taken along the 
section lines d--d, e--e and f--f of FIG. 3a. 
As can be seen from FIGS. 2a-2f and 3a-3f, the securing slide 20 and the 
bottom of the gap 2 of the housing 1 have a sliding block guide adapted to 
one another, in order to keep the securing slide 20 locked in detent 
fashion inside the housing 1. Openings for the contact chambers 30 of the 
plug connector are identified by reference numeral 3. As FIGS. 3a-3f show, 
a sliding block groove 10 with first and second side by side indentations 
14, 15 is made by machining the bottom 4 of the gap 2 for the sliding 
block guide. This sliding block groove 10 with the indentations 14, 15 
cooperates with a hooplike sliding block protrusion 25 on the lower 
surface of the securing slide 20. The sliding block protrusion 25 has a 
protruding sliding block nose 26 in its middle, which can engage the 
aforementioned two indentations 14, 15 of the sliding block groove 10. 
If the sliding block nose 26 comes to rest in the first indentation 14, 
then the securing slide 20 is in its predetent position. However, in this 
position, the contact elements 40 inserted into the various contact 
chambers 30, while primarily secured by the aforementioned primary detent 
edge 23, are not yet secondarily secured. That is not accomplished until 
the securing slide 20 is inserted into the second indentation 15. These 
two detent positions are readily apparent for a human operator, since a 
certain expenditure of force must be made to insert the securing slide 20 
into the gap 2 of the housing 1. 
Although the sliding block guide described herein in principle can be 
constructed arbitrarily, it has proved to be expedient to provide one 
predetent position and one final detent position. In the aforementioned 
predetent position, the contact elements 40 can already be thrust into the 
contact chambers 30 and locked in primary fashion, and as a result the 
contact elements are initially already retained on the basis of each 
primary detent device. Once the securing slide 20 is inserted all the way 
into the gap 2 of the housing 1, the final securing of the contact 
elements 40 is then accomplished. 
As can be seen from FIGS. 3d and 3e, the housing 1 has channels 43, between 
which connecting lands 44 are disposed. These connecting lands 44 are 
integrally formed onto the housing 1 and, beginning at the upper contour 
of the housing 1 shown in FIGS. 3d and 3e, they end at the bottom 4 of the 
gap 2. Each opening 3 is assigned two such spaced-apart connecting lands 
44, and the two connecting lands 44 are each disposed on the wall of the 
respective opening 3 that points toward the middle of the housing. As a 
result of these connecting lands or pieces 44 in each of the openings 3, 
it is possible to produce the housing 1 with a simple injection mold, 
which requires no crosswise slide for inserting the injection molded part 
in the injection mold.