Patent Publication Number: US-10320123-B1

Title: Right angle connector with terminal contact protection

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to connectors, particularly connectors configured to prevent inadvertent contact with terminals. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
       The present invention will now be described, by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of a connector assembly according to one embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  is a side perspective view of the connector system of  FIG. 1  having an inner housing in a first position enclosing a terminal within an outer housing according to one embodiment; 
         FIG. 3  is a cutaway side perspective view of the connector system of  FIG. 1  having the inner housing in the first position according to one embodiment; 
         FIG. 4  is an alternative cutaway side perspective view of the connector system of  FIG. 1  having the inner housing in the first position according to one embodiment; 
         FIG. 5  is a top perspective view of the outer housing with the inner housing removed according to one embodiment; 
         FIG. 6  is a cutaway side perspective view of the outer housing with the inner housing removed according to one embodiment; 
         FIG. 7  is a side perspective view of the connector system of  FIG. 1  having the inner housing in a second position in which the terminal protrudes from the outer housing according to one embodiment; and 
         FIG. 8  is a cutaway side perspective view of the connector system of  FIG. 1  having the inner housing in the second position according to one embodiment; 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Presented herein is a connector system having a first connector and a second connector that each contain termination elements or “terminals” for wire electrical cables, fiber optic cables, pneumatic lines, hydraulic lines, etc. The outer housing of the first connector includes a moveable inner housing, referred to hereafter as a terminal protection device (TPD). The TPD moves along a mating axis of the first and second connectors from a first position wherein the terminals in the first connector are protected by the TPD to a second position where a portion of the terminals protrude through the TPD when the first connector is connected to the second connector. The TPD is held in the first position until released by the second connector during the connection of the first connector with the second connector. When the first and second connectors are disconnected, the second connector pulls the TPD from the second position back to the first position, thus reestablishing protection of the terminals. An example of means for moving the TPD from the first position to the second position are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 9,608,357, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. The connector system presented herein further includes means for guiding the TPD along the mating axis to minimize wobbling or other off-axis movements of the TPD that may interfere with the movement between the first and second positions. 
       FIGS. 1 through 8  illustrate a non-limiting example of a connector system, in this particular example an electrical connector system for high voltage applications, i.e. greater than 48 volts. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the connector assembly includes a first connector  100  having an outer housing  102  containing a pair of male blade terminals  104  terminating a pair of wire electrical cables or conductive bus bars (not shown). The first connector  100  is based around the outer housing  102  to which the other components of the first connector  100  are attached. The outer housing  102  is formed of a dielectric material, such as polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polypropylene (PP), or polyamide (PA, commonly known as NYLON). The outer housing  102  defines a U-shaped shroud  106  around the male blade terminals  104 . 
     The connector system further includes a second connector (not shown) containing a pair of corresponding female socket terminals terminating a pair of wire electrical cables that are configured to mate with the male blade terminals  104 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 1  the first connector also includes an inner housing, hereinafter referred to as a terminal protection device  108  (TPD), that is slideably attached to the outer housing  102 . The TPD  108  is configured to protect the male blade terminals  104  from inadvertent contact by an operator when the first connector  100  is connected with or disconnected from the second connector. The TPD  108  is formed of a dielectric material such as PBT, PP, or NYLON. The TPD  108  has a generally open rectangular box shape having a top wall  110 , two major side walls  112  and two minor side walls  114 . The TPD  108  is configured to move from a first position  116  wherein the male blade terminals  104  are enclosed within the TPD  108  as shown in  FIG. 2  to a second position  118  wherein a portion of the male blade terminals  104  protrudes through a pair of apertures  120  defined in the top wall  110  of the TPD  108  as shown in  FIG. 7 . The TPD  108  is configured to enclose the male blade terminals  104  when the TPD  108  is in the first position  116 , thus preventing accidental contact by a finger of an assembly operator or a foreign conductive element, such as a screwdriver or wrench, with the male blade terminals  104  when the first connector  100  is not mated with the second connector. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the first connector  100  also has a conductive shield  122  around the terminals  104  in order to provide electromagnetic shielding of the terminals  104 . The first connector  100  further includes a compliant seal  124  that is configured to contact the bottom of the outer housing  102  and the mounting surface for the first connector  100 , thereby protecting the terminals  104  against intrusion of environmental contaminants, such as water spray or dust. 
     As also shown in  FIG. 1 , the first connector  100  includes a pair of HVIL terminals  126  that are interconnected by a shunt in the second connector when the first and second connectors are fully mated. The HVIL terminals  126  are linked to a control circuit (not shown) that inhibits the male blade terminals  104  in the first connector  100  from being energized until the HVIL terminals  126  are shorted by the HVIL shunt. The length of the blades of the HVIL shunt is selected to ensure that the female and male terminals in the first and second connectors are properly connected before the HVIL shunt interconnects the HVIL terminals  126 , thus triggering the HVIL circuit to energize the male blade terminals  104 . 
     The TPD  108  also encloses the HVIL terminals  126  when the TPD  108  is in the first position  116 , thus preventing accidental contact by a foreign conductive element with the HVIL terminals  126  that could form a short circuit between the HVIL terminals  126  and inappropriately enable the HVIL circuit. When the TPD  108  is moved to the second position  118 , the HVIL terminals  126  are allowed to make contact with the HVIL shunt in the second connector. 
     As best shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the TPD  108  further includes a pair of guide posts  128  extending in a direction parallel to a mating axis X. These guide posts  128  are best shown in  FIG. 4 . Each of the pair of guide posts  128  is characterized as having a cylindrical shape. Each of the pair of guide posts  128  are diagonally offset from one another relative to the mating axis X and to the pair of male blade terminals  104 . The guide posts  128  are integrally formed with the outer housing  102 . 
     As best shown in  FIGS. 4, 7, and 8 , the TPD  108  further defines a pair of guide tubes  130  extending parallel to the mating axis X. Each of the pair of guide tubes  130  define a guide cavity  132  that extends through the pair of guide tubes  130  in the direction parallel to the mating axis X surrounded by a guide tube wall  134 . The guide tubes  130  are integrally formed with the TPD  108 . Each of the pair of guide cavities  132  is characterized as having a cylindrical shape. A portion of one of the pair of guide posts  128  is received within one of the pair of guide cavities  132  and a portion of the other pair of guide posts  128  is received within the other pair of guide cavities  132 . At least a portion of each of the pair of guide posts  128  is disposed within one of the pair of guide cavities  132  when the TPD  108  is in the first position  116  and in the second position  118 . The guide posts  128  and the guide tubes  130  cooperate to limit lateral movement, i.e. movement generally orthogonal to the mating axis X, of the TPD  108  as it moves from the first position  116  to the second position  118 . The diameters of the guide posts  128  and the guide cavities  132  are selected so that they minimize this lateral motion without binding. 
     As best shown in  FIG. 4 , the pair of guide posts  128  occupy about half of the volume of the pair of guide cavities  132 , i.e. the pair of guide posts  128  are received within about half of the length of the pair of guide cavities  132  when the TPD  108  is in the first position  116 . As used herein, “about half of the volume” is defined as being between 40% to 60% of the volume. As best shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8 , the pair of guide posts  128  occupy nearly all of the volume of the guide cavities  132 , i.e. the pair of guide posts  128  are received within the entire length of the pair of guide cavities  132  when the TPD  108  is in the second position  118 . As used herein, “nearly all of the volume” is defined as being more than 90% of the volume. 
     The guide tubes  130  are arranged so that they are within the major and minor side walls  112 ,  114  of the TPD  108 , i.e. the guide tubes  130  are surrounded by the side walls  112 ,  114  of the TPD  108 . This provides the benefit of allowing the shield  122  to surround the terminals  104  without requiring openings or slots in the shield  122  to accommodate any guide features for the TPD  108  that would degrade the shielding effectiveness. 
     Accordingly, a connector assembly is provided. The connector assembly a terminal protection device  108  (TPD  108 ) that moves along the mating axis X from a first position  116  in which terminals  104  of the connector assembly are enclosed and protected within the TPD  108  to a second position  118  in which the terminals  104  protrude from the TPD  108  allowing interconnection of the terminals  104  with corresponding mating terminals. The TPD  108  is guided from the first position  116  to the second position  118  by guide posts  128  and guide tubes  130  that limit the lateral movement of the TPD  108 . The guide tubes  130  are positioned within the side walls  112  of the TPD  108  so that there is no need to provide any openings in a shield  122  surrounding the terminal that may degrade the effectiveness of the shield  122 . 
     The example presented herein is directed to an electrical connector assembly, however other embodiments may be envisioned that are adapted for use with optical cables or hybrid connectors including both electrical and optical cable connections. Yet other embodiments of the connector system may be envisioned that are configured to interconnect pneumatic or hydraulic lines. 
     Although the illustrated embodiment of the connector assembly shown herein includes an HVIL shunt and HVIL terminals  126 , other embodiments of the connector assembly may be envisioned without those elements in applications of the connector assembly where a high voltage interlock circuit is not required. Additionally while the illustrated examples of the guide posts  128  and guide cavities  132  have a cylindrical shape with a generally round cross section, other embodiments of the invention may be envisioned wherein the guide posts and guide cavities have complementary, non-round cross sections. 
     While this invention has been described in terms of the preferred embodiments thereof, it is not intended to be so limited, but rather only to the extent set forth in the claims that follow. For example, the above-described embodiments (and/or aspects thereof) may be used in combination with each other. In addition, many modifications may be made to configure a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from its scope. Dimensions, types of materials, orientations of the various components, and the number and positions of the various components described herein are intended to define parameters of certain embodiments, and are by no means limiting and are merely prototypical embodiments. 
     Many other embodiments and modifications within the spirit and scope of the claims will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. The scope of the invention should, therefore, be determined with reference to the following claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. 
     In the following claims, the terms “including” and “in which” are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and “wherein.” Moreover, the use of the terms first, second, etc. does not denote any order of importance, but rather the terms first, second, etc. are used to distinguish one element from another. Furthermore, the use of the terms a, an, etc. do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced items. Additionally, directional terms such as upper, lower, etc. do not denote any particular orientation, but rather the terms upper, lower, etc. are used to distinguish one element from another and locational establish a relationship between the various elements.