Patent Publication Number: US-2021184415-A1

Title: Method of manufacturing electrical connector assemblies

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates in general to methods of manufacturing electrical connector assemblies. More specifically, this invention relates to an improved method of manufacturing a plurality of electrical connector assemblies that insures that all of the individual electrical connector assemblies are in a properly assembled condition before being shipped from a manufacturing facility to a customer. 
     Connectors are commonly used when manufacturing assemblies of electrical components. The connectors allow separate subassemblies of such electrical components to be prepared, placed onto the assembly, and connected to each other during an assembly process. For example, a typical vehicle includes a variety of electrical components, such as lights, sensors, fans, and heaters. Each of these electrical components is normally connected to a power supply and a controller by wiring located in the vehicle. 
     When the vehicle is being assembled, a seat subassembly can be placed on a frame during one part of the assembly process. The seat subassembly can include a plurality of electrical components, such as ventilation fans, heaters, and seat adjustment motors. The wires for the electrical components on the seat subassembly are typically grouped into a wire harness having an electrical connector attached thereto. During the assembly process, the electrical connector is mated with a corresponding connector located elsewhere on the vehicle. 
     A typical vehicle includes a relatively large number of such electrical connectors. For proper use of all of the electrical components, it is desirable that all the electrical connectors being manufactured and remain in a properly mated condition. However, one or more of the electrical connectors may not be properly mated because of, for example, a flaw in the electrical connector, an error occurring during the assembly process, or by being inadvertently disconnected sometime after the assembly process. Thus, it would be advantageous to provide a method that allows the status of electrical connectors to be tracked in order to identify when and electrical connector is not properly mated. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a method of manufacturing a plurality of electrical connector assemblies that insures that all of the individual electrical connector assemblies are in a properly assembled condition before being shipped from a manufacturing facility to a customer. Initially, a plurality of individual electrical connector assemblies is assembled within a facility, each assembly including a plurality of connectors. Each of the connectors includes a connector position assurance that is movable between an opened position and a closed position and an indicator that is in a concealed condition when the connector position assurance is in the opened position and in an exposed condition when the connector position assurance is in the closed position. For each of the indicators, a determination is made as to whether it is in the concealed condition or the exposed condition. A record is generated of the determinations of the concealed and exposed conditions for each of the indicators. Lastly, a report is generated of the record of the determinations of the concealed and exposed conditions for each of the indicators. 
     Various aspects of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, when read in light of the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an electrical connector that includes a connector position assurance shown in an opened position. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the electrical connector illustrated in  FIG. 1  showing peak the connector position assurance in a closed position. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic view of an assembly that includes the electrical connector illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic view of a facility wherein the assembly from  FIG. 3  is assembled. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to the drawings, there is illustrated in  FIG. 1  a connector, indicated generally at  10 , that may be manufactured in accordance with the method of this invention. The illustrated connector  10  is an electrical connector, but may be any desired type of connector. The connector  10  includes a housing  12  and a connector position assurance  14  that is attached to the housing  12 . In  FIG. 1 , the connector position assurance  14  is shown in an opened position. The connector position assurance  14  is movable relative to the housing  12  to a closed position, as shown in  FIG. 2 . The electrical connector  10  is adapted to mate with a complementary connector (not shown) and includes a latch  16  that retains the housing  12  in a mated position on the complementary connector. When the connector position assurance  14  is in the opened position, the latch  16  is operable so that the connector  10  may be released from the complementary connector. When the connector position assurance  14  is in the closed position, the latch  16  is held in place so that the electrical connector  10  cannot be released from the complementary connector. The electrical connector  10  includes many features in common with the electrical connector assembly described in U.S. Pat. No. 10,340,632, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The illustrated electrical connector  10  is one example of a connector that the invention described herein can be used with, but the invention may be used with any desired type of connector. 
     In normal use, the electrical connector  10  is attached to one or more electrical wires (not shown) and electrical terminals (not shown). The connection position assurance  14  is retained in the opened position until the housing  12  is mated with the complementary connector. Once the electrical connector  10  is in a mated position relative to the complementary connector, the connector position assurance  14  may be moved to the closed position. Thus, the connector position assurance  14  provides confirmation that the electrical connector  10  is in the mated position relative to the complementary connector, and further retains the electrical connector  10  in the mated position by preventing operation of the latch  16 . 
     As best shown in  FIG. 2 , the electrical connector  10  includes an indicator  18 . Depending on location of connector position assurance  14  relative to the housing  12  of the electrical connector  10 , the indicator  18  may be in either a concealed condition (as shown in  FIG. 1 ) or an exposed condition (as shown in  FIG. 2 ). When the indicator  18  is in the concealed condition, the indicator  18  cannot be detected visually or otherwise from the exterior of the electrical connector  10 . When the indicator  18  is in the exposed condition, the indicator  18  can be detected visually or otherwise from the exterior of the electrical connector  10 . The illustrated indicator  18  is a two-dimensional bar code that is laser printed on an exterior surface of the housing  12 . However, the indicator  18  may be embodied as any desired type of marking that is provided in any desired manner and at any desired location of the housing  12 . The illustrated indicator  18  is adapted to be machine-readable, as will be described in greater detail below. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , there is illustrated a schematic view of an assembly  20 . The illustrated assembly  20  is a vehicle, but it may be any desired type of assembly. The assembly  20  includes not only the electrical connector  10 , but additional electrical connectors  10   a  and  10   b  that may (but are not required to) be similar in structure and operation to the electrical connector  10 . Each of the additional electrical connectors  10   a  and  10   b  includes a respective indicator  18   a  and  18   b.    
     A machine input  22  may be used to read the indicator  18  on the electrical connector  10 . The illustrated machine input  22  is an optical camera, but may be any desired device. As previously described, the indicator  18  is readable when the indicator  18  is in the exposed condition. Thus, the machine input  22  is able to read the indicator  18  only when the connector position assurance  14  is in the closed position. The same machine input  22  can also read the indicator  18   a  and  18   b  on the additional electrical connectors  10   a  and  10   b . If desired, different machine inputs (not shown) may be used to read the indicators  18   a  and  18   b.    
     The machine input  22  can read the indicator  18  any time after the indicator  18  is in the exposed condition, i.e., when the connector position assurance  14  is in the closed position. For example, an operator may mate the electrical connector  10  with the complementary connector, move the connector position assurance  14  to the closed position, and then use the machine input  22  to read the indicator  18 . Alternatively, the machine input  22  may read the indicators  18 ,  18   a , and  18   b  during an end-of-line review of the assembly  20 . The machine input  22  may be moved into a position to read the indicators  18 ,  18   a , and  18   b  manually by the operator or by a machine if desired. 
     When the indicator  18  is read, the machine input  22  generates a record  24  that is stored in a memory  26 . The record  24  may include the identities of both the electrical connector  10  and the assembly  20 . The record  24  may include any desired information, such as date, time, identity of the operator, and the like. Similarly, when the indicators  18   a  and  18   b  are read, respective records  24   a  and  24   b  are generated and stored in the memory  26 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , there is illustrated a schematic view of a facility  28  where the assembly  20  is produced. The illustrated facility  28  is a manufacturing plant that includes an assembly line, but it may be any desired type of facility. In addition to the assembly  20 , the facility  28  produces additional assemblies  20 ′ and  20 ″. The additional assemblies  20 ′ and  20 ″ are similar to the assembly  20 , all of which may be manufactured using an assembly line process. The illustrated assemblies  20 ,  20 ′, and  20 ″ are provided only for illustrative purposes, and the facility  28  can produce any desired number of assemblies. 
     Each of the assemblies  20 ′ and  20 ″ includes respective electrical connectors  10 ′,  10   a ′,  10   b ′ and  10 ″,  10   a ″,  10   b ″ that are similar to the previously-described electrical connectors  10 ,  10   a , and  10   b  and that include respective  18 ′,  18   a ′,  18   b ′ and  18 ″,  18   a ″,  18   b ″ that are similar to the previously-described indicators  18 ,  18   a , and  18   b . The machine input  22  is used to read each of the indicators  18 ′,  18   a ′,  18   b ′,  18 ″,  18   a ″, and  18   b ″. The single machine input  22  may be used to read all the indicators  18 ′,  18   a ′,  18   b ′,  18 ″,  18   a ″, and  18   b ″, or multiple machine inputs (not shown) may be used, if desired. 
     When each of the indicators  18 ′,  18   a ′, and  18   b ′ is read, the machine input  22  generates a respective record  24 ′,  24   a ′, and  24   b ′ that is stored in the memory  26 . Each of the records  24 ′,  24   a ′, and  24   b ′ includes the identity of the assembly  20 ′. Similarly, when each of the indicators  18 ″,  18   a ″, and  18   b ″ is read, the machine input  22  generates a respective record  24 ″,  24   a ″, and  24   b ″ that is stored in the memory  26 . Each of the records  24 ″,  24   a ″, and  24   b ″ includes the identity of the assembly  20 ″. 
     The records  24 ,  24   a , and  24   b  that are stored in the memory  26  allow a manager of the facility  28  to track the status of the connectors  10 ,  10   a , and  10   b . This allows the manager to review the status of the assembly  20  at any desired time. For example, a report  30  may be created from the memory  26  when the assembly  20  has been assembled, but before the assembly  20  leaves the facility  28 . A review may be made of the records  18 ,  18   a , and  18   b  in order to confirm that the associated connector  10 ,  10   a , and  10   b  is properly mated and the associated connector position assurance  14  is in the closed position. Additionally, after the assembly  20  has left the facility  28 , if one or more of the connectors  10 ,  10   a , and  10   b  is determined to not be properly mated or closed, the records  24 ,  24   a , and  24   b  in the memory  26  may be used to confirm the state of the assembly  20  when it left the facility  28 , as well as to identify when and where in the facility  28  the indicators  18 ,  18   a , and  18   b  were read. This information can be used to identify a possible process error inside the facility  28  or to isolate an error to having occurred outside the facility  28 . 
     The principle and mode of operation of this invention have been explained and illustrated in its preferred embodiment. However, it must be understood that this invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically explained and illustrated without departing from its spirit or scope.