GB2198596A

GB2198596A - An electrical connector housing assembly

Info

Publication number: GB2198596A
Application number: GB08725787A
Authority: GB
Inventors: James William Palmer
Original assignee: AMP Inc
Current assignee: TE Connectivity Corp
Priority date: 1986-12-05
Filing date: 1987-11-04
Publication date: 1988-06-15
Also published as: GB8629113D0; GB8725787D0

Abstract

The assembly comprises male (2) and female (4) electrical connector housings having cavities (18) receiving electrical terminals (68 and 69) having grommets (82) sealing the cavities (18). A rolling seal (10) is provided between the housings (2 and 4). An air escape bore (28) communicates with each cavity (18) and is covered by an elastomeric sealing ring (12). As the housings (2 and 4) are mated, the sealing rings (12) are lifted by air compressed between the housings (2 and 4) so that the mating operation is not inhibited by the compressed air. The sealing rings (1) can also be lifted to allow the terminals (68 and 69) to be probed to check circuit continuity. <IMAGE>

Description

AN ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR HOUSING ASSEMBLY This invention relates to an electrical connector housing assembly comprising mating male and female electrical connector housings having through cavities for receiving electrical terminals; and an annular rolling seal surrounding the cavities and acting between the housings to seal them as the housings are mated.

Where the terminals are provided with bung seals for sealing the cavities, and given, as mentioned above, that the rolling seal acts as a seal between the housings there is a tendency for air to be trapped between the housings as they are mated and to be compressed so as to oppose the mating of the housings.

According to the invention, therefore, the housings are provided with bores each communicating with a respective cavity and opening into an external surface of the respective housing, elastomeric sealing valve members surrounding the housings and covering said mouths, the sealing valve members being liftable to expose the mouths there beneath, by the action of air compressed between the housings as they are mated when the terminals are operatively positioned in the cavities.

The housings are therefore vented of compressed air whilst they are being mated. The sealing valve members can also be lifted manually to expose the mouths of the bores to allow access to the terminals, for electrical test probes for electrical continuity testing purposes.

For a better understanding of the present invention and to show how it may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURE 1 is an isometric view of an electrical connector housing assembly, showing antibackout caps thereof exploded therefrom; FIGURE 2 is an enlarged axial sectional view of the housing assembly showing electrical terminals assembled thereto; FIGURE 3 is an isometric view of a male housing of the assembly; FIGURE 4 is an axial sectional view of said male housing; FIGURE 5 is a side view of a female housing of the assembly; FIGURE 6 is an axial sectional view of said female housing; FIGURE 7 is a side view of an electrical plug terminal; FIGURE 8 is a side view of an electrical socket terminal;; FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary side view showing part of a terminal according to Figure 7 or 8, when crimped to an elastomeric bung seal and to an electrical lead; FIGURE 10 is a cross-sectional view of one of said antibackout caps; and FIGURE 11 is an end view of said cap when assembled to one of the housings.

The housing assembly comprises a male insulating housing 2, a female insulating housing 4, anti-backout caps 6 and 8, an annular, circular cross section rolling seal 10, and annular, thin, elastomeric probe seals 12 of elongate cross section.

Each housing 2 and 4, which is of circular cross-sectional shape, has a mating face 14 and a terminal receiving face 16, into each of which open three, circular cross section, through, electrical terminal receiving cavities 18 which extend longitudinally of the housing.

Each cavity 18 comprises a seal receiving portion 20, a crimping ferrule receiving portion 22, and a portion 24 for receiving a mating member of an electrical terminal.

Between the portions 22 and 24 of each cavity 18 is a terminal latching shoulder 26. Each housing 2 and 4 is formed with three radially extending air vent and test probe access bores 28 each debouching at its inner end into a respective cavity 18 and at its outer end into a probe seal receiving groove 30, extending about the entire outer periphery of the housing, and having an outwardly convex base 32. The face 16 of each housing 2 and 4, is surrounded by an outstanding, peripheral, antibackout cap receiving collar 34 having three peripherally evenly spaced, antibackout cap latch receiving openings 36, extending therethrough.

The housing 2 has, adjacent to the groove 30, on its side remote from the collar 34, a pair of diametrically opposed latch projections 40, and between the projections 40 and the face 14, a reduced cross section rollway 42 for the rolling seal 10, having at its end nearest to the face 14, that is to say at its leading end, a peripheral flange 44 defining an annular, concave, rolling seal emplacement 46. The housing 2 has, proximate to the projections 40, an annular, seal stop surface 48. The housing 2 is formed with a longitudinal key way 50 opening into the face 14 of the housing 2.

The housing 4 has a hood 52 outstanding from, and surrounding, its face 14 and having opposed latching openings 54 each for receiving one of the projections 40 of the housing 2. There extends normally of the face 14 of the housing 4, a key 56 for reception in the key way 50 of the housing 2.

As best seen in Figures 2 and 22, each cap 6, which is of overall circular cross section comprises three lobes 58 between which extend substantially U-shaped radial slots 60, each lobe 58 being hollow and being connected to the next adjacent lobes 58 through the arcuate bases 62 of adjacent slots 60, each of which bases 62 is common to two of the lobes 58. The bases 62 are connected together by means of cross struts 64 each common to two of the bases 62 and spanning one of the lobes 58. The caps 6, which are made of insulating material are rendered resilient in a radial direction by virtue of their hollow construction as described above. The arcuate outer periphery of each lobe 58 is formed with a latching projection 66 for latching engagement in a respective opening 36 of a collar 34. The radially outer surface of each projection 66 is formed as an inclined cam surface.

As shown in Figures 7 and 8, socket terminals 68, each for reception in a respective cavity 18 of the housing 2, and plug terminals 69 each for reception in a respective cavity 18 of the housing 4, each comprise a crimping portion consisting of a U-section insulation barrel 70 and a U-section wire barrel 72; a transition portion 74; and a latching portion 76 provided with a resilient latching tongue 78. The terminals 68 have sockets 80 for mating with plugs 82 of the terminals 69.

Before assembling the terminals 68 and 69 to their respective housings 2 and 4, the wire barrel 72 of each terminal is crimped to the electrically conductive core C of an insulated electrical lead L and the insulation barrel of the terminal is crimped about an elastomeric grommet, in the form of a bung seal 82, previously threaded onto the lead L.

Each terminal is inserted into its cavity 18 so that, as shown in Figure 2, the seal 82 is in sealing engagement with the wall of the cavity portion 20, the crimped barrels 70 and 72 are located in the cavity portion 22 and the socket 80 or the plug 82, as the case may be, in the cavity portion 24. In this position of the terminal, the latching tongue 78, which was depressed by the shoulder 26 in the cavity 18, during the insertion of the terminal there into, has resiled so as to latch behind the shoulder 26.

Each antibackout cap 6 is now assembled to the three leads L projecting from the respective housing 2 or 4, so that each of the three leads L is received in a respective slot 60 of the cap 6. The cap 6 is then pushed home into the respective collar 34 so that each of'the projections 66 of the cap 6 snaps into a respective opening 36 of the collar 34 so that the cap 6 is positively retained therein, the bases 62 of the slots 6, which obturate the cavities 18, being in interference with the seals 82 so as to prevent the terminals from backing out from the cavities 18, regardless of the efficiency of the latching engagement between the latching tongues 78 and the shoulders 26.

The resilient, cellular construction of the caps 6 in the form of segmental hollow lobes allows the lobes 58 thereof to be resiliently deformed inwardly, to enable the projections 66 to be received in the collars 34, the lobes 58 resiling outwardly as the projections 66 enter the openings 36. The radial compression of, and thus the insertion of, the caps 6 into the collars 34 is assisted by the fact that the radially outer surfaces of the projections 66 slope outwardly and away from the collars 34.

Prior to the housings 2 and 4, now loaded with terminals 68 and 69, respectively, being mated, the rolling seal 10 is located in the emplacement 46 of the housing 2 and the bores 28 are covered by the probe seals 12. As the housings 2 and 4 are being mated, the rollway 42 of the housing 2 enters the hood 52 of housing 4, the key 56 thereof entering the key way 50 of the housing 2, until the housings 2 and 4 are in fully mated relationship as shown in Figure 2 with the plugs 82 of the terminals 69 fully received in the sockets 80 of the terminals 68. As the housings 2 and 4 are being mated, the rolling seal 10 engages the inner wall of the hood 52 and is thereby rolled from the emplacement 46, along the rollway 42, until it engages against the stop surface 48 of the housing 2, as the projections 40 on that housing snap into the openings 54 in the hood 52 of the housing 4.As the rolling seal 10 rolls over it creates a "pull home" force urging the housings 2 and 4 towards their mating relationship. The seal 10 could be of square cross section and arranged to engage against the stop surface 48 with a snap action according to the teaching of GB-A-2161996 which is incorporated herein by reference.

Since the cavities 18 are sealed by the bung seals 82 and the rolling seal 10 acts as a seal between the housings 2 and 4 as they are being mated, air is compressed between the housings during the mating operation, so as to tend to oppose their mating. However, the probe seals 12 are sufficiently flexible to be raised by the air so compressed, so as to act as air escape valves so that the mating operation is not sensibly impeded by the compression of the air between the housings 2 and 4.

Electrical continuity between the lead cores C and the terminals, and/or between the terminals 68 and 69 can be tested for, by lifting the seals 12 manually and inserting a test probe (not shown) into each bore 28, in turn.

The seals 12 normally hug the arcuate bases 32 so as to seal the bores 28 against the ingress of moisture when the housing assembly is in use, for example, in the engine compartment of an automobile.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1-. An electrical connector housing assembly comprising mating male and female electrical connector housings having through cavities for receiving electrical terminals having bung seals for sealing the cavities; an annular rolling seal surrounding the cavities and acting between the housings to seal them as the housings are mated; bores in the housings each communicating with a respective cavity and having a mouth opening into an external surface of the respective housing; and elastomeric sealing valve members surrounding the housings and covering said mouths, the sealing valve members being liftable to expose the mouths there beneath, by the action of air compressed between the housings as they are mated when the terminals are operatively positioned in the cavities.

2. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, in which each sealing valve member is of elongate thin cross-section and lies in a groove in said external surface, with which groove a plurality of said bores communicate.

3. An assembly as claimed in claim 2, in which said groove has a floor which is bowed outwardly of the housing, the sealing valve member normally conforming to the shape of said floor.

4. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, in which the male housing has a rollway for the rolling seal and which is dimensioned to be inserted into a hood of the female housing, the rollway having an emplacement for the rolling seal proximat to the leading end of the rollway and a rolling seal stop surface remote from said leading end, the hood being dimensioned to engage the rolling seal as the housings are being mated to drive the rolling seal from said emplacement, along said rollway and into engagement with said stop surface.

4. An assembly as claimed in claim 4, in which the male housing has a latching projection positioned back from said stop surface, for latching engagement in an opening in said hood as the rolling seal engages said stop surface.

5. An assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which said housings are of elongate circular cross section, said bores extending radially of said housings.

6. An electrical connector assembly as claimed in claim 1, substantially as herein before described with reference to the accompanying drawings.