WO2013093546A1

WO2013093546A1 - Improved electrical connector assembly

Info

Publication number: WO2013093546A1
Application number: PCT/IB2011/003304
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jean Fabre; Gilles Schmitt
Original assignee: Delphi Connection Systems Holding France
Priority date: 2011-12-22
Filing date: 2011-12-22
Publication date: 2013-06-27
Also published as: EP2795740B1; JP2015501074A; EP2795740A1

Abstract

A connector assembly comprising a first and a second connector (10) each having a first and a second contact (20A, 20B), a first and a second interlocking contact (22C, 22D) arranged in the first connector (10), the first and second connectors (10) being adapted to mate/unmate along a mating axis (XX), the second connector comprising a blocking system adapted to block the first and second connectors (10) in an intermediate position upon the unmating, the first and the second contacts (20A, 20B) being connected to each other and the interlocking contacts (22C, 22D) being disconnected from each other in the intermediate position, wherein the second connector comprises a securing system adapted to secure the first and second connectors (10) in the intermediate position.

Description

IMPROVED ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The instant invention relates to electrical connector assemblies, in particular for power contact assemblies for electricity-fuel hybrid vehicles or fully electric vehicles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Recent trends in the automotive industry concern these electricity-fuel hybrid vehicles or fully electric vehicles which are powered by batteries through cables with high current and/or voltage.

Electrical batteries are used to supply the engine of these vehicles with energy, but might also be used for the electrical supply of the other electrical appliances of the vehicle.

Electrical connector assemblies are used to electrically connect the battery to other electrical appliances. Each of such electrical connector assemblies comprises a first connector to be connected to the battery and a second connector to be connected to the electrical appliance. Instead of being connected to the battery, the first connector can be connected to other elements of the vehicle, such as the motor, the air conditioning system, etc .

For safety reasons, it is required that little or no power flows through the power contacts during their unmating .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved electrical connector assembly which ensures that the power contacts are powered off before their unmating .

To this aim, it is provided an electrical connector assembly comprising a first connector having a first and a second contact, a second connector having a first and a second contact, a first interlocking contact and a second interlocking contact arranged in the first connector.

The first and second connectors are adapted to mate and unmate along a mating axis between an unassembled position and an assembled position in order to connect and disconnect the first contacts together, the second contacts together and the interlocking contacts together.

The second connector comprises a blocking system adapted to block the first and second connectors in an intermediate position upon the unmating of the first and second connectors .

In the intermediate position, the first contacts are connected to each other, the second contacts are connected to each other and the interlocking contacts are disconnected from each other.

The second connector comprises a securing system adapted to secure the first and second connectors in the intermediate position.

With these features, a time-out is introduced in the unmating movement such that the operator cannot unmate the two connectors only by separating them along the mating axis .

In some embodiments of the invention, one might also use one or more of the features defined in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will readily appear from the following description of one of its embodiments, provided as a non- limitative example, and of the accompanying drawings.

On the drawings :

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a first connector of an electrical connector assembly according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a second connector intended to mate with the first connector of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal and vertical cross- sectional view of the electrical connector assembly illustrating the first connector of Fig. 1 and the second connector of Fig. 2 in an intermediate position;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal and horizontal cross- sectional view of the electrical connector assembly illustrating the first connector of Fig. 1 and the second connector of Fig. 2 in the intermediate position;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to that of Fig. 3 in another section plane; and

Fig. 6 is a view similar to that of Fig. 3 illustrating the first connector of Fig. 1 and the second connector of Fig. 2 in a mated position.

On the different Figures, the same reference signs designate like or similar elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Fig. 1 shows in details a first connector 10 to mate along a longitudinal mating axis XX with a second connector 12 illustrated on Fig. 2 such as to be mechanically and electrically connected to it and to form an electrical connector assembly.

On the different Figures, the mating axis XX is oriented from the first connector 10 toward the second connector 12.

The first connector 10 of Fig. 1 comprises a first outer casing 13 and an inner housing 14.

The first casing 13 has a tubular shape with a generally oval cross-section and extends along the mating axis XX.

The inner housing 14 has a tubular shape with a generally oval cross-section and extends along the mating axis XX inside the first casing 13.

The inner housing 14 comprises two cylindrical sleeves 16A, 16B extending along a respective axis AA, BB, each parallel to the mating axis XX, and delimitating a respective accommodating chamber 18A, 18B.

The first connector 10 comprises a first and a second male power contact 20A, 20B accommodated in the respective accommodating chamber 18A, 18B and extending along the respective axis AA, BB .

The first connector 10 comprises a first and a second interlocking contact 22C, 22D located between the accommodating chambers 18A, 18B and extending parallel to the mating axis XX. The interlocking contacts 22C, 22D are intended to be connected to an electrically controllable power switch. The connection of the interlocking contacts 22C, 22D is intended to close the power switch and the disconnection of the interlocking contacts 22C, 22D is intended to open the power switch.

The male power contacts 20A, 20B are intended to be connected to an electrical power source, for example an electrical battery, through the power switch.

The first connector 10 comprises two insulating lugs 23C, 23D located at the front end of the respective interlocking contact 22C, 22D.

The first connector 10 further comprises a guiding pin 24 projecting upwardly from a top wall 26 of the first casing 13.

Referring to Fig. 2, the second connector 12 comprises a second outer casing 28 and an inner housing 29.

The second casing 28 comprises a tube 30 of a generally oval cross-section and extending along the mating axis XX. The second casing 28 comprises a top wall 32 extending parallel to the mating axis XX adjacent to the tube 30.

The inner housing 29 has a tubular shape with a generally oval cross-section and extends along the mating axis XX inside the tube 30 of the second casing 28. The inner housing 29 comprises two cylindrical sleeves 34A, 34B extending along a respective one of the axis AA, BB and delimitating a respective accommodating chamber 36A, 36B.

The second connector 12 comprises a first and a second female power contact 38A, 38B accommodated in the respective accommodating chamber 36A, 36B and extending along the respective axis AA, BB . The female power contacts 38A, 38B are intended to be connected to an electrical appliance, for example an engine of a vehicle.

As best seen on Fig. 3, the second connector 12 comprises an interlocking shorting member 40 having two flexible arms 42C, 42D. The shorting member 40 is located between the two sleeves 34A, 34B so that when the first and second connectors 10, 12 are in the process of being mated, the flexible arms 42C, 42D are first located in front of the respective interlocking contacts 22C, 22D, then deflected toward each other by the insulating lugs 23C, 23D (Fig. 3) to finally contact the interlocking contacts 22C, 22D (Fig. 6) .

The second connector 12 comprises a slider 44 having a tubular shape along the mating axis XX. The slider 44 is slidingly mounted on the second casing 28 along the mating axis XX and comprises a longitudinal rack of teeth 46 extending parallel to the mating axis XX.

A button 48 is provided on the slider 44 and hinged to be pushed along a direction perpendicular to the mating axis XX.

The slider 44 comprises a stopping tooth 50 (Fig. 5) projecting toward the top wall 32 and having a front wall 52 and a rear ramp 54.

The second connector 12 comprises a cam gear 56 rotatably mounted on the top wall 32 of the second casing 28 around an axis YY perpendicular to the mating axis XX.

As best seen on Fig. 4, the cam gear 56 comprises a guiding groove 58 for receiving and driving the guiding pin 24 of the first connector 10 (Fig. 1) . The guiding groove 58 has a substantially circular shape around an axis parallel to and offset from the axis YY .

The guiding groove 58 comprises an entrance aperture 60 and a side wall 62 delimitating the outer periphery of the guiding groove 58.

The cam gear 56 comprises a retaining shoulder 64 arranged in the guiding groove 58 to retain the guiding pin 24 in the guiding groove 58. The retaining shoulder 64 has a generally arcuate shape and is arranged on the side wall 62 adjacent the entrance aperture 60.

In the position of the first and second connectors 10, 12 shown on Fig. 4, called hereinafter the intermediate position and which is also represented on Fig. 3 and 5, the guiding pin 24 is in contact with the retaining shoulder 64 at an end point 66 of the retaining shoulder 64. The tangent of the guiding pin 24 at the end point 66 is angled relative to an axis ZZ perpendicular to the axis XX and YY with an angle a between 10° and 20°. For example, a is about 14.8°.

The cam gear 56 comprises a gear section 68 with teeth extending circularly around the axis YY . The teeth of the gear section 68 are adapted to intermesh with the longitudinal rack of teeth 46 of the slider 44.

The cam gear 56 further comprises a chamber 70 which radially opens on the periphery of the cam gear 56. The chamber 70 is delimitated on one side by a blocking wall 72 and on the other side by a wall 74 shared with the guiding groove 58.

The cam gear 56 comprises a peripheral abutment surface 76 located between the gear section 68 and the chamber 70, opposite the guiding groove 58.

A blocking element 78 is provided for blocking the first and second connectors 10, 12 when they are mated. The blocking element 78 is slidingly mounted on the top wall 32 along a direction parallel to the mating axis XX in order to take a frontward blocking position in which a blocking arm 80 of the blocking element 78 blocks the rotation of the cam gear 56 by entering into the chamber 70.

The blocking element 78 further comprises a flexible arm 82 with a stopping tooth 84 intended to cooperate with the stopping tooth 50 of the slider 44. As shown on Fig. 5, the stopping tooth 84 comprises a front ramp 86 for cooperating with the rear ramp 54 in order to let the slider 44 slide rearward, and a rear wall 88 for stopping a frontward translation of the slider 44 by engagement with the front wall 52 of the stopping tooth 50.

The mating movement of the first and second connectors 10, 12 is explained below.

Initially, the first and second connectors 10, 12 are in an unmated/unassembled position in which they are aligned along the mating axis XX but separated from each other .

The slider 44 of the second connector 12 is in a front position with respect to the second casing 28 such that the longitudinal rack of teeth 46 engages with the gear section 68 of the cam gear 56 and the entrance aperture 60 of the guiding groove 58 heads rearward in front of the guiding pin 24 of the first connector 10.

The blocking element 78 is in a front position with the blocking arm 80 facing the abutment surface 76 of the cam gear 56.

The first and second connectors 10, 12 are then brought closer to each other until the guiding pin 24 of the first connector 10 enters the guiding groove 58 of the cam gear 56 through the entrance aperture 60.

Next, the slider 44 is moved rearward along the mating axis XX, which causes the rack of teeth 46 to rotate the cam gear 56 via the intermesh of the teeth. As the cam gear 56 rotates, it cams the guiding pin 24 to move along the guiding groove 58 so as to help move the first connector 10 towards the second connector 12 into final mated/assembled position.

The rotation movement of the cam gear 56 stops when the guiding pin 24 meets the end of the guiding groove 58 and when the abutment surface 76 has been driven away from engagement with the blocking element 78.

During this mating movement, the male power contacts 20A, 20B are first connected to the respective female power contacts 38A, 38B and then the interlocking contacts 22C, 22D are connected to each other via the interlocking shorting member 40 (Fig. 6) .

This leads to the closing of the power switch and the subsequent powering up of the circuit comprising the power contacts 20A, 20B, 38A, 38B.

The first and second connectors 10, 12 are then blocked in the mated position by pushing the blocking element 78 rearward so that the blocking arm 80 enters the chamber 70 of the cam gear 56. The cam gear 56 is thus prevented from rotating in the direction of arrow F, via the abutment of the blocking arm 80 against the blocking wall 72 of the chamber 70, thereby impeding the slider 44 from sliding frontward.

To unmate the first connector 10 from the second connector 12, the blocking element 78 is pushed frontward to release the cam gear 56 from the blocking arm 80.

The slider 44 is then moved frontward, which leads to the rotation of the cam gear 56 until the intermediate position in which the stopping tooth 50 of the slider 44 engages with the stopping tooth 84 of the blocking element 78 (Fig. 5), thereby blocking a further sliding of the slider 44 away from the first connector 10.

In the intermediate position, the guiding pin 24 is retained in the guiding groove 58 by the retaining shoulder 64 (Fig. 4), securing the first and second connectors 10, 12 in this position.

In the intermediate position, the male power contacts 20A, 20B are still connected to the female power contacts 38A, 38B but the interlocking contacts 22C, 22D are disconnected from each other.

The button 48 is then pushed along an axis parallel to the axis YY, which deflects the flexible arm 82 downward, thereby disengaging the stopping tooth 84 from the stopping tooth 50 of the slider 44.

The slider 44 is then moved further away from the first connector 10 to disengage the guiding pin 24 from the guiding groove 58 and to unmate the first and second connectors 10, 12.

The guiding pin 24, the slider 44 and the cam gear 56 form a mating/unmating assistance system for the two connectors 10, 12.

The blocking element 78 with the stopping tooth 84 and the stopping tooth 50 of the slider 44 form a blocking system which blocks the first and second connectors 10, 12 in the intermediate position upon the unmating of the first and second connectors 10, 12.

The retaining shoulder 64 forms a securing system which secures the first and second connectors 10, 12 in the intermediate position. Indeed, even if the operator applies on the slider 44 a frontward force, the cam gear 56 is prevented from rotating in the direction of arrow Z by the guiding pin 24 being captured in the retaining shoulder 64. Therefore, the operator cannot unmate the two connectors 10, 12 only by separating them along the mating axis XX.

The button 48 forms a releasing system which releases the blocking system, thereby releasing the first and second connectors 10, 12 from the intermediate position .

The blocking system together with the securing system and the releasing system enable to ensure that the male power contacts 20A, 20B are no longer powered while being disconnected from the female power contacts 38A, 38B. This prevents electrical arcing from occurring upon unmating the first and second connectors. Indeed, the time period needed by the operator for actuating the releasing system, for instance at least one second, is sufficient for powering off the power contacts 20A, 20B, 38A, 38B. In this way, in the intermediate position, the power contacts 20A, 20B, 38A, 38B being disconnected from the power source and still connected to each other, the remaining power flow decreases by flowing from one of the power contacts to the other .

Accordingly, the invention provides an electrical connector assembly wherein the first and second connectors can be safely unmated.

Claims

1. An electrical connector assembly comprising a first connector (10) having a first and a second contact

(20A, 20B) , a second connector (12) having a first and a second contact (38A, 38B) , a first interlocking contact

(22C) and a second interlocking contact (22D) arranged in the first connector (10),

in which the first and second connectors (10, 12) are adapted to mate and unmate along a mating axis (XX) between an unassembled position and an assembled position in order to connect and disconnect the first contacts together (20A, 38A) , the second contacts together (20B, 38B) and the interlocking contacts together (22C, 22D) ,

in which the second connector (12) comprises a blocking system adapted to block the first and second connectors (10, 12) in an intermediate position upon the unmating of the first and second connectors (10, 12),

in which, in the intermediate position, the first contacts (20A, 38A) are connected to each other, the second contacts (20B, 38B) are connected to each other and the interlocking contacts (22C, 22D) are disconnected from each other,

wherein the second connector (12) comprises a securing system adapted to secure the first and second connectors (10, 12) in the intermediate position.

2. An electrical connector assembly according to claim 1, wherein the first connector (10) comprises a first casing (13) accommodating the corresponding first and second contacts (20A, 20B) and the interlocking contacts (22C, 22D) , and a guiding pin (24) projecting from the first casing (13),

wherein the second connector (12) comprises a second casing (28) accommodating the corresponding first and second contacts (38A, 38B) , a slider (44) slidingly mounted on the second casing (28) along the mating axis (XX) and a cam gear (56) rotatably mounted on the second casing (28) around an axis (YY) perpendicular to the mating axis (XX) ,

wherein the guiding pin (24), the slider (44) and the cam gear (56) are adapted to cooperate with each other so as to assist the mating/unmating of the first and second connectors (10, 12).

3. An electrical connector assembly according to claim 2, wherein the cam gear (56) comprises a guiding groove (58) adapted to receive and drive the guiding pin (24) ,

wherein the securing system comprises a retaining shoulder (64) arranged in the guiding groove (58) and adapted to retain the guiding pin (24) in the guiding groove (58) .

4. An electrical connector assembly according to claim 3, wherein the guiding groove (58) comprises an entrance aperture (60) and a side wall (62) delimitating the outer periphery of the guiding groove (58),

wherein the retaining shoulder (64) is arranged on the side wall (62) adjacent the entrance aperture (60) .

5. An electrical connector assembly according to claim 3 or 4, wherein, in the intermediate position, the guiding pin (24) is retained in the guiding groove (58) by the retaining shoulder (64), a tangent of the guiding pin (24) at a point of contact (66) with the retaining shoulder (64) being angled relative to an axis (ZZ) perpendicular to the mating axis (XX) with an angle (a) substantially between 10° and 20°.

6. An electrical connector assembly according to any of claims 2 to 5, wherein the blocking system comprises a blocking element (78) mounted on the second casing (28) and having a stopping tooth (84) adapted to cooperate with a corresponding stopping tooth (50) provided on the slider (44) .

7. An electrical connector assembly according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein it comprises a releasing system adapted to release the blocking system, thereby releasing the first and second connectors (10, 12) from the intermediate position.

8. An electrical connector assembly according to claims 6 and 7, wherein the releasing system comprises a button (48) hinged on the slider (44) and adapted to be pushed along a direction perpendicular to the mating axis, thereby disengaging the stopping teeth (50, 84) from each other .

9. An electrical connector assembly according to any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the blocking system is further adapted to block the first and second connectors (10, 12) in the assembled position.

10. Electrical device for a vehicle comprising a vehicle element, an electrically controllable power switch and an electrical connector assembly according to any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the first and second contacts (20A, 20B) of the first connector (10) are connected to the vehicle element through the power switch,

wherein the interlocking contacts (22C, 22D) are connected to the power switch so that the connection of the interlocking contacts (22C, 22D) closes the power switch and the disconnection of the interlocking contacts (22C, 22D) opens the power switch.

11. A connector for an electrical connector assembly according to any of claims 1 to 9 and comprising the features of the second connector (12) of said assembly.