[0001] The present invention relates to electrical connectors whose purpose is to form electrical
connections between electrical wires and mating electrical contacts and to electrical
contacts used in such connectors.
[0002] Conventional electrical connectors of this type and electrical contacts used therein
can be found in Japanese Patent Publication No. 59-164172 as shown in Figures 7a-7c.
Electrical connector 100 comprises a housing 110 having contact-receiving cavities
111 extending forward from back surface 112 and electrical contacts 120 placed inside
the contact-receiving cavities 111. Electrical contact 120 includes a contact section
121 intended to form electrical connection with a mating electrical contact (not shown),
a wire-connecting section 122 located behind the contact section 121 and intended
for electrical connection to an electrical wire 130. Middle section 123 has opposing
side walls 124 extending vertically from a bottom wall with two spring-loaded retaining
lances 125 located at the upper edges of the side walls 124. The ends of the spring-loaded
lances 125 converge toward each other but are not engaged. When the contact 120 is
inserted into the contact-receiving cavity 111 from the back surface 112 of the housing
110 toward the front surface 113, the retaining lances 125 become engaged with a retention
lug 114 extending downwardly from an upper surface of the contact-receiving cavity
of the housing 110. In the process of the retaining lances 125 engaging the retention
lug 114, the ends of the retaining lances 125 are deflected by the lug 114 to the
left and to the right relative to the axial direction (up and down directions as seen
in Fig. 7c), and when the ends pass beyond the lug 114, they return to their original
position due to their spring-loaded characteristics, thus preventing the contact 120
from being pulled out of the housing 110 in the back direction. Since for the retention
of the contacts in the housing, it is sufficient to have spring-loaded action of retaining
lances 125 only in the left and right direction relative to the axial direction without
providing spring-loaded action in the up and down direction, the height of the contact-receiving
cavities 111 can be made lower.
[0003] In order to remove contact 120 from the housing 110, a special opening 116 is provided
in an upper wall 115 of the housing 110 that is linked to the contact-receiving cavity
111 at the location of the retaining lances 125. The contact 120 is removed by insertion
of a special retention-releasing tool 140 into opening 116. When the retention-releasing
tool 140 is inserted into the opening 116, it bends the spring-loaded lances to the
left and to the right relative to the axial direction, thus making it possible to
remove the contact 120 from the housing 110.
[0004] However, as was mentioned, an opening 116 for the retention-release tool passes through
the upper wall 115 of the housing 110 to the contact-receiving cavity 111 at the location
of the retaining lances 125. Therefore, contacts 120 cannot be arrayed in two or more
horizontal rows in the housing 110, because it is impossible to make openings 116
through which the contacts other than those in the upper row can be accessed from
the upper wall by the retention-release tool. In order to solve this problem, it was
suggested to make the opening 116 for the retention-release tool in the front surface
113 of the housing 110. However, in such a case, since the retaining lances 125 are
located between the contact section 121 and the wire-connecting section 122, it would
be necessary to make the opening 116 very deep and the retention-release tool 140
very long, thereby making the contact removal rather complicated.
[0005] On the other hand, in the insertion of contacts in the housing, some contacts can
be inadvertently inserted upside down. In a conventional electrical connector 100,
such an occurrence is prevented from happening by the front edge of the retaining
lances 125 of the contact 120 being pressed against the back surface 112 of the housing
110, thus drawing attention to the fact that a contact is upside down.
[0006] Nevertheless, since in the conventional electrical connector 100, the retaining lances
125 of the contact 120 are located between the back edge of the contact section 121
and the front edge of the wire-connecting section 122, the contact can be inserted
even when it is upside down.
[0007] Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to offer an electrical connector
allowing for easy removal of contacts from the housing.
[0008] Another purpose of the present invention is to offer an electrical connector making
it possible to immediately identify a contact that is being inserted in an upside
down position, and contacts used therein.
[0009] An electrical connector according to the present invention comprises a housing having
contact-receiving cavities extending forward from the back surface and arrayed in
several rows, and multiple electrical contacts accommodated in the contact-receiving
cavities of the housing, with the contacts having a contact section intended to form
electrical connections with mating electrical contacts, a wire-connecting section
located behind the contact section and intended for electrical connection to an electrical
wire, and a retaining section engaging with a retention lug provided in the housing
that is configured as a pair of spring-loaded retaining lances extending from the
front to the back and bending to the left and the right with respect to an axial direction
of the contact, and the retaining section of the contacts is located near a front
end the contact section and the contact-receiving cavities are provided in the housing
with recesses running from a front surface of the housing to the front end of the
contacts for the insertion of a tool for the purpose of releasing the retention of
the spring-loaded retaining lances from the retention lugs.
[0010] The contact-receiving cavities include a first cavity section whose width corresponds
to the width of the contact section of the contacts and a second cavity section that
is linked to the first cavity section and is of a different width than the first cavity
section, i.e., whose width corresponds to the width of the retaining section of the
contacts.
[0011] An electrical contact according to the present invention comprises a contact section,
a wire-connecting section behind the contact section and intended for electrical connection
to an electrical wire, and a retaining section engaging with a retention lug provided
in the housing that is configured as a pair of spring-loaded retaining lances extending
from a front end toward a back end of the contact and bending to the left and the
right with respect to an axial direction of the contact, and the retaining section
is located adjacent the front end of the contact.
[0012] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example with
reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
[0013] Figure 1 is a front view of an electrical connector according to the present invention.
[0014] Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 in Fig. 1.
[0015] Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 in Fig. 1.
[0016] Figure 4 is a rear view of the electrical connector shown in Fig. 1.
[0017] Figure 5 is a perspective view of an electrical contact according to the present
invention, constituting a part of the electrical connector shown in Fig. 1.
[0018] Figure 6 is an exploded perspective view of the electrical connector depicted in
Fig. 1 with the secondary retention member being spaced from the housing before its
coupling with the housing.
[0019] Figures 7a-7c show a conventional electrical connector and electrical contact used
therein with Figure 7a being a perspective view of the contact; Figure 7b a part cross-sectional
view of the electrical connector; and Figure 7c a cross-sectional view taken along
line 7c-7c in Figure 7b.
[0020] Figures 1 through 4 show electrical connector 1 comprising a dielectric housing 10
having contact-receiving cavities 11, 12 extending from rear surface 13 to front surface
14, arrayed in several rows, and of multiple electrical contacts 20, 30 inserted in
the contact-receiving cavities 11, 12 of the housing 10. From among the contact-receiving
cavities 11, 12, the cavities 12 comprising the upper row accommodate contacts 30
including contact section 31 intended to form electrical connection with mating contacts
(not shown) and wire-connecting section 32 electrically connected to electrical wire
50. The rear end of the contact section 31 of contact 30 engages against housing lance
15 extending inside the contact-receiving cavity 12, thus providing for primary retention
in the back direction. In addition, at the front surface 14 of the housing 10, a dielectric
secondary-retention member 40 is mounted whose extension 42 enters space 16 located
above the housing lance 15 and blocks it from being displaced upward, thereby providing
for the secondary retention for the contact 30 within contact-receiving cavity 12.
[0021] The contact-receiving cavities 11 of the second and lower rows of the contact-receiving
cavities 11, 12 of the housing 10 accommodate multiple electrical contacts 20 that
are different from contacts 30. Contacts 20 are stamped and formed from brass or other
sheet metal material. Contacts 20 include contact section 21 intended to form electrical
connection with mating contacts (not shown) and wire-connecting section 22 intended
for electrical connection to an electrical wire (not shown) that is located behind
the contact section 21. Near a front end of the contact section 21, an upward extending
retention device 23 is located that engages with a retention lug 17 in the contact-receiving
cavity 11 of the housing 10.
[0022] As can be seen in Figure 5, the retention device 23 includes two spring-loaded retaining
lances 24 oriented in the longitudinal direction that can bend to the right and to
the left or away from each other relative to a centerline or axis of the contact 20.
The contact section 21 includes a bottom wall 25 and two side walls 26 extending upward
from both sides of the bottom wall 25. One of the two side walls 26 is bent to form
upper wall 27 thereby forming a box-shaped receptacle 28 having inside it a spring-loaded
U-shaped contact 29 that establishes electrical connection with a mating contact.
One of the two spring-loaded lances 24 forming the retention device 23 is made by
being cut from the upper wall 27 of the receptacle 28 by a cut in the direction of
the contact centerline, and the other lance 24 extends from the side wall 26. The
spring-loaded retaining lances 24 extend parallel to one another and to the contact
centerline.
[0023] The contact-receiving cavities 11 accommodating contacts 20 include a cavity section
11a, whose width corresponds to the width of the contact section 21 and a second cavity
section llb of lesser width corresponding to the width of the retention device 23
that is linked to the first cavity section 11a. The width of the second cavity section
11b may also be greater than that of the first cavity section 11a.
[0024] The contact section 21 and the wire-connecting section 22 of all contacts 20 are
inserted from the rear surface 13 of the housing 10 in the first cavity section 11a.
At this time, the retention devices 23 of the contacts 20 are inserted in the second
cavity section 11b also from the rear surface 13 of the housing 10. If a contact 20
is upside down during the insertion, it will engage against the rear surface 13 of
the housing 10, thus making insertion impossible and indicating that the contact is
in the wrong position. In such a situation, due to the fact that the retention device
23 of the contact 20 is located near the front end of the contact section 21, it blocks
the insertion of the contact in the wrong position and makes it possible to easily
identify the problem. Eventually, in the process of insertion, the retention device
23 engages with the retaining lug 17 of the housing 10.
[0025] The retaining lugs 17 of the housing 10 are arranged at a front end of an upper wall
of the contact-receiving cavities 11 extending inside the cavities. When the retention
device 23 is inserted into the contact-receiving cavity 11, the spring-loaded lances
24 comprising the retention device 23 move along cam surfaces 17a located on both
sides of the retention lug 17 and are bent aside to the right and left from the center
line, and after they pass the lug 17, they return to their original position at a
front end of the retention lug, thus securing the contact 20 in the housing 10. Since
in such a configuration the spring-loaded lances 24 of the retention device 23 are
deflected to the left and right sides of the centerline, there is no need in bending
them up and down, thus making it possible to reduce the height of the contact-receiving
cavities.
[0026] At the front end 14 of the housing 10, a recessed surface 14a (Figure 6) is located
to accommodate secondary retention member 40. The recessed surface 14a has guiding
openings 11c for the reception of mating contacts that correspond to the contact-receiving
cavities 11. The guiding openings 11c are surrounded by projections 11d. In addition,
in the recessed surface 14a, above each contact-receiving cavity 11 surrounded by
the projections 11d, recesses 18 for insertion of a retention-release tool are provided
that are linked to the contact-receiving cavities 11 and extend to the retention lugs
17. In addition, projections 12c surrounding slanted contact-guiding surfaces 12b
located at the lower side of the guiding openings 12a for mating contacts are provided
on the recessed surface 14a at areas corresponding to the contact-receiving cavities
12. In the front wall 41 of the secondary retention member 40 that fits over the recessed
surface 14a, multiple openings 43 are located that receive the projections 11d of
the housing 10 when the secondary retention member 40 is secured on the recessed surface
14a. In addition, the front wall 41 of the secondary retention member 40 has multiple
secondary openings 44 that couple with the projections 12c and together with the slanted
contact guiding surfaces 12b of the projections 12c form contact-guiding openings
12a when the secondary retention member 40 is secured on the recessed surface 14a.
[0027] The secondary retention member 40 can be shifted between the temporary retention
position of the contacts 30 in the contact-receiving cavities 12 and the secondary
or final retention position of the contacts 30. In order to perform the temporary
and final retention by the secondary retention member 40, temporary-latching lugs
19a and final-latching lugs 19b are located on the side walls of the housing 10, and
latching slots 46 having latches 47 are located on both side walls 45 of the secondary
retention member 40. In the temporary retention position, the latches 47 of the secondary
retention member 40 engage latching lugs 19a and final-latching lugs 19b of the housing
10, and the motion of the secondary retention member 40 is temporarily blocked in
both coupling and removing directions. In the final retention position of the secondary
retention member 40, the front edges of the latches 47 of the secondary retention
member 40 engage with the ledges 19c located on the side walls of the housing 10 and
the back edges of the latches 47 engage with the final-latching lugs 19b, thus blocking
the motion of the secondary retention member 40 both in the coupling and removing
direction.
[0028] Next the process of the removal of contacts 20 arranged in multiple rows in the contact-receiving
cavities 11 of the housing 10 is explained.
[0029] In order to remove contacts 20 arranged in multiple rows from the housing 10, it
is necessary first to disengage the secondary retention member 40 from the housing
10 by bending both side walls 45 of the secondary retention member 40 outwardly, after
which the secondary retention member 40 can be removed from the housing 10. After
that, the retention-release tool (not shown) is inserted from the front side of the
housing 10 in the recesses 18 provided for this purpose. The retention-release tool
separates the spring-loaded lances 24 of the retention device 23 of the contact 20,
thus resulting in the disengagement of the retention device 23 from the retention
lug 17. After that, contact 20 can be removed through the back surface of the housing
10.
[0030] The same procedure is then applied to each contact 20. In this manner, all contacts
20 can be removed from the housing 10. Since the retention device 23 is located near
the front end of the contact section 21 and since the recesses 18 for the retention-release
tool are located at the front end 14 of the housing 10 in proximity of the retention
devices 23, the retention devices 23 can be easily disengaged by the retention-release
tool even if the contacts 20 are arranged in the housing 10 in multiple rows.
[0031] Due to the fact that in the electrical connector according to the present invention,
the contact-retaining section is located near the front end of the contact section
and since recesses for the insertion of the retention-release tool extending from
the front surface of the housing to the retention device are provided, the retention
device can be easily disengaged when a contact must be removed from the housing. Contacts
can be easily removed from the housing even if they are arranged in multiple rows.
[0032] Since the contact-receiving cavities consist of two sections with the first section
of the cavity having the same width as the contact section of the contact, and the
second section of the cavity, which is linked to the first section but whose width
is different from that of the first section and corresponds to the retention device
width, the contacts cannot be inserted in the contact-receiving cavity in an upside
down position because the retention device engages against the back surface of the
housing, thereby preventing farther insertion and indicating that the contact is in
the wrong position. Therefore, due to the fact that the retention device is located
near the front end of the contact, the insertion of contacts in an upside down position
into the contact-receiving cavities can be easily prevented.
[0033] Since the retention device of the contact is configured as two spring-loaded lances
that can bend to the left and right relative to the axis of the contact and since
the retention device is located near the front end of the contact section, it is possible
to reduce the vertical dimensions of the contact-receiving cavities. In addition,
since the retention device can be easily disengaged from the retention lug by using
a retention-release tool, the contacts can be easily removed from the housing, thus
making it possible to arrange contacts in the housing in several rows. Positioning
of the retention device near the front end of the contact section makes it possible
to immediately recognize that the contact is in a wrong position during its insertion
in the contact-receiving cavity.
1. An electrical connector comprising a housing (10) having contact-receiving cavities
(11) extending through the housing from a back end to a front end and arranged in
rows, electrical contacts (20) disposed in the contact-receiving cavities with the
contacts having a contact section (21) for electrical connection with mating electrical
contacts, a wire-connecting section (22) for electrical connection to an electrical
wire, and a retaining section (23) engaging with retention lugs (17) provided in the
contact-receiving cavities thereby retaining the contacts in the contact-receiving
cavities, wherein
the retaining section (23) is located adjacent a front end of the contact section
(21), and the contact-receiving cavities are provided with recesses (18) extending
from the front end of the housing to the front end of the contacts for the insertion
of a tool to release the retaining sections (23) from the retention lugs (17) so that
the contacts can be removed from the contact-receiving cavities.
2. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the retaining section (23)
is in the form of a pair of spring-loaded lances (24) extending upwardly from the
contact section and they can be bent away from each other.
3. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the contact-receiving cavities
(11) comprise a first section (11a) having a width corresponding to the width of the
contact section (21) and a second section (llb) linked to said first section and is
of a different width than the first section so as to accommodate the retaining section
(23).
4. An electrical connector as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the retention lugs (17)
have cam surfaces (17a) at inner ends thereof.
5. An electrical connector as claimed in any preceding claim wherein other contact-receiving
cavities (12) are provided in said housing (10) in which other electrical contacts
(30) are disposed, housing lances (15) are located in the other contact-receiving
cavities engaging the other electrical contacts, and a secondary retention member
(40) is latchably mounted onto said housing and includes an extension (42) engaging
the housing lances and blocks them from being displaced from the other electrical
contacts.
6. An electrical contact comprising a contact section (21) for electrical connection
to a mating contact, a wire-connecting section (22) located adjacent the contact section
for electrical connection to an electrical wire, and a retaining section (23) for
engagement with a retention lug in a contact-receiving cavity of a housing to retain
the contact therein, wherein
the retaining section is located adjacent a front end of the contact section.
7. An electrical contact as claimed in claim 6, wherein the retaining section (23) is
in the form of a pair of spring-loaded lances (24) extending outwardly from the contact
section (21) and they can be bent away from each other.