ATBECHDEDKESFRGBGRITLILUNLSEMCPTIESILTLVFIROMKCYALTR............................
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DIM360 (Ver 1.5 21 Nov 2005) - 1100000/0
1122836
EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION
A1
20010808
EP
01500013.6
20010112
es
en
en
200000192 U
20000131
ES
20010808
200132
20010808
200132
7
7H 01R 13/629 A
de
Schiebeelement für elektrische Verbinderanordnung
en
Sliding element for an electrical connector assembly
fr
Elément coulissant pour dispositif de connexion électrique
NONE
Lear Automotive (EEDS) Spain, S.L.
03012711
AX000111EP
Carrer Fuster s/n, Poligono Industrial Valls
43800 Valls, Tarragona
ES
Roset Rubio, Josep Maria
Carrer Fuster S/N, Poligono Industrial Valls
43800 Valls (Tarragona)
ES
Primo de Rivera y Urquijo, Jose Antonio
00057461
General Martinez Campos, 51
28010 Madrid
ES
AT
BE
CH
CY
DE
DK
ES
FI
FR
GB
GR
IE
IT
LI
LU
MC
NL
PT
SE
TR
AL
LT
LV
MK
RO
SI
An improved sliding element for an electrical connector assembly. The connector assembly is made up of a housing which houses the electrical terminals, a body which slides on the housing with parallel arms and an operating element of the sliding body. At the ends of its side walls, the housing has undercuttings adapted to facilitate handling of the sliding body when being extracted from the connector housing.
The present application for Patent of Invention, as its title indicates, is an "IMPROVED SLIDING ELEMENT FOR AN ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY", whose new features of construction, shape and design fulfil the objective for which it has been specifically planned, with maximum safety and effectiveness.
The electrical connectors used, for example, in cars are basically made up of a housing made of an appropriate insulating material inside which a series of electrical terminals is mounted which are arranged in inner cavities of the connector body through which the corresponding cables pass. These connectors usually include a blocking element for the terminals to hold them in position, which is inserted into the housing once the terminals are correctly placed inside the same. The electrical connectors of the type described centralise the cabling of an electrical installation and are designed to be appropriately coupled to the corresponding service boxes.
Coupling of the connector may be carried out by pressure or by using a sliding body provided with inclined side guides. This sliding body or slider runs through the inside of the connector box so that the inclination of the guides causes the anchoring of said connector box in the corresponding service box, ensuring the correct positioning of the connectors with respect to the box by virtue of the creation of an avalanche effect.
In practice, it has been found that on many occasions it is necessary to extract the sliding body from the connector to handle the terminals or to carry out any maintenance or repair operation on the connector's elements. However, extraction of the sliding body is not easy as it is held inside the connector assembly thanks to blocking flanges and to the resistance itself offered by the terminals.
In order to solve this drawback the present invention has been developed, whose main objective is to have a sliding body or slider which can be handled comfortably and effectively by the operator. In this sense, the invention proposes a double handling system of said sliding body designed to facilitate the extraction operation as will be described in detail below.
Specifically, the invention refers to an improved sliding element for an electrical connector assembly of the type made up of a housing which houses electrical terminals inside, a sliding body mounted in the housing provided with parallel arms and an operating element of said sliding body.
The main feature of the present invention is that the ends of the side walls of the housing of the electrical connector adjacent to the said operating element of the sliding element have respective undercuttings adapted to facilitate extraction of the sliding body from the connector housing. Moreover, the operating element of the sliding body has, in its upper part, an undercutting which is similar to the undercuttings of the connector mentioned above. Thanks to this feature, the operator can extract the sliding body with great ease by gripping the end of the same with his fingers introduced into said side undercuttings. The present invention also provides for the arrangement of protuberances formed in the arms of said sliding body, which extend vertically upwards and co-operate with the side undercuttings described above to facilitate extraction of the sliding body from the connector housing.
The features and advantages of the improved sliding element for an electrical connector assembly which is the object of the present invention will be made clearer in the detailed description of a preferred embodiment of said assembly. Said description will be given, hereinafter, by way of non-restrictive example, with reference to the drawings which accompany it, in which figure 1 is a perspective view of an electrical connector of the type which is used in electrical installations for cars. Figure 2 of the drawings corresponds to a side elevational view of an electrical connector in accordance with the present invention. Figure 3 is a front view according to the embodiment of figure 2 and figure 4 is a plan view of the electrical connector illustrated in the foregoing drawings.
The different elements which appear in the drawings are: (1) an electrical connector assembly, (2) housing of the connector, (3) cavities for the terminals, (4) sliding body of the connector, (5) arms of the sliding body, (6) operating element, (7) undercutting of the operating element, (8) side undercuttings of the connector and (9) vertical protuberances.
In the drawings different views may be observed of a practical embodiment of an electrical connector assembly (1) provided with a double handling system in accordance with the present invention. More specifically, the connector assembly (1) of the invention consists of a housing (2) provided with inner cavities (3) for housing electrical terminals (not shown) and a sliding body or slider (4) mounted in the housing (2) made up of two parallel arms (5) which are introduced inside the connector (1). The arms (5) of the sliding body (4) are joined to each other at their ends by an operating element (6) which receives the force of the operator when the sliding body (4) is introduced into the connector. For extracting said sliding body (4) there is a semi-circular undercutting (7) adapted so that the operator may introduce his finger into the same. Also, the ends of the side walls of the housing (2) adjacent to the operating element (6) have respective undercuttings (8) which co-operate in facilitating extraction of the sliding body (4) from the housing (2) of the electrical connector (1).
The arms (5) of the sliding body (4) incorporate protuberances (9) which extend vertically upwards and also serve to facilitate extraction of the sliding body (4) from the housing (2) of the connector (1), co-operating with said undercuttings (7, 8) described above and constituting a second handling system of the assembly. Therefore, handling of the connector by means of the undercuttings (7, 8) and the protuberances (9) considerably facilitate extraction of the slider or sliding body (4) from the connector (1).
Without departing from the essential nature of the present invention, nor from the inventive concept of the same as defined in the claims included below, all the materials of the elements which make up the connector assembly of the invention, as well as the shapes, dimensions and other accessory elements, may be replaced by others which are technically equivalent.
1. "AN IMPROVED SLIDING ELEMENT FOR AN ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY", the connector assembly (1) being made up of a housing (2) which houses electrical terminals inside, a sliding body (4) mounted in the housing (2) provided with parallel arms (5) and an operating element (6) of said sliding body (4), characterised in that the ends of the side walls of said housing (2) adjacent to said operating element (6) have respective undercuttings (7) adapted to facilitate handling of the sliding body (4) when it is extracted from the housing (2) of the connector (1), the operating element (6) having an undercutting (7) formed in the upper part of the same.
2. "AN IMPROVED SLIDING ELEMENT FOR AN ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY" in accordance with claim 1, characterised in that the arms (5) of said sliding body (4) are provided with protuberances (9) which extend vertically upwards for facilitating the extraction of the sliding body (4) from the housing (2) of the connector (1), co-operating with said side undercuttings (8) of the connector (1).