Connector with secondary locking and coupling mechanism
AssigneeThe Whitaker Corporation
InventorsJacques Lalange, Olivier Pamart
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A connector assembly having a secondary locking member and a slide coupling member includes interengaging features between the slide coupling member and secondary locking member whereby the slide coupling member cannot be activated unless the secondary locking member is in its fully locked position and the secondary locking member further comprises extensions extending beyond a terminal receiving end wall of the connector housing to enable the secondary locking member to be manually depressed from the fully locked to the preassembly position so that it is particularly simple to repair the connector, for example when removal and reinsertion of terminals is required.
Claims8
An electrical connector comprising a housing for receiving electrical terminals therein, and a secondary locking member mountable to the housing in a first preassembly position where the terminals can be inserted and locked in corresponding cavities, the secondary locking member movable to a fully locked position to securely lock the terminals in their corresponding cavities, the housing extending from a mating end that faces a complementary connector to be mated with the connector, to a terminal receiving end where the terminals are inserted into the cavities of the housing, the housing including an end wall located towards the terminal receiving end, the secondary locking member being mountable to the housing from the mating end, wherein the secondary locking member includes at least one actuator that projects through a cavity in the end wall when the secondary locking member is in the fully locked position, such that the actuator can be manually activated to move the secondary locking member from the fully locked to the preassembly position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.