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US 7,066,773 B1Granted
Electrical connector with TPA stop
AssigneeTyco Electronics Corporation
InventorGalen M. Martin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electrical connector includes a housing that receives an electrical contact. The housing includes a stop element. A terminal position assurance (TPA) member is loaded on the housing. The TPA member is moveable between a staged position and a final position. The stop element engages the TPA member in the staged position to prevent advancement of the TPA member from the staged position to the final position until a contact is fully loaded in the housing.
Claims20
An electrical connector comprising:
- a housing having a contact cavity configured to receive an electrical contact along a contact loading path, said housing including a stop element;
- and
- a terminal position assurance (TPA) member loaded on said housing, said TPA member being moveable between a staged position and a final position, said TPA member having a deflectable beam;
- said stop element engaging said deflectable beam in said staged position to prevent advancement of said TPA member from said staged position to said final position, said deflectable beam being positioned, when in said staged position, to extend into the contact cavity and interfere with the contact loading path, as the contact is loaded along the contact loading path, the contact engaging and pivoting said deflectable beam out of the contact cavity away from the contact loading path.
1 more element
An electrical connector comprising:
- a housing having a contact cavity configured to receive an electrical contact along a contact loading path, said housing including a contact retention element;
- and
- a terminal position assurance (TPA) member loaded on said housing and having a deflectable beam, said TPA member being moveable between a staged position and a final position, the deflectable beam and contact retention element both extending into the contact cavity and are aligned such that the contact first engages and pivotally deflects said contact retention element and second engages and pivotally deflects said deflectable beam as the contact is loaded along the contact loading path;
- the contact engaging said deflectable beam when the contact is fully loaded in said housing to enable said TPA member to move from said staged position to said final position wherein the contact is retained in said housing.
1 more element
An electrical connector comprising:
- a housing having a contact cavity configured to receive an electrical contact along a contact loading path, said housing including a wall and a stop element, said stop element being separated from said wall by a gap;
- and
- a terminal position assurance (TPA) member loaded on said housing and having a deflectable beam, said TPA member being moveable between a staged position and a final position, said stop element engaging said deflectable beam in said staged position to prevent advancement of said TPA member to said final position until a contact is fully loaded in said housing, the contact engaging said deflectable beam and pivoting said deflectable beam into aliment with said gap between said stop element and said wall when the contact is fully loaded in said housing to enable said TPA member to move from said staged position to said final position wherein the contact is retained in said housing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.