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US 7,351,117 B1Granted
Electrical connector assembly having pre-staging and final staging contact configurations
AssigneeTyco Electronics Corporation
InventorsMatthew E. Mostoller, William Gary Lenker
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electrical connector assembly for a refrigerator door is disclosed. The connector assembly includes a substantially cylindrical plug subassembly and a substantially cylindrical receptacle subassembly that are mateably connectable with one another. Either one or both of the plug and receptacle subassemblies include a front and a rear housing that can be arranged to provide a pre-staging configuration for preassembly of contacts in the connector and a final staging configuration to fully secure the contacts in the subassembly.
Claims20
An electrical connector assembly for a refrigerator door comprising:
- a substantially cylindrical plug subassembly having a front plug housing and a rear plug housing, the front plug housing and the rear plug housing positionable in a first staging configuration and a second staging configuration with respect to one another;
- a substantially cylindrical receptacle subassembly mateably connectable with the plug subassembly;
- and
- means for releaseably mating the plug and receptacle subassemblies to one another,
- wherein the receptacle subassembly includes a common receptacle channel for receiving the plug subassembly, wherein a plurality of male contacts are disposed within the common receptacle channel, and
- wherein the plug subassembly includes a plurality of female contacts individually having a mating end positioned within separate plug channels,
- the female contacts comprising a head section, and a neck section having a diameter smaller than the head section,
- wherein each female contact is configured to connect with a corresponding male contact when the plug and receptacle are mateably connected and wherein the plug is sized and dimensioned to fit through a refrigerator door hinge, and
- wherein the rear plug housing comprises a plurality of multi-fingered parapets extending forwardly away from the rear plug housing toward the front plug housing retracted around the neck section of the female contact.
6 more elements
An electrical connector assembly for a refrigerator door comprising:
- a substantially cylindrical plug subassembly having a front plug housing and a rear plug housing;
- a substantially cylindrical receptacle subassembly mateably connectable with the plug subassembly having a front receptacle housing and a rear receptacle housing, the front receptacle housing and the rear receptacle housing positionable in a first staging configuration and a second staging configuration with respect to one another;
- and
- means for releaseably mating the plug and receptacle subassemblies to one another,
- wherein the receptacle subassembly includes a common receptacle channel for receiving the plug subassembly, wherein a plurality of male contacts are disposed within the common receptacle channel, and
- wherein the substantially cylindrical receptacle subassembly includes a plurality of male contacts individually having a mating end positioned within separate plug channels,
- the male contacts comprising a head section and a neck section having a diameter smaller than the head section
- each male contact configured to connect with a corresponding female contact when the receptacle and plug are mateably connected and wherein the plug is sized and dimensioned to fit through a refrigerator door hinge, and
- wherein the rear plug housing comprises a plurality of multi-fingered parapets extending forwardly away from the rear plug housing toward the front plug housing retracted around the neck section of the female contact.
6 more elements
An electrical connector assembly for a refrigerator door comprising:
- a substantially cylindrical plug subassembly having a front plug housing and a plug receptacle housing, the front plug housing and the rear plug housing positionable in a first staging configuration and a second staging configuration with respect to one another;
- a substantially cylindrical receptacle subassembly mateably connectable with the plug subassembly having a front receptacle housing and a rear receptacle housing, the front receptacle housing and the rear receptacle housing positionable in a first staging configuration and a second staging configuration with respect to one another;
- and
- means for releaseably mating the plug and receptacle subassemblies to one another,
- wherein the receptacle subassembly includes a common receptacle channel for receiving the plug subassembly, wherein a plurality of male contacts are disposed within the common receptacle channel, and
- wherein the plug subassembly includes a plurality of female contacts individually having a mating end positioned within separate plug channels,
- the female contacts comprising a head section, and a neck section having a diameter smaller than the head section, and
- wherein the substantially cylindrical receptacle subassembly includes a plurality of male contacts individually having a mating end positioned within separate plug channels,
- the male contacts comprising a head section, and a neck section having a diameter smaller than the head section, and
- wherein each female contact is configured to connect with a corresponding male contact when the plug and receptacle are mateably connected and wherein the plug is sized and dimensioned to fit through a refrigerator door hinge, and
- wherein the rear receptacle housing comprises a plurality of multi-fingered parapets extending forwardly away from the rear receptacle housing toward the front receptacle housing retracted around the neck section of the female contact, and
- wherein the rear plug housing comprises a plurality of multi-fingered parapets extending forwardly away from the rear plug housing toward the front plug housing retracted around the neck section of the female contact.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.