Electrical connectors – Coupling part including flexing insulation – Sealing
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-18
2001-01-09
Abrams, Neil (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
Coupling part including flexing insulation
Sealing
Reexamination Certificate
active
06171144
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to a sealing plug for a multi-contact electrical connector which precludes the necessity of installing separate dummy pin contacts to effect the environmental sealing of non-used contact cavities.
A multi-pin electrical connector assembly is frequently provided to connect multiple electrical components attached to a wire harness bundle which transmits electrical signals to and from the individual components. In many installations it is unnecessary to use all the pin contacts available in the multi-pin electrical connector as the full capability of the connector is not required in that particular installation. For reasons of standardization, the overly capable multi-pin electrical connector assembly is commonly still provided even though the full capacity of that connector assembly is not required. Dummy circuits having spare pin contacts are therefore included within the wire harness bundle such that the spare pin contacts are inserted in the unused pin contact receiving cavities to environmentally seal the connector.
As shown in
FIG. 1
, a sectional view of a multi-contact electrical connector assembly
5
includes a connector portion
7
having multiple pin contact receiving cavities
9
and associated pin connector locking members
11
. To afford a tight seal with the inserted pin contacts
13
, a relatively soft rubber grommet
15
is mounted to the connector portion
7
by a connector cap
17
and includes apertures
19
aligned with the pin contact receiving cavities
9
.
Typically, when sealing a non-used pin contact receiving cavity
9
in the connector assembly
5
, it is common to insert a spare pin contact
13
. The prior art sealing arrangement thus had a spare pin contact
13
attached to a dummy circuit
21
contained within the wiring harness bundle
23
. The pin contact
13
is mounted in the pin contact receiving cavity
9
and extends therefrom through the aperture
19
in the grommet
15
to be retained in a conventional manner by a locking member
11
. The spare pin contact
13
thereby providing the environmental sealing of any non-used pin contact receiving cavities
9
.
While the above-described sealing arrangement was satisfactory for its intended purpose, certain disadvantages were experienced, notably, the use of dummy circuits can not be electrically detected after installation. Additionally, the use of spare pin contacts and dummy circuits prevents the reduction of the wire harness bundle size and increases the cost of the wire harness.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a sealing plug for a multi-contact electrical connector which environmentally seals non-used contact cavities to thereby alleviate the disadvantages described above.
The sealing plug preferably includes a shaft portion and a locking portion to lock the sealing plug into the electrical connector in a similar manner as a pin contact. The sealing plug extends through the grommet, and is retained by the locking member to effect the environmental sealing of the non-used contact cavities.
The sealing plug is designed to be installed, retained and extracted in the same manner as a pin contact while providing a head portion which extends from the shaft portion for gripping purposes and to provide a visual indication that the sealing plug is installed.
The sealing plug of the present invention therefore results in substantial cost savings by eliminating costly pin contacts, reduces the connector weight, and reduces the overall wire bundle size.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4973268 (1990-11-01), Smith
patent: 4993964 (1991-02-01), Trummer
patent: 5181863 (1993-01-01), Welsh
patent: 5226832 (1993-07-01), Dejardin et al.
patent: 5551892 (1996-09-01), Endo
patent: 5707251 (1998-01-01), Sakai et al.
patent: 3-74482 (1991-03-01), None
Abrams Neil
Lear Automotive Dearborn Inc.
MacMillan Sobanski & Todd LLC
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