Electrical connector with fully shrouded lock
First Claim
1. An electrical connector having a unitarily molded first housing structure and a unitarily molded second housing structure in locked engagement with the first housing structure, said first and second housing structures together adapted to contain a single set of electrical terminals which can mate with a complementary electrical connector the first housing structure comprising latch means for locked but releasable mating of said electrical connector with a second connector, said latch means comprising deflectable locking means for lockingly engaging the second connector and actuating means for selectively deflecting the locking means, said first housing structure further comprising a first shroud at least partly enclosing a first portion of said latch means, said second housing structure comprising a second shroud at least partly enclosing a second portion of said latch means of said first housing structure, whereby the first and second shrouds combine to substantially prevent the latch means from snagging wires and accumulating debris.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An electrical connector is provided with unitarily molded housing and a wire seal cover mounted to the rear end of the housing. A latch extends from a wall of the housing and includes a forwardly projecting locking beam and a rearwardly projecting actuator. The housing further includes a shroud unitarily molded therewith to cover both sides and the top of the locking beam of the latch. The wire seal cover further includes a shroud for protecting the actuator of the latch. However, at least a portion of the shroud on the wire seal cover is open to enable actuation of the latch for unmating the connector.
44 Citations
13 Claims
- 1. An electrical connector having a unitarily molded first housing structure and a unitarily molded second housing structure in locked engagement with the first housing structure, said first and second housing structures together adapted to contain a single set of electrical terminals which can mate with a complementary electrical connector the first housing structure comprising latch means for locked but releasable mating of said electrical connector with a second connector, said latch means comprising deflectable locking means for lockingly engaging the second connector and actuating means for selectively deflecting the locking means, said first housing structure further comprising a first shroud at least partly enclosing a first portion of said latch means, said second housing structure comprising a second shroud at least partly enclosing a second portion of said latch means of said first housing structure, whereby the first and second shrouds combine to substantially prevent the latch means from snagging wires and accumulating debris.
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10. An electrical connector comprising a housing having a body defining a forward mating end, a rearward wire receiving end and a plurality of terminal receiving cavities extending therebetween, said housing comprising a deflectable latch for locking the mating end of the housing body with a second connector, a wire seal cover lockingly engaged with the rear wire receiving end of the housing body, wherein the improvement comprises:
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the latch being unitarily molded with the connector housing and comprising a route extending from the body of the housing, a locking beam in spaced relationship to the housing body and extending deflectably forwardly toward the mating end thereof, an actuator in spaced relationship to the housing body and extending substantially rigidly from the locking beam rearwardly toward the rearward wire receiving end of the body; a pair of housing side shroud walls unitary with the housing and disposed on opposite respective sides of the locking beam for preventing accumulation of debris between the locking beam and the housing body; and a pair of cover shroud side walls unitary with the wire seal cover and disposed on opposite respective sides of the actuator for preventing accumulation of debris intermediate the actuator and the body of the housing. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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Specification