Electrical connector having a CPA plug
View Patent ↗An electrical connector has a CPA plug (connector position assurance plug) for assuring that the electrical connector is properly connected to a mating electrical connector. The electrical connector includes a right-angled connector body having a plurality of longitudinal channels that open into an axial shroud that plugs into a socket of the mating connector in the axial direction, and a plurality of right angled terminals that are disposed in the plurality of longitudinal channels respectively with their respective contacts disposed in the axial shroud. The axial shroud has a cover at one end and the CPA plug is attached to the cover for movement between a prestaged position and a final locked position assuring that the electrical connector is properly connected to the mating electrical connector. Three embodiments are disclosed.
1. An electrical connector having a CPA plug (connector position assurance plug) for assuring that the electrical connector is properly connected to a mating electrical connector comprising:
a right-angled connector body having a plurality of longitudinal channels that open into an axial shroud that plugs into a socket of the mating connector in the axial direction,
a plurality of right angled terminals that are disposed in the plurality of longitudinal channels respectively with their respective contacts disposed in the axial shroud,
a cover that is attached to the connector body so that it overlies the plurality of longitudinal channels and the axial shroud,
the CPA plug being attached to the cover for movement between a prestaged position and a final locked position assuring that the electrical connector is properly connected to the mating electrical connector,
the CPA plug having an operator pad outwards of the cover and a plurality of spaced legs that project into the axial shroud via slots that extend through the cover,
the axial shroud having a plurality of lock mechanisms,
each lock mechanism comprising a pivotal lock arm that has a lower outwardly projecting lock ridge for locking the electrical connector to the mating electrical connector, a medial inwardly projecting push ledge for pushing the electrical connector into locked engagement with the mating electrical connector, and an upper inwardly projecting lock nib that is engagable with one of the plurality of legs of the CPA plug,
each of the plurality of legs of the CPA plug having a first portion engaged by the lock nib of one lock mechanism to hold the CPA plug in the prestaged position,
each of the plurality of legs of the CPA plug having a second portion engaged by the lock nib of the one lock mechanism to hold the CPA plug in the final locked position when the electrical connector is properly connected to a mating electrical connector, and
each of the plurality of legs of the CPA plug having a third portion that engages the push ledge for pushing the electrical connector into locked engagement with the mating electrical connector.
2. The electrical connector as defined in claim 1 wherein the first portion engaged by the lock nib of one lock mechanism to hold the CPA plug in the prestaged position is a lower window in each of the plurality of legs.
3. The electrical connector as defined in claim 1 wherein the second portion engaged by the lock nib of the one lock mechanism to hold the CPA plug in the final locked position when the electrical connector is properly connected to a mating electrical connector is an upper window in each of the plurality of legs.
4. The electrical connector as defined in claim 1 wherein the third portion that engages the push ledge for pushing the electrical connector into locked engagement with the mating electrical connector is a bottom surface of each of the plurality of legs.
5. The electrical connector as defined in claim 1 wherein the CPA plug has openings that receive projections of the cover when the CPA plug is in the final locked position indicating that the electrical connector is properly connected to the mating electrical connector.
6. The mating electrical connector as defined in claim 1 wherein the CPA plug has a skirt outwardly of the cover and the axial shroud of the right-angled connector body.
7. The electrical connector has defined in claim 6 wherein the skirt has slots that cooperate with guide ribs of the axial shroud to guide the CPA plug between the pre-staged position and the final locked position.
8. The electrical connector as defined in claim 6 wherein the skirt has ledges that engage a bottom surface of the cover to assist in disconnecting the electrical connector from the mating electrical connector.
9. The electrical connector as defined in claim 6 wherein the CPA plug has openings that receive projections of the cover when the CPA plug is in the final locked position indicating that the electrical connector is properly connected to the mating electrical connector.
10. An electrical connector having a CPA plug (connector position assurance plug) for assuring that the electrical connector is properly connected to a mating electrical connector comprising:
a right-angled connector body having a plurality of longitudinal channels that open into an axial shroud that plugs into a socket of the mating connector in the axial direction,
a plurality of right angled terminals that are disposed in the plurality of longitudinal channels respectively with their respective contacts disposed in the axial shroud,
a cover that is attached to the connector body so that it overlies the plurality of longitudinal channels and the axial shroud,
the CPA plug being attached to the cover for movement between a prestaged position and a final locked position assuring that the electrical connector is properly connected to the mating electrical connector,
the CPA plug having an operator pad outwards of the cover and a plurality of spaced legs that project into the axial shroud via slots that extend through the cover,
the axial shroud having a plurality of lock mechanisms,
each lock mechanism comprising a pivotal lock arm that has a lower outwardly projecting lock ridge for locking the electrical connector to the mating electrical connector,
each lock mechanism further comprising at least one flexible retention arm having an inwardly projecting push ledge for pushing the electrical connector into locked engagement with the mating electrical connector, and
each lock mechanism further comprising a strap having an upper inwardly projecting lock nib that is engagable with one of the plurality of legs of the CPA plug,
each of the plurality of legs of the CPA plug having a first portion engaged by the lock nib of one lock mechanism to hold the CPA plug in the prestaged position,
each of the plurality of legs of the CPA plug having a second portion engaged by the lock nib of the one lock mechanism to hold the CPA plug in the final locked position when the electrical connector is properly connected to a mating electrical connector, and
each of the plurality of legs of the CPA plug having a third portion that engages the push ledge for pushing the electrical connector into locked engagement with the mating electrical connector.
11. The electrical connector as defined in claim 10 wherein the first portion engaged by the lock nib of one lock mechanism to hold the CPA plug in the prestaged position is a lower side rib on each of the plurality of legs.
12. The electrical connector as defined in claim 10 wherein the second portion engaged by the lock nib of the one lock mechanism to hold the CPA plug in the final locked position when the electrical connector is properly connected to a mating electrical connector is an upper side rib on each of the plurality of legs.
13. The electrical connector as defined in claim 10 wherein the third portion that engages the push ledge for pushing the electrical connector into locked engagement with the mating electrical connector is a bottom surface of each of the plurality of legs.