EP0156539A1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Keying system and method of keying for electrical connectors
Assignee: TE Connectivity Corp
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Filing: 1985-03-04
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2005-03-04
Abstract
Abstract First (4) and second (6) connector housings are keyed to each other by means of identical parts (46) which can serve as either keys or keyway plugs. The identical parts (46) are produced as a continuous strip (45) comprising a carrier strip (48) from which the parts (46) extend at spaced apart intervals. In the practice of the invention, a section of strip is used which has a number of parts (46) thereon equal to the number of keying positions in the connector assembly. One or more of the identical parts (46) are removed from the strip (45) and assembled to the first housing (4). Thereafter the remaining parts on the strip (45) are aligned with the-keying positions on the second housing (6) and assembled to the second housing (6). The carrier strip (48) can then be separated from the remaining identical parts.
Inventors
- 👤 Renoldus J.J.M. Verstijnen
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 09:31
CPC Classifications
H; H01; H01R; H01R13/00; H01R13/64; H01R13/645; H01R13/6456; H01R12/00; H01R12/70; H01R12/71; H01R12/712; H01R12/716
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 9
Claim 1
Independent Claim
278 words
An electrlcal connector assembly (2) comprising first (4) and second (6) connector housings, a plurality of keys and a plurality of keyway plugs, the housings (4, 6) having mating faces (10, 30) which are opposed to each other when the housings are coupled to each other, a plurality of keyways (14) extending inwardly from the mating face of the first connector housing (4) and a plurality of key mounting positions (36) on the mating face of the second connector housing (6), the keys being dimensioned so that they can be slidably received in the keyways and being mountable at the mounting positions (36), the keyway plugs being permanently mountable in the keyways (14), the connector assembly being characterized in that: the keyways (14) and the key mounting positions (36) are arranged in rows with the keyways and the key mounting positions spaced apart at predetermined intervals, the keyway plugs and the keys are identical parts (46) and are in the form of a strip (45), the strip comprising a continuous carrier strip (48) from which the identical parts (46) extend normally of the length of the carrier strip, the identical parts (46) being spaced apart at the same predetermined intervals as are the keyways (14) and the key mounting positions (36), the identical parts (46) being removably connected to the carrier strip, whereby, the first connector housing (4) can be keyed to the second connector housing (6) by removing at least one of the identical parts (46) from the strip and assembling the removed part or parts to one of the connector housings (4, 6) and thereafter assembling the remaining identical parts (46) to the other connector housing.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
278 words
An electrlcal connector assembly (2) comprising first (4) and second (6) connector housings, a plurality of keys and a plurality of keyway plugs, the housings (4, 6) having mating faces (10, 30) which are opposed to each other when the housings are coupled to each other, a plurality of keyways (14) extending inwardly from the mating face of the first connector housing (4) and a plurality of key mounting positions (36) on the mating face of the second connector housing (6), the keys being dimensioned so that they can be slidably received in the keyways and being mountable at the mounting positions (36), the keyway plugs being permanently mountable in the keyways (14), the connector assembly being characterized in that: the keyways (14) and the key mounting positions (36) are arranged in rows with the keyways and the key mounting positions spaced apart at predetermined intervals, the keyway plugs and the keys are identical parts (46) and are in the form of a strip (45), the strip comprising a continuous carrier strip (48) from which the identical parts (46) extend normally of the length of the carrier strip, the identical parts (46) being spaced apart at the same predetermined intervals as are the keyways (14) and the key mounting positions (36), the identical parts (46) being removably connected to the carrier strip, whereby, the first connector housing (4) can be keyed to the second connector housing (6) by removing at least one of the identical parts (46) from the strip and assembling the removed part or parts to one of the connector housings (4, 6) and thereafter assembling the remaining identical parts (46) to the other connector housing.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
64 words
An electrical connector assembly (2) as set forth in claim 1 characterized in that each of the identical parts (46) has mounting surface portions (58) extending from one end (54) thereof at least partially towards the other end (52), the key mounting positions (36) and the keyways (14) having complementary mounting surface portions (42, 26) which are interengageable with the mounting surface portions (58).
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
92 words
3 . An electrical connector assembly (2) as set forth in claim 2 characterized in that each of the keyways (14) and each of the key mounting positions (36) has a rib (26, 40) extending normally of the associated mating face (10, 30), the complementary mounting surface portions (42, 26) being the surfaces of the ribs, each of the identical parts (46) having an axially extending recess (56) . which conforms in cross section to the cross sections of the ribs, the mounting surface portions being the surface (58) of the recess.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
63 words
An electrical connector assembly (2) as set forth in claim 3 characterized in that each of the identical parts (46) has a proximate end (52) which is proximate to the carrier strip (48) and a remote end (54) which is remote from the carrier strip, the recess (56) in each identical part extending from the remote end (54) towards the proximate end (52).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
122 words
An electrical connector assembly (2) as set forth in claim 4 characterized in that the rib (24) in each of the keyways (14) in the first housing (4) is offset relative to the rib (40) at the corresponding key mounting position on the mating face of the second housing, the identical parts being dimensioned to provide clearance between a keyway plug in a keyway (14) in the first housing (4) and the ribs (40) in the corresponding key mounting position (36) on the mating face of the second housing (6) and to provide clearance between a key mounted at a key mounting position (36) on the second housing (6) and the ribs (24) in the corresponding keyway (14) of the first housing.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
30 words
An electrical connector assembly (2) as set forth in claim 5 characterized in that one of the connector housings has a hood (34) in surrounding relationship to its mating face.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
194 words
A method of keying an electrical connector assembly (2) which comprises first (4) and second (6) connector housings, the housings having mating faces (10, 30) which are opposed to each other when the housings are coupled to each other, a plurality of keyway portions (14) extending-inwardly from the mating _face (1.0.) of the first connector housing and a like plurality of key mounting positions (36) on the mating face (30) of the second connector housing, the method comprising the steps of: providing keys and keyplugs as identical parts (46) in side-by-side strip form with the identical parts removably connected to a carrier strip (-48) and with the spacing between adjacent identical parts (46) being the same as the spacing between adjacent positions (14) on the first housing (4) and adjacent positions (36) on the second housing (6), detaching at least one of the identical parts (46) from the carrier strip (48) and assembling the detached part (46) to one of the housings, aligning the remaining parts (46) with the positions on the other housing and assembling the remaining parts (46) to the other housing, and breaking the carrier strip (48) from the remaining parts.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
194 words
A method of keying an electrical connector assembly (2) which comprises first (4) and second (6) connector housings, the housings having mating faces (10, 30) which are opposed to each other when the housings are coupled to each other, a plurality of keyway portions (14) extending-inwardly from the mating _face (1.0.) of the first connector housing and a like plurality of key mounting positions (36) on the mating face (30) of the second connector housing, the method comprising the steps of: providing keys and keyplugs as identical parts (46) in side-by-side strip form with the identical parts removably connected to a carrier strip (-48) and with the spacing between adjacent identical parts (46) being the same as the spacing between adjacent positions (14) on the first housing (4) and adjacent positions (36) on the second housing (6), detaching at least one of the identical parts (46) from the carrier strip (48) and assembling the detached part (46) to one of the housings, aligning the remaining parts (46) with the positions on the other housing and assembling the remaining parts (46) to the other housing, and breaking the carrier strip (48) from the remaining parts.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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