EP0245975A1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Environmentally sealed connector
Assignee: TE Connectivity Corp
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Filing: 1987-04-23
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2007-04-23
Abstract
Abstract An environmentally sealed electrical connector (100) is comprised of plug and receptacle housing members (110, 210), each member having a rigid portion (114, 214) and a flexible portion (112, 212) secured to one end thereof, and at least one electrical terminal receiving passageway (120, 220) extending through the rigid and flexible portions. The flexible portions (119, 219) of the passageways (120, 220) are dimensioned to accommodate and sealingly engage a variety of wire sizes terminated to electrical terminals which are received and disposed in the passageways (120, 220) of the assembled connector (100). The receptacle member (201) may be further comprised of a second flexible section (216) secured at the other end of the rigid section (214), the second flexible section (216) providing a resilient sealing member for environmentally sealing the interface when the plug and receptacle members (101, 201) are mated.
Inventors
- 👤 Anil C. Thakrar
- 👤 John Peter Redmond
- 👤 Paul Clifford Schubert, Jr.
- 👤 Clair Wilson Snyder, Jr.
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-03 18:02
CPC Classifications
H; H01; H01R; H01R43/00; B; B29; B29C; B29C45/00; B29C45/16; B29C45/1676; B29C45/1635; H01R13/00; H01R13/46; H01R13/52; H01R13/5219; H01R43/18; H01R13/5205; H01R43/20; H01R43/24
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 13
Claim 1
Independent Claim
147 words
A connector housing (210) comprising a rigid section (214) formed of plastic material having first passageway means extending therethrough in which terminal means (24) will be secured; a flexible section (212) formed of plastic material having second passageway means extending therethrough in communication with said first passageway means and along which conductor means (26) terminated to the terminal means (24) will extend, said second passageway means being sized for sealingly engaging the conductor means (26); said rigid section and said flexible section (214, 212) being secured together at an interface therebetween by forming a chemical affinity therebetween; said housing (210) being characterized in that at least one sealing member (216) formed of flexible plastic material at a front end of said rigid section (214) and secured thereon by a chemical affinity therebetween, said sealing member (216) sealingly engageable with a sealing surface of a complementary connector housing.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
147 words
A connector housing (210) comprising a rigid section (214) formed of plastic material having first passageway means extending therethrough in which terminal means (24) will be secured; a flexible section (212) formed of plastic material having second passageway means extending therethrough in communication with said first passageway means and along which conductor means (26) terminated to the terminal means (24) will extend, said second passageway means being sized for sealingly engaging the conductor means (26); said rigid section and said flexible section (214, 212) being secured together at an interface therebetween by forming a chemical affinity therebetween; said housing (210) being characterized in that at least one sealing member (216) formed of flexible plastic material at a front end of said rigid section (214) and secured thereon by a chemical affinity therebetween, said sealing member (216) sealingly engageable with a sealing surface of a complementary connector housing.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
252 words
An electrical connector (100) comprising first and second mateable housing portions (210, 110); said first and second housing portions (210, 110) each having a rigid section (214, 114) formed of plastic material and a flexible section (212, 112) formed of plastic material, said rigid and flexible sections being secured together at an interface therebetween by chemical affinity between said rigid and flexible plastic materials; said first and second housing portions (210, 110) each having a passageway means (220, 120) extending through respective rigid and flexible sections, said first and second passageway means (220, 120) being dimensioned for receiving and securely engaging first and second terminal means (24, 22) respectively, said first and second terminal means (24, 22) being terminated to conductor means (26) said conductor means (26) being sealingly engaged in the flexible section (212, 112) of respective passageway means (220, 120); said connector (110) being characterized in that said first housing portion (210) further has at least one sealing member (216) formed of flexible plastic material at a front end of said rigid section (214) and secured thereon by chemical affinity therebetween, said at least one sealing member (216) being sealingly engageable with a sealing surface (117) of said second housing portion (110); whereby when said first and second housing portions (210, 110) are mated, said first and second passageway (220, 120) means are aligned with each other and said sealing member (216) of said first housing portion (210) sealingly engages said sealing surface (117) of said second housing portion (110).
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
252 words
An electrical connector (100) comprising first and second mateable housing portions (210, 110); said first and second housing portions (210, 110) each having a rigid section (214, 114) formed of plastic material and a flexible section (212, 112) formed of plastic material, said rigid and flexible sections being secured together at an interface therebetween by chemical affinity between said rigid and flexible plastic materials; said first and second housing portions (210, 110) each having a passageway means (220, 120) extending through respective rigid and flexible sections, said first and second passageway means (220, 120) being dimensioned for receiving and securely engaging first and second terminal means (24, 22) respectively, said first and second terminal means (24, 22) being terminated to conductor means (26) said conductor means (26) being sealingly engaged in the flexible section (212, 112) of respective passageway means (220, 120); said connector (110) being characterized in that said first housing portion (210) further has at least one sealing member (216) formed of flexible plastic material at a front end of said rigid section (214) and secured thereon by chemical affinity therebetween, said at least one sealing member (216) being sealingly engageable with a sealing surface (117) of said second housing portion (110); whereby when said first and second housing portions (210, 110) are mated, said first and second passageway (220, 120) means are aligned with each other and said sealing member (216) of said first housing portion (210) sealingly engages said sealing surface (117) of said second housing portion (110).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
63 words
The electrical connector (100) of claim 2 further characterized in that a first electrical terminal means (24) having conductor means (26) terminated thereto is secured in said first passageway means (220), and a second electrical terminal means (22) having another conductor means (26) terminated thereto is secured in said second passageway means (120), said first and second terminal means (24, 22) being mateable.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
40 words
The connector housing (210) of claim 1 or the electrical connector (100) of claim 2 or 3 further characterized in that the rigid housing portion (210) includes polarizing means (225) for aligning said housing (210) with a mateable housing member.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
246 words
A method of making a connector housing (210) having a rigid plastic section (214) and a flexible plastic section (212) with both sections having aligned passageway means extending therethrough so that terminal means (24) can be secured in the passageway means of the rigid section (214) and conductor means (26) terminated to the terminal means (24) are to be extendable along the passageway means of the flexible section (212) in sealing engagement therewith, the method comprising the steps of introducing a first plastic material having flexible or rigid characteristics into a first section of a connector housing forming area in a mold and preventing the first plastic material from entering a second section of the connector housing forming area of the mold, and introducing a second plastic material having rigid or flexible characteristics into the second section of the connector housing forming area so that the connector housing (210) is formed and chemical bonding takes place at an interface between the first and second plastic materials causing them to be adhered together; the method further including the steps of: introducing further plastic material having flexible characteristics into the section of the connector housing forming area of the mold containing the plastic material having rigid characteristics so that at least one flexible sealing connector member (216) is formed at the front end of the rigid section (214) and chemical bonding takes place at an interface between the flexible and rigid materials causing them to be adhered together.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
246 words
A method of making a connector housing (210) having a rigid plastic section (214) and a flexible plastic section (212) with both sections having aligned passageway means extending therethrough so that terminal means (24) can be secured in the passageway means of the rigid section (214) and conductor means (26) terminated to the terminal means (24) are to be extendable along the passageway means of the flexible section (212) in sealing engagement therewith, the method comprising the steps of introducing a first plastic material having flexible or rigid characteristics into a first section of a connector housing forming area in a mold and preventing the first plastic material from entering a second section of the connector housing forming area of the mold, and introducing a second plastic material having rigid or flexible characteristics into the second section of the connector housing forming area so that the connector housing (210) is formed and chemical bonding takes place at an interface between the first and second plastic materials causing them to be adhered together; the method further including the steps of: introducing further plastic material having flexible characteristics into the section of the connector housing forming area of the mold containing the plastic material having rigid characteristics so that at least one flexible sealing connector member (216) is formed at the front end of the rigid section (214) and chemical bonding takes place at an interface between the flexible and rigid materials causing them to be adhered together.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 5 wherein said first plastic material is rigid and said second plastic material is flexible.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 5 wherein said first plastic material is flexible and said second plastic material is rigid.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
47 words
The connector housing (210) of claim 1 or 4, the electrical connector (100) of claim 2, 3 or 4 or the method of claim 5, 6 or 7 wherein said at least one sealing member (216) on said rigid housing portion (214) has an arcuate sealing surface.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
71 words
The connector housing (210) of claim 1, 4 or 8, the electrical connector (100) of claim 2, 3, 4 or 8, or the method of claim 5, 6, 7 or 8, wherein the flexible plastic material is selected from the group consisting of non-reinforced olefinic-based thermoplastic elastomers, ethylene-propylene terpolymers, copolyester thermoplastic elastomers, styrene terpolymers, flexible polyamides, interpenetrating network polymers of olefinic-based elastomers with silicon, dynamic vulcanizates and unreinforced ethylene-propylene diene monomers.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
65 words
The connector housing (210) of claim 1, 4 or 8, the electrical connector (100) of claim 2, 3, 4 of 8 or the method of claim 5, 6, 7 or 8 wherein the rigid plastic material is selected from the group consisting of reinforced olefinic-based thermoplastic elastomers, ethylene-propylene terpolymers, reinforced and nonreinforced nylons, reinforced and unreinforced polypropylenes, reinforced polybutylene terphthalates, and reinforced ethylene-propylene diene monomers.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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