Rear release contact retention assembly

Claim 2

An electrical connector unit comprising: a body of insulating material having a plurality of passages therethrough from a front face to a rear face, each of said passages adapted to receive respective electrical contacts therein which are insertable from the rear, each of said electrical contacts having an enlarged section defining a rearwardly facing shoulder and a forwardly facing shoulder; and a plurality of tubular contact retention towers integral with said insulation body and coaxial with respective passages, each tubular retention tower extending rearwardly from the rear face of said insulating body to a rearward free end, each tubular tower having on the inside thereof a forward facing shoulder, the opposite side of said shOulder being tapered radially inwardly from the inside wall of said tubular tower, so that said forwardly facing shoulder and said opposite tapered side form a projection inside said tower that spaces the inside wall of said tower, at said rearward free end, from an electrical contact when an electrical contact is inserted into said tower, each of said tubular towers being resiliently and radially expandable to permit the enlarged section of a respective contact member to pass therethrough upon forward insertion of the contact member into a respective passage, the forward facing shoulder of said tubular tower contracting behind the rearwardly facing shoulder on the contact member to provide a positive stop against rearward movement of the respective contact member.

Claim 3

The combination as recited in claim 1 including means for preventing said contact retention towers from being expanded in a radial direction, said means being removably mounted against the rear face of said body.

Claim 4

The combination as recited in claim 2 wherein said means for preventing said towers from expanding in a radial direction comprises an insert having a forward face and a rearward face, removably mounted with its forward face against the rearward face of said body, said insert comprised of a rigid material having a plurality of holes therethrough axially aligned with the passages of said body, said holes in said insert sized to receive said rearwardly extending retention towers in a manner that permits the walls defining said holes to contact said retention towers and thereby prevent radial expansion of said latching towers.

Claim 5

The combination as recited in claim 1 including an insert having a forward face and a rearward face mounted with its forward face against the rearward face of said body, said insert comprised of a resiliently deformable material having a plurality of holes therethrough, from said front face to said rear face, axially aligned with the passages of said body, said holes in said insert sized to receive said rearwardly extending retention towers in a manner that permits the walls defining said holes to contact said retention towers and the rear portion of said contact, said insert forming a fluid tight seal around each of said contacts and increasing the restoring force of said resiliently expandable retention towers and the force required to radially expand said retention towers.

Claim 6

An electrical connector unit comprising: a forward insulator member having a forward face, a rearward face, and a bore extending therethrough from said forward face to said rearward face, said bore having an enlarged rearward section opening at said rearward face and a conduit axially aligned with said bore and extending from said rear face; a wafer having a rearward face and a forward face, said forward face mounted against the rearward face of the insulator member, said wafer having a passage therethrough axially aligned with said insulator bore and which receives said insulator conduit, said insulator bore and conduit and said wafer passage adapted to receive an electrical contact member which is insertable in said bore, conduit, and passage from the rear of said wafer, the electrical contact of the type having an enlarged section that includes a rearwardly facing shoulder and a forwardly facing shoulder thereon, said forwardly facing shoulder engageable with the free end of said conduit of said insulator to limit forward movement of the contact member; and a tubular contact retention tower integral with said wafer and axially aligned with said wafer passage, said tubular contact retention tower extending rearwardly from the rearward face of said wafer to a rear free end, said tubular contact retention tower having a central passage therein that includes a forwardly facing shoulder, said tubular contact retention tower being resiliently and radially expandable to permit said enlarged contact section to pass therethrough upon forward insertion of the contact member into the passage and boRe, said tubular contact retention tower contracting behind the rearwardly facing shoulder on the contact member so that the forwardly facing shoulder within the tubular contact retention tower engages the rearwardly facing shoulder on the contact member to limit rearward movement thereof in the passage and bore, said tubular contact retention tower being substantially rigid in the axial direction when in its contracted position so as to provide a positive stop against rearward movement of the respective contact member.

Claim 7

An electrical connector unit comprising: a forward insulator member having a forward face, a rearward face, and a bore extending therethrough from said forward face to said rearward face, said bore having an enlarged rearward section opening at said rearward face and a conduit axially aligned with said bore and extending from said rear face; a wafer having a rearward face and a forward face, said forward face mounted against the rearward face of the insulator member, said wafer having a passage therethrough axially aligned with said insulator bore and which receives said insulator conduit, said insulator bore and conduit and said wafer passage adapted to receive an electrical contact member which is insertable in said bore, conduit, and passage from the rear of said wafer, the electrical contact of the type having an enlarged section that includes a rearwardly facing shoulder and a forwardly facing shoulder thereon, said forwardly facing shoulder engageable with the free end of said conduit of said insulator to limit forward movement of the contact member; and a tubular contact retention tower integral with said wafer and axially aligned with said wafer passage, said tubular contact retention tower extending rearwardly from the rearward face of said wafer to a rear free end, said tubular contact retention tower having a central passage therein that includes a forwardly facing shoulder, said tubular contact retention tower being resiliently and radially expandable to permit said enlarged contact section to pass therethrough upon forward insertion of the contact member into the passage and boRe, said tubular contact retention tower contracting behind the rearwardly facing shoulder on the contact member so that the forwardly facing shoulder within the tubular contact retention tower engages the rearwardly facing shoulder on the contact member to limit rearward movement thereof in the passage and bore, said tubular contact retention tower being substantially rigid in the axial direction when in its contracted position so as to provide a positive stop against rearward movement of the respective contact member.