초록 ▼

A plug-in connector for connecting to a receptacle including a housing including fins, at least one electrically conductive terminal at least partly situated in the housing and defining a mating axis and a mating direction, cantilevered locking beams arranged in the housing, a slider slidingly coupl

A plug-in connector for connecting to a receptacle including a housing including fins, at least one electrically conductive terminal at least partly situated in the housing and defining a mating axis and a mating direction, cantilevered locking beams arranged in the housing, a slider slidingly coupled to the housing and including blocking beams extending in the mating direction, a compressive member arranged to urge the slider outward away from the housing in the mating direction. The fins are situated to engage with the blocking beams during an initial stage of relative movement between the housing and the slider against a bias of the compressive member and allow inward deflection of the locking beams. The blocking beams are configured to prevent inward deflection of the locking beams after a final stage of the relative movement between the housing and the slider.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A receptacle connector for connecting to a plug connector, the receptacle connector comprising: a housing including a plurality of fins;at least one electrically conductive terminal at least partly situated in said housing and defining a mating axis and a mating direction;a plurality of cantileve

1. A receptacle connector for connecting to a plug connector, the receptacle connector comprising: a housing including a plurality of fins;at least one electrically conductive terminal at least partly situated in said housing and defining a mating axis and a mating direction;a plurality of cantilevered locking beams arranged in said housing;a slider slidingly coupled to said housing and including a plurality of blocking beams extending in the mating direction; anda compressive member arranged to urge said slider outward away from said housing in the mating direction,wherein said fins are situated to engage with said blocking beams during an initial stage of relative movement between said housing and said slider against a bias of said compressive member and allow inward deflection of said locking beams, andwherein said blocking beams are configured to prevent inward deflection of said locking beams after a final stage of the relative movement between said housing and said slider, and the receptacle connector has an electrically interconnected state only when in the final stage. 2. The receptacle connector of claim 1, wherein said at least one terminal is a pin-receiving terminal. 3. The receptacle connector of claim 1, wherein said cantilevered locking beams extend as latches in the mating direction. 4. The receptacle connector of claim 1, wherein said locking beams are sized so as to extend past a bulkhead surface of the plug connector and shaped so as to latchingly engage with a plurality of undercut sites when the receptacle connector is mated with the plug connector. 5. The receptacle connector of claim 1, wherein each blocking beam terminates at a respective end as a styloid having an end face perpendicular to said mating direction, said styloid being radially inward of a respective one of said locking beams, and wherein a distance from the mating axis to the styloid of each of said blocking beams is less than a distance from the mating axis to the respective one of said locking beams interacting with each of said blocking beams. 6. The receptacle connector of claim 5, wherein each of said fins of said housing is configured to engage a respective one of said styloids at the initial stage of relative movement between said housing and said slider. 7. The receptacle connector of claim 5, wherein at least one of said locking beams comprises a pair of spaced apart cantilever sections, said cantilever sections having tips and being bridged at said tips by a unitary latching feature. 8. The receptacle connector of claim 7, wherein at least one of said blocking beams is arranged to operate in between said pair of cantilever sections of said at least one locking beam. 9. The receptacle connector of claim 1, wherein said housing includes at least one protuberance adapted to house said at least one terminal, a respective one of said fins being arranged on an outer surface of said at least one protuberance. 10. The receptacle connector of claim 1, wherein said housing extends radially from the mating axis. 11. The receptacle connector of claim 1, wherein said housing extends axially along said mating axis in a direction opposite that of the mating direction. 12. The receptacle connector of claim 1, wherein said compressive member comprises a helical spring. 13. The receptacle connector of claim 1, wherein said compressive member has a compressive modulus allowing manual actuation such that movement of said slider in a direction along the mating axis clears said blocking beams from interfering with inward deflection of said locking beams. 14. The receptacle connector of claim 1, wherein said compressive member is configured to exert a reaction force while at the initial stage that is at least 5% greater than a reaction force exerted while residing in the final stage. 15. The receptacle connector of claim 1, wherein said compressive member is configured such that during the initial stage of relative movement, said compressive member is sufficiently compressed both to exert an outward force urging said housing away from the plug connector and to maintain a displaced position of said housing distinct from a position of an electrically mated state with the plug connector. 16. The receptacle connector of claim 15, wherein said housing is configured such that in the displaced position of said housing, said housing is visually distinct from a position in which said housing is electrically connected to the plug connector. 17. The receptacle connector of claim 1, wherein said housing comprises: a body including a latching stub; anda cover including a complementary lumina which snappingly engages onto said stub,said slider, said compressive member and said at least one terminal being housed in an enclosure defined by said body and said cover. 18. The receptacle connector of claim 1, wherein said housing comprises: a body including a latching stub; anda cover including a complementary latch which snappingly engages onto said stub,said slider, said compressive member and said at least one terminal being housed in an enclosure defined by said body and said cover. 19. The receptacle connector of claim 1, wherein said housing comprises: a latching stub;a first cover including a complementary latch which snappingly engages onto said stub, and an alignment strake; anda second cover including an alignment groove complementary to said alignment strake of said first cover, and a latching stub snappingly received within said first cover while said groove of said second cover is slidingly coupled to said strake of said first cover,said slider, said compressive member, and said at least one terminal being housing in an enclosure defined by said first cover and said second cover. 20. The receptacle connector of claim 1, wherein said housing comprises: a latching stub;a first cover including a complementary latch which snappingly engages onto said stub, and an alignment groove;a second cover including an alignment strake complementary to said alignment groove of said first cover, and a latching stub,said stub of said second cover being snappingly received within said first cover while said strake of said second cover is slidingly coupled to said groove of said first cover,said slider, said compressive member, and said at least one terminal being housing in an enclosure defined by said first cover and said second cover. 21. The receptacle connector of claim 1, wherein said at least one electrically conductive terminal consists of a single electrically conductive terminal. 22. The receptacle connector of claim 21, wherein said single electrically conductive terminal is configured to electrically connected to a center conductor of a coaxial cable, further comprising a compliant contact arranged at least partly in said housing and configured to electrically engage with a shield of the coaxial cable. 23. A receptacle connector for connecting to a plug connector, the receptacle connector comprising: a housing including a fin;an electrically conductive terminal at least partly situated in said housing and defining a mating axis and a mating direction, said electrically conductive terminal being configured to electrically connect to a conductor of a cable or wire to be terminated by the receptacle connector;a locking beam arranged in said housing;a slider slidingly coupled to said housing and including a blocking beam extending in the mating direction; anda compressive member arranged to urge said slider outward away from said housing in the mating direction, andwherein said fin is situated to engage with said blocking beam during an initial stage of relative movement between said housing and said slider against a bias of said compressive member and allow inward deflection of said locking beam, andwherein said blocking beam is configured to prevent inward deflection of said locking beam after a final stage of the relative movement between said housing and said slider, and the receptacle connector has an electrically interconnected state only when in the final stage. 24. A method for securely coupling a receptacle connector to a plug connector, the receptacle connector including a housing having a plurality of fins, at least one electrically conductive terminal at least partly situated in the housing and defining a mating axis and a mating direction, a plurality of cantilevered locking beams arranged in the housing, a slider slidingly coupled to the housing and including a plurality of blocking beams extending in the mating direction, and a compressive member arranged to urge the slider outward away from the housing in the mating direction, and the plug connector including a bulkhead surface, a cavity having latch-receiving undercut sites, and at least one electrical terminal adapted to mate with the at least one terminal of the receptacle connector, the method comprising: engaging the receptacle connector with the plug connector while ensuring complete and proper connection by moving the housing into the plug connector, against bias of the compressive member, to cause the blocking beams to abut against the bulkhead surface of the plug connector, then to cause the fins to abut against the blocking beams and the locking beams to pass outward of the blocking beams into engagement with the plug connector, and then to cause the locking beams to pass into the undercut sites of the plug connector and cause the fins to urge the blocking beams outward and enable the blocking beams to be positioned inward of the locking beams and prevent release of the locking beams from the undercut sites of the plug connector; andpositioning the compressive member between the slider and the housing such that the compressive member causes separation of the receptacle connector from the plug connector during the movement of the housing until the locking beams are situated in the undercut sites of the plug connector. 25. The method of claim 24, further comprising: configuring each of the plurality of blocking beams with a styloid to thereby provide a plurality of styloids; andconfiguring each of the fins of the housing to engage a respective one of the styloids and interact with the styloid such that the movement of the housing into the plug connector initially causes the fins to contact the styloids and continued movement of the housing into the plug connector after such contact causes the fins to displace the styloids to move out of contact with the bulkhead surface of the plug connector. 26. The method of claim 24, further comprising configuring the slider to enable manual movement of the blocking beams out of their position preventing release of the locking beams from the undercut sites of the plug connector to thereby enable release of the locking beams from the undercut sites of the plug connector and removal of the receptacle connector from the plug connector. 27. The method of claim 24, further comprising forming the fins on at least one protuberance that houses the at least one terminal of the receptacle connector. 28. The method of claim 24, wherein the step of engaging the receptacle connector with the plug connector comprises performing a single act of relative motion of the receptacle connector with respect to the plug connector, with all directions of motion of the housing and slider remaining substantially parallel to the mating direction throughout the entirety of the single act of relative motion. 29. A method for securely coupling a receptacle connector to a plug connector, the receptacle connector including a housing having a plurality of fins, at least one electrically conductive terminal at least partly situated in the housing and defining a mating axis and a mating direction, a plurality of cantilevered locking beams arranged in the housing, and a slider slidingly coupled to the housing and including a plurality of blocking beams extending in the mating direction, and the plug connector including a bulkhead surface, a cavity having latch-receiving undercut sites, and at least one electrical terminal adapted to mate with the at least one terminal of the receptacle connector, the method comprising: moving the housing into the plug connector in a single act of relative motion of the housing into the plug connector, with all directions of motion of the housing and slider remaining substantially parallel to the mating direction throughout the entirety of the single act of relative motion, to cause the blocking beams to abut against the bulkhead surface of the plug connector, then to cause the fins to abut against the blocking beams and the locking beams to pass outward of the blocking beams into engagement with the plug connector, and then to cause the locking beams to pass into the undercut sites of the plug connector and cause the fins to urge the blocking beams outward and enable the blocking beams to be positioned inward of the locking beams and prevent release of the locking beams from the undercut sites of the plug connector; andpreventing the receptacle connector from mating with the plug connector during the single act of relative motion until the locking beams are situated in the undercut sites of the plug connector. 30. The method of claim 29, wherein the step of preventing the receptacle connector from mating with the plug connector during the single act of relative motion until the locking beams are situated in the undercut sites of the plug connector comprises: positioning a compressive member, having a bias against which the housing acts when moved into the plug connector, between the slider and the housing; andconfiguring the compressive member to urge the slider outward away from the housing in the mating direction and cause separation of the housing from the plug connector until the locking beams are situated in the undercut sites of the plug connector.