Electrical distribution center assembly having a terminal stabilizer plate

摘要

An electrical distribution center assembly having a connector including a plurality of terminals and a terminal stabilizer plate engaging the tips of the terminals to hold the terminals in position and resist bending prior to inserting a mating connector into the electrical distribution center assembly. The terminal stabilizer plate is held in a ready position by a releasable latch means until an axial force applied to the releasable latch means by the mating connector body exceeds a force threshold, whereby the terminal stabilizer plate is released from the ready position and is moved to a seated position. The releasable latch means may include a flexible beam or other resilient member to hold the terminal stabilizer plate in the ready position until it is released.

主权项

1. An electrical distribution center assembly comprising:
a housing formed of a plastic material and defining an accommodation space therein; a connector shroud formed by said housing, the connector shroud having a side wall defining a shroud cavity therein for receiving a connector body, the shroud cavity communicating with the accommodation space; an electrical bus disposed in the accommodation space; a terminal electrically coupled to said electrical bus, said terminal projecting along a terminal axis to a tip located in the shroud cavity; a terminal stabilizer plate moveable from a ready position to a seated position within the shroud cavity, wherein the seated position is closer to said electrical bus than the ready position, the terminal stabilizer plate having an aperture formed therein, wherein the tip of the terminal is received in the aperture, whereby the terminal stabilizer plate protects the terminal from being bent away from the terminal axis by a force applied to the terminal in a direction orthogonal to the terminal axis; and a flexible beam integrally formed with the housing of the same plastic material and configured to hold said terminal stabilizer plate in the ready position until an axial force applied to the flexible beam by the connector body exceeds a force threshold, wherein the axial force is applied in a direction parallel to the terminal axis.