Electrical connector assembly for antiskid braking system

[54] ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY FOR ANTISKID BRAKING SYSTEM

[75] Inventors: Michael D. Galloway, Middletown;

William H. Rose; David T. Shaffer, both of Harrisburg, all of Pa.

[73] Assignee: AMP Incorporated, Harrisburg, Pa.

[21] Appl. No.: 789,999

[22] Filed: Oct. 22,1985

[51] Int. CI.4 H01R 13/73

[52] U.S. CI 439/544; 439/638;

439/736

[58] Field of Search 303/20, 24 BB, 24 A;

339/119, 120, 122, 123, 125, 126, 147, 218 R,

218 M

[56] References Cited

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

3,772,571 11/1973 Merry et al 339/126 R

4,047,242 9/1977 Jakob et al 339/147 P

4,090,293 5/1978 vander Donket et al 339/218 R

4,166,265 8/1979 Reynolds et al 336/192

4,303,297 12/1981 Smart et al 339/218 M

4,389,021 6/1983 Coldren 339/126 R

4,490,004 12/1984 Lawrence 339/95 R

4,592,611 6/1986 Nitschke 339/126 R

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS

2703851 1/1978 Fed. Rep. of Germany ... 303/24 A

0737274 5/1980 U.S.S.R 303/20

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

AMP Handbook HB5483, pp. 1 to 20, 27-28, "AMP MAG-Mate Interconnect System", AMP Incorporated, Sep. 1980.

Primary Examiner—Gil Weidenfeld
Assistant Examiner—David Pirlot
Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Anton P. Ness

[57] ABSTRACT

A connector assembly for an anti-skid hydraulic braking system comprises a bulkhead connector extending through an aperture in a sidewall of the brake fluid reservoir, a connector harness mounted along the inside of the reservoir sidewalls extending from the bulkhead connector to three solenoid assemblies mounted on the reservoir floor, and a solenoid connector on each solenoid assembly in engagement with the connector harness. The solenoids extend through floor apertures into the master cylinder to respective hydraulic lines extending to brake cylinders in the wheels, one of the solenoids handling both rear wheels. The bulkhead connector mates with a connector outside the reserovir which is terminated to a wire harness connected to the onboard microprocessor to relay current to the solenoids when data from individual wheel speed sensors is processed to determine that a particular wheel is about to skid. The solenoid for that wheel is then instantaneously actuated to momentarily decrease hydraulic pressure in that wheel's brake fluid line. The connector harness is planar and can be bent around corners between adjoining sidewalls of the reservoir. Contact sections on path members of the harness are exposed to be engaged by spring arm contact sections of the bulkhead connector and the individual solenoid connectors. The harness is made by overmolding spaced cover portions over a stamped lead frame and then severing the individual path members from each other, and the path members can be bent between the cover portions.

11 Claims, 24 Drawing Figures