Recent trends in the automotive industry concern these electricity-fuel hybrid vehicles or fully electrical vehicles which are powered by batteries through cables with high current and/or voltage.
Electrical connector assemblies are used to electrically connect the battery to electrical engines or other electrical devices. For instance the connector assembly comprises a pair of connectors adapted to be coupled one to another; a first connector is connected to the battery side, and a second complementary connector is connected to an electrical device or engine.
Electrical connectors usually comprise an insulating casing and electrical terminals. The electrical terminals of both connectors are to be put in electrical contact with each other, while the casings are mechanically connected to each other. For automotive applications a stringent requirement has to be met in terms of watertightness performance. Indeed, the connector assemblies are usually installed in the engine compartment and are therefore exposed to harsh environment in particular to water, dust, etc. Leakage within the connector assembly has to be avoided to prevent short-circuit and corrosion of the metallic terminals. To this end it is known in the prior art to implement water sealing means in the connector assembly that acts as barrier against water. In conventional connector assembly, the sealing means comprises an interfacial sealing joint and/or, in the case of a cable connector, cable seals placed around the electrical wire in order to seal the opening of each chamber to prevent entry of water, moisture or dust from the cable entry side.
Furthermore connector assemblies are used to transmit power. Due to the high current and voltage (e.g. 250 A, 600V), it is necessary to provide means to prevent any possible physical contact of the user with the power terminal. At this end, it is known to design the connector housing with touchproof means, such as walls to hinder access to the terminals.
It is an object of the present invention to answer the demand for more reliable and safer connector assemblies, i.e. an improved waterproof connector assembly where the terminal are protected by a touchproof means.