EP3504760B1 - Multi-contact connector with integrated short-circuit element - Google Patents

Description

Field of invention

The invention relates to a multiple contact plug with an integrated short-circuit bridge element. The invention also relates to a connector arrangement with such a multiple contact connector and a mating connector.

State of the art

Electrical lines often have to be connected to one another in a wide variety of technical fields of application. For example, in vehicle construction, electrical lines coming from vehicle components must be connected to electrical lines from other vehicle components or, for example, from a control device. Several electrical lines are often combined to form a cable harness.

In order to be able to connect several electrical lines in a simple manner with several other electrical lines, multiple contact plugs are often provided that can be plugged together with one or more mating connectors. Such multiple contact connectors are sometimes referred to as harness connectors. A plurality of contacts are provided in such a multiple contact plug, each of the contacts being connected to an electrical line as a rule. The contacts are accommodated in a connector housing. The contacts are arranged in such a way that when the connector housing is plugged together they are brought into electrical contact with a housing of the mating connector or housings of the mating connector with mating contacts arranged there. By making a Plug connection between the multiple contact plug and one or more mating connectors can thus be used to electrically connect the electrical lines attached to their contacts or mating contacts.

In connector arrangements that are to be used for specific, often safety-relevant purposes, so-called short-circuit bridges are sometimes provided. A short-circuit bridge acts in such a way that when the plug connection is loosened, i.e. pulling the mating connector from the multiple contact plug, two of the contacts provided in the multiple contact plug are specifically short-circuited. A short circuit that occurs can be detected, for example, by a controller monitoring the respective lines.

Such a functionality can be required, for example, for plug connections with the aid of which an airbag is to be electrically connected to other components, for example a control unit in a vehicle. In this case, a circuit for triggering an airbag detonator is closed via the contacts that are specifically short-circuited when the plug connection is released, thereby preventing the airbag from being triggered accidentally.

An example of a connector with a jumper is shown in DE 9112 178 U1 described.

From the US 2016/0190750 A1 a plug with a short-circuit bridge is known with which two adjacent contact elements can be short-circuited without primary locking lances.

From the WO 2008/150523 A2 a plug / mating connector arrangement is known in which, in the fully plugged together state, a short-circuit line on the top of the mating connector is contacted with a conductor of the connector. Contact elements without primary locking lances are arranged in the plug.

From the EP 0 678 942 A1 a plug / mating plug arrangement with a "terminal position assurance" element (TPA) is known, which serves as a short-circuit bridge.

From the EP 1 926 183 A2 a plug / mating plug arrangement with a short-circuit element is known. The short-circuit element is formed separately from contact elements without primary locking lances, which are arranged in the connector / mating connector arrangement. The short-circuit element short-circuits two contact elements until the connector and mating connector are correctly locked together and the short-circuit element is then pressed down with a lever on the connector.

From the JP H10 3972 A a further connector with a short-circuit bridge is known with which two adjacent contact elements can be short-circuited without primary locking lances.

Disclosure of the invention Advantages of the invention

Embodiments of the present invention can advantageously enable a multiple contact plug or a connector arrangement in which targeted short circuits between contacts can be effected in a structurally simple manner when a plug connection is released.

According to a first aspect of the invention, a multiple contact plug according to claim 1 is proposed.

According to a second aspect of the invention, a connector arrangement is proposed which has a multiple contact plug according to an embodiment of the first aspect of the invention and a mating connector which can be plugged together with the multiple contact plug and which has one or more mating contacts which, in a plugged together state of the multiple contact plug with the Mating connectors come into electrical contact with a respective associated one of the contacts. A short-circuit isolating element is formed on the mating connector, which is designed and arranged such that it is in the In the plugged-together state, the primary lance of at least one contact is displaced from the protruding into the spring-loaded position or in the direction of the spring-loaded position, thereby interrupting the contact between the primary lance and the contact surface of the short-circuit separating element.

Ideas for embodiments of the present invention can be viewed, inter alia, as being based on the thoughts and knowledge described below.

In conventional multiple contact plugs or connector arrangements formed therewith, short-circuit bridges are often formed with the aid of separate metal springs which, for example, press on the outside of a contact pin when the plug connection is open. When the plug connection is closed, for example, a geometry or gate provided on the mating connector is pushed between the short-circuit bridge and the surface of the contact pin and thereby interrupts the short circuit. Since the short-circuit bridge is designed like a spring in this case, additional installation space is required within the multiple contact plug for the spring travel covered by it during compression. Such installation space is scarce, in particular when the miniaturization of components of a connector arrangement is provided. In addition, a short-circuit bridge designed as a metal spring is usually a relatively complex bent stamped and bent part.

In contrast to this, in the case of the multiple contact plug proposed here, the short-circuit bridge element provided therein can be a very simple component, for example a simple sheet metal part, which does not need to be bent or only needs to be bent in a few steps and / or which requires minimal installation space.

The underlying idea can be seen here that the short-circuit bridge element in the multiple contact plug proposed here does not itself need to have an elastically resilient property. Instead, use should be made of the fact that the contacts to be received in the contact receiving chambers of the housing of the multiple contact plug are in many cases equipped with an elastically resilient element in the form of an elastically reversibly resilient primary lance. This primary lance can due to its outwardly resilient property to form an electrical Connection to the stationary and even not necessarily flexibly displaceable short-circuit bridge element can be used.

The primary lance, which is also sometimes referred to as the primary locking lance, generally projects obliquely backwards in an unloaded state, i.e. contrary to an insertion direction along which the respective contact is to be inserted into a contact receiving chamber receiving it, from a, for example, box-shaped contact base body. When a force is applied towards the contact base body, the primary lance can, however, be elastically reversibly deflected towards the contact base body.

The primary lance is generally used to lock the contact at least temporarily or provisionally within the contact receiving chamber, especially while the connector housing is being fitted with several contacts, before the contact is fixed in the contact receiving chamber at a later point in time, usually with the help of a secondary fuse. When it is inserted into the contact receiving chamber, the primary lance is initially deflected in order to then spring outwards again in a recess adjacent to the contact receiving chamber when it reaches a target position, in the direction of the outwardly protruding position and thereby be supported on an adjacent undercut and thus the contact in to be able to lock in the desired position.

It is now proposed to use the resilient property of the primary lance beyond its original task to detect a loosening of the multiple contact plug on the one hand and a mating plug on the other hand (i.e. the separation of the multiple contact plug and mating plug from each other) by creating a targeted short circuit . For this purpose, the aforementioned short-circuit bridge element is provided in the multiple contact plug.

This short-circuit bridge element has at least two contact surfaces formed thereon. The short-circuit bridge element is designed and arranged in such a way that each of the two contact surfaces protrudes into one of the contact receiving chambers in the connector housing. The short-circuit bridge element with its contact surfaces is designed and arranged in such a way that each of the contact surfaces is arranged within the associated contact receiving chamber at a position at which the primary lance of the contact latched in this contact receiving chamber can, for example, press against the respective contact surface with a part of the primary lance protruding farthest from the contact base body. As a result, the primary lance of the contact comes into mechanical contact and thus also into electrical connection with the contact surface of the short-circuit bridge element.

The short-circuit bridge element is designed such that this applies to at least two contacts latched in different contact receiving chambers, so that the two contacts are electrically connected to one another and thus short-circuited via their primary lances resting on the contact surfaces of the short-circuit bridge element.

The mentioned short circuit between at least two contacts in the multiple contact plug always occurs when the multiple contact plug is not connected to a corresponding mating connector. However, as soon as a correspondingly designed mating connector of a connector arrangement is plugged together with the multiple contact connector, the short circuit should be interrupted.

For this purpose, a, for example, link-like short-circuit isolating element is provided on the mating connector. This typically protrudes from an end face of the mating connector and is designed such that it engages in a suitable position in the multiple contact connector and thereby interrupts the short circuit.

Here, the short-circuit isolating element can be pushed between the primary lance of the contact and the contact surface of the short-circuit bridge element, for example, and thereby the primary lance away from the contact surface, i.e. towards their spring-loaded position.

As a result of the disconnection of the short circuit, for example, a signal can be generated that can be interpreted by a controller, or, alternatively, a circuit can be opened. In the above example, for example, the airbag to be contacted by means of the multiple contact plug can be "armed" in this way.

According to one embodiment, the short-circuit bridge element is attached to the plug housing in a fixed position.

In other words, the short-circuit bridge element can be fixed firmly and immovably on the connector housing. In particular, the short-circuit bridge element does not need to be a component which can be displaced relative to the connector housing, for example a spring-loaded component. Instead, the short-circuit bridge element can be rigidly attached to the connector housing, for example, glued, screwed, riveted to the connector housing or cast into an injection-molded connector housing. In particular, the jumper element can be fixed to the connector housing in such a way that its contact surfaces come to rest on the respective inner surfaces of the connector housing towards one of the contact receiving chambers, preferably rigid and immovable, and can be contacted there by the outwardly resilient primary lances of contacts received.

According to one embodiment, the short-circuit bridge element is in one piece.

In other words, the short-circuit bridge element can be provided as a simple, as simple as possible component, which is not composed of several parts but is designed as a single component. For example, the short-circuit bridge element can be designed as a sheet metal part suitably stamped in the form. The short-circuit bridge element can preferably be flat, i.e. does not necessarily need to be bent into a suitable shape.

In particular, according to one embodiment, the short-circuit bridge element can be a one-piece sheet metal component, of which subregions are each arranged as one of the contact surfaces in one of the contact receiving chambers. The contact surfaces can, for example, protrude into the contact receiving chambers from one side. The contact surfaces connected to one another by the short-circuit bridge element can be located in adjacent contact receiving chambers. The contact receiving chambers can, however, also not be arranged adjacent but further away from one another, in which case the short-circuit bridge element should be designed with a suitable geometry in order to electrically connect the contact surfaces received in the remote contact receiving chambers to one another.

Alternatively, the short-circuit bridge element can also be designed to be more complex. For example, two or more contact surfaces can be formed on separate components, for example sheet metal, and the components can be electrically connected to one another by means of any electrically conductive construction, which can be one-part or multi-part.

According to one embodiment, the contact receiving chamber has an undercut which the primary lance engages behind in its protruding position in order to lock the contact in the contact receiving chamber, the respective contact surface of the short-circuit bridge element in a region of the contact receiving chamber adjacent to the undercut, preferably downstream of the undercut in the insertion direction , is arranged.

In other words, it is considered advantageous to arrange the contact surfaces of the short-circuit bridge element in the respective contact receiving chambers in such a way that they are located at or near the undercut on which the primary lance should be supported in its protruding position in order to make contact in the respective contact receiving chamber lock into place. This takes into account the fact that the primary lance is usually designed in such a way that it protrudes farthest from the contact base body near the undercut in order to be able to support itself on the undercut. It is therefore advantageous to arrange the contact surfaces of the short-circuit bridge element where the primary lance comes closest to the inner surface of the contact receiving chamber or is pressed against it, i.e. near the undercut, in particular slightly downstream of the undercut based on the direction of insertion.

The term “downstream” is used here only to describe a relative arrangement relationship with reference to the direction of insertion. It is not to be understood as an electric current. This also applies analogously to the term “upstream”.

According to one embodiment, the short-circuit bridge element covers a surface of the undercut at least in some areas. The short-circuit bridge element, which is usually made of mechanically resistant metal, can thereby mechanically reinforce the surface of the undercut and Protect the connector housing, which is usually made of plastic, in this area, for example, against damage by the primary lance.

According to one embodiment, the contact surfaces of the short-circuit bridge element have a coating. The coating can e.g. be designed as a metal layer. The coating is particularly preferably designed as a noble metal layer. Such a noble metal layer, for example a thin gold layer covering the contact area, can help to reduce a contact resistance between the contact area and a primary lance lying thereon. Furthermore, corrosion on the contact surface can be avoided. Alternatively, the metal layer can also be coated with a non-precious metal such as e.g. Tin be formed. In a further alternative, the coating can be made of a material having good electrical conductivity, e.g. Carbon nanotubes or carbon, be formed.

According to one embodiment, the contact surfaces of the short-circuit bridge element are positioned in the contact receiving chambers such that the primary lance of a contact in its protruding position only contacts the respective contact surface when the contact is positioned within the contact receiving chamber in a predetermined manner.

In other words, the short-circuit bridge element with its contact surfaces can be specially designed and arranged in such a way that the contact surfaces are not arranged arbitrarily in the respective contact receiving chambers, but rather in positions specially provided for this purpose. These positions can be selected such that one of the contact surfaces is only reached and contacted by the primary lance of the contact when the contact is in a desired position within the contact receiving chamber. As a result, the occurrence of a short circuit caused by the primary lance resting on the contact surface, for example when fitting a multiple contact plug, can be interpreted as an indication that the contact has been correctly received in the contact receiving chamber and locked therein.

According to one embodiment, a cable is attached to the contact base in an electrically conductive manner and the contact base is connected to the primary lance in an electrically conductive manner.

For example, a crimping area can be provided on the contact base body, to which a stripped end of the cable can be crimped. The contact base body itself can be formed from an electrically conductive material, in particular from metal, for example in the form of a stamped and / or bent metal sheet. The primary lance can be electrically connected to the contact base body or even formed in one piece with it. In this way, the cable is in electrical connection with the primary lance and short circuits caused by the primary lance can be detected via the cable.

According to one embodiment, a mating contact receptacle for electrically connecting interaction with a mating contact of a mating connector is formed on the contact base body, and the mating contact receptacle is electrically conductively connected to the primary lance.

The mating contact receptacle can be integrated into the contact base body. It can be designed, for example, with contact blades that can be touched by the counter contact. Since the mating contact receptacle is electrically connected to the primary lance, possibly even in one piece with it in the form of a common bent stamped and bent part, short circuits caused by the primary lance can also be detected on the mating contact.

It should be noted that some of the possible features and advantages of the invention are described herein in part with reference to a multiple contact plug and in part with reference to a connector arrangement. A person skilled in the art recognizes that the features can be combined, transferred, adapted or exchanged in a suitable manner in order to arrive at further embodiments of the invention.

Brief description of the drawings

• Fig. 1 zeigt eine perspektivische Ansicht von Komponenten eines Mehrfachkontaktsteckers.
• Fig. 2 zeigt eine perspektivische Ansicht eines in einem Mehrfachkontaktstecker aufzunehmenden Kontakts.
• Fig. 3 zeigt eine vereinfachte Schnittansicht eines in einem Mehrfachkontaktstecker aufgenommenen Kontakts.
• Fig. 4 zeigt eine vereinfachte Schnittansicht eines Mehrfachkontaktsteckers gemäß einer Ausführungsform der vorliegenden Erfindung, in welchem ein Kontakt aufgenommen ist.
• Fig. 5 zeigt den Mehrfachkontaktstecker aus Figur 4 in einem mit einem Gegenstecker zusammengesteckten Zustand.

Embodiments of the invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, neither the drawings nor the description being to be interpreted as restricting the invention.

• Fig. 1 Figure 11 shows a perspective view of components of a multiple contact plug.
• Fig. 2 Figure 12 shows a perspective view of a contact to be received in a multiple contact plug.
• Fig. 3 shows a simplified sectional view of a contact received in a multiple contact plug.
• Fig. 4 shows a simplified sectional view of a multiple contact plug according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a contact is received.
• Fig. 5 shows the multiple contact plug Figure 4 in a mated state with a mating connector.

The figures are only schematic and not true to scale. In the figures, the same reference symbols denote the same or similarly acting features.

Embodiments of the invention

Figure 1 shows components of a multiple contact plug 1, which can be part of a plug connection to a mating connector. The multiple contact plug 1 can be used, for example, for the mechanical and electrical connection of several cables to one another or of a cable harness to a control unit of a motor vehicle.

The multiple contact plug 1 has a plug housing 2 with an upper housing part 3 and a lower housing part 4, which can be mechanically connected to one another via latching tabs 5. A mat seal 8 is arranged between the upper housing part 3 and the lower housing part 4. Both in the upper housing part 3 and in the lower housing part 4 there are contact receiving chambers 6, 7 through which cables and contacts attached to them (in Figure 1 not shown) can be inserted into the multiple contact plug 1 and locked in this.

Figure 2 shows a contact 10 as it can be inserted into a contact receiving chamber 7 of a multiple contact plug 1 and latched therein. On a front part of the contact 10, a contact base body 13 is provided in the form of a contact box, which is approximately cuboid. The contact box has an upper wall 16, a lower wall 17 and two opposing side walls 18, 19. At the rear end of the contact 10, a cable 11 is attached to the contact 10 via a crimping area 12.

Provided on the top wall 16 of the contact base body 13 is a primary lance 14 which protrudes obliquely to the rear and outward against an insertion direction 15 and protrudes over the top wall 16. This primary lance 14 is integrally connected at a proximal end to the upper wall 16 of the contact base body 13 and is cantilevered at a distal end and, due to the elastic properties of the sheet metal forming the contact, can resiliently move inwards from a protruding base position to the contact base body 13 in a spring-loaded position be relocated.

Without the application of force, the primary lance 14 protrudes outward in the projecting position. However, when the contact 10 is pushed into a contact receiving chamber 7, the primary lance 14 is briefly and elastically reversibly pressed inwardly towards the contact base body 13 and then, when an end position is reached, resiliently outward into a recess provided there within the contact receiving chamber 7 into place.

Figure 3 shows in cross section how a contact 10 is latched in a contact receiving chamber 7 of a plug 1. The primary lance 14 protruding from the top wall 16 engages in a recess 21 provided in the contact receiving chamber 7 and is supported on an undercut 22 counter to the insertion direction 15.

In the Figures 4 and 5 an embodiment of a multiple contact plug 1 according to the invention is shown. For the sake of clarity, insignificant details such as the crimping area 12 or a cable 11 attached to it are not shown. In Figure 4 the multiple contact plug 1 is shown in a state in which it is not coupled to a matching mating connector. In Figure 5 on the other hand, the multiple contact plug 1 is coupled to a mating plug 51 State shown as connector arrangement 61. Details of the mating connector 51 are again only shown very schematically for reasons of clarity.

In the plug housing 2 of the multiple contact plug 1, a contact surface 27 of a short-circuit bridge element 25 is arranged on an inner wall 20 of the contact receiving chamber 7 opposite the contact 10 in the region of the recess 21 provided therein. The contact surface 27 is arranged near the undercut 22 and thus where a most protruding part 29 of the primary lance 14 protrudes towards the opposite inner surface 20 when the primary lance 14 is in its protruding position. The furthest protruding part 29 of the primary lance 14 can therefore come into contact with the respective contact surface 27 as soon as the contact 10 has been pushed into the contact receiving chamber 7 in the insertion direction 15 and correctly locked there.

The contact surface 27 arranged in the contact receiving chamber 7 can be electrically connected via other areas of the short-circuit bridge element 25 to a second contact surface 27, which is arranged in another contact receiving chamber 7, where it is contacted by the primary lance 14 of the contact 10 arranged there. The two contacts 10 are thus electrically short-circuited to one another via the short-circuit bridge element 25 and the primary lances 14 resting on its contact surfaces 27. Such a short circuit can, for example, be detected externally or close an external circuit.

Figure 5 shows the multiple contact connector 1 in a state in which it is plugged together with a mating connector 51. The multiple contact plug 1 and the mating connector 51 are designed to be matched to one another in such a way that mating contacts 55 of the mating connector 51 can each interact with associated contacts 10 of the multiple contact plug 1 and can bring about electrical contact between them. For example, the mating contact 55 can interact with a mating contact receptacle 34 provided in the contact base body 13. The mating contact 55 can be designed, for example, as a plug-like pin and engage in a mating contact receptacle 34 designed like a socket. Furthermore, the multiple contact connector 1 and the mating connector 51 are in this way to one another adapted so that they can be coupled to one another in a mechanically stable manner.

A special short-circuit isolating element 53 is provided on the mating connector 51. In the example shown, this short-circuit isolating element 53 protrudes in the manner of a pin or link in a plugging-in direction, and thus against the insertion direction 15, from the mating connector 51 to the multiple contact connector 1. The short-circuit separating element 53 engages in a dismantling opening 33 provided in the connector housing 2 of the multiple contact plug 1, which is provided, among other things, to press the primary lance 14 downwards to the contact base body 13 by means of a dismantling tool in order to use the contact 10 for the purpose to be able to unlock the disassembly from the connector housing 2. The short-circuit isolating element 53 is pushed between the primary lance 14 and the opposite inner wall 20 of the contact receiving chamber 7 and thereby presses the primary lance 14 towards the contact base body 13, that is to say into its spring-loaded position. As a result, the electrical connection between the primary lance 14 and the contact surface 27 of the short-circuit bridge element 25 is separated and a previously existing short-circuit to one of the other contacts 10 of the multiple contact plug 1 is interrupted.

In order to achieve sufficient mechanical stability of the short-circuit isolating element 53, it can be made of a stable material, in particular of metal, for example steel. A geometry of the short-circuit isolating element 53 should be suitably selected so that the short-circuit isolating element 53 does not itself provide an electrical connection between the primary lance 14 that it depresses and the contact surface 27 of the short-circuit bridge element 25.

Alternatively, the short-circuit isolating element 53 can consist of an electrically non-conductive material, for example plastic, or be externally coated with such a material.

If the short-circuit isolating element 53 is electrically conductive and is, for example, electrically connected to the associated mating contact 55, with sufficient electrical conductivity of the short-circuit isolating element 53 can even another conductive path can be provided for additional contact security.

The fact that the short-circuit isolating element 53 in the assembled state shifts the primary lance 14 at least partially towards the contact base 13 and thereby reducing or even completely eliminating the support of the primary lance 14 on the undercut 22 can generally be accepted, since the primary lance 14 denies Contact 10 mostly only has to secure temporarily during the loading of the contact receiving chambers 7, the contacts 10, however, after all the contact receiving chambers 7 have been equipped, are usually fixed in the contact receiving chambers 7 by a separate secondary fuse (not shown).

The primary lance 14 may near its cantilevered end, i. distal to the most protruding area 29, have an inwardly angled area 23 towards the contact base body 13 (shown in dashed lines).

Furthermore, the short-circuit bridge element 25 can be designed in such a way that it covers at least parts of the surface of the undercut 22 with a protective area 24 (shown in dashed lines) and thus protects it from mechanical damage by the primary lance 14.

The principle described here can also be used for blade contacts that can be equipped with primary lances.

Claims (11)

1. Multiple-contact plug (1), having:

   a plug housing (2) with a plurality of contact receiving chambers (7) which are formed therein;

   a plurality of contacts (10) which are each designed with a contact main body (13) and an elastically compressible primary locking lance (14) which protrudes outwards from the said contact main body (13),

   wherein the primary locking lance (14) is elastically reversibly compressible from an outwardly protruding position into a position which is compressed towards the contact main body (13),

   wherein in each case one of the contacts (10) is pushed into one of the contact receiving chambers (7) in an insertion direction (15) and is secured in the said contact receiving chamber,

   wherein the primary locking lance (14), in its outwardly protruding position, is designed to latch the contact (10) in the contact receiving chamber (7) which receives the said contact;

   wherein

   the multiple-contact plug (1) further has at least one short-circuiting bridge element (25);

   wherein electrically conductive contact areas (27) of the at least one short-circuiting bridge element (25) are arranged in at least two of the contact receiving chambers (7), wherein a contact area (27) which is arranged in a first contact receiving chamber (7) is electrically conductively connected to a contact area (27) which is arranged in a second contact receiving chamber (7),

   characterized in that

   the contact areas (27) of the at least one short-circuiting bridge element (25) are arranged in the contact receiving chambers (7) in positions in such a way that they are each contacted by the primary locking lance (14), in its protruding position, of a contact (10) which is secured in the respective contact receiving chamber (7).
2. Multiple-contact plug according to Claim 1, wherein the at least one short-circuiting bridge element (25) is attached to the plug housing (2) in a fixed position.
3. Multiple-contact plug according to either of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one short-circuiting bridge element (25) is integral.
4. Multiple-contact plug according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one short-circuiting bridge element (25) is an integral sheet-metal component, subregions of which are respectively arranged as one of the contact areas (27) in one of the contact receiving chambers (7).
5. Multiple-contact plug according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the contact receiving chambers (7) have an undercut (22) behind which the primary locking lances (14) of the contacts (10) engage in their protruding position in order to latch the contacts (10) in the contact receiving chambers (7), wherein the respective contact area (27) of the at least one short-circuiting bridge element (25) is arranged in a region of the contact receiving chambers (7) in a manner adjoining the undercut (22), preferably in the insertion direction (15) downstream of the undercut (22).
6. Multiple-contact plug according to Claim 5, wherein the at least one short-circuiting bridge element (25) covers a surface of the undercut (22) at least in regions.
7. Multiple-contact plug according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the contact areas (27) of the at least one short-circuiting bridge element (25) have a coating, in particular wherein the coating is designed as a metal layer, in particular as a precious metal layer.
8. Multiple-contact plug according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the contact areas (27) of the at least one short-circuiting bridge element (25) are arranged in a manner positioned in the contact receiving chambers (7) in such a way that the primary locking lance (14), which is in its protruding position, of a contact (10) makes contact with the respective contact area (27) only when the contact (10) is positioned within the contact receiving chamber (7) in a predetermined manner.
9. Multiple-contact plug according to one of the preceding claims, wherein in each case one cable (11) is electrically conductively attached to the contact main bodies (13) of the contacts (10), and wherein the contact main body (13) is electrically conductively connected to the primary locking lance (14).
10. Multiple-contact plug according to one of the preceding claims, wherein a mating contact receptacle (34) for electrically connecting interaction with a mating contact (55) of a mating plug (51) is formed on the contact main bodies (13) of the contacts (10), and wherein the mating contact receptacle (34) is electrically conductively connected to the primary locking lance (14).
11. Plug-in connector arrangement (61) having:

    a multiple-contact plug (1) according to one of the preceding claims;

    a mating plug (51) which can be plug-connected to the multiple-contact plug (1) and which has one or more mating contacts (55) which each come into electrical contact with a respectively associated one of the contacts (10) in a state in which the multiple-contact plug (1) is plug-connected to the mating plug (51);

    wherein a short-circuiting disconnection element (53) is formed on the mating plug (51) and is designed and arranged in such a way that it displaces the primary locking lance (14) of at least one contact (10) from the protruding position to the compressed position in the plug-connected state and in so doing interrupts the electrical contact between the primary locking lance (14) and the contact area (27) of the at least one short-circuiting bridge element (25).

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