Electrical connectors – With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in... – Retaining means
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-07
2001-03-20
Donovan, Lincoln (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in...
Retaining means
C439S354000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06203352
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector having a shielding member for connecting a shielded wire used for electrical connection of audio equipment mounted in an automobile or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, concerning connectors having a shielding member for connecting a shielded wire, various connectors are known as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Unexamined Publication No. Hei. 4-69878. For example, a connector
81
having a shielding member shown in
FIGS. 7 and 8
is arranged such that a plug-type male connector
82
is engaged with and connected to a socket-type female connector
83
.
As shown in
FIG. 7
, notched portions
85
for engagement with the mating female connector
83
are provided at central portions of a peripheral wall of a male housing
84
of the male connector
82
. In addition, a shielded wire W is held on the inner side of a rear end portion of the male housing
84
. A sheathing portion of the shielded wire W in the male housing
84
is stripped off, and cores
86
and a shielding braid S on the outer side thereof are exposed.
As shown in
FIG. 8
, the shielding braid S toward its tip is spread out in an internal shape of the male housing
84
, e.g., a square cross section, and a shielding-braid connecting member
87
of a square cross section, which is formed of a metal plate and serves as the shielding member, is soldered to its tip.
Incidentally, this shielding-braid connecting member
87
is provided in such a manner as to cover the notched portions
85
in contact therewith, and the cores
86
are connected to female-type terminals
88
embedded in a tip portion of the male housing
84
.
In addition, male-type terminals
90
, which are connected to the female-type terminals
88
, are provided projectingly on a rear-end bottom wall of a socket-type female housing
89
of the female connector
83
, and rear-surface terminals
91
project from a rear-end surface of the bottom wall and are adapted to be connected to an equipment body (not shown) via electric wires.
As shown in
FIG. 7
, two leaf springs
92
are embedded in the female housing
89
. In each leaf spring
92
, a jutting-out portion
93
projects on the outer side of the female housing
89
, and a leaf-spring projecting portion
94
is provided on the inner side of the female housing
89
. Further, an introducing portion
95
for the male housing
84
is formed at a tip portion of each leaf spring
92
in such a manner as to project outwardly from the tip of the female housing
89
.
Incidentally, since a flange portion
96
of the female housing
89
is fitted in a female-connector attaching hole provided in a casing which also serves as a shield for the equipment body, the male-type terminals
90
are inserted in a shielding area, so that nonshielded general electric wires are connected to the rear-surface terminals
91
.
In the connector
81
having a shielding member constructed as described above, the female connector
83
is first fitted in the attaching hole of the equipment body by means of the flange portion
96
. Then, since the jutting-out portions
93
of the leaf springs
92
come into contact with the casing which also serves as a shield for the equipment body, the leaf springs
92
function as shielding members.
In addition, when the male connector
82
is fitted into the female connector
83
, the introducing portions
95
and the leaf-spring projecting portions
94
of the leaf springs
92
are spread out, and the male-type terminals
90
are engaged in and connected to the female-type terminals
88
. Then, the leaf-spring projecting portions
94
are engaged in the notched portions
85
from the outer sides thereof, thereby retaining the male housing
84
. At this time, since the shielding-braid connecting member
87
is pressed against and held in contact with the tips of the leaf-spring projecting portions
94
, the shielding braid S is reliably shielded.
However, with the conventional connector
81
having a shielding member constructed as described above, since the male and female housings
84
and
89
must be pulled apart while pulling the two introducing portions
95
of the leaf springs
92
so as to cancel the connection, there has been a problem that the operating efficiency at the time of disconnection is poor.
In addition, since the introducing portions
95
are exposed to the outside even after the engagement and connection of the male and female connectors
82
and
83
, there is a risk of shortcircuiting and there is a possibility of disengagement due to a collision by an external object. Hence, there have been problems in terms of safety and reliability.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a connector having a shielding member which facilitates the operation of disengaging male and female connectors, and in which the shielding member and conductive members are not exposed to the outside, thereby overcoming the above-described drawbacks of the conventional connector.
In order to achieve the above object, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector having a shielding member including a male connector and a female connector which are respectively connected to shielded wires, and respectively provided with a female-type terminal and a male-type terminal, a shielding member being provided on at least one of the male and female connectors, comprising: a disengaging mechanism in which a groove portion is provided on an inner side of a female connector-side metal shell shieldingly connected to the shielded wire of the female connector, a resilient piece serving as a shielding member extending to an outside rearwardly from a front end portion of a male housing for holding the male-type terminal is provided in the shielding member shieldingly connected to the shielded wire of the male connector, and the resilient piece has an engaging projection for engaging in the groove portion, the disengaging mechanism being adapted to cancel a state of engagement of the engaging projection in the groove portion as the engaging projection is moved toward an axial side, wherein the disengaging mechanism has a sliding member provided on an outer periphery of the male housing and capable of sliding in an axial direction, and a pressing wall disposed at a rear portion of the sliding member so as to press a disengaging piece toward the axial side.
With the connector having a shielding member according to the above-described aspect of the present invention, to cancel the state of engagement between the male and female connectors, it is sufficient to merely pull apart the male connector from the female connector while holding the sliding member, so that it is possible to improve the efficiency in the unlocking operation.
In addition, since the displacement of the disengaging piece becomes large, even if the dimensional accuracy of the resilient piece drops slightly, the effect on the operation is small, so that the manufacture is facilitated.
Further, since the disengaging piece is not exposed to the outside, there is no risk of shortcircuiting and malfunctioning due to a collision by an external object. Accordingly, it is possible to obtain a highly reliable connector having a shielding member in which the efficiency in the engaging and disengaging operations is improved.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector having a shielding member including a male connector and a female connector which are respectively connected to shielded wires, and respectively provided with a female-type terminal and a male-type terminal, a shielding member being provided on at least one of the male and female connectors, comprising: a disengaging mechanism in which a groove portion is provided on an inner side of a female connector-side metal shell shieldingly connected to the shielded wire of the female connector, a resilient piece serving as a shielding member extending to an outside r
Murakami Takao
Suzuki Shogo
Donovan Lincoln
Prasad Chandrika
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
Yazaki -Corporation
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