Electrical connectors – With coupling separator – Including retainer or joiner
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-06
2001-05-15
Nguyen, Khiem (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With coupling separator
Including retainer or joiner
C439S372000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06231359
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electrical connector assembly, and more particularly to a pair of connectors reliably coupleable with each other by means of a resilient member provided on one of the connectors, and the resilient member being operable for repelling and drawing the other connector in the course of coupling the connectors.
2. Description of the Related Art
On a vehicle, such as an automobile, there are installed many electronic components for control purposes which are electrically connected by means of wiring harnesses, flat cables, and the like. These wiring harnesses, and the like, are used with various kinds of connectors which have water-proofness to be usable under severe conditions, such as submergence, and which are designed to be easily fitted and detached, making allowance for the assembly and maintenance of the vehicle.
Such a conventional pair of connectors, one provided on the electronic component and the other on the wiring harness, or the like, however, are often coupled in an incompletely-fitted condition, with terminals inside maintained out of contact with each other, though not noticeable from outside. If assembly, testing and maintenance operations are effected with such an incomplete connection overlooked, a failure of performance of such electronic equipment may be caused.
As a countermeasure to the above, connectors with an incomplete fitting detection mechanism have been proposed, in which mechanism a spring is contained in one of the mating connectors, and by making use of the repulsion force of the spring, the other connector is pushed out in case of incomplete fitting.
With the incomplete fitting detection mechanism as mentioned above, however, in order to push out the other connector, a spring is selected as that contained in the one connector which has a larger repulsion force than a terminal insertion or drawing-out force. As a result, the connector insertion force required in coupling the connectors often becomes twice or more the terminal insertion or drawing-out force, resulting in a poor working efficiency.
Further, because of the large connector insertion force required, the incomplete fitting detection mechanism is not suited for use with a multipolar connector involving many terminals.
Thus, there still remains improvement to be made to prevent an incomplete coupling of connectors and to reliably and easily couple connectors including multipolar connectors.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention has been accomplished to overcome the above drawbacks and an object of this invention is to provide a connector assembly in which a pair of connectors are reliably coupled with an improved working efficiency by the structure that a repulsion force is produced when the connectors are in an incomplete fitted condition, which repulsion force repels the connectors from each other so as to prevent an incomplete coupling, and a drawing force is produced at a later stage of the fitting which draws the connectors to each other in the direction of their complete coupling.
In order to attain the object, according to this invention, there is provided an electrical connector assembly which comprises: a first connector including a driven member rotatably supported thereon and a resilient member provided between the first connector and the driven member; and a second connector including a drive means which, during fitting the first and second connectors, engages with and drives the driven member into rotation to bias the resilient member, wherein the resilient member, when biased, produces a repulsion force and a succeeding drawing force, the repulsion force and the drawing force acting through the driven member on the second connector in directions of repelling and drawing the second connector, respectively.
Preferably, the driven member has a slide guide means, and the resilient member is at a first end supported on the first connector and at a second end engaged with the slide guide means to be slidable between one and the other ends of the slide guide means to cause a switch from the repulsion force to the drawing force.
Preferably, the slide guide means comprises a straight slide slit.
Preferably, the slide guide means comprises a slide slit bent at an intermediate portion thereof into two straight portions, both inclined toward a side opposite the second connector.
Preferably, the driven member has a cutout for sliding engagement therein of the drive means, and the repulsion force and the drawing force, when the drive means is engaged in the cutout, act through the driven member on the drive means and thus the second connector.
Preferably, the resilient member comprises a tension spring.
Advantageously, the second connector further includes an urged means, and the drive means and the urged means, during fitting the first and second connectors, come into engagement in succession with a first end and a second end of the driven member, respectively, and while the drive means engages with the first end of the driven member, the driven member is rotated in a direction to bias the resilient member and produce the repulsion force which acts through the first end of the driven member on the drive means in the direction of repelling the second connector and, when the drive means disengages from the first end of the driven member, the driven member is rotated in a reverse direction by a resilient force of the resilient member to produce the drawing force and the urged means engages with the second end of the driven member such that the drawing force acts on the urged means in the direction of drawing the second connector.
Preferably, the drive means and the urged means are disposed on opposite sides of an axis of the second connector, the drive means being at a position closer to the first connector than the urged means.
Advantageously, the resilient member is a compression spring and is disposed between the first connector and the driven member at the first end side where the drive means engages.
Preferably, the compression spring is at one end thereof directly supported on the driven member at the first end side.
Preferably, the compression spring is at one end supported through a support on the first connector and at the other end operably engageable with the driven member at the first end side through a closed end indirect member fitted over the compression spring, the indirect member being longitudinally slidable in the support.
Preferably, the compression spring is internally supported by a collapse-preventing pin-like element around which the compression spring is retained.
Advantageously, the resilient member is a tension spring and disposed between the first connector and the driven member at the second end side where the urged means engages.
Preferably, the driven member is rotatable about a shaft provided on the first connector, which shaft is provided with a rotation regulating means for restricting a rotational position of the driven member at least prior to fitting the first and second connectors.
Advantageously, the first and second connectors, after completion of coupling, are decoupleable in reverse order, if desired for maintenance purposes, or the like, with the drawing force first acting through the driven member on the second connector and the repulsion force then acting through the driven member on the second connector during detaching the first and second connectors.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5545047 (1996-08-01), Okada et al.
patent: 5569041 (1996-10-01), Sonobe et al.
patent: 5820399 (1998-10-01), Shirouzu et al.
patent: 10-50408 (1998-02-01), None
Inaba Shigemitsu
Kaneko Satoru
Kudo Toshiharu
Armstrong Westerman Hattori McLeland & Naughton LLP
Nguyen Khiem
Nguyen Son V.
Yazaki -Corporation
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