Double locking connector

Details Double locking connector Double locking connector

2000-09-05

2001-11-27

Nguyen, Khiem (Department: 2839)

Electrical connectors

Coupling part including flexing insulation

Hinged or flexed detent on insulation engaging to secure...

C439S752000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06322391

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a connector that locks a terminal doubly by employing a locking lance of a connector housing and a spacer inserted into the connector housing and, more specifically, to the connector for locking a terminal doubly, wherein the lance and the spacer lock the same spot of the terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 11
to
13
show a conventional double locking connector described in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. H6-58570.
As shown in
FIG. 11
, the double locking connector
60
comprises: a male connector housing
61
made of synthetic resin; female terminals
64
each inserted from rear openings
62
a
of the connector housing
61
into terminal receiving chambers
62
(see FIG.
12
); and a spacer
67
made of synthetic resin for locking the terminals
64
each inserted from opening
66
of walls
65
at the bottom of the connector housing
61
into the connector housing
61
at a right angle to a direction of inserting the terminal.
In the connector housing
61
, there is formed a space
68
into which the spacer
67
is inserted. As for this conventional example of the double locking connector
60
, two rows of the chambers
62
for receiving the terminals
64
are disposed vertically in the connecter housing
61
and each chamber
62
extends from the front of the connector housing
61
to the rear thereof with a space
68
for receiving the spacer
67
at a mid portion along the length thereof. A flexible lance (arm)
70
for primarily locking a terminal
64
is formed on an upper wall
69
of the chamber
62
and a projection
71
at the end of the lance
70
faces the chamber
62
.
The terminal
64
is manufactured by punching out from a conductive metal plate followed by bending processing and has an electric contact
86
at the first half thereof and a pressure welding part
72
at the latter half thereof. A rectangular engaging hole
73
for receiving the projection
71
of the lance
70
is formed on an upper wall of the electric contact
86
and a pair of stabilizers
74
arises from both sides of the engaging hole
73
. A spring (not shown in the figure) for contacting is inserted inside the electric contact
86
. The pressure welding part
72
consists of a contact piece
72
a
to be pressure welded to conductors of the wire at the front portion thereof (see
FIG. 12
) and a clamping piece
72
b
to clamp an insulator of the wire at the rear portion thereof.
The spacer
67
comprises: a substrate
75
for closing the opening
66
; a plurality of partitions
76
vertically arose from the substrate
75
; a wall
77
for connecting upper ends of the partitions
76
; a protrusion
78
for secondarily locking the terminals
64
formed in parallel on the wall
77
; and a pair of locking walls
79
arose vertically from the substrate
75
. Each part
80
of the respective chamber
62
is formed between the corresponding partitions
76
. Each protrusion
78
has an inclined plane
78
a
on which an end of the terminal
64
slidably abuts. The locking wall
79
has a flexible claw
82
engaging with an engaging portion
81
of the connector housing
61
.
As shown in
FIG. 12
, the terminal
64
is inserted into the terminal receiving chamber
62
under such condition that the spacer
67
is temporarily locked to the connector housing
61
. The terminal
64
pushes down the protrusion
78
of the spacer
67
to bring the spacer
67
in a temporary locking state and is advanced by pushing up the lance
70
.
As shown in
FIG. 13
, when the terminal
64
is completely inserted into the connecter housing
61
, the lance
70
resiliently restores its original state and the projection
71
engages with the engaging hole
73
of the terminal
64
, thereby the terminal
64
is primarily locked. Then, the spacer
67
is inserted in a direction shown by an arrow D of
FIG. 13 and a
front end of the projection
78
abuts on a shoulder (a rear end)
83
of the electric contact
86
of the terminal
64
, thereby the terminal
64
is secondarily locked. That is, the terminal
64
is doubly locked by the lance
70
and the spacer
67
, thereby the terminal
64
is securely prevented from coming off.
If the terminal
64
is incompletely inserted into the connecter housing
61
, the protrusion
78
hits a bottom surface
84
(see
FIG. 13
) of, the electric contact
86
of the terminal
64
when the spacer
67
is inserted into the chamber
62
, then the spacer
67
cannot be advanced any more, thereby the incomplete insertion of the terminal
64
can be detected by an operator.
However, as for the structure of the conventional double locking connector described above, if the position of the engaging hole
73
is shifted excessively to the front of the terminal
64
due to unevenness of the dimensions of the terminal
64
(based on the unevenness in manufacture thereof), the front end of the protrusion
78
of the spacer
67
abuts on the bottom surface
84
of the electric contact
86
of the terminal
64
even when the terminal
64
is completely inserted into the connecter housing
61
, then the spacer
67
cannot be completely inserted, resulting in that the operator might mistakenly detect the state as an incomplete insertion of the terminal
64
.
On the other hand, if the position of the engaging hole
73
is shifted excessively to the rear of the terminal
64
, after the complete insertion of the terminal
64
, the protrusion
78
of the spacer
67
engages with a shoulder (a rear end)
83
of the electric contact
86
of the terminal
64
to secondarily lock the terminal
64
, however, the projection
71
of the lance
70
does not engage with the engaging hole
73
of the terminal
64
, causing a problem that the terminal
64
cannot be locked primarily. In this case, the operator does not find a failure in the engagement of the lance
70
, then the working process might be advanced to a next step leaving the terminal
64
to stay in such condition that the locking force of the terminal is weak.
Furthermore, if a length of the electric contact
86
is too long, even when the projection
71
of the lance
70
engages with the engaging hole
73
of the terminal
64
upon the complete insertion of the terminal
64
, the protrusion
78
of the spacer
67
hits the electric contact
86
of the terminal
64
. In this case, since the terminal is primarily locked by the lance
70
, the terminal
64
cannot be come out even when the spacer
67
is come out and a wire
85
(see
FIG. 13
) connected to the terminal
64
is pulled. Then, such a time-consuming work is necessary that the engagement of the lance
70
is released by using a jig (not shown in the figure) and that the terminal
64
is replaced by another terminal.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to solve the above problem and to provide a double locking connector that can doubly lock a terminal securely by a lance and a spacer for locking the terminal and securely prevent an error of detection upon the detection of an incomplete insertion of the terminal by the spacer, thereby the detection can be implemented accurately.
In order to attain the above objective, the present invention is to provide a double locking connector comprising: a connector housing having a flexible lance for primarily locking a terminal; and a spacer for secondarily locking the terminal, which is inserted into the connector housing at a right angle to a direction of inserting the terminal, wherein the lance and the spacer lock the same spot of the terminal.
The same spot is a shoulder at a midpoint along a longitudinal direction of the terminal.
A projection of the lance and a protrusion of the spacer are disposed in parallel along a lateral direction of the terminal.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4946399 (1990-08-01), Kawashima
patent: 5085599 (1992-02-01), Maejima et al.
patent: 5167534 (1992-12-01), Ohsumi
patent: 5358427 (1994-10-01), Miwa
patent: 5810619 (1998-09-01), Miwa
patent: 6089928 (2000-07-01), Miwa e

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