Electrical connectors – With insulation other than conductor sheath – Metallic connector or contact secured to insulation
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-26
2002-10-08
Paumen, Gary F. (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With insulation other than conductor sheath
Metallic connector or contact secured to insulation
Reexamination Certificate
active
06461203
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an electrical connector which locks doubly a plurality of contacts in an insulator thereof. Here, double locking means temporary locking by lances of the insulator and regular locking by a double locking member.
An essential point of a first conventional electrical connector will be described referring to
FIGS. 1
,
2
,
3
and
4
. The first conventional electrical connector is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (A) No. 325814 of 1994 (JP 6-325814 A).
As shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
, a connector consists of an insulator
21
, a double locking member (retainer)
22
, a restraining member
23
, and a plurality of contacts
24
. The double locking member (retainer)
22
, to be described later, is located at either a temporary locking position or a regular locking portion.
The insulator
21
is formed in the shape of a box as a whole. A pair of lock levers
25
which interlocks a mating connector is installed at the upper surface of the insulator
21
. An end of each lock lever
25
is fixed at the upper surface of the insulator
21
, and the other end of each lock lever
25
is a free one. A finger-pressure portion
26
is installed at the free ends of both lock levers
25
. The finger-pressure portion
26
is located at a concavity of a frame-shaped thick portion
27
which is formed at the rear end side (that is, the opposite side to the connecting side with the mating connector) of the insulator
21
. When the connector connects with the mating connector (not shown), the finger-pressure portion
26
sinks once toward the inside of the insulator
21
. Subsequently, the finger-pressure portion
26
returns to the initial portion thereof and engages with the mating connector.
A plurality of contact-accommodating chambers or contact holes
28
which accommodate each contact
24
partitively are formed in the insulator
21
. The contact-accommodating chambers
28
are constituted in two steps in the up and down direction of the insulator
21
. The eleven contact-accommodating chambers
28
are formed at each step, respectively. The rear end portion of each contact-accommodating chamber
28
in the upper step is located at the inside of the insulator
21
in order to accommodate the double locking member
22
and forms a space
29
which accommodates the double locking member
22
. The double locking member
22
is located on the partitive walls which partition the contact-accommodating chambers
28
in the lower step.
Further, the rear end portions of the partitive walls which partition the contact-accommodating chambers
28
in the lower step draw back to the inside of the insulator
21
and form a space
30
which accommodates the restraining member
23
.
An engaging projection
27
a
which engages with two engaging grooves
22
e
and
22
f
of the double locking member
22
is formed on both end surfaces of the concavity of the frame-shaped thick portion
27
, respectively. In
FIG. 1
, only the engaging projection
27
a
of the left side of the frame-shaped thick portion
27
appears. However, since
FIG. 1
is a perspective view, the engaging projection
27
a
of the right side of the frame-shaped thick portion
27
does not appear.
Furthermore, an engaging window
27
b
is formed at the rear inside of both the right and left sides of the frame-shaped thick portion
27
, respectively.
A pair of engaging projections
23
a
formed protrusively from both the right and left sides of the restraining member
23
engages with a pair of the engaging windows
27
b
bored at both the right and left sides of the frame-shaped thick portion
27
, respectively. In
FIG. 1
, only the engaging window
27
b
of the left side of the frame-shaped thick portion
27
appears. However, since
FIG. 1
is a perspective view, the engaging window
27
b
of the right side of the frame-shaped thick portion
27
does not appear.
A pair of engaging projections
23
b
formed protrusively from the top side of the restraining member
23
engages with a pair of engaging holes (not shown) bored at the upper inside of the frame-shaped thick portion
27
, respectively.
The double locking member
22
which is accommodated in the space
29
of the insulator
21
has an upper-plate portion
22
a
and a lower-plate portion
22
b
. The upper-plate portion
22
a
faces parallel and separately the lower-plate portion
22
b
. A plurality of partitive walls are installed as one body at a given interval between the upper-plate portion
22
a
and the lower-plate portion
22
b
. A plurality of contact through-holes
22
c
are constituted by the partitive walls. The contact through-holes
22
c
communicate with the contact-accommodating chambers
28
in the upper step of the insulator
21
, respectively.
A pair of finger-pressure portions
22
d
is formed protrusively on the upper-portion
22
a
of the double locking member
22
. Each of the finger-pressure portions
22
d
is inserted between the concavity of the frame-shaped thick portion
27
and the finger-pressure portion
26
of the locking lever
25
, respectively. A convex stripe
22
g
is formed horizontally at the outside of each finger-pressure portion
22
d
. The engaging grooves
22
e
and
22
f
are formed above and below each convex stripe
22
g
, respectively. The engaging grooves
22
e
and
22
f
engage with the engaging projection
27
a
which is formed on each end surface of the concavity of the frame-shaped thick portion
27
. When the double locking member
22
is located at a temporary locking position, the engaging groove
22
f
disposed at the lower side engages with the engaging projection
27
a
. That is to say, the engaging groove
22
f
disposed at the lower side is a temporary engaging groove. When the double locking member
22
is located at the descended position (i.e. a regular locking position), the engaging groove
22
e
disposed at the upper side engages with the engaging projection
27
a
. That is to say, the engaging groove
22
e
is a regular engaging groove.
Next, after the double locking member
22
is inserted into the space
29
of the insulator
21
, the restraining member
23
is inserted into the space
30
of the insulator
21
. The restraining member
23
prevents the double locking member
22
from escaping out of the space
29
. The bottom side of the restraining member
23
is joined with the bottom end of the insulator
21
through a hinge portion
31
. When the restraining member
23
is lifted up to the direction shown by an arrow around the hinge portion
31
, the engaging projections
23
a
,
23
a
,
23
b
, and
23
b
engage with the corresponding engaging windows
27
b
or the engaging holes (not shown) formed at the insulator
21
, respectively. A plurality of contact through-holes
23
c
are formed in a lattice at the restraining member
23
also. The contact through-holes
23
c
communicate with the contact accommodating chambers
28
in the lower step of the insulator
21
and the contact through-holes
22
c
in the upper step of the double locking member
22
.
Each contact
24
is equipped with a first engaging portion
24
a
engaging a lance
21
a
(refer
FIG. 3
) which is formed in the insulator
21
and a second engaging portion
24
b
engaging the double locking member
22
.
Further, the description will proceed to insertion of each contact
24
into the restraining member
23
and the insulator
21
. At first, each engaging projection
27
a
of the frame-shaped thick portion
27
engages with each engaging groove
22
f
of the double locking member
22
. The double locking member
22
is located at the temporary locking position. In this state, each contact
24
is inserted from each contact insert-hole
23
c
of the restraining member
23
to each contact accommodating chamber
28
in the insulator
21
.
In case of the double locking member
22
is located at the temporary locking position, as shown
FIG. 3
, each lance
21
a
formed in the insulator
21
engages with the first engaging portion
24
a
of each contact
24
. However, both low
Japan Aviation Electronics Industry Limited
Michael Best & Friedrich LLC
Paumen Gary F.
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