Electrical connectors – With guiding means for mating of coupling part – For constrained pivotal or plural movement coupling
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-26
2001-08-07
Abrams, Neil (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With guiding means for mating of coupling part
For constrained pivotal or plural movement coupling
Reexamination Certificate
active
06270371
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a connector connecting structure and more particularly, to a connector connecting structure which is superior in connecting workability of connectors and in positioning of connectors at coupling operation thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 8
is a perspective view showing a conventional connector connecting structure.
This connector connection structure consists of a female connector
2
fixed to an auxiliary device
1
and a male connector
4
provisionally supported by a vehicle body
3
. When the auxiliary device
1
is shifted in a coupling operation direction (an arrow W direction) orthogonally to a connector coupling direction (an arrow V direction), the female connector
2
engages the male connector
4
through a slider
5
.
The female connector
2
is fixed to the auxiliary device
1
, and a plurality of male electric terminals (not shown) each connected to an electric wire
7
are accommodated in a housing
6
made of synthetic resin. And, a through hole
9
for the slider
5
put through the auxiliary device
1
is provided on one side wall
8
of the housing
6
, and a through hole
11
to be similar on the other side wall
10
facing the side wall
8
is provided. Further, a notched opening
12
opens diagonally from a middle portion of the other side wall
10
to a front edge of the housing
6
, facing the male connector
4
.
A pair of supporting walls
13
are provided on the vehicle body
3
, and an engaging opening
14
for provisional support of the male connector
4
is formed on each of the supporting walls
13
.
As shown in FIG.
8
and
FIG. 9
, the male connector
4
is provided with an elastic locking arm
18
on both of side walls
16
of a housing
15
made of synthetic resin. The elastic locking arm
18
has an engaging projection
17
corresponding to the supporting wall
13
. A plurality of female electric terminals (not shown) connected to each of the electric wires
7
are accommodated in the housing
15
. And, in the front edge center of the housing
15
, a through groove
19
for the slider
5
is formed from the one side wall
16
to the other side wall
16
, and a sliding engagement portion
20
in a rectangle pillar shape is provided on the through groove
19
centrally. Further, on the one side wall
16
, a pair, top and bottom, of positioning projections
21
in a rectangular pillar shape are formed.
The slider
5
consists of a horizontal sliding plate
22
and an operating portion
23
, and an entrance
24
for the sliding engagement portion
20
of the male connector
4
and a cam groove
25
curving quadratically are formed on the sliding plate
22
.
As shown in
FIG. 11
, the female connector
2
initially engages the male connector
4
through the notched opening
12
by provisionally supporting the male connector
4
to the vehicle body
3
through the elastic locking arm
18
and then shifting the female connector
2
along with the auxiliary device
1
in the coupling operation direction (an arrow W direction) as shown in FIG.
10
. Subsequently, on insertion of the slider
5
in an arrow X direction, the sliding engagement portion
20
(
FIG. 10
) is introduced into the cam groove
25
(
FIG. 10
) through the entrance
24
(FIG.
10
). As is shown in
FIG. 12
, the male connector
4
is pulled into the female connector
2
in the connector coupling direction (an arrow V direction), thereby connecting the male and female terminals (not shown) and also completing connector coupling. At the same time, engagement of the elastic locking arm
18
is released.
With respect to the above conventional connector connecting structure, there are the following drawbacks.
Firstly, on connection of connectors, since pushing operation of the slider is required, work step increases, which makes assembling process rather complex. And, this lowers an efficiency of assembly work of members having the connectors.
Besides, a fairly severe assembly allowance of the auxiliary device
1
and the vehicle body
3
is required for inserting the slider
5
in the through groove
19
. Accordingly, since the sliding engagement portion
20
sometimes does not engage the cam groove
25
, connector connection would not be performed surely. And, damage or breakage of the terminals or the housings
6
,
15
would occur due to interference between them. Also, in case that the male connector
4
has been reverse attached to the vehicle body
3
, damage or breakage would occur.
Even if position precision is going to be raised in the present situation, in case of location where a lot of members are related to, the above problems cannot be readily canceled because dimension tolerance of each member affects each other.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing, an object of the present invention is to provide a connector connecting structure which is superior in connecting workability of connectors and in positioning of connectors at coupling operation thereof.
In order to achieve the above-described object, as a first aspect of the present invention, a connector connecting structure consists of: a first connector having first wire connected terminals; a second connector also having second wire connected terminals and to be coupled with the first connector for making an electric connection; a first mounting portion for arranging the first connector; a second mounting portion for arranging the second connector; a first connector frame to be fixed to the first mounting portion and to support one end of the first connector so as to project the other end thereof; and a second connector frame to be fixed to the second mounting portion and including: a top-wall opening formed in a coupling direction of the first and second connectors for permitting the first connector to go through; a side-wall opening formed in a coupling operation direction of the first and second mounting portions; a slide plane, tapered or in a curve, for shifting the other end of the first connector toward the top-wall opening between the side-wall opening and the top-wall opening on coupling operation between the first and second connectors; and a connector accommodating portion provided with a receiving opening on the slide plane and directed in the coupling direction so as to receive the second connector, wherein the first and second connectors are connected with each other through the receiving opening so as to electrically connect the first and second wire connected terminals by bending at least one of the first and second mounting portions by means of sliding the other end of the first connector on the slide plane when the first and second connectors are coupled.
According to the above-described structure, since engagement of the first connector and the second connector can complete simultaneously with only an operation of the second mounting portion or otherwise of the first mounting portion, the conventionally required pushing-in operation of the slider is not required any more, thereby very simplifying connector connecting work and remarkably improving workability.
As a second aspect of the present invention, in the structure with the above first aspect, a shape of a coupling-side end of the second connector is similar to the receiving opening.
According to the above-described structure, since a shape of the coupling-side end of the second connector is similar to the receiving opening, an connecting end of the first connector can smoothly approach the second connector at the coupling operation, thereby improving workability. And, since the slide plane is formed to be tapered or in a curve, the coupling-side end does not agree with the receiving opening in case that the second connector is reversely attached, a worker can be noticed of an error of attaching direction of the second connector, thereby surely preventing damage or breakage of the connectors.
As a third aspect of the present invention, in the structure with the above first aspect, the connector connecting structure furth
Abrams Neil
Armstrong Westerman Hattori McLeland & Naughton LLP
Duverne J. F.
Yazaki -Corporation
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