Electrical connectors – With vehicle structure
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-06
2001-12-25
Bradley, Paula (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With vehicle structure
C439S138000, C439S206000, C439S819000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06332781
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connection structure for power supply to a vehicle door which supplies an electric power of a vehicle body to auxiliary members in a back door, etc. of an automobile.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, various auxiliary members such as a rear wiper motor, a defogger, a door lock, etc. are mounted on a back door of an automobile, and there have been proposed a number of connection structures for power supply to a vehicle door.
FIG. 14
shows a conventional connection structure for power supply to the vehicle door as described in Japanese Utiltiy Model Publication No. 57-47444 of an unexamined application. As seen in
FIG. 14
, a plurality of pin-like movable terminals
121
are provided on a back door
120
of a vehicle so as to be retractable by means of coil springs
122
, and contact terminals
124
are provided on a vehicle body
123
so as to face with tip ends
121
a
of the movable terminals
121
respectively.
Each of the movable terminals
121
is exposed only at its tip end
121
a
, and all the other area is covered with an insulating holder
125
. One (
124
1
) of the contact terminals
124
has a cancel switch mechanism
127
which is biased by a coil spring
126
so as not to contact with a contact
128
when the door is open. The contact terminals
124
are pressed into contact with the movable terminal
121
when the door is closed, and the contact terminal
124
1
comes in contact with the contact
128
thereby to connect a power source side circuit
130
to a circuit (not shown) of the auxiliary devices.
However, the back door
120
, which communicates with a trunk space must be frequently opened and closed, and there has been a problem in the above described structure that, due to the exposed contact faces of the terminals
121
and
124
, baggage may interfere with the contact faces, or sand, dust water drops, or other foreign articles, may enter between the contact faces of the terminals, thus resulting in a faulty electrical connection. In other words, due to the structure wherein the 15 terminals
121
,
124
face with each other to contact, dust, or the like, can accumulate between the contact faces because they are not cleaned when an erosion has occurred or the foreign articles are adhered to the contact faces, and therefore, a defective contact may occur. Because the contact terminal
124
, particularly at the vehicle side, is exposed and always supplied with an electric voltage, it has been necessary to provide an electric power shut off mechanism (for example, a cancel switch mechanism) in order to avoid a short circuit which will be caused by a contact with a conductive foreign article. This has inevitably made the structure complicated. Further, the movable terminal
121
is liable to be displaced radially and inclined on occasion of contacting, due to its long size. Therefore, the contact area of the contact terminal
124
must be large in order to obtain a reliable contact even in such cases. In addition, when a contact
129
is inclined and displaced, there has been a fear that contactability of the cancel switch mechanism
127
may deteriorate and cause a faulty contact. Still further, in order to deal with an overstroke when the back door
120
is closed with a strong force, the movable terminal
121
must have an ample space for the stroke, which results in an increase in the size of the structure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above described drawbacks of the conventional art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a connection structure for connecting a power supply to a vehicle door in which the contact faces are maintained in a good condition by eliminating attachment or accumulation of dust or water drops thereon, the contact faces are protected from an interference with the exterior, and the structure will not be upsized to cope with the overstroke, and which are free from faulty contacts caused by radial displacements of the contact portions.
In order to attain the above described object, there is provided, according to the invention, a connection structure for connecting a power supply to a vehicle door comprising a door side connector and a body side connector to be engaged with each other to connect door side and body side electric circuits, characterized in that either one of the door side connector and the body side connector is provided with female terminals and the other connector is provided with male terminals, each of the female terminals including contact members having a pair of contact portions which are biased in a closing direction by means of a spring member and adapted to be opened and closed in a horizontal direction, each of the male terminals being inserted between a pair of the contact portions.
According to a second aspect of the invention, a pair of the contact portions are provided with shutters at their respective forward ends, and the shutters are closed when the contact portions are closed thereby filling an opening formed in the connector for receiving the male terminal .
According to a third aspect of the invention, the connector is provided with openings for draining water and removing dust from beneath the contact portions and the shutters.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, the female terminal includes a pair of hinge portions which are pressed by a spring tension against an electrode in the connector, and the electrode is connected to either of said door side circuit and said body side circuit.
According to a sixth aspect of the invention, the male terminal is biased by a spring in a projecting direction with a larger force than a force for inserting it into the female terminal and is retractable on occasion of an interference.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4634210 (1987-01-01), Crawford
patent: 4968271 (1990-11-01), Buscella
patent: 5941741 (1999-08-01), Dobbelaere et al.
patent: 6135784 (2000-10-01), Pei
patent: 57-47444 (1982-03-01), None
Armstrong Westerman Hattori McLeland & Naughton LLP
Bradley Paula
Nguyen Truc
Yazaki -Corporation
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