Electrical connectors – With indicating or identifying provision – Connection indicating provision
Reexamination Certificate
2002-04-04
2003-07-15
Bradley, P. Austin (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With indicating or identifying provision
Connection indicating provision
C439S188000, C439S315000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06592398
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a coupling detector for a connector for detecting whether the connector to be employed for electric connection of wire harnesses etc. installed in motor vehicles are properly coupled or not.
Especially in the connector to be employed in a wiring system for an air bag or the like in a motor vehicle, for example, it is necessary to strictly check whether the connector has been completely coupled or not.
For this purpose, there have been conventionally proposed various types of connectors, such as a connector in which coupling can be mechanically detected from a state of movement of a slider, a connector in which coupling can be electrically detected, and a connector provided with these two functions.
Among them, the connector as described below has been known as the connector of the type in which coupling can be electrically detected.
In
FIG. 21
, a connector
101
capable of electrically detecting the coupling includes a male connector
102
and a female connector
103
. The male connector
102
has a male connector housing
104
made of synthetic resin, a pair of female terminals
105
(only one is shown in the drawing), and a short-circuiting metal piece
106
adapted to short-circuit the pair of the female terminals
105
. There is formed inside the male connector housing
104
, a chamber
107
for the pair of the female terminals
105
and the short-circuiting metal piece
106
. There is also formed outside the male connector housing
104
, a locking arm
109
having a locking projection
108
. Electric wires
110
are press-fitted to the female terminals
105
, and the short-circuiting metal piece
106
is formed with an elastic arm
111
.
The female connector
103
has a female connector housing
112
, a pair of male terminals
113
(see FIG.
22
). There are formed inside the female connector housing
112
, a chamber
114
for the pair of the male terminals
113
, and a connector engaging room
116
for the male connector
102
. There are formed in the connector engaging room
115
, a partition wall
116
existing between the pair of the male terminals
113
, an insulating piece
117
integrally formed with the partition wall
116
, and a locking hole
118
for engagement with the above described locking projection
108
. The insulating piece
117
is formed so as to correspond to a contact position between the female terminals
105
and the elastic arm
111
of the male connector
102
. The male terminals
113
are arranged in such a manner that their distal ends may project into the connector engaging room
115
. Electric wires
119
are press-fitted to backward ends of the male terminals
113
.
In an initial state of the coupling as shown in
FIG. 23
, the elastic arm
111
is in contact with the female terminals
105
of the male connector
102
(see
FIG. 21
) to establish a short circuit between the female terminals
105
. When the female connector
103
is moved from this state in a direction of an arrow to initiate the coupling, the male terminals
113
are inserted into the female terminals
105
as shown in
FIG. 24
, and at the same time, the insulating piece
117
slides along contact faces of the female terminals
105
with respect to the elastic arm
111
(a state on the way of the coupling). Then, as shown in
FIG. 25
, as the female connector
103
further continues to move and the coupling of the connector
101
has been completed, the insulating piece
117
pushes up the elastic arm
111
to cancel the short circuit between the female terminals
105
, needless to say that the electrical connection between the male terminals
113
and the female terminals
105
has been completed.
Therefore, by electrically detecting that the short circuit has been canceled, the state of the coupling in the connector
101
can be confirmed.
By the way, in the above described configuration, there has been such a problem that when the male connector
102
and the female connector
103
are coupled, the insulating piece
117
may be deformed or broken by diagonal or forcible insertion. Cancellation of the short circuit may not be reliably conducted, resulting in damage in reliability of electrical detection of the coupling.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the invention is to provide a coupling detector for a connector in which cancellation of a short circuit can be reliably conducted, and reliability of electrical detection of the coupling can be enhanced.
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a coupling detector for electrically detecting whether a first connector and a second connector are plenarily coupled with each other, comprising:
a conductive member provided in the first connector together with a plurality of terminal fittings, the conductive member including elastic arms associated with the respective terminal fittings, each elastic arm being divided into a first conductive piece and a second conductive piece which are moved together, the first conductive piece brought into contact with the terminal fitting when the first connector and the second connector are disengaged, the second conductive piece being away from the terminal fitting when the first connector and the second connector are disengaged; and
insulative members provided in the second connector so as to be associated with the respective elastic arms, each insulative member including a first insulative piece and a second insulative piece, the first insulative piece inserted between the terminal fitting and the first conductive piece when the first connector and the second connector are engaged, the second insulative piece moving the second conductive piece in a direction away from the terminal fitting when the first connector and the second connector are engaged.
In this coupling detector, even though one of the first and the second insulative pieces is deformed or broken, the other one acts on the associated conductive piece to cancel the short circuit.
Therefore, the short circuit can be reliably canceled so that reliability of electrical detection of the coupling is enhanced.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5277608 (1994-01-01), Oda
patent: 5647754 (1997-07-01), Kohno
patent: 5775936 (1998-07-01), Tsuji
patent: 5913703 (1999-06-01), Suzuki et al.
patent: 6386898 (2002-05-01), Taguchi
Kashiyama Motohisa
Yamaguchi Toshiyuki
Bradley P. Austin
Hammond Briggitte
Sughrue & Mion, PLLC
Yazaki -Corporation
LandOfFree
Coupling detector for connector does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Coupling detector for connector, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Coupling detector for connector will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3050535