Electrical connectors – With insulation other than conductor sheath – Metallic connector or contact secured to insulation
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-14
2003-11-25
Patel, Tulsidas (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With insulation other than conductor sheath
Metallic connector or contact secured to insulation
C439S595000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06652328
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector with holders used in an automobile etc. and particularly relates to a connector with holders which can surely engage a holder such as a front holder with a connector housing.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-143178, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Related Art
FIGS. 22
to
25
show an example of a connector having a conventional insertion detecting member for a terminal metal member disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. JP-A-11-86950.
In
FIG. 22
, a reference character A depicts a connector having a connector housing made of synthetic resin and a reference character B depicts an insertion detecting member for a terminal metal member made of synthetic resin. The connector A includes a terminal metal member C (
FIG. 23B
,
FIG. 24B
) and a connector housing formed by a housing main body portion A
1
and a hood portion A
2
expanded through a step portion A
3
at the front portion of the housing main body portion etc.
As shown in
FIG. 23B
, a plurality of terminal housing chambers
1
are provided as upper and lower stages within the housing main body portion A
1
. Within each of the terminal housing chambers
1
, a stopper
2
is provided at the front end thereof, and a cantilever type flexible engaging piece
3
extending forward through a supporting base portion
3
a
provided at a wall
9
is formed at the lower portion of the terminal housing chamber. An engaging projection
3
b
is provided at the front free end portion of the flexible engaging piece
3
, and a flexible displacement allowing space
4
is formed between the flexible engaging piece
3
and the one wall
9
of the terminal housing chamber
1
. A locking engaging frame portion
5
is provided at the upper portion of the hood portion A
2
.
As shown in
FIG. 22
, in the terminal metal member insertion detecting member B, a plurality of insertion detecting bodies
7
which extend forward in correspondence to the flexible displacement allowing spaces
4
are provided at the intermediate portion and the lower portion of a main frame portion
6
with a thin width in the forward and backward direction, and further a pair of pieces
8
extending in the forward direction are provided at the both side portions of the main frame portion. The operation piece
8
is formed as a flexible frame member having a flexible displacement allowing space Sc between flexible deformation frame portions
8
a
and
8
b
provided so as to oppose to each other at the upper and lower portions.
As shown in
FIGS. 22 and 25
, at the opposite side to the flexible displacement allowing space Sc in the pair of the flexible deformation frame portions
8
a
and
8
b
of the operation piece
8
, a mountain-shaped provisional engagement projection
8
a
′ having a tapered engagement guide portion
8
a
1
′ and a vertical engagement portion
8
a
2
′ is formed at the upper portion of the upper side flexible deformation frame portion
8
a
, and a regular engagement projection
8
b
′ having a tapered engagement guide portion
8
b
1
′ and a vertical engagement portion
8
b
2
′ is formed at the lower portion of the lower side flexible deformation frame portion
8
b.
At each of side wall outer surfaces
9
a
(
FIG. 22
) of the body A
1
, a mountain-shaped provisional engagement projection Ra and a mountain-shaped regular engagement projection Rb are protrusively provided at the one and the other of the opposed inner sides of a pair of guide ribs R which are provided with a space therebetween so as to receive the operation piece
8
therein.
A supporting portion
8
c
(
FIG. 25
) erected outward is provided at the free end portion of the operation piece
8
. A movable arm
8
e
extending in parallel to the operation piece
8
at the outside of the operation piece
8
is provided at the supporting portion
8
c
. An operation portion
8
d
extended over the supporting portion
8
c
is provided at the movable arm
8
e
. A deformation prevention projection
8
f
is protrusively provided at the free end of the movable arm
8
e
so as to proceed within the flexible displacement allowing space Sc to prevent the elastic deformation of the flexible deformation frame portions
8
a
,
8
b.
In the aforesaid configuration, the operation piece
8
is operated in a manner that the main frame portion
6
is inserted within the hood portion A
2
while being slidably made in contact with the inner portion of the hood portion A
2
, and the pair of the pieces
8
are advanced into the space between the pair of the guide ribs R, R at the side wall outer surfaces
9
a
of the housing main body portion A
1
from the windows WD of the step portions A
3
, respectively. Simultaneously, as shown in
FIG. 23A
, the operation portion
8
d
is held to draw out the operation piece
8
while flexibly displacing the operation piece outward and the operation piece
8
is restored when the provisional engagement projection
8
a
′ moves over the provisional engagement projection Ra of the guide rib R thereby to engage the provisional engagement projection
8
a
′ with the provisional engagement projection Ra. In this manner, the terminal metal member insertion detecting member B is held at the provisional engagement position with respect to the connector A.
As shown in
FIG. 23B
, at the provisional engagement position, the terminal metal member C is inserted within the terminal housing chamber
1
from the rear direction of the body A
1
. In this case, the terminal metal member C is inserted while displacing the flexible engaging piece
3
through the flexible displacement allowing space
4
, and the engaging projection
3
b
of the flexible engaging piece
3
having been restored is engaged with the shoulder portion SD of the terminal metal member C at when the insertion of the terminal metal member C is completed.
In the provisional engagement position, since a deformation prevention projection
8
f
is positioned within the flexible displacement allowing space Sc, the deformation of the flexible deformation frame portions
8
a
and
8
b
can be prevented by the deformation prevention projection
8
f
. In this manner, such a phenomenon can be surely prevented from occurring that when an external force is applied to the main frame portion
6
, the regular engagement projection
8
b
′ is displaced by the elastic deformation of the flexible deformation frame portion
8
b
and moves over the regular engagement projection Rb and so the insertion detection member inadvertently shifts to a regular engagement position.
In the case of shifting the terminal metal member insertion detecting member B from the provisional engagement state to the regular engagement state, as shown in
FIG. 25
, the operation portion
8
d
is pushed in the outer surface direction of the side wall thereof thereby to displace the movable arm
8
e
outward around the erected supporting portion
8
c
serving as a fulcrum, whereby the deformation prevention projection
8
f
is moved backward from the position within the flexible displacement allowing space Sc.
When the operation portion
8
d
is withdrawn in this state, as shown in
FIG. 24A
, the regular engagement projection
8
b
′ moves over the regular engagement projection Rb while displacing together with the flexible deformation frame portion
8
b
and shifts to the regular engagement position. As shown in
FIG. 24B
, in the regular engagement position, the insertion detecting body
7
moves into the flexible displacement allowing space
4
to prevent the displacement of the flexible engaging piece
3
, so that the terminal metal member C can be surely prevented from moving out of the terminal housing chamber.
When the terminal metal member C is in an incomplete insertion state, since the flexible engaging piece
3
is positioned within the flexible displacement allowing space
4
, the insertion detecting body
7
can not move into the flexible displace
Patel Tulsidas
Sughrue & Mion, PLLC
Yazaki -Corporation
LandOfFree
Coupling structure for connectors with holder 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 structure for connectors with holder, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Coupling structure for connectors with holder will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3136565