Electrical connectors – With stress relieving means for conductor to terminal joint – Curved conductor path
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-21
2003-05-20
Feild, Lynn D. (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With stress relieving means for conductor to terminal joint
Curved conductor path
C439S881000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06565378
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector having a terminal accommodating chamber for accommodating and holding a terminal, and more particularly, to a connector for preventing a terminal from falling out from a terminal accommodating chamber and requiring no double-engaging member.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 1
,
2
and
3
show a technique achieved by the present inventors.
As shown in
FIG. 1
, a substrate connector
101
includes a connector housing
102
including a plurality terminals
103
arranged therein. The terminals
103
are inserted through holes
105
formed in a printed wiring board
104
. The terminals
103
and lands of the wiring pattern are soldered thereby mounting the terminals
103
to the printed wiring board
104
.
As shown in
FIG. 2
, in the substrate connector
101
, a mating connector
106
is inserted in a terminal accommodating chamber
107
of the connector housing
102
. If the mating connector
106
is connected to the substrate connector
101
, terminals (not shown) of the mating connector
106
comes into contact with the terminals
103
of the substrate connector
101
.
However, as shown in
FIG. 2
, the terminals
103
provided on the connector housing
102
may be pushed out toward a back surface
104
b
of the printed wiring board
104
on the opposite side from a connector mounting surface
104
a
due to contact load of the terminals when or after the mating connector
106
is connected in many cases.
On the other hand, in the case of a so-called electric wire connector as shown in
FIG. 3
, electric wires
111
and
112
are connected to terminals
110
(one of them is not illustrated) accommodated in connector housings
108
and
109
, respectively. The terminals
110
are connected to each other by connecting a female connector
113
to a male connector
114
.
However, in the case of the electric wire connector, there is an adverse possibility that the connector terminal
110
is pulled out from the connector housing
109
by unintentional external force after the connectors were connected. To prevent this, as shown in
FIG. 3
, it is necessary to provide the connector housing
109
with a double engaging member
115
for prevent the terminal
110
from falling out. However, this increases the cost and the number of working steps.
As described above, in the case of the substrate connector
101
and electric wire connector
113
, the terminal
103
or
110
may be pulled out, and the double engaging member
115
is required for preventing the terminal
110
from falling out and thus, the costs is increased and the number of working steps is increased.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Thereupon, the present invention has been proposed to solve the above problems, and it is an object of the invention to provide an inexpensive connector having a small number of working steps in which a terminal is prevented from falling out from a terminal chamber and no double engaging member is required.
To solve the above object, according to a first aspect, there is provided a connector comprising a connector terminal including an electric wire connecting portion to which an electric wire is connected, a terminal contact to which a mating terminal is brought into contact, and a connecting portion for connecting the electric wire connecting portion and the terminal contact with each other, in which one ends of the electric wire connecting portion and the terminal contact are connected to the connecting portion, and the other end of the electric wire connecting portion and the terminal contact are directed to the same direction; and a connector housing having a terminal accommodating chamber for accommodating and holding the connector terminal, wherein the connector terminal is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber from a direction in which the mating connector is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber.
According to the present invention, since the connector terminal is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber from the direction in which the mating connector is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber, the connector terminal does not fall out from the terminal accommodating chamber by the connection of the mating connector. Therefore, a double-engaging member for preventing the connector terminal from falling out from the terminal accommodating chamber is unnecessary.
Further, the electric wire connecting portion of the connector terminal and the terminal contact are not provided on the same line, but are disposed such that the base end is connected to the connecting portion and the other end is directed to the same direction. Therefore, the connector terminal can be made compact, and the connector itself can be reduced in size.
According to a second aspect of the invention, in the connector of the first aspect, the terminal accommodating chamber is formed with a terminal-insertion hole through which the connector terminal is inserted and held, and the terminal accommodating chamber is provided with a terminal falling-out preventing portion engaged with the connecting portion of the connector terminal inserted into the terminal-insertion hole.
With this aspect, since the terminal falling-out preventing portion formed in the terminal accommodating chamber is engaged with the connecting portion of the connector terminal inserted into the terminal-insertion hole, the connector terminal does not fall out from the terminal accommodating chamber.
According to a third aspect of the invention, in the connector of the first aspect, when the mating connector is inserted and connected into the terminal accommodating chamber, the connector terminal is pushed by the mating connector.
With this aspect, when the mating connector is inserted and connected into the terminal accommodating chamber, the connector terminal is pushed by the mating connector. Therefore, even if the connector terminal is in the incomplete fitted state, since the connector terminal is pushed deeply, the incomplete mounted state is avoided.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in the connector of the first aspect, the electric wire connecting portion and the terminal contact of the connector terminal are integrally formed together with the connecting portion.
In the present invention, since the electric wire connecting portion and the terminal contact are integrally formed together with the connecting portion, the effect of the invention of the first to third aspect can be achieved more reliably.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4097109 (1978-06-01), Cross
patent: 5186658 (1993-02-01), Kikuchi et al.
patent: 5915992 (1999-06-01), Conorich et al.
Okabe Toshiaki
Sawayanagi Masahiro
Feild Lynn D.
Webb Brian S.
Yazaki -Corporation
LandOfFree
Electrical connector terminal and housing does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Electrical connector terminal and housing, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Electrical connector terminal and housing will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3025347