Half-fitting prevention connector

Details Half-fitting prevention connector Half-fitting prevention connector

2000-09-12

2002-12-24

Vu, Hien (Department: 2833)

Electrical connectors

With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in...

Retaining means

C439S489000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06497584

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a half-fitting prevention connector in which a half-fitted condition is positively prevented by a resilient force of a spring member mounted in a housing of at least one of a pair of male and female connectors to be fittingly connected together, and the connector can be positively locked to the mating connector in a fitted condition.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 11-265828, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various half-fitting prevention connectors are already known. For example, Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei. 9-55261 discloses a half-fitting prevention connector shown in
FIGS. 8
to
13
.
As shown in
FIG. 8
, a male connector
50
includes a hood
51
having a spring receiving chamber
52
therein, and a spring
70
, bent into a zigzag shape, is received in this spring receiving chamber
52
so as to be contracted. Guide portions
53
a
are formed respectively on opposed inner surfaces of a pair of guide walls
53
extending from an inner surface of a top wall of the hood
51
.
And besides, in such a half-fitting prevention connector, when canceling the fitted condition, the entire elastic arm
61
needs to be elastically deformed or flexed at a region adjacent to the upstanding proximal end portion thereof, and therefore a large canceling force was required.
Connection terminals are received in terminal receiving chambers in the male connector
50
, and connection terminals are also received in terminal receiving chambers in the female connector
60
, each of these connection terminals being press-connected to a distal end of a wire. When the two connectors are fittingly connected together, the connection terminals in the male connector are electrically connected respectively to the connection terminals in the female connector.
In the above half-fitting prevention connector in a condition shown in
FIG. 9
, when the female connector
60
is inserted into the male connector
50
, the guide projections
61
b
, formed respectively on the opposite side edges of the elastic arm
61
, slide over the upper surfaces of the guide portions
53
a
, respectively. At this time, even if the lower end of the elastic arm
61
is pressed down, the guide projections
61
b
slide over the upper surfaces of the guide portions
53
a
, respectively, and will not come under the guide portions
53
a
, respectively, as shown in FIG.
10
.
When the guide projections
61
b
thus slide respectively over the upper surfaces of the guide portions
53
a
, so that the rear end of the elastic arm
61
is raised as shown in
FIG. 11
, the retaining projection
61
a
enters the spring receiving chamber
52
through a communication window
52
a
formed in an upper portion of the male connector
50
. Then, when the female connector
60
is further pushed into the male connector
50
, the retaining projection
61
a
abuts against a front end of the spring
70
to compress the same. At this time, the resilient force of the spring
70
tends to push the female connector
60
back, and therefore when the female connector
60
ceases to be pushed in a half-fitted condition, the female connector
60
is pushed out of the male connector
50
.
Then, the guide projections
61
b
pass the guide portions
53
a
, respectively, and are retained respectively by these guide portions
53
a
, so that a completely-fitted condition is achieved as shown in FIG.
13
. As a result, the elastic arm
61
is restored into an initial horizontal condition, so that the retaining of the spring
70
by the retaining projection
61
a
is canceled.
For canceling the fitted condition of the male and female connectors, the rear end of the elastic arm
61
is pressed down to thereby cancel the retaining of the guide projections
61
b
by the guide portions
53
a
, as shown in
FIG. 14
, and the guide projections
61
b
are disposed under the guide portions
53
a
, respectively. Then, as the female connector
60
is withdrawn, the guide projections
61
b
are further pressed down by the lower surfaces of the guide portions
53
a
, respectively, so that the elastic arm
61
is elastically deformed into a bow-like shape. Then, when the female connector
60
is further withdrawn, the guide projections
61
b
pass the lower surfaces of the guide portions
53
a
, respectively, so that the fitted condition of the male and female connectors is canceled.
In the above half-fitting prevention connector, the elastic arm
61
first extends upwardly from the front end of the housing of the female connector
60
, and then extends horizontally toward the rear end of the housing. The elastic arm
61
has a generally uniform thickness over the entire length thereof including the upstanding proximal end portion thereof and the horizontal portion thereof, and when canceling the fitted condition, the horizontal portion is flexed or elastically deformed into a bow-like shape.
However, as a result of repeating the connector fitting operation and the connector disengaging operation, the elastic arm
61
was liable to be plastically deformed, with the lower end thereof kept depressed, as shown in FIG.
10
. With such deformed elastic arm
61
, the locked condition, achieved by the guide portions
53
a
in the completely-fitted condition, was inadequate, and therefore there was a possibility that the male and female connectors were accidentally disengaged from each other upon application of an external force such as vibrations.
And besides, in such a half-fitting prevention connector, when canceling the fitted condition, the whole of the elastic arm
61
need to be elastically deformed or flexed at a region adjacent to the upstanding proximal end portion thereof, and therefore a large canceling force was required.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
With the above problems in view, it is an object of the present invention to provide a half-fitting prevention connector in which a fitted condition can be positively maintained, and a fitted condition-canceling operation can be easily effected.
To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a transverse cross-sectional area of an interconnecting portion, connecting a lock arm to a housing, is smaller than a transverse cross-sectional area of the lock arm, and the elastic deformation of the lock arm is absorbed only by the elastic deformation of the interconnecting portion so as to prevent the plastic deformation of the lock arm, and the lock arm is urged by the spring member in a direction opposite to the direction of elastic deformation of the lock arm, thereby maintaining a locked condition of the connector housings fitted to each other.
More specifically, first, second and third aspects of the present invention will now be described below.
In the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a half-fitting prevention connector which comprises a pair of connector housings fittable to each other, a spring member receivable in one of the connector housings, the spring member being operative to prevent a half-fitted condition of the connector housings by a resilient force thereof, an interconnecting portion, and a lock arm elastically-displaceably supported on one of the connector housings through the interconnecting portion, wherein when the connector housings are completely fitted to each other, the spring member urges the lock arm in a direction in which the lock arm retains the other one of the connector housings. Here, a transverse cross-sectional area of the interconnecting portion is smaller than a transverse cross-sectional area of the lock arm so that only the interconnecting portion can be elastically deformed when canceling a fitted condition of the connector housings.
In the second aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that the lock arm extends in a direction in which one of the connector housings is fitted to the other one of the connector housings, wherein the spring member is contractibly hel

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