Electrical connectors – With insulation other than conductor sheath – Metallic connector or contact secured to insulation
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-17
2001-10-02
Bradley, Paula (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With insulation other than conductor sheath
Metallic connector or contact secured to insulation
C439S595000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06296531
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention belongs to a technical field of a connector wherein a terminal is inserted into a chamber of a housing and the terminal is fixed by a retainer.
2. Related Art
Connectors of this kind have been known, for example, Japanese Provisional Patent Hei 7-65924 has disclosed a connector wherein, as shown in
FIG. 7A
, terminals (not illustrated) are stored in chambers
82
that are provided in two rows, an upper row and a bottom row, in a housing proper
81
, each of these terminals is fixed by a lance (not illustrated) on an internal wall of the chamber
82
, retainers
83
are provided on the top face and the bottom face of the housing proper
81
, each of these retainers
83
is provided to be integral with the housing proper
81
by means of band-shaped hinges
84
, and the terminals are secondarily fixed by these retainers
83
. Each of these retainers
83
is tentatively fixed onto the housing proper
81
by engaging slits
85
that are provided in the left and right side ends of the retainer
83
with protrusions for tentative fixing
86
that are protrusively provided on the left and right side faces of the housing proper
81
. Then the retainer
83
is fixed in a fixing position by sliding the retainer
83
forward from the position of tentative fixing and engaging the slits
85
with fixing protrusions
87
that are protrusively provided on both the left and right side faces of the housing proper
81
. On the back of each retainer
83
, protrusions corresponding to the respective chambers
82
of the upper or lower row are provided, and when the retainer
83
is mounted in the fixing position, each of the above-mentioned protrusions penetrates through an opening
88
that is formed in the top face of the interior of a chamber
82
, protrudes into the chamber
82
and engages with a top portion of the terminal that is fixed by the lance to secondarily fix the terminal.
In this connector, as each terminal is doubly fixed to the housing, the terminals are reliably prevented from coming off the housing. Moreover, if a terminal is not inserted to a regular position at which the terminal is fixed by the lance, the retainer
83
can not fit into the top portion of the terminal. This facilitates detection of incomplete installation of the terminal. Furthermore, as each retainer
83
is provided to be integral with the housing proper
81
by means of hinges
84
, the retainers
83
can be prevented from coming off the housing proper
81
, and the costs can be lowered through a decrease in the number of molds and a decrease in manhour for control. To assemble the housing, hinges
84
are forced to be bent into a U-shape and the retainer
83
is moved to the position of tentative fixing, then the retainer
83
is moved further into the fixing position. During this assembly, a flat retainer fitting jig
89
as shown in
FIG. 7B
is used. A U-shaped bottom of a notch
90
in the jig
89
is pressed against bent portions of the hinges
84
and the retainer
83
is pushed into the position. As a result, the hinges
84
undergo plastic deformation to loose their elastic restoring forces. This prevents the retainer
83
from coming off the housing proper
81
due to the repulsive forces of the hinges
84
.
However, in the above-mentioned conventional connector, as the retainers
83
are provided on the top and the bottom of the housing proper
81
, only two rows of the chambers
82
, an upper row and a lower row, can be provided. Chambers
82
can not be arranged in multiple rows being three or more rows. Furthermore, as the assembly of the housing is made by forcefully bending the hinges
84
into a U-shape, moving the retainer
83
into the tentative fixing position and then moving the retainer
83
into the fixing position, it takes much time and workability is low. Moreover, as the retainer
83
must be pushed into position by means of the retainer fitting jig
89
to eliminate elastic restoring forces of the hinges
84
, this also lowers workability.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention was made in view of these points. One objective of the present invention is to make double fixing and detection of incomplete fitting by means of a retainer. Another objective is to make the retainer integral with the housing proper so as to prevent the retainer from coming off and reduce the costs. Another objective is to enable multiple stacking of chambers in three or greater rows by fitting the retainer in the housing proper in such a way that the retainer crosswise penetrates chambers of the housing proper and shifting the retainer to secondarily fix terminals. Another objective is to eliminate the needs of greatly bending the hinges so as to save time of housing assembly and improve workability while preventing the retainer from coming off the housing proper.
To accomplish the above-mentioned objectives, the present invention is a housing for a connector in which terminals are to be fixed, comprising a housing proper having chambers into which said terminals are inserted and having a cavity that crosses said chambers and opens in at least one external wall, a retainer being slidably fitted in said cavity of said housing proper, having a linking part that links said chambers that are divided into a front portion and a rear portion by said cavity, being shiftable in a sliding direction when said terminals are in a regular position in said chambers, and being secondarily fixed to said terminals by said shift, and at least one hinge integrally connecting said retainer with said housing proper.
In this housing, when a terminal is inserted into a chamber, the terminal is fixed in the housing. When a retainer is to be shifted in the sliding direction, the terminals must be in a regular position in the chambers. Otherwise the retainer can not be shifted. In this case, incomplete fitting is detected. When the terminals are in a regular position in the chambers, the retainer can be shifted, and the retainer is secondarily fixed to the terminals by this shift. In this case, as the retainer is integral with the housing proper by means of the hinge, the retainer is prevented from coming off the housing proper, and the costs can be lowered. If the housing proper is provided with chambers in three or more rows in the sliding direction of the retainer, a linking part that links respective chambers can be formed in the retainer, and in that case both secondary fixing and detection of incomplete fitting can be made. Moreover, as the retainer is moved almost linearly by a short distance in the sliding direction, the hinge will not be bent greatly and no large elastic restoring force will work on the hinge. Accordingly, the retainer will not come off the housing proper. Furthermore, as no special jig is used, just a shift of the retainer is needed and that can be done by a single touch, the work of assembling the housing is reduced and workability is improved.
In the housing for a connector according to the present invention, the holding power of the terminals is enhanced through double fixing with the retainer, and incomplete fitting of any terminal can be detected to reliably prevent misassembly. As the retainer is integral with the housing proper by means of the hinge, the retainer can be prevented from coming off the housing proper and the costs can be reduced. As the retainer is fitted into the housing proper in such a way that the retainer crosses the chambers of the housing proper and the retainer is made to secondarily fixing the terminals by shifting the retainer in the sliding direction, the chambers can be arranged in multiple rows, namely, three or more rows, moreover, as there is no need of bending the hinge greatly, the work of assembling the housing can be reduced and workability can be enhanced while preventing the retainer from coming off the housing proper.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4705337 (1987-11-01), Maeda
patent: 5299958 (1994-04-01), Ohsumi
patent: 5609503 (1997-03-01), Tsuji et al.
patent: 5700162 (1997-12-01), H
Bradley Paula
Harue James R.
Japan Solderless Terminal Mfr. Co., Ltd.
Nixon & Peabody LLP
Studebaker Donald R.
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