Electrical connectors – With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in... – Retaining means
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-21
2002-08-06
Reichard, Dean A. (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With coupling movement-actuating means or retaining means in...
Retaining means
C439S310000, C439S488000, C324S538000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06428341
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inspecting jig for a wire harness adapted to hold a connector of the wire harness ensuring electrical continuity of the wire harness with terminals, when the wire harness is subjected to continuity inspection.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, the wire harness provided with a plurality of electric wires and a connector containing terminals which are respectively connected to ends of the electric wires has been checked as to whether or not electrical continuity exists between each of the aforesaid terminals and another terminal. Thus, quality of the wire harness has been determined.
Heretofore, check of the wire harness of this type has been conducted in the following steps. One of the terminals of the wire harness is selected, and electricity is supplied to the selected terminal to determine whether potentials of the other terminals are high or low. The electricity is supplied to all the terminals in order, and in all the cases, the potentials of all other terminals except the supplied terminal are determined in order. Thus, mutual electrical continuity among all the terminals can be grasped.
By comparing the mutual electrical continuity among the terminals thus grasped as described above with the electrical continuity among the terminals in case that the wire harness is normal, whether the wire harness is normal or abnormal, and an abnormal portion if any has been detected.
In order to check the wire harness in the described manner, an inspecting jig
41
as shown in
FIG. 6
, for example, has been employed. The inspecting jig
41
as illustrated in
FIG. 6
holds the connector and ensures electrical continuity with respective terminals in the connector.
The inspecting jig
41
includes a base plate
42
mounted on a substantially flat table or the like, an operating lever
43
, a continuity checking part
44
, and a connector receiving part
45
. The base plate
42
is provided with a pair of side walls
46
which are arranged in parallel to each other.
The operating lever
43
is rotatably supported on respective one ends of the side walls
46
. The connector receiving part
45
which is provided at the other ends of the side walls
46
holds the connector in a state where an opening of a terminal inserting chamber is opposed to the operating lever
43
. In the illustrated embodiment, the connector can be freely engaged in and detached from the connector receiving part
45
in a vertical direction.
The continuity checking part
44
is provided in a middle part of the side walls
46
and supported by the side walls
46
so as to move close to and apart from the connector receiving part
45
. The continuity checking part
44
has a plurality of contact elements
47
which are adapted to get in touch with the terminals in the connector respectively.
The inspecting jig
41
is further provided with a link mechanism which is not shown in the drawing. The link mechanism interconnects the operating lever
43
and the continuity checking part
44
. When the operating lever
43
is operated to rotate, the continuity checking part
44
slides to be brought in contact with or to be detached from the connector receiving part
45
.
The connector is placed on the connector receiving part
45
in the inspecting jig
41
, and then, the operating lever
43
is operated to bring the continuity checking part
44
in a vicinity of the connector so as to ensure electrical continuity between the terminals of the connector and the aforesaid contact elements
47
. Then, by supplying electricity to the terminals in order by way of the contact elements, the electrical continuity between the terminals can be confirmed.
However, in the described inspecting jig
41
, the continuity checking part
44
is slidably supported by the side walls
46
and so on so as to move close to and apart from the connector receiving part
45
. Therefore, in order to allow the continuity checking part
44
to slide, the inspecting jig
41
tends to be increased in size. Because of the increased size of the inspecting jig, an area required for installing the inspecting jig in a production line of the wire harness has been also increased.
Moreover, because there have been provided the link mechanism and so on for enabling the continuity checking part
44
to slide by rotating the operating lever
43
, the structure of the jig
41
has become relatively complicated, and components of the jig
41
itself tend to be increased in number. Further, maintenance performance for the jig
41
itself is likely to be deteriorated because of the complexity of the mechanism, and the cost for the jig
41
itself tends to rise because of the increase in number of the components.
In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide an inspecting jig for a wire harness which can be made compact and in which number of components can be restrained thereby avoiding deterioration of maintenance performance and a rise of cost.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to attain the above described object, there is provided, according to the present invention, an inspecting jig for a wire harness for inspecting electric continuity of terminals in a connector, comprising a jig body having an opening into which the connector is adapted to be inserted, a continuity checking part adapted to be electrically connected to terminals of the connector when the connector has entered into the opening, a lever member swingably fitted to the jig body and including a locking portion which is adapted to be locked with an end face of the connector when the connector has entered into the opening, thereby to keep the terminals and the continuity checking part in an electrically connected state, after the locking portion has been locked with the end face, and biasing means for biasing the lever member in a direction in which the locking portion is locked with the end face of the connector.
According to a second aspect of the invention, the lever member is provided with an operating portion for disengaging the lock between the locking portion and the end face, the operating portion projecting outward from an outer face of the jig body.
According to a third aspect of the invention, the locking portion projects outward from the opening in a direction of inserting the connector, and includes a slanted face which is opposed to the connector when the connector is being inserted into the opening and gradually slanted toward an interior of the opening with respect to the inserting direction.
According the first aspect of the invention, the lever member is swingably provided in the jig body, and the locking portion of this lever member is locked with the end face of the connector, whereby electrical continuity with the terminals can be ensured. There will be no need of the continuity checking part or so which is adapted to slide in order to maintain the electrical continuity with the terminals.
Moreover, due to a fact that the lever member having the locking portion to be locked with the end face of the connector is swingably provided in the jig body, a mechanism necessary for electrically connecting the continuity checking part to the terminals will be simplified. In addition, since the locking portion is locked with the end face of the connector, there will be no need of connector holding means such as a recess in the connector.
According the second aspect of the invention, since the operating portion is projected outward from the outer face of the jig body, the locking portion can be easily disengaged from the lock with the end face of the connector, by operating the operating portion against biasing force of the biasing means.
According the third aspect of the invention, because the slanted face is opposed to the connector, the slanted face and the connector are abutted against each other when the connector is inserted into the opening. Because of the slanted contour of the slanted face toward the interior of the opening, as the connector is further insert
Kinezuka Kenji
Yoneyama Junya
Armstrong Westerman & Hattori, LLP
Nino Adolfo
Reichard Dean A.
Yazaki -Corporation
LandOfFree
Inspecting jig for wire harness does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Inspecting jig for wire harness, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Inspecting jig for wire harness will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2954793