Electrical connectors – With insulation other than conductor sheath – Plural-contact coupling part
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-16
2002-02-05
Bradley, P. Austin (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
With insulation other than conductor sheath
Plural-contact coupling part
C439S660000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06343960
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a joint connector having housing bodies piled on each other by their slide movements.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 12-150055 discloses a conventional joint connector which includes a plurality of housing bodies piled on each other in multistage and a plurality of terminals accommodated in each of the housing bodies.
Juxtaposed in each housing body are a plurality of terminal accommodating grooves that accommodate the terminals, respectively. Note, in this joint connector, one terminal accommodated in the housing body has a contact piece formed on its underside to project out of the housing body and a connecting part formed for connection with the contact piece of the other terminal in the other housing body mounted on the above housing body.
In the so-constructed joint connector, the pile of plural housing bodies in multistage is carried out by the following steps. First, align the connecting parts of the terminals accommodated in one housing body with the contact pieces of the other housing body on the upside, which will be referred “upper housing body” hereinafter. Correspondingly, the former housing body will be referred “upper housing body”, hereinafter. In his state, move the upper housing body downward and subsequently mount it on the lower housing body thereby to form one pile. Then, the contact pieces of the upper housing body are respectively inserted into the connecting parts of the lower housing body, thereby effecting the mutual connection of the terminals of the housing bodies in pile.
However, the above-mentioned aligning work is troublesome for a worker, taking a great deal of time in assembling the housing bodies. Conversely, if the assembling is performed while abolishing the aligning work, then there arises a possibility that the contact pieces of the upper housing body are assembled into the connecting parts of the lower housing body with deviations, causing one or more contact pieces of the former body to abut on the upper face of the latter body to damage.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Under the circumstances, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a joint connector which is capable of improvement of the workability in assembling the housing bodies to each other and which does not cause the contact pieces of the housing body to be damaged due to erroneous assembling.
The object of the present invention described above can be accomplished by a joint connector comprising:
a plurality of housing bodies adapted to be piled on each other, the housing bodies each having a plurality of terminal accommodating grooves juxtaposed therein;
a plurality of terminals accommodated in the terminal accommodating grooves of the housing bodies, respectively, wherein at least one of the terminals is connected with the neighboring terminal through a linking part, the terminals for each of the housing bodies having respective contact pieces formed to project out of a related housing body selectively and also having respective connecting parts formed for connection with the contact pieces of a lower housing body which is arranged under the related housing body; and
an alignment mechanism formed for each of the housing bodies to guide the other housing bodies arranged over and under the related housing body to respective formal stacking positions established thereon.
In the joint connector constructed above, the terminals are respectively accommodated in the terminal accommodating grooves of each of the housing bodies. Further, the other housing bodies arranged over and under the related housing body are guided to the formal stacking position by the alignment mechanism. Then, the contact pieces of the terminals in the related housing body are selectively connected with the connecting parts of the terminals in the other housing body piled on the related housing body.
As the second aspect of the invention, in the above joint connector, the alignment mechanism comprises:
guide rails formed on the related housing body to guide the upper housing body piled thereon; and
guide grooves formed in the related housing body, for slide engagement with the guide rails of the lower housing body arranged under the related housing body, thereby to allow the lower housing body to be guided to the formal stacking position.
With the alignment mechanism constructed above, the guide rails of the other housing body arranged under the related housing body slide along the guide grooves of the related housing body, so that the former housing body can be brought into the formal stacking position.
As the third aspect of the invention, the guide rails of the lower housing body are engaged in the guide grooves of the related housing body, thereby completing a condition where the related housing body is arranged over the lower housing body.
As the fourth aspect of the invention, there is also established a sliding direction of the guide rails between the guide grooves of the related housing body and the guide rails of the lower housing body engaging the guide grooves, the sliding direction intersecting respective longitudinal directions of the terminals.
In this arrangement, the lower housing body is slid under the related housing body and brought into the formal stacking position along the direction intersecting the longitudinal directions of the terminals.
As the fifth aspect of the invention, the contact pieces of the related housing body are connected with the connecting parts of the terminals accommodated in the upper housing body arranged over the related housing body, elastically.
In this arrangement, when the upper housing body is guided to the formal stacking position, the contact pieces of the terminals in the related housing body are elastically connected with the connecting parts of the terminals in the upper housing body.
As the sixth aspect of the invention, the contact pieces of the terminals accommodated in the related housing body are provided, thereon, with projections for electrical connection with the connecting parts of the terminals accommodated in the upper housing body.
In this arrangement, when the upper housing body is guided to the formal stacking position, the contact pieces of the terminals in the related housing body are displaced to the side of the related housing body. Additionally, since the projections on the contact pieces come in slide contact with the upper housing body, it is possible to reduce contact area between the contact pieces and the upper housing body in comparison with the case of no projection.
As the seventh aspect of the invention, each of the contact pieces of the terminals has a drawer part formed to project out of the related housing body and an inserting part formed in succession with the drawer part toward the linking part and each of the connecting parts is adapted so as to come into elastic abutment with the inserting part of the terminals in the lower housing body arranged under the related housing body.
In this case, when the lower housing body is guided to the formal stacking position on the related housing body, the connecting parts of the related housing body come into elastic abutment with the inserting part of the terminals in the lower housing body.
As the eighth aspect of the invention, the linking part has a linking piece and a press-fit piece allowing the linking piece of the neighboring terminal to insert thereinto to link the terminal to the neighboring terminal.
In this arrangement, when the terminals are respectively accommodated in the terminal accommodating grooves of the housing body, each linking piece is inserted into the press-fit piece of the adjoining terminal under pressure.
These and other objects and features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims taken in conjunction with the accompany drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3611270 (1971-10-01), Eppler
patent: 5320555 (1994-06-01), Okabe
patent: 6022247 (2000-02-01
Bradley P. Austin
Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner L.L.P.
Hammond Briggitte R.
Yazaki -Corporation
LandOfFree
Joint connector having housing bodies in stacks does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Joint connector having housing bodies in stacks, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Joint connector having housing bodies in stacks will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2954333