Electric connector

Details Electric connector Electric connector

1999-04-16

2001-09-25

Luebke, Renee (Department: 2833)

Electrical connectors

Metallic connector or contact having movable or resilient...

Spring actuated or resilient securing part

C439S849000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06293831

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to electric connectors and particularly to electric connectors of a type comprising male and female terminal members which are to be coupled when electric connection therebetween is needed. More specifically, the present invention is concerned with the female terminal member which is constructed to smoothly receive therein the male terminal member upon requirement of the electric connection therebetween.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to clarify the task of the present invention, known electric connectors of the above-mentioned type will be briefly described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
One of such electric connectors is shown in Japanese Utility Model Second Provisional Publication (Jikkosho) 52-12947, which is shown in
FIGS. 5 and 6
of the accompanying drawings as being designated by numeral
100
. The connector
100
generally comprises a male terminal member
1
and a female terminal member
2
, each being constructed of a metal plate. When it is needed to establish an electric connection therebetween, the male terminal member
1
is inserted into the female terminal member
2
. As shown in
FIG. 5
, the female terminal member
2
includes a wire gripping portion
4
by which a naked end of a wire
3
is gripped and a female portion
5
into which a male portion
1
a
of the male terminal member
1
can be inserted. The female portion
5
includes a base wall portion
6
and a pair of cylindrical side portions
7
a
and
7
b
integrally formed on respective side ends of the base wall portion
6
. Each of the cylindrical side portions
7
a
and
7
b
has an inwardly curled end
8
a
or
8
b
which is spaced from the base wall portion
6
by a given distance which is somewhat smaller than the thickness of the male portion
1
a
of the male terminal member
1
. Thus, a mouth or socket portion
9
is defined by the base wall portion
6
and the inwardly curled ends
8
a
and
8
b
. When the male portion
1
a
of the male terminal member
1
is inserted into the mouth portion
9
of the female terminal member
2
, the inwardly curled ends
8
a
and
8
b
of the female terminal member
2
resiliently press the male portion
1
a
against the base wall portion
6
thereby to achieve a tight connection therebetween. However, in this known electric connector
100
, the two terminal members
1
and
2
should be precisely aligned before making their coupling. That is, if the precise alignment is not provided, the two terminal members
1
and
2
would come into interference with each other at their leading ends, which causes a troublesome coupling work of them.
For eliminating such drawback, another electric connector has been proposed by Japanese Utility Model First Provisional Application (Jikkaihei) 6-38373, which is shown in
FIGS. 7 and 8
of the accompanying drawings as being designated by numeral
200
. It is to be noted that
FIG. 7
is a partially cut perspective view of a female terminal member of the connector
200
. The connector
200
generally comprises a male terminal member
1
(see
FIG. 8
) and the female terminal member
2
, each being constructed of a metal plate. As shown in
FIG. 7
, the female terminal member
2
includes a wire gripping portion
4
by which a naked part of a wire (not shown) is gripped and a female portion
5
into which a male portion
1
a
(see
FIG. 8
) of the male terminal member
1
can be inserted. The female portion
5
includes a base wall portion
6
, two elongate projections
10
a
and
10
b
formed on the base wall portion
6
and a pair inwardly curled side wall portions
7
a
and
7
b
(only one
7
b
is shown) integrally formed on respective side ends of the base wall portion
6
. Each of the side wall portions
7
a
and
7
b
has at its inwardly leading end a bent back portion
11
a
or
11
b
which is spaced from a top of the corresponding elongate projection
10
a
or
10
b
by a given distance which is somewhat smaller than the thickness of the male portion
1
a
of the male terminal member
1
. Each bent back portion
11
a
or
11
b
has an upwardly curved front end
11
a
′ or
11
b
′. A mouth or socket portion
9
is defined by front ends of the inwardly curled side wall portions
7
a
and
7
b
. When the male portion
1
a
of the male terminal member
1
is inserted into the mouth portion
9
of the female terminal member
2
, the bent back portions
11
a
and
11
b
of the female terminal member
2
resiliently press the male portion
1
a
against the elongate projections
10
a
and
10
b
thereby to achieve a tight connection therebetween. Due to provision of the upwardly curved front ends
11
a
′ and
11
b
′ of the bent back portions
11
a
and
11
b
, the coupling between the two terminal members
1
and
2
is readily and smoothly carried out. That is, even if the two terminal members
1
and
2
fail to be precisely aligned before their coupling, they can be easily coupled by only making a slight relative displacement therebetween. However, even the electric connector
200
has the following drawback. That is, providing the bent back portions
11
a
and
11
b
with the upwardly curved front ends
11
a
′ and
11
b
′ needs a very difficult production technique and thus brings about increase in cost of the electric connector
200
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an electric connector which is free of the above-mentioned drawbacks.
According to the present invention, there is provided an electric connector which is simple in construction and economical.
According to the present invention, there is provided an electric connector comprising male and female terminal members which can be easily coupled with a simple coupling work.
According to the present invention, there is provided an electric connector which comprises a male terminal member having a male portion; and a female terminal member including a female portion into which the male portion can be slidably inserted, the female portion being symmetrical with respect to a longitudinal axis of the female terminal member, the female portion including a base wall portion, side wall portions which extend upward from lateral ends of the base wall portion, upper wall portions which extend toward each other from upper ends of the side wall portions and bent back portions which extend laterally outward from inward ends of the upper wall portions below the upper wall portions, wherein front ends of the bent back portions are slanted in a direction away from the longitudinal axis thereby to constitute guide slopes for facilitating insertion of the male portion of the male terminal member into the female portion of the female terminal member.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3660806 (1972-05-01), De Stephan
patent: 2271224 A (1994-04-01), None
patent: 52-12947 (1977-03-01), None
patent: 6-33373 (1994-04-01), None

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