Yazaki Corporation

Dowa Mining Co., Ltd.

Nihon Bell Parts Co., Ltd.

Kenji Takenouchi

Toshihiko Makita

Teruhisa Norizuki

Makoto Yamanashi

Mitsuru Matsumoto

Takayoshi Endo

Akira Sugawara

Toshio Asano

Mikio Nishihata

Tomohiro Ikeda

Keishi Jinno

Tadahiro Sueyoshi

Seiji Hirano

Takahiro Sano

Mitsuhiko Tozuka

A copper base alloy for terminals that is of the Cu-Ni-Sn-P or Cu-Ni-Sn-P-Zn system and that has a tensile strength of at least 50 kgf/mm.sup.2, a spring limit of at least 40 kgf/mm.sup.2, a stress relaxation of not more than 10% and a conductivity of at least 30% IACS is provided. Terminals the spring portion or the entire part of which is produced from that copper base alloy, having an insertion/extraction force of 0.2-3 kgf and a resistance of not more than 3 m.OMEGA. at low voltage and current as initial performance, with the added characteristic that the terminals will experience not more than 20% stress relaxation are also provided. The alloy is superior to the conventional bronze, phosphor bronze and Cu-Sn-Fe-P alloys for terminals in terms of tensile strength, spring limits, stress relaxation characteristic and conductivity and, hence, the terminals manufactured from those alloys have higher performance and reliability than the terminals made of the conventional copper base alloys for terminals.

Copper base alloys and terminals using the same

A female terminal includes a cylindrical portion having an opening for insertion of a male terminal. The cylindrical portion contains an elastic contact portion for pressing the male terminal inserted through the opening against an inner wall of the cylindrical portion. The elastic contact portion has a first arm, a second arm, and a first vertex for connecting the first and the second arms. An end of the first arm is connected to the cylindrical portion in the vicinity of the opening thereof. The cylindrical portion is provided with a supporting portion for restricting a degree of deflection of the elastic contact portion. The supporting portion has a third arm to be brought into contact with the first arm of the elastic contact portion for restricting deflection of the elastic contact portion. Contact surfaces of the first and the third arms are adapted in shape to each other so as to assure tight contact therebetween.

Female terminal

A copper base alloy for terminals that is superior in all aspects of tensile strength, spring limits, conductivity, and stress relaxation characteristics can be produced by a process repeating the cycles consisting of hot-rolling, cold-rolling and annealing, in which process an ingot is prepared by melting and casting an alloy containing 1.0-3.0 wt % Ni, 0.02-0.15 wt % P. 0.5-2.0 wt. % Sn and, as an optional component, 0.01-2.0 wt % Zn, with the balance being Cu and incidental impurities, and with the ratio of weight percentages of Ni to P being within the range of 10-50%.

Process for production of copper base alloys and terminals using the same

In a connector system comprising a connector housing having a terminal chamber, a terminal member to be inserted into the terminal chamber, and a terminal retainer to be coupled to a rear portion of the connector housing in two stages, namely, in a first-step engagement and a second-step engagement, the terminal retainer comprising flexible pins extending toward the front side in the terminal chamber, the flexible retainer comprising an engaging end portion capable of being restored to an advance path of the terminal member, and the terminal chamber provided with a stopper for detecting unsatisfactory insertion of the terminal member, the stopper located on the front side of the flexible engaging end of the terminal retainer in the first-step engagement, the engaging end portion, when not restored due to unsatisfactory insertion of the terminal member, making abutting engagement with the stopper when the terminal retainer is tried to be moved to the second-step engagement.

Terminal retainer for connector

A connector with a lever according to the present invention comprises: a male connector having a front face and a rear face, and at least one terminal accommodating cavity extending between the front and rear faces; a female connector having a shape of a rectangular frame; cam pins formed on opposing side walls of first one of the male connector and female connector; pin guide grooves engaged with the cam pins, the pin guide grooves formed on opposing side walls of second one of the male connector and female connector; a lever means comprising a pair of levers, a connecting plate for connecting shoulders of the levers, and cam grooves formed on the levers being engaged with the cam pins; a rotating means for rotating the lever means while the pair of levers of the lever means overlapping the pin grooves; and a locking means for locking the second one to the connecting means of the lever means, wherein open ends of the pin guide grooves of the second one overlap the open ends of the cam grooves of the levers, and the lever means is rotated to connect the male connector with the female connector, and after the connection is completed the locking means locks the lever means to the female connector.

Connector with lever

A connector housing in which a pair of male and female connector housings are united together by tightening a bolt provided through a seal member on one of the male and female housings with a nut provided on the other one of the male and female housings, includes an externally-threaded portion formed on the bolt from its tip end by a predetermined length. A non-threaded portion is formed on the bolt, extending from the externally-threaded portion and having a diameter smaller than the externally threaded portion so that when the male and female connector housings are fittingly connected together completely, threaded engagement of the externally-threaded portion with the nut is released and the nut is disposed around the non-threaded portion. A pressing and retaining device presses and retains the bolt in a direction to contact the externally-threaded portion with the nut when the male and female connector housings are fittingly connected together completely.

Connector housing of threaded connection type having sealing member and

A waterproof ring for a connector housing of the threaded connection type, comprising spring members mounted integrally in a seal ring of a soft rubber material having an insertion hole for passing a tightening bolt therethrough; each of the spring members having a generally U-shaped pressure-receiving bent portion directed in a direction of an axis of the bolt, and inner and outer pressing portions provided respectively on opposite sides of said pressure-receiving bent portion. Therefore, the single seal ring can achieve not only the sealing effect but also the bolt-urging operation when tightening the bolt, thus providing advantages such as an improved sealing effect over the prior art, and an easier connection.

Growing community of inventors

Shizuoka, Japan

Kenji Takenouchi