Sumitomo Wiring Systems, Limited

Sumitomo Electric Industries, Limited

Autonetworks Technologies, Limited

Tetsuya Aihara

Kenji Okamura

Hiroshi Nakano

Masahide Hio

Hideki Matsunaga

Masaaki Tabata

Toshifumi Ichio

Hiroyoshi Maesoba

Eiji Kojima

Michiaki Okamoto

Hiroki Hirai

Hiroshi Kobayashi

Masato Minakata

Atsushi Nishida

Satoshi Morikawa

Kazumasa Kobayashi

Shigeki Shimada

Yoshiro Kakuda

Toshiya Mori

Eiji Kojime

A harness-side connector () to be connected to a board connector () whose metal fixtures () are fixed to the upper surface of a board (P) by soldering include a female housing () connected to an end of a wiring harness and fittable into a receptacle () of the board connector () and a holder () formed separately from the female housing (). The holder () includes lock arms (A,B) which are resiliently engaged with the female housing () to lock the holder () in a state mounted on the female housing () and a locking portion () which is engaged with the lower surface of the board (P) when the female housing () is fitted into the receptacle () of the board connector () after the holder () is mounted on the female housing ().

Connector

A board connector () includes a housing () made of resin and in which terminal fittings () connectable to conductive portions of a board () are to be mounted. Fixing members () fix the housing () on the board (). Each fixing member () is made of metal and includes a housing mounting portion (). The housing mounting plate () is to be mounted on a wall surface of the housing () by inserting front and rear ends of the housing mounting plate () in mounting grooves () formed in the wall surface of the housing (). The housing mounting plate () has a first rib () extending in forward and backward directions, and a second rib () extending in forward and backward directions and arranged to fit within the height range of the first rib () with respect to a height direction perpendicular to forward and backward directions.

Board connector

A board connector includes a housing () into which a mating connector () is to be fit, mounting grooves () formed on side surfaces of the housing (), and metal fixing fixtures () to be mounted into the mounting grooves () while the plate surfaces thereof move along the side surfaces of the housing () and lower ends of which are to be fixed to a board (P). Projecting locks () project laterally along the plate surface and a bent lock () bent outward substantially at a right angle with respect to the plate surface are arranged vertically one above another on each lateral edge of each fixing fixture (). On the other hand, each mounting groove () includes receiving surfaces () that respectively contact with the projecting locks () and the bent locks () to prevent downward movements of the locks.

Board connector having a housing with a mounting groove with upwardly facing surfaces for receiving projecting locks of a mounting fixture

A wire connection sleeve includes a pipe-like outer tube () and an inner tube () inserted inside this outer tube (). The inner tube () is formed by winding a sheet-like metal material (P) formed with projections or recesses into a tubular shape with both ends being open, and a longitudinal middle part of this inner tube () serves as an inner-tube small-diameter portion () which is so squashed or deformed that the opening size thereof is smaller than those of the opposite longitudinal ends.

Wire connection sleeve, a wire connection sleeve producing method, a repair wire pre-connected with a wire connection sleeve by crimping and a wire connecting method

A connector () has a terminal fitting () press-fit into a terminal holding portion (). The terminal fitting () has a wide rectangular cross-sectional shape and includes a lower surface (A), two side surfaces (B) standing upward from the opposite lateral edges of the lower surface (A) and an upper surface (C) connecting the upper edges of the side surfaces (B). The terminal holding portion () includes two side walls (B) that interfere with the side surfaces (B), a bottom wall (A) formed with lower interfering portions (E) that interfere with non-touching parts (D) of the lower surface portion (A) not to be held in contact with a mating terminal fitting () and a ceiling wall (C) formed with upper interfering portions (D) that interfere with non-touching parts (D) of the upper surface (C) not to be held in contact with the mating terminal fitting ().

Connector having terminal holding portion that contacts a mating terminal

A board connector () has a housing () with a terminal holding portion () for holding terminals () in forward and backward directions and a receptacle extends forward from the terminal holding portion (). Mount grooves () are formed in side walls () of the receptacle (). Board fixing portions () are held in the mount grooves () within the thickness range of the side walls and are soldered to the upper surface of a printed board (P). Mounting portions () are formed in the side walls () and have open front ends. Restricting members () are formed separately from the mating connector and mountable within the thickness range of the side walls () forward of the board fixing portions (). One end of each restricting member () engages lower surfaces (A) of the mounting portions () and the other end engages the lower surface of the printed board (P).

Connector for an electric device such as a board

With two connectors () properly connected, engaging projections () projecting from wall surfaces of lower receiving grooves (S) are inserted below engageable portions () provided on lower reinforcing ribs (S) and these engaging projections () can be held in contact with the engageable portions () from below. Thus, if an upward force acts on the female connector (), the engaging projections () contact the engageable portions () and this force is borne by the lower reinforcing ribs (S). In other words, since the upward force acting on the female connector () is borne by both upper and lower walls (U,S) of a receptacle (), the upper wall (U) can be made thinner as compared to the case where this force acts only on the upper wall (U). As a result, a board connector (C) can be thinned further.

A plurality of terminal fittingsare mounted to a housingboard connecting portionshaving mounting portionsat lower ends protrude rearward, fixed fittingshaving mounting platesat lower edges are mounted to opposite side surfaces of the housingand the mounting portionof each terminal fittingand the mounting platesof the fixed fittingsare secured to a PCBby reflow soldering. During the reflow soldering, a drawing force toward the PCBacts on each of the terminal fittingsand the fixed fittingsbased on surface tension of molten solder H, but the center of the fixed fittingin the fore/aft direction of the board connecting portionis positioned forward of the center of gravity position O of a connectorand rotation moment Mb toward the PCBacts on the front of the housingbased on a drawing force Fb on the side of the fixed fittingto prevent the front from being raised.

A circuit board connector has a housingand terminal fittings () mounted in the housing (). The terminal fittings () have board connecting portions () drawn out of the housing (). The board connecting portions () are arranged on the surface of a circuit board (K) and connected with conductors on the circuit board (K) by soldering. Notches () are formed in lateral edges () of the board connecting portions () and have upward-sloped surfaces () to which solder (H) applied to the conductors adheres. A solder test is conducted by observing from above the adhered state of the solder (H) to the sloped surfaces () of the notches ().

Connector, a terminal fitting, a chained terminal and a mounting method for a connector

Male connectors () are accommodated in an ECU casing C, and connect with female connectors () connected with ends of wires (Wa). The male and female connectors () are locked together by engaging a lock () on a lock arm () of the female connector () with an engaging portion () of the male connector (). The fracture strength of the engaging portion () of the male connector () exceeds the fracture strength of the lock () of the female connector (). Thus, an excessive force acting to separate the locked connectors () will fracture the lock () of the female connector () first to cancel the locked state. This avoids fracturing the engaging portion () of the male connector ().

Connector device

L-shaped terminal fittings (A,B) have terminal connecting portions () at one end. The terminal connecting portions () are pressed into upper and lower stages of a housing () for connection with a mating terminal. Narrower board connecting portions () are at the opposite ends of the terminal fittings (A,B) and have mounting portions () to be soldered to a PCB (). The terminal connecting portions () of the upper stage align respectively with the terminal connecting portions () of the lower stage. However, the board connecting portions () in the upper and lower stages are offset laterally with respect to longitudinal axes (X) of the terminal connecting portions (). Additionally, all of the board connecting portions () of the terminal fittings (A,B) are arrayed in one row equally spaced from the housing ().

Connector and terminal fitting

Receiving portions () for partial locking and full locking are formed on walls of a retainer mount hole () in a housing (). The receiving portions () for full locking are before the receiving portions () for partial locking with respect to an inserting direction of a retainer (). Resiliently deformable holding arms (A,B) for partial locking and full locking are cantilevered on the retainer (), and locking sections () resiliently engageable with the corresponding receiving portions () are formed at the free ends of the holding arms (A,B). The holding arms (A) for full locking extend in the inserting direction of the retainer () from their supported ends to their free ends, whereas the holding arms (B) for partial locking extend in a direction opposite from the inserting direction of the retainer () from their supported ends to their free ends.

Connector with retainer

A female housing () has a lock arm () with an arm main body () that cantilevers back from the front of the female housing (). A lock () is formed on the arm main body (). An unlocking portion () is at the rear end of the arm main body () and extends normal to the arm main body (). Arm portions () project obliquely downward from the opposite sides of the unlocking portion (), and are coupled to protection walls () to sandwich the unlocking portion (). Two restricting walls () project from the upper ends of the protection walls () at positions behind the arm portions () and higher than the arm portions () and face each other. The restricting walls () prevent an operator's finger from touching the arm portions ().

Connector with lock arm

Collision preventing projections () are provided on an outer surface of a female housing () and will contact an opening of a receptacle () of a male housing () if a main portion () of the female housing () is inserted into a receptacle () in an oblique posture. Thus, the collision preventing projections () ensure that the main portion () and male terminals () are spaced apart when the main portion () is pushed into the receptacle () in this oblique posture.

Connector with a collision preventing projection

A female housing () is provided with a lock arm () for holding a mating male connector (M) in a connected state. The lock arm () is comprised of an arm () extending along forward and backward directions and an actuator () extending along a width direction. The arm () is resiliently deformed with a support () as a supporting point and has a lock () engageable with the male connector (M). The arm () is displaced in unlocking direction by pressing the actuator (). Two couplings () coupled to the female housing () are provided at opposite sides of the actuator (). The couplings () are inclined up towards a widthwise middle () of the actuator ().

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Yokkaichi, Japan

Tetsuya Aihara