Sumitomo Wiring Systems, Limited

Nissan Motor Company Limited

Yutaka Noro

Yutaka Kobayashi

Hajime Kawase

Keiichi Nakamura

Ryotaro Ishikawa

Masamitsu Chishima

Akihiro Kon

Takahiro Kikuchi

Ryo Sawada

Kazuaki Takeda

Yoshiyuki Ishikawa

Katsuaki Toba

Takeshi Tsuji

Kenji Okamura

Takahiro Yoneda

Yoshihiro Mizutani

Shohei Mitsui

Michiaki Okamoto

Toshihiro Ito

Ken Yoshimura

Masahito Matsuura

Norihiko Tanigawa

Shigeki Murayama

Osamu Hirabayashi

Nobuhiro Suzuki

Daisuke Hirasawa

Hideto Nakamura

Satoru Nishide

Yuuichi Nankou

Takuya Inoue

Naomichi Kawashima

Yoshitsugu Tsuji

Takahiro Tsuchiya

Masahiro Noda

Matthew Grant

Tetsuo Nawa

Yuki Kondo

Soji Kihira

Masahiro Matoba

Yuuji Takahashi

Muneyuki Kikagawa

Hideyuki Tai

Muneyuki Kitagawa

Provided is a female terminal fitting capable of improving the durability of an elastic contact piece. A female terminal fitting () includes a tubular main body part () and an elastic contact piece () extending, inside the main body part (), from a support point part () to a free end part () and contacting a partner-side male tab () inserted in the main body part (). The free end part () side of the elastic contact piece () displaces in the plate thickness direction of the elastic contact piece (). The main body part () has a first regulating part () and a second regulating part () that come in contact with the elastic contact piece () and regulate a displacement range of the free end part () side to less than or equal to the plate thickness of the elastic contact piece ().

Female terminal fitting with durable elastic contact piece

Provided is a female terminal fitting that can realize a state in which an elastic contact piece stably engages a main body part. A female terminal fitting includes a tubular main body part and an elastic contact piece that is provided inside the main body part and deflectively deforms in the plate thickness direction. The main body part has a right side plate. The right side plate is provided with a right rear opening. An edge part of the right rear opening is provided with a first regulating part bent to the inner side of the main body part. The elastic contact piece has a rear side projecting part positioned in the right rear opening and a region opposing the first regulating part in the plate thickness direction of the elastic contact piece together with the rear side projecting part.

Female terminal fitting with elastic contact piece engageable with body part

A short-canceling projection () has a support () and two plate-shaped insulating parts (). With housings () mated, the support () partitions two elastic contact pieces () of a short terminal (). Plate-shaped insulating portions () protrude in opposite directions relative to the support (), and, with the housings () mated, enter between two female terminal fittings () and the elastic contact pieces () and cancel shorting between the female terminal fittings (). Correction parts () are formed on the support () and the plate-shaped insulating portions () and make contact with the first housing () to displace the short-canceling projection () in the direction of approaching the short terminal ().

Connector housing assembly to be mated even when a-short cancelling projection is deformed

Provided is a connector in which terminal fittings and detection terminals can be formed at the same time. A housing () is provided with terminal fittings (A) and a pair of detection terminals (B). The terminal fittings (A) are connected to ends of signal lines (A), and electrically come into contact with counterpart terminal fittings (A) provided in a counterpart housing () when both of the housings () are fitted together. The pair of detection terminals (B) are mutually energized thereby to close a detection circuit when both of the housings () are properly fitted together. The pair of detection terminals (B) are mutually connected via a detection line (B) and formed in the same shape as the terminal fittings (A).

Connector

It is aimed to provide a connector capable of preventing the breakage of side walls (). A housing () includes a mounting hole () into which a retainer () is mounted, and side walls () for closing the mounting hole () from opposite sides. The side wall () is provided with lock receiving portions (). Lock protrusions () configured to slide while deflecting the side walls () in the process of inserting the retainer () into the mounting hole () and release the side walls () from a deflected state and enter the lock receiving portions () when reaching positions corresponding to the lock receiving portions () are provided on outer surfaces of the retainer (). Both end corner parts of the lock protrusion () in a sliding width direction (Y) perpendicular to a sliding direction on the side wall () are chamfered.

It is aimed to provide a connector capable of reliably suppressing rattling by both of a pair of press-fit projections entering one press-fit groove. A connector includes a shorting terminal () configured to short a pair of terminal fittings (T) by resilient contact pieces () resiliently contacting the pair of terminal fittings (T), and a housing () configured to accommodate the terminal fittings (T) and the shorting terminal (). The shorting terminal () includes a pair of press-fit projections () to be press-fit into one press-fit groove () provided in the housing () and separated on front and rear sides in a press-fitting direction into the press-fit groove (). The pair of press-fit projections () are formed such that a height of the press-fit projection located on the front side in the press-fitting direction is smaller than that of the press-fit projection located on the rear side.

Connector having a shorting terminal with a pair of press-fit projections

A female connector housing () is provided with a lever accommodating portion (B), and a lever () is rotatably mounted on an outer surface () of a main body portion (A) inside. The lever () is provided with a lock arm (). An operating portion (B) is provided on a tip part of the lock arm () and covered by a protecting portion (). In the case of separating male and female connectors (M, F), the locking of a lock protrusion () and a locking projecting edge () is released by pinching a first pinching surface () formed on the operating portion (B) of the lock arm () and a second pinching surface () of the protecting portion (). Since the first pinching surface () and the second pinching surface () are arranged along a deflecting direction of the lock arm (), a pinching operation is facilitated.

Lever-type connector

A connector includes: (i) a lock arm that extends rearwardly in a cantilevered shape from a housing main body, and (ii) a detecting member arranged to be movable forward from an initial position to a detecting position. The detecting member includes (i) an elastic arm portion extending in a cantilever shape diagonally upward and forward; (ii) an abutting portion at an extended end portion of the elastic arm portion and restricting movement of the detecting member from the initial position to the detecting position; (iii) a pair of walls, one at the left and one at the right, raised from the top surface of the housing main body; (iv) a bridge portion connecting top ends of the walls; and (v) an excessive bending restriction portion restricting excessive bending of the lock arm upward by covering the top surface of the lock arm with the bridge portion.

Connector with detecting member

A terminal fitting () includes a tubular connecting portion () into which a male tab () is to be inserted. A plate-shaped resiliently deflectable contact () is formed separately from the connecting portion () and extends in a front-back direction in the connecting portion () for contacting the male tab () inserted into the connecting portion (). The connecting portion () includes locks () for locking the resilient contact () to the connecting portion (). A support () as a deflection supporting point of the resilient contact () is provided on a rear end of the resilient contact portion (). The support () is located behind the front ends of receiving portions () of the resilient contact () to be locked by the locks ().

Terminal fitting

A terminal fitting () includes a tubular connecting portion () and a resilient contact () in the form of a plate that is deflectably arranged in the connecting portion () and that resiliently contacts a male tab () inserted into the connecting portion (). A contact () is provided in a range from a contact start position () with the male tab () to a contact end position () inside the resilient contact () in a plate width direction. Curved portions () recessed toward a center in the plate width direction are provided on outer edges of the resilient contact () in the plate width direction. Parts of the curved portions () most recessed toward the center in the plate width direction are arranged to face the contact start position () of the contact () in the plate width direction.

A detector () movable from an initial position to a detection position is mounted on a housing main body (). The detector () includes a resilient arm () resiliently deformable in a height direction. The resilient arm () contacts a lock arm () from behind before the housing main body () is connected to a mating housing () to prevent a forward movement at an initial position. When the housing main body () is properly connected to the mating housing (), the detector () reaches a detection position where the resilient arm () enters a deformation space () by being pushed forward from the initial position. At the initial position, the resilient arm () applies a pre-load to the lock arm () in the height direction.

Connector and connector assembly

A protection wall () stands up from a rear end part of a housing main body () and restricts an operation of a disengaging portion () of a lock arm () by covering the disengaging portion (). A detector () is made movable to a detection position by being pushed forward when the housing main body () is properly connected to a mating housing (). Further, the detector () includes a rear portion () located behind the lock arm () and to be pushed when the detector () is moved to the detection position. A disengagement window () used to operate the disengaging portion () is formed on a position of the rear portion () behind the disengaging portion ().

A lock arm () is cantilevered back from a front end part of a housing main body (). The lock arm () includes an accommodating recess () that is open toward a deformation space () therefor and toward the back. When the housing main body () is connected properly to a mating housing () and a detector () is pushed from a standby position to a detection position, a part of the detector () is inserted into the accommodating recess ().

A connector (A) includes a partition () for partitioning an insertion hole () for a tab () and a mold removal space () for a locking lance (). A retainer () is pivoted between a partial locking position and a full locking position. A lock () restricts a displacement of the retainer (). A retracted portion () is formed in an area (R) of a facing wall () behind the retainer () to mold the lock () and retracted from an insertion path for a male terminal fitting () as compared with an area (F) of the facing wall () before the retainer (). The retainer () includes a restriction () for restricting the inclination of the male terminal fitting () by being so displaced, at the partial locking position, that a rear end of the male terminal fitting () moves toward the retracted portion ().

Connector formed with a retainer having terminal alignment features

A rectangular tube () of a terminal fitting (T) includes a lid plate () extending substantially at a right angle from the extending end of a right side plate () and formed with a locking hole () extending over the entire width. A front plate (F) is cantilevered from the right side plate () and arranged before the locking hole (). A rear plate (R) is cantilevered from the right side plate independently of the front plate (F) and is behind and adjacent to the locking hole (). A retracted portion () is formed over the entire width at the rear plate (R), retracted inwardly of the rectangular tube () from the front plate (F) to provide a height difference within the range of an engagement margin with a locking projection () and capable of facing a rear end of the locking projection ().

Growing community of inventors

Yokkaichi, Japan

Yutaka Noro