Abstract:
A process for assembling a connector is provided, by which the production efficiency can be improved by preventing the problem of insertion error from occurring in a step of terminal insertion into a connector housing in the manufacturing process of the wiring harness by using an automatic assembly machine or in a step of the operation by the human hands. The process includes the steps of: provisionally locking the spacer in the connector housing; inserting ajig rod into the connector housing before inserting the terminal into the connector housing, the jig rod being for releasing the locking of the spacer which is completely locked in the connector housing; pulling the jig rod out from the connector housing; and inserting the terminal into the connector housing.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   (1) Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to a process and device for assembling a connector, by which a terminal is securely fixed in a connector housing no matter whether a spacer is provisionally or completely mounted in the connector housing. 
   (2) Description of the Related Art 
   Each of  FIGS. 10 and 11  is a longitudinal cross sectional view illustrating an example of a conventional assembly of a double locking connector. 
   The double locking connector  1  includes a connector housing  10 , spacer  20  and female terminal  30  with these parts being assembled therein. 
   The connector housing  10  is formed with circumferential walls  11  and includes a spacer receiving chamber  12 , spacer insertion opening  12 , terminal receiving chamber  13 , rear opening  13   d  and terminal insertion opening  14 . The same reference numeral  12  is used for the spacer receiving chamber  12  and spacer insertion opening  12  for convenience. The terminal receiving chamber  13  is formed being surrounded by a partition wall  13   a  continuing to a locking lance  15 , rear horizontal partition wall  13   b , and rear vertical partition wall  13   c.    
   A member  18  for complete locking, i.e. projection  18  for complete locking, which engages with a member  28  for complete locking of the spacer  20 , is formed at the spacer insertion opening  12  of the circumferential wall  11 . A member  19  for provisional locking, i.e. a projection  19  for provisional locking, which engages with a member  29  for provisional locking of the spacer  20 , is formed in the spacer receiving chamber  12  of the connector housing  10 . 
   The locking lance  15  tentatively locks the female terminal  30  in the terminal receiving chamber  13  and is formed integrally with the partition wall  13   a  of the connector housing  10 . The terminal insertion opening  14  is provided with a tapered guide surface  14   a  in order that a tab (not shown) of a male terminal in a mating connector can be easily inserted into the interior of the connector housing  10  passing through the terminal insertion opening  14 . 
   The spacer  20  is provided in the connector  1  so as to completely lock and fix the terminal  30  in the terminal receiving chamber  13 . 
   With the spacer  20  provided in the connector housing  10  as described above, in the connector in which the terminal  30  is assembled into the connector housing  10 , such an accident can be prevented from occurring that a cable  40  connected to the rear of the terminal  30  is abruptly pulled and accordingly the terminal  30  mounted in the terminal receiving chamber  13  by the lance  15  is pulled off from the rear opening  13   d  of the connector housing  10  and as a result the terminal  30  is separated from the connector housing, because the terminal  30  is doubly locked in the connector housing  10  by the spacer  20 . 
   The spacer  20  includes a terminal-passing portion  21  formed being surrounded by an inclined wall  22   a  and vertical partition wall  22   b , operation portion  26 , and locking piece  27 . 
   The operation portion  26  is provided so that the spacer  20  can be easily locked in the connector housing  10  provisionally or completely by the operation portion being pressed. 
   The operation portion  26  is provided also for a purpose that the spacer  20  locked completely in the connector housing  10  can be easily released therefrom by using an appropriate jig when the spacer  20  completely locked in the connector housing  10  should be returned to a provisional locking state thereof. 
   A pair of the locking pieces  27  is formed at right and left of the width direction of the body of the spacer  20 . The locking piece  27  is provided with the member  29  for provisional locking, i.e. a projection  29  for provisional locking, which engages with the member  19  for provisional locking provided in the spacer receiving chamber  12  of the connector housing  10 . The member  29  for provisional locking includes a space  29   a  having an inverse U-shape for the projection  29  for provisional locking to bend easily. The operation portion  26  is provided with the member  28  for complete locking, i.e. the projection  28  for complete locking, which engages with the member  18  for complete locking provided at the spacer insertion opening  12 . 
   The female terminal  30  includes an electric contact part  33  and wire connection part  34 . The electric contact part  33  is formed in a rectangular box-shape being surrounded by circumferential walls and the interior thereof is provided with an elastic contact piece and contact. The wire connection part  34  includes a conductive crimp contact piece and coated crimp contact piece. A wire  40  such as a cable  40  consisting of an insulating coating  42  and a conductor  41  protected by the insulating coating  42  is connected to the rear side of the female terminal  30  (see  FIG. 4 ). The conductor  41  of the cable  40  is caulked by the conductive crimp contact piece of the female terminal  30  while the insulating coating  42  of the cable  40  is caulked by the coated crimp contact piece of the female terminal  30 , thereby the female terminal  30  is electro-conductively connected to the cable  40 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 10 , the female terminal  30  is inserted into the terminal receiving chamber  13  from the rear opening  13   d  of the connector housing  10  and fixed in the connector housing  10 . At that time, the spacer  20  is held being stopped at a provisional locking position in the connector housing  10 . The connector housing  10 , in which the spacer  20  is mounted in such a provisional locking state, is carried with being collected per a specific batch and being received in a special container such as a pallet. 
   However, in the conventional assembly process of the connector  1 , even if the spacer  20  is held in a provisional locking state in the connector housing  10 , when the connector housings  10  each of which includes such a spacer  20  are carried with being collected per a specific batch and being received in a special container such as a pallet, the spacer  20  may accidentally be locked completely in the connector housing  10  by oscillation and the like during conveying. 
   In the event that the spacer  20  is accidentally locked completely in the connector housing  10  and such a connector housing  10  including the spacer  20  is set in an automatic assembly machine and then the female terminal  30  is about to be inserted into the terminal receiving chamber  13  of such a connector housing  10 , as shown in  FIG. 11 , a front end  32  of the female terminal  30  hits against a rear end  25  of the inclined wall  22   a  of the spacer  20 , which is completely locked in the connector housing  10 , resulting in that the female terminal  30  cannot be inserted into the terminal receiving chamber  13 . 
   When such a problem takes place in the automatic assembly machine, which manufactures a wiring harness, the machine detects the abnormality and halts its operation, causing a deterioration in the production efficiency. When such a problem frequently takes place in a flow process manufacturing line provided with the automatic assembly machines, every such a time the operation of the automatic assembly machine is halted by the detection of abnormality, causing a severe deterioration in the production efficiency. 
   In order to avoid such a deterioration in the production efficiency, an operator has to carry out a total inspection for the connector housing  10  including the spacer  20  therein so as to check whether or not the spacer  20  is accidentally completely locked in the connector housing  10 , which is carried with being collected per a specific batch and being received in a special container such as a pallet. 
   Further, the operator has to carry out an operation to recover a provisional locking state of the spacer  20  in the connector housing  10  for every connector housing  10 , in which the spacer  20  is accidentally completely locked in the connector housing  10 . 
   Many operators are required to carry out such a total inspection of the connector housing  10  in order to deal with the problem described above. Meanwhile, the deterioration in the production efficiency in the flow process manufacturing line must be avoided. Such a severe condition means a difficult problem in the manufacturing line, therefore a measure to solve the problem has eagerly been desired. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is therefore an objective of the present invention to solve the above problem and to provide a process and device for assembling a connector, by which the production efficiency can be improved by preventing the problem of insertion error as described above from occurring in a step of the terminal insertion into the connector housing in the manufacturing process of the wiring harness by using an automatic assembly machine or in a step of the operation by the human hands. 
   In order to attain the above objective, the present invention is to provide a process for assembling a connector, in which a spacer is provisionally locked in a connector housing and thereafter a terminal is completely locked in the connector housing, the process comprising the steps of: 
   provisionally locking the spacer in the connector housing; 
   inserting a jig rod into the connector housing before inserting the terminal into the connector housing, the jig rod being for releasing the locking of the spacer which is completely locked in the connector housing; 
   pulling the jig rod out from the connector housing; and 
   inserting the terminal into the connector housing. 
   With the construction described above, even if the spacer is accidentally completely locked in the connector housing before the terminal is inserted into the connector housing, the spacer can easily quickly restores the provisional locking state again. Thereby, the insertion performance of the terminal into the connector housing can be improved. 
   The spacer is in advance mounted in the connector housing before the insertion of the terminal. It has not been secured that the spacer is always provisionally locked in the connector housing. However, with the construction according to the present invention, no matter whether the spacer is provisionally or completely mounted in the connector housing, the spacer is securely set in the provisional locking state thereof only by inserting the jig rod into the connector housing. Therefore, the terminal can be securely fixed in a connector housing without interfering with the spacer. 
   Preferably, an inclined guide surface is formed at an end of the jig rod having a straight shape, the jig rod is inserted from a rear opening of a terminal receiving chamber of the connector housing, the jig rod is advanced while the inclined guide surface abuts against a rear end of the spacer which is mounted in the connector housing, and the inclined guide surface comes in slidable contact with an inclined wall of the spacer, so that the locking state of the spacer in the connector housing is changed from the complete locking to the provisional locking. 
   With the construction described above, since the inclined guide surface is formed at the end of the jig rod, when the jig rod is inserted from the rear opening of the terminal receiving chamber of the connector housing and the inclined guide surface abuts against the rear end of the spacer which is mounted in the connector housing, the jig rod smoothly comes into slidable contact with the inclined wall of the spacer so as to press the spacer. Therefore, the spacer which has been completely locked in the connector housing is securely released from the complete locking state thereof and the spacer smoothly restores the provisional locking state thereof in the connector housing. 
   Preferably, an optional portion between front and rear ends of the inclined guide surface formed at the end of the jig rod abuts against a corner, at which an inclined surface and rear end surface of the spacer intersect each other. 
   With the construction described above, the spacer which has been completely locked in the connector housing is more securely released from the complete locking state thereof and the spacer more smoothly restores the provisional locking state thereof in the connector housing. 
   Further, the present invention is to provide a device for assembling a connector comprising: 
   a first chuck for holding a connector housing including a spacer so as to move the connector housing to a specific position; 
   a base on which the connector housing including the spacer is placed; 
   a jig rod reachable up to the interior of a terminal receiving chamber of the connector housing, for changing a locking state of the spacer in the connector housing from complete locking to provisional locking; and 
   a second chuck for holding a terminal so as to insert the terminal in the terminal receiving chamber of the connector housing. 
   With the construction described above, if the device for assembling a connector according to the present invention is used as an automatic assembly machine, a problem that the terminal, spacer or connector housing may be damaged in the event that the terminal is accidentally inserted into the connector housing in which the spacer is completely locked can be prevented from occurring, thereby the deterioration in the yield of the terminal, spacer or connector can be prevented from occurring. 
   Above all, when a terminal to which a wire such as a cable and wiring harness is already connected is deformed or damaged, components in connection with the connector together with the other components such as a cable and so on connected to the terminal have to be assembled with each other again from the beginning. To the contrary, with the device for assembling a connector according to the present invention described above, the terminal is not deformed or damaged, thereby the yield of each of the various components is significantly improved. When the device for assembling a connector according to the present invention is used as the automatic assembly machine, a series of the operations described above can be carried out by using such an automatic assembly machine, thereby the productivity for manufacturing a connector can be significantly improved. 
   Preferably, an inclined guide surface is formed at an end of the jig rod and the inclined guide surface abuts against a corner, at which an inclined surface and rear end surface of the spacer intersect each other. 
   With the construction described above, since the inclined guide surface is formed at the end of the jig rod, therefore the spacer which has been completely locked in the connector housing is securely released from the complete locking state thereof and the spacer smoothly restores the provisional locking state thereof in the connector housing. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1A  is a perspective view illustrating a preferred embodiment of a process and device for assembling a connector according to the present invention, in which a connector housing is placed on a base; 
       FIG. 1B  is a perspective view illustrating a preferred embodiment of a process and device for assembling a connector according to the present invention, in which a jig rod is inserted into a connector housing; 
       FIG. 1C  is a perspective view illustrating a preferred embodiment of a process and device for assembling a connector according to the present invention, in which a terminal is inserted into a connector housing; 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view illustrating a preferred embodiment of a process and device for assembling a connector according to the present invention; 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view illustrating a preferred embodiment of a process and device for assembling a connector according to the present invention; 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view illustrating a preferred embodiment of a process and device for assembling a connector according to the present invention; 
       FIG. 5A  is a longitudinal cross sectional view illustrating a preferred embodiment of a process for assembling a connector according to the present invention, in which a jig rod is inserted into the rear side of a connector housing; 
       FIG. 5B  is a longitudinal cross sectional view illustrating a preferred embodiment of a process for assembling a connector according to the present invention, in which a jig rod is inserted halfway in a connector housing; 
       FIG. 5C  is a longitudinal cross sectional view illustrating a preferred embodiment of a process for assembling a connector according to the present invention, in which a jig rod is inserted into the depth of a connector housing; 
       FIG. 6  is a longitudinal cross sectional view illustrating a preferred embodiment of a process for assembling a connector according to the present invention; 
       FIG. 7  is a longitudinal cross sectional view illustrating a preferred embodiment of a process for assembling a connector according to the present invention; 
       FIG. 8  is a longitudinal cross sectional view illustrating a preferred embodiment of a process for assembling a connector according to the present invention; 
       FIG. 9  is an enlarged view illustrating a primary part of a process and device for assembling a connector according to the present invention; 
       FIG. 10  is a longitudinal cross sectional view illustrating an example of a conventional assembly of a double locking connector; and 
       FIG. 11  is a longitudinal cross sectional view illustrating an example of a conventional assembly of a double locking connector. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   In the following, a preferred embodiment of a process and device for assembling a connector according to the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the attached drawings. The same reference numeral, which is used in the explanation of the prior art described above, is used for a component or part in the preferred embodiment if such a component or part corresponds to one in the prior art in its name, and the detailed explanation for them is omitted. 
     FIG. 1A  is a perspective view illustrating a preferred embodiment of a process and device for assembling a connector according to the present invention, in which a connector housing is placed on a base.  FIG. 1B  is a perspective view illustrating a preferred embodiment of a process and device for assembling a connector according to the present invention, in which a jig rod is inserted into a connector housing.  FIG. 1C  is a perspective view illustrating a preferred embodiment of a process and device for assembling a connector according to the present invention, in which a terminal is inserted into a connector housing. Each of  FIGS. 2–4  is a perspective view illustrating a preferred embodiment of a process and device for assembling a connector according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 5A  is a longitudinal cross sectional view illustrating a preferred embodiment of a process for assembling a connector according to the present invention, in which a jig rod is inserted into the rear side of a connector housing.  FIG. 5B  is a longitudinal cross sectional view illustrating a preferred embodiment of a process for assembling a connector according to the present invention, in which a jig rod is inserted halfway in a connector housing.  FIG. 5C  is a longitudinal cross sectional view illustrating a preferred embodiment of a process for assembling a connector according to the present invention, in which a jig rod is inserted into the depth of a connector housing. Each of  FIGS. 6–8  is a longitudinal cross sectional view illustrating a preferred embodiment of a process for assembling a connector according to the present invention.  FIG. 9  is an enlarged view illustrating a primary part of a process and device for assembling a connector according to the present invention. 
   In the following, each direction for a connector will be explained. 
   As for a definition of upper and lower sides (or top and bottom), in  FIGS. 1–8 , the upper side is the side at which a spacer receiving chamber  12  of a connector  1  or connector housing  10  is formed while the opposite side to the upper side is defined as the lower side. Therefore, the upper and lower (or top and bottom) direction in this specification means the height direction of the connector housing  10  placed horizontally, which is shown in  FIGS. 5–8 . 
   As for a definition of front and rear sides, in  FIGS. 1–8 , the front side is the side of a terminal insertion opening  14 , that is, the engaging side of the connector  1  or the connector housing  10  while the opposite side to the front side is defined as the rear side. As for a definition of front view and rear view, the front view is to see the connector  1  from the engaging side of the connector  1  or the connector housing  10  while the rear view is to see the connector  1  from the terminal insertion side, that is, from the wire connection side. 
   A definition of right and left sides is determined as a logical consequence according to the definition of the upper and lower sides (or top and bottom) and the front and rear sides. The right and left direction in this specification means the width direction of the connector  1  or connector housing  10  placed horizontally. 
   The above definition of the upper and lower sides, front and rear sides, and right and left sides is for convenience and not necessarily agree with a practical direction upon the use of the connector. 
   In this specification, the connector means a component for a purpose of electric connection including a connector housing, spacer and part for electric connection such as a terminal. The connector may further include a sealing member such as a seal, rubber stopper and waterproof stopper for improving the waterproof characteristic. The connector may include an additional part such as a front holder and rear holder. A connector, in which the terminal is connected to a wire, or a connector which can be welded may be used as well. 
   In this specification, the terminal is either a female terminal or a male terminal. The female terminal receives the male terminal to carry out an electric connection mating with the male terminal. The female terminal may include an elastic contact piece such as a spring for generating a contact load. The female terminal  30  (see  FIGS. 1C and 4 ) used in the preferred embodiment has a rectangular box-shape corresponding to the tab-type male terminal having a flat plate-shape and has an elastic contact piece therein. Besides such a female terminal having a rectangular box-shape, a female terminal having a rectangular cylinder-shape or round cylinder-shape corresponding to a male terminal of square pin-type or round pin-type may be used. Any type of female terminal can be employed for the present invention. 
   As for a process for producing the female terminal  30  shown in  FIGS. 1C and 4 , first a metal plate is subjected to die cutting to make a terminal fittings material and thereafter the material is subjected to bending, thereby a female terminal  30  having a specific shape. Thus, a wire connection part  34  and electric contact part  33  are formed in the female terminal  30 . 
   An electric contact part of the male terminal enters in the female terminal so as to carry out an electric connection. As for a busbar including a tab, an electric contact part of the busbar enters into the female terminal so as to function as a male terminal for electric connection. A male terminal has a shape such as a tab type, square pin type and round pin type-shape. The male terminal used in the present invention may have any shape such as a round pin type and square pin type shape besides one having a tab type-shape of a flat plate-shape. 
   The terminal such as the female terminal  30 , male terminal and busbar may be made of copper-based material such as bronze, brass and copper alloy or aluminum alloy. The terminal such as the female terminal  30 , male terminal and busbar may be made of any material provided that the material is a metal having electrical conductivity or a conductor having heat resistance upon welding. 
   In this specification, the wire may be a conductor protected by an insulating coating or enamel, or a conductor without such a protective coating. The cable is also called as a core wire. As shown in  FIG. 4 , the cable  40  includes one conductor  41  or plurality of conductors  41  protected by an insulating coating  42  or enamel. 
   The insulating coating  42  may be made of, for example, soft resin or rubber. The wiring harness mainly includes the cable  40  consisting of the conductor  41  and insulating coating  42 , a tape for binding the cables  40 , connector, and grommet and is bent at the portion required so as to be mounted on a motor vehicle. 
   Consequently, preferably the conductor  41  is made of material having not only the electrical conductivity but also flexibility so as to resist against repeated bending, such as a copper-based wire such as an annealed copper wire. In the cable  40 , a plurality of conductors  41  are bound and moderately twisted so as to improve the mechanical strength thereof. A conductor coated by enamel may be employed as the wire such as the cable. 
   Preferably, the insulating coating  42  is also made of electrically insulating material having flexibility so as to resist against repeated bending such as a thermoplastic resin such as chloroethylene-based polymer and polyethylene-based polymer, soft resin, rubber and the mixture thereof. A filler may be added to the insulating material as the need arises. 
   When the insulating coating is extrusion molded, for example, the conductor such as a copper wire is inserted into an extrusion hole of a mold together with the insulating coating, thereby the insulating coating  42  and the conductor  41  is combined, so that the wire  40  such as the cable  40  is constructed. 
   The locking lance is simply called as a lance and two types, i.e., housing lance-type and terminal lance-type. The shape of the locking lance may be various shapes such as a lance-shape, arm-shape and so on. 
   In the housing lance-type, a lance for locking a terminal consisting of an arm made of, for example, plastic is integrally formed in a terminal receiving chamber (i.e. terminal holding cavity) of the connector housing so as to lock the terminal. The plastic arm means a terminal locking lance  15  (see  FIGS. 6–8 ), which is integrally formed in the terminal receiving chamber of the connector housing. 
   On the other hand, since a lance locks a terminal in a connector housing, therefore one, which is a plate-shaped projection provided on a terminal itself, is a lance as well. In the terminal lance-type, a lance for locking a terminal is provided on the terminal itself so that the lance of the terminal engages with a locking portion formed in the terminal receiving chamber of the connector housing. 
   When the terminal is inserted into the terminal receiving chamber  13  of the connector housing  10 , the terminal locking lance  15  formed in the terminal receiving chamber  13  shown in  FIGS. 6–8  is pressed by a specific provisional locking projection formed on the terminal so as to be bent downward. Thereafter, the projection climbs over the lance  15 , thereby the terminal is inserted into the terminal receiving chamber  13  reaching up to a specific position therein. 
   Then, the terminal locking lance  15  restores its original posture as shown in  FIGS. 6–8  by a restoring elastic force of the lance  15 . Thus, since the connector housing  10 , in which the lance  15  is formed, needs such a bending characteristic, therefore the connector housing  10  is preferably made of synthetic resin having flexibility. 
   In the following, the engaging portion formed in the connector housing  10  and that formed on the spacer  20  will be explained in terms of their engaging state. As shown in  FIGS. 1–8 , at the front side of a spacer insertion opening  12  of a circumferential wall  11  of the connector housing  10 , a pair of projections  18  for complete locking is formed to engage with a pair of projections  28  for complete locking provided at the front side of an operation portion  26  (see  FIGS. 6–8 ) of the spacer  20 . 
   As shown in  FIGS. 5–8 , at the front side of the center of a spacer receiving chamber  12  of the connector housing  10 , a pair of projections  19  for provisional locking is formed to engage with a pair of projections  29  for provisional locking provided at the front of the lower side of a locking piece  27  of the spacer  20 . (Note that the same reference numeral  12  is used for the spacer receiving chamber  12  and spacer insertion opening  12  for convenience.) In order that the pair of projections  19  easily engages with the pair of projections  29  when the spacer  20  is halfway inserted into the spacer receiving chamber  12  so that the spacer  20  is provisionally locked to the connector housing  10 , the projection  29  includes a space  29   a  (see  FIGS. 6–8 ) having an inverse U-shape for the projection  29  to bend easily. 
   In the following, a state in which the spacer  20  is held at the provisional locking position in the connector housing  10  will be explained. As shown in  FIG. 8 , the projection  29  is situated lower than the projection  19  and situated in the depth of the spacer receiving chamber  12  of the connector housing  10 . 
   However, as shown in  FIGS. 1C ,  4 ,  5 C and  8 , the projection  28  for complete locking does not yet engage with the projection  18  for complete locking. Thus, in the provisional locking state, the spacer  20  has such a positional relationship as described above with the connector housing  10 . 
   Since the connector housing  10  and the spacer  20  are securely mounted to each other in such a provisional locking state as described above, the spacer  20  is prevented from accidentally being parted from the connector housing  10  when the connector housing  10  in which the spacer  20  is mounted is handled in the assembly process. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 1A ,  1 B,  2 ,  3 ,  5 A and  6 , when the spacer  20  is completely inserted in the spacer receiving chamber  12  of the connector housing  10 , the projection  28  for complete locking climbs over the projection  18  for complete locking, thereby the projection  28  engages with the projection  18 . Thus, in the complete locking state, the spacer  20  has such a positional relationship as described above with the connector housing  10 . 
   As for the connector, in which the spacer  20  and the female terminal  30  are mounted into the connector housing  10 , as shown in  FIG. 3 , a pair of depressions  12   a  for releasing the complete locking, which engages with a jig, is formed at the rear side of the spacer insertion opening  12 , so that the spacer  20  completely locked in the connector housing  10  can be easily released therefrom by providing the jig to the operation portion of the spacer  20  when the spacer  20 , which has been completely locked in the connector housing  10 , restores its provisional locking state. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 1–8 , since the connector housing  10  or the spacer  20  has a complex shape, each of them is preferably made of material which adapts to the mass production, such as synthetic resin that adapts to an injection molding process and has a thermoplastic property. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 6–8 , the projection  29  includes the space  29   a  having an inverse U-shape for the projection  29  to bend easily. Therefore, since the spacer  20  needs a bending characteristic, the spacer  20  is preferably made of synthetic resin having flexibility. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 5B and 7 , in order that the engagement between the projections  18  and  28  is carried out easily, the connector housing  10  and the spacer  20  are preferably made of synthetic resin having flexibility. 
   The synthetic resin as described above, which adapts to an injection molding process and has thermoplastic property and flexibility, may be polybutylene terephthalate resin (PBT), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene resin (ABS), polyamide resin (PA), and polypropylen resin (PP). A various type of filler may be added to the synthetic resin as the need arises. 
   The connector housing  10  and the spacer  20  used in a preferred embodiment of the present invention are made of polybutylene terephthalate resin (PBT) and is excellent in terms of dimensional stability, mechanical strength stability, and stable electric performance. For example, PBT-H01 can be used as the polybutylene terephthalate resin (PBT). 
   The process or device for assembling the connector  1  according to the present invention relates to a double locking connector  1 , in which the spacer  20  and terminal  30  is mounted in the connector housing. No matter whether the spacer  20  is situated at provisional or complete locking position in the connector housing  10 , only by inserting a jig rod  50  into the terminal receiving chamber  13  of the connector housing  10 , the spacer  20  is securely made be situated at the provisional locking position in the connector housing  10 . Therefore, the terminal  30  is smoothly securely fixed in the terminal receiving chamber  13  of the connector housing  10 , thereby the connector  10  is assembled. 
   In more detail, the process or device for assembling the connector  1  according to the present invention relates to the connector housing  10  including the spacer  20  having a provisional locking member and a complete locking member, and primarily the spacer  20  is provisionally locked to the connector housing  10 , however in the event that the spacer accidentally moves from the provisional locking position to the complete locking position, in order to make the spacer  20  restore its provisional locking state (i.e. provisional locking position) in the connector housing  10 , the jig rod  50  for releasing the complete locking of the spacer  20  in the connector housing is inserted into the terminal receiving chamber  13  of the connector housing  10 . Then, the jig rod  50  comes in slidable contact with an inclined wall  22   a  of the spacer  20 , the spacer  20  is released from its complete locking state and simultaneously moved toward the direction of coming off, thereby the spacer  20  restores the provisional locking state from the complete locking state. 
   The spacer used in the present invention may be a side spacer, which is inserted into the connector housing  10  from one direction out of the width directions right and left of the connector housing  10 , besides the spacer  20  shown in the figures. As shown in  FIGS. 5–8 , the jig rod  50  is movable together with its base  55 . 
   The jig rod  50  advances from a specific starting position thereof and is inserted from a rear opening  13   d  of the terminal receiving chamber  13  so as to return the spacer  20 , which has been completely locked in the connector housing  10 , to the provisional locking position. Thereafter, the jig rod  50  moves back so as to return to the specific starting position. 
   As described above, since the jig rod  50  is subjected to the repeated moving forward and backward, the jig rod  50  preferably has wear-resistant property and dimensional stability. In order to improve such properties of the jig rod  50  for a long period of time, the jig rod  50  is preferably made of steel containing carbon such as carbon steel and carbon tool steel and is subjected to hardening process and polishing process. 
   The jig rod  50  may be subjected to plating process for improving the wear-resistant property and dimensional stability thereof. Any kind of jig rod  50  may be used provided that the jig rod  50  can smoothly return the spacer  20 , which has been completely locked in the connector housing  10 , to the provisional state of the spacer  20  in the connector housing  10  for a long period of time. 
   The material, hardening, polishing and plating for the jig rod  50  as described above may also be applied to the base  55 , connector housing base  60  on which the connector housing  10  is placed, first chuck  70  which holds the connector housing  10  so as to move it from a specific position to another specific position, second chuck  80  which holds the terminal  30  so as to insert it into the connector housing  10 , in which the spacer  20  is provisionally mounted (i.e. provisionally locked), and other jig  90  that presses the spacer  20 , which is provisionally locked in the connector housing  10  in which the terminal  30  is inserted, so as to set the spacer  20  in the complete locking state (see  FIG. 1 ). 
   As shown in  FIG. 9 , a specific jig  50  is made so that the dimension thereof satisfies Y≧0 relatively to the spacer  20  that is in its complete locking state. When the jig  50  is inserted from a rear opening  13   d  of the terminal receiving chamber  13  and further inserted into the terminal receiving chamber  13 , an inclined guide surface  53  of a gently inclined curved surface provided at an end of the jig  50  easily securely returns the spacer  20  to the provisional locking position from the complete locking position even if the spacer  20  is accidentally locked completely in the connector housing  10 . 
   That is, before the female terminal  30  is inserted into the terminal receiving chamber  13  of the connector housing  10  in which the spacer  20  has been mounted, the jig  50  is inserted into the terminal receiving chamber  13  from the rear opening  13   d  of the terminal receiving chamber  13 , thereby the spacer  20  is returned to the provisional locking position from the complete locking position. 
   In the following, an operation to carry out the process described above will be materially explained. As shown in  FIGS. 1–3 , in an automatic machine for manufacturing a wiring harness, after the connector housing  10  including the spacer  20  therein is held by a first chuck  70  and placed on a portion  61  recessed on a connector housing base  60 , the jig  50  is inserted into the terminal receiving chamber  13  so that the jig  50  comes in slidable contact with an inclined wall  22   a  of the spacer  20  so as to push the inclined wall  22   a  upward as shown in  FIGS. 5–8 , thereby the spacer  20  is returned to the provisional locking position being released from the complete locking position. 
   As described above, simply the jig  50  is inserted into the terminal receiving chamber  13  so as to return the spacer  20 , which has been completely locked in the connector housing  10 , to the provisional locking position again, thereby the workability and productivity are improved. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 1A and 2 , the first chuck  70 , which holds the connector housing  10  including the spacer  20  therein and moves the connector housing  10  to the portion  61  of the connector housing base  60 , consists of a pair of arms. As shown in  FIG. 2 , each arm has a body  71 , protruding piece  72 , and nipping member  73  for holding the connector housing  10 . The pair of the arms is opened or closed by an actuator  75 . 
   As shown in  FIGS. 1C and 4 , after the spacer  20  is returned to the provisional locking position in the connector housing  10 , the female terminal  30  held by a pair of second chucks  80 , each of them being situated at front and rear sides, is inserted into the terminal receiving chamber  13  from the rear opening  13   d  of the connector housing  10 . In advance, a wire  40  such as a cable  40  is connected to the rear side of the female terminal  30 . Each second chuck  80  is opened or closed by another actuator  85 . Each second chuck  80  is movable upward and downward by a cylinder  88  and the like. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 1C and 4 , a wire connection part  34  of the female terminal  30  to which the cable  40  is connected is held by one second chuck  80  while the cable  40  situated at the rear of the female terminal  30  is held by another second chuck  80 . When the female terminal is inserted into the connector housing  10 , the female terminal  30  held by the one second chuck  80  and the cable  40  held by the another second chuck  80  advance together. When the female terminal  30  starts to enter into the connector housing  10 , the one second chuck  80  releases the wire connection part  34  of the female terminal  30 . Simultaneously, one actuator  85  at the front side mounted to the one second chuck  80  is lifted upward. 
   Thereafter, the another second chuck  80  at the rear side which holds the cable  40  pushes the female terminal  30  connected to the cable  40  into the interior of the connector housing  10 , and thereafter the cylinder  88  lifts up another actuator  85  to which the another second chuck  80  at the rear side is mounted. 
   All of the steps described above can be automated, therefore the productivity of assembling a connector can be significantly improved. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 1–8 , the process for assembling a connector  1  according to the present invention relates to a process, in which the spacer  20  is provisionally locked in the connector housing  10  and thereafter the terminal  30  is completely locked in the connector housing  10 . First, the spacer  20  is provisionally locked in the connector housing  10 . Otherwise, the connector housing  10  in which the spacer  20  is in advance provisionally locked is prepared. At that time, there may be some connector housings  10  in which the spacer  20  is accidentally completely locked in the connector housing  10 . 
   Thereafter, as shown in  FIGS. 1B ,  3 , and  5 – 8 , the jig rod  50  is inserted into the connector housing  10  before the insertion of the terminal  30 . Thereafter, the jig rod  50  is pulled out from the connector housing  10 . Thereafter, the terminal  30  is inserted into the connector housing  10  (see  FIGS. 1C and 4 ). 
   With the operation described above, even if the spacer  20  is accidentally completely locked in the connector housing  10  before the terminal  30  is inserted into the connector housing  10 , the spacer  20  can easily quickly restore the provisional locking state again. Thereby, the insertion performance of the terminal  30  into the terminal receiving chamber  13  of the connector housing  10  can be improved. 
   The spacer  20  is in advance mounted in the connector housing  10  before the insertion of the terminal  30 . It has not been secured that the spacer  20  is always provisionally locked in the connector housing  10 . However, with the construction according to the present invention, no matter whether the spacer  20  is provisionally or completely mounted in the connector housing  10 , the spacer  20  is securely set in the provisional locking state thereof only by inserting the jig rod  50  into the connector housing  10 . Therefore, the terminal  30  can be securely fixed in the connector housing  10  without interfering with the spacer  20 . 
   In the following, the process for assembling the connector  1  will be explained in detail. As shown in  FIGS. 6–9 , the inclined guide surface  53  of a gently inclined curved surface is provided in the vicinity of the end  52  of the jig  50 . The jig rod  50  includes a straight portion  51 . The jig rod  50  is inserted into the terminal receiving chamber  13  from the rear opening  13   d . Then, the jig rod  50  is advanced with making the inclined guide surface  53  abut against a rear end  25  of the spacer  20 . The inclined guide surface  53  of the jig rod  50  smoothly comes in slidable contact with the inclined wall  22   a  of the spacer  20  and lifts the spacer  20  upward, thereby the spacer  20  is smoothly returned to the provisional locking position being released from the complete locking position in the connector housing  10 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 9 , an optional portion between the front end  53   a  of the inclined guide surface  53  and the rear end  53   b , i.e., inflection point  53   b  of the inclined guide surface  53 , at which the curved surface ends, abuts against a corner  24 , at which the inclined surface  23  of the inclined wall  22   a  and a rear end surface  25   a  of the spacer  20  intersect each other. Thus, the inclined guide surface  53  of the jug rod  50  is provided relatively to the corner  24  at the rear side of the spacer  20 , so that an entanglement between the jig rod  50  and spacer  20  is prevented from occurring when a front surface  52   a  of the jig rod  50  abuts against the rear end surface  25   a  of the spacer  20 . 
   Since the inclined guide surface  53  of a gentle curved surface is formed in the vicinity of the end  52  of the jig rod  50 , the spacer  20  completely locked in the connector housing  10  is securely released from the complete locking position and the spacer  20  is smoothly moved to the provisional locking position relatively to the connector housing  10 . 
   Since the inclined guide surface  53  of a gentle curved surface is formed in the vicinity of the end  52  of the jig rod  50 , as shown in  FIGS. 6–8 , when the jig rod  50  is inserted into the terminal receiving chamber  13  and the end  52  of the jig rod  50  abuts against the rear end  25  of the spacer  20  so as to push the spacer  20  upward in the connector housing  10 , the spacer  20  completely locked in the connector housing  10  is securely released from the complete locking position and the spacer  20  is smoothly moved to the provisional locking position relatively to the connector housing  10  without damaging or deforming the spacer  20  due to the jig rod  50 . 
   As shown in  FIGS. 1–4 , the device for assembling a connector  1  according to the present invention includes the first chuck  70  for holding the connector housing  10  in which the spacer  20  is mounted so as to move the connector housing  10  to a specific position, the base  60  for placing the connector housing thereon, the jig rod  50  movable up to the interior of the terminal receiving chamber  13  of the connector housing  10  for moving the spacer from the complete locking position to the provisional locking position, and another second chuck  80  for holding the terminal  30  so as to insert the terminal  30  into the terminal receiving chamber  13 . 
   With the construction described above, if the device for assembling a connector  1  according to the present invention is used as an automatic assembly machine, a problem that the terminal  30 , spacer  20  or connector housing  10  may be damaged in the event that the terminal  30  is accidentally inserted into the connector housing  10  in which the spacer  20  is completely locked can be prevented from occurring, thereby the deterioration in the yield of the terminal  30 , spacer  20  or connector housing  10  can be prevented from occurring. 
   Above all, when the terminal  30  to which the wire  40  such as the cable  40  and wiring harness is already connected is deformed or damaged, components in connection with the connector  1  together with the other components such as the cable  40  and so on connected to the terminal  30  have to be assembled with each other again from the beginning. To the contrary, with the device for assembling a connector  1  according to the present invention described above, the terminal  30  is not deformed or damaged, thereby the yield of each of the various components is significantly improved. When the device for assembling a connector  1  according to the present invention is used as the automatic assembly machine, a series of the operations described above can be carried out by using such an automatic assembly machine, thereby the productivity for manufacturing a connector  1  can be significantly improved. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 1C and 4 , a jig  90  having a flat plate-shape for complete locking is mounted to another cylinder  98 . At the end of the assembly process described above, the jig  90  provided in the device for assembling presses the spacer  20 , which is provisionally locked in the connector housing  10  by the falling action of the another cylinder  98 . Thereby, the terminal  30 , which is tentatively locked in the terminal receiving chamber  13  of the connector housing  10  by a locking lance provided in the terminal receiving chamber  13 , is fully locked in the terminal receiving chamber  13  by the spacer  20  that is completely locked in the connector housing  10 . Thus, the terminal  30  is doubly locked in the connector housing  10  by the spacer  20 , thereby the connector  1  is securely assembled. 
   The aforementioned preferred embodiments are described to aid in understanding the present invention and variations may be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.