Abstract:
An electrical connector comprises a terminal ( 12 ) having a contact section ( 13 ) for contact with a mating terminal ( 22 ) and a housing ( 11 ) made of an insulative material and molded integrally with the terminal. The contact section ( 13 ) is indented and a side ridge ( 14 ) is raised from the contact section.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to electrical connectors and, particularly, to an electrical connector made by integrally molding a housing and terminals. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Japanese SUM patent application Kokai No. 3-126389 discloses a pair of electrical connectors locked to each other. As FIG. 3 shows, a first connector  50  has a housing  51  to which a terminal  52  is attached. The terminal  52  has a contact section  53  with a trapezoidal recess  54 . A second connector  60  has a housing  61  to which a resilient terminal  62  is attached. The resilient terminal  62  has a semi-circular projection  63  at a tip thereof and a small semi-circular contact portion  64  at the middle position thereof. 
     In use, the second connector  60  is plugged into the first connector  50  in a direction A such that the projection  63  of the terminal  62  is snapped in the recess  54  of the terminal  52 , locking contact between the contact portion  64  and the contact section  53 . In the above connectors, the terminal  52  is fitted into the housing  51  upon assembling. 
     It is well known that a terminal can be integrally molded with the housing of an electrical connector. If the electrical connector of FIG. 3 is made by such integral molding, the recess  54  of the terminal  52  is filled with the molding resin, causing poor contact. In addition, the resin can adhere to the contact section  53  with which the contact portion  64  of the mating connector  60  is brought into contact. 
     Since the position for making electrical contact is different from the position for locking the electrical contact, the terminal becomes long, resulting in the large connector. To avoid such a problem, it is desired that the lock section works also as contact section. However, this is difficult to do because of the above problem that the resin can adhere to the lock section. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an electrical connector capable of allowing integral molding of a housing and a terminal without resin adhesion to the contact section, thus providing reliable contact between the terminals. 
     An electrical connector relative to the invention comprises a housing made of an insulative material and at least one terminal made of an elongated metal member and molded integrally with the housing such that a contact section thereof is exposed in the housing for contact with a mating terminal. 
     According to the invention, a side ridge is provided around the contact section so that the metal mold is brought into close contact with the side ridge to prevent the insulative material from entering the contact section. The mating terminal is moved in a direction parallel to or perpendicular to the contact section for contact. Where it is moved in parallel, it produces a click when it passes the side ridge, indicating that the terminal has reached a predetermined position and been locked. 
     The side edge may have a width greater than that of the elongated metal member to absorb a widthwise positionally error of the mating terminal. This is particularly effective where a plurality of terminals are arranged at small intervals. The contact section may have a width equal to or greater than that of the elongated metal member, producing great advantages. It is preferred that the side edge is flush with a surface portion of the housing surrounding the side edge so that the mating terminal can reach the side edge without resistance. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective, cross-section of a mating connector and an electrical connector according to an embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a cross-section of the electrical connector plugged into the mating connector; and 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective, cross-section of a conventional electrical connector. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     An embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. 
     In FIG. 1, a connector  10  and a mating connector  20  are shown in the right side portion only and the symmetrical left side portion is omitted. The connector  10  is made by integrally molding a housing  11  and terminals  12 . Each terminal  12  is made by stamping from a metal sheet a comb-like member which consists of a carrier strip and a plurality of elongated members extending outwardly from the carrier strip and applying some work to the comb-like member. Then, the housing  11  is molded integrally with the comb-like member. Finally, the carrier is cut off or additional bending work is applied to provide such a form as shown in FIG.  1 . 
     The terminal  12  has a contact section  13  exposed within the housing  11  and a connection section  15  projecting from the housing  11 . The contact section  13  was a surface of the metal sheet from which the comb-like member is formed. A plurality of such terminals  12  are arranged at very small intervals. Before molding, press work is applied to the comb-like member to form an indented surface or contact section  13  with a side edge  14  surrounding it. Upon integral molding, the surface of a metal mold is brought into close contact with the side edge  14  so that no resin can reach the contact section  13  via the side edge  14 . 
     It is desired that the width of the contact section  13  is sufficiently large to absorb spatial errors between the connectors. The side edges  14  is extended widthwise so that the width of the contact section  13  is equal to or larger than the width of the elongated member prior to being pressed. Consequently, as far as the terminal of a mating connector is within the original width of the elongated member, it is possible that the terminals of both connectors are brought into contact with each other. The side edge  14  is flush with the surface of the housing  11 . 
     The mating connector  20  comprises a housing  21  to be plugged to the housing  11  and a terminal  22  attached to the housing  21 . The terminal  22  is made by stamping a metal sheet so as to provide a mount section  22 A, a curved contact finger  22 B, and connection section  22 C. The mount section  22 A is press-fitted into a retention groove  21 A of the housing  21  to secure the terminal  22  to the housing  21 . The contact finger  22 B extends in a C-shaped form, providing flexibility and a predetermined pressure on the terminal  12  of the connector  10 . 
     These connectors  10  and  20  are plugged to each other as shown in FIG. 2, wherein the mating connector  20  is drawn in phantom line for facilitating easy understanding. The mating connector  20  is plugged upwardly into the connector  10  so that the contact finger  22 B reaches the contact section  13  from below. That is, the contact finger  22 B first makes resilient contact with the portion below the contact section  13  and, then, slides upwardly to the contact section  13  past the side edge  14 , at which a click is produced, not only assuring that the contact finger  22 B makes contact with the contact section  13  but also locking these connectors. 
     The contact section  13  is made wider by press so that some positionally errors of the terminal of a mating connector can be absorbed. In addition, the side edge  14 , which is higher than the contact section  13 , guides the contact finger  22 B into the contact section  13 . Since the side edge  14  is flush with the surface of the housing  11  in the above embodiment, the contact finger  22 B is readily guided from the housing surface into the contact section  13 . However, it is not necessary to be flush with the housing surface for a certain type of connector. 
     The invention as claimed is not limited to the illustrated embodiment. For example, the width of the contact section may be smaller than the width of the original elongated member but it is preferred that the width is as large as possible. The connection section of a terminal may extend straight upwardly as shown by phantom line in FIG.  1 . Where the contact portion or finger of a mating terminal slides on the contact section to a predetermined position, the contact section should have a satisfactory length in the longitudinal direction of the elongated member so that abutment between both the housings indicates that plugging is complete at a predetermined position. In addition, a small difference in the plugging depth of a mating connector can be absorbed. The contact portion and section may be made such that they abut head-to-head each other. 
     As has been described above, according to the invention, the contact section is indented and the side edge is raised around it so that no resin enters the contact section upon molding of the housing. Plugging of a mating connector produces a click, indicating that firm contact is made. When the side edge is expanded outwardly, the contact section becomes as wide as or wider than the original elongated member, providing a certain tolerance for positionally errors of a mating terminal. Moreover, some errors outside the tolerance can be corrected by the side edge of the contact section.