Connector

Terminal insert holes 61 are provided in a spacer 60 inserted into an inner housing. In each of the terminal insert holes 61, a lance 62 is provided. The lance is arranged in an obliquely upper position relative to the vertical direction and the transverse direction seen from a central part of the terminal insert hole 61. A bending direction of each lance is set to a direction substantially corresponding to the oblique direction. Further, in the spacer 60, an engaging protrusion part 63 is provided as a mainly terminal engaging part. Thus, the spacer is pushed in to a mainly engaged position from a temporarily engaged position to shift a temporary engagement by the lance to a main engagement by the engaging protrusion part.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a connector that prevents a terminal inserted into a terminal insert hole from a rear part from slipping out by a flexible lance provided so as to face an inner space of the terminal insert hole.

2. Description of the Related Art

An ordinary connector used for a vehicle includes a flexible lance so as to face each of terminal insert holes of a connector housing and uses a bending of the lance to prevent a terminal inserted into the terminal insert hole from a rear part from slipping out. In the connector of this kind, the lances are ordinarily provided rightward and leftward (a transverse direction) or upward and downward (a vertical direction) of the connector housing as a direction of an arrangement of the plurality of terminal insert holes whether or not the lances are provided integrally with or separately from the connector housing (for instance, see patent literature 1).

Recently, a request for a miniaturization of the connector and a request for a multi-polar form of the connector are increased. In order to meet the request for the miniaturization or the multi-polar form, distances between a plurality of terminals need to be reduced.Patent literature 1: JP-A-2008-65985

However, in the above-described usual connector, since the lances that prevent the terminals from slipping out are provided rightward and leftward (the transverse direction) or upward and downward (the vertical direction) of the connector housing as the direction of an arrangement of the terminal insert holes, when the bending spaces of the lances are considered, the reduction of pitches between the terminals is limited. Thus, many terminals cannot be densely arranged.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is devised by considering the above-described circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a connector that makes it possible to more densely arrange terminals and to easily meet a request for a miniaturized connector or a multi-polar connector.

In order to solve the above-described problems, a connector of the invention defined in a first aspect of the invention includes a connector housing having many terminal insert holes extending forward and backward which are arranged in the vertical direction and in the transverse direction; and a plurality of terminals respectively inserted into the terminal insert holes of the connector housing from a rear part, flexible lances being provided respectively in the terminal insert holes of the connector housing to prevent the terminals from slipping out rearward when the terminals are inserted into the terminal insert holes from the rear part, and is characterized in that the lance is arranged at a position in an oblique direction relative to the vertical direction and the transverse direction seen from a central part of each of the terminal insert holes and a bending direction of the lance is set to a direction substantially corresponding to the oblique direction.

A connector defined in a second aspect of the invention is characterized, in the connector according to the first aspect of the invention, in that when the arrangement of the terminal insert holes in the transverse direction is referred to as a line, the terminal insert holes are arranged with pitches fixed between the lines in the vertical direction and linearly arranged with the fixed pitches in the transverse direction in each of the lines in the vertical direction, and between the adjacent lines in the vertical direction, positions of the terminal insert holes are shifted by 1/integer times as long as the arrangement pitch in the transverse direction.

A connector defined in a third aspect of the invention is characterized, in the connector according to the first aspect of the invention, in that the connector housing includes a spacer insert recessed part formed from an outer peripheral surface of the connector housing to an inner part and a spacer that can be inserted into the spacer insert recessed part in a direction intersecting an inserting direction of the terminal, has a temporarily engaging unit which is temporarily engaged with the connector housing under an inserted state and a mainly engaging unit which is mainly engaged with the connector housing, has terminal insert holes corresponding to the terminal insert holes of the connector housing and has a mainly terminal engaging part which permits the terminal to be inserted into the terminal insert hole at a temporarily engaged position and is mainly engaged with the terminal at a mainly engaged position to prevent the terminal from moving forward and backward, and, in the spacer, the lance is integrally provided as a temporarily terminal engaging unit that is temporarily engaged with the terminal when the terminal is inserted into the terminal insert hole from the rear part under a state that the spacer is located in the temporarily engaged position.

A connector defined in a fourth aspect of the invention is characterized, in the connector according to the third aspect of the invention, in that an inserting direction of the spacer to the spacer insert recessed part is set to a direction extending upward from a lower surface of the connector housing, the temporarily engaged position is set to a lower position where the insertion of the spacer to the spacer insert recessed part is shallow and the mainly engaged position is set to an upper position where an insertion to the spacer insert recessed part is deep, the mainly terminal engaging part is provided, in an inner bottom part of the terminal insert hole of the spacer, as an engaging protrusion part fitted to an engaging recessed part of the terminal side, an engaging edge part of the engaging protrusion part is provided as an edge part substantially parallel to the transverse direction, the lance is arranged at an obliquely upper position of the terminal insert hole of the spacer and an engaging edge part of the lance fitted to the engaging recessed part of the terminal side is provided as an edge part orthogonal to the bending direction of the lance.

A connector defined in a fifth aspect of the invention is characterized, in the connector according to the fourth aspect of the invention, in that the terminal insert holes of the connector housing are formed as circular holes, the terminal is formed as a round terminal having a cylindrical box part for receiving a male terminal of a mate connector, in a rear part of the box part of the round terminal, an engaging part is provided that is engaged with the lance and the engaging protrusion part and positions a rotating direction of the round terminal during a process of engagement, in a further rear side, an electric wire connecting part is provided to which a terminal of a coated electric wire is connected, the engaging part includes an engaging recessed part formed by recessing two opposed surfaces of a cylindrical periphery wall forming the box part and a rotating direction position control part formed by the cylindrical periphery wall remaining at a position where the engaging recessed part is formed, the engaging recessed part is provided to which the engaging edge part of the lance and the engaging edge part of the engaging protrusion part of the spacer are fitted to prevent the terminal from moving forward and backward, and the rotating direction position control part is provided to apply a rotation for controlling a position in a rotating direction to the terminal by a rotation moment generated by a contact pressure when the engaging edge part of the lance and the engaging edge part of the engaging protrusion part of the spacer are pressed to come into contact therewith.

A connector defined in a sixth aspect of the invention is characterized, in the connector according to the fifth aspect of the invention, in that an angle formed by the engaging edge part of the engaging protrusion part and the engaging edge part of the lance is set to a range of 30° to 60°.

According to the invention defined in the first aspect of the invention, since the lance is arranged at the position in the oblique direction relative to the vertical direction and the transverse direction (the directions in which the terminal insert holes are arranged) seen from the central part of each of the terminal insert holes and the bending direction of the lance is set to the direction substantially corresponding to the oblique direction, the blank spaces between the plurality of terminal insert holes are effectively used so that the lances may be arranged or the bending spaces of the lances may be ensured. Accordingly, the terminals can be densely arranged, which can contribute to the miniaturization or the multi-polar form of the connector.

According to the invention defined in the first aspect of the invention, since the positions of the terminal insert holes in the transverse direction are shifted between the adjacent upper and lower lines, the blank spaces between the terminal insert holes are effectively used and many terminal insert holes can be densely arranged in the vertical direction. Accordingly, the terminals can be more densely arranged, so that the connector can be more miniaturized or the connector can have a more multi-polar form. Further, since an amount of shift of the terminal insert holes in the transverse direction between the adjacent upper and lower lines is set to 1/integer times as long as the pitch between the terminals in the transverse direction, the positions of the terminal insert holes can be allowed to mutually correspond in the transverse direction between the lines spaced by lines of an inverse number of 1/integer. For instance, when the positions of the terminal insert holes in the transverse direction are shifted by ½ times as long as the arrangement pitch between the adjacent upper and lower lines, the positions of the terminal insert holes can be allowed to mutually correspond in the transverse direction on every other line in the vertical direction. Further, when the positions of the terminal insert holes in the transverse direction are shifted by ⅓ times as long as the arrangement pitch between the adjacent upper and lower lines, the positions of the terminal insert holes can be allowed to mutually correspond in the transverse direction at intervals of two lines in the vertical direction. Accordingly, a prescribed regularity can be provided irrespective of a zigzag arrangement.

Further, according to the invention defined in the third aspect of the invention, since the spacer that is mainly engaged with the inserted terminal is provided integrally with the lances as the temporarily terminal engaging units, under a state that the individual terminals are respectively temporarily engaged with the lances, the spacer is inserted to the mainly engaged position, so that all the terminals can be mainly engaged with the mainly terminal engaging parts provided in the spacer at the same time. Accordingly, assembly workability is improved and the terminals can be assuredly fixed.

According to the invention defined in the fourth aspect of the invention, when the spacer is inserted upward into the spacer insert recessed part of the connector housing from a lower part, the spacer can be positioned at the temporarily engaged position. When the spacer is more pushed in to an interior part, the spacer can be positioned at the mainly engaged position. At that time, under a state that the spacer is located in the temporarily engaged position, the terminal can be inserted into the terminal insert hole by bending the lance. Further, under a state that the lance is temporarily engaged with the terminal, when the spacer is more pushed in to the inner mainly engaged position, the mainly terminal engaging part provided in the spacer is mainly engaged with the terminal. Thus, the terminal can be assuredly prevented from slipping out and fixed. Since the engaging edge part of the engaging protrusion part provided as the mainly terminal engaging part is formed as an edge part substantially parallel to the transverse direction and the engaging edge part of the lance provided at the obliquely upper position of the terminal insert hole of the spacer is provided as an edge part orthogonal to the bending direction of the lance, an angle larger than 0° and smaller than 90° can be provided between the engaging edge part of the engaging protrusion art and the engaging edge part of the lance, and the engaging edge parts can be employed for controlling the position of the terminal in the rotating direction.

Further, according to the invention defined in the fifth aspect of the invention, since the round terminal is used as the terminal, the engaging edge part of the engaging protrusion part and the engaging edge part of the lance of the spacer are fitted to the engaging recessed part of the terminal, and further, the engaging edge part of the engaging protrusion part and the engaging edge part of the lance of the spacer are pressed to come into contact with the rotating direction position control part of the terminal, the position in the rotating direction of the round terminal which is inserted without caring about the orientation during the temporary engagement of the lance can be corrected to a position suitable for the lance. As described above, when the spacer is pushed in to the mainly engaged position during a shift from the temporarily engaged state to the mainly engaged state, the round terminal can be corrected to a proper engaged position by a pushing operation of the spacer. Thus, even when the round terminal is used, the terminal can be automatically positioned to a proper position and assembled in a final assembly stage.

According to the invention defined in the sixth aspect of the invention, since an angle formed by the engaging edge part of the engaging protrusion part and the engaging edge part of the lance is set to a range of 30° to 60°, even when the terminal is inserted in any direction, the direction of the terminal can be finally corrected to a proper direction to mainly engage the terminal.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Now, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described below by referring to the drawings.

FIG. 1is a side sectional view showing a relation between an inner housing20, an outer housing40and a spacer60which form a connector housing10A of a connector of an exemplary embodiment.FIG. 2is a perspective view showing a relation between the inner housing20and the outer housing40.FIG. 3is a partly broken perspective view showing the inner housing20and the outer housing40.FIG. 4is a side sectional view showing a state that the inner housing20with which the spacer60is temporarily engaged is attached to the outer housing40.FIG. 5is partly broken perspective view showing the state illustrated inFIG. 4.FIG. 6is a front view of the spacer60.FIG. 7is a partly enlarged view ofFIG. 6.FIG. 8is a perspective view of the spacer60seen from a front surface side.FIG. 9is a partly enlarged view ofFIG. 8.FIG. 10is a perspective view seen from a rear surface side of the spacer60.FIG. 11is a front view of a terminal insert hole61of the spacer60.FIGS. 11(a) to11(c) show states that angles of an engaging edge part62aof a lance62relative to an engaging edge part63aof an engaging protrusion part63are larger in order as shown by θ1to θ3.

Further,FIG. 12is a diagram showing the structure of a female type round terminal80used in the connector of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.FIG. 12(a) is a perspective view showing an entire structure of the round terminal80andFIG. 12(b) is a front view of a cylindrical box part81located in a front part of the round terminal.FIG. 13is a diagram showing a state when the spacer60is primarily engaged (temporarily engaged) with the inner housing20in the connector housing10A.FIG. 13(a) is a front view andFIG. 13(b) is a sectional view taken along a line A-A inFIG. 13(a).FIG. 14is a diagram showing a state when the spacer60is secondarily engaged (mainly engaged) with the inner housing20in the connector housing10A.FIG. 14(a) is a front view andFIG. 14(b) is a sectional view taken along a line A-A inFIG. 14(a).FIG. 15is an enlarged front view showing a relation between the spacer60and an engaging part85of the round terminal80.FIG. 15(a) is a diagram showing a state that the round terminal80is primarily engaged (temporarily engaged) with the lance62of the spacer60andFIG. 15(b) is a diagram showing a state that the spacer60is pressed to a mainly engaged position and the round terminal80is secondarily engaged (mainly engaged) with the engaging protrusion part63of the spacer60.FIG. 16is an enlarged side view showing the relation between the spacer60and the engaging part85of the round terminal80which is illustrated for the purpose of convenience to assist one to understandFIG. 15.FIG. 16(a) is a diagram showing a state that the round terminal80is primarily engaged (temporarily engaged) with the lance62of the spacer60andFIG. 16(b) is a diagram showing a state that the spacer60is pressed to a mainly engaged position and the round terminal80is secondarily engaged (mainly engaged) with the engaging protrusion part63of the spacer60.FIG. 17is a front view showing a relation between the engaging part85of the round terminal80and the lance62when the round terminal80is inserted into the terminal insert hole61of the spacer60.FIG. 17(a) is a diagram showing a relation between the engaging part of the round terminal and the lance62when the round terminal80is inserted in an arbitrary direction.FIG. 17(b) is a diagram showing a relation between the engaging part85of the round terminal80and the lance62during a primary engagement (a temporary engagement).FIG. 18is an explanatory view of contents of a position control of the round terminal when the primary engagement is shifted to the secondary engagement.FIG. 18(a) is a front view during the primary engagement.FIG. 18(b) is a front view showing a state that the spacer60is pressed to the mainly engaged position from the temporarily engaged position so that a turning force or torque is applied to the round terminal80.FIG. 18(c) is a front view during the secondary engagement.

Further,FIG. 19is a perspective view of an external appearance of the connector of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention seen from a front side when an assembling operation is completed.FIG. 20is a front view of the connector seen from the front side.FIG. 21is a sectional view taken along a line B-B inFIG. 20.FIG. 22is a side sectional view showing a state that the connector of the exemplary embodiment is fitted to a mate side connector.

The connector10includes a connector housing10A shown inFIGS. 1 to 5and a plurality of round terminals80shown inFIG. 12. The connector housing10A is formed by combining an inner housing20, an outer housing40and a spacer (refer it also to as a retainer)60which are all made of a synthetic resin.

In the connector housing10A, many terminal insert holes25,61and45extending forward and rearward are transversely and vertically arranged and the round terminals80as terminals are respectively inserted into the terminal insert holes25,61and45of the connector housing10A from rear parts.

In the terminal insert holes25,61and45of the connector housing10A respectively, flexible lances (flexible engaging arms)62are provided to prevent the round terminals80from slipping out rearward when the round terminals80are inserted into the terminal insert holes25,61and45from the rear parts. As described below, the lances62are provided in the terminal insert holes61of the spacer60. As shown inFIG. 6, the lance is arranged at a position in an oblique direction relative to a vertical direction and a transverse direction seen from a central part of each terminal insert hole61. Further, as shown inFIG. 7, a bending direction Y5of each lance62is set to a direction substantially corresponding to the above-described oblique direction.

Further, in the connector housing10A, when the arrangements of the terminal insert holes25,61and45in the transverse direction are referred to as “lines” the terminal insert holes25,61and45are arranged with pitches between the lines in the vertical direction set to be constant. In the lines in the vertical direction respectively, the terminal insert holes25,61and45are linearly arranged with prescribed pitches P in the transverse direction. Further, between the lines adjacent in the vertical direction, the positions of the terminal insert holes25,61and45are respectively shifted by 1/integer times as long as the arrangement pitch P (a pitch Pa ⅓ times as long as the pitch P in the exemplary embodiment) in the transverse direction.

Now, parts are respectively described below.

The inner housing20is a rectangular block shaped member and has in rear end parts four connecting arms21to be connected to the outer housing40. The connecting arms21respectively have engaging pawls22at their ends. In the inner housing20, many terminal insert holes25composed of circular holes are formed. Ends of the terminal insert holes25are respectively opened on a front end wall of the inner housing20as introducing holes25a(seeFIG. 13) of a mate side male terminals.

Further, in the inner housing20, a spacer insert recessed part24is formed from its lower surface (an outer peripheral surface) to an inner part. The spacer60can be inserted into the spacer insert recessed part24from a lower part to an upper part as shown by an arrow mark Y1(seeFIG. 1) intersecting an inserting direction Y4(seeFIG. 4) of the round terminal80. In the spacer insert recessed part24, as shown inFIG. 13andFIG. 14, are provided a temporary engagement receiving part27with which a temporarily engaging unit67of the spacer60is engaged and a main engagement receiving part26with which a mainly engaging unit68of the spacer60is engaged.

A rear end outer peripheral part28of the inner housing20is set to such a dimension of an outer form as to ensure an annular space29for receiving a fitting tubular wall of a mate connector110between an inner peripheral wall48of a rectangular tubular periphery wall41of the outer housing40and the rear end outer peripheral part28when the inner housing20is attached to the outer housing40.

On the other hand, as shown inFIG. 1, in the outer housing40, a rear end opening of the rectangular tubular periphery wall41having a front end opened is closed by a rear end wall42so that a rear half part of the inner housing20may be accommodated in an inner void43. In the rear end wall42of the outer housing40, the terminal inset holes45are formed correspondingly to the terminal insert holes25of the inner housing20. Further, as shown inFIG. 3,FIG. 13andFIG. 14, connecting holes46are provided into which the connecting arms21of the inner housing20are inserted. In the connecting holes46, engaging protrusions47are formed with which the engaging pawls22of the connecting arms21are engaged.

Further, in a front surface (an inner surface) of the rear end wall42of the outer housing40, a main body part51of a thick plate shaped mat seal50is arranged. The mat seal50is made of flexible rubber and is formed integrally with the outer housing40by a two-color molding or an insert molding.

The main body part51of the mat seal50having a seal lip53in an outer peripheral part is connected to a rear surface plate part52of a rear surface (an outer surface) of the rear end wall42through the terminal insert holes45and formed integrally therewith. In the mat seal50, insert holes (unified by reference numerals45) corresponding to the terminal insert holes45are formed. In an inner periphery of the insert hole, an inner periphery seal lip (reference numeral is omitted) that seals a part between an electric wire and the outer housing40is provided in close contact with an outer periphery of a coat of the electric wire W (FIG. 21) extending rearward of the round terminal80.

Further, in the mat seal50, as shown inFIG. 3, a seal hole56is provided for sealing a part between the connecting arm21and the outer housing40when the connecting arm21of the inner housing20is inserted into the connecting hole46of the outer housing40.

The spacer60is a thick plate shaped member having such a thickness as to be just inserted into the spacer insert recessed part24of the inner housing20. Here, a primarily engaged (temporarily engaged) position (seeFIG. 13) is set to a lower position in which an insertion of the spacer60is shallow relative to the spacer insert recessed part24and a secondarily engaged (mainly engaged) position (seeFIG. 14) is set to an upper position in which the insertion is deep. Accordingly, during the primary engagement shown inFIG. 13, a space S1where the spacer60can be more pushed is ensured in an interior of the spacer insert recessed part24.

In the spacer60, as shown inFIG. 13andFIG. 14, are provided the temporarily engaging unit67that is engaged with the temporary engagement receiving part27of the inner housing20side to temporarily engage the spacer60in the temporarily engaged position and the mainly engaging unit68that is engaged with the main engagement receiving part26of the inner housing20side to mainly engage the spacer60in the mainly engaged position.

Further, the spacer60has many terminal insert holes61corresponding to the terminal insert holes25and45of the inner housing20or the outer housing40. The terminal insert holes61are arranged as described above. In this case, the terminal insert holes61of the spacer60are formed in elliptical shapes long in the vertical direction.

In each of the terminal insert holes61, a lance62as a temporarily terminal engaging unit is provided. The lance62is located in an obliquely upper position relative to the vertical direction and the transverse direction seen from the central part of each terminal insert hole61. In this exemplary embodiment, the lance62is arranged at the obliquely upper position of a right part seen from a front surface of the connector. A bending direction Y5(FIG. 7) is set to the direction substantially corresponding to the oblique direction.

When the spacer60is located in the temporarily engaged position, the lance62is bent outward so as to permit the round terminal80to be inserted into the terminal insert hole61. When the round terminal80is inserted to a prescribed position, the lance is returned from its bent state to engage an engaging edge part62aprovided as an edge part orthogonal to the bending direction with an engaging recessed part83of the round terminal80so that the round terminal80may be prevented (temporarily engaged) from slipping out rearward.

Further, in an inner bottom part of the terminal insert hole61of the spacer60, an engaging protrusion part63is provided as a mainly terminal engaging unit that allows an engaging edge part63ato be engaged with the engaging recessed part83of the round terminal80and assuredly prevents (mainly engages) the round terminal80from moving forward and backward when the spacer60is pressed to a mainly engaged position from the temporarily engaged position. The engaging edge part63aof the engaging protrusion part63is provided as an edge part substantially parallel to the transverse direction. Thus, between the engaging edge part63aof the engaging protrusion part63and the engaging edge part62aof the lance62, an angle θ (FIG. 7) larger than 0° and smaller than 90° is ensured.

Further, as shown inFIG. 12, the round terminal80includes a cylindrical box part81that receives a male terminal112of the mate connector110. In the box part81, a spring piece82is provided. In a rear side of the box part81of the round terminal80, an engaging part85is provided that is engaged with the lance62and the engaging protrusion part63and positions the round terminal80in the rotating direction during the engaging process. In a further rear side of the engaging part85, an electric wire connecting part (an electric conductor caulking part87and a coat caulking part88) to which a terminal of a coated electric wire is connected.

The engaging part85includes the engaging recessed part83formed by recessing two opposed surfaces of a cylindrical periphery wall forming the box part81and a rotating direction position control part84formed by the cylindrical periphery wall remaining at a position where the engaging recessed part83is formed.

The engaging recessed part83is provided for allowing the engaging edge part62aof the lance62and the engaging edge part63aof the engaging protrusion part63of the spacer60to be fitted to the engaging recessed part so that the round terminal80is prevented from moving forward and backward. A bottom surface of the engaging recessed part83serves as the positioning surface83a.

Further, the rotating direction position control part84is provided for applying a rotation for controlling a position in the rotating direction to the round terminal80by a rotation moment generated by a contact pressure when the engaging edge part62aof the lance62and the engaging edge part63aof the engaging protrusion part63of the spacer60are pressed to come into contact therewith. A circular arc surface formed on an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical periphery wall of the box part81serves as an abutting surface84a.

In this case, the engaging part85has a substantially rectangular shape in section and to which direction the rotation moment is applied is determined in accordance with a positional relation between an abutting position when the engaging edge part63aof the engaging protrusion part63abuts on a corner part of the engaging part and a center of a section of the round terminal80. At that time, when the lance62is properly temporarily engaged with the round terminal80, it is determined whether or not the rotation moment is assuredly applied by a dimension of a short side of the engaging part85having the substantially rectangular shape in section, a radius to the a butting surface84afrom the center of the section of the round terminal80to the abutting surface84aand the angle θ formed by the engaging edge part62aof the lance62and the engaging edge part63aof the engaging protrusion part63.

Thus, in order to assuredly apply the rotation moment, the angle θ formed by the engaging edge part63aof the engaging protrusion part63and the engaging edge part62aof the lance62is set to a range of 30° to 60° as shown inFIG. 11.FIG. 11(a) shows a case that θ is θ1(30°),FIG. 11(b) shows a case that θ is θ2(45°) andFIG. 11(c) shows a case that θ is θ3(60°). In all the cases, the rotation moment can be assuredly applied.

Now, a procedure of an assembling operation will be described below.

When the connector10is assembled, as shown by the arrow mark Y1inFIG. 1, initially, the spacer60is inserted into the spacer insert recessed part24of the inner housing20from a lower part to primarily engage (temporarily engage) the spacer60with the inner housing20(a state shown inFIG. 13).

Then, the inner housing20is attached to the outer housing40as shown by an arrow mark Y2inFIG. 1and an arrow mark Y3inFIG. 4to connect the inner housing20to the outer housing40by the connecting arms21.

Then, under this state, since the connector housing10A in a temporarily engaged state is formed, the round terminal80is inserted from a rear part of the outer housing40as shown by an arrow mark Y4inFIG. 4.

When the round terminal80is inserted until the engaging part85of the round terminal80reaches the lance62, as shown inFIG. 15andFIG. 16, the round terminal80is primarily engaged with the lance62. At this time, as shown inFIG. 17(a), even when the round terminal80is inserted in any orientation, the rotation moment for correcting the position is applied to the round terminal80due to a pressure contact between the abutting surface84aof the rotating direction position control part84of the engaging part85and the engaging edge part62aof the lance62. Thus, as shown inFIG. 17(b), the engaging recessed part83faces the lance62in a proper position, the positioning surface83aof the engaging recessed part83is located to be parallel to the engaging edge part62aof the lance62in a stable state and the engaging edge part62aof the lance62is fitted to the engaging recessed part83so that the round terminal80is primarily engaged (temporarily engaged).

When all the round terminals80are inserted, the spacer60is more pushed in upward to secondarily engage (mainly engage) the spacer60with the inner housing20(a state shown inFIG. 14). Thus, during a process of raising the spacer60, as shown inFIG. 18(b), the lance62is separated from the engaging part85of the round terminal80and the engaging edge part63aof the engaging protrusion part63is pressed to come into contact with the corner part of the abutting surface84aof the rotating direction position control part84of the round terminal80. Thus, the rotation moment is generated by the contact pressure F1and the abutting position.

Thus, the round terminal80is rotated in a direction shown by an arrow mark R1, and finally, the engaging edge part63aof the engaging protrusion part63is more raised so that the engaging edge part63aof the engaging protrusion part63abuts on the positioning surface83aas the bottom surface of the engaging recessed part83as shown inFIG. 18(c) to determine the position of the round terminal80in the rotating direction. Further, since the engaging edge part63aof the engaging protrusion part63is fitted to the engaging recessed part83, the round terminal80is secondarily engaged (mainly engaged). At this time, the spacer60is mainly engaged with the inner housing20. Thus, the assembly of the connector10as shown inFIGS. 19 to 21is completed.

After the connector10is assembled, as shown inFIG. 22, when the connector10is fitted to the mate connector110, an end of a fitting wall part of a mate connector housing111enters the annular space29between the inner housing20and the outer housing40of the connector10of the exemplary embodiment and the fitting wall part comes into close contact with the seal lip53of the mat seal50to seal a fitting part of the inner housing20and the mate connector housing111. Further, the male terminal112of the mate connector110is introduced into the box part81of the round terminal80held in the inner housing20from an insert hole of the front end of the inner housing20to connect both the connectors to each other.

As described above, according to the connector10of the present exemplary embodiment, since the lance62is arranged at the position in the oblique direction relative to the vertical direction and the transverse direction (the directions in which the terminal insert holes are arranged) seen from the central part of each of the terminal insert holes25,45and61and the bending direction of the lance62is set to the direction substantially corresponding to the oblique direction, the blank spaces between the plurality of terminal insert holes25,45and61are effectively used so that the lances62may be arranged or the bending spaces of the lances62may be ensured. Accordingly, the round terminals80can be densely arranged, which can contribute to the miniaturization or the multi-polar form of the connector10.

Further, since the positions of the terminal insert holes25,45and61in the transverse direction are shifted between the adjacent upper and lower lines, the blank spaces between the terminal insert holes25,45and61are effectively used and many terminal insert holes25,45and61can be densely arranged in the vertical direction. Accordingly, the round terminals80can be more densely arranged, so that the connector can be more miniaturized or the connector can have a more multi-polar form. Further, since an amount of shift of the terminal insert holes25,45and61in the transverse direction between the adjacent upper and lower lines is set to ⅓ times as long as the pitch P of the terminals in the transverse direction, the positions of the terminal insert holes25,45and61can be allowed to mutually correspond in the transverse direction at intervals of two lines in the vertical direction. Accordingly, a prescribed regularity can be provided irrespective of a zigzag arrangement.

Further, according to the connector10of the present exemplary embodiment, since the spacer60that is mainly engaged with the inserted round terminal80is provided integrally with the lances62as the temporarily terminal engaging units, under a state that the individual round terminals80are respectively temporarily engaged with the lances62, the spacer60is inserted to the mainly engaged position, so that all the round terminals80can be mainly engaged with the engaging protrusion parts63(the mainly terminal engaging parts) provided in the spacer60at the same time. Accordingly, the assembly workability is improved and the round terminals80can be assuredly fixed.

Further, when the spacer60is inserted upward into the spacer insert recessed part24of the inner housing20from the lower part, the spacer60can be positioned at the temporarily engaged position. When the spacer60is more pushed in to an interior part, the spacer60can be positioned at the mainly engaged position. At that time, under a state that the spacer60is located in the temporarily engaged position, the round terminal80can be inserted into the terminal insert hole61by bending the lance62. Further, under a state that the lance62is temporarily engaged with the round terminal80, when the spacer60is more pushed in to the inner mainly engaged position, the engaging protrusion part63provided in the spacer60is mainly engaged with the round terminal80. Thus, the round terminal80can be assuredly prevented from slipping out and fixed.

Since the engaging edge part63aof the engaging protrusion part63provided as the mainly terminal engaging part is formed as an edge part substantially parallel to the transverse direction and the engaging edge part62aof the lance62provided at the obliquely upper position of the terminal insert hole61of the spacer60is provided as an edge part orthogonal to the bending direction of the lance62, an angle larger than 0° and smaller than 90° can be provided between the engaging edge part63aof the engaging protrusion part63and the engaging edge part62aof the lance62, and the engaging edge parts62aand63acan be employed for controlling the position of the round terminal80in the rotating direction.

Especially, in the connector10, since the round terminal80is used as the terminal, the engaging edge part63aof the engaging protrusion part63and the engaging edge part62aof the lance62of the spacer60are fitted to the engaging recessed part83of the round terminal80, and further, the engaging edge part63aof the engaging protrusion part63and the engaging edge part62aof the lance62of the spacer60are pressed to come into contact with the rotating direction position control part84of the round terminal80, the position in the rotating direction of the round terminal80which is inserted without caring about the orientation during the temporary engagement of the lance62can be corrected to a position suitable for the lance62. When the spacer60is pushed in to the mainly engaged position during a shift from the temporarily engaged state to the mainly engaged state, the round terminal80can be corrected to a proper engaged position by the pushing operation of the spacer60. Thus, even when the round terminal80is used, the round terminal can be automatically positioned to a proper position and assembled in a final assembly stage.

Further, in the connector10, since an angle θ formed by the engaging edge part63aof the engaging protrusion part63and the engaging edge part62aof the lance62is set to a range of 30° to 60°, even when the round terminal80is inserted in any direction, the direction of the round terminal80can be finally corrected to a proper direction to mainly engage the round terminal.

In the above-described exemplary embodiment, the lance62is provided in the spacer60, however, the lance may be directly provided in the inner housing20.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the connector housing is formed by the outer housing40and the inner housing20, however, a connector housing may be used that is entirely formed integrally with an outer housing and an inner housing.

In the above-described exemplary embodiment, the positions of the terminal insert holes are shifted by ⅓ times as long as the arrangement pitch of the terminals in the transverse direction so that the blank spaces between the terminal insert holes may be most effectively used in the adjacent lines. However, it is to be under stood that the above-described exemplary embodiment may be applied to a case that the positions of terminal insert holes are not shifted between lines arranged in the vertical direction and the terminal insert holes are respectively linearly arranged in the vertical direction (namely, the terminal insert holes are sequentially arranged).