Fitting indicating mechanism in screw type connector housings

A new fitting indicating mechanism in screw type connector housings is provided. Said mechanism comprises a male connector housing having an engaging portion; a female connector housing having cavity means for receiving said engaging portion therewithin; a tubular body having a bore contiguous to said cavity means and a plurality of flexible support arms extending into said bore toward a direction opposite to said female connection housing; and an indicator rod held to extend within said cavity means and said bore, said indicator rod being biased toward the male connector housing such that said flexible support arms covers the indicator rod when fitting engagement of both housing connectors is not completed but pushes open said flexible support arms upon completion thereof such that said indicator rod is exposed out the flexible arms.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to an indicating mechanism for visually 
confirming a fitting operation of screw type connector housings. 
In ordinary connector housings other than a screw type, the completion of 
male and females connector housings fitting operation can be fully 
confirmed by the touch of a hand at the time of engagement. However, since 
screw type connector housings will not provide sufficient information 
about complete engagement by the feel, a somewhat extra torque more than 
necessary is applied for assuring fitting. 
However, where the insertion force of terminal fittings in both connector 
housings is required to be large, the operator can take insufficient 
engagement for complete and leave the engagement operation halfway. 
Otherwise, the connector housings can be broken due to excessive 
tightenning. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In order to solve the above problems, there is essentially provided a 
fitting indicating mechanism in screw type connector housings comprising a 
male connector housing having an engaging portion; a female connector 
housing having cavity means for receiving said engaging portion 
therewithin; a tubular body having a bore contiguous to said cavity means 
and a plurality of flexible support arms extending into said bore; and an 
indicator rod held to extend within said cavity means and said bore, said 
indicator rod being biased toward the male connector housing such that 
said flexible support arms when said male connector housing is not 
received within said cavity means but pushes open said flexible support 
arms such that said indicator rod is exposed out the flexible arms.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference 
to the drawings. Referring to FIG. 1, A denotes a male connector housing 
which may be fixed to a vehicle body or the like which housing has a nut 
A.sub.1 in a central part, and B denotes a removable female connector 
housing having a bolt B.sub.1 in a central portion. C denotes a fitting 
confirming indicator portion attached to the female connector housing B. 
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, said male connector housing A has an engaging 
portion 5 whereas said female connector housing B has a first cavity or 
receiving means 5' to receive said engaging portion 5 and a second cavity 
5" to accommodate an indicator rod 2 which will be explained later. To be 
sure of proper insertion of the engaging portion 5, it has a projection 6 
which must extend into the recess B.sub.3 of the cavity B.sub.1 as may be 
seen in FIG. 1. 
A tubular body 1 having a bore therein is attached to said female connector 
housing B such that said second cavity of the female connector housing and 
said bore of the tubular body are aligned and contiguous. There is further 
provided an indicator rod 2 secured to the body 1 to extend within said 
second cavity 5" and said bore for axial movement therein. The indicator 
rod 2 is inserted into the tubular body 1 from the male-connector-housing 
side thereof. A flexible projection 2b is formed in a base portion 2a of 
the indicator rod in the form of a large diameter section at the fitting 
side end and brought into engagement with a stepped portion 3 of the 
connector housing B formed between said first cavity and the second 
cavity. The projection 2b is pushed past the stepped portion 3 of the 
connector housing B on assembly and thereafter prevents the body of the 
indicator rod from coming out of the fitting side and allow the large 
diameter section to project in part into the first cavity, thus retaining 
the body of the indicator rod in the second cavity 5. A spring 4 is 
provided between the large diameter section of the body of the indicator 
rod and the tubular body 1 to thereby urge the indicator rod toward the 
male connector housing. 
As shown in FIG. 2 the tubular body 1 is provided a plurality of flexible 
support arms 1b extending in said bore toward the direction opposite to 
the connector housing B, and the indicator rod 2 is supported therein. 
Shield portions 1c are provided at outer end portions of the flexible 
support arms 1b. In order to facilitate a visual confirmation, the 
indicator rod 2 and the tubular body 1 and/or connector housing B are 
differently colored. 
If fitting engagement of the first and second connector housings is not 
completed in the above structure, the indicator rod 2 is in the position 
shown in FIG. 2 and is covered with the shield portions of the flexible 
support arms, and cannot be seen from the exterior. 
Upon completion of fitting engagement of the male and female connector 
housings A and B, as shown in FIG. 3, an engaging portion 5 of the male 
connector housing A pushes the indicator rod 2 against the resistance of 
the spring 4, so that the small diameter section of the indicator rod 2 
pushes open the flexible support arms 1b and is exposed out beyond the 
flexible support arms 1b and the shield portion 1c to the exterior, thus 
indicating the completion of the fitting operation. 
Since the present invention is constructed as described hereinabove, a 
complete fitting can be easily confirmed visually by only looking at the 
back of the removable connector housing instead of looking at the movement 
of both connector housings being fitted, whereby it is made possible to 
prevent an incomplete fitting in screw type connector housings or breakage 
of connector housings, etc. due to excessive screwing.