Connector

A multilevel connector is provided for securely engaging male and female connector housings. The connector 1 includes a main block 4 integrally formed with a receptacle 3, an auxiliary block 5 to be assembled with the main block 4 and a lid 6 to be assembled so as to cover the auxiliary block 5. Terminal cavities 2A are arranged side by side in each of the main and auxiliary blocks 4, 5.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a connector, in particular to a cramping 
connector. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
An exemplary prior art cramping connector is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 and is 
identified by the numeral 60. The cramping connector 60 is of a so-called 
multilevel type, and is constructed such that a multitude of blocks 62 
provided with terminal cavities 61 arranged side by side. The blocks 62 
are placed one over another and a lid 63 is mounted on the top. In each 
block 62, the rear parts of the terminal cavities 61 are open upwardly to 
improve efficiency by enabling the connection of wires with unillustrated 
terminal fittings formed with blades inside each block 62. More 
particularly, the unillustrated terminal fittings are inserted into the 
terminal cavities 61. The wires then are pressed into cramping portions of 
the terminal fittings from above. As a result, the blades of the terminal 
fittings cut the insulation coatings of the wires to establish an 
electrical connection with cores of the wires. 
When male and female connectors are engaged with each other, a receptacle 
having a rectangular tubular shape is generally formed at an engaging 
portion of one connector (normally, male connector). The multilevel 
cramping connector, as described above, is divided into a plurality of 
blocks. Thus if a receptacle is simply formed, it needs to be divided in a 
similar manner. If the rectangular tubular portion is vertically divided, 
the side walls of the respective blocks are deformed inwardly for some 
reason caused by molding. Even if an adjustment is made, a proper 
rectangular tubular shape may not be obtained. This may cause an 
insufficient engagement of the male and female connectors. 
The present invention was developed in view of the above problem and an 
object thereof is to effect a secure engagement of male and female 
connectors in a multilevel connector. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
According to the invention, there is provided a connector, in particular a 
cramping connector, having a connector housing with terminal cavities 
formed therein. Terminal fittings are accommodated in the respective 
terminal cavities of the connector housing. The terminal fittings each are 
provided with a wire connection portion for an electrical connection with 
a wire and a connection portion to be electrically connected with a mating 
terminal fitting when a mating connector housing is engaged. The connector 
housing comprises at least a main block and an auxiliary block which can 
be placed substantially one over another in a direction of height. The 
main block is formed with a common hood or receptacle which accommodates 
all terminal fittings when the respective blocks are assembled and is 
engageable with the mating connector housing. 
Accordingly, since the receptacle is shared by the respective blocks, i.e. 
only the receptacle is not divided, it is unlikely to undergo a 
deformation due to its high rigidity. Further, male and female connectors 
can be engaged smoothly. 
According to a preferred embodiment, the terminal fittings are cramping 
terminals and the wire connection portion comprises a cramping portion for 
cutting the insulation coating of the wire to establish an electrical 
connection with a core of the wire. 
Accordingly a simple and easy to achieve electrical connection of the 
terminal fitting and the wire is provided. 
Preferably, the terminal cavities of the respective blocks are 
substantially open upwardly so that the connection portions, in particular 
the pressing or cramping portions of the terminal fittings can be 
substantially exposed. 
Accordingly, the electrical connection of the wires with the terminal 
fittings is more easily achievable, since the connection portions are 
accessible or open or reachable, in particular by a jig or the like 
connecting means. 
Further preferably, there is provided a cramping connector in which 
cramping terminals each are provided with a cramping portion for cutting 
the insulation coating of a wire to establish an electrical connection 
with a core of the wire and a connection portion to be electrically 
connected with a mating terminal fitting when a mating connector housing 
is engaged. The cramping terminals are accommodated in terminal cavities 
formed in a connector housing. The connector housing comprises a plurality 
of blocks which can be placed one over another in a direction of height. 
The terminal cavities of the respective blocks are open upwardly so that 
the pressing portions of the terminal fittings are to be exposed. One of 
the blocks is formed with a common receptacle which accommodates all 
terminal fittings when the respective blocks are assembled and is 
engageable with the mating connector housing. 
Still further preferably, the main block formed with the receptacle and/or 
the auxiliary block is provided with a guide means for guiding the 
assembling of the auxiliary block with the main block. Accordingly, the 
blocks can be easily assembled because the guide means is provided. 
Most preferably, the guide means comprises one or more slidable portions 
and one or more mating guide grooves. The slidable portions can be 
inserted or fitted or slid in the guide grooves substantially along a 
direction of assembling of the blocks. The assembling direction preferably 
is arranged at an angle different from 0.degree. or 180.degree., 
preferably substantially normal with respect to the direction of height. 
According to a further preferred embodiment, one, preferably the upper one 
of the adjacent blocks to be assembled substantially one over the other is 
provided with a correcting portion for pressing the insufficiently 
inserted terminal fittings to their proper insertion positions as the 
upper block is assembled. Accordingly, the insufficient insertion of the 
terminal fittings can be corrected, taking advantage of the assembling of 
the blocks. 
The correcting portion may interact with or abut against an interaction 
portion of the terminal fitting substantially along a direction of fitting 
of the terminal fitting with the mating terminal fitting. The fitting 
direction preferably is arranged at an angle different from 0.degree. or 
180.degree., preferably substantially normal with respect to the direction 
of height. 
Further preferably, the interaction portion comprises a bridging portion 
substantially bridging or interconnecting side wall portions of the 
terminal fittings. 
Still further preferably, the connector housing further comprises an 
auxiliary housing portion, preferably a lid, having at least one lock 
means which is engageable with at least one lock portion provided on the 
main block. 
Accordingly the connector can be stabilized and preferably substantially 
closed, so that the terminal fittings are not exposed in positions not 
intended for an electric connection. 
Still further preferably, the at least one auxiliary block is arranged 
substantially between the main block and the auxiliary housing portion in 
the engaged state of the lock means and the lock portion. 
Accordingly the overall stiffness or rigidity and the stability of the 
connector can be augmented advantageously, as the blocks are securely 
positioned substantially between the main block and the auxiliary housing 
portion, preferably the lid. Furthermore the connector is overall more 
compact. 
Still further preferably, the terminal fittings comprise one or more 
stabilizer portions for stabilizing and/or positioning the terminal 
fittings in the terminal cavities, preferably by interacting with lateral 
portions thereof. 
Accordingly, the terminal fittings are mechanically stabilized, thus 
improving their positioning and/or connectability with the mating terminal 
fitting. 
Most preferably, the terminal cavities comprise, preferably in the 
substantially middle thereof, an engaging portion being insertable into an 
engaging hole of the terminal fittings for positioning and/or holding the 
terminal fittings in the terminal cavities. 
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention 
will become more apparent upon a reading of the following detailed 
description and accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Next, one embodiment of the invention is described with reference to FIGS. 
1 to 5. Here, description is not given on a part of the same or similar 
construction as that of the prior art by identifying it by the same 
reference numerals. 
A cramping connector 1 according to this embodiment is of two-level type, 
and is comprised of a main block 4 having a hood or receptacle 3, an 
auxiliary block 5 to be placed substantially on the main block 4 in a 
direction of height H and a lid 6 for substantially covering an upper part 
of the auxiliary block 5. 
The main block 4 is formed integrally or unitarily, e.g. of a synthetic 
resin, and accommodates terminal fittings 7 (male) substantially inside. 
Upon the engagement with an unillustrated mating connector housing 
(female) in a fitting direction F being arranged at an angle different 
from 0.degree. or 180.degree., preferably substantially normal to the 
direction of height H, male and female terminal fittings are connected to 
establish an electrical connection. In a rear part of the main block 4, 
terminal cavities 2A for accommodating the terminal fittings 7 are 
substantially open upwardly and are arranged substantially side by side. 
These terminal cavities 2A belong to the lower level. Terminal cavities 2B 
of the upper level are provided in the auxiliary block 5. More accurately, 
complete terminal cavities are formed by assembling the main and auxiliary 
blocks 4, 5. In a front part of the main block 4 is formed the receptacle 
3 for the engagement of the mating connector. The bottom surface of the 
main block 4 is substantially planar preferably all the way from the 
receptacle 3 to the terminal cavities 2A. 
An elastically deformable lance or engaging portion 9 projects forwardly 
(i.e. toward the receptacle 3 substantially along the fitting direction F) 
from the upper wall surface of each terminal cavity 2A. The engaging 
portion 9 is engageable with a corresponding lance hole or engaging hole 
18 of the terminal fitting 7. The front end of each terminal cavity 2A is 
substantially open to the receptacle 3, thereby defining a terminal 
insertion opening 2C. When the terminal fittings 7 are mounted in the 
terminal cavities 2A, the leading ends (male tabs 12) thereof project into 
the receptacle 3. 
The receptacle 3 preferably has a substantially rectangular tubular shape, 
and an unillustrated mating connector housing is inserted or insertable 
thereinto. A pair of guide grooves 10 extend preferably from a 
substantially middle position to the substantially rear end of the inner 
side wall surfaces of the receptacle 3. When the auxiliary block 5 is 
assembled with the main block 4, slidable portions 11 of the auxiliary 
block 5 are fitted or inserted slidably into the guide grooves 10. A 
pressing portion 26 is formed preferably in an upper rear portion of the 
receptacle 3. Upon the completion of assembling of the cramping connector 
1, a lift preventing portion 19A of the lid 6A is positioned radially 
inwardly of or below the pressing portion 26. 
The respective terminal cavities 2A preferably are partitioned equally by 
lower partition walls 8 extending from the rear end of the main block 4 to 
the receptacle 3. Further, a step wall 24 is formed in a position of the 
upper edge of each side wall of the main block 4 toward the receptacle 3. 
A pair of engaging projections 21 for the engagement with the lid 6 to be 
described later project from the substantially opposite side walls behind 
the step wall 24. 
The terminal fitting 7 is formed e.g. by bending a conductive metal plate. 
A front portion of the terminal fitting 7 serves as the male tab 12 to be 
engaged with an unillustrated mating female terminal fitting, and 
stabilizers 15 are formed at the opposite side walls behind the male tab 
12 e.g. by raising cut portions to upright positions. A hole e.g. left by 
raising the cut portions to the upright positions is the engaging hole 18 
in which the engaging portion 9 is fittable (see FIG. 4). Behind (as seen 
in the fitting direction F) the stabilizers 15, a bridge 22 connects the 
left and right side walls of the terminal fitting 7. The auxiliary block 5 
and a press projection 17 of the lid 6 come substantially into contact 
with the rear end of the bridge 22. 
In a substantially middle part of the terminal fitting 7, a pair of blades 
13 having preferably a substantially V-shaped cross section are provided 
one after the other in order to cut the insulation coating of a wire W 
until the core thereof is reached to establish an electrical connection 
between the wire W and the terminal fitting 7. The blades 13 are formed 
e.g. by cutting the bottom wall of the terminal fitting 7 and raising the 
cut portions to positions where they substantially face each other. 
Projected portions are formed at the opposite ends of each blade 13. The 
blade 13 provided with the projected portions can be held or positioned in 
position by being held between the side walls of the terminal fitting 7. 
At a rear end of the terminal fitting 7, barrel portions 14 for fastening 
the wire W project upward from the substantially opposite side walls. 
The auxiliary block 5 is formed integrally or unitarily e.g. of a synthetic 
resin, and accommodates the terminal fittings 7 inside. The auxiliary 
block 5 is assembled so as to substantially cover the upper openings of 
the terminal cavities 2A of the main block 4. Terminal cavities 2A also 
are arranged substantially side by side in the auxiliary block 5 and are 
partitioned by the lower partition walls 8 similar to the main block 4. 
Further, upper partition walls 16 project from the bottom surface of the 
auxiliary block 5, and upper terminal cavities 2B are defined between 
adjacent upper partition walls 16. The upper partition walls 16 
substantially come into contact with the upper edges of the lower 
partition walls 8 to combine the upper and lower terminal cavities 2A, 2B. 
The press projections 17 project forwardly between two adjacent lower 
partition walls 8. The press projections 17 substantially come into 
contact with the rear ends of the bridges 22 of the terminal fittings 7 
mounted in the main block 4 when the auxiliary block 5 is assembled with 
the main block 4. 
A pair of slidable portions 11 substantially project at front portions of 
the opposite side surfaces of the auxiliary block 5. The slidable portions 
11 are slid substantially into the guide grooves 10 formed in the 
receptacle 3 of the main block 4 from behind (i.e. from a direction 
opposed to the tabs 12). Thus, if the terminal fittings 7 are not 
sufficiently inserted into the terminal cavities 2A, the press projections 
17 press the terminal fittings 7 in the main block 4 to their proper 
positions as the auxiliary block 5 is mounted. 
In the middle portions of the opposite side surfaces of the auxiliary block 
5, there are formed side wall portions 25 preferably where the thickness 
is larger than other parts of the side walls. A lower part of each side 
wall portions 25 is formed to be brought substantially into contact with 
the upper and side surfaces of the corresponding step wall 24 of the main 
block 4. Further, the rear edges of the side wall portions 25 extend 
substantially vertically so that the front edges of lock frames 20 of the 
lid 6 substantially come into contact therewith. 
The lid 6 is formed integrally or unitarily e.g. of a synthetic resin, and 
is assembled with the auxiliary block 5 and the main block 4 to cover the 
terminal cavities 2A of the auxiliary block 5 substantially entirely. An 
upper part of the lid 6 is preferably a substantially rectangular shaped 
base plate 19, a front portion of which serves as the lift preventing 
portion 19A for slipping under the pressing portion 26 of the main block 
4. 
A pair of lock frames 20 hang from the substantially opposite side surfaces 
of a rear portion of the base plate 19. The lock frames 20 are elastically 
deformable in directions away from each other. A substantially vertically 
extending groove 20A is formed in a middle portion of each lock frame 20. 
When the lid 6 is assembled with the main block 4, the engaging 
projections 21 formed on the main block 4 are fitted into these grooves 
20A. In this way, the lid 6 is assembled with the main block 4 with the 
auxiliary block 5 therebetween. 
Similar to the construction at the bottom surface of the auxiliary block 5, 
upper partition walls 16 project from the lower surface of the base plate 
19 so as to partition the terminal cavities 2A of the auxiliary block 5, 
and the press projections 17 project forwardly substantially between two 
adjacent upper partition walls 16. 
Next, the action and effects of the thus constructed embodiment are 
described. 
First, the terminal fittings 7 are inserted into the terminal cavities 2A 
of the main block 4. After being placed on the terminal fittings 7, the 
wires W are connected to the terminal fittings 7, e.g. by being pressed 
into the corresponding pairs of blades 13 e.g. using a press jig 23 or the 
like pressing apparatus of a connecting apparatus (see FIG. 5). Then, the 
blades 13 cut the insulation coatings of the wires W and are brought into 
contact with the cores of the wires W, thereby establishing an electrical 
connection between the wires W and the terminal fittings 7. Further, by 
pressing the terminal fittings 7 by the press jig 23, the wires W are 
fastened in the barrel portions 14. At this time, since the bottom surface 
of the main block 4 is preferably planar as a whole, it is not necessary 
to provide special recess(es) and projection(s) on a table where the 
pressing operation is performed. 
On the other hand, an operation similar to the above is performed for the 
auxiliary block 5 before being assembled, i.e. the terminal fittings 7 are 
mounted in the terminal cavities 2A and the wires W are connected 
therewith. 
Subsequently, the auxiliary block 5 mounted with the terminal fittings 7 is 
assembled with the main block 4 from behind. Specifically, the auxiliary 
block 5 is assembled with the main block 4 by sliding the slidable 
portions 11 formed on the substantially opposite side walls of the 
auxiliary block 5 into the guide grooves 10 of the receptacle 3. At this 
time, the assembling of the blocks 4, 5 is facilitated by being guided by 
the slidable portions 11 and the guide grooves 10. Further, at this time, 
the press projections 17 provided substantially between the upper 
partition walls 16 of the auxiliary block 5 press the rear ends of the 
bridges 22 of the terminal fittings 7 mounted in the main block 4. Thus, 
even if the terminal fittings 7 are insufficiently inserted in the main 
block 4, their positions are corrected to their proper insertion positions 
using the assembling operation of the auxiliary block 5. 
Further, the lid 6 is assembled from behind above the auxiliary block 5 by 
pressing the lift preventing portion 19A of the base plate 19 of the lid 6 
so as to be slipped under the pressing portion 26. At this time, the 
pressing projections 17 provided on the lower surface of the base plate 19 
press the rear end of the bridges 22 of the terminal fittings 7 of the 
auxiliary block 5. Thus, the insufficient insertion of the terminal 
fittings 7 is substantially corrected as described above. Simultaneously 
with this operation, the front portions of the lock frames 20 are deformed 
away from each other in order to move over the engaging projections 21 of 
the main block 4. Consequently, the engaging projections 21 are fitted 
into the grooves 20A, completing the assembling of the cramping terminal 
according to this embodiment. 
According to this embodiment, the auxiliary block 5 is formed with only the 
elements necessary to hold the terminal fittings 7, and the receptacle 3 
of the main block 4 is shared by the main block 4 and the auxiliary block 
5. Accordingly, even if the block for accommodating the terminal fittings 
7 is divided into two, the receptacle 3 itself is an integral one having 
no joining surfaces along vertical direction. Thus, as compared with a 
sectioned receptacle, rigidity is higher and an excellent shape holding 
function is ensured. As a result, the male and terminal connectors can be 
smoothly engaged. 
The present invention is not limited to the foregoing embodiment. For 
example, following embodiments are also embraced by the technical scope of 
the present invention as defined in the claims. 
Although the present invention is applied to the male connector in the 
foregoing embodiment, it may also be applied to female connectors. 
Although the terminal cavities are arranged in two levels in the foregoing 
embodiment, they may be arranged in more levels by placing three or more 
auxiliary blocks one over another. 
Converse to the construction of the foregoing embodiment, the upper 
terminal cavities and the lower terminal cavities may be provided in the 
main and auxiliary blocks, respectively.