Electric connector with a terminal conductor detaining mechanism

An electric connector with a terminal conductor detaining mechanism for restraining terminal conductors from slipping out of the electric connector. The electric connector comprises: a connector shell having a plurality of terminal chambers and provided with a pair of flexible, temporary locking strips and with a pair of main locking parts; and a terminal conductor detaining member provided with a plurality of terminal conductor detaining fingers and a pair of flexible locking arms. The terminal conductor detaining member is combined temporarily with the connector shell with the fexible locking arms thereof engaging the flexible locking strips of the connector shell, respectively, to keep the connector shell and the terminal conductor detaining member in a temporarily combined state. The terminal conductor detaining member is combined completely with the connector shell by pressing the terminal conductor detaining member into the connector shell so that the locking arms engage the main locking parts of the connector shell, respectively. In pressing the terminal conductor detaining member into the connector shell to combine the terminal conductor detaining member and the connector shell in a completely combined state, the flexible locking strips must be pressed forcibly to allow the terminal conductor detaining member to move further into the connector shell. Thus, the accidental complete combination of the terminal conductor detaining member and the connector shell is prevented.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to an electric connector for electrically and 
mechanically connecting wiring harnesses, having a connector shell 
provided with a terminal conductor detaining mechanism for restraining 
terminal conductors from slipping out of the connector shell. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
An electric connector, in general, has a connector shell provided with a 
terminal conductor detaining mechanism for detaining terminal conductors 
inserted in the terminal chamber of the connector shell to restrain the 
terminal conductors from slipping out of the terminal chamber. Such a 
terminal conductor detaining mechanism comprises flexible detaining 
members formed integrally with the connector shell on the inner surface of 
the connector shell within the terminal chamber so as to engage terminal 
conductors inserted in the terminal chamber to restrain the terminal 
conductors from slipping out of the terminal chamber. A recently proposed 
electric connector incorporates a terminal conductor detaining mechanism 
comprising a terminal detaining member inserted in the connector shell of 
the electric connector from behind the connector shell to restrain 
terminal conductors inserted in a terminal chamber formed in the connector 
shell in cooperation with or instead of the flexible detaining members 
formed on the inner surface of the connector shell. 
FIGS. 8 and 9 show a conventional electric connector provided with such a 
terminal conductor detaining mechanism. Auxiliary stoppers b are formed on 
the outer surface of a connector shell a near the rear end of the same, 
and main stoppers c are formed on the outer surface of a connector shell a 
in front of the auxiliary stoppers b. A terminal detaining member d having 
catching tongues e is put on the rear portion of the connector shell a 
with the catching tongues e in engagement with the auxiliary stoppers b to 
connect the terminal detaining member d temporarily to the connector shell 
a. Then, terminal conductors g connected to the extremities of wires are 
inserted through the body f of the terminal detaining member d in terminal 
chambers h formed in the connector shell a as shown in FIG. 8. Terminal 
detaining tongues i are formed in the inner surface of the body f of the 
terminal detaining member d. In a state as shown in FIG. 8, in which the 
terminal detaining member d is connected temporarily to the connector 
shell a, the terminal detaining tongues i are located outside the passage 
of the terminal conductors g. Then, as shown in FIG. 9, the terminal 
detaining member d is pressed to the front so that the catching tongues e 
engage the main stoppers c to connect the terminal detaining member d 
securely to the connector shell a as shown in FIG. 9. In a state shown in 
FIG. 9, the detaining tongues i are bent toward the terminal conductors g 
by taper surfaces j formed in the inner surface of the connector shell a 
so that the tips i.sub.1 of the detaining tongues i engage the terminal 
conductors g to detain the terminal conductors g in place. 
This terminal conductor detaining mechanism, however, has a disadvantage 
that the terminal detaining member d temporarily connected to the 
connector shell a may be pressed accidentally to its locking position on 
the connector shell a by an external force and the detaining member d may 
be connected firmly to the connector shell a before the terminal 
conductors g are inserted in the terminal chambers h. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention has been made in view of such a disadvantage of the 
conventional terminal conductor detaining mechanism and it is therefore an 
object of the present invention to provide an electric connector with a 
terminal conductor detaining mechanism, capable of preventing the 
accidental movement of a detaining member temporarily connected to a 
connector shell to its locking position and capable of moving the 
detaining member to its locking position by a single locking stroke. 
In one aspect of the present invention, an electric connector with a 
terminal conductor detaining mechanism comprises a connector shell 
provided with terminal chambers, and a detaining member having terminal 
detaining tongues to be inserted in the terminal chambers and capable of 
being put on the rear end of the connector shell at both a temporarily 
connected position where flexible detaining arms formed on the detaining 
member engage flexible stoppers formed on the connector shell, and a 
locking position to which the flexible detaining arms are guided by the 
flexible stoppers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
An electric connector with a terminal conductor detaining mechanism in a 
preferred embodiment according to the present invention will be described 
hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. The electric connector 
comprises a connector shell A formed by molding a synthetic resin and a 
terminal conductor detaining member B formed by molding a synthetic resin. 
The connector shell A is provided with a plurality of elongate terminal 
chambers 1 and a flexible detaining tongue 13 formed in each terminal 
chamber 1 to detain a terminal conductor C secondarily in the terminal 
chamber 1. The terminal conductor detaining member B has a base frame 3 
provided with a plurality of terminal conductor receiving holes 2 
corresponding respectively to the elongate terminal chambers 1, a 
plurality of flexible terminal conductor detaining fingers 4 extending 
from the base frame 3 so as to be inserted respectively in the terminal 
chambers 1, and a pair of flexible locking arms 5 formed on the opposite 
sides of the base frame 3 so as to engage the connector shell A. The 
extremity of each flexible locking arm 5 is bent outward to form a locking 
projection 5a. 
Temporary locking projections 7 and main locking projections 8 are formed 
in that order on the inner surfaces of the opposite side walls 6 of the 
connector shell A. Each temporary locking projection 7 is formed so as to 
project inward from the extremity of a flexible strip 7' formed by a 
substantially channel shaped slit 6a in the side wall 6 such that said 
flexible strip 7' has a forward free end. A guide slope 7a is formed on 
the inner rearward surface of the flexible strip 7' so as to extend behind 
the temporary locking projection 7. Each main locking projection 8 
projects from the inner surface of the side wall 6 by a distance 
substantially equal to that of projection of the temporary locking 
projection 7. A space S capable of receiving the locking projection 5a of 
the flexible locking arm 5 is formed between the main locking projection 8 
and the temporary locking projection 7. Apertures 8a are formed in front 
of the main locking projections 8, respectively, for observation. 
In combining the connector shell A and the terminal conductor detaining 
member B, the terminal conductor detaining member B is inserted in the 
connector shell A sliding the flexible locking arms 5 of the terminal 
conductor detaining member B along guide grooves 9 formed in the inner 
surfaces of the side walls 6 guide grooves 9 being substantially parallel 
to terminal chambers 1. As the flexible locking arms 5 slide along the 
guide grooves 9, the locking projections 5a slides along the guide slopes 
7a and hence the flexible locking arms 5 are bent flexibly inward and, 
eventually, the locking projections 5a engage the temporary locking 
projections 7, respectively, for temporary lock as shown in FIGS. 2(a) and 
4(a). The electric connector thus temporarily assembled is delivered to a 
wiring harness fabricating shop. The engagement of the flexible locking 
arms 5 of the terminal conductor detaining member B and the guide grooves 
9 of the connector shell A restrains the terminal conductor detaining 
member B from rattling during transportation. 
Then, the terminal conductors C are inserted through the terminal receiving 
holes 2 of the terminal conductor detaining member B in the terminal 
chambers 1 of the connector shell A so that the terminal conductors C are 
held in place by the detaining tongues 13. As each terminal conductor C is 
inserted in the terminal chamber 1, the terminal conductor C shifts the 
tip 4a of the corresponding terminal conductor detaining finger 4, and the 
tip 4a of the terminal conductor detaining finger 4 is restored to its 
original position after the terminal conductor C has been located in 
place. The pair of flexible strips 7' are pressed inward to bend the 
flexible locking arms 5 inward so that the locking projections 5a are 
shifted inwardly of the main locking projections 8, and then the base 
frame 3 is pressed to advance the flexible locking arms 5 so that the 
locking projections 5a override the corresponding main locking projections 
8 for final lock as shown in FIGS. 3(b) and 4(b). In this state, the tips 
of the terminal conductor detaining fingers 4 engage the corresponding 
terminal conductors C to detain the terminal conductors C in place. 
FIGS. 5 to 7 shows an electric connector with a terminal conductor 
detaining mechanism in a second embodiment according to the present 
invention, in which parts like or corresponding to those of the first 
embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 are denoted by the same reference 
characters and the description thereof will be omitted to avoid 
duplication. 
Referring to FIGS. 5 to 7, a terminal conductor detaining member B' is 
provided with inclined flexible locking arms 5' inclined at an angle to 
the direction of insertion of the terminal conductor detaining member-B' 
in a connector shell A', namely, the elongate terminal chambers 1, and the 
connector shell A' is provided in the inner surfaces of the opposite side 
walls 6' thereof with guide grooves 9' inclined at an angle corresponding 
to that of the flexible locking arms 5'. 
The connector shell A' has a frame 10 at its rear end. Slits 10a are formed 
in the opposite side walls of the frame 10 to form flexible strip 11' each 
having a temporary locking edge 11 at its extremity. A main locking part 
12 is formed on the front extension of each side wall of the frame 10 with 
a space S between the temporary locking edge 11 and the main locking part 
12. 
When the connector shell A' and the terminal conductor detaining member B' 
are locked temporarily as shown in FIGS. 6(a), 6(b) and 6(c), the tip 4a 
of each terminal detaining finger 4 is kept clear of the passage of the 
terminal conductor C and hence the terminal conductor C can be inserted in 
the terminal chamber 1 without touching the terminal conductor detaining 
finger 4. The terminal conductor C is detained by the flexible detaining 
tongue 13 in the terminal chamber 1. 
Then, the terminal conductor detaining member B' is pressed into the frame 
10 of the connector shell A' by pressing the flexible strips 11' inward to 
bend the flexible locking arms 5' inward. Consequently, the flexible 
locking arms 5' slides downward toward the front, as viewed in FIG. 7(a), 
along the guide grooves 9' and, eventually, the locking projections 5a' of 
the flexible locking arms 5' engage the main locking parts 12 to lock the 
connector shell A' and the terminal conductor detaining member B' 
completely and finally. In this state, the tips 4a of the flexible 
terminal conductor detaining fingers 4 engage the corresponding terminal 
conductors C to detain the same in place as shown in FIG. 7(b). 
Since the flexible strips (7', 11') must be pressed forcibly inward in 
completely combining the connector shell and the terminal conductor 
detaining member, the terminal conductor detaining member temporarily 
combined with the connector shell is never moved accidentally into the 
connector shell by an external force. The connector shell and the terminal 
conductor detaining member can be completely combined by simply pressing 
the terminal conductor detaining member into the connector shell, pressing 
the flexible strips inward. 
Although the invention has been described in its preferred form with a 
certain degree of particularity, obviously many changes and variations are 
possible therein. It is therefore to be understood that the present 
invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein 
without departing from the scope and spirit thereof.