Detector device for coupled connector

Abstract: A detector circuit for coupled connectors is provided with one connector housing, the other connector housing and a lock confirming slider. A sensor circuit terminal and a short-circuiting terminal are oppositely arranged in respect to the one connector housing and the lock confirming slider. Springs are arranged between the terminals. The lock confirming slider is moved forward by the springs when both connector housings are completely fitted to each other. Thus, the sensor circuit terminal and the short-circuiting terminal are contacted to each other.

Description: The present invention relates to a connector comprising a first and a second connector and having means for detecting whether these two connectors are completely engaged. From US-A-4634204, a connector device comprising a lock confirming slider is known. The connector device includes mating male and female connectors, one of which having resilient extended lock arm means that will lock behind a lock bar of the sized window of the other connector. When the two connectors are mated, a connector position assurance and assist device is inserted axially along a tracked slot and displaces the void between the sized window and under the extended lock arm means, with this device including releasable, resilient lock tab means to retain it in operative engagement with the connectors. If the connectors are only partly interconnected, upon initial insertion of the connector position assurance and assist device through the connector with the extended lock arm means, it will assist the two connectors to become fully and rigidly mated, whereas if the device is initially inserted via the connector with the size window it will refuse the further mating of the connectors and actually effect their separation whereby to prevent any time of connector partial engagement or intermittent electrical connection to occur. From US-A-4878853, a locking device for a connector assembly is known, wherein a completely fitted or locked condition of connectors can be confirmed clearly by way of an electric circuit. One of the connectors is provided with a locking plate for movement between a locking position and a releasing position, a holding element for holding the locking plate at the locking position, and a means for confirming the connector fitted condition comprising a short-circuiting element, and a pair of short-circuiting terminals so as to be connected with each other for assembling electric connection between the short-circuiting terminals. From EP-A-0300767 a connector is known, which comprises a housing provided with a recess 7, a terminal cavity 9 and a gap 10, as well as a contact piece 2 provided with a base portion 2' and bifurcated free ends 3, 3'. Contact terminals 6, 6' of wires W, W', respectively, project into the recess through said terminal recess. The base portion of the contact piece is fitted into the gap, the bifurcated free ends of the contact piece project into the cavity and only one of said bifurcated free ends is normally in contact with one of said contact terminals. Therefore, when an arm of the housing of the other connector is fitted into said recess, the other of said bifurcated free ends is brought into contact with the other of said contact terminals, and completes the electrical connection therebetween. According to another prior art connector, a fitting condition of an electric connector, for example, consisting a male connector housing and a female connector housing is visually checked based on the position of the connector housings. When elements such as lock confirming slider is provided to confirm the fitting condition of the connector, the position of the elements may be visually checked. In these cases, the visual inspection is insufficient to detect any incomplete fitting state. It is the object of the present invention to provide a connector comprising improved means for automatically detecting a complete locking state. This object is solved by the subject matter of claim 1. Preferred embodiments of the present invention are the subject matter of dependent claims to claim 1. In the following, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be explained in connection with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figs. 1A to 1F are sectional views for fitting steps for a pair of connector housings in preferred embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a rear view for showing one preferred embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 3 is a perspective view with a part of a connector housing of the present invention being partly broken away. Fig. 4 is perspective view for showing an internal structure of a lock confirming slider of the present invention. Fig. 5A is a rear view, Fig. 5B is a bottom view and Fig. 5C is a sectional view for showing a lock confirming slider of the present invention, respectively. Figs. 6A, 6B and 6C are sectional views for showing processes for engaging the springs of the lock confirming slider to a connector housing. Fig. 7 is a rear view for showing one preferred embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 8 is a perspective view with a part of a connector housing of the present invention being broken away. Fig. 9 is a perspective view with a part of a lock confirming slider being broken away. Figs. 10A, 10B and 10C are top plan views for showing a connector housing to illustrate its relation with the lock confirming slider. Fig. 11 is a detailed view for showing a fixing part of a short circuiting and automatic lock confirming resilient piece. Fig. 12 is a perspective view with a part of a connector housing of another preferred embodiment of the present invention being broken away. Fig. 13 is a perspective view with a part of the lock confirming slider being broken away. Figs. 14A, 14B and 14C are top plan views of the connector housing to show a relation with the lock confirming slider. Fig. 15 is an exploded perspective view for showing a still further preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figs. 16A and 16B are a perspective view showing a state in which the lock confirming slider is advanced in respect to the connector housing and an operational state view for showing a short circuiting and automatic lock confirming resilient piece. Figs. 17A and 17B are a perspective view or showing a state in which the lock confirming slider is retracted in respect to the connector housing and an operating state view for showing a short circuiting and automatic lock confirming resilient pieces. Fig. 18 is a rear view for showing one preferred embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 19 is a sectional view with a part of the connector housing being broken away. Fig. 20 is a perspective view for showing a lock sensor arm and its supporting member. Figs. 21A and 21B are a side elevational view and a front elevational view for showing a lock sensor arm. Fig. 22 is a sectional view for showing a supporting part of a lock sensor arm. Figs. 23A and 23B are a top plan view and a side elevational view for showing a short circuiting and automatic lock confirming resilient piece. Figs. 24A and 24B are top plan views of the connector housing to show a relation with the lock sensor arm. Fig. 25 is an exploded perspective view for showing another preferred embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 26 is a perspective view for showing a lock confirming slider. Fig. 27 is a perspective view for showing a lock confirming slider to which a biasing operation member is assembled. Figs. 28A, 28B and 28C are illustrative views for showing processes in which a short circuiting and automatic lock confirming resilient piece is assembled in the lock confirming slider. Fig. 29 is a perspective view with a part of the preset state being broken away. Fig. 30 is a perspective view with a part being broken away to show an engaged state between the biasing operating member and the connector housing. Fig. 31 is a perspective view with a part being broken away to show an entire complete fitted state. Figs. 32A to 32E are illustrative views for showing processes in which the lock confirming slider is assembled to the connector housing. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In Figs. 1A to 1F, A' denotes a male connector in which a female terminal C is held by a flexible engaging piece 2 within a terminal storing chamber of a male connector housing A. B' denotes a female connector in which a male terminal D is held by a flexible engaging piece 4 within a terminal storing chamber 3 of a female connector housing B. The male connector housing A is provided with a lock arm 5 by a flexible supporting part 5a. An engaging part 5c formed at an extreme end of a front side longitudinal hole 5b is engaged with an engaging projection 6 arranged at a surface of the female connector housing B. A rear end of the lock arm 5 is provided with a lock releasing operating part 5d. The male connector housing A is provided with a lock confirming slider E' in such a way as it may be moved in an aft and fro direction. A canti-levered flexible lock detecting arm 8 is projected from its base end 7 forwardly, and the lock detecting arm 8 has at its extreme end an abutting part 8a and a supporting part 8b. The arm extends into the longitudinal hole 5b of the lock arm 5, the abutting part 8a abuts against a rear surface of the engaging part 5c and at the same time the supporting part 8b abuts to the upper surface of the engaging part 5c. Thus, as shown in Fig. 1A, before fitting the male connector housing A and the female connector housing B, a forward movement of the lock confirming slider E' is prevented by the engaging part 5c of the lock arm 5. When the male connector housing A and the female connector housing B are fitted to each other, the engaging part 5c of the lock arm 5 is moved upwardly along a tapered guide surface 6a of an engaging projection 6, thereby the detecting arm 8 is also moved upwardly (Fig. 1B and 1C). As the engaging part 5c rides over the engaging projection 6, the lock arm 5 descends and the abutting part 8a is positioned on the engaging projection 6, thereby the lock detecting arm 8 is released from the engaged relation with the lock arm 5 to occupy a rised position by itself (Fig. 1D). Then, under this condition, it becomes possible to move the lock confirming slider E' forwardly and then a complete fitted state of the male connector A' and the female connector B' is confirmed. In Fig. 2, the male connector housing A' has a lock confirming slider E' which can be moved forward when it is completely fitted to a mating female connector housing (not shown). The male connector housing A' is provided with a jacket 9 enclosing a mating female connector housing at its front half part, in which a pair of rails 10 are extended from a rear part of the jacket 9, grooves 11 formed at both sides of a base portion 7 of the lock confirming slider E' are engaged with the rails 10. The pair of rails 10 are formed with terminal accommodating cavities 12 opened rearwardly. (See Fig. 3). To the terminal accommodating cavities 12 are inserted small-sized sensor circuit terminals F' connected to the wires (w) in advance. Engaging pieces F 1 ' is engaged with an upper opening 12a so as to prevent its removal and then the terminal F' is exposed at an inner opening 12b. A substantial V-shaped short circuiting resilient contact element G' is arranged by fitting its base end to a substantial V-shaped supporting groove 7a formed at the base portion 7 of the lock confirming slider E', and its contact end G 1 ' can be contacted with the sensor circuit terminal F' through the opening 12b. As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, spring storing grooves 13 extending in a longitudinal direction are formed at positions opposing to the terminal storing chamber 12 at both sides of the base portion 7 of the lock confirming slider E'. The spring storing grooves 13 store tension type automatic lock confirming coil springs 14 having rear ends 14a engaged with the fixing pins 15 and further having hook leaf springs 14b at front free ends thereof. The lock confirming slider E' is at first combined with the male connector housing A' under a condition shown in Fig. 6A, a lock arm 5 is pushed down by a jig to disengage a lock sensor arm 8, thereby it is advanced to cause the hook leaf spring 14b to engage with the upper opening of the terminal storing chamber 12 (Fig. 6B). Under this condition, the lock confirming slider E' is retracted again while tensioning the coil spring 14, and then an abutting part 8a of the lock sensor arm 8 is engaged with the engaging part of the lock arm 5 and fixed. (Fig. 6C). With such an arrangement above, when a complete fitting with a mating connector is attained, the lock confirming slider E' released from a restriction with the lock arm 5 automatically advances with a tension force of the coil springs 14, a contact end G 1 ' of the short circuiting resilient contact element G' is contacted with sensor circuit terminals F' through an opening 12a so as to close a sensor circuit. According to the embodiment shown in Fig 7 and 8, between a pair of rails 110 of the male connector housing A', two fixing winding portions G 2 formed at corners of about U-shaped short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient piece G are engaged with fixing levers 113. Base portion G 1 is engaged with a biasing projection 114, thereby both resilient contact portions G 3 are arranged so as to be contactable with the sensor circuit terminals F through the openings 112b. There are provided driven portions G 4 continuous with the resilient contact portions G 3 and bent inwardly. End surfaces of the fixing levers 113 and the biasing projection 114 are formed as tapered surfaces 113a and 114a. Under a condition in which the lock confirming slider E' is installed in the male connector housing A', the short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient piece G is pushed into a clearance S at the rear part to cause the fixing windings G 2 and the base portion G 1 to be engaged with the fixing levers 113 and the biasing projection 114 through the tapered surfaces 113a and 114a. (Fig. 11). In front of the base portion 107 of the lock confirming slider E' is formed a curved driving surface 115 in opposition to the driven portions G 4 of the short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient piece G. A pair of driven portions G 4 and G 4 are abutted against the curved driving surface 115 while being displaced vertically. At first as shown in Fig. 10A, the lock confirming slider E' is operated such that a lock arm is pushed down by a jig to release the engagement with the lock sensor arm and the short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient piece G is installed in the male connector housing A' while it is moved forward, and under this condition the lock confirming slider E' is retracted (Fig. 10B). At this time the curved driving surface 115 causes the short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient piece G to be displaced inwardly through the driven portions G 4 against their resiliencies. The abutting part of the lock sensor arm is engaged with the engaging part of the lock arm through its further retracting movement and is fixed at its preset state. Under this state, both resilient contact portions G 3 of the short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient piece G are bent inwardly against their resiliencies. (Fig. 10C). With such an arrangement as above, the lock confirming slider E' released from its restriction with the lock arm 105 under a complete fitting with its mating connector is moved forward automatically by resilient forces of the bent resilient contact portions G 3 (see Fig. 10C) and at the same time the resilient contact pieces G 3 are contacted with the sensor circuit terminals F to close the sensor circuit. (Fig. 10A). In case of the preferred embodiment shown in Figs. 12 and 13, a forward curved driving surface 115' is formed at a rear end between a pair of rails 110 of the male connector housing A''. A short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient piece G' is fixed to the base portion 107 of the lock confirming slider E''. The short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient piece G' has contact portions G 2 ' wound around bent portions between a base portion G 1 ' and each of a pair of resilient displacement portions G 3 ', has driven portions G 4 ' bent inwardly at its free ends, in which the base portion G 1 ' is supported by the engaging portions 116 to cause the driven portions G 4 ' to be oppositely facing against the curved driving surface 115' at the male connector housing A''. With such an arrangement, as shown in Fig. 13, the lock confirming slider E'' assembled with the short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient piece G' is assembled with the male connector housing A'' at its rear part and moved forward, thereby the driven portions G 4 ' are engaged with the curved driving surface 115' (Fig. 14A), and then pulled down until the lock sensor arm 108 is engaged with the lock arm and preset (Fig. 14C). Under the preset condition, the lock confirming slider E'' is already retracted, so that the resilient displacement portions G 3 ' is bent inwardly by the curved driving portion 115'. When the male connector housing A'' is completely fitted with its mating connector housing, the lock confirming slider E'' starts to advance due to the resilient displacement portions G 3 ' (Fig. 14B) and the contact portions G 2 ' are contacted with the sensor circuit terminals F at the most-forward position to close the sensor circuit (Fig. 14A). In the preferred embodiment shown in Figs. 15 to 17, a pair of supporting frames 110' are extended rearwardly from the rear part of a male connector housing A''', sliding frames 111' formed at both sides of the lock confirming slider E''' are engaged in the grooves 110''' formed by the supporting frames 110'. A pair of supporting frames 110' are formed with terminal accommodating cavities 112 opened rearwardly, respectively. Into the terminal accommodating cavities 112 are inserted and engaged the small-sized sensor circuit terminals F connected in advance with an electrical wire in the same manner as that of the aforesaid preferred embodiment and they are exposed at the lower openings 112c adjacent to the grooves 110''. To a rear part of a base portion 7 of the lock confirming slider E''' is cooperatively arranged a pusher operating part 107', and the short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient pieces G'' are arranged over between the sliding frames 111' set at both lower sides. The short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient pieces G'' has biasing wound portions G 2 '' on a U-shaped base portion G 1 '', has resilient displacement portions G 3 '' directed downwardly from the biasing wound portions G 2 '' and has resilient contact portions G 5 '' bent forwardly at each of the resilient displacement portions G 3 '', G 3 '' through supporting shaft portions G 4 '', G 4 '' bent outwardly. The sliding frames 111'' are formed with supporting grooves 111a' in a direction crossing with a moving direction of the lock confirming slider E''', and outside portions thereof are provided with storing concave portions 111b' opened upwardly in continuous with the supporting grooves 111a'. As shown in Fig. 15, the short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient piece G'' is operated such that each of the supporting shaft portions G 4 '' is assembled with the lock confirming slider E''' while each of the supporting shaft portions G 4 '' is engaged with the supporting grooves 111a' of the sliding frames 111' and the resilient contact portions G 5 '' are positioned within the storing concave portions 111b'. In this case, each of the biasing wound portions G 2 '' is positioned at a side part of the pusher operating part 107' and the U-shaped base portion G 1 '' is positioned below the pusher operating part 107'. The lock confirming slider E''' assembled with the short circuiting lock confirming resilient pieces G'' cause at first both sliding frames 111' to be inserted at the rear part of the male connector housing A''' into the grooves 110'' and further cause the U-shaped base portion G 1 '' to be engaged with a biasing projection 114' raised at a rear end between the groves 110'' and 110'' of the male connector housing A''', and under this state, the resilient contact portions G 5 '' are contacted with the sensor circuit terminals F from the openings 112c (Figs. 16A and 16B). Then, as indicated in the prior art, the lock confirming slider E''' is pulled down until the abutting part 108a of the lock sensing arm 108 is engaged with the lock arm, and then it is preset (Figs. 17A and 17B). Under this condition, the U-shaped base portion G 1 '' of the short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient piece G'' approaches resilient displacement portions G 3 '' and a strong resilient force is accumulated in the biasing wound portions G 2 ''. With such an arrangement as above, when the male connector housing A''' is completely fitted to its mating connector housing, the lock confirming slider E''' is moved forward under a biasing action of the resilient displacement part G 3 '' or the like and the resilient contact part G 5 '' is contacted with the sensor circuit terminal F to close the sensor circuit (see Fig. 16). In Fig. 18, the male connector housing A' is separately provided with a supporting member E', and a flexible lock sensor arm 208' is slidably supported in respect to the supporting member E' toward a fitting direction of the male connector housing A'. An engaging structure between the lock sensor arm 208' and the lock arm 205 is the same as that shown in Fig. 1. The male connector housing A' is provided with a jacket 209 at its front half part for enclosing a mating female connector housing. A pair of rails 210 are extended rearwardly from the rear part of the jacket 209. Grooves 211 formed at both sides of the base portion 207 of the supporting member E' are engaged with the rails 210. The pair of rails 210 are formed with the terminal accommodating cavities 212 opened rearwardly, respectively (see Fig. 19). Small-sized sensor circuit terminals F connected to electrical wires W in advance are inserted into the terminal accommodating cavities 212 to cause the engaging pieces F 1 to be engaged with the upper openings 212a and the terminals F are exposed at the inner openings 212b. The base portion 207 of the supporting member E' is formed with a guide longitudinal hole 203 in a longitudinal direction, i.e. toward a fitting direction of the male connector housing A', and the lock sensor arm 208' is arranged in the guide longitudinal hole 213 in such a way as it may be moved in a longitudinal direction (see Fig. 20). As already described in Fig. 1, the lock sensor arm 208' has an abutting part 208a and a supporting part 208b at its extreme end at the other end it has an attitude holding plate 208c and a sliding guide lever 208d. The sliding guide lever 208d is inserted into the guide longitudinal hole 213 while engaging with the surface groove 207a of the base portion 207, and a flexible engaging piece 208e arranged at its extreme end is engaged with the rear surface 207b so as to provide a stopper (see Figs. 21 and 22). At the rear surface 207b, the short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient piece G is attached through a fixing lever 214. The short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient piece G has an engaging piece G 3 formed with a fixed contact part G 2 projected through its bending at one side of the fixing wound part G 1 , has at the other side has a resilient piece G 5 provided with a movable contact part G 4 at its extreme end. The engaging piece G 3 is engaged with a projection 215 under a fixing condition in which the fixing wound portion G 1 is engaged with the fixing lever 214 and at the same time the resilient piece G 5 is engaged with the sliding guide lever 208d of the lock sensor arm 208', resulting in that the lock sensor arm 208' is always biased forwardly by the resilient piece G 5 . The supporting member E' is fixed to the male connector housing A' while the grooves 211 being engaged with the rails 210, and the engaging portions 216 are engaged with the engaging projections 217 and fixed, thereby the lock sensor arm 208' is moved rearwardly by the engaging portion 205c to store a force. With such an arrangement as above, although the fixed contact part G 2 is always contacted with one sensor circuit terminal F through the opening 212b, the lock sensor arm 208' is retracted under a non-fitted state, so that the resilient piece G 5 is displaced rearwardly and the movable contact part G 4 is in a non-contacted state with the other sensor circuit terminal F (Fig. 24A). When the male connector housing A is completely fitted to its mating connector housing, the lock sensor arm 208' is moved forward by the resilient piece G 5 , the movable contact part G 4 is contacted with the other sensor circuit terminal F so close the sensor circuit (Fig. 24B). In the aforesaid example, the supporting member is indicated as a separate member from the connector housing and its integral arrangement may also be available. Figs. 25 to 32 illustrate another preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 25, it is comprised of a male connector housing A", a lock confirming slider E" having a lock sensor arm 208, a short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient piece G' and a biasing operating element H. In the male connector housing A", a pair of supporting frames 210' are extended rearwardly from a rear part of a jacket 209 to form a storing space R. Each of the supporting frames 210' is formed with a groove 210a' directed toward the storing space R and with a terminal storing chamber 212 opened rearwardly. Into the terminal storing chamber 211 is inserted and engaged a small-sized sensor circuit terminal F connected in advance to the electrical wire W in the same manner as that of the aforesaid preferred embodiment. The sensor circuit terminal F is placed adjacent to the storing space R from an inner opening 212b. A wall 210b' at the storing space R of each of the supporting frames 210' is provided with engaging projections 210c' and 210d' for preventing a later removal and a floating of the biasing operating element H. Both sides of the base portion 207 of the lock confirming slider E'' are formed with the sliding portions 218 engaged with the grooves 210a'. A fixing lever 220 is vertically arranged within a concave part 219 at a rear part of a rear surface. At both sides of the concave part 219 are projected restricting walls 221 and 221 expanding forwardly in tapered form, and at the opposing sides a pair of supporting frames 222 and 222 having supporting grooves 222a are vertically arranged. The short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient piece G' has resilient displacing portions G 2 ', G 2 ' expanded in V-shape in respect to the fixing wound part G 1 ' and it has at a free end of each of the resilient displacement part G 2 ' a movable contact portion G 3 ' and a rised driven part G 4 '. The biasing operating element H has engaging portions 223 and 224 for a pair of supporting frames 222 of the lock confirming slider E'', has forked restricting portions 225 and 225 at its forward side and has a V-shaped driving surface 226 at an inner surface over the pair of restricting portions 225 and 225. A rear side surface of the restricting portion 225 is formed with an engaging concave part 227. With such an arrangement above, in order to assemble these elements, the short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient piece G' is assembled against the lock confirming slider E'' (Fig. 26 and Fig. 28B). Under this state, the fixing wound part G 1 ' is engaged with the fixing lever 220 within the concave part 219 and the resilient displacement portions G 2 ' and G 2 ' are forcedly contacted with the tapered restricting walls 221 and 221. Then, the biasing operating element H is assembled with the lock confirming slider E'' while the engaging portions 223 and 224 are being engaged with the supporting frame 222 and its groove 222a. Under this state, the resilient displacing part G 2 ' of the short circuiting automatic confirming resilient piece G' is positioned below the restricting part 225 of the biasing operating element H and a movable contact portion G 3 ' at its free end is projected outwardly from a free end 225a of the restricting part 225 and at the same time the driven part G 4 ' is raised inside the free end 225 (Fig. 27, Fig. 28C). As described above, the lock confirming slider E'' having the short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient piece G' and the biasing operating element H is coupled at its rear part to the male connector housing A", wherein it is pushed into the storing space while a pair of sliding portions 218 are being engaged with grooves 210a' of a pair of supporting frames 210' (Fig. 32B) and the lock sensor arm 208 is engaged with the lock arm through its advancing movement, resulting in that the lock confirming slider E" may not be moved forward more and at this state, only the biasing operating element H is started to be pushed (Fig. 32C). Upon completion of the pushing operation, the biasing operating element H is fixed by the engaging projections 210c' and 210d' (Figs. 29 and 30). Under this state, the resilient displacement part G 2 ' is forcedly displaced inwardly through the driven part G 4 ', resulting in getting a preset state accumulating a resilient force (Fig. 32D). Under the preset condition, as the male connector housing A" is fitted to its mating female connector housing, as shown in Fig. 1, the lock sensor arm 208 releases its restriction with the lock arm, the lock confirming slider E" is moved forward through an operation of the resilient displacing part G 2 ' in its expanding direction, each of the movable contact portions G 3 ' of the short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient piece G' is contacted with a pair of sensor circuit terminals F to operate the sensor circuit (Fig. 31, Fig. 32E). As described above, the present invention is comprised of a first connector housing having a flexible lock arm, a second connector housing having an engaging part in respect to the flexible lock arm, and a lock confirming slider arranged at the first connector housing and movable in a forward direction when both connector housings are completely fitted to each other, wherein sensor circuit terminals and a short-circuiting terminal are arranged in opposition to one connector housing and the lock confirming slider and at the same time springs are arranged between them, the lock confirming slider is moved forward by the springs when both connector housings are completely fitted so as to cause the sensor circuit terminal and the short-circuiting terminal to be contacted to each other, resulting in that the sensor circuit can be operated automatically when the pair of connector housings are completely fitted to each other. One connector housing is provided with the sensor circuit terminal and the short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient piece, the lock confirming slider is automatically moved forward by the short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient piece when both connector housings are completely fitted and the short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient piece is contacted with the sensor circuit terminal. One connector housing is provided with the sensor circuit terminal and at the same time the lock confirming slider is provided with the short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient piece, the short circuiting confirming slider is automatically moved forward by the short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient piece when both connector housings are completely fitted to each other. The short circuiting automatic lock confirming resilient piece is contacted with the sensor circuit terminal, resulting in that the sensor circuit can be automatically operated when a pair of connector housings are completely fitted to each other.

Claims: A connector comprising: a first connector housing (A); and a second connector housing (B) which are fittable to each other, said first connector housing (A) comprising: a flexible lock arm (5) having an engaging part (5c); and a lock confirming slider (E') having a lock detection arm (8) with an abutting part (8a), said abutting part (8a) abutting against said engaging part (5c) of said flexible lock arm (5),when said first connector housing (A) is not fitted to said second connector housing (B) and thus prevents movement of the lock confirming slider (E'), said second connector housing (B) comprising: an engaging projection (6), wherein when said first and second connector housing (A,B) are fitted together, said engaging part (5c) of said flexible lock arm (5) rides over the engaging projection (6) and finally engages with said engaging protection (6), said engaging of the engaging part (5c) with the engaging projection (6) leading to a release of the lock confirming slider (E') and enables movement of the lock confirming slider (E') into the direction of said engaging projection (6) into a locked position, in which the abutting part (8a) has moved beyond the engaging projection (6) and the engaging part (5c). A connector as claimed in claim 1 wherein a short-circuiting terminal automatic lock confirming resilient piece (G') is provided on said lock confirming slider (E'); sensor circuit terminals (F') are provided on said first connector housing (A') in such a way when said lock confirming slider (E') containing said short-circuiting terminal automatic lock confirming resilient piece (G') is moved in a direction of said connector housing (B'), then there is an electrical contact between said short-circuiting terminal automatic lock confirming resilient piece (G') and said sensor circuit terminals (F') indicating that there is a complete fitting between said first connector housing (A') and said second connector housing (B'). A connector housing as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein a biasing operating element (H) is provided for said lock confirming slider (E'), for installing said biasing operating element (H) results in a bias in said short-circuiting terminal automatic lock confirming resilient piece (G'), said lock confirming slider (E') is automatically moved forward by said biased short-circuiting terminal automatic lock confirming resilient piece (G') when said first (A) and second (B) connector housings are completely fitted to each other. A connector as claimed in at least one of claims 1 to 3 wherein said short circuiting terminal automatic lock confirming resilient piece (G) comprises: a base portion (G 1 ) ; fixing winding portions (G 2 ) ; resilient contact portions (G 3 ) contacting said sensor circuit terminals (F); and driven portions (G 4 ) with said resilient contact portions (G 3 ) and bent inwardly. A connector as claimed in at least one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said short-circuiting terminal automatic lock confirming resilient piece (G) comprises: a base portion (G" 1 ) ; biasing wound portions (G" 2 ) ; resilient displacement portions (G" 3 ) ; supporting shaft portions (G" 4 ) being engaged with said locking confirming slider (E').

Inventors: KATO TETSUO, MURAKAMI YOSHIHIRO, TAGUCHI NAOTO, KATO, TETSUO, MURAKAMI, YOSHIHIRO, TAGUCHI, NAOTO, KATO, TETSUO, C/O YAZAKI PARTS CO., LTD., MURAKAMI, YOSHIHIRO, C/O YAZAKI PARTS CO., LTD., TAGUCHI, NAOTO, C/O YAZAKI PARTS CO., LTD.
Applicants: YAZAKI CORP, YAZAKI CORPORATION
Application year: 1991
Main classification: H01R13
IPC codes: H01R13