Electrical connector

Abstract: The present invention provides an electrical connector fitting a pair of male and female connector (1,2) by preventing any of terminals (11) from being bending. An electrical connector comprises a male connector (1), a female connector (2) accommodating the male connector (1), a locking arm (4) mounted at a sidewall of the male connector (1), whereby a bending preventing member (9) is protruded on a wall face of the female connector (2), extending toward the male connector (1), and an escape portion (10) is formed in a front end face of the locking arm (4) on the male connector, allowing the bending preventing member (9) to enter, and being bent of terminals (11) in the female connector (2) is prevented by contacting to the bending preventing member (9) and a front end face of the male connector (1) when the male connector (1) and the female connector (2) are slantly fitted together.

Description: The invention relates to an electrical connector according to the precharacterizing part of claim 1 or 5. Fig. 8 shows a female connector in a conventional used electrical connector. This female connector 20 has bending preventing rib 22 projected on an inner wall face 21' of a hood 21 which receives a male connector (not shown). The bending preventing ribs 22 are arranged between terminals (not shown) inserted into the female connector 20. And when the female connector 20 and the male connector are mistakenly slantly fitted, in order that the male connector and the bending preventing ribs 22 are caused to contact to each other, being bent of any of the terminals in the female connector 20 are prevented. " Being bent " means the condition that female and male terminals aren't contacted electrically to each other because any of male terminals are bent. However, it is the problem that as the bending preventing ribs 22 are projected at an inner wall face 21' of the hood 21, an interval between the terminals in the female connector 20 becomes wide, and a configuration of the female connector 20 becomes big. And Fig. 9 shows an electrical connector that is composed of a raised portion 24' mounted on a sidewall of a male connector 23, and a locking arm 24 formed at the raised portion 24', and guide ribs 25, 25 mounted on both sides of the locking arm 24, and a locking arm chamber 28 for accommodating the locking arm 24 at the hood 27 of the female connector 26, and guide grooves 29 for leading to guide ribs 25. However, in the case that the male connector 26 and the female connector 23 are fitted mistakenly and slantly together, the guide ribs 25 often enter into the locking arm chamber 28. At this time it is the problem that any of terminals 30 in the female connector 26 cause to be bent. Then as shown in Fig. 10, there is a electrical connector (described in JAPANESE UTILITY MODEL APPLICATION laid-open No. 60-166981) that is composed of a perpendicular engaging piece 34 formed on a locking chamber 33 of a hood 32 in a female connector 31, and a guide groove 37 formed at a raised portion 36 on front end of a male connector 35 in order to guide the engaging piece 34. However, it is the problem that when the male connector 31 and the female connector 35 are fitted mistakenly and slantly together, a wire (not shown) and a sidewall or the like of the hood 32 in the female connector 31 hang the guide groove 37, and the locking arm 38 deforms and is damaged. And it is the problem that because the guide groove 37 is formed in the raised portion 36, adjusting reaction force of the locking arm 38 is different. US-A-5 378 168 discloses corresponding to the first part of claim 1 an electrical connector having a locking arm, a bending preventing member preventing an improper connection, and a complementary separate recess for locating the member at the longitudinal axis of the connector. EP-A-0 448 084 discloses an electrical connector comprising a resilient locking arm at the female connector and a corresponding engagement projection at the male connector. US-A-5 425 650 discloses corresponding to the first part 1 of claim 5 a connector having a locking arm between a pair of slits formed in the side wall, and an inclined bending prevention member as a part of a guide projection. An objection of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector that prevents being bent of terminals in a female connector from causing and a locking arm from deforming and being damaged when a male connector and a female connector are mistakenly and slantly fitted together, and that is easily able to control the reaction force of a raised portion in a manner utilizing the locking arm chamber or a wall portion from which the locking arm protrudes. According to the invention, this is achieved by the features of claim 1 and 5, respectively. Advantageous further embodiments are described in the subclaims. According to claim 1 a bending preventing member is protruded on a wall face of said female connector, extending toward said male connector, and an escape portion is formed in a front end face of said locking arm of said male connector on the side of said female connector, allowing said bending preventing member to enter, and being bent of any terminals in said female connector is prevented by contacting to said bending preventing member and a front end face or a sidewall of said male connector when said male connector and said female connector are slantly fitted together. Preferably a pair of guide ribs is formed on a front end face of said male connector by recessing at least one side in said escape portion, or a pair of guide grooves is formed at a hood of said female connector for leading to said guide ribs. Moreover it is also advantageous and usual that a raised portion which has said escape portion is formed at said locking arm by recessing on a front end face of said male connector, and a locking arm chamber which receives said locking arm is formed at said hood, and said locking arm chamber has said bending preventing member. In accordance with the present invention, when a male connector and a female connector are fitted mistakenly and slantly together, because a front end face or a sidewall of the male connector and a bending preventing member strike each other, terminals in the female connector and those in the male connector are not contacted to each other. Accordingly, because any of the terminals in the female connector is prevented from being bent, it is possible to prevent the terminals from deforming and to do securely and speedy working for fitting the male connector and the female connector. And because of preferably forming guide ribs at a front end face in the male connector, and guide grooves at the female connector for leading to the guide ribs, when the male connector and the female connector are fitted slantly, the guide ribs strike the guide grooves, and the terminals are moreover prevented from being bent. Further, because of protruding according to claim 1 a bending preventing member in a locking arm chamber which accommodates a locking arm, the configuration of the escape portion for corresponding to the bending preventing member is different from that of the conventional used guide grooves, wires and the hood of the female connector do not hang the escape portion. Therefore the locking arm is prevented from deforming and being damaged, and it is easily to adjust the reaction force of the locking arm. Furthermore because the bending preventing member is formed in the locking arm chamber for accommodating the locking arm, the locking arm chamber is not divided by the bending preventing member. Therefore it is possible to make use of the locking arm chamber widely. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the present invention which is an electrical connector; Figs. 2A and 2B are plan views of the condition that a male connector and a female connector are fitted slantly in a case that guide ribs are formed at both side edges of the male connector, and 2A shows the condition that a tip portion of the guide ribs and a tip portion of a rubbing preventing member directly strike each other, and 2B shows the condition that they do not directly strike; Fig. 3 is a plain view of the condition that the male connector and the female connector are slantly fitted in the case that the guide ribs are not formed at both side edges of the male connector. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the second embodiment of the present invention which is an electrical connector; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the third embodiment of the present invention which is an electrical connector; Fig. 6A is a principal elevational view of the male connector, and Fig. 6B is a principal elevational view of the female connector; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the forth embodiment of the present invention which is an electrical connector; Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the conventional arrangement of a female connector; Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the conventional arrangement of an electrical connector; and Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the conventional arrangement of another electrical connector. An embodiment of formation of the present invention will be described below, referring to the drawings. Fig. 1 to Fig. 3 shows the first embodiment of the present invention which is an electrical connector. In Fig. 1, a male connector 1 and another female connector 2 is fitted together. In the male connector 1, plural terminal chambers 1' are arranged in the form of two up-and-down columns, open back and forth, and a locking arm 4 is formed in a raised portion 4' mounted on an upper wall. Guide ribs 7, 7 are located on both sides of the locking arm 4. In a housing body 2' of the female connector 2, a hood 3 is formed at a front end for accommodating the male connector 1. A locking arm chamber 5 is formed in the hood 3 for accommodating the locking arm 4. Guide grooves 8, 8 are formed on both sides of the locking arm chamber 5 for leading to the guide ribs 7, 7. Terminals 11 extends from the front end of the housing body 2' into the hood 3. In the locking arm chamber 5 a bending preventing piece 9 as a bending preventing member is protruded toward the male connector 1 from the front end of the housing body 2'. The bending preventing piece 9 is elastic and is formed with a thin plate in shape. The bending preventing piece 9 is longer than terminals 11 projected from the front end of the housing body 2'. And it is proper to make smooth a tip of the bending preventing piece 9. An escape portion 10 which allows ingress of the bending preventing piece 9 is formed in the raised portion 4'. The escape portion 10 is size so that there is surplus in space inside, inserting the bending preventing piece 9. Next an operation about a case that the male connector 1 and the female connector 2 are fitted mistakenly and slantly together will be explained below. As shown in Fig. 2, in a case that the guide ribs 7 are protruded along both side edges on an upper wall of the male connector 1, because a tip portion 7a of one of the guide ribs 7 and a tip portion 9a of the bending preventing piece 9 directly strike each other ( Fig. 2A ), the male connector 1 and the female connector 2 are not fitted together. And as each of the guide ribs 7 enters into a portion between an inner face of a sidewall 5a in the locking arm chamber 5 and the bending preventing piece 9, the inner face of the sidewall 5a on the locking arm chamber 5 and a corner of the tip portion 7a of one of the guide ribs 7 strike each other. Moreover because a corner of the tip portion 9a in the bending preventing 9 and a sidewall 7b of one of the guide ribs 7 strike each other ( Fig. 2B ), the male connector 1 and the female connector 2 are not fitted together. And as shown in Fig. 3, in a case that guide ribs 7' are protruded between both sidewalls of an upper wall in the male connector 1 and a raised portion 4', a corner of tip portion 7'a in the guide ribs 7' and an inner face in a sidewall 5a on the locking arm chamber 5 strike each other, a corner in a tip portion 9a in the bending preventing 9 and a sidewall 7'b in the guide ribs 7' strike each other, and a corner of an opening 5' of the locking arm 5 and a sidewall 7'b of one of the guide ribs 7' strike each other. At this time, the male connector 1 slightly enters in the direction of the terminals 11 in the hood 3, but because the bending preventing piece 9 is formed longer than the terminals 11 protruded from a front end of the housing body 2', the male connector 1 and the female connector 2 are not fitted together. Therefore in a case that the male connecter 1 and the female connector 2 are fitted mistakenly and slantly, because the male connector 1 and the female connector 2 are prevented from fitting together by the bending preventing piece 9, as if causing to be bent any of the terminals 11 is prevented from deforming. Fig. 4 shows the second embodiment of the present invention which is an electrical connector. The second embodiment which corresponds to the components in the first embodiment will be given the same number as the first embodiment. In Fig. 4, a pair of concave portions or a pair of slits 12, 12 are formed at an upper wall face 1a in the male connector 1, the locking arm 4 is mounted between the concave portions 12, 12, and an escape portion 10' which allows ingress of an bending preventing piece 9' described later is formed a front end face 1b. A bending preventing piece 9' as a bending preventing member is protruded from a front end face 2a of the female connector 2 nearer to an opening 3a in the hood 3. As the bending preventing piece 9' is the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, the detailed description about the bending preventing piece 9' will be omitted herein. As other embodiment, it is also possible to form the guide ribs 7 ( Fig. 1 ) on at least one side of the escape portion 10' by recessing the front end face 1b of the male connector 1. And it is also possible to form the guide grooves 8 ( Fig. 1 ) leading to the guide ribs 7 in the hood 3 of the female connector 2. Moreover it is also possible to form the raised portion 4' ( Fig. 1 ) by recessing the front end face 1b in the male connector 1 and the escape portion 10' at the raised portion 4', and to form the locking arm chamber 5 for accommodating the locking arm 4 in the hood 3 of the female connector 2 and the bending preventing piece 9' in the locking arm chamber 5. Fig. 5 to Fig. 6 shows the third embodiment of the present invention which is an electrical connector. As shown in Fig. 5, the male connector 1 has a upper wall face 1a' which is formed flatly with the height A from a lower wall face 1c'. The locking arm 4 is formed at a raised portion 4'' mounted in a front end face 1b'. The hood 3 of the female connector 2 has a locking arm chamber 5' for accommodating the locking arm 4. A bending preventing piece 9'' is protruded on the female connector 2. An escape portion 10'' is formed in the raised portion 4'' for allowing ingress of the bending preventing piece 9''. Because the bending preventing piece 9'' is the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, the detailed explanation about the bending preventing piece 9'' will be omitted herein. And as shown in Fig. 6A, the escape portion 10'' formed with the height B from a lower wall face 1c' in the male connector 1, and, as shown in Fig. 6B, the bending preventing piece 9'' formed with the height C from a lower wall face 2c' in the female connector 2 are located individually so that the relation of B<C<A is satisfied. By satisfying this relation, when the male connector 1 and the female connector 2 are fitted mistakenly and slantly together, because the bending preventing piece 9'' strikes the location of the height ( A-B )from the lower wall face 1c' of the front end face 1b' in the male connector 1, and the male connector 1 and the female connector 2 are not coupled, the terminals 11 in the female connector 2 are prevented from being bent. As the forth embodiment is shown in Fig. 7, it is also possible that any of the terminals 11 is prevented from being bent by striking a sidewall 6b'' of a raised wall 6 formed on a front end face 1b'' side of an upper wall face 1a'' in the male connector 1, and the bending preventing piece 9'' in the female connector 2. In all embodiments described above, the bending preventing piece 9 ( 9', 9'' ) is protruded at the center within an upper half in the hood 3 of the female connector 2, but it is also possible to protrude the bending preventing piece 9 (9', 9'' ) at other location within the upper half in the hood 3. If the bending preventing piece 9 (9', 9'' ) is arranged at the center in the case that either left or right side of the male connector 1 and the female connector 2 are fitted slantly, because any of the terminals 11 is prevented from being bent, the bending preventing piece 9 (9', 9'' ) is located at the center in the hood 3 more properly than at either left or right.

Claims: An electrical connector comprising: a male connector (1) having a plurality of terminal chambers (1') in a front end face of the male connector (1); a female connector (2) accomodating the male connector (1) and having a plurality of terminals (11) protruding from a wall face of the female connector (2) and being inserted into the terminal chambers (1') of the male connector (1); wherein the male connector (1) has a locking arm (4) formed at a side wall (1a', 1a") of the male connector (1), and the female connector (2) has a locking arm chamber (5, 5') accomodating the locking arm (4), and wherein a bending preventing member (9, 9") longer than the terminals (11) is protruded from the wall face of the female connector (2), and an escape portion (10, 10") is formed in the front end face of the male connector (1) for inserting the bending preventing member (9, 9'), characterized in that the bending preventing member (9, 9") is located in the locking arm chamber (5, 5') to be aligned with the escape portion (10, 10") in the front end face of the locking arm (4). An electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein a raised portion (4', 4") is formed at the front end of the locking arm (4) of the male connector (1). An electrical connector according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a pair of guide ribs (7) are formed on both sides of the locking arm (4) of the male connector (1) in its inserting direction, and a pair of corresponding guide grooves (8) are formed on both sides of the locking arm chamber (5) of the female connector (2) for leading to the guide ribs (7). An electrical connector according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a raised wall (6) is formed on the front end of the side wall (1a") of the male connector (1). An electrical connector comprising: a male connector (1) having a plurality of terminal chambers (1') in a front end face of the male connector (1); a female connector (2) accomodating the male connector (1) and having a plurality of terminals (11) protruding from a wall face of the female connector (2) and being inserted into the terminal chambers (1') of the male connector (1); wherein the male connector (1) has a locking arm (4) formed at a side wall (1a) of the male connector (1) between a pair of slits (12) formed in the side wall (1a) and wherein a bending preventing member (9') longer than the terminals (11) is protruded from the wall face of the female connector (2), and an escape portion (10') is formed in the front end face of the male connector (1) for inserting the bending preventing member (9'), characterized in that the escape portion (10') is located at a portion of a front end face (1b) of the side wall (1a) from which the locking arm (4) protrudes, and the bending preventing member (9') is located at the wall face to be aligned with the escape portion (10') in the side wall (1a).

Inventors: OHTAKA KAZUTO, SAITO HITOSHI, OHTAKA, KAZUTO, SAITO, HITOSHI, OHTAKA, KAZUTO, C/O YAZAKI PARTS CO. LTD., Saito, Hitoshi, c/o Yazaki Parts Co. Ltd.
Applicants: YAZAKI CORP, YAZAKI CORPORATION
Application year: 1996
Main classification: H01R13
IPC codes: H01R13