A connector

Abstract: [Object] To provide a connector which can clear a shorted state effected by a shorting terminal without using a clearing rib. A slider (40) assembled into a male housing (20) is moved backward by elastic restoring forces of elastically contracted coil springs when female and male housings (10,20) are properly connected and a locking claw (31) of a lock arm (30) is disengaged from a locking surface (53). By integrally assembling a shorting terminal (60) into the slider (40), the shorting terminal (60) can be automatically moved from a shorting position where contact portions (64) of the shorting terminal (60) are held in contact with male terminal fittings (26) to short them to a clearing position where the contact portions (64) are not in contact with the male terminal fittings (26).

Description: The present invention relates to an electrical connector provided with a shorting terminal. An electrical connector used in an air-bag circuit can be raised as an example of the connector provided with a shorting terminal. For example, a connector disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-64642 is known as such. This connector is constructed as shown in FIG. 10. A plurality of female terminal fittings 2 are accommodated side by side in a female housing 1 and a shorting terminal 3 which is held in contact with the female terminal fittings 2 to short them to each other is accommodated in an accommodating chamber 7. On the other hand, a mating male housing 4 is provided with tab-shaped male terminal fittings 5 engageable with the female terminal fittings 2 and a shorted state clearing rib 6 insertable between the female terminal fittings 2 and the shorting terminal 3. Before the housings 1, 4 are connected, the female terminal fittings 2 are shorted by the shorting terminal 3. When the male and female terminal fittings 2, 5 are connected by connecting the housings 1, 4, the clearing rib 6 is inserted between the shorting terminal 3 and the female terminal fittings 2 while elastically deforming the shorting terminal 3, with the result that the shorted state of the female terminal fittings 2 is cleared. Since the clearing rib 6 projects from an engaging surface of the male housing 4, it may be broken upon being struck by an external matter. In addition, since the clearing rib 6 is relatively thin, an error is likely to occur in molding the clearing rib 6. For example, there were cases where the length of the clearing rib 6 was not sufficiently long and the clearing rib 6 did not reach the shorting terminal 3 even if the housings 1, 4 were completely connected with each other. Upon the occurrence of such an event, the shorted state of the female terminal fittings 2 by the shorting terminal 3 may be not cleared although the housings 1, 4 are properly connected with each other. On the other hand, in order to avoid such an event, it may be considered to increase the strength of the clearing rib 6 and prevent an error molding by increasing the thickness of the clearing rib 6. However, this increases a degree of elastic deformation of the shorting terminal 3 by an increase in the thickness of the clearing rib 6, and the height of the accommodating chamber 7 needs to be increased in order to ensure such an increased degree of deformation, resulting in a larger connector. It has been difficult to deal with this problem. EP A 416 307 relates to a coupling confirming mechanism for an electric connector, employing a pair of electrical check contactors for the confirmation of the coupling of the connector housings, capable of being surely keeping electrical disconnection or connection between the check contactors, and capable of double-locking the connector housings when the same are coupled perfectly. US 4 894 019 relates to an electrical connector having a structure which shorts together connector contacts if the connector becomes disconnected from a mating connector. The connector housing encloses two spaced apart contacts that form part of a circuit controlled by a switch wherein in a separated state a torsion spring shorted element moves within the connector housing and bridges the spaced apart contacts to maintain a closed circuit. It is the object of the invention to provide an improved electrical connector having a male and a female housing as well as a movable element for an easy and precise handling and to avoid a ,,weak" connection caused by too many different movable elements. This object is solved according to the invention by an electrical connector according to claim 1. Preferred embodiments of the invention are subject of the dependent claims. Accordingly, there is provided an electrical connector capable of clearing a shorted state effected by a shorting terminal without using a clearing rib. In order to accomplish the above object, the invention is directed to an electrical connector, comprising male and female connector housings connectable with each other, wherein one of the connectors comprises: a plurality of terminal fittings, a shorting terminal for shorting the terminal fittings, a shorted state of the terminal fittings being cleared when the male and female connector housings are connected with each other, a movable element integrally provided with the shorting terminal and movable between a shorting position where the shorting terminal is in contact with the terminal fittings and a clearing position where the shorting terminal is not in contact with the terminal fittings wherein the one connector housing comprises an elastically deformable lock arm for holding the connector housings locked into each other by engaging a locking portion provided in the other connector housing when the connector housings are connected with each other, characterized in that the lock arm is constructed such that it holds the movable element in the shorting position by engaging the movable element when being substantially elastically deformed while moving over the locking portion and is disengaged from the movable element upon being restored to its substantially original shape to engage the locking portion as the connector housings are properly connected with each other. Preferably, the movable element is movable substantially along a connection direction of the connector housings, wherein further preferably the movable element is provided with a spring means which is substantially elastically contracted to accumulate a biasing force for moving the movable element toward the clearing position upon being pushed by a pushing portion provided in the other connector housing, and most preferably a restricting means for substantially constantly holding the movable element in the shorting position, the holding state being cleared as the connector housings are connected with each other. While the connector housings are being connected, the movable element is held in the shorting position by the restricting means although the spring means is pushed by the pushing portion. When the connector housings are properly connected, the holding state of the restricting means is cleared and the movable element is moved to the clearing position by an elastic restoring force of the spring means. As a result, the shorted state of the terminal fittings by the shorting terminal is automatically cleared. Since the shorted state of the terminal fittings is cleared by the movement of the movable element in which the shorting terminal is provided, it is not necessary to provide the mating connector housing with a shorted state clearing rib. Thus, a variety of problems resulting from the provision of the rib can be avoided. Further, the movable element can be automatically moved to the clearing position as the connector housings are properly connected with each other. The connection of the connector housings is completed when the elastically deformed lock arm is restored to its original shape to engage the locking portion. Simultaneously, the movable element having its movement restricted by the elastically deformed lock arm is made free to move, and is automatically moved to the clearing position by an elastic restoring force of the elastically contracted spring means. Still further preferably, the lock arm is deformable into a deformation permitting space and wherein the movable element is at least partly located in the deformation permitting space when being in its clearing position thereby restricting an elastic deformation of the lock arm. Still further preferably, at least one of the lock arm and the locking portion is formed with at least one slanted disengagement portion for assisting the disengagement of the lock arm and the locking portion. Further preferably, the movable element is provided with a substantially elastically deformable holding arm, the holding arm engaging an engaging portion provided on the one connector housing, when the movable element is positioned substantially in its shorting position, while being elastically deformed upon contact with a contact portion of the other connector housing, thereby being disengaged from the engaging portion. Most preferably, the movable element is automatically moved from its shorting position where the shorting terminal is shorting the terminal fittings to the clearing position where the shorting terminal are not in electrical contact with the terminal fittings as the connector housings are properly connected with each other. According to still a further preferred embodiment, the connector housing is shaped such that the movable element can be operated so as to be displaced from its clearing position to its shorting position, preferably against the restoring force of the spring means. Preferably, the connector housing comprises a cutout or window to allow for an operation of the movable element. These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon a reading of the following detailed description and accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a connector according to one embodiment of the invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of a female housing, FIG. 3 is a front view of a male housing, FIG. 4 is a section along X-X of FIG. 3 showing the male and female housings before being connected, FIG. 5 is a section along Y-Y of FIG. 3 showing the male and female housings before being connected, FIG. 6 is a section along X-X of FIG. 3 showing the male and female housings while being connected, FIG. 7 is a section along Y-Y of FIG. 3 showing the male and female housings while being connected, FIG. 8 is a section along X-X of FIG. 3 showing the male and female housings after being completely connected, FIG. 9 is a section along Y-Y of FIG. 3 showing the male and female housings after being completely connected, and FIG. 10 is a partial section of a prior art connector. One embodiment of the invention is described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9. Identified by 10, 20 in FIG. 1 are female and male connector housings (hereinafter, merely "female housing 10" and "male housing 20") at least partly connectable with each other. The housings 10, 20 are made e.g. of a synthetic resin. It should be noted that a side where an engaging surface is located is referred to as front for the respective connectors 10, 20. A receptacle 22 for accommodating the female housing 10 is provided at a front part of the male housing 20, and a slider 40 (corresponding to a movable) is mountable preferably on a rear part of the male housing 20. First, the female housing 10 is described. Pushing portions 12 project from positions substantially slightly indented from the front end surface up to the rear end surface on the left and right sides of the upper surface of a substantially block-shaped main body 11. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, e.g. four cavities 13 are formed substantially side by side along widthwise direction in the main body 11. Preferably substantially box-shaped female terminal fittings 14 can be at least partly accommodated in these cavities 13 and are substantially locked therein by an unillustrated locking mechanism. The outer edge of the front surface of the female housing 10 preferably is beveled over the entire circumference to form a tapered surface 15a. Particularly, in the middle of the upper edge of the front end surface is formed a tapered surface 15b whose inclination is larger than that of the tapered surface 15a. Slightly behind the tapered surface 15b is formed a substantially rectangular recess 16, and a front edge of the recess 16 serves as a locking portion 17. Further, an operating portion 18 which bulges upward and/or sideways and is used to connect and disconnect the housings 10, 20 is provided on the rear end surface of the female housing 10. Next, the male housing 20 connectable with the female housing 10 described above is described. The male housing 20 is provided with a main body 21 and a receptacle 22 preferably in the form of a substantially rectangular tube for substantially surrounding the main body 21. The main body 21 is comprised of a terminal at least partly accommodating portion 23 for accommodating male terminal fittings 26 and an inner tubular portion 24 which is integrally or unitarily formed with the terminal accommodating portion 23 before it and is open forward. Four cavities 25 substantially surrounded by surrounding walls 25a are formed substantially side by side along widthwise direction in the terminal accommodating portion 23 and penetrate the terminal accommodating portion 23 along forward/backward directions as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The cavities 25 at least partly accommodate the corresponding male terminal fittings 26, which are locked by an unillustrated locking mechanism. The front ends of the upper parts of the surrounding walls 25a are cut away by a specified width, thereby forming exposing portions 38. The male terminal fittings 26 in the cavities 25 are partially exposed to an upper space via the exposing portions 38. Tapered surfaces 38a are formed on the rear ends of the exposing portions 38. Tabs 26a of the male terminal fittings 26 project forward into the inner tubular portion 24 from the terminal accommodating portion 23 so as to be connectable with the mating female terminal fittings 14. A stepped portion 27 is formed between the front end of the terminal accommodating portion 23 and the upper wall of the inner tubular portion 24. At the opposite lateral sides of the stepped portion 27 are formed a pair of hooking recesses or engaging portions 28, with which locking claws 50 of holding arms 49 of the slider 40 to be described later are disengageably engageable (see FIG. 5). An elastically deformable lock arm 30 is formed in the substantially middle of the upper wall of the inner tubular portion 24 preferably by making two elongated cuts 29 which extend backward from the opening edge. A locking claw 31 is provided at the front end of the lock arm 30 so as to be engageable with the locking portion 17 of the female housing 10 when the housings 10, 20 are properly connected with each other. A tapered surface 32 is formed on the front end surface of the locking claw 31, so that the lock arm 30 can smoothly move over the tapered surface 15b substantially in the middle of the female housing 10. Further, a deformation permitting space S for permitting an elastic deformation of the lock arm 30 is formed above the lock arm 30. At the rear side of the male housing 20, openings are made in the upper wall and the rear end wall as shown in FIG. 1, and the slider 40 is mountable between the main body 21 and the receptacle 22 through these openings. This slider 40 is provided with a spring holder 41, a pair of spring accommodating portions 42 formed at the substantially opposite sides of the spring holder 41, coil springs 43 (corresponding to a spring) at least partly elastically deformably accommodated in the spring accommodating portions 42, and spring stoppers 44 mounted on the front ends of the coil springs 43 so as not to disengage therefrom. A shorting terminal 60 described in detail later is at least partly mountable on the slider 40 from behind. Each spring accommodating portion 42 is in the form of a substantially circular tube having an open front end, and a wall surface 45 bulges out at a part of the front opening edge. The wall surface 45 is or can be engaged with a part of the spring stopper 44 so as to prevent the coil spring 43 from coming out of the spring accommodating portion 42. Further, an escape groove 46 is formed in the bottom wall of each spring accommodating portion 42 over a specified length from the front end surface so as to allow the insertion of the corresponding pushing portion 12. Guide projections 47 are provided on the substantially opposite side surfaces of the spring holder 41. The movement of the slider 40 along forward/backward directions is guided by fitting the guide projections 47 in grooves 33 formed in the inner surfaces of the receptacle 22 along longitudinal direction. A pair of projections 48 are provided in positions on the opposite sides of the upper surface of the spring holder 41 near the front end. The projections 48 are slidable along flutes or groove or notch or recess 34 formed in the ceiling surface of the receptacle 22 along forward/backward directions as the slider 40 is moved forward and backward. A stopper 35 projects in an intermediate position of the flute 34, and a backward movement of the stopper 40 is prevented by the engagement of the projections 48 with the stoppers 35. The pair of holding arms 49 are elastically deformably provided on the lower surface of the spring holder 41 and substantially on the same lines as the escape grooves 46, and the locking claws 50 formed at the front ends of the holding arms 49 are engaged with the hooking recesses 28 of the main body 21 to prevent a backward movement of the slider 40. Tapered surfaces 51 are formed on the front end surfaces of the locking claws 50 of the holding arms 49, so that the holding arms 49 can smoothly move over the tapered surfaces 15a of the female housing 10. The locking claws 50 and the hooking recesses 28 are disengaged at the same time or slightly before the housings 10, 20 are properly connected with each other. An upper front end of the receptacle 22 hangs down to be partly connected with the opening edge of the inner tubular portion 24, thereby forming a front wall 36 which acts to stop the front end of the slider 40. This front wall 36 has its substantially middle portion corresponding to the lock arm 30 cut away as shown in FIG. 3 for the sake of convenience, and a pair of openings 37 for introducing the pushing portions 12 of the female housings 10 into the receptacle 22 are formed on the opposite sides of the cut-away portion. The openings 37 are preferably provided in positions substantially aligned with the escape grooves 46 of the spring holder 41. Accordingly, the coil springs 43 can be elastically contracted via the spring stoppers 44 by the pushing portions 12 while the housings 10, 20 are being connected with each other. A middle portion of the bottom surface of the spring holder 41 is located in the deformation permitting space S of the lock arm 30 as shown in FIG. 4, and an escape recess 52 for allowing an upward elastic deformation of the lock arm 30 is formed in this middle portion. A front portion 55 formed before the escape recess 52 can at least partly enter the deformation permitting space S as the slider 40 is moved backward. The front end of the escape recess 52 serves as a locking surface 53 for preventing a backward movement of the slider 40 (see FIG. 6) by being held substantially in contact with the front end of the locking claw 31 when the lock arm 30 is elastically deformed upward during the connection of the housings 10, 20. When the housings 10, 20 are completely connected with each other and the lock arm 30 is preferably restored substantially to its original shape, locking by the locking claw 31 is cleared. A substantially standing operable portion 54 is formed in a substantially middle portion of the rear end of the spring holder 41. Further, a backward stroke of the spring holder 41 is set such that the rear end of the spring hole 41 does not project out from the male housing 20. Preferably, the main body 21 of the male connector housing 20 comprises a cutout or window 21a allowing for a manipulation or operation of the slider 40 preferably against the biasing force of the coil springs 43 so that the slider can be manually or automatically slid from its clearing position to its shorting position thereby preferably releasing the female connector housing 10 from the receptacle 22 of the male connector housing 20. Preferably, at this instance a biasing force acts on the female connector housing 10 to force it out of connection with the female connector 20, preferably by the interaction of the spring stoppers 44 with the front portion of the pushing portion 12. Further preferably, the locking claw 31 and/or the locking portion 17 comprise at least one Planted disengagement portion 32a/17a for assisting the disengagement of the locking claw 31 and the locking portion 17, preferably when the slider 40 is pushed further into the male connector housing 10 thereby increasing the spring load of the coil springs 43. When the spring load of the springs 43 exceeds a predetermined or predeterminable strength or height the locking claw 31 and the locking portion 17 are released or disengaged from each other by the assistance of the slanted disengagement portion 32a and/or 17a. The disengagement portion(s) 32a/17a may be also formed by substantially rounding the corresponding portion of the locking claw 31 and/or locking portion 17. At a rear part of the lower surface of the spring holder 41, a mount portion 56 used to mount the shorting terminal 60 formed of an electrically conductive plate member is formed preferably over the substantially entire width as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. The mount portion 56 is formed in the substantially middle with a groove 57 having an open rear end. The shorting terminal 60 is integrally mounted on the slider 40 by inserting a flat main body 61 thereof into the groove 57. Four (or a number corresponding to the number of respective terminal fittings 26) contact pieces 62 extend from the rear end surface of the main body 61, and the spacing between the respective contact pieces 62 is substantially same as the one between the respective cavities 25 in the male housing 20. These contact pieces 62 are turned to extend along the lower surface of the main body 61 such that they extend slightly obliquely upward from bottom ends 63 and leading ends thereof are formed narrower and have a substantially triangular cross section projecting downward. These projecting portions serve as contact portions 64. The contact pieces 62 are substantially elastically deformable, and the leading ends thereof formed with the contact portions 64 have a width slightly smaller than that of the exposing portions 38 formed in the terminal accommodating portion 23. With the slider 40 held in a position shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the contact portions 64 of the contact pieces 62 of the shorting terminal 60 enter the exposing portions 38 of the terminal accommodating portion 23, thereby coming into contact with the male terminal fittings 26 exposed through the exposing portions 38. The male terminal fittings 26 are shorted to each other by the shorting terminal 60 by the contact of the respective contact pieces 62 therewith. A position of the slider 40 at this stage is referred to as a shorting position. With the slider 40 moved to a position shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the contact portions 64 of the contact pieces 62 are held in contact with upper surfaces 25b of the surrounding walls 25a surrounding the cavities 25 to clear their contact with the male terminal fittings 26. A position of the slider 40 at this stage is referred to as a clearing position. The action of this embodiment thus construction is described next. The female housing 10 is at least partly inserted into the male housing 20 by sliding the bottom surface of the female housing 10 substantially along the inner surface of the bottom wall of the inner tubular portion 24 of the male housing 20 to connect the housings 10, 20. The slider 40 at this stage is located in its shorting position where the male terminal fittings 26 are shorted by the shorting terminal 60. First, the tapered surface 32 of the lock arm 30 is brought into contact with the tapered surface 15b formed in the middle of the front end of the female housing 10. As the housings 10, 20 are being connected, the lock arm 30 is guided by the tapered surface 15b to be elastically deformed upward, with the result that the bottom end of the locking claw 31 is moved onto the upper surface of the female housing 10 as shown in FIG. 6. At this time, the lock arm 30 escapes into the escape recess 52 of the springing holder 41 located thereabove, and the front end of the locking claw 31 is engaged with the locking surface 53 of the escape recess 52. At an intermediate stage of the connection of the housings 10, 20, the slider 40 is prevented from moving backward by the lock arm 30 elastically deformed upward and the locking claws 50 of the holding arms 49. As the connection of the housings 10, 20 proceeds, the pushing portions 12 of the female housing 10 enter the spring accommodating portions 42 through the openings 37 and the escape grooves 46 and come into contact with the spring stoppers 44 mounted on the front ends of the coil springs 43 as shown in FIG. 7. The pushing portions 12 advance further to the back of the spring accommodating portions 42 while elastically deforming the coil springs 43 via the spring stoppers 44. At this time, the slider 40 is doubly locked by the locking claws 50 of the holding arms 49 and the locking claw 31 of the lock arm 30 so as not to move backward. If the connection is interrupted at this stage, the elastically deformed coil springs 43 are restored substantially to or towards their original shapes and the male housing 20 is repelled in a direction away from the female housing 10 due to the restoring forces of the coil springs 43. Therefore, the partial connection of the housings 10, 20 can be detected. As the connection proceeds further to substantially properly connect the housings 10, 20, the tapered surfaces 15a of the female housing 10 are brought into contact with the tapered surfaces 51 of the holding arms 49, and the holding arms 49 are elastically deformed upward while being guided by the tapered surfaces 15a. The locking claws 50 are displaced upward as the holding arms 49 are elastically deformed, and are disengaged from the hooking recesses 28 as shown in FIG. 9 after being raised to a specified height. The lock arm 30 is substantially elastically restored to or towards its original shape substantially at the same time the holding arms 49 are disengaged to effect unlocking, so that it extends along the lower surface of the spring holder 41. As a result, the locking claw 31 of the lock arm 30 enters the recess 16 of the female housing 10 to engage the locking portion 17 and the front end of the lock arm 30 is disengaged from the locking surface 53 of the escape recess 52 as shown in FIG. 8. In this way, double locking effected for the slider 40 to prevent it from moving backward is cleared, and the slider 40 is moved backward by the elastic restoring forces of the coil springs 43. As the slider 40 is moved backward, the projections 48 provided on the upper surface of the spring holder 41 slide along the grooves 34 and the movement of the slider 40 is stopped when the projections 48 come into contact with the stoppers 35 provided behind. This prevents any further backward movement of the slider 40. As the slider 40 is moved backward, the contact portions 64 of the contact pieces 62 of the shorting terminal 60 which were located in the exposing portions 38 of the terminal accommodating portion 23 are moved onto the tapered surfaces 38a formed at the rear edge of the exposing portions 38, thereby elastically deforming the contact pieces 62. The contact portions 64 are guided to the upper surfaces 25b of the surrounding walls 25a by the tapered surfaces 38a and slid backward along the upper surfaces 25b. When the movement of the slider 40 is stopped, the shorting terminal 60 is provided at the rear side of the terminal accommodating portion 23 and the contact portions 64 of the respective contact pieces 62 are located on the upper surfaces 25b of the surrounding walls 25a completely insulated from the male terminal fittings 26. In this way, the slider 40 is automatically moved from its shorting position where it can short the male terminal fittings 26 and to the clearing position where the shorted state is cleared. Since the slider 40 is retracted and the front portion 55 in the middle of the spring holder 41 is located in the deformation permitting space S above the lock arm 30, the leading end of the lock arm 30 is pressed by the lower surface of the front portion 55. Thus, an upward elastic deformation of the lock arm 30 is restricted and the locking portion 17 is doubly locked, thereby holding the housings 10, 20 securely locked into each other with an enhanced force. In this way, upon the backward displacement of the slider 40, it is detected that the housings 10, 20 are substantially completely connected with each other and the terminal fittings 14, 26 are securely electrically connected with each other. Since the lengths of the both coil springs 43 are preferably returned to their natural lengths when no force is acting by the backward movement of the spring holder 41, the coil springs 43 do not create any force to separate the completely connected housings 10, 20 from each other. As described above, according to this embodiment, the slider 40 assembled into the male housing 20 is unlocked when the housings 10, 20 are properly connected with each other, and is automatically moved backward by the elastic restoring forces of the elastically contracted coil springs 43. By integrally mounting the shorting terminal 60 in this slider 40, the shorting terminal 60 can be automatically moved from the shorting position where the contact portions 64 are held in contact with the male terminal fittings 26 to short them to the clearing position where the contact portions 64 are not in contact with the male terminal fittings 26. More specifically, since the shorted state of the male terminal fittings 26 can be cleared by the movement of the slider 40, it is not necessary to provide the mating female housing 10 with any rib for entering between the shorting terminal 60 and the male terminal fittings 26 to clear the shorted state. If such a clearing rib should be provided on the front end surface of the female housing 10, much attention needs to be paid in packaging at a time of shipment since it is likely to be broken upon being struck by an external matter. Further, since the height of the connector increases as the thickness of the clearing rib increases, the clearing rib may be formed thin. However, such a thin clearing may cause a molding error, thereby causing the an undesirable event where the shorted state cannot be cleared. Therefore, an operation of checking and detecting a molding error becomes necessary. In this embodiment, operations necessary to provide such a rib can be simplified or deleted. <Other Embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the above described and illustrated embodiment. For example, following embodiments are also embraced by the technical scope of the invention as defined in the claims. Besides these embodiments, various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims. (1) Although the exposing portions 38 for allowing the contact of the shorting terminal 60 with the male terminal fittings 26 is provided in or at the terminal accommodating portion 23 in the foregoing embodiment, they may not be necessarily provided, if, for example, the shorting terminal is brought into contact with tabs of male terminal fittings projecting from the terminal accommodating portion. (2) In the foregoing embodiment, the locking claw 31 of the lock arm 30 which is substantially elastically deformed when the housings 10, 20 are partly connected is engaged with the locking surface 53 of the slider 40 (movable element) as the restricting means for the slider 40. Since the slider 40 is held also by the engagement of the holding arms 49 with the hooking recesses 28 of the male housing 20, the slider may not necessarily be formed with the lock arm. LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS 10 female connector housing (other connector housing) 12 pushing portion 17 locking portion 20 male connector housing (one connector housing) 26 male terminal fitting (terminal fitting) 30 lock arm 31 locking claw (restricting means) 40 slider (movable element) 43 coil spring (spring means) 53 locking surface (restricting means) 60 shorting terminal

Claims: An electrical connector, comprising male and female connector housings (10, 20) at least partly connectable with each other, wherein one of the connectors (20) comprises: a plurality of terminal fittings (26), a shorting terminal (60) for shorting the terminal fittings (26), a shorted state of the terminal fittings (26) being cleared when the male and female connector housings (10, 20) are connected with each other, and a movable element (40) integrally provided with the shorting terminal (60) and movable between a shorting position where the shorting terminal (60) is in contact with the terminal fittings (26) and a clearing position where the shorting terminal (60) is not in contact with the terminal fittings (26) wherein the one connector housing (20) comprises an elastically deformable lock arm (30) for holding the connector housings (10, 20) locked into each other by engaging a locking portion (17) provided in the other connector housing (10) when the connector housings (10, 20) are connected with each other, characterized in that the lock arm (30) is constructed such that it holds the movable element (40) in the shorting position by engaging the movable element (40) when being substantially elastically deformed while moving over the locking portion (17) and is disengaged from the movable element (40) upon being restored to its substantially original shape to engage the locking portion (17) as the connector housings (10, 20) are properly connected with each other. An electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the movable element (40) is movable substantially along a connection direction of the connector housings. An electrical connector according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the movable element (40) is provided with a spring means (43) which is substantially elastically contracted to accumulate a biasing force for moving the movable element (40) toward the clearing position upon being pushed by a pushing portion (12) provided in the other connector housing (10). An electrical connector according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the one of the connectors (20) further comprises a restricting means (31) for substantially constantly holding the movable element (40) in the shorting position the holding state being cleared as the connector housings (10, 20) are connected with each other. An electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the lock arm (30) is deformable into a deformation permitting space (S) and wherein the movable element (40) is at least partly located in the deformation permitting space (S) when being in its clearing position thereby restricting an elastic deformation of the lock arm (30). An electrical connector according to claim 1 or 5, wherein at least one of the lock arm (30) and the locking portion (17) is formed with at least one slanted disengagement portion (32a; 17a) for assisting the disengagement of the lock arm (30) and the locking portion (17). An electrical connector according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the movable element (40) is provided with a substantially elastically deformable holding arm (49), the holding arm (49) engaging an engaging portion (28) provided on the one connector housing (20), when the movable element (40) is positioned substantially in its shorting position while being elastically deformed upon contact with a contact portion (15a) of the other connector housing (10), thereby being disengaged from the engaging portion (28). An electrical connector according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the movable element (40) is automatically moved from its shorting position (FIG. 4; 5) where the shorting terminal (60) is shorting the terminal fittings (26) to the clearing position where the shorting terminal (60) are not in electrical contact with the terminal fittings (26) as the connector housings (10, 20) are properly connected with each other.

Inventors: ITO OSAMU, KAWASE HAJIME, NISHIDE SATORU, YONEDA TAKAHIRO, ITO, OSAMU, KAWASE, HAJIME, NISHIDE, SATORU, YONEDA, TAKAHIRO, Ito, Osamu c/oSumitomo Wiring Systems,ltd, Kawase, Hajime c/oSumitomo Wiring Systems,ltd, Nishide, Satoru c/o Sumitomo Wiring Systems,ltd, Yoneda, Takahiro c/o Nissan Motor Co.Ltd.
Applicants: SUMITOMO WIRING SYSTEMS, SUMITOMO WIRING SYSTEMS, LTD.
Application year: 2000
Main classification: H01R13
IPC codes: H01R13