A connector and a set of terminal fittings

Abstract: [Object] To provide a connector which can accommodate both crimping and insulation-displacement terminal fittings and enables assembling by an automated apparatus. [Solution] A housing 2 integrally formed of a synthetic resin is provided with cavities 4 capable of accommodating both crimping and insulation-displacement terminal fittings 5, 6. Locking portions 15 elastically engageable with the terminal fittings 5, 6 extend in the cavities 4. A retainer mount opening 17 communicating with the cavities 4 is formed in an outer wall of the housing 2, and a retainer 3 for doubly locking the terminal fittings 5, 6 is mounted thereinto. Connecting portions 8 of the same shape are provided at the front sides of the terminal fittings 5, 6. The height of insulation-displacement portions 7 is shorter than that of the connecting portion 8 in the insulation-displacement terminal fitting 5, and terminal locking portions 18 of the retainer 3 are engageable with stepped portions 8A at the rear ends of the connecting portions 8. The terminal fittings 5, 6 are doubly locked by the retainer 3 by pushing the retainer 3 to a full locking position after the terminal fittings 5, 6 are mounted with the housing 2 and the retainer 3 assembled in a partial locking position.

Description: The present invention relates to a connector capable of accommodating both crimping terminal fittings and insulation-displacement terminal fittings. Generally, some of terminal fittings mounted at ends of wires are of crimping type which is fastened to a core exposed at one end of the wire by crimping and some are of insulation-displacement type which is provided with insulation-displacement portions for making cuts in an outer coating of the wire. On the other hand, some connectors are formed to accommodate only terminal fittings of crimping type and some are formed to accommodate only terminal fittings of insulation-displacement type. However, if there are a plurality of kinds of connectors, it takes time to connect the connectors with each other. Hence, it is convenient to reduce the number of kinds of connectors. Accordingly, a connector provided with cavities 101 capable of accommodating terminal fittings of both crimping type and insulation-displacement type as shown in FIG. 11 (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-31547) has been developed. A housing 100 of this connector is provided with a pair of upper and lower retainers 104, and the respective retainers 104 are coupled to the housing 100 via pairs of front and rear hinges 102, 103 provided at the opposite sides thereof. In the above connector, the retainers 104 are pushed down after cutting the first hinges 102 on the front side as shown in FIG. 12 when crimping terminal fittings are accommodated in the cavities 101. On the other hand, the retainers 104 are assembled at the front side of the housing 100 by cutting the second hinges 103 at the rear side and being rotated about the first hinges 102 as shown in FIG. 13 when insulation-displacement terminal fittings are accommodated in the cavities 101. However, the mounting modes of the retainers 104 have to be changed depending on the kind of the terminal fittings accommodated in the cavities 101, since these two kinds of terminal fittings cannot be locked by the retainers 104 of the same shape. Since the above connector is designed to adapt to the crimping or insulation-displacement terminal fittings by changing the mounting mode of the retainers 104 according to the kind of the terminal fittings accommodated in the cavities 101, an assembling process becomes complicated, making automation difficult. Further, since the mounted positions of the retainers 104 differ depending on the kind of the terminal fittings accommodated in the cavities 101, it is necessary to accommodate the same kind of terminal fittings in the cavities 101 at the upper or lower stage. From EP-A2-0 644 619 a method and apparatus for double securing a terminal within a connector is known, in which the number of terminal receiving holes and the kind of the metal terminals to be used (several kinds of metal terminals can be used in combination) are not limited. From US-A-6,033,262 a contact spring with a conventional base spring is known, which has a connecting part and a contact part. The connecting part of the exemplary embodiment is a so-called crimp connection with an insulation claw and a conductor wire claw. Instead of a crimp connection, any other form of connecting part can also be chosen, such as a so-called IDC connector (insulation displacement connector). In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a connector which can accommodate both crimping and insulation-displacement terminal fittings and can be assembled by an automated apparatus. This object is solved according to the invention by a connector according to claim 1. Preferred embodiments of the invention are subject of the dependent claims. Terminal locking portions engageable with both the crimping terminal fitting and the insulation-displacement terminal fitting project from the retainer. The connecting portion of the crimping terminal fitting and the connecting portion of the insulation-displacement terminal fitting have respective stepped portions being provided at substantially a same distance from and/or orientation with respect to the corresponding portion of the retainer and/or housing, when the terminal fittings are inserted in the cavities. Accordingly, since the height of the insulation-displacement portions is shorter than that of the connecting portion in the insulation-displacement terminal fitting, the terminal locking portions engageable with both the crimping terminal fitting and the insulation-displacement terminal fitting can be formed to project from the retainer. Therefore, both the crimping terminal fitting and the insulation-displacement terminal fitting can be locked by the retainer by mounting the retainer into the retainer mount opening of the housing after the crimping and insulation-displacement terminal fittings are mounted into the cavities of the housing. Further, since the retainer is of the side type which can assemble the terminal fittings in the same locking position regardless of the kind of the terminal fittings, automation can be easily implemented. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the connecting portion of the crimping terminal fitting and the connecting portion of the insulation-displacement terminal fitting are substantially identical in shape. Preferably, the retainer mount opening communicates lateral sides of the cavities and the outside. Most preferably, the connecting portion of the crimping terminal fitting and the connecting portion of the insulation-displacement terminal fitting have respective locking portion engaging means being engageable with corresponding mating locking means provided in the housing when the terminal fittings are inserted in the cavities, wherein the mating locking means can lock both the crimping terminal fitting and the insulation-displacement terminal fitting. These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments 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 side view in section of a housing, FIG. 3 is a plan view of a retainer, FIG. 4 is a front view of the retainer, FIG. 5 is a section along A-A of FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a partial enlarged view of an ellipse R of FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a side view in section showing a state before terminal fittings are accommodated into cavities with the retainer mounted in the housing in its partial locking position, FIG. 8 is a side view in section showing when the terminal fittings are accommodated into the cavities with the retainer mounted in the housing in its partial locking position, FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the connection when the retainer is in its partial locking position, FIG. 10 is a side view in section of the connector when the retainer is pushed to its full locking position, FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a housing of a prior art connector, FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the prior art connector when retainers are assembled with the housing, and FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the prior art connector when retainers are assembled with the housing. Next, one preferred embodiment of the present invention is specifically described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 10. FIG. 1 shows an exploded perspective view of a connector 1 according to the embodiment. This connector 1 is provided with a housing 2, a retainer 3 to be assembled with the housing 2 preferably from the side or below, and terminal fittings 5, 6 to be at least partly accommodated in cavities 4 provided in the housing 2. There are two kinds of terminal fittings: crimping terminal fittings 6 to be connected with cores WA of wires W substantially exposed by stripping off outer coatings at ends of the wires W, and insulation-displacement terminal fittings 5 provided with insulation-displacement portions 7 to be connected with the cores WA of the wires W by cutting the outer coatings of the wires W. These two kinds of terminal fittings 5, 6 can be both at least partly accommodated in the cavities 4 of the housing 2. The crimping terminal fitting 6 is formed e.g. by bending a conductive metallic plate material stamped out or cut into a specified shape and is formed at its front part with a connecting portion 8 in the form of a rectangular tube into which a tab of a mating male terminal fitting (not shown) is at least partly insertable. Locking portion engaging holes 16 engageable with locking portions 15 provided in the housing 2 are formed in side walls of the connecting portion 8. A stepped or recessed portion 8A is formed at the rear side of the connecting portion 8, and one or more pairs of barrels 9, 10 having a height lower than the connecting portion 8 are provided one after the other behind the stepped portion 8A (as seen in when inserting the terminal fitting into the housing 2). The terminal fitting 6 and the wire W are or can be electrically connected by crimping or bending or folding the wire barrels 9 into connection with the core WA (see also FIG. 7). A pair of left and right insulation barrels 10 project behind the wire barrels 9, The insulation barrels 10 preferably project a longer distance than the wire barrels 9 and are or can be crimped or bent or folded into connection with an outer coating WB of the wire W. On the other hand, the insulation-displacement terminal fitting 5 is formed e.g. by bending a conductive metallic plate material stamped out or cut into a specified shape, and is formed at its front part with a connecting portion 8 in the form of a rectangular tube into which a tab of a mating male terminal fitting is insertable. The connecting portions 8 of the crimping and insulation-displacement terminal fittings 5, 6 are preferably substantially identically or similarly shaped. A stepped portion 8A is formed at the rear side of the connecting portion 8, and insulation-displacement portions 7 having a lower height than the connecting portion 8 are provided behind the stepped portion 8A (as seen in when inserting the terminal fitting into the housing 2). The insulation-displacement portions 7 are formed by bending or embossing left and right side walls 11 of the insulation-displacement terminal fitting 5 into wavy shape or inwardly to preferably have a wavy or snake-like shape, and sharp blades 7A are formed at their upper ends. The blades 7A cut the outer coating WB when the wire W not having the outer coating WB stripped off is substantially pushed in inside or inserted between the opposite side walls 11. When the wire W is completely pushed in, the insulation-displacement portions 7 are or can come electrically in contact with the core WB while holding it from opposite sides. Further, a pair of projecting pieces 12 project from the opposite side walls 11 behind the insulation-displacement portions 7. A projecting distance of the projecting pieces 12 equals the height of the connecting portion 8. When the insulation-displacement terminal fitting 5 is at least partly accommodated into the cavity 4, the upper ends of the projecting pieces 12 are substantially in contact with a ceiling surface 14 of the cavity 4. A pair of left and right crimping pieces 13 project behind the projecting pieces 12 and are crimped or bent or folded into connection with the outer coating WB of the wire W to fix the wire W. The housing 2 preferably is integrally or unitarily formed e.g. of a synthetic resin into a substantially rectangular parallelepipedic shape, and cavities 4 extending in forward and backward directions are provided preferably at upper and lower stages inside the housing 2. Smaller openings are formed in the front surfaces of the cavities 4 as tab insertion holes 4A through which mating male tabs are or can be inserted, whereas larger openings are formed in the rear surfaces of the cavities 4 as terminal mount openings 4B through which the terminal fittings 5, 6 are insertable. A locking portion 15 elastically deformable along vertical direction projects from the front side of the upper wall surface in each cavity 4. The terminal fittings 5, 6 are partly locked in the cavities 4 by the locking portions 15 engaging the engaging holes 16 formed in the connecting portions 8 of the terminal fittings 5, 6. Further, preferably one side wall (bottom wall in FIG. 2) of the housing 2 is formed with a retainer mount opening 17 substantially communicating with the cavities 4. The retainer 3 described later is or can be assembled or inserted through the retainer mount opening 17. The retainer 3 is integrally or unitarily molded or formed e.g. of a resin, and doubly locks the terminal fittings 5, 6 in the cavities 4 by being at least partly mounted into the retainer mount opening 17 of the housing 2. The retainer 3 is provided with terminal locking portions 18 for locking the terminal fittings 5, 6 so as not to substantially come out of the cavities 4. The terminal locking portions 18 are provided preferably at upper and lower stages so as to correspond to the cavities 4 of the housing 2. Specifically, the retainer 3 is provided with a pair of left and right side plates 19 and a pair of upper and lower bridge portions 20 bridging the side plates 19, and the terminal locking portions 18 project from both bridge portions 20. Between the upper and lower bridge portions 20 are provided sectioning pieces 21 which are so spaced apart as to substantially conform or correspond to the width of the cavities 4 of the housing 2. The sectioning pieces 21 enhance the strength of the retainer 3 and act to section the respective cavities 4 when the retainer 3 is assembled with the housing 2. A pair of front and rear elastic engaging legs 22 substantially elastically or resiliently deformably project from each side plate 19, and the retainer 3 and the housing 2 are or can be locked into each other by the engagement of the engaging legs 22 and engaging portions (not shown) provided in the housing 2. The front and rear engaging legs 22 are engaged or engageable with the housing 2 in two locking positions having different depths. In a partial locking position (locking position shown in FIGS. 2 and 7) where the retainer 3 partially or not fully inserted is engaged with the housing 2, the terminal locking portions 18 of the retainer 3 do not project from the ceiling surfaces 14 of the cavities 4 (the leading ends of the terminal locking portions 18 are substantially in flush with the ceiling surfaces 14 or located in positions retracted more toward the retainer mount opening 17 than the corresponding ceiling surfaces 14). Thus, the terminal fittings 5, 6 are insertable into and withdrawable from the cavities 4. At this stage, a pushing surface 3A of the retainer 3 projects from the bottom surface of the housing 2. On the other hand, when the retainer 3 reaches a full locking position (locking position shown in FIG. 10) where the retainer 3 is preferably fully inserted, the pushing surface 3A of the retainer 3 is preferably pushed to be substantially in flush with the side surface of the housing 2 and the terminal locking portions 18 enter the cavities 4 to substantially engage the stepped portions 8A at the rear ends of the connecting portions 8, with the result that the terminal fittings 5, 6 are doubly locked in the cavities 4. Next, how the embodiment thus constructed is assembled is described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 10. First, ends of the wires W are connected with the crimping and insulation-displacement terminal fittings 5, 6. The insulation-displacement terminal fittings 5 are connected with the wires W by pushing the wires W in between the insulation-displacement portions 7, whereas the crimping terminal fittings 6 are connected with the wires W by crimping or bending or folding the barrels 9, 10 into connection with the wires W. The retainer 3 is engaged with the housing 2 in the partial locking position as shown in FIG. 7. The insertion and withdrawal of the terminal fittings 5, 6 are permitted since the terminal locking portions 18 substantially do not project into the cavities 4 with the retainer 3 partly locked. Although the insulation-displacement terminal fittings 5 and the crimping terminal fittings 6 are shown at the upper stage and at the lower stage, respectively, in FIG. 7, both terminal fittings 5 and 6 are mountable in any of the cavities 4 in this embodiment. Next, the terminal fittings 5, 6 are pushed into the cavities 4. At this time, the connecting portions 8 deform the locking portions 15 upward or toward the corresponding side of the housing 2 as the terminal fittings 5, 6 are inserted. When the terminal fittings 5, 6 are pushed to specified proper insertion positions, the locking portions 15 reach the engaging holes 16 to restore substantially to their original shapes, thereby partly locking the terminal fittings 5, 6 (see FIG. 8). Finally, the retainer 3 is pushed to the full locking position by pushing the pushing surface 3A of the retainer 3, completing assembling of the connector 1. At this stage, the terminal locking portions 18 are pushed to the inside of the cavities 4 and engage the stepped portions 8A at the rear ends of the connecting portions 8. As a result, the terminal fittings 5, 6 are doubly locked in the cavities 4. According to this embodiment, the height of the insulation-displacement portions 7 is shorter than that of the connecting portion 8 in the insulation-displacement terminal fitting 5. Thus, the terminal locking portions 18 engageable with both the crimping terminal fittings 6 and the insulation-displacement terminal fittings 5 can be formed to project from the retainer 3. Therefore, both the crimping terminal fittings 6 and the insulation-displacement terminal fittings 5 can be locked by the retainer 3 by mounting the retainer 3 into the retainer mount opening 17 of the housing 2 after the crimping and insulation-displacement terminal fittings 5, 6 are mounted into the cavities 4 of the housing 2. Since the retainer 3 is of the side type which can push the terminal fittings 5, 6 to the same locking position with respect to the housing 2 regardless of the kind of the terminal fittings 5, 6, automation can be easily implemented. The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the aforementioned embodiment and also embraces, for example, an embodiment as below. Although the crimping and insulation-displacement terminal fittings 5, 6 are both female terminal fittings in the foregoing embodiment, they may be male terminal fittings according to the present invention. Although two stages of cavities are shown in the described embodiment, it is to be understood that only one or three or more stages of cavities 4 may be provided in the housing 2 of the connector according to the invention.

Claims: A connector (1), comprising: at least one crimping terminal fitting (6) provided with opposite front and rear ends, a connecting portion (8) extending rearwardly from the front end for connection with a mating terminal fitting, a rearwardly facing stepped portion (8A) defined on the crimping terminal fitting (6) a selected distance rearwardly from the front end, and at least one barrel portion (9) formed behind the connecting portion (8) to be crimped into connection with an exposed section of a core (WA) of a wire (W), a housing (2) provided with cavities (4) into which the crimping terminal fittings (6) are at least partly insertable and a retainer mount opening (17), a retainer (3) to be mounted into the retainer mount opening (17) the retainer (3) having terminal locking portions (18) configured for engagement with the rearwardly facing stepped portions (8A) of the crimping terminal fitting (6), characterized by at least one insulation-displacement terminal fitting (5) provided with opposite front and rear ends, a connecting portion (8) extending rearwardly from the front end of the insulation-displacement terminal fitting (5) for connection with a mating terminal fitting, the connecting portion (8) defining a selected height, a rearwardly facing stepped portion (8A) defined on the insulation-displacement terminal fitting (5) at the selected distance rearwardly from the front end of the insulation-displacement terminal fitting (5), and insulation-displacement portions (7) formed behind the connecting portion (8) and connectable with a core (WA) of a wire (W) by cutting an outer coating (WB) of the wire (W), the insulation-displacement portions (7) defining a height less than the height of the connecting portion (8), the cavities (4) of the housing (2) being adapted to at least partly insert both terminal fittings (5, 6), and the terminal locking portions (18) of the retainer (3) being configured for engagement with the rearwardly facing stepped portions (8A) of both the crimping terminal fitting (6) and the insulation-displacement terminal fitting (5) to lock the terminal fittings (5, 6) in the cavities (4). A connector according to claim 1, wherein the connecting portion (8) of the crimping terminal fitting (6) and the connecting portion (8) of the insulation-displacement terminal fitting (5) are substantially identical in shape. A connector according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the retainer mount opening (17) communicates lateral sides of the cavities (4) and the outside. A connector according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the connecting portion (8) of the crimping terminal fitting (6) and the connecting portion (8) of the insulation-displacement terminal fitting (5) have respective locking portion engaging means (16) being engageable with corresponding mating locking means (15) provided in the housing (2) when the terminal fittings (5, 6) are inserted in the cavities (4), wherein the mating locking means (15) can lock both the crimping terminal fitting (6) and the insulation-displacement terminal fitting (5).

Inventors: AOYAMA MASAHIKO, ITOU KEIICHI, KOJIMA EIJI, SHIRAKI KAZUYUKI, WAKUI MASANORI, AOYAMA, MASAHIKO, ITOU, KEIICHI, KOJIMA, EIJI, SHIRAKI, KAZUYUKI, WAKUI, MASANORI
Applicants: SUMITOMO WIRING SYSTEMS, SUMITOMO WIRING SYSTEMS, LTD.
Application year: 2001
Main classification: H01R13
IPC codes: H01R4, H01R13