Patent Publication Number: US-7901229-B2

Title: Shorting terminal, a connector and an assembling method therefor

Description:
This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/107,113, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,618,274. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a shorting terminal and a connector. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,760 discloses a connector with a housing and terminal fittings accommodated in the housing. A shorting terminal also is mounted in the housing and includes touching pieces for touching and shorting the terminal fittings. The shorting terminal also has two contact pieces to be pushed by a jig upon accommodating the shorting terminal into the housing. An automatic machine can be used to mount the shorting terminal into the housing and, in such a case, the mounting operation is stopped automatically when the shorting terminal is pushed by a specified stroke. 
     The contact pieces are formed by bending plates of the shorting terminal, and the jig is pressed against these bent plates. There is a possibility that the contact pieces will be inclined and deformed by the pushing force of the jig. Therefore, the specified stroke of the automatic machine might leave the shorting terminal at a position before a proper position. 
     The invention was developed in view of the above situation and an object thereof is to enable a shorting terminal to be mounted at a proper position in a housing. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a shorting terminal to be accommodated in a housing to short terminal fittings in the housing. The shorting terminal comprises at least one contact piece that can be pushed during insertion into the housing, and at least one support that engages the contact piece from a side opposite to the push-in direction into the housing. The support ensures that the contact piece is not inclined and deformed by a jig pressed against the contact piece. Accordingly, the shorting terminal will be accommodated at a proper position if pushed by a specified stroke, and the shorting terminal can be mounted easily using an automatic machine. 
     The contact piece and the support preferably are formed by bending. 
     The shorting terminal preferably has plural resiliently deformable touching pieces that can touch and short corresponding terminal fittings. 
     The contact piece and/or the support preferably are arranged to contact the touching pieces to prevent excessive resilient deformations of the touching pieces. Thus, satisfactory resilient forces can be maintained for the touching pieces even if the shorting terminal is used repeatedly. 
     Plate surfaces of the contact piece and the support preferably cross at an angle to each other, and crossing ends of the contact piece and the support are interlocked by the engagement of projections and recesses. Thus, a supporting force by the support is increased and deformation of the contact piece is prevented more reliably. Accordingly, the jig can be operated on either the support or the contact piece, and the mounting direction of the shorting terminal into the housing can be at an angle to the push-in direction acting on the contact piece. 
     The shorting terminal preferably comprises at least one locking piece to lock the terminal fitting in the housing. The locking piece extends obliquely to the inserting direction of the terminal fitting into a shorting terminal accommodating chamber of the housing. 
     The shorting terminal preferably comprises a main body formed with one or more bevels by having one or more corners of a front end cut obliquely, so that the bevels guide the insertion of the shorting terminal. 
     The invention also relates to a connector comprising a housing. Terminal fittings and the above described shorting terminal are mounted in the housing. The shorting terminal is disposed and configured for shorting corresponding terminal fittings. 
     The shorting terminal preferably has two resiliently deformable touching pieces that touch and short the corresponding terminal fittings. A mating housing includes a disengaging portion that contacts at least one of the two touching pieces as the two housings are connected for deforming the touching pieces and canceling the shorted state. The disengaging portion includes a rib extending in a connecting direction of the two housings. 
     The disengaging portion becomes narrower if the connector is miniaturized, and the strength thereof might be insufficient. However, the rib extends in the connecting direction and compensates for the shortage of strength of the disengaging portion. 
     At least part of the disengaging portions includes at least one first rib between two disengagement guiding surfaces and one or more second ribs paired in the width direction at positions at least partly vertically overlapping with the two disengagement guiding surfaces in the height direction. Lateral shaking movements of the touching pieces are prevented substantially by the first ribs. 
     At least one wire pressing member is formed on the housing and communicate with the cavities. The wire pressing member has projections and can prevent loose movements of wires in cavities of the housing by being inserted into the accommodating chamber to cause the respective projections to engage or bite into the wires. 
     These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments and accompanying drawings. It should be understood that even though embodiments are separately described, single features thereof may be combined to additional embodiments. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a side view in section showing a connector properly connected with a mating female connector in a first embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a side view in section of the connector. 
         FIG. 3  is a vertical section of the connector. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a shorting terminal. 
         FIG. 5  is a bottom view of the shorting terminal. 
         FIG. 6  is a side view of the connector housing. 
         FIG. 7  is a side view in section showing a state before connectors are connected in a second embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 8  is a side view in section showing an intermediate state of a connecting operation of the connectors. 
         FIG. 9  is a side view in section showing a state after the connectors are connected. 
         FIG. 10  is a front view of a male connector housing. 
         FIG. 11  is a front view of a female connector housing. 
         FIG. 12  is a rear view of a shorting terminal. 
         FIG. 13  is a plan view of the shorting terminal. 
         FIG. 14  is a bottom view of the shorting terminal. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     A first embodiment of the invention is described with reference to  FIGS. 1 to 6 . A connector of this embodiment has a shorting terminal  10 , male terminal fittings  40 , a male housing  50  and a retainer  80 . 
     Each terminal fitting  40  is formed of an electrically conductive metal plate material and has opposite front and rear ends. A tab  41  is formed at the front end, a wire connection barrel  42  is formed at the rear end and a terminal main portion  43  is formed at an intermediate part, as shown in  FIG. 2 . The tab  41  can be inserted into a tube  91  of the mating female terminal fitting  90  for connection with the mating female terminal fitting  90 . The wire connection barrel  42  can be crimped, bent or folded into connection with an end of a wire  45 . The terminal main portion  43  is substantially tubular with open front and rear ends. A metal lock  46  is formed by making at least one cut in a surrounding wall of the terminal main portion  43  and bending the cut part outward. 
     The housing  50  is made e.g. of a synthetic resin and is connectable with and separable from a mating female housing  30  as shown in  FIG. 1 . As shown in  FIG. 6 , the housing  50  is long and narrow in forward and backward directions FBD (connecting and separating directions CSD) and includes a block-shaped terminal accommodating portion  51  and a substantially tubular receptacle  52  projecting forward from the periphery of the front end of the terminal accommodating portion  51 . The outer peripheral edges of the lower halves of the terminal accommodating portion  51  and the receptacle  52  have substantially arcuate shapes (see  FIG. 3 ). 
     The upper wall of the receptacle  52  has a substantially flat outer surface that extends along the forward and backward directions FBD and a lock  53  projects from this surface. A resiliently deformable lock arm  31  is formed in the mating female housing  30  and is engageable with the lock  53  to lock the two housings  10 ,  30  in their connected state. A connection detector  33  is arranged in the mating female housing  30  and can slide in forward and backward directions FBD on the upper surface of the lock arm  31  only when the two housings  10 ,  30  are connected properly, and hence can detect whether the two housings  10 ,  30  are connected properly. 
     Three cavities  54  are formed substantially side by side in a row in the housing  50 , and the terminal fittings  40  are insertable into the cavities  54  from behind. A stepped terminal receiving portion  55  is formed in an inner wall of each cavity  54  for receiving the metal lock  46  and for preventing the terminal fitting  40  from coming out of the cavity  54 . Thus, the terminal main portion  43  and the wire connection barrel  42  are accommodated in the cavity  54  and the tab  41  projects into the receptacle  52 . An end of the wire  45  extends in forward and backward directions FBD in the cavity  54  and the remainder of the wire  45  is drawn to the outside through the rear end opening of the cavity  54 . 
     A retainer mount hole  56  is formed in one outer side surface of the terminal accommodating portion  51  and communicates with the respective cavities  54 . The retainer  80  has a retainer main body  81  that is insertable into this retainer mount hole  56  in an insertion direction that is substantially normal to the forward and backward directions FBD. The retainer  80  is movable between a partial locking position and a full locking position. The terminal fittings  40  can be inserted into and withdrawn from the cavities  54  when the retainer is at the partial locking position. However, the retainer  80  at the full locking position engages the properly inserted terminal fittings  40  and retains the properly inserted terminal fittings  40  in the cavities  54 . A wire pressing portion  82  is connected movably with the retainer  80  via a hinge  83 . Sawtooth-shaped projections  84  on the wire pressing portion  82  press against and bite into the insulation coatings of the wires  45  when the retainer  80  reaches the full locking position to prevent loose movements of the wires  45  in the cavities  54 . 
     A shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57  is formed in the outer side surface of the terminal accommodating portion  51  where the retainer mount hole  56  is formed. More specifically, the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57  is adjacent to and below a pair of adjacent cavities  54  and a front upper part of the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57  communicates with the two cavities  54 . The front surface of the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57  opens in the front surface of the terminal accommodating portion  51 , and the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57  extends in forward and backward directions FBD substantially parallel with the two cavities  54 . 
     An automatic machine inserts the shorting terminal  10  sideways and in a direction substantially normal to the connecting and separating directions CSD of the two housings  10 ,  30  through a lateral opening and into the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57 . The shorting terminal  10  has touching pieces  11 . Leading ends of touching pieces  11  pass through the opening in the front surface of the terminal accommodating portion  54  and enter the receptacle  52  when the shorting terminal  10  is mounted. The closing plate  89  of the retainer  80  closes the lateral opening in the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57  as the retainer  80  reaches the full locking position to protect the shorting terminal  10  (see  FIG. 6 ). 
     The retainer mount hole  56  is arranged behind and slightly above the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57 . A retainer fitting recess  58  is formed in the rear end of the outer peripheral surface of the terminal accommodating portion  51 . An outer frame  85  of the retainer  80  is mounted in the retainer fitting recess  58 . A rear partition wall  59  is defined in the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57  between the retainer mount hole  56  and the retainer fitting recess  58 . The shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57  also has a side partition wall  61  and a bottom wall  62 , as shown in  FIG. 3 . The side partition wall  61  hangs down at a position slightly displaced from the widthwise center of the terminal accommodating portion  51  towards a side opposite to the lateral opening. A locking groove  63  is formed in the bottom surface of the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57  and extends in the width direction WD to the side opposite to the lateral opening below and across the side partition wall  61 . A locking groove  64  is formed in the bottom surface of the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57  and extends in the width direction WD along a boundary to the receptacle  52 . 
     A bottom wall  66  of the receptacle  52  has a part thicker than the bottom wall  62  of the terminal accommodating portion  51  so that the height of the upper surface of the bottom wall  66  of the receptacle  52  is higher than the bottom surface of the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57  in this part. An escaping recess  67  is formed in the inner upper surface of the bottom wall  66  of the receptacle  52  for receiving the leading ends of the touching pieces  11  upon the action of the shorting terminal  10 . The bottom surface of the escaping recess  67  is set substantially at the same height as the bottom surface of the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57 . 
     The shorting terminal  10  is formed of an electrically conductive metal plate material and includes a plate-shaped shorting terminal main body  12  to be arranged substantially horizontally along the bottom surface of the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57 . Two touching pieces  11  project from the rear ends of the shorting terminal main body  12 , as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 . A substantially U-shaped slit  13  is formed in the shorting terminal main body  12 , and a resiliently deformable locking piece  14  is formed by bending a plate defined by the slit  13 . More specifically, the locking piece  14  is aligned oblique to an inserting direction ID and extends into the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57 . Thus, the locking piece  14  slides in contact with the back surface of the locking groove  63  in the process of mounting the shorting terminal  10 , and is fit into the locking groove  63  as the shorting terminal  10  is mounted properly. Bevels  15  are formed at opposite corners of the front end of the shorting terminal main body  12  with respect to the inserting direction ID. The bevels  15  guide the shorting terminal  10  into the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57 . 
     The two touching pieces  11  are preferably in an eccentric manner towards the rear end in the inserting direction ID into the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57 , and are brought resiliently into contact with the respective terminal fittings  40  accommodated in the middle and left cavities  54  in  FIG. 3 . More specifically, the touching pieces  11  are cantilevers joined to the rear end of the shorting terminal main body  12 , but are folded to extend forward. Additionally, the touching pieces  11  are resiliently displaceable up and down towards and away from the portion of the shorting terminal main body  12  to be arranged along the bottom surface of the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57 . Pointed or mountain-shaped touching portions  16  are bent near the leading ends of the touching pieces  11 . The leading ends of the two touching pieces  11  project into the receptacle  52 , and the touching portions  16  can resiliently contact the lower surfaces of the tabs  41  of the corresponding terminal fittings  40 . At least one of the two touching pieces  11  is resiliently deformed down in a disengaging direction by at least one disengaging portion  38  formed in the mating female housing  30  as the two housings  10 ,  30  are connected, thereby separating the touching portions  16  from the tabs  41 . 
     A contact piece  17  extends from the rear end of the shorting terminal main body  12  with respect to the inserting direction ID into the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57  and can be pushed in by a jig or the like into the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57 . The contact piece  17  is formed by cutting slits  18  in the metal plate and then bending the plate piece between the slits  18  up at a substantially right angle. The contact piece  17  partly overlaps the right touching piece  11  in the width direction WD in  FIG. 5 , and is in the resilient deformation range of the touching piece  11 . The plate surface of the contact piece  17  extends in substantially forward and backward directions FBD. The length of the contact piece  17  in forward and backward directions FBD is less than about half, more preferably slightly less than about ⅓ of the entire length of the shorting terminal main body  12 . A pushable surface  19  faces out on the contact piece  17  and is aligned substantially normal to the inserting direction ID into the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57 . The pushable surface  19  can be pressed by a jig. 
     A support  21  is formed by cutting slits  18  into the metal plate and then bending the area between the slits  18  into an alignment substantially normal to both the shorting terminal main body  12  and the contact piece  17 . The support  21  is in contact with a surface the contact piece  17  opposite the pushable surface  19 . The plate surfaces of the support  21  extend substantially along the width direction WD and along the inserting direction ID into the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57 . The length of the support  21  in the width direction WD is about ½ of the width of the shorting terminal main body  12  and is longer than the length of the contact piece  17  in forward and backward directions FBD. The support  21  is arranged to at least partly overlap both touching pieces  11  in the width direction and is within the resilient deformation ranges of the both touching pieces  11 . 
     The support  21  and the contact piece  17  are engaged by interlocking projections and recesses on the lateral edges facing each other, and the plate surfaces thereof cross at substantially right angles to define an L-shape in plan view. More specifically, a projection  23  on the upper portion of one lateral edge of the support  21  and aligns with and fits in a cutout recess in the corresponding upper portion of one lateral edge of the contact piece  17 . Similarly, a projection  24  on the lower portion of the lateral edge of the contact piece  17  aligns with and fits in a cutout recess in the corresponding lower portion of the lateral edge of the support  21 . The support  21  and the contact piece  17  stand up by substantially the same projecting distance so that the upper ends thereof substantially are horizontal. 
     Next, functions of this embodiment are described. At first, an operation of accommodating the shorting terminal  10  and the terminal fittings  40  into the connector housing  50  is described. In the following description, the shorting terminal  10  preferably is at least partly accommodated first, but the terminal fittings  40  may be conversely accommodated first. 
     The connector housing  50  and the shorting terminal  10  are set in the automatic machine and the machine then pushes the shorting terminal  10  into the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57  of the housing  50  along the inserting direction ID. More particularly, the jig of the automatic machine pushes the pushable surface  19  of the contact piece  17  to displace the shorting terminal  10  substantially straight in the width direction WD and parallel to the plate surfaces of the supporting piece  21 . A pushing force is given to the contact piece  17  in the push-in direction. However, this pushing force also is distributed to the support  21  supporting the contact piece  17  at the side opposite to the pushable surface  19 , and therefore is not concentrated only on the contact piece  17 . 
     The pushing operation is stopped automatically when the shorting terminal  10  is pushed by a specified stroke by the automatic machine. If the shorting terminal  10  reaches a substantially proper mount position in this way, the locking piece  14  engages the back surface of the locking groove  63  to retain the shorting terminal  10 . Further, the locking piece  14  engages the side surface of the locking groove  63  and the front end of the shorting terminal main body  12  is fit closely into the mount guiding groove  64  to prevent shaking movements of the shorting terminal  10  in width direction WD. In this state, both touching pieces  11  cross the interior of the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57  obliquely forward and the touching portions  16  are located at height corresponding to the front positions of the two cavities  54 . 
     Both touching pieces  11  are pressed down towards the shorting terminal main body  12  in the process pushing the shorting terminal  10  into the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57  to avoid interference with the opening edge of the lateral opening of the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57 . An attempt could be made to press the touching pieces  11  down excessively. However, the lower surfaces of the touching pieces  11  contact at least one of the contact piece  17  and the support  21  to limit the downward deflection of the touching pieces  11 . 
     Subsequently, the retainer  80  is held at the partial locking position and the terminal fittings  40  connected with the ends of the wires  45  are inserted into the corresponding cavities  54  from behind. In the process of inserting the terminal fittings  40  into the left and middle cavities  54  in  FIG. 3 , portions of the tabs  41  that project into the receptacle  52  contact the touching portions  16  of the shorting terminal  10 . As a result, the touching pieces  11  are pressed down and away from the terminal fittings  40 . The terminal fittings  40  inserted into the cavities  54  are locked primarily by the metal locks  46  while being held resiliently in contact with the touching portions  16  at the base ends of the tabs  41 . The retainer  80  then is moved to the full locking position so that the retainer main body  81  locks the terminal fittings  40  secondarily. In this state, the two terminal fittings  40  are shorted by the two touching pieces  11  of the shorting terminal  10  and there is no potential difference between the two terminal fittings  40 . 
     The disengaging portion  38  of the mating female housing  30  press the touching pieces  11  down and away from the terminal fittings  40  when the two housings  10 ,  30  are connected properly to separate the touching portions  16  from the tabs  41  of the terminal fittings  40  to cancel the shorted state of the two terminal fittings  40 . 
     As described above, the shorting terminal  10  has a support  21  that contacts the contact piece  17  from the side opposite to the inserting direction ID of the shorting terminal  10  into the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  57 . Thus, the support  21  supports the contact piece  17  from the rear and the contact piece  17  will not incline and deform in the push-in direction ID when the jig is pressed against the contact piece  17 . Accordingly, the specified pushing stroke by the automatic machine positions the shorting terminal  10  correctly at the proper position in the housing  50 . 
     The contact piece  17  and the support  21  are arranged to contact the touching pieces  11  before the touching pieces  11  deform excessively. Thus, excessive deformations of the touching pieces  11  are prevented and satisfactory resilient forces are ensured for the touching pieces  11  even if the shorting terminal  10  is used repeatedly. 
     The plate surfaces of the contact piece  17  and the support  21  are aligned at substantially right angles to each other and the crossing ends are interlocked by the engagement of the recesses and projections. Thus, a supporting force by the support  21  is increased and deformation of the contact piece  17  by the jig is prevented more reliably. With the above construction, it becomes possible to operate the jig on the support  21  in a direction normal to the push-in direction against the contact piece  17  and to use the support  21  as the contact piece  17  and the contact piece  17  as the support  21 . In other words, the shorting terminal  10  can be used in a case where the mounting direction extends from the opening end of the receptacle toward the back end thereof. 
     A second embodiment of the invention is described with reference to  FIGS. 7 to 14 . The connector of the second embodiment, has a shorting terminal  100  accommodated in a female housing  300  and a disengaging portion  580  is formed in a mating male housing  500 . 
     The housing  300  is made e.g. of a synthetic resin and includes a housing main body  302  with cavities  301  for accommodating female terminal fittings  400  and a fitting tube  303  surrounds the housing main body  302 . A mating receptacle  501  is fittable between the housing main body  302  and the fitting tube  303  from the front and along connecting and separating directions CSD. A mount space for a connection detector  330  penetrates the housing  300  in forward and backward directions FBD between the upper surface of the housing main body  302  and the lower surface of the fitting tube  303 . A lock arm  304  is formed on the upper surface of the housing main body  302 , and the connection detector  330  is mounted to be connectable with the lock arm  304 . The connection detector  330  is movable between a standby position and a detecting position with respect to the lock arm  304 . Normally, the connection detector  330  is engaged with a restriction  304  on the lock arm  304  that keeps the connection detector  330  at the standby position and prevents movement of the connection detector  330  to the detecting position. However, the connection detector  330  is disengaged from the restriction  305  only when the two housings  300 ,  500  are connected properly and hence is permitted to move to the detecting position. Accordingly, a connected state of the two housings  300 ,  500  can be detected or verified depending on whether the movement of the connection detector  330  is possible. 
     As shown in  FIG. 11 , legs  306  stand up from an intermediate part of the upper surface of the housing main body  302  in forward and backward directions FBD and an arm portion  307  extends in forward and backward directions FBD from the upper ends of the legs  306 . The arm portion  307  is pivotally displaceable like a seesaw with the legs  306  as supports. An interlocking portion  308  is formed at the leading end of the lock arm  304  and is engageable with a mating lock  530 . The interlocking portion  308  doubles as the restriction  305 . 
     An accommodating chamber  310  for a wire pressing member  309  is formed in the rear end of the upper surface of the housing main body  302  and communicates with the cavities  301 . The wire pressing member  309  has sawtooth-shaped projections  311  that bite into the insulation coatings of the wires  450  to prevent loose movements of wires  450  in the cavities  301 . The wire pressing member  309  inserted into the accommodating chamber  310  is covered by the connection detector  330  from above so that the wire pressing member  309  is prevented from accidentally coming out of the accommodating chamber  310 . 
     Cavities  301  are formed substantially side by side in a row in the housing main body  302 . A stepped terminal receiving portion  312  is formed at an inner wall of each cavity  301 , and a metal lock  460  of the female terminal fitting  400  is engageable with the terminal receiving portion  312 . Shorting terminal accommodating chambers  370  are formed adjacent to and below the cavities  301  in the housing main body  302 . 
     The shorting terminal accommodating chambers  370  penetrate the housing main body  302  in forward and backward directions FBD substantially in parallel with the cavities  301 . An insertion opening is defined in rear of each shorting terminal accommodating chamber  370  and is configured for receiving the shorting terminal  100 . Front ends of the shorting terminal accommodating chambers  370  are located before the front surfaces of the cavities  301 , and lower portions thereof are closed by a front wall  320  that stands up from the bottom front end of the housing main body  302 . The front wall  320  extends substantially vertically and covers the shorting terminal accommodating chambers  370  over substantially the entire widths and functions to limit forward movements of the properly mounted shorting terminals  100  and to protect the shorting terminals  100 . An insertion path  321  for the disengaging portion  580  is formed above the front wall  320 . A projecting piece  322  is formed in the widthwise center of the upper edge of the vertical wall  320 , and a window  323  penetrates the front wall  320  in forward and backward directions FBD inwardly of the projecting piece  322 . A front part of each shorting terminal accommodating chamber  370  communicate with front parts of the two cavities  301  adjacent to each other at a corresponding widthwise side, and the shorting terminal  100  can contact the substantially box-shaped terminal main bodies  430  of the terminal fittings  400  through these communicating parts. 
     The shorting terminal  100  is formed of an electrically conductive metal plate material and includes a shorting terminal main body  120  arranged substantially horizontally along the bottom surface of the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  370  and two touching pieces  110  projecting from the front ends of the shorting terminal main body  120 . The shorting terminal main body  120  preferably is a substantially rectangular plate, and a locking piece  140  is cut at a middle part of the shorting terminal main body  120  and bent to extend obliquely down towards the back. The locking piece  140  of the properly inserted shorting terminal  100  engages the bottom surface of the shorting terminal accommodating chamber  370  to retain the shorting terminal  100 . 
     The touching pieces  110  are folded back from the front end of the shorting terminal main body  120  to cantilever backward, and are resiliently displaceable up and down with the leading end of the shorting terminal main body  120  as a base end. Tapers  111  are formed at intermediate positions of the touching pieces  110  in their extending direction and narrow touching portions  160  extend rearward from the tapers  111  to the leading ends of the touching pieces  110 . 
     Each touching portion  160  is bent into a pointed or mountain-shape in side view and includes a contact  161  at its apex for contacting the terminal fitting  400 . A slanted surface  162  slopes down and towards the front from the contact  161 . The slanted surfaces  162  of the touching portions  160  are located above the upper end of the front wall  320  and in the insertion path  321  for the disengaging portion  580  in a mounted state of the shorting terminal  100 . The leading end of the disengaging portion  580  contacts the slanted surface  162  to deform the resilient touching portions  160  away from the terminal fittings  400 . 
     The shorting terminal  100  is formed with a contact piece  170  and a support  210 . The contact piece  170  is bent up at a substantially right angle at the rear end edge of the shorting terminal main body  120 , and the opposite plate surfaces of the contact piece  170  are oriented in substantially forward and backward directions FBD. More specifically, the contact piece  170  is in the form of a rectangular plate that is long and narrow in the width direction WD and extends over substantially the entire width of the rear end edge of the shorting terminal main body  120 . A pushable surface  190  faces rearwardly on the contact piece  170 . Wider areas of the both touching pieces  110  are arranged above the contact piece  170 , so that both touching pieces  110  contact the upper end edge of the contact piece  170  to prevent excessive downward deformations of touching pieces  110 . Slits  180  are formed in the rear edge of the shorting terminal main body  120  at the opposite left and right sides of the contact piece  170 . The slits  180  enable the contact piece  170  to be bent smoothly bent and are at an inner side of the shorting terminal main body  120 . Two projections  172  project substantially in the width direction WD at the upper ends of the opposite lateral edges of the contact piece  170 , and recesses  173  are formed below the projections  172 . 
     On the other hand, supports  210  are bent up at substantially at right angles at the opposite lateral edges of the shorting terminal main body  120 , and the opposite plate surfaces of the supports  210  are oriented inwardly in left and right directions. More specifically, the supports  210  are substantially in the form of rectangular plates located at the rear ends of the opposite lateral edges of the shorting terminal main body  120  and are taller than the contact piece  170 . The supports  210  are located more outward in the width direction than the touching pieces  110  and do not interfere with the touching pieces  110  even if the touching pieces  110  were deformed excessively. Slits  180  are formed in each of the opposite lateral edges of the shorting terminal main body  120  at the front and rear ends of the support  210 . The slits  180  enable each support  210  to be bent smoothly and can be arranged at an inner side of the shorting terminal main body  120 . The rear slits  180  communicate with the slits  180  at the opposite sides of the contact piece  170  and are formed by cutting the two corners of the rear end edges of the shorting terminal main body  120 . Two projections  211  project back at the bottom of the rear end of the supports  210 , and recesses  212  are formed above the projections  211 . The projections  211  of the supports  210  align with and fit into the recesses  173  of the contact piece  170  and the projections  172  of the contact piece  170  align with and fit into the recesses  212  of the supports  210 . Thus, the supports  210  and the contact piece  170  are interlocked with each other by the engagement of the projections  172 ,  211  and the recesses  173 ,  212  crossing substantially at right angles. It should be noted that the bottom edges of the projections  211  of the supporting pieces  210  are continuous with the upper edges of the rear slits  180 . 
     The mating male housing  500  is made e.g. of a synthetic resin material and includes a terminal accommodating portion  510  and a tubular receptacle  501  projects at the front end of the terminal accommodating portion  510  similar to the first embodiment. A lock  530  projects from the upper surface of the upper wall of the receptacle  501 . Cavities  502  are arranged substantially side by side in a row in the terminal accommodating portion  510  and are at positions corresponding to the cavities  301 . Male terminal fittings  900  are insertable into the respective cavities  502  from behind so that tabs  902  of the terminal fittings  900  project into the receptacle  501 . 
     Disengaging portions  580  are cantilevered forward from the back wall of the receptacle  501  and are substantially parallel with the tabs  902  at positions below and adjacent to the tabs  902 . The front ends of the disengaging portions  580  are slightly behind the front ends of the tabs  902 . An accommodating recess  505  having a bottom surface behind the front surfaces of the cavities  502  is provided right below the disengaging portions  580 , and the front wall  320  can fit into the accommodating recess  505 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 10 , two disengaging portions  580  are arranged substantially side by side in the width direction WD in correspondence with the shorting terminals  100  and a fitting groove  506  communicates with the accommodating chamber  505  between the two disengaging portions  580 . The projecting piece  322  of the front wall  320  is insertable into the fitting groove  506 . Disengagement guiding surfaces  581  are provided at the opposite widthwise sides of the lower surfaces of the respective disengaging portions  580  for contacting the contact portions  161  of the shorting terminals  100  to deform the touching pieces  110 . The disengagement guiding surfaces  581  are sloped down towards the back, and can slide in contact with the slanted surfaces  162  of the contact portions  161  in the disengaging direction of the shorting terminals  100 . 
     Each disengaging portion  580  includes a first rib  582  between the two disengagement guiding surfaces  581  two second ribs  583  paired in the width direction WD at positions vertically overlapping with the two disengagement guiding surfaces  581  in the height direction. The first rib  582  extends over the formation range of the two disengagement guiding surfaces  581  in forward and backward directions FBD, and the second ribs  583  extend over substantially their entire lengths along the upper surface of a main part of the disengaging portion  580  in forward and backward directions FBD. The second ribs  583  have substantially the same thickness as the main part of the disengaging portion  580 , and the first rib  582  has a thickness to compensate for the main part of the disengaging portion  580  thinned by forming the disengagement guiding surfaces  581 . 
     The housing  300  and the shorting terminals  100  can be positioned with respect to each other in an unillustrated automatic machine. The machine then inserts the shorting terminals  100  from behind through the insertion openings and into the respective shorting terminal accommodating chambers  370  along an inserting direction ID′ that extends parallel to the forward and backward directions FBD. Jigs of the automatic machine are pressed against the pushable surfaces  190  of the contact pieces  170  to slide the shorting terminals  100  forward in the inserting direction ID′. Thus, a pushing force acts on the contact pieces  170  in their push-in direction ID′. However, the supports  210  support the opposite widthwise ends of the surfaces of the contact pieces  170  opposite to the pushable surfaces  190 , and as a result, the contact pieces  170  are not inclined in the push-in direction of the jigs. Further, in the moving process, the two touching pieces  110  are pressed from above to be resiliently deformed, but the upper edge of the contact piece  170  contacts the touching pieces  110  to prevent excessive deformations of the touching pieces  110 . 
     The shorting terminals  100  reach proper mount positions near the rear surface of the front wall  320  and are prevented from coming out of the shorting terminal accommodating chambers  370  by the locking pieces  140 . In this state, both touching pieces  110  extend obliquely back into the corresponding shorting terminal accommodating chamber  370 , and the contacts  161  of the touching portions  160  are in the front parts of the two cavities  301 . Thereafter, the terminal fittings  400  are inserted into the cavities  301  and engage the contacts  161  of the shorting terminals  100  and resiliently deform the touching pieces  110  down towards the shorting terminal main body  120  in the inserting process. The terminal fittings  400  in the accommodating chambers  370  engage the contacts  161  of the touching portions  160  and the adjacent terminal fittings  400  are shorted with each other via the contacts  161 . 
     The two housings  300 ,  500  are connected after all of the terminal fittings  400  are inserted. The disengagement guiding surfaces  581  of the disengaging portions  580  slide in surface contact with the slanted surfaces  162  of the touching portions  160  in the connecting process to guide smooth resilient deformations of the touching pieces  110 . Further, the first ribs  582  prevent lateral shaking of the touching pieces  110 . The touching pieces  110  are separated from the disengagement guiding surfaces  581  and contact the lower horizontal surfaces of the base ends of the disengaging portions  580  when the two housings  300 ,  500  are connected properly. As a result, the touching pieces  110  are bent horizontally and kept in their horizontal postures. The shorted state of the terminal fittings  400  is canceled when the touching pieces  110  are pushed down to separate the contacts  161  of the touching portions  160  from the terminal fittings  400 . 
     As described above, effects similar to those of the first embodiment can be obtained also in the second embodiment in which the shorting terminals  100  are accommodated in the female connector housing  300 . 
     Since each disengaging portion  580  is formed with the first rib  582  and the second ribs  583  extending substantially in forward and backward directions FBD, the disengaging portions  580  are reinforced so that the breakage or the like of the disengaging portions  580  resulting from insufficient strength can be avoided even if the disengaging portions  580  become relatively narrower as the connector is miniaturized. 
     The invention is not limited to the above described and illustrated embodiments. For example, the following embodiments are also embraced by the technical scope of the present invention as defined by the claims. 
     The contact piece and the supporting piece may be engaged such that the plate surfaces thereof cross at an angle different from 0° or 180°, preferably substantially at right angles to be substantially T-shaped in plan view. 
     The contact piece and the supporting piece may be engaged such that the plate surfaces thereof cross at acute angles or obtuse angles. 
     The plate surfaces of at least either the contact piece or the supporting piece may be slightly inclined with respect to a vertical plane. 
     At least the contact piece or the supporting piece may not be arranged to overlap with the touching piece in width direction. 
     The invention is also applicable in the case where the shorting terminal is inserted into the shorting terminal accommodating chamber from front of the housing or in any other direction. In this case, as described in the first embodiment, the jig of the automatic machine may be pressed against the front surface of the supporting piece. 
     The invention is also applicable if the shorting terminal is fit manually into the shorting terminal accommodating chamber of the housing. 
     The first embodiment is also applicable in the case where the shorting terminal shorts the mating female terminal fittings. Generally, the shorting terminal may according to the present invention short the terminal fitting and/or the mating terminal fitting. 
     In the second embodiment, either the first ribs or the second ribs may be omitted. Further, only one second rib may be provided substantially in the widthwise center of each disengaging portion. 
     It should be understood that the supporting piece may be formed by bending a portion of the contact piece itself and may be engaged an edge of the shorting terminal main body particularly by means of recesses and projections provided on either one so as to be interlockable. Accordingly, the supporting piece supports the integrally or unitarily formed contact piece by engaging or being on the portion of the shorting terminal main body. 
     It should be understood that the shorting terminal may have an appropriate number of resiliently deformable touching pieces, i.e. the shorting terminal may be formed with two, three or more resiliently deformable touching pieces which can touch or contact a corresponding number of terminal fittings so as to be able to short the terminal fittings.