Patent Publication Number: US-6666708-B2

Title: Connector

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a connector. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     A wiring harness  1  of an automotive vehicle includes a known female connector  2  and is disposed in proximity to an inner wall  3  of the automotive vehicle, as shown in FIG. 11. A male connector  4  projects from the inner wall  3  and is configured for connection to the female connector  2 . The female connector  2  has a housing  5  with a plurality of cavities that open to the rear of the housing  5 . Terminal fittings (not shown) are secured to the ends of each of a plurality of wires  1 A of the wiring harness  1  and are accommodated in the cavities of the connector housing  5 . The wires  1 A extend back from the connector housing  5  and are bent sideways at positions spaced from the connector housing  5 . 
     The wires  1 A must project from the rear of the connector housing  5  by a distance L 1  to achieve a natural bend of the wires  1 A. However, the wires  1 A often are bent forcibly if there is insufficient space behind the connector  2 , and the forcibly bent wires  1 A are subjected to a large stress. Further, it is difficult to push the connector  2  into the mating connector  4  if there is insufficient space behind the connector  2 . 
     In view of the above situation, an object of the present invention is to provide a connector which enables an easy handling of wires and an easy connecting operation even if a reduced space can be provided behind the connector with respect to its connecting direction. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention is directed to a connector that comprises a connector housing. At least one terminal fitting is fastened to an end of a wire and is insertable into the connector housing. Each terminal fitting is substantially L-shaped and has a wire fastening portion fastened to the wire along a side of the terminal fitting that intersects a connector connecting direction, and that preferably is substantially normal to the connector connecting direction. 
     The terminal fittings preferably are locked in the connector housing by a retainer. The retainer is placed at the rear end of the terminal fittings and is locked in the connector housing. Thus, the wires are fastened to the wire fastening portions of the respective L-shaped terminal fittings, and are pulled out in a direction that intersects the connector connecting direction when the terminal fittings are accommodated in the connector housing. Therefore, unlike the prior art, it is not necessary to provide a sufficient space behind the connector to bend the wires with a bending radius that will not damage the wires or subject the wires to excessive stress and strain forces. As a result, the wires can be handled easily even if no wide space can be provided behind the connector. Further, the terminal fittings are locked by placing the retainer at the rear end of the terminal fittings with respect to the inserting direction of the terminal fittings into the connector housing. 
     The retainer preferably comprises locking means to be locked with mating locking means on the connector housing and at least one projecting portion that abuts the terminal fittings to lock them into the connector housing. 
     The L-shaped terminal fittings may be accommodated at a plurality of stages in the connector housing such that the terminal fittings at one stage are displaced obliquely backward from the terminal fittings at another stage. Thus, the female terminal fittings adjacent to each other at different stages can also be adjacent to each other along the wire fastening portions, thereby enabling the connector housing to be more compact. 
     The terminal fittings preferably are at two stages in the connector housing such that the terminal fittings at one stage and those at the other stage are oriented oppositely. Thus, the female terminal fittings adjacent to each other at different stages also can be adjacent along the wire fastening portions, thereby enabling the connector housing to be more compact. 
     The connector may further comprise a slider that is slid at an angle to the connector connecting direction. The slider preferably comprises a cam mechanism for pulling the connector housing and a mating connector housing together and connecting them with each other as the slider is slid. Therefore, the connectors can be connected easily with each other even if no wide space can be provided behind the connector. 
     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 perspective view of male and female connectors according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a side view in section of the male and female connectors. 
     FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the male connector. 
     FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the female connector. 
     FIG. 5 is an exploded side view in section of the female connector. 
     FIGS.  6 (A) and  6 (B) are a plan view in section and a side view in section of the male and female connectors at an initial stage of a connecting operation. 
     FIGS.  7 (A) and  7 (B) are a plan view in section and a side view in section of the male and female connectors after completion of the connecting operation. 
     FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the completely connected male and female connectors. 
     FIG. 9 is an exploded side view in section of a female connector according to a second embodiment. 
     FIG. 10 is a side view in section of the female connector of FIG.  9 . 
     FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a prior art connector. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     A male connector in accordance with the invention is identified by the numeral  10  in FIG.  1 . The male connector  10  has a male housing  11  substantially in the form of a transversely long receptacle. 
     The male housing  11  is secured, for example, to an inner wall  10 D of a body of an automotive vehicle, and a back wall  12  of the male housing  11  is stepped so that an upper surface  14  is more backward than a lower back surface  15 , as shown in FIG.  2 . Male tabs  16  project from the back surfaces  14 ,  15 . More specifically, each male tab  16  is formed by bending a substantially rectangular plate at substantially a right angle into a substantially L-shape. The male tabs  16  are arranged substantially side by side at two or more stages, and one side of each male tab  16  penetrates the back surface  14 ,  15  of the back wall  12 . The base end of each male tab  16  extends down in FIG. 2 behind the male housing  11 , and is inserted through a pinhole of a circuit board  16 K for connection to a pattern laid on the circuit board  16 K. 
     The top and bottom of the male housing  11  in FIG. 2 have a double wall comprised of opposed outer and inner walls  18  and  19 . The outer and inner walls  18 ,  19  extend from opposite rear corners of the male housing  11  along the rear edges and are connected with surrounding walls  43 S, as shown in FIG.  3 . Clearances  18 A are defined between the outer and inner walls  18 ,  19  and are open at the front surface and at the side surfaces of the front corners of the male housing  11 . A slider  20  is mounted in the clearances  18 A. 
     The slider  20  is in the form of a rectangular frame, and has opposed substantially flat plates  21  and operable portions  21 B that connect the opposite ends of the flat plates  21 , as shown in FIG.  3 . The flat plates  21  can be mounted into the clearances  18 A between the inner and outer walls  18 ,  19 . Each flat plate  21  has a projecting piece  23  that projects toward the clearance  18 A from a middle portion of a rectangular plate  22 . A guide groove  24  is formed at the leading end of the projecting piece  23  and extends normal to a connecting direction CD of the male and female connectors  10 ,  40 . Guide projections  25  are formed at the back of the clearances  18 A and project from the outer wall  18  toward the inner wall  19 , as shown in FIG.  2 . The projecting pieces  23  of the slider  20  can be pushed into the clearances  18 A to deform the outer walls  18  resiliently outwardly. The outer walls  18  then are restored to their original shapes to fit the guide projections  25  into the guide grooves  24 . Thus, the slider  20  is locked in the clearances  18 A and is slideable in a sliding direction SD that intersects the connecting direction CD at an angle of preferably 90° to the connector connecting direction CD. Furthermore, recesses  43 Sa in the surrounding wall  43 S enable slider  20  to slide laterally in a direction that intersects the connecting direction CD. 
     Each flat plate  21  has two cam grooves  26  that extend obliquely toward the guide groove  24  as shown in FIG.  3 . The cam grooves  26  are open at the front ends of the flat plates  21 . Each inner wall  19  of the male housing  11  is formed with two grooves  17  that extend substantially along the connector connecting direction CD and correspond to the cam grooves  26 . Each groove  17  is open at the front end of the inner wall  19 . The openings of the cam grooves  26  and the grooves  17  are in agreement with the slider  20  at one end of its slideable range, as shown in FIG.  6 (A). 
     The female connector  40  has a female housing  41  that is transversely long and substantially conforms to the configuration of the male housing  11 , as shown in FIG.  1 . The female housing  41  has cavities  43  in at least two stages for accommodating female terminal fittings  42 , as shown in FIG.  4 . The upper cavities  43  are displaced forward from the lower cavities  43  with respect to the connector connecting direction CD. Thus, the front end surface of the female housing  41  is stepped to align with the back surfaces  14 ,  15  of the male housing  11 . 
     The rear end surface of the female housing  41  also is stepped, so that terminal insertion openings  43 A of the upper and lower cavities  43  are displaced forward and backward with respect to a terminal inserting direction. An auxiliary wall  44  extends up from the rear edge of the upper surface of the female housing  41 , whereas a bottom wall  45  extends back from the rear edge of the bottom of the female housing  41 . Further, substantially cylindrical cam followers  49  project from each of the upper and bottom surfaces of the female housing  41 , as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. 
     Retainers  46  are mounted at the rear end of the female housing  41 , and are opposed to the terminal insertion openings  43 A of the respective cavities  43 . Each retainer  46  has a substantially rectangular plate  47  and locking claws  48  extend toward the female housing  43  from opposite ends of the rectangular plate  47 . The locking claws  48  engage locking projections  43 K at the opposite outer side surfaces of the cavities  43 , as shown in FIG.  4 . Each rectangular plate  47  has a plurality of projecting pieces  47 A that abut against partition walls between adjacent terminal insertion openings  43 A. Further, projections  47 B are formed between adjacent projecting pieces  47 A and project toward the terminal insertion openings  43 A, as shown in FIG.  5 . The female terminal fittings  42  are locked in the cavities  43  by bringing the projections  47 B into abutment against the rear ends of terminal main bodies  50  of the female terminal fittings  42 . 
     Two kinds of female terminal fittings  42  are provided respectively for thin wires and thick wires, as shown in FIG.  4 . However, these two kinds of female terminal fittings  42  have a common basic construction. In particular, each female terminal fittings  42  has a substantially rectangular tubular wire fastening portion  55  that extends up from the rear end of the terminal main body  50 , as shown in FIG.  5 . 
     Each wire fastening portion  55  is formed from a flat plate  55 A that extends from the bottom wall of the terminal main body  50 . The flat plate  55 A is bent at an angle, and preferably a right angle. Opposite lateral ends of the flat plate  55 A are bent to face each other and to form a wire barrel  56  and an insulation barrel  57 . Auxiliary claws  58  extend from the rear ends of the side walls of the terminal main body  50  and engage the base end of the flat plate  55 A so that the wire fastening portion  55  remains in an extending direction ED arranged at an angle and preferably a right angle to the insertion direction ID. As shown in FIG. 2, a core is exposed from an insulation coating at an end of a wire  70 . The core and the insulation coating are placed in the wire barrel  56  and in the insulation barrel  57  which then are crimped, folded or bent into connection with the wire  70 . 
     A tongue  51  is at the front of the terminal main body  50 , as shown in FIG. 5, and is brought resiliently into contact with a mating male tab  16 . The bottom surface of the terminal main body  50  is formed with a locking hole  52 . A lock  53  is cantilevered into the cavity  43  for engagement with the locking hole  52  for partly locking the female terminal fitting  42  in the cavity  43 . The retainers  46  are mounted into the female housing  41  from behind for fully locking the female terminal fittings  42  in the cavities  43 . Specifically, the female terminal fittings  42  are mounted into the upper cavities  43 , and then the retainer  46  is mounted from behind. The female terminal fittings  42  then are mounted into the lower cavities  43 , and the retainer  46  is mounted from behind. In this state, the wires  70  extend up from the rear end of the female housing  41  and are bent sideways and bundled e.g. by tape into a wiring harness. 
     The female and male connectors  10 ,  40  are connected by first bringing the slider  20  to one end of its slideable range and aligning the openings of the cam grooves  26  with those of the grooves  17 , as shown in FIG.  6 (A). The female housing  41  is fit into the male housing  11  in this state. Thus, the cam followers  49  on the female housing  41  enter the cam grooves  26  through the openings aligned with those of the grooves  17 . The slider  20  is slid in this state, so that the connectors  10 ,  40  are pulled toward and connected with each other, as shown in FIGS.  7 (A),  7 (B) and  8 . The slider  20  is operated in the sliding direction SD, which preferably is substantially normal to the connector connecting direction CD. Thus, the two connectors  10 ,  40  can be connected easily even if there is no wide space behind the female connector  40 . The slider  20  may be slid in the opposite direction to detach the male and female connectors  10 ,  40  from each other. 
     Wires  70  are fastened to the wire fastening portions  55  at one side of the substantially L-shaped female terminal fittings  42 . The wires  70  are pulled from the female housing  41  in the extending direction ED, when the female terminal fittings  42  are accommodated in the female housing  41 . The extending direction ED preferably is substantially normal to the connector connecting direction CD. Thus, it is not necessary to provide a space to bend the wires  70  naturally at the rear side with respect to the connector connecting direction CD. Thus, the wires can be handled easily even if no wide space can be provided behind the connector with respect to the connecting direction CD. The female terminal fitting  42  of one stage can be displaced by a specified distance along the inserting direction ID with respect to the female terminal fitting  42  in another stage. Thus, the female terminal fittings  42  adjacent to each other at different stages can also be adjacent to each other along the wire fastening portions  55 , thereby making the female housing  41  more compact. 
     A female connector  60  according to a second embodiment is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. The female connector  60  includes a female connector housing  61  with cavities  62  arrayed at two or more stages. The cavities  62  are arranged so that their front and rear surfaces are substantially flush at both stages without being displaced as in the first embodiment. Auxiliary walls  63  stand up and down from the rear end of the female housing  61 , and projections  64  for locking female terminal fittings  71  in the cavities  62  are formed on the ceiling surfaces of the cavities  62  at the upper stage and on the bottom surfaces of the cavities  62  at the lower stage. 
     The female terminal fittings  71  are identical to the female terminal fittings  42  of the first embodiment except that metal locks  72  are provided for locking the terminal fittings  71 , as shown in FIG.  9 . Each metal lock  72  is formed by making a cut in a surrounding wall of the terminal main body  50  and bending the cut portion to extend obliquely backward with respect to a terminal inserting direction. The metal locks  72  move over the projections  64  and engage the back sides of the projections  64  when the female terminal fittings  71  are inserted into the corresponding cavities  62  to achieve partial locking. The female terminal fittings  71  are locked fully by mounting a retainer  65  on the rear end surface of the female housing  61 , as shown in FIG.  10 . 
     The retainer  65  has a flat plate  66  substantially corresponding to dimensions from the upper end of the upper auxiliary wall  63  to the bottom end of the lower auxiliary wall  63 . A projected portion  67  projects from the flat plate  66  toward a middle portion of the female housing  61  between the upper and lower cavities  62 . Unillustrated locking claws extend from opposite ends of the retainer  65  toward the female housing  61  and are engaged with and fixed to the female housing  61 . 
     The other construction is the same as or similar to the construction of the first embodiment, and no repetitive description is given thereon by identifying it by the same reference numerals. 
     In this embodiment as well, wires fastened to the wire fastening portions  55  of the L-shaped female terminal fittings  71  are pulled out in the extension direction ED. The extension direction ED is substantially normal to the connector connecting direction CD as in the first embodiment. Therefore, even a case where insufficient space can be provided behind the connector with respect to the connecting direction can be dealth with. 
     The present invention is not limited to the above described and illustrated embodiments. For example, following embodiments are also embraced by the technical scope of the present invention as defined in the claims. Beside the following embodiments, various changes can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention as defined in the claims. 
     The wires  70  are pulled out upward in FIG. 1 from the rear end of the female housing  41 , bent sideways and bundled in the first embodiment. However, they may be pulled up in FIG.  1  and bundled. Thus, the wiring harness may extend up. 
     The front surface of the female housing  41  according to the first embodiment is stepped. However, it may be flat if the terminal main bodies  50  of the female terminal fittings  42  to be accommodated in the lower cavities  43  are made longer than those of the female terminal fittings  42  to be accommodated in the upper cavities  43 . 
     Although the female terminal fittings  42  are accommodated at two stages in the female housing  41  of the first embodiment, they may be accommodated at one, three or more stages in the female housing. 
     Although the slider  20  is assembled into the male housing  11  in the foregoing embodiment, it may be assembled into the female housing.