Patent ID: 7686630

Claim:
A connector, comprising: a male connector comprising a male terminal arranged substantially linearly, a first body provided with the male terminal, and a first terminal housing formed with a first housing opening facing an end of the male terminal and receiving the male terminal in its specified receiving space and incorporating the first body therein; a female connector comprising a female terminal paired with the male terminal, a female terminal box formed with a female terminal opening facing an end of the female terminal and receiving the female terminal in its specified receiving space, and a second body provided with the female terminal and the female terminal box, the engagement of the male connector and the female connector, or the first terminal housing and the second terminal housing electrically connecting the male terminal and the female terminal; foreign body preventing means for preventing a foreign body from being mixed into the specified receiving space of the first terminal housing, the foreign body preventing means comprising a blocking sheet member enclosed in the specified receiving space of the first terminal housing for blocking or substantially blocking the first housing opening, and a male terminal opening through which the male terminal passes at a specified position in the blocking sheet member, wherein when the female terminal box is inserted into the specified receiving space of the first terminal housing, the blocking sheet member is interlocked with that insertion to cause the male terminal to pass through the male terminal opening and the blocking sheet member to slide toward the first body, while when the female terminal box is detached from the specified receiving space of the first terminal housing, the blocking sheet member is interlocked with that detachment to slide toward the first housing opening, and wherein the foreign body preventing means further comprises female locking means provided at both ends of the female terminal box of the female connector for locking the blocking sheet member of the male connector, and male locking means provided at both ends of the blocking sheet member of the male connector and engaged with the female locking means for locking the female terminal box of the female connector, the male locking means and the female locking means locking the blocking sheet member and the female terminal box, thereby causing the male terminal openings of the blocking sheet member and the female terminal openings of the female terminal box to be arranged in pairs.