Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6186806
-
Patent Number
6,186,806
-
Date Filed
Monday, April 10, 200024 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, February 13, 200123 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 439 189
- 439 507
- 439 509
- 439 511
- 439 587
- 439 589
- 439 595
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
A connector includes a housing having a plurality of cavities, a plurality of resiliently deformable locking members, and a plurality of terminals. Each terminal is inserted in the respective cavity and has (a) a partially inserted position in which the terminal bears on the respective locking member to deform the locking member so that the locking member is elevated with respect to a peripheral surface of the housing, and (b) a fully inserted position in which the locking member snap-fits to the terminal thereby locking the terminal in the cavity. The connector further includes a bus bar holder having a sleeve and a plurality of bus bar tab pieces which are accommodated in the sleeve. The sleeve is push-fitted over the peripheral surface of the housing via a partially installed position, at which the tab pieces do not contact said terminals, to a fully installed position, at which the tab pieces contact said terminals. In this way, in the fully installed position, the bus bar holder is installed to the housing with the terminals electrically connected to each other. In addition, each locking member is adapted so that when the terminal is in the partially inserted position with the respective locking member elevated with respect to the peripheral surface of the housing and an attempt is made to push-fit the sleeve to the partially installed position, the sleeve bears on the locking member to prevent the sleeve arriving at the partially installed position. The connector also comprises a detent for detaining said bus bar holder at said partially installed position. An assembling jig is provided which, if the connector is not properly assembled at the partially installed position, will not accept the connector.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a connector, particularly a connector for use in the wiring of a vehicle such as an automobile, and a jig for assembling the connector.
2. Description of Related Art
A connector which is capable of detecting the incomplete insertion of a terminal is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-106847. In the connector, cavities are formed in a housing. A lance for preventing removal of a terminal is formed in each cavity such that the locking lance confronts an outer surface of the housing, and a retainer is installed on the outer surface of the housing. In the case where every terminal has been inserted into the normal position of each cavity, the locking lances are flush with the outer surface of the housing. In this case, the retainer can be installed on the housing without the retainer interfering with the locking lances. On the other hand, in the case where any of the terminals has not been inserted into the normal position of each cavity, the terminal bears on the locking lance and the locking lance is projected outwardly from the outer surface of the housing. In this case, when the retainer is installed on the housing it collides with the locking lance. Thus, the installation of the retainer on the housing is suspended. In this manner, it is possible to detect whether the terminal has been properly inserted by whether the retainer can be installed on the housing.
However, there remains a problem when installation of the retainer is performed at the same time that a bus bar is connected to the terminals. During installation of the bus bar, the bus bar engages the terminals. As a result, frictional resistance is generated, and the operator performing the installation may mistakenly believe that installation resistance has been caused not by the collision between the retainer and the locking lance but by the friction between the bus bar and the terminals. In this case the operator may continue with the installation of the bus bar and the retainer on the housing, and consequently the locking lance may be broken. Alternatively, the operator may mistakenly believe that installation resistance has been generated not by friction between the bus bar and the terminal fitting but by the collision between the retainer and the locking lance and may unnecessarily check the insertion state of the terminal.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to reliably detect the incomplete insertion of a terminal.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a connector including a housing having a plurality of cavities, a plurality of resiliently deformable locking members, and a plurality of terminals. Each terminal is inserted in the respective cavity and has (a) a partially inserted position in which the terminal bears on the respective locking member to deform the locking member so that the locking member is raised with respect to a peripheral surface of the housing and (b) a fully inserted position in which the locking member snap-fits to the terminal thereby locking the terminal in the cavity. The connector further includes a bus bar holder having a sleeve and a plurality of bus bar tab pieces which are accommodated in the sleeve. The sleeve is push-fitted over the peripheral surface of the housing via a partially installed position, at which the tab pieces do not contact the terminals, to a fully installed position, at which the tab pieces contact the terminals. In this way, in the fully installed position, the bus bar holder is installed to the housing with the terminals electrically connected to each other.
In addition, each locking member is adapted so that when a terminal is in its partially inserted position with the respective locking member elevated from the peripheral surface of the housing and an attempt is made to push-fit the sleeve to the partially installed position, the sleeve bears on the locking member to prevent the sleeve from arriving at the partially installed position. The connector also includes a detent that detains the bus bar holder at the partially installed position.
During installation of the bus bar holder on the housing up to and including when the holder reaches the partially installed position, the bus bar holder is not subjected to any resistance that may be generated by the contact between the bus bar tab pieces and the terminals. However, after the bus bar holder passes the partially installed position, the tab pieces start to contact the terminals. Accordingly, it is possible to discriminate between the installation resistance on the bus bar holder due to the collision between a locking member and the sleeve, and the installation resistance that is generated due to collision or friction between the terminals and the tab pieces, because the former installation resistance would be felt before the bus bar holder reached the partially installed position. In this manner, it is possible reliably to detect the insertion state of the terminals.
In a second aspect of the present invention there is provided an assembly jig for setting thereon the connector of the first aspect of the invention and for assembling the connector by push-fitting the sleeve of the connector from the partially installed position to the fully installed position. The jig is sized so that when the sleeve of the connector is prevented from arriving at the partially installed position the connector is prevented from being set on the jig. On the other hand, when the sleeve of the connector is at the partially installed position the connector, is settable on the jig.
If the bus bar holder is prevented from arriving at the partially installed position by a collision between the sleeve and a locking member, which is in turn caused by the corresponding terminal having not been fully inserted, it is impossible to set the connector on the assembly jig. This is so even if the operator has not previously detected the incomplete insertion of the terminal. In this manner, it may be reliably detected that one or more of the terminals is in an incomplete insertion state.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of non-limitative example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1
is a perspective view of the housing, sealing member and seal holder of a connector embodying the invention;
FIG. 2
is a partly cut-away perspective view of a bus bar unit of the connector of
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 3
is a perspective view of a cap for the connector shown in
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 4
is a partly cut-away plan view of the connector in an assembled state;
FIG. 5
is a partly cut-away plan view of the connector in which a bus bar unit is positioned at a temporary locking position;
FIG. 6
is a sectional view on line
6
—
6
of
FIG. 4
including terminals in the connector cavities (in broken lines), a lower bus bar unit fully installed, and an upper bus bar unit bearing on a locking lance;
FIG. 7
is the same sectional view as
FIG. 6
with bus bar units in partially installed positions and the connector set on an assembly jig;
FIG. 8
is the same sectional view as
FIG. 7
but with both bus bar units moved to fully installed positions by the assembly jig;
FIG. 9
is the same section view as
FIG. 6
, but with the upper bus bar unit prevented from arriving at its partially inserted position; and
FIG. 10
is the same section view as
FIG. 6
but with both bus bar units fully installed.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
A connector embodying the present invention is shown in
FIGS. 1
to
10
. The connector electrically connects a plurality of terminals
20
in a predetermined connection pattern with a bus bar
55
and has a housing
10
, a plurality of the terminals
20
, a sealing member
30
, a seal holder
40
, two bus bar units
50
, and a cap
60
.
The housing
10
is made of a synthetic resinous material. As shown in
FIG. 1
, the housing
10
has cavities
11
arranged in upper and lower rows and extending through the housing
10
in a front-to-rear direction. In each of the upper and lower rows, the cavities
11
may be arranged widthwise at regular intervals. The front half region of the upper-row cavities
11
and the lower-row cavities
11
are open at the upper and lower surfaces of the housing
10
, respectively. In each open portion, locking members, such as locking lances
12
, project forward in a cantilever manner. Between the upper and lower rows of the cavities
11
there is formed a wide recess
13
for allowing the peripheral walls of the bus bar units
50
to penetrate. An upper surface wall and a lower surface wall of the recess
13
are partly cut away to allow communication with the cavities
11
.
The locking lances
12
retain and prevent the removal of the terminals
20
inserted into the cavity
11
. In cooperation with a cylindrical portion
53
of the bus bar unit
50
, it is also used for detecting the degree of insertion of the terminal
20
. As shown in
FIG. 6
, each locking lance
12
can be outwardly elastically displaced relative to an outer surface of the housing
10
. Before each terminal
20
is inserted into each cavity
11
or when the terminals
20
are fully inserted therein, the locking lances
12
are undeformed, and an outer surface of the locking lance is flush with the outer surface of the housing
10
. In this state, a removal prevention projection formed at a front end of the locking lance
12
is engaged in a locking hole
24
of the terminal
20
(see lower bus bar unit of FIG.
6
), thus preventing removal of the terminals
20
. However, when any terminal
20
is not fully inserted, the removal prevention projection interferes with the outer surface of a mating portion
21
of the terminals
20
that are not fully inserted. As a result, the corresponding locking lances
12
are elastically displaced outward such that the outer surface is located outwardly from the outer surface of the housing
10
(see upper bus bar unit of FIG.
6
). Therefore, when each bus bar unit
50
is installed on the housing
10
, the cylindrical portion
53
of the bus bar unit
50
collides with the front end of the locking lances
12
. This prevents the bus bar from being completely installed.
Each terminal
20
is made of a metal plate material punched into a predetermined configuration. As shown in FIG.
1
and
FIG. 6
, the front half part of each terminal
20
may be formed as a square pillar-shaped mating portion
21
that is open forward and rearward. The rear half of the terminal
20
is formed as an electric wire connection portion
22
that may be crimped to the core of an electric wire
25
.
As shown in
FIGS. 6-10
, a resilient contact piece
23
that contacts a connection piece
57
of the bus bar
55
, described in detail below, is formed inside the mating portion
21
. The locking hole
24
with which the locking lance
12
of the housing
10
engages is formed on a peripheral wall of the mating portion
21
. Each terminal
20
is inserted into a respective cavity
11
of the housing
10
by passing it through the seal member
30
and the seal holder
40
installed on the housing
10
from the rear of the housing
10
. Immediately before the terminal
20
reaches its fully inserted position, the locking lance
12
interferes with the peripheral surface of the mating portion
21
. Therefore, the locking lance
12
flexes elastically outward from the housing
10
. When the terminal
20
reaches the fully inserted position, the locking lance
12
is elastically restored to its original state and is engaged in the locking hole
24
, thus preventing the terminal
20
from being removed from the cavity
11
. The orientation of the terminals
20
in the upper row of cavities
11
is preferably reversed relative to that of the terminals in the lower cavity row.
The sealing member
30
is made of rubber, oval-shaped, and thick. As shown in
FIG. 1
, the sealing member
30
is installed on the housing
10
and is sandwiched between the rear end surface of the housing
10
and the front end surface of the seal holder
40
. As shown in
FIG. 4
, a plurality of sealing holes
31
that are open at the front and rear surfaces of the sealing member
30
are formed coincident with the cavities
11
of the housing
10
. Each sealing hole
31
may be circular, for example. A lip portion
31
A of corrugated shape has, for example, three convexities which are circumferentially formed on the inner peripheral surface of each sealing hole
31
as shown in
FIGS. 4-5
. The inner diameter of the lip portion
34
is smaller than the outer diameter of the coating of the wire
25
. When a wire
25
is in a sealing hole
31
, as shown in
FIG. 6
, the lip portion contacts the peripheral surface of the wire
25
elastically, thus sealing around the wire
25
.
The peripheral edge of the sealing member
30
is formed as a corrugated sealing edge. The lip portion
34
also has, for example, three convexities approximately semi-circular in section extending circumferentially around the sealing member
30
. The lip portion
34
contacts the inner peripheral surface of the cap
60
elastically, thus sealing between the sealing member
30
and the cap
60
.
The seal holder
40
is made of a relatively rigid synthetic resin material. Similarly to the sealing member
30
, the seal holder
40
may be oval-shaped. The lip portion
34
formed on the periphery of the sealing member
30
is slightly larger than the periphery of the seal holder
40
. A plurality of terminal insertion openings
41
shown in
FIGS. 4-6
extend between the front and rear end surfaces of the seal holder
40
in correspondence to the cavities
11
and the sealing holes
31
. Each terminal
20
is inserted into a respective cavity
11
through a respective terminal insertion opening
41
.
Two locking projections
44
are formed at each end of upper and lower flat peripheral surfaces of the seal holder
40
. The locking projections
44
engage the cap
60
, thus hindering the cap
60
from being easily removed from the housing
10
, the sealing member
30
and the seal holder
40
. An index projection
45
is formed in each circular arc-shaped region located at right and left ends of the peripheral surface of the seal holder
40
. Each of a pair of the index projections
45
may be formed such that the inward side thereof is on a level higher than that of the outward side thereof. The index projections
45
serve as indexes for checking the upper and lower sides of the housing
10
when the terminals
20
are inserted into the cavities
11
.
As shown in
FIG. 2
, the bus bar unit
50
is composed of a holding member
51
made of a relatively rigid synthetic resin material and a metal bus bar
55
integrated with the holding member
51
by insert molding. The holding member
51
has a wide sheet-shaped holding portion
52
and a flat cylindrical portion
53
projecting rearward (direction toward the housing
10
) from the sheet-shaped holding portion
52
. The bus bar
55
includes a plurality of connection pieces
57
projecting in parallel with each other in the shape of a cantilever from an edge of a belt-shaped carrier
56
. The bus bar
55
is held with the carrier
56
disposed along the sheet-shaped holding portion
52
and with connection pieces
57
facing the cylindrical portion
53
. Punched holes
54
are formed on the sheet-shaped holding portion
52
in correspondence to the gaps between adjacent connection pieces
57
projecting from the carrier
56
. In the process of producing the bus bar unit
50
, a portion of a carrier
56
facing each punched hole
54
is punched with a punch and die in correspondence to a predetermined connection pattern. As a result, the carrier
56
is divided (not shown) into a plurality of bus bars
55
. One bus bar
55
has at least three connection pieces
57
. A plurality of the terminals
20
are connected by each bus bar
55
through the connection pieces
57
.
Each bus bar unit
50
is installed on the housing
10
in a direction forward therefrom such that the cylindrical portion
53
covers the upper-row cavities
11
or the lower-row cavities
11
. When the bus bar unit
50
has been installed on the housing
10
, the connection pieces
57
are connected with the terminals
20
. Connection patterns can be discriminated from each other by, for example, changing the color of the holding member
51
of the bus bar unit
50
. The upper part of the holding member
51
and the lower part thereof are not symmetrical. Thus, the bus bar unit
50
can be installed on the housing
10
in a correct direction, and a group of the terminals
20
can be connected in a correct pattern by checking colors and directions of the holding members
51
.
The cap
60
is made of a relatively rigid synthetic resin material. As shown in
FIG. 3
, the cap
60
is oval-shaped in a front view and has a closed bottom. Locking holes
61
to which the locking projections
44
of the seal holder
40
lock are formed at the edge of the open mouth of the cap
60
. The cap
60
is locked in the installed state by the engagement between the locking projections
44
and the locking holes
61
. Relief portions
62
projecting outwardly are formed on the edge of an opening of the cap
60
to prevent the cap
60
from interfering with the index projections
45
of the seal holder
40
. The region of the inner peripheral surface of the cap
60
near the edge of its opening is formed as a sealing surface
63
with which the lip portion
34
formed on the peripheral edge of the sealing member
30
contacts elastically as shown in FIG.
10
.
Guide grooves
58
shown in
FIG. 2
, which are part of a temporary locking mechanism or detent, extend in a front to rear direction at the right and left-hand sides of the cylindrical portion
53
of each bus bar unit
50
. Front and rear locking projections
17
and
18
, which are also part of the temporary locking mechanism or detent, corresponding to each guide groove
58
are formed on the housing
10
. Each bus bar unit
50
is held at a temporary locking position whereby a rear end portion of the cylindrical portion
53
is between the locking projections
17
and
18
. The rear end portion is defined by the rear edge of the cylindrical portion
53
and the rear end of the guide groove
58
(see FIG.
5
). Each bus bar unit
50
is held at a fully installed position by locking the front end of the guide groove
58
and the rear end thereof to the locking projections
17
and
18
, respectively, with the front and rear ends of the guide groove
58
sandwiching the locking projections
17
and
18
therebetween (see FIG.
4
). When the bus bar units
50
are held at the fully installed position, the terminals
20
are electrically connected by the bus bars
55
. As described above, during the installation of each bus bar unit
50
on the housing
10
, the bus bar units
50
are held at the temporary locking position (see lower bus bar unit of FIG.
6
and
FIG. 7
) which is located forward from the fully installed position (see
FIGS. 8 and 10
) where the terminals are electrically connected. The temporary locking position is located rearwardly from a collision position at which the locking lances
12
would collide with the respective bus bar unit
50
if the locking lances
12
were outwardly displaced from the outer surface of the housing
10
due to an incomplete terminal insertion (see upper step of FIG.
6
). In other words, on installation each bus bar unit
50
must pass the collision position before it arrives at the temporary locking position. Over the distance between an installation start position of the bus bar unit
50
and the temporary locking position, through the collision position between the locking lances
12
and the bus bar unit
50
, the tab pieces
57
are not in contact with the terminals
20
.
During assembly of the connector, an assembling jig
70
is used as shown in
FIGS. 7-9
. The assembling jig
70
has a function of installing the bus bar units
50
on the housing
10
and detecting the state of insertion of the terminals
20
. As shown in
FIGS. 7-9
, the assembling jig
70
includes a lever
72
which is supported at the right end of a substrate
71
and can be pivoted between a waiting state shown in
FIGS. 7 and 9
and an assembling state shown in FIG.
8
. The assembling jig
70
also includes a pressing member
73
which is moved leftward in
FIGS. 7-9
in correspondence with a pivotal motion (counterclockwise in
FIGS. 7-9
) of the lever
72
by a camming action of the lever
72
. The assembling jig
70
also has a stationary positioning member
74
located leftward in
FIGS. 7-9
from the pressing member
73
. A return spring (not shown) biases the lever
72
and the pressing member
73
to the waiting position. The connector is placed between the pressing member
73
(located at the waiting position) and the positioning member
74
, with the bus bar units
50
set at the temporary locking position.
The distance between the pressing member
73
in the waiting position and the positioning member
74
is equal to or a little longer than the distance between the front ends of the bus bar units
50
when the bus bar units
50
are at the temporary locking position and the rear end of the housing
10
. Therefore, the connector cannot be set in the jig
70
if either bus bar unit
50
has not reached the temporary locking position. This is because the bus bar unit
50
interferes with the upper surface of the pressing member
73
.
When the lever
72
is shifted from the waiting state to the assembling state after the connector has been set in the jig
70
, the pressing member
73
moves leftward and presses the bus bar units
50
from the temporary locking position to the normal assembling position. During the movement of the bus bar units
50
, the connection pieces
57
of the bus bar units
50
contact the resilient contact pieces
23
. Consequently, the terminals
20
are connected to each other.
An assembly procedure is, for example, as follows. Initially, the sealing member
30
is sandwiched between the seal holder
40
and the housing
10
. At this time, a projection (not shown) formed on the housing
10
is passed through the sealing member
30
and the tip of the projection is locked to the seal holder
40
. This locks the seal member
30
to the housing
10
, and removal of the seal holder
40
is prevented. Then, the terminals
20
are inserted through the openings
41
and the holes
31
into the cavities
11
.
Thereafter, the bus bar unit
50
is installed at the temporary locking position on the housing
10
, and the bus bar unit
50
is placed on the assembling jig
70
. Then, by operating the lever
72
of the assembling jig
70
, the bus bar units
50
are pressed to the fully installed position from the temporary locking position. As a result, the terminals
20
are connected in a predetermined pattern. When the bus bar unit or units
50
are in the fully installed position, the connector is removed from the assembling jig
70
. Finally, the cap
60
is installed on the housing
10
in such a manner that the cap
60
covers the housing
10
and the bus bar units
50
.
The lip portion
34
formed on the periphery of the sealing member
30
prevents water from penetrating into the cap
60
between the inner periphery of the cap
60
and the periphery of the sealing member
30
. Further, the lip portion of the sealing hole
31
contacts the periphery of the wire
25
closely, the inner periphery of the fit-in hole
32
contacts the periphery of the holding projection
14
, and the inner periphery of the fit-in hole
33
contacts the periphery of the deformation prevention projection
15
. Therefore, water can be prevented from penetrating into the sealing member
30
from outside.
On installation of the bus bar unit
50
on the housing
10
, when all the terminals
20
are fully inserted into their respective cavities
1
, each locking lance
12
is undeformed so that its outer surface is flush with the outer surface of the housing
10
. Accordingly, when the cylindrical portion
53
slides over the outer surface of the housing
10
during bus bar unit-installation, the cylindrical portion
53
does not interfere with the locking lances
12
. Thus, each bus bar unit
50
can be securely installed to the temporary locking position of the housing
10
. When the bus bar units
50
have been installed on the housing
10
in the temporary locking position, the cylindrical portion
53
faces the locking lances
12
in such a manner that the inner surface of the cylindrical portion
53
presses downward on the outer surfaces of the locking lances
12
. Thus, the locking lances
12
are prevented from being elastically displaced in a direction which would move them away from the terminals
20
(see the lower bus bar unit of FIG.
6
).
On the other hand, if there are any terminals
20
inserted into the cavity
11
in an incompletely inserted state, the locking lances
12
are elastically displaced outward and project outward from the outer surface of the housing
10
. During the installation of the bus bar unit
50
on the housing
10
, the front end of the cylindrical portion
53
then collides with the front end of the locking lances
12
(see upper bus bar unit of FIG.
6
). As a result, the installation operator notices that the installation resistance is suddenly increased. In this manner, the operator can detect that a terminal
20
is in an incompletely inserted state.
The operator can then suspend the installation of the bus bar unit
50
on the housing
10
when the cylindrical portion
53
has collided with the locking lances
12
and resumes the installation after inserting the terminal
20
into the normal position of the cavity
11
. If the operator does not feel an increase in the installation resistance, the operation proceeds to use the assembling jig
70
. If the operator feels the installation resistance but forgets to re-insert the terminals
20
, the operator may continue with the installation despite feeling the installation resistance. In this case, the connector cannot be set on the assembling jig
70
. This alerts the operator to the fact that the bus bar unit
50
has not arrived at the temporary locking position and that one or more of the terminals
20
may have been incompletely inserted. Also, the connector cannot be set on the assembling jig
70
if the bus bar unit
50
has not reached the temporary locking position, even though all the terminals may have been inserted correctly. As is apparent from the foregoing description, if the connector cannot be set on the assembling jig
70
, incorrect assembly can be corrected by checking the installation position of the bus bar unit
50
and the inserted states of the terminals
20
.
As described above, during installation of the bus bar units
50
on the housing
10
, the bus bar units
50
are not subjected to an installation resistance caused by contact between the connection pieces
57
of the bus bar unit
50
and the terminal fittings
20
. After each bus bar unit
50
passes the temporary locking position, the connection pieces
57
start to contact the terminals
20
. Accordingly, it is possible to discriminate between installation resistance on the bus bar unit
50
due to the collision of the locking lance
12
and the bus bar units
50
, and installation resistance that is caused by collision between the terminals
20
and the tab pieces
57
. In this manner, it is possible to reliably detect the state of insertion of the terminals
20
.
If incomplete insertion of any of the terminals is noticed and it is still attempted to set the connector in the assembling jig
70
, the bus bar unit
50
will be at the position of collision between the locking lance
12
the bus bar unit
50
. Thus, it is impossible to set the connector in the assembling jig
70
. In this manner, it is detected that one or more of the terminals are incompletely inserted. That is, a mechanism is provided for detecting the incomplete insertion of a terminal
20
both during the process of installing the bus bar unit
50
on the housing
10
and during the operation of setting the connector on the assembling jig
70
. Thus, the incomplete insertion of the terminal
20
can be reliably detected.
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described, but may be varied, for example, as described below.
(1) In the above description, a connector of waterproof type has been described. However, the present invention is also applicable to a connector of non-waterproof type.
(2) In the above description, incomplete insertion of the terminal is detectable during installation of the bus bar unit on the housing and during setting of the connector on the assembling jig. However, according to the present invention, it is possible to detect incomplete insertion of the terminal during installation of the bus bar unit on the housing without using an assembling jig.
Claims
- 1. A connector comprising:a housing having a peripheral surface, a plurality of cavities, a plurality of resiliently deformable locking members, and a plurality of terminals, each of said terminals being inserted in the respective said cavity and having (a) a partially inserted position in which said terminal bears on a respective one of said locking members to deform said locking members so that said locking members are elevated with respect to said peripheral surface, and (b) a fully inserted position in which said locking members snap-fit to said terminal thereby locking said terminals in said cavities; a bus bar holder having a sleeve and a plurality of bus bar tab pieces which are accommodated in said sleeve, said sleeve being push-fitted over said peripheral surface via a partially installed position, at which said tab pieces do not contact said terminals, to a fully installed position, at which said tab pieces contact said terminals, whereby in said fully installed position said bus bar holder is installed to said housing with said terminals electrically connected to each other; and a detent that detains said bus bar holder at said partially installed position, wherein each of said locking members is adapted so that when said terminal is in said partially inserted position with the respective one of said locking members elevated with respect to said peripheral surface and an attempt is made to push-fit said sleeve to said partially installed position, said sleeve bears on said locking member to prevent said sleeve from arriving at said partially installed position.
- 2. A connector according to claim 1, wherein said detent comprises an elongate recess aligned with a push-fit direction of said sleeve and terminated at one end by an end member, and first and second projections which, on push-fitting, are displaced relative to said recess, whereby in said partially installed position of said sleeve said end member is held between said first and second projections so that said second projection is received in said recess, and in said fully installed position of said sleeve both said first and second projections are received in said recess.
- 3. A connector according to claim 2, wherein said recess is formed in said sleeve and said first and second projections are formed on said housing facing said sleeve.
- 4. A connector according to claim 3, wherein said end member comprises a leading edge portion of said sleeve.
- 5. A connector according to claim 1, wherein said connector has two of said detents at opposite sides of said connector.
- 6. An assembly jig used for a connector of claim 1 and for assembling the connector by push-fitting the sleeve of the connector from said partially installed position to said fully installed position,the jig being sized so that when the sleeve of the connector is prevented from arriving at said partially installed position the connector is prevented from being set on the jig, whereas when the sleeve of the connector is at said partially installed position the connector is settable on the jig.
Priority Claims (4)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
11-105919 |
Apr 1999 |
JP |
|
11-105920 |
Apr 1999 |
JP |
|
11-118479 |
Apr 1999 |
JP |
|
11-152645 |
May 1999 |
JP |
|
US Referenced Citations (3)
Foreign Referenced Citations (4)
Number |
Date |
Country |
2-61082 U |
May 1990 |
JP |
4-42082 U |
Apr 1992 |
JP |
9-106847 |
Apr 1997 |
JP |
9-213436 |
Aug 1997 |
JP |