Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6382998
-
Patent Number
6,382,998
-
Date Filed
Friday, March 2, 200123 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, May 7, 200222 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
- Ta; Tho D.
- McCamey; Ann M
Agents
- Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett, & Dunner, L.L.P.
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 439 181
- 439 9241
- 439 188
- 439 183
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
A dummy tab is detachably held in a female connector housing. A dummy spring is detachably held in a male connector housing. When a male and female connection terminals are connected, the dummy tab comes into contact with the dummy spring before a contact protrusion comes into contact with a contact spring. This arrangement generates an arc discharge in the contact between the dummy tab and the dummy spring before the contact protrusion comes into contact with the contact spring, thereby to protect the female and male connection terminals as original contacts from deterioration or damage under an arc discharge.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector assembly with a contact protection function.
2. Description of the Related Art
A connector assembly has a female connector and a male connector mated with each other for connection. The female connector has a female connector housing in which a male connection terminal is accommodated and fixed. The male terminal is disposed to protrude at its front part into a hood of the female connector housing.
The male connector has a male connector housing in which a female connection terminal is accommodated and fixed. The female terminal has a tubular front end into which the front part of the male terminal is to be inserted. At the front end of the female terminal, a contact spring is formed, being folded back obliquely into the tubular space.
In the connector of this structure, when the female connector is mated with the male connector, the front part of the male connection terminal is inserted into the female connection terminal from its front end to contact the spring, thereby to establish conduction.
However in the above connector assembly, when the female connector is mated with the male connector in a conducting state, the front part of the male terminal first comes into contact with the front end of the female terminal, which causes to generate an arc discharge at the contacts to deteriorate or damage the contacts. Further, when the connectors are disengaged, the front end of the male terminal is last disengaged from the front end of the male terminal, which also causes to generate an arc discharge at the corresponding parts to deteriorate or damage the contacts.
The deterioration of or damage to the contacts prevents the contacts of the female and male terminals from establishing good conduction, which causes to deteriorate the connector in reliability.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been achieved with such points in view.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a connector assembly provided with connection terminals, the connector assembly having a contact protection function, in which the deterioration of or damage to front parts of the terminals to be connected to each other can be prevented to protect the front parts of the terminals.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a connector assembly including first and second housings to be mated with each other, first and second terminals held in the first and second housings, respectively, the terminals being configured to be brought into contact with each other to establish a conduction as the housings are mated, and first and second discharge members provided in the first and second housings, respectively. The discharge members are brought into contact with each other before the terminals contact with each other as the housings are mated, and the discharge members are disengaged from each other after the terminals are disengaged as the housings are disengaged.
Thus in this invention, an arc discharge is prevented from adversely affecting the contacts even if an arc discharge is generated between the discharge members. Also when the terminals are disengaged from each other, the discharge members are disengaged after the disengagement of the terminals. This eliminates the generation of an arc discharge at the terminals, preventing an arc discharge from adversely affecting the contacts of the terminals. As a result, the terminals are free from deterioration or damage under an arc discharge, which improves the reliability of the connector.
According to a second aspect of the invention, the first and second discharge members are brought in contact with side surfaces of the first and second terminals under pressure, respectively.
Thus in this invention, the discharge members are conducted to the terminals. This has an effect of generating an arc discharge between the discharge members which come into contact with each other before the terminals do and preventing the generation of an arc discharge between the terminals when the housings are mated to make the terminals contact with each other.
According to a third aspect of the invention, respective one of the discharge members has curved parts, the curved parts being brought in contact with the side surfaces of the terminals.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, the first and second discharge members are each detachably held in the first and second housings, respectively.
Thus in this invention, the discharge members can be replaced easily.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, respective one of the first terminal and the first discharge member has respective one of contact protrusions, the contact protrusions extending in the first housing at substantially the identical length, and the front end of the second discharge member is displaced from the front end of the second terminal in the mating direction.
According to a sixth aspect of the invention, respective one of the first terminal and the first discharge member has respective one of contact protrusions, a contact protrusion of the first discharge member is protruded farther than a protrusion of the first terminal, and the front ends of the second discharge member and the second terminal are set at substantially the identical position in the mating direction.
According to a seventh aspect of the invention, one of the first and the second discharge members is connected to a wire for discharge.
According to an eighth aspect of the invention, the wire passes through a housing for holding the one of the first and the second discharge members.
According to a ninth aspect of the invention, one of the first and second housings includes a guide for disconnection of a discharge member from a terminal in the other one of the first and second housings.
Thus in this invention, with mate of the pair of housing, after the terminals are contacted with each other, the guide in the one housing makes the discharge member disconnected from the terminal for break. As a result, this eliminates unnecessary contact from the terminal in the other connector housing, and the connector assembly is improved in reliability.
According to a tenth aspect of the invention, a first connector having a first housing, a second connector having a second housing to be mated with the first housing, a first terminal held in the first housing, the first terminal having a first contact, a second terminal held in the second housing, the second terminal having a second contact to be brought into contact with the first contact, a first discharge member held in the first housing and being brought in contact with the first terminal under pressure, the first discharge member having a third contact which is displaced. at a first displacement S
1
from the first contact, and a second discharge member held in the second housing and being brought in contact with the second terminal under pressure, the second discharge member having a fourth contact to be brought into contact with the third contact, the fourth contact being displaced at a second displacement S
2
from the second contact, wherein, a relationship between the first displacement S
1
and the second displacement S
2
is that S
1
+S
2
>0.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
The above and further objects and novel features of the invention will more fully appear from the following detailed description when the same is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1
is a sectional view showing a connector according to a first embodiment of this invention, in which the connector is in the middle of engagement or disengagement;
FIG. 2
is a perspective view showing a dummy tab used in the embodiment;
FIG. 3
is a perspective view showing a dummy spring used in the embodiment;
FIG. 4
is a sectional view showing the connector according to the embodiment before terminals are fitted therein;
FIG. 5
is a sectional view showing a connector according to another embodiment of this invention;
FIG. 6
is a sectional view showing a connector according to further another embodiment of this invention;
FIG. 7
is a sectional view showing a connector according to a second embodiment of this invention;
FIG. 8
is a perspective view showing an arc discharge spring used in the embodiment;
FIG. 9
is a perspective view showing a dummy tab used in the embodiment; and
FIG. 10
is a sectional view of another embodiment relative to one in FIG.
7
.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
With reference to the accompanying drawings, preferred embodiments of this invention will now be described.
First Embodiment
FIG. 1
shows a connector
10
including a female connector
11
as a first connector and a male connector
12
as a second connector. The female connector
11
has a female connector housing
14
with a fit-in hood
13
at its front side, in which a male connection terminal
15
as a first connection terminal is disposed to be held. In the female housing
14
, a dummy tab
20
has a dummy contact (a first discharge member) abutting on a side surface of the male terminal
15
is detachably held. The male connector
12
has a male connector housing
16
to be fitted into the hood
13
of the female housing
14
at its front end, in which housing
16
a female connection terminal
17
as a second connection terminal is disposed to be held. In the male housing
16
, a dummy spring
23
has a dummy contact (a second discharge member) abutting on a side surface of the female terminal
17
is detachably held.
The male terminal
15
, as shown in
FIG. 1
, includes a male terminal body
18
supported in the female housing
14
and a contact protrusion
19
provided at the front end of the male terminal body
18
. At the rear of the male terminal body
18
, a plurality of pairs of wire holding pieces
21
for holding a wire not shown in the figure is formed.
The female housing
14
holding the male terminal
15
of this structure includes a terminal accommodating space
14
A in which the male terminal body
18
of the male terminal
15
is held. The protrusion
19
of the male terminal
15
passes through an intermediate wall
14
B which makes a distinction between the accommodating space
14
A and the space in the hood
13
, to protrude into the hood
13
.
The dummy tab
20
is, as shown in
FIG. 4
, inserted from a tab insertion hole
14
C formed in the intermediate wall
14
B of the female housing
14
to be embedded in a peripheral wall
14
D of the accommodating space
14
A. The dummy tab
20
protrudes into the hood
13
from the tab insertion hole
14
C. In the hood
13
, a tab holding wall
13
A for holding the dummy tab
20
along an outer surface of the dummy tab
20
is formed. Between the holding wall
13
A and the hood
13
, an insertion space
13
B for receiving a front part of the male housing
16
of the male connector
12
is provided.
The dummy tab
20
includes, as shown in
FIG. 2
, a mounting part
20
A to be detachably held in the peripheral wall
14
D of the female housing
14
, a contact curve
20
B to abut on a side surface of the male terminal
15
and a contact plate
20
C to come into contact with the dummy spring
23
.
The male housing
16
has, as shown in
FIGS. 1 and 4
, a front wall
16
A at its front end, and holds the female terminal
17
inserted from the rear side thereof. The front wall
16
A is provided in its central part with a protrusion guiding hole
16
B through the wall in the transverse direction. The front wall
16
A is also provided with a tab insertion hole
16
C for receiving the holding wall
13
A and the dummy tab
20
held by the wall
13
A. The insertion hole
16
C has a peripheral wall
16
D at the inner back thereof, in which the dummy spring
23
is inserted to be embedded. The dummy spring
23
is detachably held in the peripheral wall
16
D.
FIG. 3
shows the dummy spring
23
which includes a mounting part
23
A to be inserted and held in the peripheral wall
16
D of the male housing
16
, a contact curve
23
B to abut on a side surface of the female terminal
17
and a contact plate
23
C to come into contact with the contact plate
20
C of the dummy tab
20
inserted into the insertion hole
16
C.
The female terminal
17
held in this male connector housing
16
includes a female terminal body
22
in a substantially rectangularly tubular shape to be held in the male housing
16
and a plurality of pairs of wire holding pieces
24
formed at the rear part of the terminal body
22
as shown in FIG.
1
. At the rim of the front end opening of the female terminal body
22
, a contact spring
25
as a contact folded back inside is formed. When the female and male connectors
11
and
12
are mated with each other, the contact spring
25
comes into contact with the protrusion
19
.
The dummy spring
23
and the dummy tab
20
are set to come into contact with each other before the contact protrusion
19
and the contact spring
25
do during the mating of the female and male connectors
11
and
12
. Specifically, as shown in
FIG. 1
, the dummy tab
20
protrudes into the hood
13
almost as long as the protrusion
19
does, and the dummy spring
23
is disposed to extend in the mating direction beyond the front end of the female terminal
17
, which arrangement makes the dummy tab
20
and the dummy spring
23
come into contact with each other before the contact protrusion
19
and the contact spring
25
do during the mating of the female and male connectors
11
and
12
.
The distal end
19
A of protrusion
19
first contacts with the proximal end
25
A of contact spring
25
or the distal end
22
A of female terminal body
22
in dependence on a bent state of the spring
25
. The end
20
D of tab
20
first contacts with the distal end
23
D of spring
23
.
In a mating direction F
1
on
FIG. 1
, the distal end
20
D of the tab
20
is displaced from the distal end
19
A at a displacement S
1
of substantially zero. If the distal end
20
D is positioned at an opposite side to the male terminal body
18
relative to the end
19
A, the displacement S
1
is positive. If the end
20
D is positioned at an identical side with the male terminal body
18
relative to the distal end
19
A, the displacement S
1
is negative.
On the other hand, in the mating direction F
1
, the distal end
23
D of spring
23
is displaced from the proximal end
25
A at a positive displacement S
2
. If the end
23
D is positioned at an opposite side to the female terminal body
22
relative to the proximal end
25
A, the displacement S
1
is positive. If the distal end
23
D is positioned at an identical side with the female terminal body
22
relative to the proximal end
25
A, the displacement S
2
is negative.
The embodiment requires that a relationship between S
1
and S
2
is S
1
+S
2
>0. If the relationship between them is S
1
+S
2
<0, the end
19
A contacts with the end
25
a
earlier or at an identical time.
In the connector
10
of this structure, when the female connector
11
is mated with the male connector
12
, the contact protrusion
19
protruded into the hood
13
of the female connector housing
14
is inserted through the guiding hole
16
B in the front wall
16
A of the male connector housing
16
. Since the dummy spring
23
is formed to protrude farther than the front end of the female terminal body
22
, it then comes into contact with the dummy tab
20
before the protrusion
19
and the spring
25
do. At this time, an arc discharge is generated between the dummy spring
23
and the dummy tab
20
. This prevents the generation of an arc discharge in the contact between the protrusion
19
as the original contact and the spring
25
, protecting the protrusion
19
and the spring
25
from deterioration or damage under an arc discharge.
The dummy spring
23
and the dummy tab
20
are subjected to an arc discharge and thus to be deteriorated or damaged. However, there occurs no problem because they are not original contacts. The dummy tab
20
and the dummy spring
23
are detachably held in the female housing
14
and the male housing, respectively, and therefore can be replaced when deteriorated or damaged to an unacceptable level.
In this embodiment, since the dummy tab
20
and the dummy spring
23
as dummy contacts are detachably held in the female and male housings
14
and
16
, just fitting the dummy tab
20
and the dummy spring
23
into the housings can provide a connector having a contact protection structure. This improves the connector
10
in durability and reliability.
The above description of the embodiment is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Variations and modifications are possible with respect to the structural elements. For example, in the above embodiment, the dummy spring
23
is formed to protrude farther than the front end
22
A of the female terminal body
22
. It is also possible as shown in
FIG. 5
as another embodiment to set the front end of the dummy spring
23
at almost the same position in the mating direction as the front end of the female terminal body
22
and to set the dummy tab
20
protruding more than the distal end
19
A of the contact protrusion
19
, thereby to obtain the similar effects. In this case, the displacement S
1
is positive, and the displacement S
2
is substantially zero, so that the sum of the displacements S
1
and S
2
is positive. As shown on
FIG. 6
, the distal end
23
D of the spring
23
may be displaced from the proximal end
25
A on an opposite side to the female terminal body
22
and the end
20
D of tab
20
may be displaced from the end
19
A of protrusion
19
on an identical side with the male terminal body
18
. The displacement S
1
is negative and the displacement S
2
is positive, so that this requires that the absolute value of S
2
is greater than one of S
1
.
Second Embodiment
A connector
110
has a female connector
111
and a male connector
112
. The female connector
111
has a female connector housing
114
with a fit-in hood
113
at its front end, in which a male connection terminal
115
as a first terminal is disposed to be held. In the female housing
114
, an arc discharge spring
120
as a first discharge member abutting on a side surface of the male terminal
115
is fixed. The male connector
112
has a male connector housing
116
to be fitted into the hood
113
of the female housing
114
at its front end, in which housing
116
a female connection terminal
117
as a second terminal is disposed to be held. In the male housing
116
is held a dummy terminal
123
as a second discharge member at a side of the female connection terminal
117
with a wall
116
E therebetween.
The male terminal
115
, as shown in
FIG. 7
, includes a male terminal body
118
supported in the female housing
114
and a contact protrusion
119
provided at the front end of the male terminal body
118
. At the rear of the male terminal body
118
, a plurality of pairs of wire holding pieces
121
for holding a wire
126
is formed.
The female housing
114
holding the male terminal
115
of this structure includes a terminal accommodating space
114
A in which the male terminal body
118
of the male terminal
115
is held. The protrusion
119
of the male terminal
115
passes through an intermediate wall
114
B to protrude into the hood
113
, the wall
114
B defining the accommodating space
114
A and the space in the hood
113
.
The arc discharge spring
120
is, as shown in
FIG. 7
, arranged to be extended in the opening direction of the hood
113
along an internal bottom part and an internal side wall of the hood
113
, and is fixed by insert molding.
The arc discharge spring
120
includes a contact curve
120
A configured to abut on a peripheral surface of the contact protrusion
119
of the male terminal
115
, a fixed part
120
B to be fixed on the internal bottom part of the hood
113
by insert molding and a contact plate
120
C to be brought into contact with the dummy terminal
123
as shown in
FIG. 8. A
bend
120
E bent at roughly a right angle is provided between the fixed part
120
B and the contact plate
120
C. At the tip of the contact plate
120
C is formed a bend
120
D as a contact for guiding a front part
123
A of the dummy terminal
123
.
The male housing
116
has, as shown in
FIG. 7
, a front wall
116
A at its front end, and holds the female terminal
117
inserted from the rear end thereof. The front wall
116
A is provided in its central part with a protrusion guiding hole
116
B passing through the wall in the transverse direction. An outside wall
116
F opposed to the wall
116
E has a notch
116
G formed on the periphery of the front wall
116
A, at which notch
116
G the front part
123
A of the dummy terminal
123
is positioned. The dummy terminal
123
is disposed outside the wall
116
E of the male housing
116
.
On the periphery of the protrusion guiding hole
116
B of the front wall
116
A of the male housing
116
is provided a disengagement protrusion
116
H to be interposed between the contact curve
120
A of the discharge spring
120
and the contact protrusion
119
at the time of the mating so as to disengage the contact curve
120
A and the contact protrusion
119
from each other.
As shown in
FIG. 9
, the dummy terminal
123
includes a front part
123
A to be brought into contact with the contact plate
120
C of the arc discharge spring
120
and a wire holding part
123
B. To the wire holding part
123
B is connected and fixed a dummy wire
128
. The front part
123
A comes into contact with the bend
120
D of the discharge spring
120
at its tip
123
D first.
The female terminal
117
has a female terminal body
122
. At the rim of the front end opening of the body
122
is formed a contact spring
125
as a contact folded back inside at a proximal end
125
A. When the female and male connectors
111
and
112
are mated with each other, the spring
125
comes into contact with the protrusion
119
.
The dummy terminal
123
and the arc discharge spring
120
are set to come into contact with each other before the contact protrusion
119
and the contact spring
125
do during the mating of the female and male connectors
111
and
112
. Specifically, as shown in
FIG. 7
, the arc discharge spring
120
is protruded farther than the contact protrusion
119
, and the dummy terminal
123
is also protruded farther than the front end of the female terminal
117
, which arrangement makes them come into contact with each other before the contact protrusion
119
and the contact spring
125
do during the mating of the female and male connectors
111
and
112
. At the time when the contact protrusion
119
and the contact spring
125
are fully brought into contact with each other, the contact curve
120
A abutting on the contact protrusion
119
is disconnected from the disengagement protrusion
116
H. That is, a guiding surface
116
Ha of the protrusion
116
H guides the curve
120
A to be displaced away from the protrusion
119
. This thus eliminates an unstable and unnecessary contact from the male terminal
115
, thereby improving reliability in connection.
Conversely, when the female connector
111
and the male connector
112
are disengaged from each other, the dummy terminal
123
and the arc discharge spring
120
are disengaged after the disengagement (separation) of the contact protrusion
119
and the contact spring
125
. At the time of the disengagement (separation) of the protrusion
119
and the spring
125
, the disengagement protrusion
116
H is detached from the contact curve
120
A. Therefore the curve
120
A again abuts on the protrusion
119
, which prevents the generation of arc discharge between the protrusion
119
and the spring
125
.
In a mating direction F
1
in
FIG. 10
, the bend, or a distal end,
120
D of the spring
120
is displaced from the distal end
119
A at a positive displacement S
1
. If the distal end
120
D is positioned at an opposite side to the male terminal body
118
relative to the end
119
A, the displacement S
1
is positive. If the end
120
D is positioned at an identical side with the male terminal body
118
relative to the distal end
119
A, the displacement S
1
is negative.
On the other hand, in the mating direction F
1
, the distal end
123
D of the terminal
123
is displaced from the proximal end
125
A at a positive displacement S
2
. If the end
123
D is positioned at an opposite side to the female terminal body
122
relative to the proximal end
125
A, the displacement S
1
is positive. If the distal end
123
D is positioned at an identical side with the female terminal body
122
relative to the proximal end
125
A, the displacement S
2
is negative. The embodiment requires that a relationship between S
1
and S
2
is S
1
+S
2
>0. If the relationship between them is S
1
+S
2
≦0, the end
119
A contacts with the end
125
a
earlier or at an identical time.
In the connector
110
of this structure, the engagement of the female connector
111
and the male connector
112
causes the contact protrusion
119
protruded in the hood
113
of the female housing
114
to be inserted through the protrusion guiding hole
116
B of the front wall
116
A of the male housing
116
. At that time, the dummy terminal
123
is brought into contact with the discharge spring
120
before the contact between the protrusion
119
and the spring
125
is established.
Since an arc discharge is generated between the dummy terminal
123
and the discharge spring
120
, no arc discharge is generated at the contact between the contact protrusion
119
and the contact spring
123
as original contacts, which protects the protrusion
119
and the spring
123
from deterioration or damage caused by an arc discharge. Although the dummy terminal
123
and the discharge spring
120
are subjected to deterioration or damage caused by an arc discharge, there occurs no problem because they are not original contacts.
In this embodiment, the arc discharge spring
120
and the dummy terminal
123
provided in the female and male housings
114
and
116
, respectively, bring about a connector with a contact protection structure. This improves the durability and reliability of the connector
110
.
The above description of the embodiment is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Variations and modifications are possible with respect to the structural elements. For example, although the dummy terminal
123
is protruded farther than the front end of the female terminal body
122
in the above embodiment, it is also possible to set the dummy terminal
123
at a substantially identical position with the front end of the female terminal body
122
and set the discharge spring
120
protruded farther than the contact protrusion
119
as shown in FIG.
10
.
Further, although the discharge spring
120
is insert-molded in the female housing
114
in the above embodiment, it is also proper to fix it with some other fixing means.
The above description has shown the effects of preventing an arc discharge from adversely affecting the contacts even when an arc discharge is generated between the dummy contacts. When the connection terminals are disconnected, the dummy contacts are disengaged before the terminals are disengaged, thereby to eliminate the generation of an arc discharge between the terminals, which prevents an arc discharge from adversely affecting the contacts of the terminals. This has an effect of eliminating the generation of deterioration of or damage to the terminals under an arc discharge so as to improve the connector in reliability.
When the pair of connector housings are mated to make the connection terminals contact each other, an arc discharge is generated between the dummy contacts that come into contact with each other before the terminals do, which has an effect of eliminating the generation of an arc discharge between the terminals.
The dummy contacts are detachably mounted in the connector housings, and therefore can be easily replaced. This makes it possible to use the connector for an extended time by replacing the dummy contacts instead of replacing the connection terminals.
Claims
- 1. A connector assembly, comprising:first and second housings configured to be mated with each other; first and second terminals disposed in the first and second housings, respectively, the first and second terminals being configured to be brought into contact with each other; and first and second discharge members provided in the first and second housings, respectively, and disposed in contact with side surfaces of the first and second terminals, respectively, wherein, the discharge members are brought into contact with each other before the terminals contact with each other as the housings are mated; and the discharge members are disengaged from each other after the terminals are disengaged as the housings are disengaged.
- 2. A connector assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein each of the first and second discharge members has at least one curved part, the curved part being in contact with a side surface of the respective first or second terminal.
- 3. A connector assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein the first and second discharge members are detachably held in the first and second housings, respectively.
- 4. A connector assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein:the first terminal has a contact protrusion; the first discharge member has a contact protrusion; the second terminal has a front end; and the second discharge member has a front end, and wherein each of the contact protrusions of the first terminal and the first discharge member extends from the first housing in the mating direction at a substantially identical distance, and the front end of the second discharge member is located further from the second housing in the mating direction than the front end of the second terminal.
- 5. A connector assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein:the first terminal has a contact protrusion; the first discharge member has a contact protrusion; the second terminal has a front end; and the second discharge member has a front end, and wherein, the contact protrusion of the first discharge member extends further from the first housing in the mating direction than the contact protrusion of the first terminal, and the front end of the second terminal and the front end of the second discharge member are located at a substantially identical distance from the second housing in the mating direction.
- 6. A connector assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein one of the first and second housings includes a guide for disconnecting the discharge member from the terminal in the other one of the first and second housings.
- 7. A connector assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein one of the first and the second discharge members is connected to a wire for discharge.
- 8. A connector assembly as set forth in claim 7, wherein the wire passes through a housing for holding the one of the first and the second discharge members.
- 9. A connector assembly, comprising:a first connector having a first housing; a second connector having a second housing to be mated with the first housing; a first terminal held in the first housing, the first terminal having a first contact; a second terminal held in the second housing, the second terminal having a second contact to be brought into contact with the first contact; a first discharge member held in the first housing and being brought in contact with the first terminal under pressure, the first discharge member having a third contact which is displaced at a first displacement (S1) from the first contact; and a second discharge member held in the second housing and being in contact with the second terminal under pressure, the second discharge member having a fourth contact to be brought into contact with the third contact, the fourth contact being displaced at a second displacement (S2) from the second contact; wherein,a relationship between the first displacement S1 and the second displacement (S2) is that the first displacement (S1)+the second displacement S2>0.
- 10. A connector assembly, comprising:a first housing and a second housing configured to be mated with each other; a first terminal disposed in the first housing, a second terminal disposed in the second housing, the first and the second terminals being configured to be brought into contact with each other; and a first discharge member disposed in contact with the first terminal in the first housing, a second discharge member disposed in contact with the second terminal in the second housing, the first and the second discharge members being configured to be brought into contact with each other.
- 11. A connector assembly as set forth in claim 10, wherein at least one of the first and second discharge members has at least one curved part and the curved part is disposed in contact with a surface of the respective terminal.
- 12. A connector assembly as set forth in claim 10, wherein at least one of the first and second discharge members are detachably held in the first and second housings, respectively.
- 13. A connector assembly as set forth in claim 10, wherein one of the first and second housings includes a guide for disconnecting the discharge member from the terminal in the other one of the first and second housings.
- 14. A connector assembly as set forth in claim 10, wherein one of the first and the second discharge members is connected to a wire for discharge.
- 15. A connector assembly as set forth in claim 14, wherein the wire passes through a housing for holding the one of the first and the second discharge members.
Priority Claims (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
2000-056960 |
Mar 2000 |
JP |
|
2000-057288 |
Mar 2000 |
JP |
|
US Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
5066240 |
Verdun |
Nov 1991 |
A |
5176528 |
Fry et al. |
Jan 1993 |
A |
5356300 |
Costello et al. |
Oct 1994 |
A |
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0717469 |
Jun 1996 |
EP |