Connector with terminal withdrawal stopper

• US 5,839,923 A
• Filed: 12/20/1996
• Issued: 11/24/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Furukawa Electric Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Furukawa Electric Company Limited
• Inventors: Yoshida, Kazuyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Paumen, Gary F.
• Application Number:
  US08/770,786
• Time in Patent Office: 704 Days
• Field of Search: 439/752, 439/595
• US Class Current: 439/752
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/4361 Insertion of locking piece perpendicular to direction of contact insertion
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/4362 comprising a temporary and a final locking position

Abstract

A connector with a terminal withdrawal stopper superior in durability whereby temporary engagement is possible even if the terminal withdrawal stopper is repeatedly inserted and withdrawn. Windows are formed in the outermost plug pieces of the terminal withdrawal stopper. Projections for engagement with the rim of the window are provided at the inside surface of the two side walls of the housing. The engagement of the projections and the rims of the windows holds the engagement of the terminal withdrawal stopper. When inserting or withdrawing the terminal withdrawal stopper, since the plug pieces easily elastically deform, no unreasonable force is applied and breakage seldom occurs.

Claims

1. The combination of a connector with a terminal withdrawal stopper in which said connector includes:

a housing defined by generally rectangularly disposed walls and having terminal sockets in which terminals are to be accommodated, and lock pieces engageable with terminals installed in said terminal sockets for preventing withdrawal of said terminals therefrom, and

a terminal withdrawal stopper having plug pieces insertable into said terminal sockets in a direction orthogonal to the direction of inserting said terminals therein for engaging said lock pieces to prevent withdrawal of said terminals from said sockets,

and means for installing said terminal withdrawal stopper in said connector in stages including a temporary engagement stage in which said plug pieces are partially installed in said connector housing and a full engagement stage in which said plug pieces of said terminal withdrawal stopper engage said lock pieces in said housing to prevent removal of said terminals from said sockets, said means comprising;

said walls of said housing including a wall containing slots for reception of said plug pieces in a direction orthogonal to the direction of said terminal sockets, and side walls each having a projection formed on the inside surface thereof,

said plug pieces of said terminal withdrawal stopper including outside plug pieces containing windows so disposed to enable rims thereon to engage said projections to set said terminal withdrawal stopper in said temporary engagement stage in said housing with said plug pieces out of engagement with said housing lock pieces,

a projecting rim on each housing side wall at a position below said terminal sockets, and

a ridge on each outside plug piece engageable with said projecting rim to limit the extent of insertion of said terminal withdrawal stopper to said temporary engagement stage in said housing,

said projecting rims and said ridges being releasably engageable to permit movement of said terminal withdrawal stopper to said full engagement stage in said housing with said plug pieces in engagement with said housing lock pieces.

2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein

said plug pieces each include a plugging side and a connected side and a connecting piece for connecting said plug pieces at said connected side.

3. The connector as set forth in claim 2, wherein

the bottom surface of said projection provided at said side wall is inclined to facilitate said window of the associated plug piece to ride over said projection in the temporary engagement stage and

the top surface of said projection is flat to retain the top rim of the window in the temporary engagement stage.

4. The connector as set forth in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein

the bottom surface of said projecting rim provided at said side wall is inclined to enable said ridge of said plug piece to abut against it in the temporary engagement stage and to facilitate said projecting rim into the ridge to ride over the full engagement stage and

the top surface of said projecting rim being flat to retain the bottom rim of the ridge in the full engagement stage.