AU2003204259A1 - Connector - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION NAME OF APPLICANT(S):: Sumitomo Wiring Systems, Ltd.

ADDRESS FOR SERVICE: DAVIES COLLISON CAVE Patent Attorneys 1 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, 3000.

INVENTION TITLE: Connector The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us:- 5102 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector to be mounted on a panel and more particularly to a connector having an elastic supporting member for elastically displaceably supporting a housing on a panel.

Description of the Related Art A connector of this kind is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 8-330028. As shown in Fig. 8, the connector has elastic supporting members 2 cantilevered rearward from the upper, lower, right, and left surfaces of the housing i. When the housing 1 is inserted into the mounting hole 4 formed on the panel 3, each elastic supporting member 2 contacts the inner peripheral surface of the mounting hole 4. Thereby the housing 1 is supported elastically displaceably. A mating connector (not shown) and the housing 1 installed on the panel 3 are fitted on each other front-to-front. If there is a misalignment between both housings, the housing 1 is displaced to a misalignment-absorbing side with the elastic supporting members 2 being flexed. Thereby both housings are normally fitted on each other.

However, in the above-described connector, when parts are delivered or a wire harness W is mounted on the connector, there is a possibility that the wire harness W is inserted into the space between the elastic supporting member 2 and the outer surface of the housing 1. When the wire harness W is pulled at a high force in this state, there is a possibility that the elastic supporting member 2 is bent greatly and damaged.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problem. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a connector capable of preventing an elastic supporting member for elastically supporting a housing of the connector from being damaged.

To achieve the object, as described in claim 1, there is provided a connector, according to the invention of claim 1, in which a housing capable of fitting on a mating connector is mounted on a mounting hole formed on a panel. The connector has an elastic supporting member, elastically deformable, extending along an outer surface of the housing like a cantilever and being brought into contact with the panel to allow the housing to be supported elastically displaceably on the panel. The housing has a protection part, positioned in the neighborhood of a leading end of the elastic supporting member, for preventing a wire harness or the like from penetrating into a gap between the elastic supporting member and the outer surface of the housing.

As described in claim 2, preferably, the elastic supporting member extends rearward in a direction in which the housing is inserted into the mounting hole; and the protection part is capable of contacting a rear surface of the panel, when the housing is disposed at a normal insertion position for the mounting hole.

As described in claim 3, preferably, the protection part has a through-hole, and the leading end of the elastic supporting member is disposed inside the through-hole.

According to the invention of claim 1, the protection part formed in the neighborhood of the rear end of the elastic supporting member prevents a wire harness or the like from penetrating into the gap between the elastic supporting member and the outer surface of the female housing. Thereby it is possible to prevent the elastic supporting member from being damaged.

According to the invention of claim 2, when the female housing has reached the normal insertion position in inserting the female housing into the mounting hole, the protection part contacts the rear surface of the panel, thus preventing the insertion of the female housing. Thereby it is unnecessary to provide a portion for preventing the insertion of the female housing. Thus it is possible to simplify the construction of the connector.

According to the invention of claim 3, since the protection part has the configuration of surrounding the entire periphery of the rear end of the elastic supporting member, it is difficult for the wire harness or the like to penetrate into the gap between the elastic supporting member and the outer surface of the female housing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the state in which a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention has not been mounted on a panel.

Fig. 2 is a front view showing the connector shown in Fig.

1.

Fig. 3 is a side view showing the state in which the connector has not been mounted on the panel.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the state in which the connector has been mounted on the panel.

Fig. 5 is a front view showing the state in which the connector has been mounted on the panel.

Fig. 6 is a side sectional view showing the state in which the connector has not been fitted on a male connector.

Fig. 7 is a side sectional view showing the state in which the connector has been fitted on the male connector.

Fig. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing a conventional connector.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to Figs. 1 through 6.

A connector C of the embodiment has a female housing 10 capable of fitting on a mating male connector M (see Fig. The female housing 10 is mounted on a mounting hole 20 formed on a panel P.

The female housing 10 is made of a synthetic resin. As shown in Figs. 1 through 3, the female housing 10 is rectangular solid-shaped. A plurality of cavities 11 open in a front-to-back direction are arranged in a plurality of rows inside the female housing 10. Female terminal fittings (not shown) can be inserted into the cavities 11 respectively from openings disposed at the rear side thereof. The female housing 10 can be fitted on the male connector M by moving the female housing 10 to the front side of the male connector M. The female housing 10 has a tapered surface 12 formed on the entire periphery of the front end thereof. The tapered surface 12 guides an operation of fitting the female housing on the male connector M.

An elastic supporting member 13 for elastically supporting the female housing 10 is formed on the outer side of each of the upper, lower, right, and left surfaces of the female housing The elastic supporting member 13 projects upward from approximately the center of the outer side of each surface of the female housing and extends rearward along the outer side of each surface thereof like a cantilever. The elastic supporting member 13 is elastically deformable toward the outer side of each surface of the female housing 10 and away therefrom. In the vicinity of the rear end of the elastic supporting member 13, a separation prevention part 14 projects from the right end of the outer surface of the elastic supporting member 13 to the left end of the outer surface thereof.

A contact part 15 is formed at the rear end of the outer surface of the elastic supporting member 13. On the outer surface of the elastic supporting member 13, a tapered rib 16 is formed from the widthwise center of the separation prevention part 14 toward the front end of the elastic supporting member 13.

On the outer surface of the female housing 10, a gate-shaped protection part 17 projects vertically from the outer side of the rear end of the widthwise center of each of the upper, lower, right, and left surfaces of the female housing 10. That is, the protection part 17 is disposed in the neighborhood of the rear end of the elastic supporting member 13. As also shown in Fig. 2, the protection part 17 has a pair of vertical portions 17A and a crosslinking portion 17B connecting the upper ends of the vertical portions 17A to each other. A through-hole 18 approximately square is formed in the protection part 17. The outside height of the protection part 17 from the outer surface of the female housing 10 and the outside width thereof are larger than the height and width of the elastic supporting member 13 respectively. The length and width of the through-hole 18 are also larger than the height and width of the elastic supporting member 13 respectively. That is, the through-hole 18 has a form of allowing the elastic deformation of the rear portion of the entire elastic supporting member 13. The female housing 10 is formed by a pair of molding dies that are opened and closed in a front-to-back direction. The through-hole 18 serves as the hole for punching the elastic supporting member 13.

As shown in Fig. 3, the rear end (the rear end of the contact part of the elastic supporting member 13 is in penetration into the through-hole 18. The through-hole 18 is capable of permitting a displacement of the contact part 15 that occurs owing to the elastic deformation of the elastic supporting member 13. In other words, a pair of the vertical portions 17A of the protection part 17 are so disposed as to sandwich the rear end of the elastic supporting member 13, with a slight clearance present between the vertical portions 17A and both sides of the rear end of the elastic supporting member 13 in the widthwise direction of the female housing 10. The crosslinking portion 17B closes the through-hole 18 present between a pair of the vertical portions 17A, with the crosslinking portion 17B spaced at a short interval from the rear end of the elastic supporting member 13.

The mounting hole 20 of the panel P is approximately rectangular and a little larger than the outside length and width of the rectangular part of the female housing 10. A locking concavity 21 is formed at the center of each side of the inner peripheral surface of the mounting hole 20, namely, at a position corresponding to that of the elastic supporting member 13 of the female housing 10. When the female housing 10 is mounted on the mounting hole 20, the protection part 17 contacts the rear surface of the panel P, and the separation prevention part 14 is locked to the inner edge of the locking concavity 21, with the separation prevention part 14 disposed at the front side of the panel P.

Thereby a front-to-back movement of the female housing 10 is prevented. The contact part 15 of the elastic supporting member 13 contacts the inner peripheral surface of the locking concavity 21. Thereby the female housing 10 is supported displaceably in vertical and right-to-left directions, with the elastic supporting members 13 being elastically deforming inside the mounting hole The elastic supporting member 13 can be unlocked from the locking concavity 21 by penetrating a jig or the like into the through-hole 18 from the rear of the panel P and flexing the rear end of the elastic supporting member 13.

As shown in Fig. 6, the male connector M is mounted integrally on electric parts (not shown), with the male connector M disposed on front surfaces thereof. The male connector M has a rectangular solid-shaped hollow hood part 30 into which the approximately front half of the female housing 10 can be fitted. The male connector M accommodates a plurality of male terminal fittings (not shown), with tabs thereof projected into the hood part 30. By fitting the connector C into the hood part 30 normally, the tab of each male terminal fitting is inserted into the cavity 11 of the female housing Thereby the male terminal fittings are connected to the female terminal fittings respectively. A tapered surface 31 for guiding an operation of fitting the female housing 10 on the male connector M is formed on the entire peripheral edge of the open portion of the hood part The construction of the embodiment is as described above.

The procedure of fitting the female housing 10 on the male connector M is described below.

As shown with the arrow of Fig. 3, when the female housing is inserted into the mounting hole 20 of the panel P from the front end of the female housing 10, each elastic supporting member 13 elastically deforms toward the outer surface of the female housing 10, with the elastic supporting member 13 in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the corresponding locking concavity 21. As described above, the elastic supporting member 13 has the rib 16 gradually shorter toward the front end thereof. Thus at this time, the rib 16 slides on the inner peripheral surface of the locking concavity 21 in the direction from its shorter side toward its taller side. Thereby the elastic deformation of the elastic supporting member 13 can be smoothly made. When the female housing has reached the normal insertion position of the mounting hole 20, as shown in Figs. 4 through 6, the protection part 17 contacts the rear surface of the panel P. Thereby the insertion of the female housing 10 into the mounting hole 20 is prevented, and the elastic supporting member 13 deforms elastically into its original state.

Thus the separation prevention part 14 is locked to the inner edge of the locking concavity 21, with the separation prevention part 14 disposed at the front side of the panel P. Thereby the female housing 10 can be supported elastically deformably in vertical and right-to-left directions, with the female housing 10 positioned longitudinally.

When the female housing 10 is held by the panel P, the mating male connector M is approached to the female housing 10 from its front side and fitted on the female housing 10. If there is a misalignment between the male connector Mat the side of the electric parts and the connector C at the side of the panel P, the connector C and the male connector M approach to each other in the misalignment state, as shown in Fig. 6. While the tapered surface 12 of the female housing 10 and the tapered surface 31 of the hood part 30 slide on each other, the female housing 10 is displaced vertically and in the right-to-left direction, with the elastic supporting member 13 deforming elastically and with the protection part 17 sliding on the rear surface of the panel P. Thereby the misalignment is absorbed. By the alignment between the connector C and the male connector M, they are normally fitted on each other, as shown in Fig. 7.

As described above, according to the embodiment, the protection part 17 formed in the neighborhood of the rear end of the elastic supporting member 13 prevents a wire harness or the like from penetrating into the gap between the elastic supporting member 13 and the outer surface of the female housing 10. Thereby it is possible to prevent the elastic supporting member 13 from being damaged.

When the female housing 10 has reached the normal insertion position in inserting the female housing 10 into the mounting hole the protection part 17 contacts the rear surface of the panel P, thus preventing the insertion of the female housing 10. Thereby it is unnecessary to provide a portion for preventing the insertion of the female housing 10. Thus it is possible to simplify the construction of the connector.

Since the protection part 17 has the configuration of surrounding the entire periphery of the rear end of the elastic supporting member 13, it is difficult for the wire harness or the like to penetrate into the gap between the elastic supporting member 13 and the outer surface of the female housing The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, the following modifications are included in the technical scope of the present invention.

In the embodiment, the protection part is gate-shaped to allow the elastic deformation of the rear portion of the elastic supporting member in the through-hole. But in the present invention, the protection part may not have the through-hole. For example, the protection part may be so formed as to be disposed along both sides of the elastic supporting member or close the rear portion of the elastic supporting member.

In the embodiment, the rear end of the elastic supporting member is disposed inside the through-hole. But in the present invention, the rear end of the elastic supporting member may penetrate through the through-hole of the protection part.

In the embodiment, the present invention is applied to the case in which is applied to the case in which the female connector accommodating the female terminal fittings is mounted on the panel.

However, the present invention is applicable to the case in which the male connector accommodating a plurality of male terminal fittings is mounted on the panel.

Throughout this specification and the claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise", and variations such as "comprises" and "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps.

The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that that prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in Australia.

Claims (3)

1. A connector in which a housing capable of fitting on a mating connector is mounted on a mounting hole formed on a panel, comprising: an elastic supporting member, elastically deformable, extending along an outer surface of said housing like a cantilever and being brought into contact with said panel to allow said housing to be supported elastically displaceably on said panel, wherein said housing has a protection part, positioned in the neighborhood of a leading end of said elastic supporting member, for preventing a wire harness or the like from penetrating into a gap between said elastic supporting member and said outer surface of said housing.

2. A connector according to claim 1, wherein said elastic supporting member extends rearward in a direction in which said housing is inserted into said mounting hole; and said protection part is capable of contacting a rear surface of said panel, when said housing is disposed at a normal insertion position for said mounting hole.

3. A connector according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said protection part has a through-hole, and said leading end of said elastic supporting member is disposed inside said through-hole. A connector substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings. The steps, features, compositions and compounds disclosed herein or referred to or indicated in the specification and/or claims of this application, individually or collectively, and any and all combinations of any two or more of said steps or features. DATED this TWENTIETH day of MAY 2003 Sumitomo Wiring Systems, Ltd. by DAVIES COLLISON CAVE Patent Attorneys for the applicant(s)