Electrical connector

[0001] The invention relates to an electrical connector having a housing and a retainer that is moveable from a temporary locking position to a main locking position within the housing.

[0002] FIGS. 10, 11A, and 11B (Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. H9-161875) show a first conventional electrical connector 101. The electrical connector 101 includes an insulating housing 110. The housing 110 includes a contact accommodating member 111 having a plurality of contact accommodating cavities (not shown) for receiving contacts (not shown). A hood 112 extends forward from the contact accommodating member 111. Each of the contact accommodating cavities (not shown) has a first locking arm (not shown) for initially locking the contacts in the housing 110. A flexible second locking arm 113 extends forward from the contact accommodating member 111 and is disposed inside the hood 112 of the housing 110. The second locking arm 113 has a locking member 114.

[0003] A retainer 120 that secures the contacts (not shown) in the housing 110 is inserted from a front surface (left side in FIG. 10) of the housing 110 into the hood 112. The retainer 120 can be locked to the housing 110 in a temporary locking position shown in FIG. 11A that allows insertion of the contacts (not shown) into the contact accommodating cavities (not shown) and in a main locking position shown in FIG. 11B that secures the contacts (not shown) in the housing 110. The retainer 120 has a first locking projection 121 and a second locking projection 122. The first locking projection 121 prevents the retainer 120 from being pulled in a forward direction toward the front surface of the housing 110 when the retainer 120 is in the temporary locking position. The second locking projection 122 contacts a front surface of the locking member 114 when the retainer 120 is in the temporary locking position, as shown in FIG. 11A, so that the retainer 120 is prevented from being pushed in toward a rear of the housing 110 when the retainer 120 is in the temporary locking position. The second locking projection 122 is positioned to a rear of the locking member 114 when the retainer 120 is in the main locking position, as shown in FIG. 11B, so that the retainer 120 is prevented from being pulled in the forward direction toward the front surface of the housing 110.

[0004] FIGS. 12A to 12F (Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. 2001-332335) show a second conventional electrical connector 201. The electrical connector 201 includes an insulating housing 210. A plurality of contact accommodating cavities (not shown) for receiving contacts (not shown) is formed in the housing 210. A locking arm (not shown) for initially locking the contacts (not shown) in the housing 210 is disposed inside each of the contact accommodating cavities (not shown). A retainer insertion opening 216 for inserting a retainer 220 is formed in the housing 210. First locking members 213 are formed on rear portions (left portion in FIG. 12A) of the retainer insertion openings 216. Second locking members 214 are formed on front portions of the retainer insertion openings 216 in positions lower than the first locking members 213. As shown in FIG. 12B, first locking openings 211 and second locking openings 212 are formed in both side walls of the housing 210.

[0005] The retainer 220 is constructed so that it is inserted into the retainer insertion opening 216 from a top surface (upper side in FIG. 12A) of the housing 210 to double-lock the contacts (not shown). As shown in FIG. 2A, first retainer arms 222 that protrude downward are formed on lower rear portions of two side walls of the retainer 220. First locking projections 223 are formed at tip ends of the first retainer arms 222. Second locking arms 224 that protrude downward are formed on lower front portions of the two side walls of the retainer 220. Second locking projections 225 are formed at tip ends of the second locking arms 224.

[0006] The retainer 220 can be locked to the housing 210 in a temporary locking position shown in FIGS. 12A to 12D that allows insertion of the contacts (not shown) into the contact accommodating cavities (not shown) and in a main locking position shown in FIGS. 12E and 12F that secures the contacts (not shown) in the housing 210. The temporary locking position consists of a first temporary locking position P1 shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B and a second temporary locking position P2 shown in FIGS. 12C and 12D that are successively different in a direction of insertion depth.

[0007] As shown in FIG. 12B, when the retainer 220 is in the first temporary locking position P1, temporary locking projections 221 that protrude to an outside from both side walls of the retainer 220 enter into the first locking openings 211 in the housing 210 and restrict vertical movement of the retainer 220. As shown in FIG. 12A, when the retainer 220 is in the first temporary locking position P1, the first locking projections 223 of the retainer 220 are positioned above the first locking members 213 of the housing 210 and restrict downward movement of the retainer 220.

[0008] As is shown in FIG. 12D, when the retainer 220 is in the second temporary locking position P2, the temporary locking projections 221 enter into the second locking openings 212 in the housing 210. At the same time, the first locking projections 223 are positioned beneath the first locking members 213 of the housing 210, as shown in FIG. 12C, and restrict upward movement of the retainer 220. The second locking projections 225 are positioned above the second locking members 214 of the housing 210 and restrict the downward movement of the retainer 220. Accordingly, the force that holds the retainer 220 in the temporary locking position is greater when the retainer is in the first temporary locking position P1 than in the second temporary locking position P2.

[0009] As shown in FIG. 12F, when the retainer 220 is in the main locking position, the temporary locking projections 221 are still positioned inside the second locking openings 212. Further, as shown in FIG. 12E, the second locking projections 225 are positioned beneath the second locking members 214 of the housing 210 and restrict the upward movement of the retainer 220.

[0010] FIGS. 13A to 13C (Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. 2002-260766) show a third conventional electrical connector 301. The electrical connector 301 includes an insulating housing 310. A plurality of contact accommodating cavities 311 for accommodating contacts 320 are formed in the housing 310. As shown in FIG. 3C, an inner peripheral wall member 315 is formed inside the housing 310. The inner peripheral wall member 315 protrudes forward from the contact accommodating cavities 311. Locking members 312 that correspond to the contact accommodating cavities 311 are formed to protrude forward inside the inner peripheral wall member 315. A locking arm 313 that has a locking opening 314 is formed on the inner peripheral wall member 315.

[0011] A retainer 330 is inserted from a front surface (left side in FIG. 13A) of the housing 310 and secures the contacts 230 in the housing 310. The retainer 330 is constructed so that it is inserted over the outer periphery of the inner peripheral wall member 315. The retainer 330 can be locked to the housing 310 in a temporary locking position shown in FIG. 13A that allows insertion of the contacts 320 into the contact accommodating cavities 311 and in a main locking position shown in FIG. 13C that secures the contacts 320 in the housing 310. A plurality of receptacle accommodating openings 331 that accommodate receptacles 321 of the contacts 320 are formed in the retainer 330. A lance 332 that initially secures the contacts 320 is disposed in each of the receptacle accommodating openings 331. Lance receiving openings 333 that permit flexing of the lances 332 are disposed above the respective lances 332. A first locking projection 334 and a second locking projection 335 protrude from a bottom portion of the retainer 330.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 13B, when the retainer 330 is in the temporary locking position, the first locking projection 334 is positioned to a front of the locking arm 313 and prevents the retainer 330 from being pushed toward a rear of the housing 310. As shown in FIG. 13B, when the retainer 330 is in the temporary locking position, the second locking projection 335 enters into the locking opening 314 of the locking arm 313 and prevents the retainer 330 from being pulled out in the forward direction. Because a back surface 334a of the first locking projection 334 is formed as a reversed tapered surface as shown in FIG. 13B, when a pressing force is applied to a front end surface of the locking arm 313, locking is reinforced. Consequently, the retainer 330 that is in the temporary locking position cannot be easily pushed into the main locking position.

[0013] As shown in FIG. 13C, when the retainer 330 is in the main locking position, the first locking projection 334 enters into the locking opening 314 of the locking arm 313 and prevents the retainer 330 from being pulled out in the forward direction. When the retainer 330 is moved to the main locking position, as shown in FIG. 13C, the retainer arms 312 of the housing 310 advance into the lance receiving openings 333 of the retainer 330 and prevent the upward movement of the lances 332 to ensure that the contacts 320 are prevented from slipping out of the housing 310.

[0014] The following problems have been encountered in the above-described conventional electrical connectors. In the first electrical connector 101, since the locking arm 113 possesses flexibility, the retainer 120 that is in the temporary locking position can easily be moved to the main locking position. Accordingly, there are cases in which the retainer 120 that is in the temporary locking position is unintentionally moved to the main locking position as a result of, for example, foreign matter or the like contacting the locking arm 113.

[0015] In the second electrical connector 201, in order to hold the retainer 220 in the second temporary locking position P2, the first retainer arms 222 that are disposed on the lower rear portions of the two side walls of the retainer 220 restrict upward movement of the retainer 220. The second locking arms 224 disposed on the lower front portions of the two side walls of the retainer 220 restrict downward movement of the retainer 230. Therefore, two kinds of locking arms are needed, which requires a large amount of space. Moreover, since there are two temporary locking positions, there is a danger that the second locking position P2 will erroneously be recognized as the main locking position.

[0016] In the third electrical connector 310, although the retainer 330 can not be easily pushed from the temporary locking position into the main locking position, it is difficult to set the angle of inclination of the back surface 334a of the first locking projection 334 so that the locking arm 313 is not damaged when moving the retainer 330 from the temporary locking position to the main locking position.

[0017] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector that can prevent any unintentional movement of the retainer from the temporary locking position to the main locking position without making the retainer susceptible to damage or requiring a large amount of space.

[0018] This and other objects are achieved by an electrical connector comprising an insulating housing and a retainer. The housing has a plurality of contact accommodating cavities. The retainer is moveable between a temporary locking position and a main locking position. The retainer has first retainer arms that extend into a front surface of the housing. The first retainer arms have a second locking member formed on a top surface in a vicinity of a free end of the first retainer arms and a third locking member formed on a bottom surface in substantially a center of the first retainer arms. The second and third locking members are configured to abut the housing in the temporary locking position so that the retainer is prevented from moving from the temporary locking position to the main locking position.

[0038] FIG. 1 shows an electrical connector 1. The electrical connector 1 includes an insulating housing 10 and a retainer 40. The housing 10 has a substantially rectangular shape and is formed by molding an insulating synthetic resin. As shown in FIG. 5A, a plurality of contact accommodating cavities 11 extends in a single row in the housing 10. As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, each of the contact accommodating cavities 11 opens on a front side of the housing 10 (left side in FIGS. 1, 8A, and 8B). As shown in FIG. 5B, a partition wall 11a that extends in the left-right direction separates the contact accommodating cavities 11.

[0039] As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of first locking openings 17 that extend in the forward-rearward direction in positions corresponding to the contact accommodating cavities 11 is formed in the top wall of the housing 10. As shown in FIG. 5A, the first locking opening 17 have inclined contact surfaces 17a. First retainer arm receiving openings 18 that communicate with the respective first locking openings 17 and that open on the front side of the housing 10 are formed beneath the first locking openings 17. Housing locking projections 19 protrude into lower front ends of the first retainer arm receiving openings 18 from upper front ends of housing walls that define the contact accommodating cavities 11. As shown in FIGS. 5B and 8A, a guide member receiving opening 20 that opens on the front side of the housing 10 is formed between the first retainer arm receiving openings 18. As shown in FIG. 6A, a mating connector locking projection 21 that locks with a mating connector (not shown) is formed on the top wall of the housing 10.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 5A, a plurality of second locking openings 13 is formed in a bottom wall of the housing 10 in positions corresponding to the contact accommodating cavities 11. A locking arm 12 is disposed in each of the contact accommodating cavities 11. The locking arms 12 extend forward at an inclination from the bottom wall of the housing 10. Second retainer arm receiving openings 15 that permit flexing of the locking arms 12 are formed beneath the locking arms 12 so that the second retainer arm receiving openings 15 communicate with the second locking openings 13.

[0041] As shown in FIG. 5B and 6B, a third locking opening 14 is formed in a position corresponding to the partition wall 11a and is formed in a central member (in the left-right direction) of the bottom wall of the housing 10. As shown in FIG. 5B, the third locking opening 14 has a front portion 14a. A third retainer arm receiving opening 16 that communicates with the third locking opening 14 and that opens on the front side of the housing 10 is formed above the third locking opening 14.

[0042] As shown in FIG. 7A, contacts 30 are arranged in the contact accommodating cavities 11. Each of the contacts 30 is formed by stamping and forming a metal plate. Each of the contacts 30 has a substantially box-like receptacle 31 that is secured by the corresponding locking arms 12. An electrical wire connecting member 33 extends rearward from the receptacle 31 and is connected by crimping to an electrical wire (not shown). An elastic contact member 32 that makes elastic contact with a mating male contact (not shown) is disposed inside the receptacle 31.

[0043] As shown in FIGS. 2, 9A, and 9B, the retainer 40 has a rectangular front plate 41 that extends in the direction of length (left-right direction in FIG. 1) to cover the front surface of the housing 10. The front plate 41 has a plurality of contact though-holes 42 formed in a single row in positions corresponding to the contact accommodating cavities 11. A guide member 46 extends rearward from the front plate 41 and protrudes from substantially a center of a back surface of the front plate 41. A plurality of first retainer arms 43 extends rearward from an upper end of the front plate 41, and a plurality of second retainer arms 45 extends rearward from a lower end of the front plate 41. A third retainer arm 44 is formed between the second retainer arms 45 and extends from the lower end of the front plate 41. The first retainer arms 43 are disposed in the left-right direction in positions corresponding to the first retainer arm receiving openings 18 in the housing 10. The second retainer arms 45 are disposed in the left-right direction in positions corresponding to the second retainer arm receiving openings 15 in the housing 10. The third retainer arms 44 are disposed in the left-right direction in positions corresponding to the third retainer arm receiving openings 16 in the housing 10.

[0044] Each of the first retainer arms 43 has a first locking member 43a with an inclined surface on a free end thereof. A second locking member 43b is formed in substantially a center of the first retainer arms 43. A third locking member 43c, as shown in FIG. 7A, is formed adjacent to the first locking member 43a. The first locking members 43a and third locking members 43c are provided on top surfaces of the first retainer arm 43. The second locking members 43b are provided on bottom surfaces of the first retainer arms 43. As shown in FIG. 9A, abutment members 47 protrude from top surfaces of the second retainer arms 45. As shown in FIG. 9B, locking projections 45a protrude downward from rear ends of the second retainer arms 45. Locking protrusions 44a protrude downward from bottom surfaces of the third retainer arms 44 and are formed substantially in a center thereof.

[0045] A method for assembling the electrical connector 1 will now be described in greater detail. As shown in FIG. 4, the retainer 40 is inserted from the front surface of the housing 10, and is moveable between a temporary locking position shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B that allows insertion of the contacts 30 into the housing 10 and a main locking position shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B that secures the contacts in the housing 10.

[0046] The retainer 40 is first positioned in the temporary locking position shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B. In the temporary locking position, the guide member 46 is received in the guide member receiving opening 20 from the front surface of the housing 10 to prevent movement of the retainer 40 in the vertical direction, which may be caused by any looseness. The first retainer arms 43 are received in the front surface of the housing 10 so that the first locking members 43a enter into the first locking openings 17 in the housing 10. The inclined surfaces of the first locking members 43a engage the inclined contact surface 17a so that the retainer 40 is prevented from being pulled out in the forward direction. The third locking members 43c of the first retainer arms 43 abut bottom surfaces of the protruding members 22 of the housing 10. Because the inclined surfaces of the first locking members 43a and the inclined contact surface 17a are oriented to oppose the direction in which the retainer 40 can be pulled out of the housing 10, the retainer 40 strongly resists being pulled out of the housing 10 from the temporary locking position. The second locking members 43b are positioned on the front side of the housing locking projections 19 and prevent the retainer 40 from being pushed toward the rear of the housing 10. In the temporary locking position, the second locking members 43b of the first retainer arms 43 contact a front side of the housing locking projections 19 and the top surface of the housing 10.

[0047] The second retainer arms 45 advance into the second retainer arm receiving openings 15 from the front surface of the housing 10. The locking projections 45a enter into the second locking openings 13 of the housing 10, as shown in FIG. 5A, so that the retainer 40 is prevented from being pulled out in the forward direction. The contact surfaces of each of the locking projections 45a and each of the second locking openings 13 are formed as inclined surfaces that are oriented to oppose the direction in which the retainer 40 is pulled out.

[0048] The third retainer arms 44 advance into the third retainer arm receiving openings 16 from the front surface of the housing 10. The locking protrusion 44a is positioned on a front side of the front portion 14a of the third locking opening 14, as shown in FIG. 5B, so that the retainer 40 is prevented from being pushed toward the rear of the housing 10.

[0049] When the retainer 40 is in the temporary locking position, the contacts 30, which have electrical wires (not shown) connected thereto, are inserted into the contact accommodating cavities 11 from the rear side of the housing 10. As a result, the locking arms 12 are positioned on rear sides of the receptacles 31 of the contacts 30, so that the contacts 30 are tentatively secured from slipping out of the housing 10.

[0050] The retainer 40 is then pushed toward the rear of the housing 10 to move the retainer 40 from the temporary locking position to the main locking position shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B. In the main locking position, the first locking members 43a and the second locking members 43b are arranged inside the first retainer arm receiving openings 18, as shown in FIG. 7A. The second retainer arms 45 advance into the second retainer arm receiving openings 15 formed beneath the locking arms 12. The second retainer arms 45 thereby restrict the downward movement of the locking arms 12 to secure the contacts 30 in the housing 10. The abutment members 47 restrict the downward movement of the receptacles 31 of the contacts 30 in the main locking position. The locking protrusions 44a of the third retainer arms 44 enter into the third locking openings 14, as shown in FIG. 7B, so that the retainer 40 is prevented from being pulled out toward the front of the housing 10. As a result, the assembly of the electrical connector 1 is completed.

[0051] In the electrical connector 1 of the present invention, in the temporary locking position, the first retainer arms 43 are supported in the housing 10 at two positions, by the second locking members 43b and by the third locking members 43c. It is therefore possible to prevent the retainer 40 from being moved unintentionally from the temporary locking position to the main locking position. Additionally, because the retainer 40 is secured in the temporary locking position by the first retainer arms 43, a large space is not required. Moreover, the flexibility of the first retainer arms 43 is restricted in the temporary locking position, since the third locking members 43c are provided on the top surfaces of the first retainer arms 43, and the second locking members 43b are provided on the bottom surfaces of the first retainer arms 43. Consequently, any unintentional movement of the retainer 40 from the temporary locking position to the main locking position can further be prevented. Further, in the temporary locking position, the top surfaces of the first locking members 43a are exposed to the outside of the housing 10 by the first locking openings 17. Accordingly, the retainer 40 can be separated from the housing 10 by pressing the first locking members 43a downward with a tool or the like.

[0052] An embodiment of the present invention was described herein. The present invention, however, is not limited to this embodiment. Various alterations and modifications are possible. For example, the number of the first retainer arms 43 does not have to be identical to the number of the contact accommodating cavities 11. The number of the first retainer arms 43 may be larger or smaller than the number of the contact accommodating cavities 11.