Terminal-fitted retainer and connector

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9472882-B2
Application number	US-201514685931-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 14, 2015
Priority date	Apr 17, 2014
Publication date	Oct 18, 2016
Grant date	Oct 18, 2016

Abstract

A terminal-fitted retainer ( 20 ) includes terminals ( 50 ) that have recesses ( 57 ) provided on outer peripheral surfaces thereof and to be inserted and accommodated into terminal accommodating chambers ( 38 ) formed in a housing ( 30 ) from behind. A retainer ( 70 ) is mounted into the housing ( 30 ) while retaining the terminals ( 50 ). The retainer ( 70 ) includes terminal holding portions ( 74 ) for holding the terminals ( 50 ) by being fit into the recesses ( 57 ) and thick portions ( 78 ) to be accommodated into clearances formed between the terminal holding portions ( 74 ) and either front or rear surfaces of the recesses ( 57 ) in a front-back direction.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A terminal-fitted retainer, comprising:
at least one terminal including at least one recess provided on an outer peripheral surface and to be accommodated in at least one terminal accommodating chamber formed in a housing, the terminal including a front engaged portion having a rear surface, a rear engaged portion having a front surface opposed to and spaced rearward of the rear surface of the front engaged portion and a retainer mounting recess between the front surface of the rear engaged portion and the rear surface of the front engaged portion, the retainer mounting recess having a smaller diameter than the front engaged portion and the rear engaged portion; and
the retainer to be mounted into the housing while retaining the terminal, the retainer including at least one terminal holding portion for holding the terminal by being fit into the retainer mounting recess and at least one thick portion extending from the terminal holding portion and filling a clearance between the terminal holding portion and one of front and rear surfaces of the retainer mounting recess in a front-back direction.

2. The terminal-fitted retainer of claim 1 , wherein the terminal includes a shaft, the front engaged portion being connected to the shaft and having a larger diameter than the shaft.

3. The terminal-fitted retainer of claim 1 , wherein the terminal holding portion includes two holding projections arranged to substantially face each other while being spaced apart by a distance smaller than an outer diameter of the retainer mounting recess and at least partly surrounds the retainer mounting recess over at least half the circumference from one of the holding projections to the other holding projections.

4. The terminal-fitted retainer of claim 1 , wherein the terminal holding portion contacts the front engaged portion and the thick portion projects back from a rear end part of the terminal holding portion and contacts the rear engaged portion.

5. A connector comprising:
an inner housing to be fit to an inner side of a vehicle;
a terminal-fitted retainer assembled with the inner housing to define a subassembly, the terminal-fitted retainer including:
at least one terminal including a shaft and a retainer mounting recess rearward of the shaft, the retainer mounting recess having opposed front and rear surfaces spaced apart along a front-rear direction; and
a retainer including a retainer main body with at least one terminal holding slot that opens out in a direction transverse to the front-back direction and that is engaged with the retainer mounting recesses of the terminal, at least one thick portion formed on the retainer main body adjacent the terminal holding slot and projecting in the front-rear direction sufficiently to fill a clearance between the retainer main body and at least one of the front and rear surfaces of the retainer mounting recess in the terminal; and

an outer housing fit to an outer side of the vehicle and having at least one terminal accommodating chamber extending in the front-back direction, the subassembly comprised of the inner housing and the terminal-fitted retainer being assembled to the outer housing by inserting the shaft of the terminal through the terminal accommodating chamber in the front-back direction.

6. The connector of claim 5 , wherein the retainer main body includes two holding projections projecting into the terminal holding slot at positions facing each other while being spaced apart by a distance smaller than an outer diameter of the retainer mounting recess and at least partly surrounding the retainer mounting recess over at least half a circumference from one of the holding projections to the other holding projections.

7. A terminal-fitted retainer, comprising:
at least one terminal including a shaft and a retainer mounting recess rearward of the shaft, the retainer mounting recess having opposed front and rear surfaces spaced apart along a front-rear direction; and
a retainer including a main body with at least one terminal holding slot that opens out in a direction transverse to the front-back direction and that is engaged with the retainer mounting recesses of the terminal, two holding projections projecting into the terminal holding slot at positions facing each other while being spaced apart by a distance smaller than an outer diameter of the retainer mounting recess and at least partly surrounding the retainer mounting recess over at least half a circumference from one of the holding projections to the other holding projections, at least one thick portion formed on the retainer main body adjacent the terminal holding slot and projecting in the front-rear direction sufficiently to fill a clearance between the retainer main body and at least one of the front and rear surfaces of the retainer mounting recess in the terminal.

Assignees

• Sumitomo Wiring Systems

Inventors

• Kurita Atsushi

Classifications

• B60L11/1818

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• H01R13/424 Primary

  Securing in base or case composed of a plurality of insulating parts having at least one resilient insulating part · CPC title

• B60L53/16

  Connectors, e.g. plugs or sockets, specially adapted for charging electric vehicles · CPC title

• Y02T10/7072

  Electromobility specific charging systems or methods for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors · CPC title

• Y02T10/70

  Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries · CPC title