Some embodiments relate to a connector.
Japanese Published Patent Application 2004-103551 (P2004-103551A) discloses a related art connector including: (i) a housing main body that is engageable to a counterpart housing, (ii) a lock arm that extends rearwardly in a cantilevered state from a top surface of the housing main body, and that holds the housing main body and the counterpart housing in a normal engagement state by virtue of being elastically engaged to a lock receiver of the counterpart housing, and (iii) a detecting member that is assembled to the housing main body and that is movable between an initial position and a detecting position that is forward of the initial position.
An elastic arm portion is formed on the detecting member, which extends in a cantilevered state diagonally upward and forward, and the detecting member is held at an initial position as an extended end of the elastic arm portion is engaged to the lock arm from behind. When the housing main body is engaged to the counterpart housing, engagement of the elastic arm portion is released, and the detecting member can be moved from the initial position to the detecting position. Based on whether the detecting member can be moved to the detecting position, it can be detected whether the housing main body and the counterpart housing have been engaged.
A certain movement may occur if the housing main body is not engaged to the counterpart housing, and if the detecting member at an initial state is forcibly pushed to a detecting position side. Specifically, the elastic arm portion pushes up the lock arm, while the elastic arm portion slips under the lock arm, the detecting member may incorrectly move forward to the detecting position side. However, a pressing portion formed on the housing main body presses down an extended end portion of the lock arm, so that pushing up of the lock arm is restricted, and it is possible to suppress the detecting member from incorrectly moving forward to a detecting position.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds