US6503108B1 — General purpose connector and connecting method t…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 127 words

A general purpose connector, comprising: a connector housing having a base including a terminal mounting portion and having at least a pair of walls formed on said base; a plurality of separate and adjustable partitions being inserted into said connector housing and thus forming receiving spaces, together with said connector housing for receiving mating connectors of different sizes, being suitable for the terminal arrangement of each mating connector; and a first groove and a second groove formed on a main surface of each of said plurality of separate and adjustable partitions to prevent any of incorrect insertion as a result of receiving a wrong mating connector having the same terminal arrangement and reversed insertion as a result of receiving a corresponding mating connector in a reversed orientation.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 127 words

A general purpose connector, comprising: a connector housing having a base including a terminal mounting portion and having at least a pair of walls formed on said base; a plurality of separate and adjustable partitions being inserted into said connector housing and thus forming receiving spaces, together with said connector housing for receiving mating connectors of different sizes, being suitable for the terminal arrangement of each mating connector; and a first groove and a second groove formed on a main surface of each of said plurality of separate and adjustable partitions to prevent any of incorrect insertion as a result of receiving a wrong mating connector having the same terminal arrangement and reversed insertion as a result of receiving a corresponding mating connector in a reversed orientation.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 62 words

The general purpose connector of claim 1 , wherein: said partitions have a pair of arms which respectively make contact with the outer surfaces of a pair of said walls of said connector housing, and wherein partition locking means are formed on said arms and on the walls of said connector housing in order to lock said partitions to said connector housing.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 35 words

The general purpose connector of claim 1 , wherein: said partitions and said connector housing has partition-reversed insertion prevention means which prevent said partitions from being inserted into said connector housing in a reversed orientation.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 29 words

The general purpose connector of claim 1 , wherein: said partitions have connector locking means which lock the mating connector being inserted into said receiving space to said partition.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 30 words

The general purpose connector of claim 1 , wherein: terminals located in the terminal mounting portion are formed in a pin shape, and said partitions have holes receiving said terminals.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 36 words

The general purpose connector of claim 1 , wherein: said connector housings can be connected to one another, and said partitions and said connector housings have connecting means which connect the ends of said connector housings.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 28 words

The general purpose connector of claim 1 , wherein: said partitions are made of metal, and a shielding member made of metal is provided inside said connector housing.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 34 words

The general purpose connector of claim 1 , wherein the receiving spaces comprise a space bounded by at least one partition, the connector housing base, and the pair of walls formed on said base.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 30 words

The general purpose connector of claim 1 , wherein a size associated with each of the receiving spaces is determined based on the positioning of the plurality of the partitions.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 33 words

The general purpose connector of claim 1 , wherein the partitions are configured such that a size associated with each of the receiving spaces is adjustable based on the positioning of the partitions.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 53 words

The general purpose connector of claim 1 , wherein the general purpose connector is configured to receive a female connector in each of the receiving spaces, each of said receiving spaces comprising a space bounded by at least one partition, the connector housing base, and the pair of walls formed on said base.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 28 words

A general purpose connector of claim 1 , further comprising a third groove on a partition opposed to said partition with said first groove and said second groove.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 30 words

A general purpose connector of claim 1 , wherein said partition is inserted substantially perpendicular to said at least a pair of walls formed on said base of connector housing.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 47 words

The general purpose connector of claim 1 , wherein: a plurality of positioning guide means are formed at a constant pitch in said walls of said connector housing, and wherein said partitions are inserted into said connector housing while being guided by the corresponding positioning guide means.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 32 words

The general purpose connector of claim 14 , wherein: said positioning guide means are formed in said walls continuous from a position opposite to the base to the position of the base.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 26 words

The general purpose connector of claim 14 , wherein: said positioning guide means are located at an intermediate position between the two adjacent terminal mounting portions.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 30 words

The general purpose connector of the claim 1 , further comprising: cross partitions being fitted perpendicular to said partitions and thus forming receiving space segments together with said connector housing.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 38 words

The general purpose connector of claim 17 , wherein: said partitions and said cross partitions have cross positioning guide means with which the mutual positioning of said partitions and said cross partitions can be changed by regular intervals.

Claim 20

Independent Claim 162 words

A method for connecting a general purpose connector, comprising: providing a connector housing having a base having at least a pair of walls formed on said base, wherein a plurality of position guide means are formed at a constant pitch on said walls of said connector housing; inserting separate and adjustable partitions into said connector housing while being guided by the corresponding positioning guide means, and thereby forming receiving spaces, together with said connector housing for receiving mating connectors of different sizes, said receiving spaces are suitable for the terminal arrangement of a designated mating connector; and using said separate and adjustable partitions having a main surface formed with a first groove and a second groove to prevent any of incorrect insertion as a result of receiving the wrong mating connector having the same terminal arrangement and reversed insertion as a result of receiving a corresponding mating connector in a reversed orientation, by the particular shape of said separate and adjustable partition.

Claim 21

Independent Claim 162 words

A method for connecting a general purpose connector, comprising: providing a connector housing having a base having at least a pair of walls formed on said base, wherein a plurality of position guide means are formed at a constant pitch on said walls of said connector housing; inserting separate and adjustable partitions into said connector housing while being guided by the corresponding positioning guide means, and thereby forming receiving spaces, together with said connector housing for receiving mating connectors of different sizes, said receiving spaces are suitable for the terminal arrangement of a designated mating connector; and using said separate and adjustable partitions having a main surface formed with a first groove and a second groove to prevent any of incorrect insertion as a result of receiving the wrong mating connector having the same terminal arrangement and reversed insertion as a result of receiving a corresponding mating connector in a reversed orientation, by the particular shape of said separate and adjustable partition.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 41 words

The method of claim 19 , further comprising receiving a female connector in the receiving space, said receiving space comprising a space bounded by at least one partition, the connector housing base, and the pair of walls formed on said base.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 31 words

The method of claim 19 , further comprising moving one of the partitions from a first position to a second position to adjust the size of at least one receiving space.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 128 words

A general purpose connector, comprising: a connector housing having a base including a terminal mounting portion and having at least a pair of walls formed on said base; and a plurality of separate and adjustable partitions being inserted into said connector housing and thus forming receiving spaces, together with said connector housing for receiving mating connectors of different sizes, being suitable for the terminal arrangement of each mating connector, wherein a first groove and a second groove are formed into a main surface of each said plurality of separate and adjustable partitions to prevent any of incorrect insertion resulting from any of receiving the wrong mating connector having the same terminal arrangement and reversed insertion as a result of receiving a corresponding mating connector in a reversed orientation.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 128 words

A general purpose connector, comprising: a connector housing having a base including a terminal mounting portion and having at least a pair of walls formed on said base; and a plurality of separate and adjustable partitions being inserted into said connector housing and thus forming receiving spaces, together with said connector housing for receiving mating connectors of different sizes, being suitable for the terminal arrangement of each mating connector, wherein a first groove and a second groove are formed into a main surface of each said plurality of separate and adjustable partitions to prevent any of incorrect insertion resulting from any of receiving the wrong mating connector having the same terminal arrangement and reversed insertion as a result of receiving a corresponding mating connector in a reversed orientation.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 130 words

A general purpose connector, comprising: a connector housing having a base including a terminal mounting portion, and having at least a pair of walls formed on said base; and at least one separate and adjustable partition inserted into said connector housing to form a modular receiving space, together with said connector housing for receiving a mating connector of at least one configuration and size, being suitable for the terminal arrangement of each mating connector, said at least one separate and adjustable partition has a main surface formed with a first groove and a second groove to prevent either incorrect insertion as a result of receiving a wrong mating connector having the same terminal arrangement or reversed insertion as a result of receiving a corresponding mating connector in a reversed orientation.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 130 words

A general purpose connector, comprising: a connector housing having a base including a terminal mounting portion, and having at least a pair of walls formed on said base; and at least one separate and adjustable partition inserted into said connector housing to form a modular receiving space, together with said connector housing for receiving a mating connector of at least one configuration and size, being suitable for the terminal arrangement of each mating connector, said at least one separate and adjustable partition has a main surface formed with a first groove and a second groove to prevent either incorrect insertion as a result of receiving a wrong mating connector having the same terminal arrangement or reversed insertion as a result of receiving a corresponding mating connector in a reversed orientation.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 20 words

A general purpose connector of claim 23 , further comprising a mis-insertion prevention projection opposed to said mis-insertion prevention groove.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2006-01-06	2006-07-08	2007-01-07	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2010-01-06	2010-07-08	2011-01-07	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2014-01-06	2014-07-08	2015-01-07	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

General purpose connector and connecting method therefor

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