1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector assembly that engages a second connector with a first connector by inserting a second housing of the second connector into a first housing of the first connector and connects a terminal of the second housing to a terminal in the first housing.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has conventionally been known a connector assembly that engages a second connector with a first connector by inserting a second housing of the second connector into a first housing of the first connector and that connects a terminal of the second housing to a terminal in the first housing. A connector assembly that, by inserting a housing of a male connector into a housing of a female connector, mutually connects terminals of both the housings is an outstanding example thereof.
This kind of connector assembly is used, for example, to connect various types of electric cables with each other inside a vehicle. Because electric cables are often routed within a confined space in a vehicle, various schemes are incorporated into the connector assembly to fix the connector assembly on the vehicle side in a narrow small space of the vehicle. As an example, there is a connector assembly that is fixed on a vehicle side by forming a cassette type insertion section on a side face of a housing of a female connector and/or a male connector and inserting an end of a bracket fixed on the vehicle side into the cassette type insertion section for clamping (for example, refer to FIG. 5 in Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H08 (1996)-330026).
The connector assembly described above, in some cases, is formed with a high-voltage specification with recent widespread use of electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). The connector assembly with such a specification has a tendency of being further upsized than a conventional connector assembly with a low voltage specification. Thus, the connector assembly tends to have large vibrations thereof when vehicle vibrations propagate through a bracket. Accordingly, in a large-sized connector assembly with a high voltage specification, such as a shield connector, it is preferable that both female and male connectors are tightly coupled to each other without any looseness under an engagement state thereof.
In this view, a conventional connector assembly which is lighter and smaller than a connector assembly with a high voltage specification has a sufficient coupling force in an engagement direction sufficiently ensured to completely connect terminals mutually. However, because of no necessity of such a force in each direction within a plane intersecting with the engagement direction, the connector assembly is not structured to obtain a sufficient coupling force with an engagement force between a female connector and a male connector. Accordingly, a connector assembly with a high voltage specification having a high tendency of being upsized may require a new structure to provide enhancement of a coupling force, which a conventional connector assembly has not adopted.