Joint connector

1. A joint connector for shorting wires to each other by electrically connecting wire-side terminals respectively mounted on ends of the wires to each other, comprising:

a shorting member made of a conductive material, the shorting member integrally including a base extending in a shorting direction and shorting-side terminal projecting from the base in a terminal projecting direction intersecting the shorting direction, each shorting-side terminal being shaped to fit to each wire-side terminal in a fitting direction parallel to the terminal projecting direction; and

an insulating housing for holding the shorting member;

wherein the insulating housing includes a housing body having a shorting member accommodating portion for accommodating at least the base of the shorting member and a shorting member retainer to be detachably mounted into the housing body in a specific mounting/detaching direction to constrain the shorting member in the shorting member accommodating portion, the mounting/detaching direction intersecting with both the shorting direction and the fitting direction, and the shorting member retainer includes a shorting member constraining portion configured to cross the shorting member in the mounting/detaching direction to restrict a movement of the shorting member in the fitting direction.

2. The joint connector of claim 1 , wherein the shorting member accommodating portion of the housing body includes a body-side constraining portion located on one side of the base of the shorting member in the fitting direction, whereas the shorting member constraining portion of the shorting member retainer crosses a side opposite in the fitting direction to the body-side constraining portion across the base in the mounting/detaching direction.

3. The joint connector claim 1 , wherein the shorting member constraining portion of the shorting member retainer includes constraining pieces configured to cross between the shorting-side terminal that are adjacent to one another.

4. The joint connector of claim 1 , comprising plural shorting members, the shorting members being arranged side by side in a direction parallel to the mounting/detaching direction, and the shorting member retainer is mounted into the housing body such that the shorting member constraining portion crosses the shorting members.

5. The joint connector of claim 1 , wherein the housing body further includes a terminal holding portion for holding the wire-side terminals to be fit to each shorting-side terminal, the joint connector further includes a wire-side terminal retainer to be mounted into the housing body to be movable in the direction parallel to the mounting/detaching direction of the shorting member retainer between a passage permitting position where the passage of the wire-side terminals toward the shorting-side terminal is permitted and a locking position where the wire-side terminals fit to the shorting-side terminal are locked and a retainer coupling that couples the wire-side terminal retainer and the shorting member retainer such that the both retainers are interlocked with each other and move in the mounting/detaching direction, the shorting member retainer, the wire-side terminal retainer and the retainer coupling are formed integrally as a single retainer member, and the shorting member constraining portion of the shorting member retainer is shaped to constrain the shorting member both when the wire-side terminal retainer is at the passage permitting position and when the wire-side terminal retainer is at the locking position.