JP2000040557A - Movable connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely connect fellow housings, and to secure favorably contact pressure for fellow connecting terminal groups. SOLUTION: This connector comprises four small housings 11 for storing connection terminals and to be fitted with a partitioning chamber of a mating side housing, a holder 12 for holding the housings 11, a bracket 14 for storing the holder 12 freely to move in all the directions and not to comming off and fixed to a frame of an instrument panel, and four spring pieces 13 stored in the bracket 14 to bias the holder 12 to a neutral position with respect to the bracket 14. The spring piece 13 is provided with a first spring part 34 for biasing the holder 12 to a neutral position in a direction orthogonal to a connecting direction, and a second spring part 35 for biasing the holder 12 to the connecting direction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a movable connector which makes a connection terminal movable to facilitate connection with a mating connector housing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an operation unit of electric components such as an air conditioner and an audio device of an automobile is often integrated into an operation unit mounted on a center panel, that is, an instrument panel. When assembling the operation unit to the instrument panel, first, one connector housing connected to the operation unit via a cable,
The other connector housing connected to the instrument panel via a cable is manually connected, and then the operation unit is assembled to the instrument panel.

On the other hand, a movable connector may be used to connect electrical components on the instrument panel side of an automobile to a power source or a signal source on the dash panel side. In this case, for example, the connector housing on the dash panel side is movably mounted, the connector housing on the instrument panel side is fixed, and the connector housings are automatically coupled to each other simply by attaching the instrument panel to the dash panel. It has become.

[0004]

In recent years, automobiles have been equipped with various electric components such as navigation devices in addition to the above-mentioned air conditioners and audio devices, and the operation unit and the instrument panel are electrically connected. There are cases where the number of cables to be connected is more than 50. For this reason, the connector housing of the operation unit and the connector housing of the instrument panel each house 50 or more connection terminal groups, and it may be difficult to manually connect both connector housings to each other.

The dash panel-side connector housing and the instrument panel-side connector housing each accommodate a large number of connection terminal groups, and the dash panel-side connector housing can be moved only in a direction perpendicular to the connecting direction. It is often the case that simply attaching the instrument panel to the dash panel
In some cases, the contact pressure between the connection terminal groups cannot be sufficiently secured.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems,
An object of the present invention is to provide a movable connector capable of following a posture of a mating housing to facilitate connection and ensuring good contact pressure between connection terminal groups.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a movable connector comprising: a housing for accommodating a group of connection terminals; a bracket for holding the housing so as to be movable in all directions; Urging means for urging the bracket to a neutral position.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail with reference to the illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 1 shows, for example, a movable connector 3 which can be connected to a mating housing 2 fixed to an operation unit 1 of an automobile.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the embodiment of the present invention, in which an operation unit such as an air conditioner, an audio device, and a navigation device (not shown) is integrated into the operation unit 1, and the movable connector 3 is assembled to a frame 4 of an instrument panel.

The external shape of the mating housing 2 is, for example, a rectangular shape, and a fitting projection 5 is formed at the axis of the mating housing 2. Inside the mating housing 2, there are provided, for example, four compartments 6 for dividing and accommodating a connection terminal group in which wires of a wire harness (not shown) are connected to the rear portion, thereby improving the workability of assembling the wire harness. Have been. One of the compartments 6 accommodates, for example, a connection terminal (not shown) for a feeder, and the other three compartments 6 accommodate, for example, 27 male connection terminals (not shown). Have been. The wires of the wire harness are connected to the rear portions of these connection terminals, respectively.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the movable connector 3 shown together with the frame 4. The movable connector 3 includes four small housings 11 that can be fitted into the compartments 6 of the mating housing 2, and these small housings 11. 11 and four spring pieces 13 for urging the holder 12
And the holder 12 holding the small housing 11
Square bracket 14 that is movably accommodated via 3
And a tapping screw 15 for holding the holder 12 movably on the bracket 14 so as not to come off.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the movable connector 3, FIG. 4 is a front view, and FIG.
One of the small housings 11 accommodates a female feeder connection terminal 16 connected to the feeder connection terminal accommodated in one compartment 6 of the mating housing 2. The remaining three housings 11 are connected to connection terminals accommodated in the remaining three compartments 6 of the mating housing 2, for example, 27 female connection terminals 1 each.
7 are accommodated. And these connection terminals 16,
The electric wires of the wire harness are connected to the rear portions of the wires 17 respectively.

The holder 12 is provided with a cylindrical portion 22 having a fitting hole 21 for fitting the fitting protrusion 5 of the mating housing 2, and a guide for guiding the fitting protrusion 5 at an entrance of the fitting hole 21. The surface 21a is formed. Small-diameter portion 2 at the rear of cylindrical portion 22
A partition arm 23 for partitioning adjacent small housings 11 is formed on the outer periphery of 2a so as to form a right angle. At the end of the partition arm 23, a holding piece 24 for holding the outer surface of the small housing 11 is formed so as to be orthogonal, and at the rear edge of the partition arm 23 and the holding piece 24, an edge of the rear surface of the small housing 11 is held. An elongated ridge 25 is formed. A screw hole 26 into which the tapping screw 15 is screwed is formed at the rear end of the small diameter portion 22a of the cylindrical portion 22.

The spring piece 13 is formed from a single elastic metal plate by press working. As shown in a perspective view of FIG. 6, the spring piece 13 is provided on the inner surface of the upper and lower walls 14a or the left and right walls 14b of the bracket 14. A pair of substrate portions 31 that are in contact with each other, and a first engagement piece 32 that protrudes outward from a rear outer edge of the substrate portion 31 and engages with an engagement portion described later of the bracket 14.
And a second engaging piece 33 that is notched at the front portion of the substrate portion 31 and is bent obliquely downward to engage with an engagement groove described later of the bracket 14, and an obliquely upward portion from the front inner edge side of the substrate portion 31. The first spring portion 34 protruding toward the holding member 24 and biasing the outer surface of the holding piece 24 of the holder 12 is connected to the rising portion 31 a rising from the rear portion of the substrate portion 31. And a second spring portion 35 that urges the rear surface of the holding side 24 including the elongated protrusions 12.

The first spring portions 34 are shifted in the front-rear direction so as not to overlap with each other, and these first spring portions 34 hold the holder 12 at the axial center position of the bracket 14, that is, at the neutral position. It has become. The rising portion 31a of the spring piece 13 is in contact with the rear wall 14c of the bracket 14,
The height of the rising portion 31a and the second spring portion 35 is set to
The height is set so as not to hinder the insertion of 6, 6 into the small housing 11. The second spring portion 35 cooperates with the tapping screw 15 to hold the holder 12 at a neutral position in the axial direction.

On the rear wall 14c of the bracket 14, a screw insertion hole 41 for inserting the tapping screw 15 and four terminal insertion windows 42 for inserting the connection terminals 16 and 17 housed in the small housing 11 are formed. I have. Bracket 14
The upper and lower walls 14a and the left and right walls 14b have an engaging groove 43a, which engages with the first engaging piece 32 of the substrate portion 31 of the spring piece 13, and a second engaging piece 33. Engaging groove 4 for engaging with
4 is provided on the rear wall 14c of the bracket 14, and a holding portion 45 for holding the outer edge of the rising portion 31a of the spring piece 13 is provided. Further, two screw insertion holes 46 through which fixing screws (not shown) for fixing the bracket 14 to the frame 4 are inserted are formed in a flange portion 14 d provided on a rear outer periphery of the bracket 14.

When assembling the movable connector 3, FIG.
As shown in the perspective view of FIG. 4, the four spring pieces 13 are attached to the bracket 14 with the rising portions 31a of the spring pieces 13 facing the bracket 14 and the board portion 31 is inserted between the engaging portions 43 of the bracket 14. Push into 14. This allows
The first engagement piece 32 of the spring piece 13 engages with the engagement groove 43 a of the engagement portion 43 of the bracket 14, and the second engagement piece 33 of the spring piece 13 engages with the engagement groove 44 of the bracket 14. And the assembly of the spring piece 13 to the bracket 14 is completed.

Further, the four small housings 11 are assembled to the holder 12 such that the small housing 11 is fitted between the partition arm 23 and the holding piece 24 of the holder 12. Then, the holder 12 having the small housing 11 is
The tapping screw 15 is housed inside the spring piece 13 attached to the bracket 14 and screwed into the screw hole 26 of the holder 12 from behind the bracket 14 via the screw insertion hole 41. Accordingly, the bracket 14 holds the holder 12 at the neutral position.

Next, a plurality of connection terminals 16 and 17 having the wires of the wire harness connected to the rear portion are inserted into the terminal housing holes of the small housing 11 through the terminal insertion windows 42 of the bracket 14. Then, the upper and lower walls 14a and the left and right walls 14b of the bracket 14 are fitted into the housing insertion holes 4a of the frame 4 of the instrument panel, and the fixing screws are attached to the bracket 4 with the flange 14d of the bracket 14 abutting on the frame 4. The bracket 14 is fixed to the frame 4 by inserting the bracket 14 into the screw insertion hole 46 of the frame 14 and the screw insertion hole 4 b of the frame 4. Thereby, the holder 12 to which the small bracket 11 is engaged can be moved with respect to the bracket in the front-back, left-right, and up-down directions.

When the operation unit 1 is assembled to the frame 4 of the instrument panel having the movable connector 3 and is fitted to the mating housing 2, the fitting projection 5 of the mating housing 2 is guided by the fitting hole 21 of the holder 12. It enters the fitting hole 21 while pressing the surface 21a. When the axis of the mating housing 2 and the axis of the holder 12 are misaligned, the holder 12 moves in a direction perpendicular to the coupling direction against the urging force of the first spring portion 34 of the spring piece 13. The compartment 6 and the small housing 11 are aligned by following the posture of the mating housing 2.

Then, the small housing 11 is securely fitted in the compartment 6 and the connection terminals accommodated in the mating housing 2 and the connection terminals 1 accommodated in the small housing 11.
6, 17 are securely connected to each other. The second spring portion 35 of the spring piece 13 is connected to the small housing 11 via the holder 12.
Is biased toward the mating housing 2 so as to ensure good contact pressure between the connection terminals of the fixed housing and the connection terminals 16 and 17 of the small housing 11.

Although the small housing 11 is assembled separately to the holder 12, the small housing 11 and the holder 12
Can be integrated. Or small housing 1
1 may be singular. Further, the first spring portion 34 and the second spring portion 35 of the spring piece 13 are integrated, but there is no problem even if they are separate. Although one compartment 6 and one small housing 11 of the fixed housing 1 are used for the feeder, the invention is not limited thereto, and the compartments 6 and the small housing 11 can be used similarly to the remaining compartments 6 and the small housing 11, respectively.

[0023]

As described above, the movable connector according to the present invention is provided with the biasing means for biasing the housing to the neutral position in the direction perpendicular to the connecting direction, so that the movable connector is shifted with respect to the mating housing. Even in the case of coupling from a position, the coupling can be surely performed while moving the housing, and a good contact pressure with the mating connection terminal group can be secured.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of an embodiment shown together with an operation unit.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view.

FIG. 3 is an assembled perspective view.

FIG. 4 is a front view.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a spring.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of the assembly.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 operation unit 2 mating housing 3 movable connector 4 frame 5 fitting projection 6 compartment 11 small housing 12 holder 13 spring piece 14 bracket 15 tapping screw 16, 17 connection terminal 34 first spring portion 35 second spring portion

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yoshikatsu Hasegawa 1-8-1, Kotake-cho, Nerima-ku, Tokyo Ryosei Denso Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5E021 FA05 FA09 FB09 FB20 FC31 HA03 HB07 5E023 AA04 BB02 DD05 DD06 EE02 EE14 GG02 HH17

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A housing for accommodating a group of connection terminals, a bracket for movably holding the housing in all directions, and an urging means for urging the housing to a neutral position with respect to the bracket. Characteristic movable connector. 2. The movable connector according to claim 1, wherein the housing comprises a plurality of small housings and a holder for holding the small housings. 3. A first elastic portion for urging the housing to the neutral position in a direction orthogonal to a coupling direction, and a urging means for urging the housing in a coupling direction with a mating housing. The movable connector according to claim 1, comprising two elastic portions. 4. The movable connector according to claim 3, wherein said first elastic portion and said second elastic portion are integrated. 5. The movable connector according to claim 3, wherein the first elastic portion and the second elastic portion are spring pieces bent from a metal plate.