JP2000082540A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To smoothly perform fitting operation of female/male housings. SOLUTION: A male housing 1 is formed in a square cylinder shape, and is directly projected from electric equipment. A hood part 14 opening in a front face is arranged in a female housing 11, and an upper surface central part swells further upward to form an arch part 15, so that a lock arm and a fitting detecting spring-installed holder are housed in it. A mark 71 for showing a fitting area of the male housing 1 is projected on the left/right outside surfaces on the tip edge of the hood part 14. Since a height of the hood part 14 containing the arch part 15 is higher than the male housing 1, a discrimination is hardly made on which area of the hood part 14 may be fitted according to the male housing 1, but the male housing 1 can be smoothly fitted to a prescribed position in the hood part 14 by putting/pushing the hood part 14 on/in the male housing 1 so that the male housing 1 comes to the lower side while visually observing the mark 71 from the rear.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector which is improved so that a male and female housing can be smoothly fitted.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an example of a conventional connector, a connector as shown in FIG. 19 is known. The housing has male and female housings c and d accommodating male and female terminal fittings a and b, respectively. A locking projection e is formed on the male housing d, while the female housing c has the locking projection e. Locking projection e
A lock arm f is provided so as to be able to bend and deform, and a hood portion h is formed so as to surround the accommodating portion g of the terminal fitting a and the front half of the lock arm f. Then, the male housing d is fitted into the hood portion h of the female housing c while the lock arm f is flexibly deformed, and when the male arm is properly fitted, the lock arm f is moved back and locked to the locking projection e. This locks the fitting state.

[0003]

By the way, the region where the male housing d is fitted in the hood portion h is exactly the region corresponding to the housing portion g of the terminal fitting a. On the other hand, since the hood portion h needs to secure a space i that allows its bending deformation in addition to surrounding the lock arm f, it becomes taller. In particular, when the housing portion g of the terminal fitting a is small, such as a small-polarity connector, the area of the hood portion h in which the male housing d is fitted is reduced. By the way, in the case of the same figure, the male housing d is to be fitted into an approximately lower half area in the hood h.

[0004] On the contrary, this means that it is necessary to pay attention to the alignment when the male housing d is fitted into the hood portion h, and the fitting surface side of the female housing c is visually observed. Although it is relatively good if the fitting can be performed while fitting, the fitting operation is performed in a state where the fitting surface side of the female housing c is hidden as shown in FIG. 20 due to the arrangement position of the two housings c and d. In this case, there is a problem that it is difficult to know where to fit the male housing d to the hood portion h, and it takes time to perform the fitting operation. The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to smoothly perform a fitting operation of male and female housings.

[0005]

As means for achieving the above object, the invention of claim 1 is characterized in that a hood portion is provided on a fitting surface side of one of the male and female housings. In a connector in which the other housing is fitted to a predetermined area in the hood, a mark indicating a fitting area of the other housing is provided on an outer surface of the hood in a fitting direction of the one housing. It is characterized in that it is provided so as to be visible from behind. A second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect, the mark is provided at an end edge of the hood portion on a fitting side.

[0006]

<Invention of claim 1> When fitting the male and female housings, even if the fitting surface of the housing on the side where the hood is provided is not sufficiently visible, the hood is It is determined which region in the hood should be aligned with the mating housing by the mark provided on the hood. As a result, the fitting operation of the male and female housings can be performed smoothly. <Invention of Claim 2> Since the mark is located at the fitting edge of the hood portion, the positioning of the mating housing can be performed more accurately.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
18 will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment,
As shown in FIG. 1, a male connector housing 1 (hereinafter, referred to as a male housing) and a female connector housing 11 (hereinafter, referred to as a female housing) are provided. In the following, in each of the housings 1 and 11, the surface to be fitted is referred to as a front surface.

The male housing 1 is formed of a synthetic resin material so as to protrude directly from the electrical equipment, is formed in a substantially rectangular tube shape opening forward, and has two male terminal fittings 2 therein.
Are housed side by side. A locking projection 3 is formed at a position near the front end of the upper surface of the male housing 1, and a pair of ribs 4 stand on both sides of the locking projection 3 in parallel with each other along the axial direction.

Next, the female housing 11 will be described. The female housing 11 is also formed of a synthetic resin material, and has a main body 12 having two cavities 13 arranged side by side.
The female terminal fittings (not shown) can be accommodated in the respective cavities 13 in a state where they are prevented from falling off.
As shown in FIG. 2, a hood portion 14 that opens forward is formed around the front half portion of the main body portion 12, and a central portion of the upper surface of the hood portion 14 swells further upward to form an arch portion 15. Have been. The ceiling surface of the arch portion 15 reaches a position a predetermined distance before the rear surface of the main body portion 12. Further, the upper surface of the main body 12 is extended rearward by a predetermined dimension, and on both sides of the extended surface 16, side walls 17 are formed which are continuous with the side walls of the above-mentioned arch portion 15. Is configured.

A lock arm 20 for holding the housings 1 and 11 in a fitted state is provided in the housing space 18.
Is provided. This lock arm 20 is
2, from the position slightly retracted from the front surface to the position slightly protruding backward from the rear surface, facing the front and rear direction,
It is connected to the upper surface of the main body 12 at a substantially central portion in the length direction,
With the connecting portion 21 as a fulcrum, the front and rear portions can be bent and deformed in a seesaw shape. A lock claw 22 having a hook shape is formed at the tip of the lock arm 20.
When they are completely fitted, they function so as to be locked on the rear surface side of the locking projection 3 to hold the housings 1 and 11 in the fitted state. The distal end surface of the lock claw 22 is formed with a tapered surface toward the back side, so that the operation of riding on the locking projection 3 can be smoothly performed.

In the housing space 18, a lock arm 20 is provided.
The spring holder 25 is housed so as to cover The spring holder 25 is unitized in a state in which a coil spring 41 described later is incorporated, and is handled in a unit state and can be incorporated in the accommodation space 18. As shown in FIG. 5, the spring holder 25 has a flat plate-like substrate 26 having a narrow front end side. (See FIG. 7).

On both left and right sides of the spring holder 25,
A pair of guide rails 28 are formed to extend over substantially the entire length. The front ends of both guide rails 28 are tapered. On the other hand, the accommodation space 1 of the female housing 11
A groove 29 in the front-rear direction for slidably fitting the two guide rails 28 is formed on the left and right inner walls of 8, and this groove 29 is formed to open to the rear side. For this reason, the spring holder 25 can be inserted from the rear side by aligning the left and right guide rails 28 with the corresponding grooves 29, and the substrate 26 can enter between the ceiling surface of the arch portion 15 and the upper surface of the lock arm 20. It has become.

On the front end side of the ceiling surface of the arch portion 15, a protective wall 30 is formed over a predetermined area. For this reason, the inserted spring holder 25 is restricted from moving forward by the front end of the narrow portion 31 abutting against the protective wall 30. Further, when the spring holder 25 is assembled, the protection wall 30 has a narrow portion 31.
It also functions to protect the tip from being inadvertently applied with external force.

As shown in FIG. 1, the spring holder 25 inserted into the accommodation space 18 and stopped at the front end is partially exposed at the rear end side behind the arch portion 15, as shown in FIG. . The exposed rear end portion corresponds to the upper surface of the rear end portion of the lock arm 20, and the release operation piece 3 for unlocking the lock arm 20 is provided here.
2 are formed. As shown in FIG. 5, the release operation piece 32 has cuts on both sides thereof so as to be able to bend and deform in the vertical direction, and has a stepped operation part 33 which is raised one step at its rear end. . The rear corner of the operation step portion 33 is a tapered operation surface 34.
4 is a jig hole 35 for inserting a jig such as a flathead screwdriver.
Are formed. The vertical contact surface 36 of the jig hole 35 is also inclined.

A relief recess 38 is formed on the back surface of the substrate 26 of the spring holder 25 with the width of the above-described release operation piece 32 being left with its front edge remaining. The relief recess 38 allows the lock arm 20 to bend when the lock arm 20 gets over the locking projection 3 while the housings 1 and 11 are fitted. On the other hand, the front wall of the escape recess 38 is
The locking wall 39 locks with the front end of the spring holder 25 to restrict the retreating operation of the spring holder 25 described later. The contact surface 40 of the restraining wall 39 is a tapered surface whose thickness gradually increases upward.

In the spring holder 27 of the spring holder 25, a coil spring 41 is housed in a substantially natural state and horizontally. The front side of the spring housing 27 is
As shown in FIG. 7, only the inner half surface is formed to be open, that is, the outer half surfaces of both spring housing portions 27 are covered and hidden by a pair of stopper pieces 42 formed at the front end edges of both spring housing portions 27. It has become. Spring seats 44 are fitted to the front end sides of both coil springs 41, respectively. The two spring seats 44 prevent the coil spring 41 from slipping forward by coming into contact with the rear side of the stopper piece 42. The portions of the spring seats 44 exposed from the stopper pieces 42 are the ribs 4 of the male housing 1 when the male and female housings 1 and 11 are fitted.
Therefore, at the time of this fitting, the compression operation of the coil spring 41 is performed by the two ribs 4 via the corresponding spring seats 44.

A pair of holding arms 54 for temporarily locking the spring holder 25 at the forward position is provided on the outer side surfaces of the two spring accommodating portions 27. In detail, as shown in FIG. 6, a mounting plate 55 is formed at the rear end side of the outer surface of each of the two spring accommodating portions 27 so as to open diagonally downward. The arm 54 is formed in a cantilever shape extending forward in a posture substantially along the plate surface of the mounting plate 55. Therefore, both holding arms 54 can be bent and deformed obliquely inward.
Are formed.

On the other hand, a pair of hooks 60 project from the outer peripheral surface substantially at the center in the longitudinal direction of the main body 12 at both left and right corners of the upper surface, in other words, at the shoulder. The 54 locking claws 56 can be elastically locked to the corresponding hook portions 60. As a result, the spring holder 25 is always temporarily locked at the forward position. The locking claws 56 of the both holding arms 54 can abut on both corners at the top end of the male housing 1 (see FIG. 13). Is released. However, when the engagement is released, the two housings 1 and 11 are completely fitted, and the engagement is performed in a state immediately before the locking of the spring holder 25 by the lock arm 20 (the state of FIGS. 11 and 12). It is set to be performed.

As shown in detail in FIG. 14, a contact surface 57 of the locking claw 56 with which the leading edge of the male housing 1 abuts and a locking surface 58 with which the hook 60 is locked are tapered. It is formed in a shape. Also, as shown in FIG. 3, at both ends on the bottom surface side of the accommodation space 18 described above,
A guide groove 62 having an oblique posture for guiding the insertion of the holding arm 54 and the mounting plate 55 is formed.

The narrow portion 31 on the upper surface of the substrate 26
A pair of left and right upper protruding portions 64 is formed at a position near the base of the base, while the upper protruding portion 64 is fitted on the ceiling surface of the arch portion 15 as shown in FIG. An escape groove 65 is formed, and an upper locking projection 66 that can be locked to each upper projection 64 is formed at an intermediate position thereof. A pair of left and right lower protrusions 67 is formed near the rear end of the lower surface of the spring housing portion 27, while the lower protrusion 67 is fitted on the bottom surface (extending surface 16) of the housing space 18. An escape groove 68 in the front-rear direction for escape is formed, and a lower engagement projection 69 capable of engagement with each lower projection 67 is formed at an intermediate position thereof. Then, when the restraint of the spring holder 25 is released and the retreat operation is performed, the upper projection 64 becomes the upper engagement projection 66 and the lower projection 67 becomes the lower engagement projection 69.
, Respectively, so that the retraction of the spring holder 25 is restricted.

Further, the hood portion 14 of the female housing 11
Marks 71 are provided on the left and right outer surfaces of the distal end edge of the front edge of the male housing 1 to indicate the fitting area of the mating male housing 1.
As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 8, the mark 71 is provided substantially corresponding to the left and right corners of the upper surface of the main body 12, and is located below the mark 71 in the hood portion 14. Region is the fitting region of the male housing 1. These marks 71 are visible from the rear side of the female housing 11.

This embodiment has the above-described structure,
Subsequently, the operation will be described. Male and female housings 1,11
In order to fit the female housing 11 into which the spring holder 25 is temporarily locked at the forward position, the female housing 11 is assembled as shown by an arrow in FIG. And are fitted to face each other. In this case, the male housing 1 needs to be fitted around the main body 12 of the female housing 11, but the height of the hood 14 including the arch 15 in the female housing 11 is higher than the height of the male housing 1. Therefore, when the fitting surface side of the female housing 11 is not visible, it is difficult to know which region of the hood portion 14 should be fitted to the male housing 1.

In this respect, in this embodiment, marks 71 indicating positions substantially corresponding to the upper surface of the male housing 1 are provided on the left and right side surfaces on the outer surface of the hood portion 14.
The male housing 1 is fitted around the main body 12 of the female housing 11 by pushing the hood portion 14 over the male housing 1 so that the male housing 1 is located below the mark 71 while viewing the mark 71 from behind. Can be combined.

When the male and female housings 1 and 11 are fitted in this manner, the lock claws 22 of the lock arm 20 come into contact with the locking projections 3 of the male housing 1 and, as shown in FIG. The lock claw 22 side rides on the locking projection 3 and lifts up, whereby the lock claw 22 is locked by the restraining wall 39 of the spring holder 25. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10, the two ribs 4 abut against the corresponding spring seats 44, slightly behind the abutment between the lock claws 22 and the locking projections 3. Is pushed. At this time, as described above, the spring holder 25 is
Since the rearward movement is regulated by the engagement with the spring 9, the two coil springs 41 are restrained at their rear end sides, and the two coil springs 41 are respectively compressed by pushing the ribs 4.

However, before the movement of the spring holder 25 is restricted by the lock arm 20, the two holding arms 54 are in the state of being locked to the hook portions 60, so that the two coil springs 41 are pressed for some reason. Even if it happens, the spring holder 25 does not accidentally retreat.

The locking between the holding arms 54 and the hook portions 60 is continued during the fitting of the housings 1 and 11, but the state immediately before the complete fitting is achieved, that is, the locking claws 22 are locked by the locking projections 3. 13 (states of FIGS. 11 and 12), the leading edge of the male housing 1 contacts the contact surfaces 57 of the locking claws 56 of both holding arms 54 as shown in FIG. In order to lift the tip side of the holding arm 54, the locking between the locking claw 56 and the hook 60 is released.
That is, this release operation is performed before the lock arm 20 releases the lock of the spring holder 25.

Here, locking claws 56 of both holding arms 54
Is locked in an oblique posture with respect to a hook 60 projecting from both shoulders on the outer peripheral surface of the main body 12.
For example, as shown in FIG. 15, even when the male housing 1 is fitted in a relatively downwardly inclined posture, the leading edge (both corners of the upper edge) of the male housing 1 is engaged with the locking claw 56. The engagement with the abutment surface 57 can be achieved, so that the engagement of the engagement claw 56 with the hook portion 60 can be reliably released.

Further, as shown in FIG. 14A, since the locking surface 58 of the locking claw 56 of the holding arm 54 is formed in a tapered shape, the leading edge of the male housing 1 is When the contact surface 57 is pressed, the holding arm 54 is gradually bent and deformed while the locking surface 58 is in sliding contact with the corner of the hook portion 60 as shown by the solid arrow in FIG. Operates so that the locking claw 56 comes off the hook portion 60. That is, as the locking claw 56 is gradually removed from the hook 60,
For example, abnormal noise does not occur unlike the case where the locking claw 56 comes off the hook portion 60 at a stretch. Therefore, as will be described later, there is no possibility that the two housings 1 and 11 are completely fitted, and the sound generated when the lock arm 20 is moved back is not mistaken. Is prevented from occurring.

It should be noted that, in addition to the above-described misunderstanding,
There is a possibility that the fitting operation of the two housings 1 and 11 is interrupted on the way, that is, the housing 1 and 11 are kept in a half-fitted state. In that case, the female housing 11 is pushed back away from the male housing 1 by the spring force of the two coil springs 41 incorporated in the spring holder 25 until both terminals become non-conductive. As a result, the half-fitting is detected, so that the female housing 11 may be pushed again.

Further, even when the holding arm 54 is already half-fitted in the course of bending and deformation, FIG.
As shown in (B), as long as the tapered locking surface 58 of the locking claw 56 is in a state of being hooked at a corner of the hook 60, the locking is continued after the two housings 1, 11 are separated. The claw 56 returns to the original locking position as shown by the chain line arrow in FIG.
Temporary locking of the spring holder 25 is achieved again. Therefore, before the female housing 11 is pushed again, the spring holder 25 is prevented from retreating carelessly, and the fitting detection function using the coil spring 41 can be exhibited again.

On the other hand, when the housings 1 and 11 are fitted to the proper positions, the lock claws 22 of the lock arm 20 ride over the locking projections 3 and the lock arm 20 is ready to return. At this time, the restraining wall 39 is pressed against the front end of the lock arm 20, and the spring force of the coil spring 41 acts in the horizontal direction, and the frictional force between the two prevents the lock arm 20 from returning. However, since the contact surface 40 of the restraining wall 39 is formed as a tapered surface, a component force in the direction of returning the lock arm 20 along the tapered surface from the spring force of the coil spring 41. This component force and the return power of the lock arm 20 itself, as shown in FIG.
Is smoothly returned to the original position. Along with this, the locking claw 22 is locked to the rear surface of the locking projection 3 to lock the fitting state, and the electrical connection of the male and female terminal fittings is completed.

At the same time, the lock claw 22 is disengaged from the restraining wall 39, so that the spring holder 25 is released from the restraint by the lock arm 20, and the spring holder 25 is retracted by the spring force of both coil springs 41. Then, as shown in FIG. 18, the upper projection 64 abuts against the upper locking projection 66 and the lower projection 67 abuts against the lower locking projection 69, respectively.
The retraction of the spring holder 25 is stopped. Since both coil springs 41 have returned to a substantially natural length with the rearward movement of the spring holder 25, they do not act as a force for separating the housings 1 and 11 in a completely fitted state. Further, in the fully fitted state, as shown in FIG. 17, the locking wall 39 of the spring holder 25 presses the front end side of the lock arm 20, so that the locking to the locking projection 3 is double. And a more secure lock state is obtained.

When the housings 1 and 11 are separated from each other, the operation surface 34 of the release operation piece 32 is pressed vertically from the state shown in FIGS. When the contact surface 36 is pressed vertically, the spring holder 25 is first pushed forward while compressing the two coil springs 41 by a forward component force.
Is locked to the hook 60 again. At this time, since the spring holder 25 has returned to the position where the restraining wall 39 passes through the front end of the lock arm 20, the release operation piece 32 is continuously bent downward by a downward component force, so that the spring holder 25 is locked. The rear end of the arm 20 is pushed, the front end of the lock arm 20 is forcibly lifted, and the lock claw 22 is disengaged from the locking projection 3. Thereby, both housings 1 and 11 can be separated.

In the present embodiment, the following special advantages can be obtained. Female housing 11 for male housing 1
When the hood portion 14 is fitted, since the height of the hood portion 14 is higher than that of the male housing 1, it is difficult to determine which region of the hood portion 14 should be fitted to the male housing 1. However, since marks 71 indicating positions substantially corresponding to the upper surface of the male housing 1 are provided on the left and right side surfaces of the outer surface of the hood portion 14, while the mark 71 is viewed from behind, a male is provided below the mark. The male housing 1 can be fitted around the main body 12 of the female housing 11 by pushing the hood section 14 over the male housing 1 so that the housing 1 comes. That is, the fitting operation of the male and female housings 1 and 11 can be performed smoothly.

<Other Embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. In addition, various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. (1) In the above-described embodiment, the projection means is exemplified as the mark means. On the contrary, the mark means may be a male or a color different from the outer surface of the hood part. What is necessary is just to be able to show the fitting area of the housing so that it can be seen from the rear side. (2) The present invention can be similarly applied to a case where the male housing is not a device directly connected type but is handled as a single unit.

(3) In the case where the spring holder and the lock arm are set on the male housing side and are covered with the hood, and the female housing is fitted in the hood, the outer surface of the hood of the male housing is provided. May be provided with a mark indicating the fitting area of the female housing. (4) The present invention is not limited to the fitting detection connector using a spring, and is configured such that the other housing is fitted to a predetermined area in a hood portion provided on one fitting surface side of the male and female housings. It can be widely applied to all connectors.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing both housings before fitting according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the female housing.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the female housing.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the female housing at a portion where a coil spring is mounted.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a spring holder.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a spring holder.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional plan view of the female housing cut at a portion where the coil spring is mounted.

FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway side view showing the fitting operation of the female housing.

FIG. 9 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a state in which a lock arm is in contact with a locking projection.

FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state in which compression of a coil spring is started.

FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state immediately before the lock arm gets over the locking projection.

FIG. 12 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the state of compression of the coil spring at the same time as the state shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a longitudinal sectional view at a timing when the holding arm is disengaged from the hook portion.

FIG. 14 is an enlarged view of a locking portion of the holding arm.

FIG. 15 is a schematic view of a case where both housings are forcibly fitted;

FIG. 16 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state where the lock arm has returned.

FIG. 17 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state in which the spring holder is retracted.

FIG. 18 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken at the mounting portion of the coil spring at that time.

FIG. 19 is a partially cutaway side view showing a state before fitting according to a conventional example.

FIG. 20 is a perspective view thereof.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Male housing 11 ... Female housing 12 ... Body part 14 ... Hood part 15 ... Arch part 71 ... Mark

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Ryotaro Ishikawa 1-114, Nishisuehiro-cho, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie F-term within Sumitomo Wiring Systems Co., Ltd. 5E021 FA03 FA07 FB07 FB13 FC31 FC38 HC09 JA20 KA02 KA15 5E087 EE02 EE07 FF03 FF07 GG15 GG33 HH04 LL04 LL12 MM05 RR12 RR26 RR36 RR41

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A connector in which a hood portion is provided on a fitting surface side of one of male and female housings, and the other housing is fitted into a predetermined region in the hood portion. A connector provided on an outer surface of the portion to indicate a fitting area of the other housing so as to be visible from behind in the fitting direction of the one housing. 2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the mark is provided at an end of the hood portion on a fitting side.