JP2000164288A - Electric connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electric connector with a locking member having great locking strength, in spite of its small size. SOLUTION: A locking member 10 cannot be arranged in place in a terminal receiving passage 8 in an insulating housing 2 for an electric connector 1 when a terminal 80 is incompletely inserted therein. That is, the locking member 10 of which a protrusion provided at the end of the base 38 is abutted to the front edge 22b of an opening is prohibited from entering in a space to the terminal 80 because a top wall 58 is forcibly expanded. When the terminal 80 is completely inserted therein, the locking member 10 with a slope 38a guided by the taper 54 of the top wall 58 enters therein, with the protrusion located in a clearance groove 50 of a reverse preventive protrusion 84 of the terminal 80.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to an electrical connector having a locking member for locking a terminal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional example of an electric connector having a locking member for locking a terminal, the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-7676 is known. As shown in FIG. 6, the electric connector 100 is provided with a locking member 104 having a convex portion 102 at a front end. This locking member 10
4 is an opening 110 provided on the side of the housing 108.
Is mounted on the housing 108, the convex portion 102 enters the opening 110 of the housing 108 and the cavity (terminal receiving passage) 112.
It is arranged so that it may contact the upper inner wall. As a result, the protrusion 10
2, the terminal is held, and the lifting of the locking member 104 is prevented.

[0003]

In the above-described conventional example, since the entirety of the convex portion 102 is in contact with the inner wall of the cavity 112, unless the wall thickness is reduced, the outer dimensions of the connector 100 become large. . Further, in order to reduce the size of the connector, the wall thickness must be reduced, so that the locking strength of the locking member 104 is reduced. Furthermore, even if the terminal (not shown) is half-inserted, it is easy to detect, but if it is fully inserted, the protrusion 10
There is a possibility that the tip of the second 2 may be caught by the edge of the opening 110, which may cause a problem that it is difficult to enter the opening 110.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electric connector which is a small connector but has a large locking strength of a locking member.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an electric connector capable of reliably detecting when a terminal is half-mounted and half-mounting the terminal, and for smoothly inserting a locking member to a final position when fully inserted.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An electrical connector according to the present invention has a terminal having a protrusion for preventing reverse insertion and an opening at a side of a terminal receiving passage having a clearance groove for accommodating the terminal and receiving the protrusion. And a locking member attached to the opening and locking the terminal, a front end of the locking member has a first inclined surface inclined forward and downward. And a base that abuts against the end wall of the opening when the terminal is incompletely inserted, and is located in the clearance groove when the terminal is fully inserted, and the base is inclined forward and upward. A projection including an inclined surface is provided.

Preferably, the locking member includes a flat extension extending forward, and the base extends to a lower surface of the extension so as to reinforce the extension.

[0008] When the locking member is completely inserted, it is desirable that a boundary portion between the protruding portion and the distal end portion of the base portion comes into contact with a shoulder of the terminal to prevent the terminal from coming off.

It is preferable that an edge of the opening is tapered, and when the locking member is inserted, the first inclined surface of the locking member is guided by the taper of the opening.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an insulating housing of an electric connector (hereinafter simply referred to as a connector) 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged side view of the electric connector 1 showing a state in which the locking member 10 is attached to the housing 2. 3A and 3B show the locking member 10, wherein FIG. 3A is a plan view, FIG. 3B is a front view as viewed from an arrow D in FIG. 3A, and FIG. 3C is FIG.
It is an expanded sectional view which follows the CC line.

Referring first to FIG. 1, an insulating housing 2 of a connector 1 has a terminal receiving passage (hereinafter referred to as a terminal receiving passage) for receiving a terminal 80 (FIGS. 4 and 5) from a fitting surface 4 to a rear end 6. , 8) (FIGS. 4 and 5). At substantially the center of the upper surface 12 of the housing 2, a latch arm 14 having a projection 16 for engaging with a mating connector is formed. Since this configuration is known, detailed description is omitted. The locking member 1 is provided on the side surface 18 of the housing 2.
A temporary locking projection 20 for holding 0 at the temporary locking position is provided in a protruding manner. The upper surface 12 of the housing is provided with an opening 22 in which the locking member 10 is arranged. In the opening 22, each cavity, that is, the partition wall 24 forming the passage 8 can be seen. A rib protruding inward at an upper portion on one side, that is, an eave 26
Is formed in the portion of the opening 22. This is the terminal 8 from the rear end
When 0 is inserted obliquely upward, it is provided to prevent it from jumping out of the opening 22 upward.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the locking member 10 is mounted on the rear upper surface of the housing 2 at a temporary locking position. Here, the locking member 10 of FIG.
The opposite side without the latch arm 14 is shown,
It has basically the same locking structure. Rectangular openings 32 are formed in the wings 30 at both ends of the locking member 10, and the openings 32 and the projections 20 are engaged with each other to be locked at the temporary locking position. The locking member 10 has an extension 36 projecting forward from the main body 34, and a base 38 is formed on the lower surface of the extension 36 from the rear to the front. The distal end of the base 38 protrudes from the extension 36, and an inclined surface (first inclined surface) 38a that is inclined forward and downward is formed on the upper surface of the distal end. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3C, the distal end of the base 38 has an inclined surface 38b inclined downward. On the inclined surface 38a of the base 38, a projection 40 having an inclined surface (second inclined surface) 40a inclined obliquely upward and forward is biased and provided. The inclined lower surface 34 a of the main body 34 moves in the direction of arrow A along an inclined surface 42 formed on the upper surface of the rear end of the housing 2. At the lower end of the wing 30, a hook 44 having an upward surface 44a is formed. The hook 44 is guided with its upward surface 44 a engaged with a first downward step 46 formed at the rear of the side surface 18 of the housing 2. As described above, the lower surface 34a and the upward surface 44a of the locking member 10 move along the inclined surface 42 of the housing 2 and the outside of the downward step 46. In other words, the locking member 10 moves in the direction A so as to move on the rail, straddling the inclined surface 42 and the downward step 46. The position where the locking member 10 is completely inserted,
That is, when the locking position is reached, the upper surface 44a of the hook 44
Is engaged with the second downward step portion 48 and locked. At this time, the rear end portion 34b of the main body 34 engages with the rear end edge 22a of the opening 22 to prevent it from falling off.

Next, FIGS. 4 and 5 show sectional views of the connector 1 using the locking member 10. FIG. FIG. 4 shows the position of the locking member 10 when the terminal 80 is incompletely inserted, and FIG. 5 shows the position of the locking member 10 when the terminal 80 is completely inserted. Although the upper and lower passages 8 are formed in two rows, only the upper passage 8 will be described. Referring first to FIG. 4, the terminal 80 is connected to the passage 8 of the housing 2.
And the upper surface 86 of the connecting portion 82 of the terminal 80.
Is located near the entrance of the escape groove 50 that receives the protrusion 84. For this reason the locking member 1
0, the tip of the base 38 of the locking member 10 contacts the upper surface 86 of the terminal 80, and the inclined surface 40a of the tip of the protrusion 40 contacts the front edge 22b of the opening 22. Intrusion is prevented, and it is found that the terminal 80 is not completely inserted. A taper 54 is formed at the front end edge 22b of the opening 22, but since the inclined surface 40a does not cover the taper 54, intrusion is reliably prevented. As a result, the base 38 is prevented from sneaking between the top wall 58 and the terminal 80.

Referring now to FIG. 5, the terminal 80 is
The terminal 80 is primarily locked by the housing lance 52. This aspect has a known configuration and will not be described in detail. The connecting portion 82 is the escape groove 50
Since the locking member 10 is located further inward, the locking member 10 can enter the opening 22, and the inclined surface 38 a of the base 38 is guided by the taper 54 and moves leftward in FIG. 80 is locked. It is desirable that the boundary between the inclined surface 38b at the front end of the base 38 and the inclined surface 40a of the projection 40 abut against the shoulder 88 at the rear end of the connecting portion to prevent the connection. The protrusion 40 is located in the escape groove 50,
The rear end 34 b of the main body 34 is located within the rear end 22 a of the opening 22.

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail, it is not limited to the above embodiment. The cross-sectional shape of the relief groove may be a rectangle or a curved shape that forms a part of a circle.

[0017]

According to the connector of the present invention, a base including a first inclined surface inclined forward and downward is formed at the front end of the locking member, and the base is opened when the terminal is incompletely inserted. And a projection including a second inclined surface that is inclined forward and upward, which is located in the clearance groove when the terminal is completely inserted, so that the locking strength is large even though it is a small connector. An electrical connector is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an insulating housing of an electrical connector according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged side view of the electrical connector, showing a state in which a locking member is attached to a housing.

FIG. 3 shows a locking member, (a) is a plan view,
1B is a front view, and FIG. 1C is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. 1B.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a position of a locking member when a terminal is incompletely inserted.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the position of the locking member when the terminal is completely inserted.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electrical connector 2 Insulating housing 8 Terminal receiving passage 10 Locking member 22 Opening 38 Base 38a First inclined surface 40 Projection 40a Second inclined surface 50 Escape groove 80 Terminal 84 Projection for reverse insertion prevention

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5E087 EE14 FF06 GG15 GG25 GG31 GG32 GG33 HH02 HH04 RR06 RR26 RR36 RR41

Claims (4)

[Claims] An insulating housing having an opening on a side of a terminal receiving passage for receiving the terminal and having a clearance groove for accommodating the terminal and receiving the projection;
An electrical connector having a locking member attached to the opening and locking the terminal, wherein a base including a first inclined surface inclined downward and forward is formed at a front end of the locking member. A projection that includes a second inclined surface that is abutted against the end wall of the opening when the terminal is incompletely inserted and that is located in the clearance groove when the terminal is fully inserted and that is inclined upward and forward. An electrical connector, comprising: 2. The electric device according to claim 1, wherein the locking member includes a flat extension extending forward, and the base extends to a lower surface of the extension to reinforce the extension. connector. 3. When the locking member is completely inserted, a boundary portion between the base and the distal end abuts on a shoulder of the terminal so as to prevent the terminal from coming off.
The electrical connector according to claim 1. 4. The tapered edge of the opening is provided, and the first inclined surface of the locking member is guided by the taper when the locking member is inserted. 2, or 3 electrical connectors.