JP2000182705A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely detect that a retainer is in a temporary locking position. SOLUTION: An abutting part 39 which is integrally displaced along the front side of a connector housing 10 is formed at a retainer 30. A male terminal fitting T is abutted on the abutting part 39 which closes a receiving hole 13 when a male side connector is fitted into under such a condition that the retainer 30 is in a temporary locking position, and when it is in the locking position the receiving hole 13 is opened so that the male terminal fitting T enters the inside of a cavity 11 therethrough, whereby a locking to the male side connector is made smoothly.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector provided with a retainer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as means for improving the reliability of retaining a terminal fitting inserted into a connector housing, in addition to a primary locking means by engagement between the connector housing and the terminal fitting, a separate part of the connector housing is provided. 2. Description of the Related Art A retainer is assembled, and secondary locking means for engaging the retainer with a terminal fitting is provided. As a type of assembling this type of retainer, there are a type of assembling the connector housing from the front and a type of assembling from the side.

In a type in which a retainer is assembled from the side (for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 6-82969), it is detected whether or not the retainer is correctly assembled when the hood portion of the mating connector is fitted. Some have the function to do. That is, when the retainer is assembled to the connector housing at the final locking position (the position where the retainer engages with the terminal fitting and prevents the connector from coming off), the state in which the retainer is completely embedded in the connector housing is considered. Therefore, even if the hood is fitted along the outer periphery of the connector housing, the hood and the retainer do not interfere with each other. On the other hand, if the retainer is not fully locked and remains in the temporary locking position (a position that does not interfere with the terminal fitting and allows the insertion and removal of the terminal fitting), a part of the retainer is Protrudes from the outer surface of the connector housing, and this protruding portion interferes with the hood portion at the time of fitting, so that it is possible to detect a defective mounting of the retainer.

[0004]

In recent years, there has been a demand for miniaturization of the connector. However, if the miniaturization of the connector having the function of detecting the assembled state of the retainer as described above is attempted, the size of the terminal fitting is reduced. And the displacement stroke between the provisionally locked position and the fully locked position of the retainer is accordingly reduced. This means that the amount of protrusion of the retainer from the connector housing at the temporary locking position is small, and in this case, even when the retainer is at the temporary locking position, the tip of the hood does not catch on the retainer. There is a risk of passing through the retainer in a slightly expanded and deformed state, and the reliability of the detection function is reduced. In particular,
When a tapered surface for guiding is formed on the opening edge of the hood portion, the tendency is remarkable.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to surely detect that a retainer is at a temporary locking position.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a male connector having a male terminal fitting protruding forward can be fitted, and a receiving hole is opened on the front surface and the receiving hole is formed inside the receiving hole. A connector housing in which a communicating cavity is formed, a female terminal fitting inserted into the cavity and connected to the male terminal fitting inserted from the receiving hole when fitted with the male connector; and The male terminal is located between a provisionally locked position in which the female terminal fitting is inserted into the cavity and the final locking position in which the female terminal fitting is locked to the female terminal fitting to prevent the female terminal fitting from being removed. A retainer capable of being displaced in a direction orthogonal to a fitting direction with the side connector, wherein the retainer is integrated with the retainer, It is displaceable along the front surface of the housing, and when the retainer is in the temporary locking position, the retainer is positioned so as to block the receiving hole and regulate the entry of the male terminal fitting into the cavity. When it is in the final locking position, the receiving hole is opened to provide an abutting portion positioned to allow the male terminal fitting to enter the cavity.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the retainer does not interfere with the female terminal fitting in the temporary locking position and does not interfere with the female terminal fitting in the full locking position. A retaining piece is provided for the female terminal fitting to be locked in a removal-restricted state, and the connector housing is slidably contacted with the female housing so that the retaining piece slides between the temporary locking position and the final locking position. And a guide groove for guiding the retainer is provided.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the connector housing has a front end opening to the front surface of the connector housing and a rear end communicating with the guide groove. A mounting groove in the front-rear direction is formed, and the retainer is capable of being assembled to the connector housing from the front while sliding the retaining piece in the mounting groove. did.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the male connector is fitted with the retainer in the temporary locking position,
Because the male terminal fitting abuts against the abutting portion, the fitting is restricted in the middle, and when the retainer is in the final locking position, the male terminal fitting can enter the cavity from the receiving hole without interfering with the abutting portion. The male connector can be fitted without any trouble, and the mounting position of the retainer is detected based on the presence or absence of interference between the male terminal fitting and the abutting portion.

[0010] When the retainer is displaced between the temporary locking position and the final locking position, the retaining piece slides along the guide groove, so that the displacement path of the retainer is changed. Secured. Since the retainer-side guide means also serves as a retaining piece for restricting the female terminal fitting from coming off, the shape of the retainer can be simplified as compared with the case where a dedicated guide portion is formed. [Invention of Claim 3] Since the retainer is assembled from the front of the connector housing, the assembly of the retainer is easy even when a tubular portion is provided around the connector housing. In addition, there is no need to open an opening for inserting the retainer from the side into the cylindrical portion, or to adopt a complicated structure such as dividing the connector housing back and forth and sandwiching the retainer therebetween.

[0011]

[First Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The mating male connector to which the female connector F of the present embodiment is fitted has three male terminal fittings T protruding forward, and when both connectors are fitted, the male terminal fitting is provided. T
Enters the female connector F and is connected to the female terminal fitting 20. The female connector F includes a connector housing 10, three female terminal fittings 20, and a retainer 30. Connector housing 10
Is made of a synthetic resin and has three chambers 11 formed therein. A female terminal fitting 20 is inserted into the cavity 11 from the rear.
A pair of upper and lower primary locking portions 12 for retaining the female terminal fitting 20 at the regular insertion position are formed in 1. The front end of the cavity 11 is opened as a receiving hole 13 on the front surface of the connector housing 10, and the male terminal fitting T is inserted through the receiving hole 13.

On both upper and lower surfaces of the connector housing 10,
A pair of upper and lower guide grooves 14 communicating with the cavity 11 is formed at a middle position in the front-rear direction (the insertion direction of the female terminal fitting 20). The guide groove 14 is provided with the female terminal fitting 2.
The right and left ends of the guide groove 14 communicate with the outer surface of the connector housing 10. Similarly, two mounting grooves 15 extending in the front-rear direction are formed on both upper and lower surfaces of the connector housing 10. The two mounting grooves 15 are located between the three cavities 11 in the left-right direction. The front ends of the mounting grooves 15 communicate with the front surface of the connector housing 10 and the rear ends communicate with the guide grooves 14. ing. A retainer 30 is provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the connector housing 10.
Is formed in the temporary locking position and the final locking position.

Further, the connector housing 10 is formed with a cylindrical fitting portion 17 protruding forward from a position slightly behind the guide groove 14 on the outer periphery thereof. Is fitted. A seal ring 18 is attached to the connector housing 10 at the back end of the cylindrical fitting portion 17 so as to seal the space between the cylindrical housing 17 and the hood. The front end of the seal ring 18 is located along the groove edge on the rear side of the guide groove 14. An operation window 19 is formed in the cylindrical fitting portion 17 by partially removing a side wall thereof, and the retainer 30 is displaced from the operation window 19.

The female terminal fitting 20 includes a pair of elastic contact pieces 22 protruding forward from the box portion 21, a connecting portion 23 extending rearward from the box portion 21, and an electric wire connecting portion connected to the rear end of the connecting portion 23. 24. The elastic contact piece 22 comes into contact with the male terminal fitting T while being elastically pressed. Box part 2
1 has a pair of lances 25 formed by partially cutting and raising the upper and lower surfaces thereof. The lances 25 are locked to the primary locking portions 12 of the cavity 11 so that the female terminal fitting 20 It is held at the regular insertion position in a retaining state. The connecting portion 23 has a vertical dimension of the box portion 2.
The upper surface and the lower surface between the box portion 21 and the connecting portion 23 are stepped. Thereby, a secondary locking portion 26 with which the retainer 30 is locked is formed at both upper and lower edges of the rear end of the box portion 21. The electric wire connection portion 24 has a barrel shape, and the electric wire 27
Are connected by crimping.

The retainer 30 is made of a synthetic resin, and is formed in a box shape by four walls of an upper surface wall 31, a lower surface wall 32, a side wall 33, and a front wall 34, and one side surface and a rear surface are formed. It is open. Upper wall 3 of retainer 30
1 and the lower surface wall 32 are spaced along the upper and lower surfaces of the connector housing 10, and the upper and lower surfaces 31, 32 are provided with three retaining pieces 35 projecting from the inner surface of the rear end thereof at the same pitch as the cavity 11. It is formed side by side. The length dimension of the retaining piece 35 in the front-rear direction is the guide groove 1.
4 is slightly larger than the front-rear width, and the width of the retaining piece 35 is slightly larger than the width of the mounting groove 15. , And can smoothly move along the mounting groove 15 without play.

The retainer 30 is assembled to the connector housing 10 from the front. At this time, the retaining piece 35 is fitted into the mounting groove 15, so that the retainer 30 is guided in a state where the play in the left-right direction is restricted. The vertical movement of the retainer 30 is caused by the upper wall 31.
The upper and lower surfaces of the connector housing 10 are regulated by sliding contact with the upper and lower surfaces of the connector housing 10. When the retainer 30 is assembled along the mounting groove 15, the side wall 3
A predetermined gap is provided between the connector 3 and the side surface of the connector housing 10.

The retainer 30 assembled along the mounting groove 15 is restricted from moving further when the retaining piece 35 comes into contact with the inner wall surface on the back side of the guide groove 14, so that the retainer 30 is temporarily locked. State. In this temporary locking state, the temporary locking grooves 36 formed in the upper wall 31 and the lower wall 32 are provided.
Are fitted to the locking ribs 16, thereby restricting the movement of the retainer 30 in the left-right direction. In a state where the retainer 30 is in the temporary locking position, the retaining piece 35 is located at a position off the side of the cavity 11, so that the female terminal fitting 20 can be inserted into and removed from the cavity 11.

The retainer 30 in the temporary locking position
On the other hand, when a finger is inserted through the operation window 19 of the cylindrical fitting portion 17 and the retainer 30 is pushed to the side, the retainer 30 moves in the front-rear direction by fitting the retaining piece 35 into the guide groove 14. It moves to the final locking position in a restricted state.
When the retainer 30 moves to the final locking position, the upper wall 3
The retainer 30 is restricted from moving in the left-right direction from the final locking position by the final locking groove 37 formed in the first and lower wall 32 engaging with the locking rib 16. In the final locking position, the retaining piece 35 projects into the cavity 11 and is locked from the rear with respect to the secondary locking portion 26 of the female terminal fitting 20, thereby preventing the female terminal fitting 20 from being removed. And

The front wall 34 of the retainer 30 has three through holes 38 formed therein. The through hole 38 is aligned with the receiving hole 13 of each cavity 11 in a state where the retainer 30 is at the final locking position, and allows the male terminal fitting T to enter the cavity 11. Further, when the retainer 30 is in the temporary locking position, the two through holes 38 are located so as to correspond between the adjacent receiving holes 13, and the other through hole 38 is directed to the side of the connector housing 10. It is located so that it comes off.
At this time, the side portion of the through hole 38 in the front wall 34 is positioned so as to close the receiving hole 13, and the portion that closes the receiving hole 13 is the abutting portion 39 of the present invention.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. When assembling, first, the retainer 30 is assembled to the connector housing 10 from the front at a temporary locking position. Next, the female terminal fitting 20 is inserted into the cavity 11 and is primarily locked by the lance 25. Next, the retainer 30 is moved from the temporary locking position to the final locking position, and the female terminal fitting 20 is secondarily locked by the retaining piece 35. As described above, the mounting of the female connector F is completed, and the male connector is fitted to the female connector F. Then, the male terminal fitting T enters the cavity 11 through the through hole 38 and the receiving hole 13 and is connected to the female terminal fitting 20. The above is the case where the insertion of the female terminal fitting 20, the assembly of the retainer 30, and the fitting of both connectors are all performed properly.

On the other hand, when there is a female terminal fitting 20 that is not properly inserted into the cavity 11, the retaining piece 35 interferes with the side surface of the box 21 of the female terminal fitting 20. It cannot be moved to the stop position. Therefore, normally, when the retainer 30 cannot be moved, the insertion failure of the female terminal fitting 20 is detected. However, this is overlooked, and the retainer 30 is placed in the temporary locking position, and the female terminal fitting 20 is not connected to the male connector. Fitting is also conceivable. In this case, since the retainer 30 is in the temporary locking position, the through hole 38 is laterally disengaged from the receiving hole 13, and the abutting portion 39 is in a state corresponding to the receiving hole 13. Therefore, during the fitting of the male connector, as shown in FIG. 10, the distal end of the male terminal fitting T abuts against the abutting portion 39 and cannot enter the cavity 11. When the male terminal fitting T comes into contact with the abutting portion 39 in this manner, further fitting operation of the male connector is prevented, so that it is detected that the retainer 30 remains at the temporary locking position. And, as a result, the female terminal fitting 20 in a half-inserted state.
Can be detected.

Here, the relationship between the width of the male terminal fitting T in the direction of displacement of the retainer 30 and the displacement distance of the retainer 30 between the temporary locking position and the final locking position will be described. Is equal to or smaller than the displacement distance of the retainer 30, so that the abutting portion 39 is
When in the provisionally locked state that closes the third terminal 3, there is no risk that all the abutting portions 39 will interfere with the male terminal fitting T halfway, and the male terminal fitting T can be reliably received. Therefore, the locking position of the retainer 30 can be reliably detected.

As a guide means on the retainer 30 side when the retainer 30 is displaced between the temporary locking position and the full locking position, a retaining piece 3 for restricting the female terminal fitting 20 from coming off.
5 is also used, so that the shape of the retainer 30 can be simplified as compared with the case where a dedicated guide portion is formed.
Furthermore, since the retainer 30 is assembled from the front of the connector housing 10, the connector housing 1
Even if the tubular fitting portion 17 is provided around the periphery of the zero, the assembly of the retainer 30 is easy. Moreover, the cylindrical fitting portion 17
It is not necessary to adopt a complicated structure such as opening a large opening for inserting the retainer 30 from the side, or dividing the connector housing 10 back and forth and sandwiching the retainer 30 therebetween.

Further, since the operation window 19 is opened to the required minimum size in the cylindrical fitting portion 17, the operation of displacing the retainer 30 from the temporary locking position to the final locking position is performed by using a jig. Can be easily carried out without using the
7 can be minimized. [Other Embodiments] The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above with reference to the drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. Various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

(1) In the above embodiment, the front wall is formed so as to cover almost the entire front surface of the connector housing, and a part of the front wall is used as the abutting portion. It may be possible to form only a minimum part necessary for functioning as. (2) In the above embodiment, the retainer is guided by using the retaining piece that is engaged with the female terminal fitting. However, according to the present invention, a sliding piece dedicated to the guide may be provided separately from the retaining piece. Good.

(3) In the above embodiment, the case where the connector has a tubular portion surrounding the connector housing has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to a connector having no tubular portion. (4) In the above-described embodiment, the retainer is assembled from the front by providing the mounting groove that opens in the front surface of the connector housing. However, according to the present invention, the retainer may be assembled from the side of the connector housing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a female connector according to a first embodiment with a retainer removed.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which a retainer is temporarily locked to the female connector.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which a retainer is fully locked.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the connector with a retainer removed.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the connector in a state where the retainer is temporarily locked.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the connector with the retainer fully locked.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of the connector with a retainer removed.

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state in which the female terminal fitting is secondarily locked by a retainer.

FIG. 9 is a horizontal sectional view of the connector with the retainer removed.

FIG. 10 is a horizontal sectional view showing a state where the retainer is temporarily locked.

FIG. 11 is a horizontal sectional view showing a state where the retainer is fully locked.

FIG. 12 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a retainer.

FIG. 13 is a front view of a retainer.

FIG. 14 is a rear view of the retainer.

FIG. 15 is a side view of a retainer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 T: Male terminal fitting F: Female connector (connector) 10: Connector housing 11: Cavity 13: Receiving hole 14: Guide groove 15: Mounting groove 20: Female terminal fitting 30: Retainer 35: Retaining piece 39: Protrusion part

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A connector housing which can be fitted with a male connector having a male terminal fitting protruding forward, having a receiving hole opened in a front surface and having a cavity formed therein for communicating with the receiving hole. A female terminal fitting that is inserted into the cavity and is connected to the male terminal fitting that has entered through the receiving hole when fitted with the male connector; and a female terminal fitting attached to the connector housing, and into the cavity of the female terminal fitting. A temporary locking position allowing insertion of
A retainer capable of being displaced in a direction orthogonal to a fitting direction with the male connector between a final locking position for locking the female terminal fitting by locking the female terminal fitting. The retainer, wherein the retainer is displaceable along the front surface of the connector housing integrally with the retainer, and closes the receiving hole when the retainer is at the temporary locking position. The male terminal fitting is positioned so as to restrict the entry of the male terminal fitting into the cavity, and when the retainer is at the final locking position, the receiving hole is opened to allow the male terminal fitting to enter the cavity. A connector provided with an abutting portion located at 2. The retainer is non-interfering with the female terminal fitting in the temporary locking position, and is engaged with the female terminal fitting in a state in which the female terminal fitting is restricted in the final locking position. A stopper groove to be stopped is provided, and the connector housing is provided with a guide groove for guiding the retainer between the temporary locking position and the final locking position by sliding the stopper piece. The connector according to claim 1, wherein 3. A front-rear mounting groove is formed in the connector housing, with a front end opening to the front surface of the connector housing and a rear end communicating with the guide groove so that the retaining piece can slide. 3. The connector according to claim 2, wherein the retainer is capable of being assembled to the connector housing from the front while sliding the retaining piece into the mounting groove.