JP2001006815A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To securely detect fitting failure of both connector housings. SOLUTION: A cover 40 is held in a standby position by locking a lock arm 42 of the cover 40 to a lock protrusion 53 of a retainer 50 before both connector housings 10, 20 are fitted. A regulation part 54 capable of regulating displacement of the cover 40 to a side of a fitting position by contacting the lock arm 42 when the retainer 50 fails to be mounted is provided to the retainer 50. When the retainer 50 fails to be mounted, the lock protrusion 53 is released from the lock arm 42, and the regulation part 54 of the retainer 50 regulates displacement of the cover 40 to a side of the fitting position. Therefore, it is prevented that an operator misunderstands that fitting of the connector housings 10, 20 proceeds normally from the movement of the cover 40 from the standby position to the fitting position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

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

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 9-283229 discloses first and second connector housings which can be fitted and disengaged from each other. There is disclosed a connector provided with a cover which is supported so as to be displaceable between positions, and further provided with a lock means for holding the cover at a standby position so as not to be displaced toward a fitting position.

[0003] In such a connector, the cover is held at a standby position by a locking means before the two connector housings are fitted. When the two connector housings are fitted together, the lock by the locking means is released. Is such that the cover moves to the fitting position side. As a locking means in this type of connector, a structure in which a lock arm is formed on a cover and a lock projection is provided on the first connector housing can be considered. According to this structure, the cover is held at the standby position by the contact of the tip of the lock arm with the lock projection, and
When the two connector housings are fitted to each other, the lock is released by the lock release portion formed on the second connector housing coming into contact with the lock arm and displacing the lock arm in the direction of disengaging from the lock projection.

[0004]

By the way, in the above-mentioned connector, a retainer is assembled to double-lock the terminal fitting to the first connector housing, and further, a lock projection is formed on the retainer. Can be considered. According to this structure, if the retainer is not attached to the first connector housing, the lock arm does not come into contact with the lock projection, so that the cover cannot be held at the standby position, thereby detecting that the retainer is not attached.

When the two connector housings are fitted together, if the retainer is improperly mounted and protrudes from the outer surface of the first connector housing, the second
Before the lock release portion of the connector housing reaches the lock arm, it hits the projecting portion of the retainer, and further approach of the two connector housings is restricted, so that the mounting failure of the retainer can be detected. by the way,
When the retainer is improperly mounted, the position of the lock projection on the retainer will deviate from the position where it is locked with the lock arm.If the position of the lock projection deviates from the lock arm at this time, If the cover cannot be held at the standby position, the cover moves from the standby position to the mating position with respect to both connector housings even though the fitting of the two connector housings does not progress. . In this case, the worker may mistakenly think that the fitting of the two connector housings is progressing normally, and may miss the poor fitting of the two connector housings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to reliably detect a poor connection between both connector housings.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a first and a second connector housings which can be fitted and disengaged from each other, a standby position and a fitting position with respect to the first connector housing. A cover that is displaceably supported between the first connector housing, a lock projection provided on the first connector housing, a lock arm provided on the cover, and a lock release unit provided on the second connector housing. Before the two connector housings are fitted to each other, the lock arm is engaged with the lock projection, so that the cover at the standby position is held in a displacement-restricted state toward the fitting position. When the connector housing is fitted, the cover is displaced in a direction in which the unlocking portion contacts the lock arm and the lock arm is disengaged from the lock projection. Displacement of the fitting position side is allowed,
Further, a retainer for retaining the terminal fitting inserted into the first connector housing is attached to the first connector housing, and the lock projection is formed on the retainer, When the retainer is improperly mounted, the lock arm is disengaged from the lock projection, and when the two connector housings are fitted together, the lock release portion abuts on the retainer before reaching the lock arm. In the connector configured to detect the mounting failure of the retainer, the lock arm is brought into contact with the retainer in a state where the retainer is not properly mounted, so that the cover is in a standby position and the fitting position of the cover is in a standby position. A configuration is provided in which a restricting portion capable of restricting displacement to the side is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a first and a second connector housing which can be fitted and disengaged from each other, a guide pin and a cam groove which are rotatably supported by the first connector housing. A rotating cam having a cover, the cover being configured to be displaceable between a standby position and a fitting position with respect to the first connector housing in a state where a guide groove is engaged with the guide pin; A lock projection provided on a connector housing, a lock arm provided on the cover, a lock release portion provided on the second connector housing, and engagement with the cam groove provided on the second connector housing. Before the two connector housings are fitted, the lock arm is locked to the lock projection so that the cover in the standby position is provided. There is held in the displacement restriction state to the mating position side, upon fitting of the two connector housings,
The lock release portion abuts on the lock arm and displaces the lock arm in a direction in which the lock arm is disengaged from the lock protrusion, whereby displacement to the fitting position side of the cover is allowed, and the cam pin is connected to the cam groove. After the engagement with the cam groove, the cover is displaced to the fitting position side and the rotating cam is rotated by the engagement between the guide groove and the guide pin, thereby engaging the cam groove with the cam pin. As a result, the second connector housing is attracted to the first connector housing to be in a fitted state, and the first connector housing is provided with a terminal fitting inserted into the first connector housing. A retainer for stopping is attached, and the lock projection is formed on the retainer. When the lock arm is in an improper mounting state, the lock arm is disengaged from the lock protrusion, and when the two connector housings are fitted, the lock release portion abuts on the retainer before reaching the lock arm. In the connector configured to detect the mounting failure of the retainer, the lock arm is brought into contact with the retainer when the retainer is in a mounting failure state, so that the cover at the standby position is at the fitting position side. It is configured such that a restricting portion capable of restricting displacement to is provided.

[0009]

According to the first and second aspects of the present invention, when the retainer is in an improperly mounted state, the lock projection comes off the lock arm, but the lock arm comes into contact with the restricting portion of the retainer. The displacement of the cover toward the fitting position is restricted. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the worker from misunderstanding that the fitting of the two connector housings is progressing normally due to the movement of the cover from the standby position to the fitting position.

[0010]

[First Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The connector of the present embodiment includes a first connector housing 10, a second connector housing 20, a rotating cam 30, a cover 40, and a retainer 50. First connector housing 10 and second connector housing 2
0 is capable of fitting and disengaging each other. The first connector housing 10 has a female terminal fitting 12 (a terminal fitting which is a constituent element of the present invention) in a cavity 11 formed therein from the rear (right in FIG. 1 and upper right in FIGS. 2 to 8). ) Is inserted, and the female terminal fitting 12 is prevented from coming off by a retainer 50 described later.

On each of the upper and lower surfaces of the first connector housing 10, a rotating cam 30 is provided between a standby position (see FIGS. 2, 3 and 8) and a fitting position (see FIGS. 6 and 7). It is rotatably supported. The rotary cam 30 has a substantially C-shaped cam groove 31 formed therein, and the rotary center shaft 3
Guide pin 33 at a position opposite to cam groove 31 with respect to
Are projected outward. The distance between the rotation center shaft 32 and the guide pin 33 is set to be longer than the distance between the rotation center shaft 32 and the cam groove 31 when the separation is greatest.

The cover 40 is connected to the first connector housing 1.
The first connector housing 10 has a rectangular tube shape surrounding the first connector housing 10 between a standby position (see FIGS. 2, 3, 8, 9, and 10) and a fitting position (see FIG. 7). The connector housings 10 and 20 can relatively move in the same direction as the fitting / removing direction. Each of the upper and lower wall portions of the cover 40 has a linear relief portion 41A extending long in parallel with the movement direction of the cover 40, and a diagonally shorter portion from the front end (upper right end in FIGS. 2 to 8) of the relief portion 41A. A guide groove 41 composed of a continuous operating portion 41B is formed,
The guide pin 33 of the rotating cam 30 is
Are fitted. The upper and lower walls of the cover 40 are in sliding contact with the outer surface of the rotating cam 30, thereby restricting the vertical movement between the first connector housing 10 and the cover 40.

An elastically flexible lock arm 42 is formed on the left wall portion of the cover 40 and protrudes forward along the inner surface thereof in a cantilever manner. This lock arm 42
In the free state, the protruding end portion is made to substantially abut on the left outer surface of the first connector housing 10 and the outer side (the side approaching the inner peripheral surface of the cover 40,
The elastic bending to the side (away from the outer surface of the first connector housing 10) is enabled.

The first connector housing 10 has a mounting hole 13 formed on the left side wall surface (lower right side wall surface in FIGS. 2 to 8) and communicating with the cavity 11, in which the retainer 50 is provided. (In a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the cover 40). The retainer 50 is first attached to the first connector housing 10 at a temporary locking position (see FIG. 2). In this provisionally locked state, the base 51 of the retainer 50 projects from the left wall surface of the first connector housing 10, and the locking portion 52 of the retainer 50 is located in the cavity 11 so as to be out of the insertion path of the female terminal fitting 12. It is like
In this state, the female terminal fitting 12 is inserted into the cavity 11. After this, the retainer 50 is fully locked (see FIG. 3).
However, in this fully locked state, the retainer 50
Is completely housed in the mounting hole 13 and its base 51 is in the first position.
In addition to being flush with the left wall surface of the connector housing 10, the locking portion 52 of the retainer 50 is locked to the female terminal fitting 12 in the cavity 11, so that the female terminal fitting 12 is held in a retaining state.

The retainer 50 is formed with a lock projection 53 which can be engaged with the lock arm 42 so as to protrude from the outer surface of the base 51. The lock projection 53
The front surface is a guide surface 53F inclined with respect to the moving direction of the cover 40, and the rear surface is a locking surface 53R orthogonal to the moving direction of the cover 40. The vertical dimension of the lock projection 53 is set smaller than the vertical dimension of the lock arm 42, and the lock projection 53 is arranged at the center of the lock arm 42 in the vertical direction. When the retainer 50 is in the final locking position, the lock protrusion 53 is moved in the left-right direction by the lock arm 4.
2, but when the retainer 50 is in the temporary locking position, the lock projection 53 is
2 and is located outside.

When the lock projection 53 is disengaged from the lock arm 42, the base 51 of the retainer 50 is positioned so as to face the lock arm 42. FIG. 8 and FIG. As shown in FIG. 10, a restricting portion 54 is formed to allow the protruding end of the lock arm 42 to abut when the retainer 50 is at the temporary locking position. The restricting portion 54 is flush with the locking surface 53R on the rear side of the lock projection 53.

The second connector housing 20 has a cylindrical portion 21 fitted externally to the first connector housing 10.
And a male terminal fitting (not shown) facing the inside of the cylindrical portion 21.
0, the female terminal fitting 12 is
And is connected to the female terminal fitting 12. An escape groove 22 is formed in the second connector housing 20 by cutting a left side wall portion of the cylindrical portion 21 rearward from a front end (upper right side in FIG. 4). This escape groove 22 is provided in both connector housings 1.
This is for avoiding interference with the lock projection 53 in the process of fitting and disengaging 0, 20. A pair of upper and lower unlocking portions 23 are formed on the front edge of the escape groove 22. The lock release portion 23 has guide surfaces 23F, 23R whose front end surface and rear end surface are inclined with respect to the fitting direction of the connector housings 10, 20, and that the connector housings 10, 20 are fitted and disengaged. In the process, the lock release portions 23 are displaced so as to slip through along the upper and lower surfaces of the lock projection 53, and the lock release portions 23 interfere with the protruding end portions of the lock arm 42 to move the lock arm 42 to the outside ( It is configured to be elastically displaced to the side where it is disengaged from the lock projection 53). Moreover, the cylinder part 2
A pair of cam pins 24 projecting outward from the outer surface of the upper and lower walls 1 are formed on the upper and lower walls.
Are engaged with the cam groove 31 in the process of fitting / removing the connector housings 10, 20. Escape grooves 25 for avoiding interference with the rotation center shaft 32 of the rotation cam 30 are formed in the upper and lower walls of the cylindrical portion 21.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. Before the two connector housings 10 and 20 are fitted together, the projecting end of the lock arm 42 is locked by the lock projection 53 while the cover 40 is in the standby position, so that the cover 40 is displaced toward the fitting position. The rotation cam 30 is held in the standby state by the engagement between the guide groove 41 and the guide pin 33, and the entrance of the cam groove 31 is moved to the second position.
It is positioned to open to the connector housing 20 side (see FIG. 3).

From this state, both connector housings 10,
When fitting 20, the second connector housing 20 is brought closer to the first connector housing 10. Then, the lock release portion 23 of the second connector housing 20 elastically bends the lock arm 42 to be disengaged from the lock projection 53, thereby unlocking the cover 40 and allowing displacement to the fitting position side, The cam pins 24 are fitted into the cam grooves 31 (see FIG. 5).

In this state, when the cover 40 is pushed to the fitting position side (the side approaching the second connector housing 20), the rotation cam 30 is engaged by the engagement between the guide groove 41 and the guide pin 33. Then, the second connector housing 20 is attracted to the first connector housing 10 by the engagement between the cam groove 31 and the cam pin 24 to reach the fitted state (see FIG. 6). At this time, the rotation center shaft 3
Since the distance from 2 to the guide pin 33 is set to be larger than the distance from the cam groove 31, even if the fitting resistance between the two connector housings 10 and 20 is large, the cover 4
The operation force of 0 is small.

In the above, the fitting process in the case where the retainer 50 is correctly mounted at the final locking position has been described. If the mounting state of the retainer 50 is incorrect, the incorrect operation is performed as follows. Can be detected. If the retainer 50 is not attached to the first connector housing 10, the lock arm 43 is
, The cover 40 cannot be held at the standby position, thereby detecting that the retainer 50 is not mounted.

When the retainer 50 remains in the temporary locking position, since the base 51 of the retainer 50 protrudes from the outer surface of the first connector housing 10, the process of fitting the two connector housings 10, 20 together is performed. Before the lock release portion 23 of the second connector housing 20 reaches the protruding base portion 51 of the retainer 50 before reaching the lock arm 42, further approach of the two connector housings 10 and 20 is restricted (see FIG. 8). . Thereby, the retainer 5
It is detected that 0 remains at the temporary locking position and is not pushed into the full locking position.

By the way, when the retainer 50 is in the provisionally locked state, the lock projection 53 of the retainer 50 comes off the lock arm 42 outside.
If the cover 40 cannot be held at the standby position due to the lock arm 42 being detached from the lock projection 53, the cover 40 may not be engaged even though the connector housings 10 and 20 may not be fitted. Moves from the standby position to the fitting position side. In this case, cover 4
Since the 0 and the second connector housing 20 are relatively close to each other, there is a possibility that the operator may mistakenly think that the fitting of the two connector housings 10 and 20 is progressing normally.

However, in the present embodiment, when the retainer 50 is in an improperly mounted state, the lock projection 53 is
2, the retainer 50 is provided with a restricting portion 54, and the lock arm 42 abuts against the restricting portion 54, so that the lock arm 42 and the restricting portion 54 lock the cover 40. Displacement toward the fitting position is restricted. Therefore, there is no danger that the worker will mistakenly think that the fitting of the two connector housings 10 and 20 is progressing normally due to the movement of the cover 40 from the standby position to the fitting position side. It is possible to reliably prevent the failure of fitting of the connectors 10 and 20 to be overlooked.

[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 description has been given of the connector in which the rotation cam is provided to reduce the insertion force at the time of the fitting operation. However, the present invention can be applied to a connector having no rotation cam.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state before a female terminal fitting is inserted into a first connector housing in a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which a retainer is at a temporary locking position.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a state where a retainer is at a final locking position.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a second connector housing.

FIG. 5A is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a state where a lock by a lock arm is released, and FIG. 5B is a partially enlarged perspective view thereof.

FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a state in which both connector housings are fitted.

FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a state in which the cover has moved to a fitting position.

FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a state where it is detected that the retainer is at the temporary locking position.

FIG. 9 is a horizontal sectional view showing a state where the cover is held at a standby position.

FIG. 10 is a horizontal sectional view showing a state in which the retainer is at a temporary locking position.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... 1st connector housing 12 ... Terminal fitting 20 ... 2nd connector housing 23 ... Lock release part 24 ... Cam pin 30 ... Rotating cam 31 ... Cam groove 33 ... Guide pin 40 ... Cover 41 ... Guide groove 42 ... Lock arm 50 ... Retainer 53 ... Lock projection 54 ... Regulator

Claims (2)

[Claims] A first connector housing capable of fitting and disengaging from each other; and a first connector housing supported to be displaceable between a standby position and a fitting position with respect to the first connector housing. A cover, a lock projection provided on the first connector housing, a lock arm provided on the cover, and a lock release section provided on the second connector housing, wherein the two connector housings are fitted together. Previously, the lock arm is locked to the lock projection, so that the cover at the standby position is held in a displacement-restricted state toward the fitting position, and when the two connector housings are fitted, the lock is released. The portion is brought into contact with the lock arm and displaces the lock arm in a direction in which the lock arm is disengaged from the lock protrusion, whereby displacement of the cover toward the fitting position is allowed. Further, a retainer for retaining a terminal fitting inserted into the first connector housing is attached to the first connector housing, and the lock projection is formed on the retainer. When the retainer is in an improperly mounted state, the lock arm is disengaged from the lock projection, and when the two connector housings are fitted, the lock release portion abuts on the retainer before reaching the lock arm. The connector is adapted to detect a mounting failure of the retainer, and the lock arm is brought into contact with the retainer when the retainer is in a mounting failure state, thereby fitting the cover at a standby position. A restricting portion capable of restricting displacement to the position side is provided. Kuta. 2. A first and a second connector housing capable of fitting and disengaging from each other, a rotating cam rotatably supported by the first connector housing and having a guide pin and a cam groove. The first groove with the guide groove engaged with the guide pin;
A cover configured to be displaceable between a standby position and a mating position with respect to the connector housing; a lock protrusion provided on the first connector housing; a lock arm provided on the cover; (2) a lock release portion provided on the connector housing; and a cam pin provided on the second connector housing and capable of engaging with the cam groove. When the lock arm is locked to the lock projection, the cover at the standby position is held in a displacement-restricted state toward the mating position, and when the two connector housings are mated, the lock releasing portion locks the lock. Displacement of the lock arm toward the fitting position side of the cover is allowed by displacing the lock arm in a direction of disengaging from the lock protrusion by contacting the arm. In both cases, after the cam pins are engaged with the cam grooves, the cover is displaced to the fitting position side and the rotation cam is rotated by engagement of the guide grooves and the guide pins, whereby The engagement between the cam groove and the cam pin causes the second connector housing to be drawn toward the first connector housing to reach a fitted state. Further, the first connector housing includes a first connector housing. A retainer for retaining the terminal fitting inserted into the retainer is attached, and the lock projection is formed on the retainer. When the retainer is in an improperly attached state, the lock arm is The lock release portion is disengaged from the lock projection, and the lock release portion is In a connector adapted to detect a mounting failure of the retainer by hitting the retainer before reaching the arm, the retainer is brought into contact with the lock arm when the retainer is in a mounting failure state, A connector provided with a regulating portion capable of regulating displacement of the cover at the standby position toward the fitting position.