JP2001015225A - United connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely prevent damage of the male terminals caused by contact when an upper connector housing is united with a lower connector housing by sliding the upper connector housing in the extending direction of a male terminal mounted on the lower connector housing, to fit both housings. SOLUTION: When an upper connector housing 3 is united with a lower connector housing 5, the bottom surface 7 of the upper connector housing 3 is brought into contact with the top surface 11 of the lower connector housing 5 and piled up, the upper connector housing 3 is slid by using the top surface 11 as a guide, widens a tongue piece 13 of the lower connector housing 5 with a tapered surface 10a of a projection 10 installed on the rear end outer surface of a side wall 9, and enters so as to engage the projection 10 with a hole 14 of the tongue piece 13. At that time, projections 8 on both sides in front end part of the upper connector housing 3 enter engaging recesses 12 of the lower connector housing 5 corresponding to the projections 8 and positioning in the breadth direction is performed. By uniting the upper connector housing 3 to the lower connector housing 5 while being moved in parallel, contact of male terminals 2, 4 is prevented, and damage of the mail terminals 2, 4 caused by contact can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a combined connector in which upper and lower connector housings each having a male terminal mounted thereon are joined together with the male terminals facing each other in the same direction. The present invention relates to a connector housing coupling structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a connector, there is a combined connector in which a plurality of connector housings are stacked and connected to each other in order to increase the mounting density.

FIG. 3 shows such a united connector. The united connector 20 includes an upper connector housing (hereinafter, referred to as an upper housing) 22 in which a number of male terminals 21 are arranged in parallel, and a lower connector housing (hereinafter, referred to as a lower housing) 24 in which a number of male terminals 23 are arranged in parallel.
And a cover 25.

A claw 26 is formed on the inner surface of the front end of each side wall of the upper housing 22, and a projection 27 is formed on the outer surface of the rear end of each side wall. Further, the lower housing 24 has claws 28 on the outer surfaces of the front ends on both side walls to engage with the claws 26 of the upper housing 22.
A hole 30 is formed in a tongue piece 29 erected at the rear end of each side wall to engage with the projection 27 of the upper housing 22. Further, a hole 31 for attaching the cover 25 below the hole 30 is formed in the tongue piece 29. A projection 32 is formed on the outer surface of the rear end of each side wall of the cover 25 for engaging with the hole 31 of the lower housing 24.

In the united connector 20, the cover 25 is put on the lower housing 24, the projections 32 of the cover 25 are fitted into the holes 31 of the lower housing 24, and the cover 25 is connected to the lower housing 24. The upper housing 22 is put on the upper housing 22, and the claw 2 of the upper housing 22 is
6 is engaged with the claw 28 of the lower housing 24, and the projection 27 of the upper housing 22 is further engaged with the hole 3 of the lower housing 24.
0, the upper housing 22 is coupled to the lower housing 24.

[0006]

When the upper housing 22 is connected to the lower housing 24 in the conventional connector 20, the tip of the upper housing 22 is first connected to the lower housing 24 as shown in FIG. Then, the rear end of the upper housing 22 is rotated downward with the rear end of the upper housing 22 as a fulcrum, and is engaged with the rear end of the lower housing 24.

Therefore, at this time, the upper housing 22
There is a possibility that the male terminals 21 of the lower housing 24 may be brought into contact with the male terminals 23 of the lower housing 24, whereby the male terminals may be bent.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a united connector which reliably prevents contact between a male terminal of an upper housing and a male terminal of a lower housing when the upper housing and the lower housing are connected to each other.

[0009]

The above object of the present invention is achieved by the following constitution. An upper connector housing and a lower connector housing each having a male terminal mounted thereon are joined together by stacking the male terminals in the same direction, and the upper connector housing is mounted on the lower connector housing with respect to the lower connector housing. Wherein the male terminal is slidably fitted along the extending direction of the male terminal.

A guide for sliding the upper connector housing relative to the lower connector housing from a front end to a rear end is provided on an engagement surface of the two connector housings, and a rear end of the two connector housings is provided. And a locking means for locking the upper connector housing, which enters from the extending direction of the male terminal, to the lower connector housing, is provided.

[0011] The locking means may be configured such that a protrusion is formed on one of the upper connector housing or the lower connector housing, a hole is formed on the other of the upper connector housing or the lower connector housing, and a hole is formed in the hole of the protrusion. The combined connector according to the above, wherein a tapered surface is formed on a surface on an opposite side.

A convex portion is formed on one of a front end portion of the upper connector housing and a front end portion of the lower connector housing, and a concave portion is formed on the other of the front end portions of the upper connector housing or the lower connector housing; When the housing is locked to the lower connector housing, the convex portion engages with the concave portion to position the upper connector housing in the width direction with respect to the lower connector housing. The combined connector according to the above or the above.

According to the combined connector, since the upper connector housing is engaged with the male terminal of the lower connector housing in a direction parallel to the male terminal of the lower connector housing, the male terminal of the upper connector housing contacts the male terminal of the lower connector housing. There is no danger and therefore no damage to the male terminals of both connector housings.

Further, in the combined connector, the upper connector housing is securely guided by the guide without being shifted in the width direction and is locked to the lower connector housing. Therefore, the engagement between the upper connector housing and the lower connector housing is easy.

Further, in the above-mentioned combined connector, since the protrusion pushes the portion having the hole on the tapered surface thereof and engages with the hole, the engagement between the upper connector housing and the lower connector housing becomes smooth.

Further, in the above-mentioned combined connector, the rear ends of the upper connector housing and the lower connector housing are locked to each other by locking means, and the front ends of the upper connector housing and the lower connector housing are fitted with the convex and concave portions. Are positioned relative to each other. Therefore, the upper connector housing and the lower connector housing are combined without being shifted from each other.

[0017]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a united connector according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of the united connector according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a conceptual view showing a procedure for assembling an upper connector housing to a lower connector housing.

The combined connector 1 shown in FIG. 1 has an upper connector housing (hereinafter, referred to as an upper housing) 3 having a large number of male terminals 2 arranged side by side and a lower connector housing (hereinafter, referred to as an upper housing) having a large number of male terminals 4 arranged side by side. Lower housing)
5 and a cover 6.

The lower surface 7 of the upper housing 3
On both sides of the front end portion of the front end, convex portions 8 projecting downward are formed. A projection 10 is formed on the outer surface of the rear end of the side wall 9 of the upper housing 3, and a rear surface (a surface on the right end side in FIG. 1) 10a of the projection 10 is formed as a tapered surface.

The upper surface 11 of the lower housing 5
On both sides of the front end of the upper housing 3, there are formed concave portions 12 (notches in FIG. 1) to be fitted with the convex portions 8 of the upper housing 3. At the rear ends of both sides of the lower housing 5, a tongue 13 is erected upward, and the tongue 13 is formed with a hole 14 that engages with the projection 10 of the upper housing 3. . Further, a hole 15 for attaching the cover 6 is formed below the hole 14 in the tongue piece 13.

A projection 16 for engaging with the hole 15 of the lower housing 5 is formed on a rear end outer surface of both sides of the cover 6, and a lower surface 16a of the projection 16 is formed as a tapered surface. . The other parts are the same as those of the above-described conventional combined connector 20, and the description thereof is omitted.

In the combined connector 1, similarly to the conventional combined connector 20, the lower housing 5 is covered with the cover 6, and the projection 16 of the cover 6 is fitted into the hole 15 of the lower housing 5 from above. Then, the cover 6 is connected to the lower housing 5. Next, as shown in FIG. 2A, the upper housing 3 is positioned above the lower housing 5, and the upper housing 3 is lowered as shown by the arrow.
It is superimposed on the lower housing 5.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2B, the upper housing 3 is moved as shown by the arrow while the lower surface 7 of the upper housing 3 is in contact with the upper surface 11 of the lower housing 5. Then, the protrusion 10 of the upper housing 3
Penetrates between the tongue pieces 13 and 13 while pushing and expanding the tongue pieces 13 and 13 with the tapered surface 10a, and engages with the hole 14 to move the upper housing 3 to the lower housing 13 as shown in FIG. Combine with 5.

At this time, the projection 8 of the upper housing 3 enters the recess 12 of the lower housing 5 and
Is positioned in the width direction with respect to the lower housing 5.

In the above-described embodiment, the upper housing 3 is slid to the lower housing 5 with the lower surface 7 of the upper housing 3 and the upper surface 11 of the lower housing 5 as guides.
The guide may be slid in parallel on the lower housing 5 in parallel with the male terminal 4, and the position of the guide can be set appropriately.

Further, as an engagement means of the upper housing 3 and the lower housing 5, a projection 10 formed on the upper housing 3 and a hole 14 formed on the lower housing 5 are formed, and a tapered surface 10a is formed on the projection 10. Although the engagement direction is specified in one direction, as the engagement means, a recess may be formed instead of the projection 10 of the upper housing 3 and a projection may be formed instead of the hole 14 of the lower housing 5. Alternatively, claws may be formed on both the upper housing 3 and the lower housing 5 so that they are engaged with each other, and various forms can be employed.

In the above-described embodiment, the projections 8 are formed on both sides of the front end of the lower surface 7 of the upper housing 3, and the notches 12 are formed on both sides of the upper surface 11 of the lower housing 5, so that they are engaged with each other. Thus, the tip of the upper housing 3 and the tip of the lower housing 5 are positioned, but one groove (recess) 12 opening at the tip of the lower housing 3 at an appropriate position on the front face of the tip of the lower housing 5. Are formed, and when the upper housing 3 is combined with the lower housing 5, the protrusions 8 of the upper housing 3 are formed.
May be fitted into the groove 12 of the lower housing 5.

The point is that when the upper housing 3 is slid on the lower housing to be combined, the tip of the upper housing 3 and the tip of the lower housing 5 may be engaged with each other at the final stage, and the shape and position Can be set as appropriate.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example is shown in which the upper housing 3 and the lower housing 5 are combined, that is, the two-stage housings 3 and 5 are overlapped and combined.
It goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the union of housings having more than one step.

[0030]

According to the combined connector of the first aspect, since the upper connector housing is slidably engaged with the lower connector housing along the extending direction of the male terminal, the male terminal of the upper connector housing is provided with: There is no danger of contacting the male terminals of the lower connector housing, so that the male terminals of both connector housings are not damaged.

According to the combined connector of the second aspect,
The upper connector housing is securely guided by the guide without being shifted in the width direction, and is locked to the lower connector housing. Therefore, the engagement between the upper connector housing and the lower connector housing is easy.

Further, according to the combined connector of claim 3,
Since the protrusion pushes and expands the portion having the hole on the tapered surface and engages with the hole, the engagement between the upper connector housing and the lower connector housing becomes smooth.

According to the combined connector of the fourth aspect,
The rear ends of the upper connector housing and the lower connector housing are locked to each other by locking means, and the front ends of the upper connector housing and the lower connector housing are fitted with the projections and the recesses, and are positioned relative to each other. Therefore,
The upper connector housing and the lower connector housing are combined without displacement.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of a united connector according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a procedure for combining the combined connector shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a conventional combined connector.

4 is a perspective view showing a state in which an upper connector housing of the united connector shown in FIG. 3 is assembled to a lower connector housing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 combined connector 2 male terminal 3 upper connector housing 4 male terminal 5 lower connector housing 6 cover 7 lower surface 8 convex portion 9 side wall 10 protrusion 10 a rear surface (taper surface) 11 upper surface 12 concave portion (notch, groove) 13 tongue piece 14 hole 15 Hole 16 Projection 16a Lower surface (tapered surface)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A combined connector comprising an upper connector housing and a lower connector housing each having a male terminal mounted thereon, with the male terminals facing each other in the same direction and being connected to each other, wherein the upper connector housing is connected to the lower connector housing. A combined connector characterized by being slidably fitted along the extending direction of a male terminal mounted on a lower connector housing. 2. An engagement surface of both connector housings,
A guide that slides the upper connector housing toward the lower connector housing from the front end to the rear end is provided, and the rear ends of both connector housings enter from the extending direction of the male terminal. 2. The united connector according to claim 1, further comprising a locking means for locking the upper connector housing to the lower connector housing. 3. The locking means has a projection formed on one of the upper connector housing and the lower connector housing, and a hole formed on the other of the upper connector housing and the lower connector housing. 3. The united connector according to claim 2, wherein a tapered surface is formed on a surface facing the hole. 4. A projection is formed at one of a front end of the upper connector housing or a front end of the lower connector housing, and a recess is formed at the other of the front ends of the upper connector housing or the lower connector housing. When the upper connector housing is locked to the lower connector housing, the convex portion engages with the concave portion to position the upper connector housing in the width direction with respect to the lower connector housing. The united connector according to claim 2 or 3, wherein: