JP2001035580A - Electrical connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To miniaturize a housing and a rear holder and to prevent backlash between them. SOLUTION: A housing 1 and a rear holder 2 are set engagingly with each other at a tentatively engaged position where the rear holder 2 is inserted into the housing 1 to its intermediate part and at a completely engaged position, where the rear holder is completely pushed in. A holder receiving chamber and a locking projection are formed inside a terminal receiving chamber 12 of the housing 1, and jig insertion holes 17, projection engagement holes 18 and projection insertion holes 19 are formed on the upper and lower outside walls of the terminal receiving chamber 12. A holder body 21 entering into the holder receiving chamber, a locking part engaging with the locking projection at the tentatively engaged position and at the completely engaged position, tentatively locked projections 23 engaging with the rearmost part of the projection engagement holes 18 at the tentatively engaged position and completely locking projections tightly inserted into the projection insertion holes 19 are formed in the rear holder 2. The completely locked projections are integrated with the holder body 21 through a holding plate 25 and flexible hinge parts 24a-24c, and a projection fitting holes for tightly fitting the completely locked projections through the projection insertion holes 19 are formed in the holder body 21.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric connector used for, for example, a wire harness of an automobile and for electrically connecting a large number of electric wires.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional electrical connector of this type, a plurality of connection terminals to which electric wires are connected are housed in a housing from the rear, and the connection terminals are locked by locking lances formed in the housing. The locking force of the locking lance is often improved by the stopped rear holder. On the other hand, there is a case where the locking lance is provided not on the housing but on the rear holder, and the rear terminal is locked to the rear portion of the housing, so that the connection terminal is locked by the locking lance. In this case, the housing and the rear holder are often locked by engaging a locking arm provided on one of the housing and the rear holder with a locking portion provided on the other.

[0003]

However, conventionally, since the locking arm is provided on the housing or the rear holder in the axial direction, the housing and the rear holder need to have a certain interval in the axial direction, so that their size can be reduced. There is a problem that is difficult. In addition, since the locking arm has a certain length, a gap may be present between the locking arm and the locking portion, which causes a problem that rattling occurs between the housing and the rear holder. .

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems,
An object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector which can reduce the size of a housing and a rear holder and can prevent rattling therebetween.

[0005]

An electric connector according to the present invention for achieving the above object has a housing made of a synthetic resin for accommodating from the rear a connection terminal having an electric wire connected to the rear, and a housing connected to the rear of the housing. A rear holder made of synthetic resin for preventing the connection terminal from coming out of the housing in combination with a main body capable of entering a housing of the rear holder by providing a projection insertion hole in an outer wall of the housing. The portion is provided with a first projection which can be inserted into the projection insertion hole from outside the outer wall via a flexible hinge portion.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail with reference to the illustrated embodiment. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the embodiment, FIG. 2 is an exploded plan view, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 2, and the electric connector accommodates a plurality of connection terminals having electric wires connected to the rear. And a rear holder 2 that locks to the rear portion of the housing 1 and locks the connection terminals housed in the housing 1. The housing 1 and the rear holder 2 are formed substantially vertically symmetrically from a synthetic resin material. To engage with the main engagement position where the connection terminal is pushed in to lock the connection terminal.

The front portion of the housing 1 is a fitting portion 11 for fitting a mating connector housing, and the rear portion of the housing 1 is a terminal housing portion 12 for housing connection terminals.
As shown also in the rear view of the housing 1 in FIG. 4, the terminal accommodating portion 12 has upper and lower outer walls 12a and left and right outer walls 12b, and a raised portion 12c is formed on one of the outer walls 12a.
The terminal accommodating portion 12 is vertically partitioned by, for example, two steps by a partition 13 and the horizontal direction is partitioned by a plurality of partitions 14 to form a plurality of terminal receiving chambers 15.

In the rear part of the terminal accommodating section 12, a gap-like holder accommodating chamber 16 is formed along the inner surfaces of the upper and lower outer walls 12a and the left and right outer walls 12b. A jig insertion hole 17 is formed in the front part of the upper and lower outer walls 12a of the terminal accommodating portion 12 to communicate the outside with the terminal accommodating chamber 15 and to insert the jig. A rear holder 2 is provided at the rear of the upper and lower outer walls 12a of the terminal accommodating portion 12.
For example, two projection engagement holes 18 and projection insertion holes 19 for respectively engaging or inserting the temporary engagement projections and the actual engagement projections described later are formed. The projection engagement hole 18 and the projection insertion hole 19 are extended to the rear of the jig insertion hole 17, and the projection engagement hole 18 is provided inside the projection insertion hole 19.

The jig insertion hole 17 of the housing 1 is
For example, it can be used to insert a jig for releasing the locked state between the connection terminal and the rear holder 2 and an inspection tool for inspecting the conduction state of the electric wire connected to the connection terminal.

[0010] Inside the terminal connection portion 12, an engagement portion accommodating chamber 20 for accommodating an after-mentioned engagement portion of the rear holder 2 is provided. The locking portion accommodating chamber 20 has a width corresponding to the width of the two terminal accommodating chambers 15, and the partition walls 14 of the locking portion accommodating chamber 20 are engaged with the locking portions at the temporary engagement position and the full engagement position. Locking ridges 14a and 14b are formed.

On the other hand, the rear holder 2 has a rectangular tubular holder body 21 that can be fitted into the holder accommodating chamber 16 of the housing 1.
A flexible locking lance 22, which enters the terminal accommodating chamber 15 of the housing 1 and individually locks the connection terminals, is protruded along the axial direction. Upper and lower walls 2 of holder body 21
At the front of 1a, there is provided a temporary locking projection 23 which engages with the rearmost portion of the projection engaging hole 18 of the housing 1 at the temporary engaging position and advances in the projection engaging hole 18 at the full engaging position. ing.

As shown in the rear view of the rear holder 2 in FIG. 5, a support plate 25 is provided at the rear edges of the upper and lower walls 21a of the holder main body 21 through, for example, three flexible hinge portions 24a to 24c. The support plate 25 is provided integrally, and is supported substantially parallel to the upper and lower walls 21a when no external force is applied. The support plate 25 has a raised portion 25a that can be engaged with the raised portion 12c of the housing 1. On the inner surface of the support plate 25,
The main locking projections 26 that are densely inserted into the projection insertion holes 18 from outside the outer wall 12a of the housing 1
b, 25c. On the upper and lower walls 21a of the holder main body 21, a projection fitting hole 27 into which the final locking projection 26 can be closely fitted is formed. Inside the holder main body 21, there is provided a rectangular cylindrical locking portion 28 which can enter the locking portion accommodating chamber 20 of the housing 1, and this locking portion 28 is engaged with the housing 1 at the temporary engagement position. Stop rib 14a, 1
4b. Engaging grooves 28a and 28b are provided on both side surfaces of the engaging portion 28 to engage with the engaging protrusions 14a and 14b of the housing 1 at the full engagement position.

When assembling the electric connector, the locking lance 22 of the rear holder 2 is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 15 of the housing 1 as shown in FIG. 16 and the rear holder 2 is inserted into the housing 1 almost to the middle. Thereby, the temporary locking projection 2 of the rear holder 2
3 engages with the rearmost portion of the projection engagement hole 18 of the housing 1, and the locking portion 28 of the rear holder 2 comes into contact with the locking protrusions 14a, 14b of the housing 1 as shown in the partial plan view of FIG. , The rear holder 2 engages with the temporary engagement position with respect to the housing 1.

Next, after all the connection terminals have been inserted into the terminal receiving holes 15 of the housing 1 and the rear holder 2 is pushed into the housing 1 in the direction of the arrow, the temporary locking projections 23 Along with the forward movement, the locking portion 28 advances over the locking ridges 14a and 14b, and the rear holder 2 moves to the full engagement position with the housing 1 as shown in FIG. At the same time, the locking ridges 14a, 14b
8a and 28b, the rear holder 2 is primarily locked to the housing 1. In this state, the hinge portion 24a
24c are bent, and the final locking projection 26 is inserted into the projection insertion hole 18.
The rear holder 2 is secondarily locked with respect to the housing 1 when it is fitted into the projection fitting hole 27 through the hole.

As described above, in the embodiment, when the rear holder 2 is locked at the full engagement position with respect to the housing 1, the main locking projection 26 of the rear holder 2 is engaged with the projection insertion hole 1 of the housing 1.
8, the projection fitting hole 27 of the rear holder 2 is fitted, so that a conventional locking arm extending in the axial direction is not required, and the distance between the housing 1 and the rear holder 2 in the axial direction can be shortened. Can be reduced in size.

Further, since the main locking projections 26 of the rear holder 2 can be closely fitted into the projection insertion holes 18 of the housing 1 and the projection fitting holes 27 of the rear holder 2, there is no play between the housing 1 and the rear holder 2. It does not.

Furthermore, when the rear holder 2 is assembled to the housing 1, only the holder main body 21 of the rear holder 2 is inserted into the holder accommodating chamber 16 of the housing 1, so that the insertability of the rear holder 2 into the housing 1 can be improved.

In place of the above-mentioned rear holder 2, FIG.
When the rear holder 2 'having a brim-shaped locking portion 26a at the tip of the main locking projection 26 as shown in FIG.
The locking force between 6 and the projection fitting hole 27 can be further improved.

[0019]

As described above, in the electrical connector according to the present invention, the first body which can be inserted into the housing of the rear holder from the outside of the outer wall through the projection insertion hole formed in the outer wall of the housing. Are integrally provided via a flexible hinge portion, and a projection fitting hole for fitting the first projection is provided, so that a conventional locking arm extending in the axial direction is unnecessary, The length of the housing and the rear holder in the axial direction can be shortened, and their size can be reduced.
In addition, since the first projection can be closely fitted into the projection insertion hole and the projection fitting hole, rattling between the housing and the rear holder can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an exploded plan view.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the housing.

FIG. 5 is a rear view of the rear holder.

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory view.

FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory view.

FIG. 8 is an operation explanatory view.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of a modified example of the rear holder.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Housing 2, 2 'Rear holder 12 Terminal accommodating part 12a Upper and lower outer wall 12b Left and right outer wall 14 Partition 14a, 14b Locking protrusion 18 Projection engaging hole 19 Projection insertion hole 21 Holder main body 22 Locking lance 23 Temporary locking protrusion 24a-24c Hinge part 26 Main locking projection 26a Locking projection 27 Projection fitting hole 28 Locking part 28a, 28b Engaging groove

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Hisabu Komatsu 1-chome, Kotake-cho, Nerima-ku, Tokyo Rishisei Denso Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5E087 EE14 FF16 GG15 GG25 GG31 GG32 GG34 QQ04 RR01 RR04 RR23

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A housing made of synthetic resin for accommodating a connection terminal connected to a rear portion of an electric wire from a rear portion, and a synthetic resin housing engaged with a rear portion of the housing to prevent the connection terminal from coming out of the housing. In an electrical connector comprising a rear holder, a projection insertion hole is provided in an outer wall of the housing, and a first body that can enter the inside of the housing of the rear holder can be inserted through the projection insertion hole from outside the outer wall. An electric connector characterized in that the projections are integrally provided via a flexible hinge portion. 2. The housing and the rear holder,
The rear holder can be engaged with a temporary engagement position where the rear holder is inserted from a rear portion to a substantially middle position with respect to the housing, and a full engagement position where the rear holder is fully pushed in, and the first projection is the projection in the full engagement position. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the electrical connector can be fitted into a projection fitting hole provided in the rear holder through an insertion hole. 3. The housing is provided with a projection engaging portion extending in an axial direction and a locking projection facing each other at an interval, and the rear holder is provided with the projection engaging portion at the temporary engagement position. The electrical connector according to claim 2, further comprising a second projection that engages a rearmost portion of the portion, and a locking portion that engages with the locking projection. 4. The electrical connector according to claim 3, wherein said locking portion is provided with an engagement groove for engaging said locking projection at said full engagement position. 5. The electrical connector according to claim 2, wherein a flange-shaped locking portion is provided at a tip of the first projection to be locked to the inner surface of the main body after being fitted into the projection fitting hole. .