JP2001143807A - Terminal fitting for waterproof connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a metal lance from piercing a seal material. SOLUTION: The terminal fitting is formed by putting an angular tube shaped cover 40 on front side of a terminal body 31. The terminal body is passed through an inserting hole 21 of a rubber plug 20 into a cavity 12 of a housing 10 and contained in the cavity, the rubber plug 20 being fitted into a rear end of the housing 10. A metal lance 49 is obliquely provided at an upper plate of the cover 40, a base end of the lance cut to rise at front portion of the cover. A bending piece 52 is provided at a free end of the lance and bent inwardly. An outer surface of a bending portion 53 in the bending piece is formed rounded up. When the terminal fitting 30 is drawn from the inside of the housing 10, the outer surface of the bending portion 53 which is a protruded end outward of the lance 49 is abutted with a front face of lip 22, in case the lance 49 enters the inserting hole 21 of the rubber plug 20 in a natural state.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a terminal fitting for a waterproof connector having a metal lance.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a connector described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-257187 is known as a type of connector in which a terminal fitting is prevented from coming off by a metal lance and is waterproofed. As shown in FIG. 11, a terminal fitting 2 and a rubber plug 3 are fixed to the end of the electric wire 1 side by side, and a metal lance 4 is cut and raised on the bottom wall of the terminal fitting 2 as shown in FIG. I have. The terminal fitting 2 is inserted into the cavity 6 of the connector housing 5 while bending and deforming the metal lance 4. When the terminal metal fitting 2 reaches a predetermined position, the metal lance 4 returns and the locking portion provided on the bottom surface of the cavity 6. 7 is housed in a state where it cannot be removed. At the same time, the rubber stopper 3 is fitted to the entrance of the cavity 6 so that the inside of the cavity 6 is waterproofed.

[0003] The above-mentioned one is a so-called individual waterproof type. In inserting the terminal fitting 2, each rubber plug 3 has to be pushed into the entrance of the cavity 6, so that a multi-pole connector is particularly required. In this case, workability deteriorates remarkably. In addition, since a sufficient space is required for the mounting portion of the rubber plug 3, there is a limit in reducing the pitch between the poles, that is, in reducing the size of the connector. For this reason, it is called a collective waterproof type, and one rubber plug with an insertion hole opened at each position corresponding to each cavity is mounted on the rear surface of the connector housing, and while each insertion hole is expanded, it is housed in the cavity through the terminal fitting and In addition, there has been proposed a device in which the inner peripheral surface of the insertion hole is elastically brought into close contact with the electric wire to achieve waterproofing.

[0004]

However, when the above-mentioned one-piece waterproof rubber stopper is employed, it has been found that the following disadvantages occur particularly when the terminal fitting is locked by a metal lance. For example, if it becomes necessary to pull out the terminal fitting from the cavity during maintenance or the like, forcibly bend the metal lance with a jig or the like to release the locking to the locking part, and then pull the terminal fitting backward. become. Here, when the timing of the metal lance exiting the cavity and heading toward the insertion hole of the rubber stopper is reached, the metal lance may return to its original shape, and then the sharp edge of the free end of the metal lance may become a hole edge of the insertion hole, If the lance is pierced into the inner lip and pulled as it is, the metal lance may be turned up and plastically deformed. The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances,
The purpose is to prevent the metal lance from sticking into the seal.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems As means for achieving the above object, the invention of claim 1 is used for a waterproof connector provided with a collective sealing material on the rear side of a connector housing having a cavity. A metal lance is provided on a side surface of the terminal metal provided through the sealing material so as to be bent and deformed in an oblique posture with a rear end protruding outward. Is elastically locked to a locking portion provided on a side wall of the cavity, and is characterized in that a protruding end of the metal lance is rounded and bent.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the terminal body connected to the mating terminal is provided with a tubular cover, and the metal lance is provided on a side surface of the cover. It is formed by cutting and raising while providing an opening, the projecting end of the metal lance is bent toward the opening side, and the tip of the bent portion is arranged substantially flush with the side surface of the cover, In the terminal body,
A feature is provided in which a closing portion is provided along the side surface of the cover and covers a region from a rear end of the opening to a position immediately after a tip of a bent portion of the metal lance.

[0007]

<Operation and Effect of the Invention><Invention of claim 1> When the metal terminal is pulled out from the cavity, it may return to the original shape when the metal lance comes out behind the cavity. Since the protruding end of the metal lance is rounded, it is possible to prevent the protruding end of the metal lance from sticking into the sealing material disposed behind the cavity as much as possible.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the front end of the closing portion of the terminal body is located immediately after the tip of the bent portion of the metal lance, so that when the metal lance is bent and deformed, the closed portion is formed at the bent portion. Does not interfere. In the opening formed in the cover as a result of cutting and raising the metal lance, the rear area of the metal lance has a bent portion of the protruding end of the metal lance and a terminal body disposed immediately after the tip of the bent portion. Since the shape is substantially closed by the closing portion, entry of foreign matter or the like into the terminal fitting through the opening is prevented as much as possible. In addition, if the sealing material is, for example, a gel-shaped material, the protruding end of the metal lance may scrape the sealing material. Is prevented.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, a terminal fitting provided with a metal lance used for a female waterproof connector will be described.

First, the connector housing 10 (hereinafter, simply referred to as the housing 10) in which the terminal fitting 30 is accommodated will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the housing 10 has a cavity 1 in which terminal fittings 30 can be individually accommodated.
2 are provided in two upper and lower stages, and a rubber plug mounting portion 11 to which a collective rubber plug 20 as a sealing material can be mounted is provided on the rear side thereof with an opening rearward.

A rubber plug 20 fitted to the rubber plug mounting portion 11
, A through hole 21 through which the terminal fitting 30 and the electric wire W can be inserted is provided at a position corresponding to each of the cavities 12 at the front. The inner surface of this insertion hole 21 has 3
The strip lips 22 are provided so as to bulge in a line in front and back, and when the terminal fitting 30 passes through the insertion hole 21, the metal lance 49 is pressed and bent by the lip 22. . Further, the lip 22 comes into close contact with the periphery of the electric wire W passed through the insertion hole 21 so that the front cavity 1 is
The inside of 2 is made waterproof.

The height of the cavity 12 is set smaller in the front half than in the rear half, and the center portion, which is the boundary between the two, is formed so as to be narrowed forward. That is, when the terminal fitting 30 passes through the latter half of the cavity 12, the metal lance 49 is in a free state, and when the terminal fitting 30 is introduced into the first half of the cavity 12, Wall 1 between upper and lower cavities 12
In FIG. 3, the metal lance 49 is bent by the guide surface 14 provided so as to protrude inward toward the front, and then the terminal fitting 30 is fitted into the front half of the cavity 12. I have. Also, this wall 1
3 is provided with an insertion groove 15 through which the stabilizer 46 of the terminal fitting 30 can be inserted.

A locking groove 16 is provided at the front end of the wall portion 13 of the cavity 12 so that the metal lance 49 of the terminal fitting 30 inserted to a regular depth can be returned to the front. Metal lances 49
Can be locked to the rear surface. A retainer mounting hole 17 into which a retainer for secondary locking the terminal fitting 30 can be inserted is provided between the locking groove 16 and the guide surface 14 in the wall portion 13 so as to open into each cavity 12. Have been.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the terminal fitting 30 is generally mounted by covering a front side of a terminal body 31 with a rectangular cylindrical cover 40. As shown in FIG. The terminal body 31 and the cover 40 are formed by bending a metal plate having an unfolded shape shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 along each folding curve shown by a broken line.

As shown in FIG. 3, the terminal body 31 is provided with a barrel portion 32 which is crimped to the end of the electric wire W and crimp-connected, and a cover 40 is provided on the front side.
Is provided with a cover mounting portion 33 capable of mounting. A pair of recesses 34 for caulking the fixing pieces 48 of the cover 40 are provided at the rear ends of the left and right side walls of the cover mounting portion 33, and a protrusion engageable with the cover 40 is provided at the rear end of the upper wall 31 </ b> A. The piece 35 is formed by being raised, so that the rear of the cover 40 is stopped.

From the left and right side walls of the cover mounting portion 33, a pair of elastic contact pieces 36 are provided extending forward.
Between the two elastic contact pieces 36, a not-shown terminal fitting 30 (not shown) is inserted from the front while being sandwiched, and is elastically contacted. In addition, a positioning piece 37 for abutting against the tip of the wire W and positioning the wire W when crimping the wire W to the barrel portion 32 is formed from the bottom surface of the cover mounting portion 33 by cutting and raising.

As shown in FIG. 6, the cover 40 has a right side plate 41, a bottom side plate 42, a left side plate 43 and a top side plate 44, which are viewed from the front, connected in order from the near side in the unfolded configuration through broken curves shown by broken lines. By bending this, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, it is formed in a rectangular tube shape opened front and rear.

At the side edge of the right side plate 41, as shown in FIG. 2, a stabilizer 46 having notches 45 provided at two front and rear portions is formed so as to rise. The shape of the cover 40 is maintained by fitting the protruding fitting piece 47 into the notch 45. At the rear ends of the left and right side plates 41, 43, fixed pieces 48 are provided so as to extend, and the fixed pieces 48 are crimped to the concave portions 34 of the terminal main body 31, thereby forming the cover 4.
0 is fixed to the terminal body 31. Also,
The stabilizer 46 connects the terminal fitting 30 to the housing 1.
When the terminal fitting 30 is inserted into the insertion groove 15 when it is inserted into the cavity 12, the terminal fitting 30 functions to stabilize the insertion posture.

As shown in FIG. 3, a metal lance 49 having a base end on the front side is cut and raised in the upper plate 44 to form an opening 50 in the cut and raised portion. A front portion and a rear portion connected to the metal lance 49 with the opening 50 interposed therebetween are formed. The metal lance 49 is formed so as to be inclined obliquely so as to protrude outward toward the free end side, and to be elastically deformable inward and deformable. It is adapted to be locked to the rear surface of the stop groove 16 (see FIG. 8). A terminal body 31 is provided at the rear end of the rear portion of the upper plate 44.
An engagement groove 51 capable of engaging with the projection 35 on the side is provided.

Now, at the free end of the metal lance 49,
As shown in FIG. 4, the bent piece 52 is provided so as to extend, and the bent piece 52 is formed by being bent inward, so that the bent portion 53 is connected to the outwardly projecting end of the metal lance 49. Have been. And this bending part 53
By being bent, the outer surface is formed in a so-called rounded R shape.

The bent piece 52 is bent substantially vertically downward, and the terminal body 31 is located at the lower position in the front-rear direction.
Is located immediately before the upper wall 31A. On the other hand, the bending piece 52
Of the terminal body 31 are disposed at substantially the same height as the upper wall 31A of the terminal body 31. That is, in the opening 50 formed in the cover 40 as a result of the metal lance 49 being cut and raised, the upper wall 31A of the terminal body 31 and the bent piece 52
And are provided close to each other so as to be substantially closed. Further, the front end of the upper wall 31A of the terminal body 31 is disposed immediately after the bent piece 52 of the metal lance 49, and the front portion thereof is opened. Enter the terminal fitting 30 without interfering with the upper wall 31A (see FIG. 7). In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, in the upper wall 31 </ b> A of the terminal main body 31, a region X from the front end surface to the rear end position of the opening 50 of the cover 40 is formed.
It corresponds to the closing part described in claim 2 of the claims.

Further, from both side surfaces of the bent piece 52, a pair of turned pieces 54 formed by being turned forward are provided (see FIG. 6). The opening 50 formed in the upper plate 44 is closed by the folded pieces 54 from both left and right sides. The outer surface of the bent portion formed at the rear end of the folded piece 54 is rounded.

This embodiment has the above-described structure, and its operation will be described below. As shown in FIG. 1, the rubber plug mounting portion 11 of the housing 10 is
After fitting, the terminal fitting 30 connected to the electric wire W is inserted into the insertion hole 21 of the rubber stopper 20 while the front cavity 1 is inserted.
Insert into 2. When the terminal fitting 30 is inserted halfway into the cavity 12, as shown in FIG.
Engages the guide surface 14 of the cavity 12 and is bent inward. When the terminal fitting 30 is inserted to the normal depth, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, the metal lance 49 reaches the locking groove 16 and returns elastically, and is locked to the rear surface of the locking groove 16. Then, the terminal fitting 30 is brought into the double locked state by the retainer.

On the other hand, when removing the terminal fitting 30 from the housing 10, the locking by the retainer is released, and a jig or the like is inserted from the front of the locking groove 16 to forcibly bend the metal lance 49. The terminal fitting 30 is pulled out by pulling the electric wire W drawn out from the rear end of the housing 10. When the pulled terminal fitting 30 passes through the guiding surface 14 of the cavity 12, the metal lance 49 returns from the bent state to the natural state, and as shown in FIG. The stopper 20 reaches the front end position.

Here, when the terminal fitting 30 is introduced into the insertion hole 21 of the rubber plug 20, the metal lance 49 is kept in the returned position, so that the protruding end is formed by the lip 22 of the rubber plug 20. You will hit the front. However, the edge of the metal lance 49 that abuts against the lip 22 is a bent portion 53 formed by bending the bent piece 52, and the outer surface thereof has a rounded shape. The protruding end is hard to pierce the rubber stopper 20. As the terminal fitting 30 is pulled, the metal lance 49 is gradually bent inward by the elasticity of the rubber plug 20 while pressing the front surface of the lip 22 as shown in FIG. Thus, the terminal fitting 3
After being introduced into the insertion hole 21, 0 is extracted to the outside of the housing 10. In this manner, by forming the outwardly projecting end of the metal lance 49 into a round shape, the terminal fitting 3 is formed.
0 can be smoothly extracted.

The opening 50 formed in the cover 40 by providing the metal lance 49 is formed as shown in FIG.
The bent portion 52 of the metal lance 49 and the upper wall 31 </ b> A of the terminal main body 31 disposed immediately adjacent to the front end thereof close the region behind the metal lance 49, and furthermore, the folded portion 54 is used to close both sides. Since it is closed from the side, it is possible to prevent foreign matter and the like from entering the terminal fitting 30 through the opening 50 as much as possible. Thereby, the elastic contact piece 3 which is a contact portion of the terminal fitting 30 with the counterpart terminal fitting 30 is provided.
6 can be prevented from being contaminated.

As described above, according to the present embodiment,
By bending the bent piece 52 provided at the free end of the metal lance 49 inward, the outwardly projecting end of the metal lance 49 can be rounded and formed. When removing the metal lance 4
9 can be prevented from sticking into the rubber stopper 20. Thus, the metal lance 49 can be prevented from being deformed by being turned up or the like when the terminal fitting 30 is pulled out, so that the operation of removing the terminal fitting 30 can be performed smoothly.

<Modification> On the other hand, a gel material made of silicon gel or the like may be used as the seal material instead of the rubber stopper described above. Even in such a case, when the terminal fitting is pulled out from the cavity, the metal lance in a natural state enters the gel material. At this time, although the outward protruding end of the metal lance is rounded, the gel material is a material softer than the rubber stopper, so that the gel material may be scraped off by the protruding end. However, as shown in FIG. 9 (see the structure other than the rubber stopper), the opening 50 of the terminal fitting 30 is
2 and the upper wall 31 </ b> A of the terminal main body 31 are arranged close to each other, so that the rear area of the metal lance 49 is closed, and furthermore, the folded pieces 54 are closed from both sides. Even if the material is scraped, it is possible to prevent the gel material from entering the terminal fitting 30. Thereby, the gel material is prevented from adhering to the elastic contact piece 36 in the terminal fitting 30, and good conduction with the counterpart terminal fitting can be achieved.

<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 two-piece type terminal fitting is configured by the cover and the terminal body. However, the one-piece type terminal fitting formed by bending a single metal plate. The present invention can of course be applied to

(2) In the above-described embodiment, the female terminal fitting is described. However, the present invention is also applicable to a male terminal fitting having a tab at the tip.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view of a terminal fitting and a housing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a terminal fitting.

FIG. 3 is a cutaway perspective view of a terminal fitting.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side sectional view of a terminal fitting.

FIG. 5 is a development view of a terminal body.

FIG. 6 is a development view of a cover.

FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway side view showing a state where the terminal fitting is being inserted into the cavity.

FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway side view showing a state where the terminal fitting is inserted to a regular depth.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged partial cutaway side view showing a state in which a protruding end of a metal lance abuts a front surface of a rubber stopper.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged partial cutaway side view showing a state in which a metal lance is bent inward.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Housing (connector housing) 12 ... Cavity 13 ... Wall part (side wall) 16 ... Locking groove (locking part) 20 ... Rubber stopper (sealant) 30 ... Terminal fitting 31 ... Terminal body 40 ... Cover 44 ... Upper plate (Side) 49 ... Metal lance 50 ... Opening (opening) 52 ... Bending piece (bending part) X ... Predetermined area of upper wall (closing part)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A terminal fitting used in a waterproof connector having a collective sealing material provided on a rear surface side of a connector housing having a cavity, wherein a side surface of the terminal fitting is arranged to penetrate the sealing material. A metal lance is provided so as to be able to bend and deform in an oblique posture with a rear end protruding outward, and this metal lance is elastically locked to a locking portion provided on a side wall of the cavity. A terminal fitting for a waterproof connector, wherein a protruding end of the metal lance is rounded and bent. 2. A terminal body connected to a mating terminal is provided with a tubular cover, and a side surface of the cover has
The metal lance is formed by cutting and raising while providing an opening, and the protruding end of the metal lance is bent toward the opening side, and the tip of the bent portion is arranged substantially flush with the side surface of the cover. In addition, the terminal body is provided with a closing portion that covers a region from the rear end of the opening to a position immediately after the front end of the bent portion of the metal lance along the side surface of the cover. The terminal fitting for a waterproof connector according to claim 1, wherein: