JP2002202338A - Connector inspection unit and connector inspecting device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simultaneously perform the continuity inspection and curvature detection and inspection of a connector with simple and inexpensive constitution. SOLUTION: A slider 25 of an inspection unit is provided with an opening part 25c. This opening part 25c allows only a conforming make terminal T to come into contact with a detecting element 22. This opening part 25c enables the slider 25 to function as a gauge which detect not only a defect of a lance 2b of the connector, but also the deformation of the male terminal T.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector inspection unit for inspecting the insertion state of a terminal of a connector and a connector inspection apparatus using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a wiring harness used for wiring electrical components in an automobile, a connector is used for connection between the wiring harnesses and connection between the wiring harness and the electrical components. This connector generally has a connector housing made of a synthetic resin material, and a female terminal or a male terminal accommodated in a terminal accommodating chamber formed in the connector housing. The terminals are prevented from falling out of the connector housing by a so-called housing lance method. Further, by fitting the respective housings of the female connector and the male connector, the male and female terminals to be interconnected are aligned, and the mutual electrical connection is achieved.

When the connector is used in a wire harness, if a terminal of the connector is deformed, there is a possibility that conduction failure may occur when the male and female connectors are connected, and an electrical component of an automobile may malfunction. Therefore,
Deformation of the terminals is not allowed and needs to be inspected at the production stage together with the continuity inspection of the wire harness.

On the other hand, if the terminal and the lance are not properly fitted, the terminal may fall out of the housing. Therefore, it is necessary to strictly inspect the terminal.

As a continuity inspection device capable of simultaneously detecting the deformation of the terminal and the improper fitting of the lance, one disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-226277 is known.

The continuity inspection device disclosed in the above publication has an inspection section for inspecting a connector to be inspected, and a holder for holding the connector in a state that can be relatively moved toward and away from the inspection section. The inspection section is provided with a contact facing the connector carried by the holder. The contact is individually electrically connected to a projection for lance inspection that fits into the bending space of the locking lance of the connector, and an upper detection piece and a lower detection piece that detect vertical bending of the male terminal housed in the connector. It is provided in a state of being electrically insulated. Then, when the holder and the inspection section are brought close to each other and the contact is brought into contact with the male terminal of the connector, it is electrically detected whether or not the male terminal to be inspected contacts the upper and lower detection pieces. Thus, at the same time as the continuity test of the connector, the bending test of the male terminal housed in the connector is performed.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional device, since the upper and lower detecting pieces for electrically detecting the bent male terminal are provided, the circuit configuration becomes complicated, and the circuit becomes very complicated. It was expensive.

In addition, since it is necessary to electrically insulate the upper and lower detecting pieces individually, there is a problem that the whole structure is easily bulky and cannot be applied to a small connector.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a connector inspection unit and a connector inspection apparatus using the same, which can simultaneously perform a continuity inspection and a bending detection inspection of a connector with a simple and inexpensive configuration. The task is to provide.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is provided for inspecting a connector in which a male terminal is locked to a housing by a lance, and is electrically connected to the male terminal of the connector. And a lance inspection unit that can be brought into contact with a lance that has protruded from the main body unit toward the connector side and that has a poor fitting in the housing. A slider and elastic holding means for elastically moving the slider in and out of the connector in a direction opposite to the connector, wherein the detector and the lance inspection section of the slider are relatively close to the connector, and are respectively predetermined. In the connector inspection unit for inspecting the connector at the inspection position, an opening for allowing only a good male terminal to come into contact with the detector is formed in the main body of the slider. A connector testing unit, characterized in that formed on.

In another aspect of the present invention, the connector inspection unit, a connector receiving portion for holding a connector to be inspected by the inspection unit in an inspectable manner, and the connector receiving portion and the connector inspection unit being relatively located. A connector inspection device comprising: means for relatively displacing and displacing the detached state and the inspection state in which the connector receiving section and the inspection section come close to each other.

In the present invention, when the connector to be inspected is brought close to the block body, the lance inspection member of the slider is introduced into the housing with the elastic holding means elastically bringing the slider close to the connector. Along with
The detector and the male terminal are close to each other.

If the connector is a non-defective connector, the lance inspection member is introduced to a predetermined inspection position in the housing without abutting on the lance, and the male terminal is provided with an opening formed in the slider. Then, it is electrically connected to the detector and a continuity test is performed. On the other hand, if the male terminal is bent, the male terminal cannot pass through the opening and comes into contact with the slider, so that the detector corresponding to the male terminal and the male terminal are electrically connected. It will not be connected. Therefore, by detecting this state, the continuity inspection device can determine the terminal failure. Further, since the opening is formed in the slider, when the connector and the block body come close to the inspection position, the entire slider is displaced in a direction away from the connector against the urging member, so that excessive The load does not act on the male terminals.

As described above, according to the present invention, by providing the opening for the lance inspection slider, this slider can function as a gauge for detecting the deformation of the male terminal.

In the present invention, "non-defective" means that the dimensional standard, assembly standard, and shape standard set at the time of design are maintained.

As a specific example of the embodiment, the dimensions of each part of the housing and the male terminal maintain the dimensional tolerance at the time of design, and the assembling of the housing and the male terminal is performed in an assembled state intended at the time of design. The lance formed in the housing is fitted to the male terminal, and the tab connected to the female terminal in a state where the male terminal can be connected to the female terminal on the other side is parallel to the axial direction. Refers to the state of being extended.

The "body (slider) integrated with the detector" does not necessarily mean that the detector and the body are formed by the same member, but are formed by separate members. The concept includes a case where the detected detector and the main body are physically and integrally fixed by some fixing means (for example, press-fitting).

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a connector inspection apparatus 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the illustrated connector inspection apparatus 10 includes a male terminal T connected to a terminal wire W of a wire harness WH, and a housing 2 for accommodating the male terminal T. As shown in FIG. 3 and subsequent figures, the housing 2 has a cavity 2a for accommodating the male terminal T, a lance 2b for locking the male terminal T accommodated in the cavity 2a, and a bending space 2c of the lance 2b. Are formed.

The male terminal T has a tab T1 for connection with a mating female terminal (not shown). As shown in FIG. 3, when the male terminal T maintains a design allowable standard, the tab T1 maintains the dimensional tolerance at the time of designing and the female terminal T And extend in parallel with the axial direction of the connector and can be connected to a female terminal on the other side.

If the connector 1 is good, the male terminal T enters the cavity 2a formed in the housing 2 and the lance 2b is locked in the male terminal T as shown in FIG. Thereby, it is in a state of being retracted from the bending space 2c.

The connector inspection apparatus 10 for inspecting the connector 1 includes a connector receiving portion 12 for holding and positioning the housing 2 of the connector 1 on one end side of a metal base 11 formed in a substantially rectangular shape in plan view. And the inspection unit 20 is disposed at the other end side so as to be relatively displaceable with respect to the connector receiving portion 12.

The connector receiving portion 12 has a concave portion 12 into which the housing 2 of the connector 1 shown in FIG.
a, so that the housing 2 of the connector 1 to be inspected can be held in the recess 12a so as to be inspectable.

The inspection unit 20 has a block 21 for carrying a member to be described later. The block body 21
A coil spring (not shown) is guided by a rail (not shown) provided on the base 11 so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction of the base 11 and disposed between the connector 11 and the connector receiving portion 12. By the toggle lever 1
It is biased toward 6.

The toggle lever 16 is provided at the other end of the base 11 so as to be cantilevered and rotatable.
It is connected to both side parts of the inspection unit 20 via a pair of connection arms 17 attached in the middle.
By rotating this toggle lever 16,
The continuity test can be performed by displacing the inspection unit 20 between the inspection state and the separated state, similarly to a known device.

Next, the inspection unit 20 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a main part of the connector inspection unit 20 according to the embodiment of FIG. 1, and FIGS.
3 is a schematic plan view showing the operation of the connector inspection unit 20 according to the embodiment of FIG.

Referring to these drawings and FIG. 1, the inspection unit 20 includes a plurality of blocks 21 fixed to the block 21 in accordance with the number of poles of the housing 2 to be inspected. (An example of a detector) and a connection pin 24 provided for each probe pin 22 and connected to the lead wire 23 in a state where the probe pin 22 can be elastically moved forward and backward.

The block body 21 is a resin molded product formed in a substantially box shape and has a substantially rectangular accommodating concave portion 21a defined on a front end surface thereof. A large number of probe pins 22 are accommodated in the accommodating concave portion 21a. ing.

As best shown in FIG. 2, each probe pin 2
Reference numeral 2 denotes a rod portion 22a which is slidable in the axial direction by the block body 21, and a connecting pin 24 projecting from a rear end portion (an end portion opposite to the connector 1) of the rod portion 22a. A connecting portion 22b to be connected, and a contact portion 22 having a part protruding from a front end (an end facing the connector 1).
c.

On the other hand, the connecting pin 24 comprises a sleeve 24a fixed to the block 21 and a sleeve 2a.
Connection part 22 of the above-mentioned probe pin 22 introduced into 4a
and a connecting portion 2 of the probe pin 22 via the above-mentioned sleeve 24a and a spring 24b which elastically urges the connector 1 side.
2b has a connection portion 24c for electrically connecting the lead wire 23 to the lead wire 23, and elastically urges the probe pin 22 and a slider 25 described later assembled to the contact portion 22c of the probe pin 22 toward the connector 1. are doing. The spring 24b of the connecting pin 24 constitutes elastic holding means for elastically moving the slider 25 in the direction facing the connector 1.

The specific structure of the probe pins 22 and the connecting pins 24 and the structure of assembling the pins 22 and 24 to the block body 21 are described in the connector inspection apparatus disclosed earlier by the present applicant. This is substantially the same as that described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-31570, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Next, as shown in FIG.
A main body 25a formed in a rectangular shape;
This is a resin product integrally having a projection 25b as a lance inspection member protruding from a.

The main body 25a is assembled to a contact portion 22c of, for example, two probe pins 22, and is integrated with the contact portion 22c by fitting the contact portion 22c into a mounting hole 25d. It is configured to be able to advance and retreat in the direction facing the connector 1 integrally with the portion 22c.

On the other hand, the projection 25b is provided for each probe pin 22 to which the main body 25a is assembled.
As shown in FIG. 3, each projection 25b abuts on the lance 2b only when the lance 2b formed on the connector 1 has a locking failure by entering into the bending space 2c of the connector 1. The outer shape and the size are set to be possible, and the protrusion 25b is configured to be able to detect the locking failure of the lance similarly to the prior art.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, a slit 25c is formed in the main body 25a of the slider 25 as an opening for partially releasing the end face of the contact portion 22c of the probe pin 22. I have. This slit 25c
In the connector inspection, only the non-defective male terminal T is set to have an opening dimension necessary and sufficient to allow the contact with the contact portion 22c. By providing the slit 25c, the slider 25 can move the male terminal T Will play the role of a gauge for detecting the deformation of. The opening is embodied in various shapes (for example, holes) according to the shape of the male terminal T, in addition to the slit 25c illustrated in the drawing.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.

First, referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, in the above configuration, in the free state, the probe pin 22 and the slider 25 are elastically biased toward the connector 1 by the spring 24b of the connecting pin 24. Have been. In this state,
The connector 1 is mounted on the connector receiving portion 12 as in the prior art, and then the toggle lever 16 is operated to operate the inspection unit 2.
By bringing the “0” close to the held connector 1, the connector 1 is inspected.

Referring to FIG. 3, when the connector 1 to be inspected is a non-defective product, the male terminal T housed therein has:
As shown in FIG. 3, as a result of the lances 2b having entered normally, the lances 2b do not protrude into the bending space 2c. Therefore, the projection 25b formed integrally with the slider 25 enters the inside of the connector 1 without contacting the lance 2b, and the slider 25 is moved by the urging force of the coil spring 24b in the connecting pin 24. Contact portion 22c is extended to a position where it can contact the male terminal T. Thereby, the male terminal T
Is electrically connected to the contact portion 22c of the probe pin 22, so that a continuity test can be performed, and the locked state of the lance 2b is also determined to be normal.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, when one of the lances 2b has a locking failure, the lance 2b
It protrudes into the bending space 2c of the housing 2. Therefore, in the process of bringing the block body 21 of the inspection unit 20 and the connector 1 close to each other, the lance 2 where the projection 25b has a locking failure
b, in the deflection space 2c, when the block body 21 and the connector 1 are brought close to the inspection position, the spring 24b of the connecting pin 24 is bent and the slider 25 is displaced relatively to the block body 21 and the probe The pin 22 does not contact the male terminal T. As a result, the continuity test cannot be performed, so that the inspection operator can detect a lance defect by first checking the lance for abnormalities.

Next, referring to FIG. 5, when any of the male terminals T is deformed beyond the allowable range, the male terminal T is connected to the block 21 of the inspection unit 20 and the connector 1. In the process of bringing the
Will be in contact with. Therefore, when the block body 21 and the connector 1 are brought close to the inspection position, the spring 24b of the connecting pin 24 is bent and the slider 25 is relatively displaced with respect to the block body 21 and the probe pin 22 becomes male. The contact with the terminal T is lost. As a result, the continuity test cannot be performed. Therefore, the inspection operator firstly checks the lance for abnormalities, and then inspects the male terminal T to detect the deformation of the male terminal T.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the slit 2 as an opening is formed in the lance inspection slider 25.
5c, the slider 25 is connected to the male terminal T.
Of the male terminal T can be detected with a very simple and inexpensive configuration. In addition, since it is not necessary to provide a special insulating structure for the probe pins 22, the probe pins 22 can be miniaturized as much as possible, and can be easily applied to small connectors.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, there is a remarkable effect that the continuity inspection and the bending detection inspection of the connector 1 can be simultaneously performed with a simple and inexpensive configuration.

The embodiments described above are merely examples of preferred specific examples of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, the probe pin 22 described above is a compression coil spring 24 of the connection pin 24 itself.
It may have a coil spring separately from d,
The compression coil spring 24d may also serve as a buffer at the time of contact with the male terminal T.

It goes without saying that various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims of the present invention.

[0047]

As described above, according to the present invention, by providing an opening in a lance inspection slider, the slider can function as a gauge for detecting the deformation of the male terminal. The bending of the male terminal can be detected with an inexpensive configuration. In addition, since it is not necessary to provide a special insulating structure for the detector, the detector can be miniaturized as much as possible and can be easily applied to a small connector.

Therefore, according to the present invention, there is a remarkable effect that the continuity inspection and the bending detection inspection of the connector can be simultaneously performed with a simple and inexpensive configuration.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a connector inspection device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a main part of the connector inspection unit according to the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view showing the operation of the connector inspection unit according to the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing the operation of the connector inspection unit according to the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view showing the operation of the connector inspection unit according to the embodiment of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Connector 2 Housing 2a Cavity 2b Lance 10 Connector inspection device 12 Connector receiving unit 20 Connector inspection unit 21 Block body 22 Probe pin 23 Lead wire 24 Connection pin (an example of elastic means) 25 Slider 25a Main body 25b Projection 25c Slit (opening) Example) T male terminal

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A detector provided for inspecting a connector in which a male terminal is locked to a housing by a lance, and a detector electrically connected to the male terminal of the connector, and a main body integrated with the detector. And a slider having a lance inspection portion which is integrally protruded from the main body portion to the connector side and can contact a lance which has failed to fit in the housing, and the slider is elastically moved back and forth in a direction facing the connector. Elastic holding means for causing the detector and the lance inspection part of the slider to be relatively close to the connector,
In a connector inspection unit for inspecting the connector at a predetermined inspection position, an opening is formed in the main body of the slider, which allows only a good male terminal to contact the detector. Connector inspection unit. 2. A connector inspection unit according to claim 1, a block body for carrying the inspection unit, and a connector arranged to face the block body and to hold a connector to be inspected by the inspection unit in an inspectable manner. Means for relatively displacing the connector receiving portion and the connector inspection unit relative to each other between a separated state in which the connector receiving portion and the connector inspection unit are relatively separated from each other and an inspection state in which the connector receiving portion and the inspection portion are close to each other; A connector inspection device comprising: