JP2002280133A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector with reduced frictional resistance of both terminal metal fittings which is suitable to a multi-electrode connector. SOLUTION: In a female housing 20, plural cavities 21 to contain a female metal fitting 30 are provided, and an installation hole 24 in which a pressure member 40 can be assembled is formed to traverse each cavity 21. As the pressure member 40 is assembled to a pressure position to the female housing 20, a counter-pressure part 36 protruded backward from an elastic contact piece 33 of the female terminal metal fitting 30 inserted into each cavity 21 is pressed by a pressure protrusion 43, so that the elastic contact piece 33 is elastically deformed into a noncontact attitude in which a contact part 34 stops interfering with a male terminal metal fitting 12. Both housings 10 and 20 are engaged with each other to let the male terminal metal fitting 12 pass the contact part 34, and a guide surface provided on a hood part 11 of the male housing 10 is engaged with a lower end part of the pressure member 40. As both housings 10 and 20 are regularly engaged with each other, the pressure member 40 is moved by the guide surface 14 to a release position where it is dissociated from the counter-pressure member 36, thereby the contact part 34 elastically gets in contact with the male terminal metal fitting 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a male and female housing is fitted together, a connector designed to reduce frictional resistance generated between terminal fittings housed in both housings has been proposed.
The one described in JP-A-117471 is known. As shown in FIG. 6, when a female housing 3 is fitted into a male housing 1 provided with a male tab 2, a lock arm 4 projecting from an upper surface of the female housing 3 is elastically deformed downward. At the same time, the pressing piece 5 protruding from the lower surface of the lock arm 4 presses the elastic contact piece 8 of the female terminal fitting 7 accommodated in the cavity 6 of the female housing 3 to elastically deform the elastic contact piece 8 downward. Let it. Thereafter, the two housings 1 and 3 are properly fitted, the lock arm 4 is elastically restored, and the elastic piece 8 that is restored by the pressing piece 5 being disengaged from the elastic contact piece 8 elastically contacts the male tab 2. As described above, the distance at which the two terminals 2 and 7 rub during the fitting process is short, and the frictional resistance is reduced, so that it is possible to contribute to the reduction of the fitting resistance between the two housings 1 and 3.

[0003]

In the above-described connector, the elastic piece 8 is bent in conjunction with the lock arm 4 by the pressing piece 5 provided on the lower surface of the lock arm 4. Can be used only for the female terminal fittings 7 disposed directly below. For example, arranging a plurality of female terminal fittings at positions protruding in the width direction from the lock arm,
Alternatively, in a connector in which female terminal fittings are stacked one above the other, it is necessary to provide pressing pieces corresponding to each female terminal fitting on the lock arm, but it was difficult to provide such pressing pieces. . That is, the type of connector to which the elastic contact piece is pressed using the lock arm is limited. The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and aims to reduce the frictional resistance of both terminal fittings, and particularly to provide a connector suitable for a multi-pole type connector. I do.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a male connector housing having a hood portion on which a female connector housing can be fitted. In the female connector housing, a female terminal fitting having an elastic contact piece elastically contactable with a male terminal fitting protruding in a hood portion of the male connector housing is housed. Is provided with a pressing portion capable of pressing the elastic contact piece, and until the fitting depth of both connector housings reaches a depth at which both terminal fittings can be connected, the elastic contact piece is pressed by the male member. It is elastically deformed to a position in which it cannot contact with the terminal fittings, and is kept at a pressing position where it protrudes from the female connector housing and can interfere with the hood portion. A configuration in which a pressing member that can be moved to a release position where the pressing of the elastic contact piece by the pressing portion is released by being pressed by the hood portion along with the standard fitting is assembled. It is characterized by

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the pressing member is provided with a locking portion which is locked to the female terminal fitting when it is arranged at the release position, so that the pressing member can be prevented from coming off. The feature is provided where is provided.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the pressing member does not interfere with the female terminal fitting with respect to the female connector housing, and the pressing member moves to the female connector housing. It is characterized in that it can be assembled at a non-interfering position allowing insertion and removal of the female terminal fitting.

[0007]

<Operation and effect of the invention><Invention of claim 1> The pressing portion of the pressing member set to the pressing position until the female connector housing is fitted into the hood portion and reaches a depth where both terminal fittings can be connected. Presses the elastic contact piece so that the elastic contact piece is kept in a non-contact position with the male terminal fitting. Then, as the two connector housings reach the regular fitting, the pressing member protruding from the female connector housing is pushed from the pressing position to the releasing position by the hood portion, and the pressing of the elastic contact piece by the pressing portion is released. Thereby, the elastic contact piece is elastically contacted with the male terminal fitting. Accordingly, the distance at which the two terminal fittings rub against each other at the time of fitting becomes shorter, so that the frictional resistance generated between the two terminal fittings can be reduced. The pressing member is moved by the hood portion of the male connector housing surrounding the female connector housing, and the lock arm is not interposed as in the conventional case, so that the connector can be used with a multi-pole type connector that accommodates a plurality of female terminal fittings. be able to.

<Invention of Claim 2> Since the pressing member also has the function of preventing the female terminal fitting from coming off, the structure of the connector can be simplified. <Invention of Claim 3> Before the female terminal fitting is accommodated in the female connector housing, the female connector housing and the pressing member can be integrally managed.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1, a connector shown in this embodiment includes a male connector housing 10 (hereinafter simply referred to as male housing 10) and a female connector housing 20 (hereinafter simply female housing 2) which can be fitted to each other.
A pressing member 40 capable of pressing the elastic contact piece 33 of the female terminal fitting 30 is attached to the female housing 20 side. In the following description, the fitting surfaces of the housings 10 and 20 will be described as front.

The male housing 10 has a substantially cylindrical hood 11 that opens forward, and a female housing 20 can be fitted into the hood 11 from the front. A plurality of tab-shaped male terminal fittings 12 are provided on the inner end surface (fitting surface) of the male housing 10. The two male terminal fittings 12 are arranged vertically above and below, and are arranged in a plurality of stages along a direction (not shown) perpendicular to the plane of the drawing.

The female housing 20 is provided with a plurality of cavities 21 into which the female terminal fittings 30 can be inserted from the rear so as to penetrate back and forth. The cavities 21 are provided at two positions above and below in the figure at positions corresponding to the male terminal fittings 12, and are provided in a plurality of stages along a direction (not shown) perpendicular to the plane of the drawing. The female terminal fitting 30 includes a front and rear connection part 31 having a substantially box shape penetrating back and forth, and a barrel part 32 connected by crimping to an end of the electric wire W.
Inside 1, a cantilever-shaped elastic contact piece 33 that is folded back from the front end of the bottom wall is provided. This elastic contact piece 33
Are elastically deformable along the vertical direction in the figure, and are elastically contacted with the male terminal fittings 12 inserted into the connecting portions 31 from the front. The elastic contact piece 33 includes
A contact portion 34 that comes into contact with the male terminal fitting 12 is formed by projecting upward, and the contact portion 34
3 is set at a position where it can interfere with the male terminal fitting 12 when in a natural state. A receiving portion 35 is formed on the ceiling surface in the connection portion 31 so as to protrude downward so as to face the contact portion 34. From the rear end of the elastic contact piece 33, a pressed portion 36 that can be pressed by a pressing member 40 described later is provided. The pressed portion 36 projects rearward of the connection portion 31 and is located immediately before the barrel portion 32. At the same time, it is formed so as to protrude upward in a stepped manner from the elastic contact piece 33. When the elastic contact piece 33 is in a natural state, the pressed portion 36 is in a posture substantially parallel to the bottom wall.

A cantilevered lance 22 is provided from the lower side in the figure of the cavity 21. This lance 22
Is pressed down by the female terminal fitting 30 inserted into the cavity 21 so that it is once elastically deformed downward,
When the female terminal fitting 30 reaches the normal depth, it resiliently returns and enters into the locking hole 37 formed in the bottom wall of the connecting portion 31 to be locked at the edge of the hole. A guide groove 23 is formed at both side edges of the lower surface of the cavity 21 so that a pair of stabilizers 38 projecting downward from both sides of the hole edge of the locking hole 37 in the female terminal fitting 30 can be inserted into the tip of the lance 22. It is formed to open backward from the position.

The female housing 20 has a mounting hole 24 for assembling the pressing member 40 from above in the drawing, penetrating in the vertical direction (the direction orthogonal to the insertion direction of the female terminal fitting 30) so as to cross each cavity 21. It is formed. A lock arm (not shown) protrudes from an outer surface of the female housing 20 on the near side of the paper surface of FIG. 1, and the lock arm is fitted with the housings 10 and 20 and is connected to the male housing 10. The two housings 1 are locked by a locking portion (not shown) formed in
0, 20 can be held in the fitted state.

The pressing member 40 is formed in a plate shape having a length greater in the vertical direction than the female housing 20 and, when assembled to the female housing 20, communicates with each cavity 21 (including the guide groove 23). Female terminal fitting 3
A plurality of insertion holes 41 through which 0 can be inserted penetrate back and forth. The female terminal fitting 30 is provided on the upper surface side of each insertion hole 41.
An engaging portion 42 that can be engaged with a jaw portion 39 formed at a rear end of the connecting portion 31 is provided. This locking part 42
A pressing protrusion 43 facing the pressed portion 36 of the elastic contact piece 33 of the female terminal fitting 30 housed in the cavity 21 is provided at the rear portion so as to protrude downward. As shown in FIG. 2B, the pressing protrusion 43 is disposed at the center in the width direction on the lower surface of the locking portion 42 and has a width substantially equal to the width of the elastic contact piece 33. The pressed portion 36 can be pressed.

As shown in FIG. 2C, an end of the pressing member 40 on the near side (rear side) of the paper surface of FIG.
Each holding recess 25, 26, which is formed in the female housing 20 so as to communicate with the mounting hole 24 and open forward and backward.
Three holding projections 44, 45, 46 that can enter the inside of the projection 27 are provided to protrude forward and backward. Specifically, the pressing member 4
The first holding projection 44 projects from the lower end of the rear surface at 0, and the third holding projection 46 projects rearward from the upper end of the rear surface, and the second holding projection extends from a position slightly below the third holding projection 46 on the front surface. 45 protrudes forward. On the other hand, on the rear side of the mounting hole 24 in the female housing 20, a first holding recess 25 having a relatively small vertical width and a third holding recess 27 having a large vertical width are provided in order from the bottom. On the front side, a second holding recess 26 whose upper surface position is lower than the third holding recess 27 is provided. Then, the respective holding projections 44, 45, 46 are hooked on the outer surface of the female housing 20 or the edges of the holding recesses 25, 26, 27, so that
The pressing member 40 can be held at the three positions of the non-interference position, the release position, and the pressing position with respect to the female housing 20 in order from the top.

In the non-interference position, the first holding projection 44 is
The second holding projection 4 is caught on the upper surface of the holding recess 25.
When the hook 5 is hooked on the upper surface of the female housing 20, the pressing member 40 is held with the upper end protruding upward from the upper surface of the female housing 20 and the lower surface thereof being retracted from the lower surface of the female housing 20. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2A, each insertion hole 41 is aligned with each cavity 21, and both the locking portion 42 and the pressing projection 43 are in the cavity 21.
The female terminal fitting 30 is allowed to be inserted into and removed from the cavity 21 by being disposed at a position retracted upward from.

In the release position, as shown in FIG.
The first holding protrusion 44 is hooked on the lower surface of the first holding recess 25, the second holding protrusion 45 is hooked on the upper surface of the second holding recess 26, and the third holding protrusion 46 is hooked on the upper surface of the female housing 20. The lower surface of the pressing member 40 is flush with the lower surface of the female housing 20, and the pressing member 40 is held with its upper end protruding upward from the upper surface of the female housing 20. At this time, as shown in FIG. 5 (A), although the pressing projection 43 enters the cavity 21, the elastic contact piece 3
3 is disposed at a position disengaged from the pressed portion 36, and the locking portion 42 enters the cavity 21 and the jaw 3
9 locked. At this time, the elastic contact piece 33 has a contact posture (see FIG. 5A) in which the contact portion 34 is elastically deformed by contact with the male terminal fitting 12, and the pressed portion 36 is free from the elastic contact piece 33. It is arranged at a lower position than in the state (see FIG. 2A).

At the pressing position, as shown in FIG.
The first holding protrusion 44 is hooked on the lower surface of the female housing 20, the second holding protrusion 45 is hooked on the lower surface of the second holding recess 26, and the third holding protrusion 46 is hooked on the upper surface of the third holding recess 27. The upper surface of the pressing member 40 is flush with the upper surface of the female housing 20, and the pressing member 40 is held with its lower end protruding downward from the lower surface of the female housing 20. At this time, the pressing protrusion 43 enters into the cavity 21 and presses the pressed portion 36 of the elastic contact piece 33 downward, so that the contact portion 34 of the elastic contact piece 33 has the male terminal fitting 1.
2 and is elastically deformed to a non-contact position in which it cannot interfere with the second terminal 2, and the locking portion 42 enters the cavity 21 and is locked to the jaw 39 of the female terminal fitting 30. In addition,
The amount of movement of the pressing member 40 from the pressed position to the release position is set to be larger than the amount of displacement of the pressed portion 36 when the elastic contact piece 33 is displaced from the non-contact posture to the contact posture.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the inner surface of the hood portion 11 of the male housing 10 facing the lower end of the pressing member 40 positioned at the pressing position and projecting from the lower surface of the female housing 20, When the female housing 20 is fitted into the hood 11, an insertion groove 13 is formed over a predetermined depth so that the lower end of the pressing member 40 can be inserted. A tapered guide surface 14 is formed on the rear end surface of the insertion groove 13 so as to engage with the lower end of the pressing member 40 and to push the pressing member 40 upward along with the forward movement of the female housing 20. ing. The lower end of the pressing member 40 is an engaged portion 47 that can be engaged with the guide surface 14. The position of the guide surface 14 in the front-rear direction is such that the fitting operation of the two housings 10 and 20 is at the final stage, and the male terminal fitting 12 is provided.
After passing through the contact portion 34 of the elastic contact piece 33 in the non-contact posture, the guide surface 14 is engaged with the engaged portion 47 (see FIG. 4). Further, the front end corner of the engaged portion 47 is chamfered so that the guiding operation by the guiding surface 14 is performed smoothly. On the inner surface of the hood portion 11 opposite to the insertion groove 13, a relief groove 15 for opening an upper end portion protruding from the female housing 20 as the pressing member 40 moves to the release position is provided to open forward. (See FIG. 5A).

This embodiment has the above-described structure, and its operation will be described below. First, as shown in FIG. 1, the pressing member 40 is assembled into the mounting hole 24 from above the female housing 20 at a non-interfering position. Thereafter, the female terminal fitting 30 is inserted into each cavity 21 from the rear of the female housing 20.
When the female terminal fitting 30 is inserted, the insertion operation is smoothly guided by the stabilizer 38 entering the guide groove 23, and after passing through the insertion hole 41 of the pressing member 40,
The lance 22 is pressed downward to elastically deform it. When the female terminal fitting 30 is inserted to the normal depth, the female terminal fitting 30 shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG.
The female terminal fitting 30 is primarily locked by entering into the inside and being locked to the front edge of the hole. At this time, the pressed portion 36 of the elastic contact piece 33 is pressed by the pressing protrusion 4 of the pressing member 40.
Placed facing 3 The upper end of the pressing member 40 projecting upward from the female housing 20 is connected to the male housing 10.
Can be abutted against the front end face of the hood 11.

All the female terminal fittings 30 are connected to the female housing 20.
After being housed inside, the pressing member 40 at the non-interfering position is pushed downward, and passes through the release position, so that the upper surface of the pressing member 40 is flush with the upper surface of the female housing 20 as shown in FIG. Move to the pressed position. Accordingly, the pressing projection 43 enters the cavity 21 and the elastic contact piece 3
By pressing the third pressed portion 36 downward, the elastic contact piece 33 is elastically deformed to a non-contact posture in which the contact portion 34 cannot interfere with the male terminal fitting 12. At this time, the female terminal fitting 30 is secondarily locked by locking the upper part of the locking portion 42 to the jaw 39 of the female terminal fitting 30. Further, the engaged portion 47 protrudes downward from the lower surface of the female housing 20, and the hood portion 1
It is arranged at a position where it can interfere with one guide surface 14.

Thereafter, the hood 11 of the male housing 10
The female housing 20 is fitted into the inside from the front. As the female housing 20 is fitted, the engaged portion 47 of the pressing member 40 enters the insertion groove 13, and the male terminal fitting 12 is inserted into the cavity 21 from the front and the female terminal fitting is inserted. 30 into the connecting part 31. At this time, since the elastic contact piece 33 is kept in the non-contact position by the pressing member 40, even if the male terminal fitting 12 is inserted to a depth reaching the contact portion 34, as shown in FIG.
And the contact portion 34 are prevented from rubbing each other.

After the fitting of the two housings 10 and 20 is finished, the pressing member 40 that has entered the insertion groove 13 after the male terminal fitting 12 has passed through the contact portion 34 is guided by the engaged portion 47 thereof. It is engaged with the surface 14, and is further guided by the guide surface 14 and pushed upward (to the release position) as the fitting progresses. As shown in FIG. 5A, as the housings 10 and 20 are fitted to the normal depth, the pressing member 40 is moved to the release position, so that the pressing protrusion 43 with respect to the pressed portion 36 is pressed. Is released, the elastic contact piece 33 returns from the non-contact position to the contact position, and the contact portion 34 elastically contacts the male terminal fitting 12. At this time, the upper end of the pressing member 40 protrudes above the female housing 20 and enters the escape groove 15 on the male housing 10 side, and the front end face of the escape groove 15 approaches or comes into contact with the rear end face. Further, since the lower portion of the locking portion 42 is locked to the jaw 39 of the female terminal fitting 30, the secondary locking state of the female terminal fitting 30 is maintained. As described above, when the two housings 10 and 20 are fitted together, the distance at which the two terminal fittings 12 and 30 rub against each other is shortened, so that the frictional resistance generated between the two terminal fittings 12 and 30 can be reduced. As a result, the fitting force between the housings 10 and 20 can be reduced.

According to the present embodiment as described above,
The pressing member 40 for pressing the elastic contact piece 33 to the non-contact position is pushed by the hood portion 11 from the pressing position to the releasing position, and a plurality of female terminal fittings 30 are accommodated because the lock arm is not interposed as in the related art. The multi-pole type connector can be easily adapted regardless of the position of the lock arm. Further, the pressing member 4
0 functions not only to press and release the elastic contact piece 33 but also to prevent the female terminal fitting 30 from coming off. Therefore, the structure of the connector is smaller than when the members dedicated to each function are provided. Can be simplified. Moreover,
Since the pressing member 40 is assembled to the female housing 20 at a non-interfering position, the female housing 20 and the pressing member 40 are integrally managed at a stage before the female terminal fitting 30 is accommodated in the female housing 20. Can make product management easier.

<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 case where the pressing member has the function of preventing the female terminal fitting from coming off has been described.
A retainer dedicated to retaining the female terminal fitting may be provided separately from the pressing member. (2) In the above-described embodiment, the case where the elastic displacement direction of the elastic contact piece and the direction in which the pressing member moves from the pressing position to the release position is parallel is shown. Included in the invention.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2A is a sectional view showing a state in which a female terminal fitting is housed in a female housing. FIG. 2B is an enlarged view of a section taken along line XX of FIG. 2A. FIG. 2C is a female holding a pressing member at a non-interfering position. Sectional view showing the housing

3A is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the pressing member is moved to the pressing position. FIG. 3B is an enlarged view of a cross section taken along line XX of FIG. 3A. FIG. 3C is a female housing holding the pressing member at the pressing position. Cross section shown

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a state in which both housings are being fitted;

5A is a cross-sectional view showing a state where both housings are properly fitted. FIG. 5B is an enlarged view of a cross section taken along line XX of FIG. 5A. FIG. 5C is a female housing holding a pressing member at a release position. Cross section shown

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Male housing 11 ... Hood part 12 ... Male terminal fitting 20 ... Female housing 30 ... Female terminal fitting 33 ... Elastic contact piece 40 ... Pressing member 42 ... Locking part 43 ... Pressing protrusion (pressing part)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A male connector housing is provided with a hood portion to which a female connector housing can be fitted inside, and the female connector housing is provided with a male terminal fitting protruded into the hood portion of the male connector housing. A female terminal fitting having an elastic contact piece elastically contactable with the female connector housing is accommodated, wherein the female connector housing has a pressing portion capable of pressing the elastic contact piece, and is fitted with both connector housings. Until the depth reaches the depth at which both terminal fittings can be connected, the pressing portion elastically deforms the elastic contact piece into a position where it cannot contact the male terminal fitting, and protrudes from the female connector housing to form the hood. The connector housing is held at a pressing position capable of interfering with the connector portion. Connector, wherein a pressing member which is movable in the release position for releasing the pressing to the elastic contact piece is assembled by parts. 2. The locking member according to claim 1, wherein the pressing member is provided with a locking portion which is locked to the female terminal fitting when the pressing member is arranged at the release position and which can be prevented from falling off. Connectors. 3. The female connector housing is configured such that the pressing member does not interfere with the female terminal fitting and can be assembled at a non-interfering position allowing insertion and removal of the female terminal fitting into and from the female connector housing. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein
Or the connector according to claim 2.