JP2002352891A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To miniaturize a connector. SOLUTION: A bottom wall 21 below a deflection side of a rance 15 in an outer wall of a connector housing 1 is formed so as to be separated from the connector housing 10 body and it is constituted so that it can be positioned in a deflection deformation zone G formed below the rance 15 at its installation. Accordingly, the bottom wall 21 can be installed in the deflection deformation zone G after a terminal metal fitting 13 is inserted into a cavity 14. This allows the deflection deformation zone G to be miniaturized by a dimension of a longitudinal direction in the connector housing 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector in which a terminal fitting is locked by a lance in a connector housing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 7, a terminal fitting (not shown) accommodated in a cavity 4 by inserting a retainer 3 into a retainer mounting hole 2 provided on a side surface of a connector housing 1. Is known.

[0003] A plurality of cavities 4 for accommodating terminal fittings are formed in the connector housing 1. In the cavity 4, a lance 5 formed in a cantilever shape is provided along the inner wall thereof. The lance 5 bends in a process in which the terminal fitting is inserted from the opening 6 behind the cavity, and is brought into a regular accommodation position. When it reaches, it elastically returns and engages with the terminal fitting to prevent it from falling off. A connector similar to this configuration includes a connector described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-127076.

[0004]

In the connector housing 1 having the above-described structure, the lance 5 tends to bend in a direction intersecting the insertion direction during the terminal fitting insertion process. To allow this, a space 7 (hereinafter referred to as a bending deformation region) is required on the bending side of the lance 5. Lance 5
In the bending direction of the connector housing 1, that is, in the vertical direction of the connector housing 1, the size in the vertical direction is increased by the amount that the bending allowable space 7 must be secured, and it is difficult to reduce the size in that direction.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a connector that can be downsized in the vertical direction.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a terminal fitting is inserted into a cavity in a connector housing, and the terminal fitting is engaged by a lance which can be bent and deformed. In the connector configured to be stopped, a side wall on the bending side of the lance of the outer wall of the connector housing is formed so as to be separable from the connector housing body, and the side wall is located within the bending deformation region of the lance with respect to the connector housing body. It is characterized in that it can be mounted so as to be positioned.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the side wall is temporarily locked at a position deviated from the bending deformation region of the lance, and is permanently locked at a position within the bending deformation region of the lance. It is characterized in that it can be moved between positions.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, a retainer is mounted on the connector housing body for assembling a retainer that projects into the cavity from the side and engages with the terminal fitting. Holes are provided,
The retainer is movable between a temporary locking position allowing insertion and removal of the terminal fitting into the cavity and a full locking position locking the terminal fitting, and the side wall of the lance on the bending side is bent. It is characterized in that it is integrally formed with the retainer.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the terminal fitting is inserted into the cavity with the side wall on the bending side of the lance being separated from the outer wall of the connector housing. At this time, since the bending side of the lance is open, the lance bends and deforms without being interfered by the side wall. Thereafter, when the terminal fitting reaches the normal position, the lance elastically returns and locks the terminal fitting. After the terminal fitting is inserted in this way,
The side wall is mounted on a connector housing. The bending deformation area required in the terminal fitting insertion process may not be provided in the connector housing in which the terminal fitting is already inserted, so that the side wall can be mounted in the bending deformation area. Thereby, in the connector housing,
The size can be reduced by the length of the bending deformation area in the vertical direction.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the operation of inserting the terminal fitting, if the side wall is first mounted at a temporary locking position outside the bending deformation area of the lance of the connector housing, The terminal fitting can be inserted in this state, and after the insertion, the final locking is completed only by pushing the side wall into the connector housing, so that the operation is simple.

According to the third aspect of the invention, when the terminal fitting is inserted while the retainer is inserted to the temporary locking position of the connector housing, the lance is primarily locked by elastic return of the lance. Thereafter, when the retainer is pushed to the final locking position, the terminal engaging portion projecting from the terminal fitting projects into the cavity and engages with the locking piece of the terminal fitting to be secondarily locked. In addition, since the side wall is formed integrally with the retainer, it is not necessary to provide the side wall portion as a new assembly part, so that the number of parts can be reduced.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

In this embodiment, the connector housing 1
0 shows a connector into which the retainer 11 is inserted from the side of 0.

The connector housing 10 is formed of a synthetic resin material into a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and is formed so as to be able to be fitted with a mating connector housing (not shown). Inside the connector housing 10, cavities 14 for accommodating the terminal fittings 13 are provided in two rows vertically and five rows in the width direction. In each cavity 14, a cantilevered lance 15 is formed so as to protrude with its front end as a free end, and a space G (hereinafter referred to as a bending deformation region) that allows bending is formed below a bending side thereof. These lances 15 are used to hold the terminal fitting 1 inserted through the opening 16 behind the cavity 14.
3. After the terminal fitting 13 is once elastically deformed downward,
When it has reached the proper accommodation position, it returns elastically and locks the terminal fitting 13. And the connector housing 10
In the lower side wall of the outer wall, an opening 19 is formed by opening a lower portion of the lance 15 except for a rear portion (right side in the drawing).

The vertically adjacent cavities 14 are separated from each other by a boundary wall 20. This boundary wall 20
A retainer mounting hole 16 communicating with the cavity 14 is provided near the center of the retainer mounting hole 16.
On both left and right ends, two locking projections 18 for locking a retainer 11 described later are formed vertically separated from each other (see FIG. 1). The lower one of the locking projections 18 is located on the rear surface of the retainer mounting hole 16, and the upper one is located on the front surface of the retainer mounting hole 16.

The retainer 11 is formed of a synthetic resin material, and is formed so as to be fitted into the retainer mounting hole 16.
The connector housing 10 has a bottom wall 21 corresponding to the opening 19. On the bottom wall 21, partition walls 22 stand up at the same pitch as the space between the cavities 14 adjacent to the left and right sides of the connector housing 10 in the width direction.
When the retainer 11 is mounted on the connector housing 10, the retainer 11 is formed at a position where the retainer 11 is aligned with the partition 23 that partitions the left and right cavities 14 of the connector housing 10.

At the upper end and the base end of each partition wall 22, a terminal engaging portion 24 is provided, which protrudes toward each opposing partition wall 22.
And the ridge is formed continuously. When the retainer 11 is inserted into the retainer mounting hole 16 and is mounted at the final locking position shown in FIG. 6, the front end of the terminal engaging portion 24 is disposed immediately after the front edge of the retainer mounting hole 16. It is formed so as to protrude into the cavity 14 so as to be locked to the locking piece 25 of the terminal fitting 13 housed in the cavity 14.

A pair of front and rear flexible holding arms 26 are respectively provided on the left and right partition walls 22 so as to protrude upward.
The holding projections 27 that can be locked to the projections 7 project in directions such that they are separated from each other back and forth.

This embodiment has the above-described structure, and its operation will be described below. In order to manufacture the connector having the above-described configuration, the terminal fitting 1 is provided in the cavity 14.
Before inserting the connector 3, the retainer 11 is assembled in advance from the opening 19 side of the connector housing 10 so that the connector housing 10 and the retainer 11 are integrated at a temporary locking position as shown in FIG. Specifically, when the holding arm 26 and the partition wall 22 of the retainer 11 are inserted into the retainer mounting hole 16 of the connector housing 10, the holding projection 27 of the rear holding arm 26R is elastically deformed. It is locked over the locking projection 18 of the rear locking wall 17R. At this time, the lance 15 and the retainer 11
Is in a state where the bending deformation region G is secured between the bottom wall 21 and the bottom wall 21.

Next, the terminal fitting 13 is inserted into the cavity 14. In the process of inserting the terminal fitting 13, the lance 15 is bent in the bending deformation region G between the bottom wall 21 of the retainer 11 and the lance 15, and then elastically returns to return to the terminal fitting 13.
Is primarily locked.

Subsequently, the retainer 11 is moved from the temporary locking position to the final locking position. When the retainer 11 is further pushed upward from the temporary locking position, the holding projection 26 moves over the locking projection of the front locking wall 17F while the front holding arm 26F is elastically deformed. At this time, as shown in FIG. 6, the terminal engaging portion 24 projects into the upper and lower cavities 14,
Engagement with the locking piece 25 of the terminal fitting 13 results in a secondary locking state, and the final locking is completed.

According to the connector of this embodiment, the bottom wall 21 of the retainer 11 is substantially flush with the lower surface 12 of the connector housing 10, and the bottom wall 2
1 is located. Thus, the vertical dimension of the connector can be reduced by the amount corresponding to the bending deformation region G. In addition, in the fully locked state, since the lance 15 is restricted from bending, it is possible to reliably prevent the terminal fitting 13 from coming off due to inadvertent bending of the lance 15.

<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 embodiment, the cavity 14
Has shown the form in which the present invention is applied to the connector housing 10 of two vertical rows and five horizontal rows, but the number of the cavities 14 is not limited to this, and can be changed.

(2) In the above embodiment, the retainer 11 can be held at the temporary locking position.
The connector housing 10 having only one stage may have a configuration in which the temporary locking position is omitted, and the retainer 11 may be assembled after the terminal fitting 13 is inserted.

(3) In the above embodiment, the bottom wall 21 is formed integrally with the retainer 11, but the bottom wall 21 can be rotated via a hinge formed by making the outer wall of the connector housing 10 thin. Connector housing 1
0 may be formed integrally with each other, and this may be rotated to a position in the bending deformation region G to enable full locking.

(4) In the above embodiment, the bottom wall 21 is provided integrally with the retainer 11, but the bottom wall 21 is assembled to the connector housing 10 after inserting the terminal fitting 13 as a separate component regardless of the presence or absence of the retainer 11. You may.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a connector housing showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the connector housing.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the retainer.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the retainer.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing the relationship between the connector housing, the retainer, and the terminal fitting at the time of the temporary locking.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing the relationship between the connector housing, the retainer, and the terminal fitting when the main locking is performed.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view of a conventional connector housing and retainer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Connector housing 11 ... Retainer 13 ... Terminal fitting 14 ... Cavity 15 ... Lance 21 ... Bottom wall (side wall on the bending side of the lance) G ... Bending deformation area

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A connector in which a terminal fitting is inserted into a cavity formed in a connector housing, and the terminal fitting is locked by a flexible deformable lance. Wherein the side wall of the connector housing is formed so as to be separable from the connector housing main body, and the side wall is mountable to the connector housing main body so as to be located within the bending deformation region of the lance. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the side wall is movable between a temporary locking position outside the bending deformation region of the lance and a full locking position located in the bending deformation region of the lance. The connector according to claim 1, wherein 3. The connector housing main body is provided with a retainer mounting hole for assembling a retainer that protrudes into the cavity from the side and engages with the terminal fitting, and the retainer is provided with a terminal fitting into the cavity. That is movable between a temporary locking position that allows insertion and removal of the lance and a full locking position that locks the terminal fitting, and that the side wall on the bending side of the lance is integrally formed with the retainer. 3. The connector according to claim 2, wherein: