JP2003123899A - Connector unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector unit restricting generation of minute sliding friction caused by a vibration stress between terminals of connectors of which, connectors are not influenced by the stress (distortion) even body of equipments are shifted from each other, and connectors are mutually and automatically locked/unlocked when the body of equipments are mutually fitted/separated. SOLUTION: A connector unit comprises a first body of equipment 2 having a first connector 20, and a second body of equipment 3 having a second connector 30 fitted to the first body of equipment. The first connector 20 has a pressing part 20a which presses the second connector 30 into the direction of making the first body of equipment 2 and the second body of equipment 3 fit with each other. The second body of equipment 3 has the second connector 30, and a holding member 4 to which, a guiding part 4c, making the second connector 30 move by converting the direction of a pressure of the pressing part 20a in the direction of connecting the first connector 20 with the second connector 30, which is perpendicular to the fitting direction, when the first body of equipment 2 is made to move in the direction of fitting with the second body of equipment 3, is formed to the second body of equipment 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a connector unit provided with a connector connection and a structure for holding the connector, the fitting of the structures and the connection of the connectors are simultaneously completed by a series of operations. 2000-82
Connector disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 534 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-5
The invention relating to the connector connection structure disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2813 is known.

[0003]

By the way, in the connectors and the like disclosed in both of the above publications, since the connectors are held in the housing, the male connector and the female connector are not connected to the housing holding them. It receives vibrations of different frequencies. Relative vibration due to this different vibration, that is, vibration stress, causes slight sliding wear between corresponding terminals of the connected connectors, distortion of the housing, and load on the terminals and connectors. there were. Further, there is a problem that if there is a deviation between the housings, the deviation causes stress (distortion) between the connectors.

Further, in the above-mentioned connector and the like, since there is no locking means for holding the connected connectors in a connected state, the reliability is uncertain when used in a vehicle such as an automobile which is constantly subjected to vibration during traveling. was there. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and suppresses occurrence of slight sliding wear and distortion to the housing due to vibration stress between corresponding terminals in a connected connector, and between the terminals and the connector. It is a first object of the present invention to provide a connector unit that suppresses application of load and that the connectors are not affected by stress (distortion) even if the housings are displaced from each other.
In addition to the first object, it is a second object to provide a connector unit in which the connectors are automatically locked / unlocked when the housings are fitted / disengaged from each other.

[0005]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the first object, a first connector having a first connector is provided.
And a second housing having a second connector connected to the first connector and fitted with the first housing. The first and second housings A connector unit in which the first and second connectors are connected to each other when the bodies are fitted to each other, wherein the first connector includes the second connector and the second housing. Of the second housing, the second housing has a pressing portion that presses in a direction of fitting with the housing.
Holding the connector and moving the first casing in the fitting direction with the second casing, the pressing force of the pressing portion is orthogonal to the fitting direction. And a holding member provided with a guide portion for moving the second connector by converting it to the connecting direction of the second connector.

[0006] Preferably, the guide portion is set to be longer than a moving distance required for connecting the first and second connectors. Further, preferably, the guide portion is formed with a release portion that releases contact between the second connector and the holding member at the end of fitting of the first casing and the second casing. .

In order to achieve the second object of the present invention, in addition to the structure described above, the first and second connectors are provided with locking means for locking the two connectors in a connected state. The holding member is provided with urging means for urging the one locking means in the releasing direction in the middle of the operation of connecting or disconnecting the both connectors.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of a connector unit of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1, the connector unit 1 includes a first housing 2 having a male connector 20, and a male connector 2
It has a female connector 30 to be connected to 0 and a second housing 3 to be fitted with the first housing 2, and is made of nylon, polypropylene, polybutylene terephthalate, polycarbonate, liquid crystal polymer, alloy resin, etc., respectively. It is molded from synthetic resin.

Here, the connector unit 1 is, for example,
When used for vehicle interior wiring or the like of the automobile, the first housing 2 is used as a housing on the side of the auxiliary equipment, and the second housing 3 is used as a housing on the side of the instrument panel, which are molded into desired shapes and used. , 3, the male connector 20 and the female connector 30 are connected to each other.

The first casing 2 is fitted with the second casing 3 and, as shown in FIG. 1, an electronic control unit (EC
Substrate unit 2b accommodating U) and auxiliary plate 2c are attached, and projections 2d are provided at the four corners. here,
A wire harness (not shown) connected to the auxiliary device side is connected to the board unit 2b. As shown in FIG. 1, the second housing 3 is a box body having openings 3a formed in the front portion, both side portions and the upper portion facing the first housing 2, and the engaging portions 3 are provided at the four corners of the front portion.
c is provided. The second housing 3 holds the female connector 30 via a holder 4 attached inside the back plate 3d. The protrusion 2d of the first housing 2 is provided on each engaging portion 3c.
Is provided with an engagement hole 3b. Here, the opening 3a may be omitted.

The holder 4 is a holding member for holding the female connector 30 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, and has two opposing side walls 4a and a back plate 4b as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, each side wall 4a has a female connector 3
No. 0 guide groove 4c with which a slide rod 30b described later is engaged
Are formed. A guide rail 4d and a protrusion 4e are provided on each side wall 4a so as to protrude inward.
The guide rail 4d engages with a guide groove 20c for alignment, which will be described later, of the male connector 20. Also, the protrusion 4e
Before the connection of both connectors 20 and 30 is completed or before the connection is released, the lock piece 30c of the female connector 30 described later is pressed in the lock release direction via the release rib 20d of the male connector 20 described later, and the locking protrusion 20e is formed. It functions as a biasing means for releasing the lock due to the engagement with the lock piece 30c.

Here, the guide groove 4c forms an inclined portion Ps which is inclined in two steps with respect to the fitting direction of the first casing 2 and the second casing 3, so that both connectors 20, 30 are formed. Set longer than the travel distance required for connection. As a result, the guide groove 4c allows the pressing plate 2 of the male connector 20 to be described later when the first housing 2 is moved in the fitting direction with the second housing 3.
The pressing force of 0b is converted into a connecting direction of the male connector 20 and the female connector 30 which is orthogonal to the fitting direction to function as a guide portion for moving the female connector 30. Further, the guide groove 4c has an end portion on the back plate 4b side where the concave portion Pd is a releasing portion that releases the holding of the female connector 30 by the holder 4 when the fitting of the first housing 2 and the second housing 3 is completed. Is formed in.

The male connector 20, as shown in FIG.
It is attached to the lower part of the board unit 2b with the back surface abutting on the auxiliary plate 2c, and has a main body 20a and a pressing plate 20b. A plurality of male terminals (not shown) connected to the board unit 2b are housed inside the main body 20a, and as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 (a), two side projections are provided on both sides. A guide groove 20c for alignment and a release rib 20d are formed. The pressing plate 20b is a pressing portion that presses the female connector 30 in the fitting direction of the first housing 2 and the second housing 3, and is formed integrally with the main body 20a. However, the pressing plate 20b may be molded separately from the main body 20a.
The pressing plate 20b, as shown in FIG.
Locking protrusions 20e are provided in the vicinity of the release ribs 20d on both sides of the upper portion located on the side.

The female connector 30 is, as shown in FIG. 3B, a main body 30 accommodating a plurality of female terminals (not shown).
Slide bars 30b that project laterally to both sides of a are provided with lock pieces 30c that engage with the locking projections 20e on both sides of the male connector 20 side. Here, in the female connector 30, a plurality of electric wires (not shown) connected to various instruments on the instrument panel side extend downward from the main body 30a, and as shown in FIGS.
The position on the side of the first housing 2 of c is the initial position held by the holder 4.

The connector unit 1 is configured as described above, and the fitting of the housings 2 and 3 and the connection of the male connector 20 and the female connector 30 can be completed by a series of operations as described below. it can. First, as shown in FIG. 1, the first housing 2 holding the male connector 20 and the second housing 3 holding the female connector 30 are arranged to face each other.

Here, in the drawings used in the following description, the housings 2 and 3 are omitted for simplification of the drawing, except when the fitting of the housings 2 and 3 is completed. Next, the first housing 2 is moved to the second housing 3 side while each protrusion 2d is engaged with the corresponding engagement hole 3b, and as shown in FIG.
The male connector 20 is brought closer to the female connector 30 side.

Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the pressing plate 20b
Female connector 3 in the initial position held by holder 4
Abut 0. Then, when the first housing 2 is further moved to the second housing 3 side, the guide rail 4d is engaged with the guide groove 20c, and the male connector 20 is aligned with the holder 4, and thus the female connector 30. At the same time, the slide rod 30b moves along the inclined portion Ps of the guide groove 4c.

As a result, the pressing force of the pressing plate 20b due to the movement of the first housing 2 is orthogonal to the fitting direction of the first housing 2 and the second housing, and the male connector 20 and the female connector 30.
And the female connector 30 moves upward in FIG. As a result, the male connector 2
While 0 moves horizontally, the female connector 30 moves upward, and the female connector 30 is connected to the male connector 20 as shown in FIG. At this time, in the female connector 30, as shown in FIG. 8, the slide rod 30b is positioned at the horizontal portion Ph at the end of the inclined portion Ps of the guide groove 4c.

Moreover, in the connectors 20 and 30,
As shown in FIG.
The lock piece 30c is pushed by the e and pushes the lock piece 30c.
Of the male connector 20 and the female connector 30 is released. Then, when the first housing 2 is further moved, as shown in FIGS.
As shown in, the connected connectors 20 and 30 move to the back plate 4b side of the holder 4. As a result, the pressing of the release rib 20d and the lock piece 30c by the protrusion 4e of the holder 4 is released, and as shown in FIG.
c is engaged with the locking projection 20e, and the male connector 20 and the female connector 30 are locked.

Therefore, in the connector unit 1, the connected connectors 20 and 30 have the lock pieces 30c and the locking projections 2.
It can be used with high reliability in a vehicle such as an automobile, which is held in a connected state by engagement with 0e and is constantly vibrated during traveling. At this time, in the connector unit 1, as shown in FIG.
Engage with the corresponding engaging holes 3b of the engaging portion 3c,
The first housing 2 is fitted with the second housing 3.

Moreover, when the fitting of the first housing 2 and the second housing 3 is completed, the slide bar 30b is located in the recess Pd formed in the guide groove 4c, and the female connector 30 and the holder 4 are provided.
Contact with is released. Thereby, the female connector 30
Is released from being held by the second housing 3 via the holder 4, and is held by the first housing 2 via the male connector 20.

Therefore, in the connector unit 1,
The male connector 20 and the female connector 30 are subjected to the same vibration from the first housing 2 side and are not subjected to vibrations of different frequencies. Therefore, the connectors 20 and 30 of the connector unit 1 are subjected to relative vibration due to different vibrations, that is, slight sliding wear between corresponding terminals due to vibration stress, distortion to the housing, and terminals and The load between the connectors is suppressed. In addition, the connector unit 1 has the connector 20, even if the housings 2 and 3 are displaced from each other.
30 is not affected by any stress (distortion).

On the other hand, the male connector 20 and the female connector 3
When it is desired to release the connection with 0, the first housing 2 is pulled by the reverse operation to the above. Then, the plurality of protrusions 2d
Are disengaged from the corresponding engaging holes 3b of the engaging portion 3c. Further, when the slide bar 30b moves to the boundary between the inclined portion Ps and the horizontal portion Ph, the protrusion 4e causes the release rib 20d.
Also, the lock piece 30c is pressed to engage the lock piece 30c with the locking projection 20e, that is, the lock of the connectors 20 and 30 is released.

In this state, when the female connector 30 is moved toward the first casing 2 along the guide groove 4c while further pulling the first casing 2, the connection between the male connector 20 and the female connector 30 is established. While being released, the female connector 30 is again held by the holder 4. In the connector unit 1 of the above-described embodiment, the projection 4e of the holder 4 presses the release rib 20d of the male connector 20 together with the lock piece 30c to release the engagement of the lock piece 30c with the locking projection 20e. there were. However, since the holder 4 may be configured to directly press the lock piece 30c to release the engagement with the locking protrusion 20e, the release rib 20d of the male connector 20 may be omitted.

Further, the male connector 20 includes a pressing plate 20b.
The portion may be directly attached to the main body 2a of the first housing 2. In this case, the male connector 20 pulls out an electric wire connected to a male terminal (not shown) from the upper portion of the main body 20a.

[0026]

According to the first to third aspects of the present invention, it is possible to prevent fine sliding wear and distortion of the housing due to vibration stress between corresponding terminals of the connected connectors.
It is possible to provide a connector unit in which a load is prevented from being applied between the terminals and the connectors and the connectors are not affected by stress (distortion) even if the housings are displaced from each other.

According to the invention of claim 4, in addition to the above-mentioned cost, it is possible to provide a connector unit in which the connectors are automatically locked and unlocked when the housings are fitted and removed from each other.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a connector unit of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a holder included in the connector unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a male connector (a) and a female connector (b) included in the connector unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a holder that holds a female connector.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state in which the male connector is opposed to the female connector held by the holder so as to be connected thereto.

FIG. 6 is a sectional side view showing a state where the male connector is brought into contact with the female connector held by the holder.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional side view showing a state in which the male connector is connected to the female connector held by the holder and one locking means is released.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a state in which a lock piece of the female connector is unlocked by a release protrusion of the holder, with a part of the holder cut away.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a state where the lock is released, with a part of the holder cut away.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing a cross section of the male connector, the female connector and the holder in a state where the lock is released.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view in the state of FIG.

FIG. 12: The female connector is released from the holding of the holder,
FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a state in which both connected connectors are locked by a locking means, with a part of the holder cut away.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the state shown in FIG. 11 including the first and second casings.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 connector unit 2 First case 2a body 2b PCB unit 2c Auxiliary plate 2d protrusion 3 Second housing 3a opening 3c engaging part 3d back plate 3b Engagement hole 4 Holder (holding member) 4a side wall 4b backboard 4c guide groove 4d guide rail 4e Protrusion (biasing means) 20 Male connector (first connector) 20a body 20b Pressing plate (pressing part) 20c guide groove 20d release rib 20e Locking protrusion (locking means) 30 female connector 30a body 30b slide bar 30c Lock piece (locking means) Ps slope Pd recess (opening part) Ph horizontal part

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A first housing having a first connector,
A second connector that is connected to the first connector, and includes a second housing that is fitted to the first housing;
A connector unit in which the first and second connectors are connected to each other when the first and second housings are fitted to each other, wherein the first connector includes the second connector and the second connector. 1
Of the first housing and the second housing, the second housing holds the second connector, and the first housing is connected to the first housing. When the second connector is moved in the fitting direction with respect to the housing, the pressing force by the pressing portion is converted into the connection direction of the first connector and the second connector which is orthogonal to the fitting direction, A connector unit comprising: a holding member having a guide portion for moving the second connector. 2. The connector unit according to claim 1, wherein the guide portion is set to be longer than a moving distance required to connect the first and second connectors. 3. The guide portion is formed with a release portion that releases contact between the second connector and the holding member at the end of fitting of the first casing and the second casing. The connector unit according to claim 2, which is provided. 4. The first and second connectors are provided with lock means for locking the two connectors in a connected state, and the holding member is provided with the one connector before completion of connection or disconnection of both connectors. 2. The connector unit according to claim 1, further comprising urging means for urging the locking means in the releasing direction.