JP2003151670A - Connector terminal lock structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector terminal lock structure capable of certainly restricting movement of a terminal fitting stored and held in a terminal storing chamber, at a manufacturing cost. SOLUTION: An outer housing 42 of a coaxial connector 41 connector-fitted with a female connector housing 32 of a PCB connector 31 comprises a pair of housing flexible pieces 43, 43 enabled to elastically deform in a radius direction by a pair of slits 47, 47 notched from a front end opening edge toward a housing rear side, a terminal locking projection 45 provided on an inner wall of a terminal storing chamber 42a so as to lock a coaxial cable shield terminal 21 inserted from the front end opening and regulate movement to the housing rear side, and a terminal coming-off preventing rib 44 provided on a free end side inner wall of the housing flexible piece 43 so as to regulate the movement to a housing front side of the coaxial cable shield terminal 21 inserted in the terminal storing chamber 42a.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector terminal locking structure, and more particularly, to an improvement of a connector terminal locking structure for reliably restraining movement of a terminal fitting housed and held in a terminal housing chamber. It is a thing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a connector housing having a double locking structure has been used to secure a terminal holding force for a terminal fitting housed and held in a terminal housing chamber of a connector housing and to detect incomplete assembly. ing. FIG. 9 shows a conventional example of a connector having a connector housing having such a double locking structure. The coaxial connector 1 is for connecting the coaxial cable 10 to a device or a connector on the mating side. It is a connector.

As shown in FIG. 9, the coaxial connector 1 has a substantially cylindrical coaxial cable shield terminal (terminal fitting) 2 crimped to an end of a coaxial cable 10, and the coaxial cable shield terminal. An insulating outer housing 3 having a terminal accommodating chamber 4 for accommodating and holding 2, and a spacer 7 which is a double locking member for double locking the coaxial cable shield terminal 2 in the terminal accommodating chamber 4. Consists of.

Then, the coaxial cable shield terminal 2 extends from the rear end opening of the outer housing 3 to the terminal accommodating chamber 4.
When inserted into the housing, the terminal locking projections 8 projectingly provided on the inner wall of the front end opening edge of the terminal accommodating chamber 4 lock the front end edge upper portion 2a of the coaxial cable shield terminal 2 and move to the front of the housing. Regulate. A flexible lance 6 for preventing the terminal from coming off is provided on the upper part of the inner wall of the terminal accommodating chamber 4 for restraining the coaxial cable shield terminal 2 inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 4 from moving rearward of the housing. The locking projection 6a of the flexible lance 6 for preventing the terminal coming off locks the upper rear end edge 2b of the coaxial cable shield terminal 2.

Further, a spacer accommodating portion 5 communicating with the terminal accommodating chamber 4 is provided in the lower portion on the rear end opening side of the outer housing 3, and the spacer 7 is complementarily fitted and held. Therefore, after inserting the shield terminal 2 for the coaxial cable into the terminal accommodating chamber 4, the spacer 7 is fitted into the spacer accommodating portion 5, so that the front end portion 7a of the spacer 7 becomes the shield terminal 2 for the coaxial cable.
The lower rear edge 2c is locked.

That is, the coaxial cable shield terminal 2 inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 4 of the outer housing 3
Is double-locked by the flexible lance 6 for preventing the terminal from coming off and the spacer 7, so that the terminal holding force for the coaxial cable shield terminal 2 can be ensured and the imperfect assembly can be detected.

[0007]

However, the above-mentioned coaxial connector 1 has the above-described method for securing the terminal holding force for the terminal fitting such as the coaxial cable shield terminal 2 inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 4 and detecting the incomplete assembly. This is achieved by the double locking structure as described above. Therefore, a flexible lance 6 for preventing the terminal from coming off must be formed in the terminal accommodating chamber 4, which complicates the molding die for the outer housing 3 and increases the die cost. Also, since a double locking member such as the spacer 7 is required and the number of parts is increased, assembly workability is deteriorated. As a result, there is a problem that the manufacturing cost of the coaxial connector 1 increases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, and it is possible to reliably restrain the movement of the terminal fittings housed and held in the terminal housing chamber, and the terminal locking structure of the connector which is inexpensive to manufacture. Is to provide.

[0009]

The above object of the present invention is to insert a first connector housing having a terminal accommodating chamber, a terminal fitting accommodated and held in the terminal accommodating chamber, and the first connector housing. And a second connector housing, wherein the first connector housing has a slit formed by cutting out a front end opening edge of a cylindrical housing outer peripheral wall toward a rear side of the housing. The terminal accommodating chamber for restricting the rearward movement of the housing by locking the housing flexible portion elastically deformable in the radial direction by the terminal fitting inserted from the front end opening of the first connector housing. The terminal locking projection that is provided on the inner wall of the terminal and the terminal fitting that is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber should not move forward of the housing. And a stop protrusion missing pin protruding from the free end side inner wall of the housing flexible portion, when the connector fitting end, the housing flexible portion, the second
The terminal locking structure of the connector is characterized in that elastic deformation in the radial direction is restrained by the corresponding inner wall portion of the connector housing.

According to the above construction, when the terminal fitting is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber through the front end opening of the first connector housing, the terminal retainer projection allows the terminal fitting to move rearward of the housing. Since it is retracted radially outward to the position, the terminal fitting can be inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber from the front end opening of the first connector housing.

The terminal fittings mounted in the terminal accommodating chamber are restricted from moving rearward of the housing by the terminal locking projections protruding from the inner wall of the terminal accommodating chamber. The terminal locking projections may have a simple shape with a sufficient allowance for the terminal fitting, as long as the terminal fitting inserted from the front end opening is restricted from moving rearward of the housing.

Further, when the terminal fitting is mounted in the terminal accommodating chamber, the projections for preventing the terminal coming off are engaged with the terminal fitting,
The forward movement of the terminal fitting is restricted. Since the projections for preventing the terminals from coming off are provided on the inner wall on the free end side of the flexible portion of the housing that is elastically deformable in the radial direction,
The shape can have a sufficient margin for the terminal fitting.

Next, when the terminal fitting inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber is in an incompletely assembled state, the free end of the flexible portion of the housing remains elastically deformed in the radial expansion direction. The housing cannot be fitted into the second connector housing, and incomplete assembly of the terminal fitting can be detected.

The first connector housing and the second connector housing
When the connector mating with the connector housing of is completed,
Since the flexible portion of the housing is constrained from elastic deformation in the radial direction by the inner wall portion of the second connector housing, the terminal retaining protrusion is retracted outward in the radial direction to release the engagement with the terminal fitting. Be blocked. Therefore, the terminal fitting mounted in the terminal accommodating chamber is restrained from moving rearward and forward of the housing by the terminal locking protrusion and the terminal slip-out preventing protrusion, and is securely accommodated and held.

Preferably, the flexible portion of the housing is
The second connector housing has a pair of engagement guide projections projectingly provided on the outer wall of the free end side across the slit, and the second connector housing extends from the front end opening edge toward the rear of the housing in order to insert and guide the engagement guide projections. Has a guide groove formed in the inner wall as a recess, and both side walls of the guide groove are tapered so that the groove width gradually decreases from the front end opening edge toward the rear of the housing.

In this case, when the first connector housing fitted with the terminal fittings is fitted into the second connector housing, the pair of engagement guide protrusions are inserted and guided by the guide grooves provided in the second connector housing. . Since both side walls of this guide groove are tapered so that the groove width gradually decreases,
The pair of engagement guide projections provided so as to sandwich the slit are urged toward each other.

Then, the flexible portion of the housing is elastically deformed in the diameter reducing direction so that the inner wall is in close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the terminal fitting, and the terminal retaining projection is urged in the locking direction. Therefore, the terminal fitting is more surely accommodated and held in the terminal accommodating chamber, and it is possible to suppress rattling due to a molding error.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A terminal locking structure for a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a fitted state of a coaxial cable connector provided with a connector terminal locking structure according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional perspective view of the outer housing shown in FIG. 3 to 5 are explanatory views for explaining the assembling procedure of the coaxial connector shown in FIG. 1, and FIGS. 6 to 8 are explanatory views for explaining the fitting procedure of the coaxial cable connector shown in FIG. Is.

The coaxial cable connector 40 according to this embodiment has an insulating substrate (PCB) 30 as shown in FIG.
It comprises a PCB connector 31 mounted on the top and a coaxial connector 41 for connecting the coaxial cable 10 to the PCB connector 31. The coaxial connector 41 includes a substantially cylindrical coaxial cable shield terminal (terminal fitting) 21 crimp-connected to an end of the coaxial cable 10, and a terminal accommodating chamber 42a for accommodating and holding the coaxial cable shield terminal 21. And an insulating outer housing (first connector housing) 42.

The coaxial cable shield terminal 21 is
A terminal main body 2 having a circular cross-section, which is formed by bending a conductive metal plate and is formed at the front end (left end in the drawing).
4 and a crimp portion 27 formed at the rear end portion (right end in the figure). The outer housing 42 is shown in FIG.
And as shown in FIG. 6, a notch is formed from the front end opening edge (right end opening edge in the figure) of the substantially cylindrical housing outer peripheral wall having the terminal accommodating chamber 42a toward the rear of the housing (left side in the figure). A pair of housing flexible pieces 43, 43, which are housing flexible portions that are elastically deformable in the radial direction, are formed by the pair of slits 47, 47.

The flexible portion of the housing of this embodiment has a pair of slits 47 formed by cutting out along the diametrical direction.
Although it is configured as a pair of housing flexible pieces 43, 43 by 47, three or more housing flexible pieces may be configured by three or more slits formed by cutting out at a predetermined interval in the circumferential direction, By forming one slit as a notch, the entire front end opening can be used as the housing flexible portion.

Further, on the inner walls of the free ends of the housing flexible pieces 43, 43, there are provided protrusions 44 for preventing the terminals from coming off, which are projections for preventing the terminals from coming off. Furthermore, a pair of engagement guide projections 46, 4 is sandwiched on the outer wall of the housing flexible pieces 43, 43 on the free end side with the slit 47 located on the lower side interposed therebetween.
6 is projected.

On the inner wall of the terminal accommodating chamber 42a of the outer housing 42, a terminal locking projection 45 for locking the coaxial cable shield terminal 21 inserted from the front end opening and restricting the rearward movement of the housing is projected. It is set up. The terminal locking projection 45 may restrict the rearward movement of the coaxial cable shield terminal 21 inserted from the front end opening toward the rear of the housing. The protrusion 27 can have a simple shape with a sufficient protrusion height).

Therefore, the outer housing 42 is
As in the conventional outer housing 3 shown in FIG. 9, a flexible lance for retaining the terminal having a complicated shape is provided in the terminal accommodating chamber 42.
Since it is not necessary to provide it in a, the molding die of the outer housing 42 can be simplified. Further, a PCB connector 3 to be described later is provided at a rear end portion of the outer housing 42.
A lock mechanism 50 that is detachably lock-engaged with the first lock portion 33 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 1, the PCB connector 31 is a second connector fitted in the outer housing 42.
An insulative female connector housing 32, which is a connector housing, and a connection terminal 35, etc., which is grounded to the coaxial cable shield terminal 21 at the housing rear side (left side in the drawing) in the female connector housing 32. And the terminal fitting portion 36 provided.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 8, a guide groove is formed in the inner wall of the female connector housing 32 from the front end opening edge toward the rear of the housing in order to insert and guide the pair of engagement guide protrusions 46, 46. 37 is recessed. Further, both side walls 37a, 37a of the guide groove 37 are tapered so that the groove width gradually decreases from the front end opening edge toward the rear of the housing.

Next, the procedure for assembling the coaxial connector 41 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, as shown in FIG. 3, the coaxial cable shield terminal 21 is pressure-connected to the end portion of the coaxial cable 10 that penetrates the terminal housing chamber 42 a of the outer housing 42.

The coaxial cable 10 is connected to the outer housing 42 at the rear of the housing (in the direction of arrow A in the figure).
By being pulled back to, the coaxial cable shield terminal 21 is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 42a from the front end opening of the outer housing 42. At the time of inserting the terminal, the terminal retaining ribs 44 projectingly provided on the inner walls of the pair of housing flexible pieces 43, 43 on the free end side are provided with the terminal main body 2 in the inserted coaxial cable shield terminal 21.
It is urged radially outward by the outer peripheral surface of 4.

At this time, since the free ends of the flexible pieces 43 of the respective housings can be elastically deformed in the radial direction (the direction of arrow B in the figure), the terminal retaining ribs 44 are provided on the coaxial cable shield terminal 21. It is retracted outward in the radial direction to a position where it can be moved to the rear of the housing. Therefore, the coaxial cable shield terminal 21 can be inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 42a from the front end opening of the outer housing 42.

The coaxial cable shield terminal 21 installed in the terminal accommodating chamber 42a is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 6, the terminal locking projection 45 provided on the inner wall of the terminal accommodating chamber 42a restricts the rearward movement of the housing. When the coaxial cable shield terminal 21 is completely mounted in the terminal accommodating chamber 42a,
The free end of the housing flexible piece 43, which is urged radially outward by the outer peripheral surface of the terminal body 24 and elastically deformed in the radial expansion direction, has a predetermined locking position (shown in FIGS. 4 and 5). Position).

Therefore, each of the terminal retaining ribs 44 is engaged with the front end opening edge of the terminal body 24, and restrains the movement of the coaxial cable shield terminal 21 toward the front of the housing. Since the terminal retaining rib 44 is provided on the inner wall of the free end side of each of the housing flexible pieces 43 that is elastically deformable in the radial direction, a sufficient margin (connection) to the front end opening edge of the terminal body 24 is provided. The terminal 35 may have a shape with a sufficient protrusion height so as not to interfere with it.

Next, the procedure for fitting the coaxial cable connector 40 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8. First, as shown in FIG. 6, the shield terminal 2 for coaxial cable is used.
After making the front end opening of the coaxial connector 41 in which 1 is mounted face the front end opening of the PCB connector 31, the pair of engagement guide protrusions 46, 46 of the outer housing 42 are aligned with the guide groove 37 of the female connector housing 32. In this way, the coaxial connector 41 is fitted into the PCB connector 31.

At this time, if the coaxial cable shield terminal 21 is incompletely assembled in the terminal accommodating chamber 42a, each terminal disconnection is urged radially outward by the outer peripheral surface of the terminal body 24. Since the free end of each housing flexible piece 43 remains elastically deformed in the radial expansion direction by the locking ribs 44, the coaxial connector 41 cannot be fitted into the PCB connector 31, and the shield terminal 21 for the coaxial cable 21. Can be detected.

Then, as shown in FIG. 7, when the connector fitting between the coaxial connector 41 and the PCB connector 31 is completed, each of the housing flexible pieces 43 is expanded in the radial direction by the corresponding inner wall portion of the female connector housing 32. Since the elastic deformation of the terminal is restrained, the terminal retaining rib 44 is prevented from retreating outward in the radial direction to release the engagement with the front end opening edge of the terminal body 24 (see FIG. 1).

That is, the coaxial cable shield terminal 21 accommodated and held in the terminal accommodating chamber 42a is moved to the rear of the housing and the front of the housing by the terminal locking protrusion 45 and the terminal retaining rib 44. Be detained. Therefore, according to the coaxial connector 41 of the present embodiment, unlike the conventional coaxial connector 1 shown in FIG. 9, the double locking member such as the spacer 7 is not required, and the number of parts is reduced, so that the assembling workability is improved. improves. As a result, the manufacturing cost of the coaxial connector 41 can be reduced.

Furthermore, according to the coaxial cable connector 40 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG.
1 is fitted into the PCB connector 31, a pair of engagement guide projections 46, 46 projectingly provided on the outer housing 42.
Is guided by being inserted into the female connector housing 32 while being prevented from being rotated by the guide groove 37 provided in the inner wall of the female connector housing 32.
Further, since both side walls 37a, 37a of the guide groove 37 are tapered so that the groove width is gradually reduced, the pair of engagement guide protrusions 46, 46 projecting with the slit 47 interposed therebetween.
Are urged toward each other by these tapered side walls 37a, 37a.

Then, each of the housing flexible pieces 43 is
The inner wall comes into close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the terminal body 24 by elastically deforming in the diameter reducing direction, and the terminal retaining rib 44 is biased in the locking direction. Therefore, the coaxial cable shield terminal 21 is more reliably accommodated and held in the terminal accommodating chamber 42a, and rattling due to molding errors of these housings and terminals can be suppressed.

The construction of the first and second connector housings and the terminal fittings in the connector terminal locking structure according to the present invention is the same as the outer housing 3 and the female connector housing 32 and the coaxial cable shield terminal 21 of the above embodiment. The configuration is not limited to the above. For example, in the above embodiment, the coaxial cable connector 40 including the PCB connector 31 and the coaxial connector 41 for connecting the coaxial cable 10 to the PCB connector 31 has been described, but the terminal locking of the connector of the present invention is described. It goes without saying that the structure can be applied to various connectors based on the spirit of the present invention.

[0039]

According to the connector terminal locking structure of the present invention as described above, when the terminal fitting is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber through the front end opening of the first connector housing, the terminal retaining projection is provided. Since it can be retracted outward in the radial direction to the position where the terminal fitting can be moved to the rear of the housing,
The terminal fitting can be inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber through the front end opening of the first connector housing.

The terminal fittings mounted in the terminal accommodating chamber are restricted from moving rearward of the housing by the terminal locking projections protruding from the inner wall of the terminal accommodating chamber. This terminal locking projection may restrict the movement of the terminal fitting inserted from the front end opening to the rear of the housing. It can have a simple shape with a sufficient allowance for the terminal fitting. The mold becomes simple.

When the terminal fitting is mounted in the terminal accommodating chamber, the terminal slip-out preventing projection engages with the terminal fitting,
The forward movement of the terminal fitting is restricted. Since the projections for preventing the terminals from coming off are provided on the inner wall on the free end side of the flexible portion of the housing that is elastically deformable in the radial direction,
The shape can be provided with sufficient allowance for the terminal fitting, and the terminal holding force can be increased.

Next, when the terminal fitting inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber is in an incompletely assembled state, the free end of the flexible portion of the housing remains elastically deformed in the radial direction. The housing cannot be fitted into the second connector housing, and incomplete assembly of the terminal fitting can be detected.

The first connector housing and the second connector housing
When the connector mating with the connector housing of is completed,
Since the flexible portion of the housing is constrained from elastic deformation in the radial direction by the inner wall portion of the second connector housing, the terminal retaining protrusion is retracted outward in the radial direction to release the engagement with the terminal fitting. Be blocked. That is, the terminal fitting mounted in the terminal accommodating chamber is restrained from moving rearward and frontward of the housing by the terminal locking protrusion and the terminal slip-out preventing protrusion, and is securely accommodated and held. Therefore, it is possible to reliably restrain the movement of the terminal fitting accommodated and held in the terminal accommodating chamber, and to provide the terminal locking structure of the connector which is inexpensive to manufacture.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a fitted state of a coaxial cable connector having a connector terminal locking structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a vertical cross-sectional perspective view of the outer housing shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view for explaining an assembling procedure of the coaxial connector shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view for explaining an assembling procedure of the coaxial connector shown in FIG.

5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an assembling procedure of the coaxial connector shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a fitting procedure of the coaxial cable connector shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view for explaining a fitting procedure of the coaxial cable connector shown in FIG. 1.

8 is a sectional view taken along the line VIII-VIII of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a partial cross-sectional perspective view of a coaxial connector having a conventional connector housing with a double locking structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

21 shield terminal for coaxial cable (terminal fitting) 31 PCB connector 32 female connector housing (second connector housing) 37 guide groove 37a side wall 41 coaxial connector 42 outer housing (first connector housing) 42a terminal accommodating chamber 43 housing flexible Piece (flexible part of housing) 44 Rib for retaining terminal (projection for retaining terminal) 45 Terminal locking projection 46 Engagement guide projection 47 Slit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A connector comprising a first connector housing having a terminal accommodating chamber, a terminal fitting accommodated and held in the terminal accommodating chamber, and a second connector housing into which the first connector housing is fitted. And a housing in which the first connector housing is elastically deformable in a radial direction by a slit formed by cutting out from a front end opening edge of a cylindrical housing outer peripheral wall toward a rear side of the housing. For locking the flexible part and the terminal fitting inserted from the front end opening of the first connector housing, the terminal fitting projectingly provided on the inner wall of the terminal accommodating chamber for restricting the rearward movement of the housing. The projection and the inner wall of the flexible portion of the housing to restrain the forward movement of the housing with respect to the terminal fitting inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber. And a flexible portion for preventing the elastic deformation in the radial direction from being restrained by the corresponding inner wall portion of the second connector housing when the fitting of the connector is completed. The terminal locking structure of the connector. 2. The flexible portion of the housing has a pair of engagement guide projections protruding from the outer wall of the free end side with the slit interposed therebetween, and the second connector housing has the engagement guide projections. A guide groove is formed in the inner wall from the front end opening edge toward the rear of the housing to guide the insertion, and both side walls of the guide groove are tapered such that the groove width gradually decreases from the front end opening edge toward the rear of the housing. The terminal locking structure for a connector according to claim 1, wherein the terminal locking structure is formed into a shape.