JP2003229198A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a front holder from being fitted in a wrong attitude. <P>SOLUTION: The front holder 30 fitted in a regular attitude can reach a regular fitting position without interfering with a fitting control part 17S. In contrast, when the front holder 30 is fitted in a reversed attitude, the front holder 30 interferes with the fitting control part 17S in the middle of the fitting process, a further fitting process controlled. By the fitting control part 17S provided at a housing 10, the front holder 30 can be prevented from being fitted in a wrong attitude. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

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

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a connector in which a terminal fitting is inserted from the rear into a cavity in a housing and a cantilever lance provided along the inner wall of the cavity prevents the terminal fitting from coming off, the size of the terminal fitting and the cavity is reduced. It is relatively easy to reduce the width dimension, but it is difficult to reduce the width of the lance to prevent the terminal fitting from coming off, so it is difficult to reduce the width. The size must be close to the width of the cavity. Therefore, in the region corresponding to the lance and the region in front of the lance, it is not possible to use the dimensional difference between the cavity width and the lance width to form a support portion for supporting both side edges of the front end portion of the terminal fitting. . Even if the support portion could be formed, its support width is extremely narrow and it cannot be expected to reliably support the terminal fitting.

As a countermeasure, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-1678
32, a structure in which a front holder as a separate component having a wall portion (a supporting wall corresponding to the front end portion of the terminal fitting and a front blind wall of each cavity) constituting the front end portion of the cavity is assembled to the front surface of the housing. Is disclosed. With this configuration, the front end portion of the terminal fitting can be supported by the wall portion of the front holder. A connector provided with such a front holder is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.
There is one disclosed in 001-155811. In this connector, a recess is formed in the front surface and the lower surface of the housing, and guide grooves are formed along both left and right inner side surfaces of the recess. For the front holder, guide ribs are formed on both left and right side surfaces thereof. Become a structure. The front holder is fitted in the recess while fitting the guide rib in the guide groove.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional connector, since the concave portion, the guide groove, the front holder and the guide rib are substantially vertically symmetrical, the front holder may be assembled upside down. In addition, in order to prevent the front holder from coming off, the guide groove and the guide rib are formed with concave and convex engaging portions, but since the housing and the front holder are miniaturized, the guide groove is configured. It is unavoidable that the walls and guide ribs are thin and have low rigidity. Therefore, even if the retaining means by such unevenness is provided,
There is a risk that the front holder may be installed upside down while bending these wall portions and guide ribs.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to prevent the front holder from being assembled in an incorrect posture.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a cavity is formed in the inside thereof, and a lance is formed along the inner wall of the cavity, and the housing is inserted into the cavity from the rear. Together with the terminal fitting that is prevented from coming off by the lance, and a support portion that configures a region on the front side of the lance in the cavity and is capable of supporting the front end portion of the terminal fitting, and is assembled while sliding with respect to the housing. And a front holder, wherein the front holder is
In a connector configured to slide by being guided by a pair of guide grooves provided on the housing and a pair of guide ribs provided on the front holder, the front holder is assembled to the housing. When the front holder is assembled in the opposite orientation, the front holder interferes with the front holder before it reaches the normal assembly position, and the assembly restricting part that restricts further assembly operation is installed. The front holder is provided with a cutout portion for avoiding interference with the assembly regulation portion when the front holder is assembled in a proper posture to a proper position.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the assembly restricting portion is formed at a rear end portion of the guide groove, and the notch portion is formed at the guide rib.

[0008]

[Advantages and Effects of the Invention] [Invention of Claim 1] The front holder assembled in a proper posture can reach the proper assembly position without interfering with the assembly restricting portion. On the other hand, when the front holder is assembled in a posture that is opposite to the normal direction in the assembling direction, the front holder interferes with the assembling restricting portion during the assembling, and further assembling is restricted. . Since the housing is provided with the assembly restricting portion, it is possible to prevent the front holder from being assembled in an incorrect posture.

[Invention of Claim 2] The front holder assembled in a posture opposite to the normal direction in the assembling direction,
During the assembling, interference between the guide rib and the assembling restricting portion restricts further assembling. Since the thickness of the portion where the guide groove is formed in the housing is thin, there is a concern that the rigidity will be reduced by that amount, but since the assembly regulation part has a form in which the inner end of the guide groove is built up,
Rigidity is improved in the vicinity of the assembly regulation part.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [First Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The connector of the present embodiment includes a housing 10 made of synthetic resin, two kinds of large and small terminal fittings 20L and 20S, and a front holder 30 made of synthetic resin. The housing 10 has a rectangular block shape as a whole, and a pair of left and right wide cavity groups 11L are provided inside the housing 10.
And one narrow cavity group 11S arranged so as to be sandwiched between the wide cavity groups 11L.

The wide cavity group 11L is composed of a plurality of large cavities 12 that are collectively arranged in a vertically and horizontally aligned state.
It is composed of L. The large cavities 12L are elongated in the front-rear direction and have a substantially rectangular cross section, and the large terminal fittings 20L are inserted into the respective large cavities 12L from the rear. Inside the large cavity 12L, the large terminal fitting 20
The lance 13L for preventing the L from coming off can be cantilevered forward along the bottom wall of the large cavity 12L and can be elastically deflected downward (= the direction of retracting out of the insertion path of the large terminal fitting 20L). Is formed. Lance 1
The left and right sides of the 3L and the lance 13 is in front of the lance 13L.
Although a die-cutting space for a die (not shown) for molding L is formed, the width dimension of the large cavity 12L is sufficiently larger than the width dimension of the lance 13L. A pair of left and right support portions 15 projecting from the inner side surface of the large cavity 12L are formed on both left and right sides of the and the front area of the lance 13L. The support portion 15 has a rib shape elongated in the front-rear direction in parallel with the length direction of the large cavity 12L (= the insertion direction of the large terminal fitting 20L), and the large terminal fitting 20L inserted into the large cavity 12L. The left and right side edges of the front end of the are supported by the two support portions 15 from below.

The large terminal fitting 20L has a square tube portion 21 at the front end.
In addition to L, the electric wire 23 is connected to the electric wire crimping portion 22L at the rear end by crimping. In the process of being inserted into the large cavity 12L, the large terminal fitting 20L elastically bends the lance 13L downward by the square tube portion 21L, and when reaching the regular insertion position, the lance 13L elastically returns to engage the square tube portion 21L. The large terminal fitting 20L is retained in the retaining state by being engaged with the stopper 24L from the rear. Further, the front end portion of the large terminal fitting 20L that has been properly inserted, that is, the square tube portion 21L is supported by the support portion 15 from below.

The narrow cavity group 11S is composed of a plurality of small cavities 12 which are collectively arranged in a vertically and horizontally aligned state.
It is composed of S. The small cavity 12S is elongated in the front-rear direction and has a substantially rectangular cross section. This small cavity 1
The width and height of 2S are both large cavity 12
The size is smaller than L, and the small cavity 12S
The pitch in the horizontal direction and the pitch in the vertical direction are also set to be smaller than that of the large cavity 12L. Inside each small cavity 12S, small terminal fittings 2
0S is inserted. Small cavity 12
Inside the S, a lance 13S for preventing the small terminal fitting 20S from coming off protrudes forward along the bottom wall of the small cavity 12S in a cantilevered manner (= small terminal fitting 2).
It is formed so that it can elastically bend in the direction of retracting out of the insertion path of 0S.

Left and right sides of the lance 13S and the lance 13S
A die-cutting space for a die (not shown) for molding the lance 13S is formed in front of the lance 13S. However, the width of the small cavity 12S is slightly larger than the width of the lance 13S. Therefore, the large cavities 12 are provided on both the left and right sides of the lance 13S and in the front region of the lance 13S.
No means corresponding to the bearing portion 15 formed in L is formed. Therefore, in this state, the small cavity 12S
Although it is not possible to support the front end portion of the small terminal metal fitting 20S inserted in the above from below, the front holder 30 is used as a countermeasure.

The housing 10 has a structure for assembling the front holder 30. That is, on the front surface of the housing 10, a concave portion 16 is formed by cutting out a rectangular region corresponding to only the narrow cavity group 11S among the wide cavity group 11L and the narrow cavity group 11S. The recess 16 is opened not only on the front surface of the housing 10 but also on the lower surface of the housing 10, and the front holder 30 is fitted into the recess 16 through the opening on the lower surface of the housing 10. Further, all the small cavities 12S are opened in the rear end surface of the recess 16 (= a flat surface perpendicular to the insertion direction of the small terminal fitting 20S into the small cavity 12S), and the front end portion of the lance 13S is the rear end surface of the recess 16. Is approaching immediately.

A pair of left and right symmetrical guide grooves 17 extending linearly in the up-down direction (direction orthogonal to the inserting direction of the small terminal fitting 20S into the small cavity 12S) is formed on both left and right inner side surfaces of the recess 16. There is. This guide groove 17
Has a dovetail groove shape. Specifically, the inner surface on the rear side of the guide groove 17 is flush with the rear end surface of the recess 16, whereas the inner surface on the front side of the guide groove 17 is continuous. The inner surface of is a flat surface that obliquely corresponds to the inner surface on the rear side. The lower end of the guide groove 17 is opened in the lower surface of the housing 10. From the lower end of the guide groove 17 to the front holder 30.
The guide rib 31 of is inserted. By fitting the guide groove 17 and the guide rib 31, the front holder 3
0 is guided when assembled in the recess 16. Further, the guide groove 17 is formed with a retaining hole 18 having a notched shape at a substantially intermediate height thereof. The retaining hole 18 has a function of restricting the front holder 30 from being detached downward from the recess 16. In addition, this stopper hole 1
8 is opened in the front surface of the housing 10 through a die-cutting hole 18H formed when the die-preventing hole 18 is molded.

Further, the recess 16 is formed with a locking hole 19 in which a widthwise central portion of the ceiling surface is cut out. When the front holder 30 is properly assembled in the recess 16, the locking projection 33 of the front holder 30 is fitted in the locking hole 19. The front holder 30 has a rectangular thick plate shape that can be fitted into the recess 16 without a gap, and the vertical dimension, the width dimension, and the thickness dimension (= front-back dimension) of the front holder 30 are the same as the vertical dimension of the recess 16 respectively. The dimensions are the same as the dimensions, the width dimension, and the depth dimension.
Then, when the front holder 30 is normally assembled to the recess 16, the front surface of the front holder 30 is flush with the front surface of the housing 10, and the lower surface of the front holder 30 is the lower surface of the housing 10. On the other hand, they are arranged in a plane.

On the left and right side surfaces of the front holder 30, a pair of left and right symmetrical guide ribs 3 extending linearly in the vertical direction.
1 is formed. The guide rib 31 has a shape such that it can be fitted in the guide groove 17 of the recess 16 without back and forth, left and right, and without a gap. The rear surface and the lower end surface of the guide rib 31 are different from the rear surface and the lower end surface of the front holder 30. It is continuous in the same plane. Further, trapezoidal retaining protrusions 32 are formed on the left and right outer surfaces of the guide ribs 31, and when the front holder 30 is assembled to the recess 16 to a regular position, the retaining protrusions 32 of the recess 16 are formed. By fitting into the retaining hole 18, the front holder 30
The downward movement of the and the forward movement from the recess 16 are restricted. Further, on the upper surface of the front holder 30, there is formed a locking projection 33 that projects upward from the center position in the width direction. The rear surface of the locking projection 33 is flush with the rear surface of the front holder 30. Then, when the front holder 30 is normally assembled to the recess 16, the locking protrusion 33 is fitted into the locking hole 19 of the recess 16 from below.

On the rear surface of the front holder 30, a plurality of rectangular terminal accommodating portions 34 corresponding to the small cavities 12S are formed. The width dimension and height dimension of the terminal accommodating portion 34 are substantially the same as those of the small cavity 12S.
In a state where the front holder 30 is normally assembled in the recess 16, the upper, lower, left, and right peripheral walls forming the terminal accommodating portion 34 are substantially flush with the upper, lower, left, and right side surfaces of the small cavity 12S. Becomes The portion of the peripheral wall that serves as the lower surface wall of the terminal accommodating portion 34 serves as a support portion 35 for supporting the front end portion of the small terminal fitting 20S inserted into the small cavity 12S from below. Further, the front end of each terminal accommodating portion 34 is a front stop wall 36 having a tab insertion opening 37 and a jig insertion opening 38, and the outer surface (= front surface) of the plurality of front stop walls 36 as a whole. The front surface of the front holder 30 having a flat shape is configured.

The small terminal fitting 20S has a square tube portion 21 at the front end.
In addition to S, the electric wire 23 is connected to the electric wire crimping portion 22S at the rear end by crimping. In the process of being inserted into the small cavity 12S, the small terminal fitting 20S elastically bends the lance 13S downward by the square tube portion 21S, and when it reaches the regular insertion position, the lance 13S elastically returns to engage the square tube portion 21S. The stopper 24S is locked from the rear side so that the small terminal fitting 20S is held in the retaining state. Further, the front end portion of the small terminal fitting 20S that has been properly inserted, that is, the square tube portion 21S, is attached to the front holder 3 before the small terminal fitting 20S is inserted.
It is adapted to be supported from below by a support portion 35 of zero.

The front holder 30 is assembled in the connector of the present embodiment in an incorrect posture in which the normal posture is turned upside down (= a posture in which the front and rear are opposite to each other in the mounting direction with respect to the recess 16). As a means for preventing, the housing 10 is provided with an assembly restricting portion 17S, and the front holder 30 is provided with a notch 39. The assembly restricting portion 17S includes the guide grooves 1
7 is formed in a form in which the upper end portion (= the rear end portion on the front side in the mounting direction of the front holder 30 with respect to the recessed portion 16) is laid down in a rectangular shape, and the lower surface of the mounting restriction portion 17S is the ceiling surface of the recessed portion 16. (= A surface corresponding to the upper end surface of the front holder 30 that is normally assembled to the recess 16 comes into contact with or approaches the corresponding position). On the other hand, the notch 39 is
The upper end of each guide rib 31 is cut out in a rectangular shape so as to be positioned lower than the upper surface of the front holder 30, and the notch depth of the notch 39 is the build-up dimension of the assembly restricting portion 17S. It has the same dimensions as. Therefore, when the front holder 30 is assembled in the correct position up to the regular position of the concave portion 16, the notch 39 and the assembly restricting portion 17S are fitted with almost no gap.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. When assembling the front holder 30 in a proper posture,
First, the upper end of the front holder 30 is slightly inserted into the recess 16 from the lower surface side of the housing 10, and then the upper end of the guide rib 31 is fitted into the lower end of the guide groove 17. After that, by fitting the guide groove 17 and the guide rib 31, the front holder 30 slides upward while maintaining a predetermined posture. At this time, since the retaining projection 32 of the front holder 30 projects outward from the guide rib 31, the housing 10 is deformed so as to widen the width of the recess 16, and at the same time, the front holder 30 is deformed so as to narrow its width. To do.

When the front holder 30 is assembled to the proper position, the assembly restricting portion 17S and the cutout portion 3 are formed.
9 and 9 are fitted together, the upper surface of the front holder 30 comes into contact with or approaches the ceiling surface of the concave portion 16 (see FIGS. 2 and 7). In this state, since the retaining projection 32 is locked in the retaining hole 18, the downward movement of the front holder 30 and the detachment from the recess 16 are restricted. Further, the engagement between the guide groove 17 and the guide rib 31 and the engagement between the locking projection 33 and the locking hole 19 restrict the forward movement of the front holder 30 and the forward detachment of the front holder 30 from the recess 16. As described above, the front holder 30 is locked in the properly assembled state.

In this state, each terminal accommodating portion 34 of the front holder 30 corresponds to each small cavity 12S and prepares for insertion of the small terminal fitting 20S. In addition, the front holder 30
The front and bottom surfaces of the housing are substantially flush with the front and bottom surfaces of the housing 10. When the small terminal fitting 20S is inserted into each small cavity 12S after the front holder 30 is assembled, the front end of the square tube portion 21S of each small terminal fitting 20S is fitted into the terminal accommodating portion 34. Thereby, the square tube portion 21S
Is supported from below by the support portion 35 of the front holder 30 (see FIG. 7).

When attempting to assemble the front holder 30 into the recess 16 in an upside down inverted posture, the guide ribs 31 are inserted into the guide groove 1 in the initial stage of assembly.
7 is fitted to the lower end portion, and then fitting to the recess 16 is advanced. Then, the upper surface of the front holder 30 is the recess 1
Before reaching the ceiling surface of 6, the upper end of the guide rib 31 (which becomes the lower end when the posture is correct) is attached to the mounting regulation portion 17S.
Abutting from below against the front holder 30
The assembling operation of is regulated (see FIG. 3). In this state, a part of the front holder 30 projects to the lower surface side of the housing 10. Therefore, by visually confirming this state from the front or the side, it can be seen that the mounting posture of the front holder 30 is incorrect. Further, in this improperly assembled state, the height of the terminal accommodating portion 34 is small.
The position is lower than 2S.
Even if 0S is to be inserted into the small cavity 12S, it cannot be inserted to the regular position because the square tube portion 21S interferes with the rear surface of the front holder 30.

As described above, in the present embodiment, it is possible to easily visually confirm whether the front holder 30 is properly mounted or not, so that the front holder 30 is assembled in an incorrect posture. Therefore, it is possible to prevent assembling in an improper posture. Further, since the thickness of the portion of the housing 10 where the guide groove 17 is formed is thin, there is a concern that the rigidity thereof will be reduced accordingly, but the assembly restricting portion 17S does not increase the thickness of the inner end portion of the guide groove 17. Since it is formed into a heaped shape, the rigidity is improved in the vicinity of the portion where the assembly regulation portion 17S is formed.

Further, since the front holder 30 is configured to correspond only to the narrow cavity group 11S among the wide cavity group 11L and the narrow cavity group 11S,
The front holder 30 of the present embodiment has a small area as compared with the one in which all the cavities are collectively supported. Therefore, the amount of shrinkage of the front holder 30 during resin molding is suppressed to a small extent, and the variation in the dimensions of the front holder 30 is reduced accordingly. As a result, the corresponding portion (wall or opening) of the front holder 30 with the small cavity 12S is reduced. Part) and small cavity 12S
The positional displacement between and is suppressed.

Further, the front holder 30 occupies only a part of the front surface of the housing 10. However, since the front holder 30 and the front surface of the housing 10 are substantially flush with each other in the assembled state, the housing 10 The front surface of the is flat, which simplifies the shape of the front surface. [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. Various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

(1) In the above-described embodiment, the assembly regulating portion is provided by depositing the innermost end of the guide groove, but according to the present invention, the portion different from the guide groove is overlayed. An assembly regulation part may be provided. As an example of the structure in this case, the assembly restricting portion is projected from the housing so as to face the front end surface of the front holder in the assembly direction, and the notch corresponding to the assembly restricting portion is formed at the front end of the front holder in the assembly direction. Can be formed on the surface.

(2) In the above-mentioned embodiment, the front holder is adapted to correspond to only a part of the cavities.
The present invention can be applied to the case where one front holder is provided so as to correspond to all the cavities. (3) In the above embodiment, the case where one housing is assembled with one front holder has been described.
The present invention can also be applied when a plurality of front holders are assembled in one housing.

(4) In the above-mentioned embodiment, the connector of the type called a hybrid provided with two types of cavities and two types of terminal fittings has been described.
The present invention can also be applied to a connector that includes only one type of cavity and one type of terminal fitting.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway front view with a front holder removed from a housing.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway front view showing a state where a front holder is attached to a housing.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the housing in which the front holder is mounted upside down.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the housing with the front holder removed.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the housing with the front holder assembled.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a state in which a front holder is removed from a housing.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the housing with the front holder assembled.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the housing in which the front holder is mounted upside down.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing a state in which a large terminal fitting is inserted into a large cavity.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a front holder.

FIG. 11 is a rear view of the front holder.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Housing 12S ... small cavity 13S ... Lance 17 ... Guide groove 17S ... Assembly control section 20S ... Small terminal metal fittings 30 ... Front holder 31 ... Guide rib 35 ... Supporting part 39 ... Notch

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 5E021 FA05 FA09 FB07 FC31 KA06                 5E087 EE14 EE17 FF06 FF13 GG24                       GG26 GG32 MM05 RR26

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A housing in which a cavity is formed and a lance is formed along the inner wall of the cavity, and a terminal fitting which is inserted into the cavity from the rear and is prevented from coming off by the lance. A front holder that forms a region of the cavity on the front side of the lance and that can support the front end portion of the terminal fitting, and is assembled while sliding with respect to the housing, A connector in which a holder slides by being guided by a pair of guide grooves provided in the housing and a pair of guide ribs provided in the front holder, wherein the housing includes the front holder. Assemble in a posture in which the When the front holder arrives at the proper mounting position, the front holder interferes with the front holder to form a mounting restricting portion for restricting further mounting operation. A connector characterized in that a cutout portion is provided for avoiding interference with the assembly regulation portion when the holder is assembled in a proper posture to a proper position. 2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the assembly restricting portion is formed at a rear end portion of the guide groove, and the notch portion is formed at the guide rib.