JP2004079305A - Electric connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make houaings easy to position when fitting them with each other. <P>SOLUTION: An appropriate number of male insertion guide parts 12 are provided at the outer circumference of the insertion housing 1, corresponding to these male insertion guide parts 12, female introduction guide parts 51 for introducing the male insertion guide parts to the key points of the outer circumference of the support housing 5 are provided to serve as a first positioning means; and an axle member 13 at the central part of the insertion housing 1 is provide with an axle member engagement barrel part 33 having an inclined guide face 33a at the central part of the receiving housing 3 opposed to it to serve as a second positioning means; and an inclined guide face 14a for introducing a male connector is provided at the flange part of the terminal receiving hole 14 of each female connector 11, and the tip of each male connector 31 is formed in spherical shape to serve as a third positioning means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electrical connector that facilitates fitting of relatively large housings each accommodating a large number of connection terminals.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, when assembling an instrument panel to a dash panel in an automobile assembling process, it has been attempted to automatically connect a wire harness on the dash panel side and a wire harness on the instrument side using an electrical connector.
[0003]
In this case, one housing of the electrical connector is movably attached to the dash panel, and the other housing is fixed to the instrument panel. Even if both axes are slightly dislocated, the housing on the dash panel side It is desirable that the housings can be connected to each other while following the housing on the instrument panel side.
[0004]
For example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-31550 by the present applicant, a cylindrical portion having an inclined guide surface with an inner taper is provided at the center of one housing, and the cylindrical portion is provided at the center of the other housing. A shaft member to be inserted is provided, and at the time of fitting, the inclined guide surface of the cylindrical portion is abutted against the tip of the shaft member, and the cylindrical portion is moved sideways with further sliding by pushing, An automatic positioning means is employed in which one of the housings is made to follow the entirety of the housing and the displacement between the axes with respect to the other housing is corrected.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in this automatic alignment means including the cylindrical portion at the center of one housing and the shaft member at the center of the other housing, since the number of connection terminals arranged around the automatic positioning means is dimensionally restricted, The outer diameter of the cylindrical portion cannot be made so large, the maximum inner diameter of the inclined guide surface in the cylindrical portion is also slightly small, and even if the tip of the shaft member is made thin, it functions almost only for fine adjustment.
[0006]
In addition, this type of electrical connector is to be fitted together when installing the instrument panel to the dash panel, so sometimes it may not be possible to obtain a sufficient fitting, and this is easily confirmed. In some cases, there is a problem in the reliability of the fitting.
[0007]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an electric connector which solves the above-mentioned problems, expands an automatic alignment range of fitting between housings, facilitates positioning, and increases fitting reliability.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, an electric connector according to the present invention includes an insertion housing accommodating a first connection terminal group, and a receiving housing accommodating a second connection terminal group fitted to the first connection terminal group. An electrical connector comprising: a housing; and a holding housing that holds the receiving housing so as to follow the insertion housing, wherein a plurality of male insertion guide portions are arranged on an outer periphery of the insertion housing, A primary positioning means provided with a female insertion guide for introducing a male insertion guide on the outer periphery of the holding housing corresponding to the insertion guide; and one of the insertion housing and the receiving housing. A second positioning means having a shaft member at a center portion thereof and a shaft member insertion tube portion having a slant guide surface corresponding to the shaft member at the other center portion; and the first connection terminal group. And the second connection And having a third-order alignment means having a sloped guide surface of the male connecting terminal into the terminal accommodating hole hole edge portion of each female connector terminal in the element group.
[0009]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
The present invention will be described in detail based on the illustrated embodiment.
The electrical connector according to the embodiment shown in the perspective view of FIG. 1 and the sectional perspective view of FIG. 2 mainly includes an insertion housing 1, a receiving housing 3, and a holding housing 5. The insertion housing 1 accommodates a large number of female connection terminals 11 of several sizes as a first connection terminal group, and the receiving housing 3 is connected to the female connection terminals 11 as a second connection terminal group. A large number of male connection terminals 31 are attached and accommodated in a plurality of layers of flat cables 32, and the receiving housing 3 is held by the holding housing 5 so as to follow the insertion housing 1.
[0010]
Three male insertion guides 12 are disposed on the outer periphery of the insertion housing 1 at intervals of 120 degrees, and on the outer periphery of the holding housing 5, corresponding to these male insertion guides 12, female introduction guides are introduced. A guide portion 51 is provided, and serves as a primary positioning means A.
[0011]
A shaft member 13 provided at the center of the insertion housing 1 and having a reduced diameter at the tip 13a through a step 13b is provided at the center of the receiving housing 3 facing the inner housing, and has an inner tapered inclined guide. The second positioning means B corresponds to the shaft member fitting cylindrical portion 33 having the surface 33a.
[0012]
Further, an inclined guide surface 14a having an inner taper for introducing a male connection terminal 31 having a spherical front end portion of the receiving housing 3 is provided at an edge portion of each terminal accommodating hole 14 of each female connection terminal 11. The third positioning means C is formed.
[0013]
In addition, a plurality of short positioning pins 34 are protruded at appropriate positions on the receiving housing 3 side of the mutually facing surfaces of the insertion housing 1 and the receiving housing 3, and are fitted into appropriate positions on the insertion housing 1 at the final stage. A plurality of fitting recesses 15 to be fitted with these positioning pins 34 are formed.
[0014]
The three male insertion guides 12 of the insertion housing 1 in the primary positioning means A are provided with two parallel vertical projections 12a on the outer peripheral surface of the holder 2, respectively, and a holding housing for introducing these. The three female introduction guide portions 51 on the outer periphery of the projection 5 project from the end surface of the side wall 52 of the holding housing 5 further outward and are wider than the male insertion guide portion 12, and are protruded. An inclined guide surface 51a for introducing the male insertion guide portion 12 is formed at an inner edge portion of the male member.
[0015]
The allowable range of introduction of these inclined guide surfaces 51a, that is, the allowable range of positioning of the primary positioning means A is set to be larger than the allowable range of positioning of the secondary positioning means B. In addition, the positioning allowable range of the third positioning means C is set to a minute range smaller than the positioning allowable range of the secondary positioning means B.
[0016]
On the inner surface of the side wall 52 following the inclined guide surface 51a, there are formed vertical grooves 51b into which the male insertion guide portions 12 are slightly loosely inserted, and the side walls 35 of the receiving housing 3 are adapted to these vertical grooves 51b. A notch 36 is formed at the center of the notch 36, and a pushing member 37 is provided at an intermediate portion of the notch 36 to correspond to the middle position of the two vertical ridges 12a and to promote pushing.
[0017]
The pushing member 37 is a substantially L-shaped rigid body such as metal, and is located below the receiving housing 3 and is pressed by the distal end portion 13a of the shaft member 13 of the insertion housing 1; 3, a side arm portion 37c having an inward projection 37b engaged with the inclined surface 16 located between the vertical ridges 12a of the insertion housing 1, a lower arm portion 37a and a side arm portion thereof. A connecting portion 37d is provided between the portions 37c. The connecting portion 37d is rotatably supported by the receiving housing 3 by a shaft 38 at the connecting portion 37d.
[0018]
A holding housing 5 for holding the receiving housing 3 is attached to a dash panel, and the other insertion housing 4 is fixed to an instrument panel. When this instrument panel is assembled to the dash panel, both axes are positioned in a positional manner. Even if there is some deviation, the housings 1 and 3 can be connected to each other while the receiving housing 3 or the holding housing 5 on the dash panel side follows the insertion housing 1 on the instrument panel side.
[0019]
For this follow-up, the primary positioning means A, the secondary positioning means B, and the tertiary positioning means C act sequentially to properly align, and finally, a large number of female-type connections All of the terminals 11 and the large number of male connection terminals 31 of the receiving housing 3 are sufficiently fitted, and the positioning pins 34 on the receiving housing 3 are fitted into the fitting recesses 15 on the insertion housing 1 side.
[0020]
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the primary positioning means A. First, the vertical ridge 12 a of the male insertion guide portion 12 of the insertion housing 1 is inclined by the inclined guide surface of the female introduction guide portion 51 of the holding housing 5. It hits 51a. When the insertion housing 1 is further pushed in as it is, the vertical ridge 12a slides on the inclined guide surface 51a, and follows the female introduction guide portion 51 to the side, whereby the receiving housing 3 or the holding housing 5 is entirely moved. , The positional deviation between the axes with respect to the insertion housing 1 is roughly corrected. Eventually, the distal end 13 a of the shaft member 13 of the insertion housing 1 abuts on the inclined guide surface 33 a of the shaft member fitting cylindrical portion 33 of the receiving housing 3.
[0021]
FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the operation of the secondary positioning means B. When the distal end portion 13a abuts on the inclined guide surface 33a and the insertion housing 1 is further pushed in as it is, the step portion 13b of the shaft member 13 is then inclined. The surface 33a is slid, and the shaft member fitting / inserting cylindrical portion 33 is moved to the side, and the receiving housing 3 or the holding housing 5 follows the entirety thereof. Most misalignments are corrected. At this time, the male insertion guide portion 12 of the insertion housing 1 enters the vertical groove 51b in the receiving housing 3.
[0022]
FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of the use of the tertiary positioning means C, and FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part thereof. When the insertion housing 1 is further pushed in, the shaft member 13 is inserted into the shaft member fitting cylinder 33. And the spherical tip of the male connection terminal 31 composed of a pin-shaped terminal slides on the inclined guide surface 14a for introducing the male connection terminal of the terminal accommodating hole 14 in each female connection terminal 11, Each female connection terminal 11 is moved sideways. The receiving housing 3 or the holding housing 5 generally follows this, and the misalignment between the axes with the insertion housing 1 is almost completely corrected, and the terminal receiving holes 14 of the female connection terminals 11 and the The male connection terminal 31 fits shallowly.
[0023]
When the insertion housing 1 is further pushed in thereafter, all the female connection terminals 11 and the male connection terminals 31 are finally fully fitted, and the positioning pins 34 on the receiving housing 3 side are inserted into the insertion housing. The fitting with the fitting recess 15 on the first side is as described above.
[0024]
In the last fitting process of the housings 1 and 3, the push-in member 37 rotates about the shaft 38 by the lower arm 36a being pushed by the shaft member 13, and the inward projection 37b pushes the metal plate of the insert-in housing 1. The insertion housing 1 is engaged with the attached inclined surface 16 so as to retract the insertion housing 1 to promote the fitting.
[0025]
In addition, the shaft member 13 and the shaft member fitting cylindrical portion 33 can be provided with the former in the housing 3 and the latter in the insertion housing 1. The positioning pin 34 on the receiving housing 3 side and the fitting recess 15 on the insertion housing 1 side may be reversed.
[0026]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the electric connector according to the present invention can be provided with the primary positioning means, the secondary positioning means, and the tertiary positioning means for sequentially inserting the insertion housing, without any trouble. It is possible to extend the allowable range of the alignment of the fitting, to easily and accurately fit both housings and the connection terminals, and to enhance the reliability of the electrical connection.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a sectional perspective view.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an operation of a primary positioning means.
FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory view of a secondary positioning means.
FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory view of a tertiary positioning means.
FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 5;
[Explanation of symbols]
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 insertion housing 3 receiving housing 5 holding housing 11 female connection terminal 12 male insertion guide portion 13 shaft member 14 terminal receiving hole 14a inclined guide surface 15 fitting concave portion 31 male connection terminal 32 flat cable 33 shaft member fitting insertion Cylindrical portion 33a Inclined guide surface 34 Positioning pin 37 Push member 51 Female introduction guide portion 51a Inclined guide surface A Primary positioning means B Secondary positioning means C Tertiary positioning means

Claims (3)

An insertion housing accommodating the first connection terminal group, a receiving housing accommodating the second connection terminal group fitted to the first connection terminal group, and the reception housing capable of following the insertion housing. An electrical connector comprising a holding housing and a plurality of male insertion guides disposed on an outer periphery of the insertion housing, and a male connector on an outer periphery of the holding housing corresponding to the male insertion guide. A first positioning means provided with a female introduction guide portion for introducing an insertion guide portion, a shaft member provided at a central portion of one of the insertion housing and the receiving housing, and a shaft member provided at the other central portion; Secondary positioning means provided with a shaft member fitting cylinder having a slant guide surface corresponding to the member, and each female connection terminal in the first connection terminal group and the second connection terminal group Terminal receiving hole Electrical connector and having a third-order alignment means having a sloped guide surface for the mold connection terminal introduced. An appropriate number of short positioning pins are protruded at an appropriate position on one of the opposing surfaces of the insertion housing and the receiving housing, and the other end is fitted with the positioning pin at the final stage of insertion of the housings. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein a mating recess is formed. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein a tip of the male connection terminal has a spherical shape.

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