JP2006127844A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector capable of restraining deflection of a tab. <P>SOLUTION: A front end part of a cavity 14 housing a male terminal fitting 30 is opened on a back wall face 12A of a hood part 12 of a connector housing 10, and a tab 32 arranged on the front end part of the male terminal fitting 30 is made to protrude in the hood part 12 from the opening of the cavity 14 (penetration space 19) in cantilever form. A regulation part 21 capable of regulating the deflection of the tab 32 is arranged on a back wall face 12A of a hood part 12 by making the tab protrude frontward from the edge part of the opening of penetration space 19. Since the deflection of the part of tab 32 protruded in the hood part 12 is regulated, the male terminal 30 can be housed in stable attitude. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector.

  Conventionally, there is a type of connector in which the terminal fittings housed in the connector housing are double-prevented by a lance and a retainer, and among them, a type in which the retainer is inserted from the side of the connector housing is known. (See Patent Document 1).

In this type of connector, if the retainer is a terminal fitting, such as a male terminal fitting, the retainer may be locked using the raised surface of the rear end of the main body. Such a locking structure is not established if there is not. In such a case, a method is adopted in which the terminal fitting is prevented from coming off by restricting the deflection of the lance by causing a part of the retainer to enter the bending space of the lance. When such a structure is adopted, the retainer often has a front wall that moves along the fitting surface of the connector housing (the surface on which the tab of the male terminal fitting protrudes into the hood portion). In addition, this front wall has a tab relief groove in the direction of movement of the retainer, because it is necessary to avoid interference with the tab while moving the retainer (while moving from the temporary locking position to the final locking position). It will be formed in the shape of a long groove along.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-185859

By the way, the dimension of the tab that protrudes into the hood needs to be a specified dimension because of the connection with the female terminal fitting. Generally, the protrusion length from here is based on the mating surface of the connector housing. Required as specified dimensions. However, in the above structure, since the tab protrudes from the mating surface of the connector housing and then protrudes into the hood portion through the relief groove on the front wall of the retainer, the specified dimension is the front surface of the retainer front wall. Will be set as a reference. Therefore, the tab has an increased free length (projecting length from the fitting surface) in the hood portion as compared with the conventional case by the thickness of the front wall of the retainer. Thus, in the related art, the tab is likely to be shaken as the free length becomes longer.
The present invention has been completed based on the above situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide a connector capable of regulating tab deflection.

  As a means for achieving the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is characterized in that the front end of the cavity accommodating the male terminal fitting is opened on the back wall surface of the hood portion of the connector housing, and the front end tab of the male terminal fitting is provided. Is a connector that projects in a cantilever manner into the hood from the opening of the cavity, and the back end surface of the hood projects forward from the opening edge of the opening, thereby preventing the tab from swinging. It is characterized by a configuration in which a restrictable restricting portion is provided.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the plurality of opening portions of the cavity are arranged in parallel in the width direction of the connector housing, and the restricting portion is an opening of the opening edge of the opening portion. The connector housing is provided with a retainer for retaining the male terminal fitting, and the retainer is provided along the back wall surface of the hood portion in the mounting process. The front wall has a front wall that moves while the retainer moves in the assembling direction. The front wall engages with the restricting portion and penetrates the tab to prevent interference with the tab. It is characterized in that an avoidable escape groove is recessed.

<Invention of Claim 1>
Since the tab is restricted by the restricting portion from swinging in the portion protruding into the hood portion, the male terminal fitting can be maintained in a stable posture.

<Invention of Claim 2>
By providing the escape groove, it is possible to avoid interference between the front wall of the retainer and the restricting part, so that the front wall of the retainer can be mounted in close contact with or close to the back wall of the hood. It is. Therefore, the distance between the front wall of the retainer and the rear end surface of the hood is shorter than that without a relief groove for fitting the restricting part, and the free length ahead of the restricting part in the tab is accordingly shortened. It becomes difficult to shake the tab.

<Embodiment 1>
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The connector of this embodiment includes a connector housing 10, a plurality of male terminal fittings 30, and a retainer 40.
The connector housing 10 is made of a synthetic resin, and is integrally formed with a terminal housing portion 11 and a hood portion 12 that extends from the terminal housing portion 11 forward in a rectangular tube shape. An assembly hole 13 for assembling the retainer 40 from the side is formed on the side surface of the connector housing 10. In the terminal accommodating portion 11, a plurality of cavities 14 elongated in the front-rear direction are formed in two upper and lower stages, and both the upper cavity 14 and the lower cavity 14 are arranged in a row in the left-right direction (that is, in the horizontal direction). In parallel. At the front end portion of each cavity 14, a lance 15 that extends in a cantilevered manner forward and can be elastically deformed while tilting in the vertical direction with the rear end portion (base end portion) as a fulcrum is provided as a pair of upper and lower portions. Is formed. The lances 15 in the respective cavities 14 are vertically symmetric, and a retaining projection 15 a is formed on the opposing surface (the surface facing the cavity 14) of the upper and lower lances 15.

  Similarly, at the front end portion of the cavity 14, a pair of upper and lower support walls 17 projecting horizontally from the partition wall 16 partitioning the cavities 14 adjacent to the left and right are formed. That is, in one cavity 14, a pair of upper and lower support walls 17 protrude from the inner surfaces of the left and right partition walls 16. The front end face of the partition wall 16 is flush with the front end face of the terminal accommodating portion 11, and the front end face of the support wall 17 is also flush with the front end face of the terminal accommodating portion 11.

  The pair of left and right support walls 17 located on the upper side are located at the same height, and are wider than the space between the left and right support walls 17 and the space between the left and right support walls 17 and are divided into left and right partitions. An upper die-cutting space 18A having an inverted convex shape for forming the upper lance 15 is constituted by a space located above the support walls 17 between the walls 16, and when viewed from the front, The upper lance 15 is located in the upper die cutting space 18A. Similarly, the paired left and right support walls 17 located at the lower side are also positioned at the same height, and are wider than the space between the left and right support walls 17 and the space between the left and right support walls 17. A lower die-cutting space 18B having a convex shape for forming the lower lance 15 is constituted by the space between the left and right partition walls 16 and located below the support walls 17. When viewed from below, the lower lance 15 is located in the lower die-cutting space 18B.

  Further, the space between the support walls 17 corresponding to the top and bottom at the front end portion of each cavity 14 is slightly wider than the space between the support walls 17 in the left-right direction, and is a rectangular penetration for penetrating a tab 32 described later. It is a space 19 (an opening which is a constituent requirement of the present invention). The partition 20 between the two through spaces 19 adjacent to the left and right is located at a height between the upper and lower support walls 17 and extends from the partition wall 16 to the left and right both sides so as to be connected to the upper and lower support walls 17. It has a form. Moreover, the left-right dimension of the partition part 20 is a dimension a little smaller than the width dimension which match | combined the two support walls 17 extended in the two cavity 14 adjacent to the left-right both sides from the partition wall 16. FIG. That is, the projecting dimension of the partition part 20 from the partition wall 16 is slightly smaller than the extension dimension of the support wall 17 from the partition wall 16. The through space 19 communicates with the upper die cutting space 18A and the lower die cutting space 18B at the central portion in the width direction (left and right direction).

  And this partition part 20 becomes a form which protruded in the block shape ahead from 11 A of front end surfaces of terminal accommodating part 11 (namely, front end surface of the partition wall 16 and the support wall 17). In other words, the left and right inner wall surfaces of the inner wall surface constituting the through space 19 are provided over a region in front of the upper and lower inner wall surfaces. And the block-shaped part which protruded ahead rather than the opening edge of the penetration space 19 in 11 A of front end surfaces of the terminal accommodating part 11 in this partition part 20, ie, the back end surface 12A of the food | hood part 12, regulates the deflection | deviation of the tab 32. It functions as the regulation part 21 of the.

  The male terminal fitting 30 includes a terminal body 31 having a rectangular tube shape, an elongated tab 32 that protrudes further forward from the front end of the terminal body 31, and an electric wire connection portion (not shown) that extends rearward from the terminal body 31. An electric wire (not shown) is connected to the electric wire connecting portion by crimping or the like. The tab 32 is smaller than the terminal body 31 in both the vertical dimension and the width dimension. When viewed from the front side (direction passing through the through space 19 and perpendicular to the back end face of the hood portion 12), the tab 32 is horizontally long. It has a square shape. The male terminal fitting 30 is inserted into the cavity 14 from the rear, and the lance 15 is locked in a locking hole (not shown) formed in the terminal main body 31, so that the male terminal metal fitting 30 is in a retaining state at a regular insertion position. Retained. In a state in which the male terminal fitting 30 is properly inserted, the tab 32 is penetrated through the penetration space 19 without causing back and forth and left and right, and protrudes forward from the rear end face of the hood part 12 into the hood part 12. It becomes a state.

  The retainer 40 is made of synthetic resin, and integrally includes a front wall 41 that is assembled along the back end surface of the hood portion 12 and a plurality of secondary locking portions 42 that protrude rearward from the front wall 41. And is assembled to the connector housing 10 from the side (direction perpendicular to the penetrating direction of the tab 32 with respect to the penetrating space 19) through the assembling hole 13. The assembled retainer 40 locks the locking projection 43 formed on the lower surface of the front wall 41 with the temporary locking recess 22 formed on the front end surface of the terminal accommodating portion 11, so that the temporary locking position (FIG. 6). And the locking protrusion 43 is locked to the main locking recess 23 formed on the front end surface of the terminal accommodating portion 11, so that the main locking position (see FIG. 7) is obtained. ) To be held. The retainer 40 can slide in the left-right direction parallel to the rear end surface 12A of the hood portion 12 (the front end surface 11A of the terminal accommodating portion 11) between the temporary locking position and the main locking position. In the process of sliding, the rear surface of the front wall 41 faces the rear end surface 12A of the hood portion 12 (the front end surface 11A of the terminal accommodating portion 11) in parallel with sliding or with a slight clearance 15 therebetween. The state is to be kept.

  A plurality of jig insertion holes 44 that are positioned so as to correspond to the lances 15 in a state where the retainer 40 is in the temporary locking position are formed in the front wall 41 so as to penetrate in the front-rear direction. Moreover, the secondary latching | locking part 42 is provided so that it may make a pair up and down for every cavity 14, and it is set as the form which protrudes back. In a state where the retainer 40 is in the temporary locking position, the secondary locking portion 42 is in a position disengaged laterally with respect to the lance 15, and the elastic deformation of the lance 15 is allowed. Thereby, the male terminal fitting 30 is inserted into the cavity 14 while elastically bending the lance 15, and the lance 15 is removed from the male terminal fitting 30 by a jig (not shown) inserted into the jig insertion hole 44. The male terminal fitting 30 can be extracted from the cavity 14 by being elastically bent in the dissociating direction. When the retainer 40 is in the main locking position, the secondary locking portion 42 comes into contact with the upper surface of the upper lance 15 and the lower surface of the lower lance 15. The lance 15 is restrained from elastic deformation in the direction of disengagement from the male terminal fitting 30, and the male terminal fitting 30 is securely held in the retaining state.

  On the rear surface of the front wall 41 of the retainer 40 (the surface facing the front end surface 11A of the terminal accommodating portion 11), the width direction (the direction in which the through spaces 19 are arranged, the temporary locking position and the main locking position of the retainer 40). The relief groove 45 is formed in a linearly cut shape (recessed shape) along a direction parallel to the moving direction between the first and second grooves. The escape groove 45 is penetrated to the front surface of the front wall 41. A plurality of restricting portions 21 arranged in the width direction are inserted into the escape groove 45 from the rear without any vertical play, and the front end surface of the inserted restricting portion 21 is the front end surface of the front wall 41. Almost flat.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
The male terminal fitting 30 is inserted into the cavity 14 in a state where the retainer 40 is held at the temporary locking position. When the male terminal fitting 30 is inserted, the tab 32 passes through the through space 19 and the escape groove 45 and protrudes from the front surface of the front wall 41 of the retainer 40 into the hood portion 12. When the insertion of all the male terminal fittings 30 is completed, the retainer 40 is slid to the final locking position. During this time, the escape grooves 45 of the retainer 40 are in a state in which the upper and lower inner surfaces are opposed to the upper and lower surfaces of the plurality of restricting portions 21 with a slight clearance 15 therebetween. That is, the tabs 32 sandwiched between the plurality of restricting portions 21 and the adjacent restricting portions 21 move relatively in the left-right direction within the escape groove 45. Further, when the retainer 40 slides, even if the upper and lower inner surfaces of the escape groove 45 come into contact with the upper surface or the lower surface of the tab 32, the tab 32 is restricted from being displaced in the left-right direction by the restricting portion 21. 32 is maintained in a normal orientation (posture).

  After the retainer 40 is slid to the final locking position and the male terminal fitting 30 is in the double locking state, it can be fitted with a mating connector (not shown). When mating, the mating connector is fitted into the hood portion 12 and the front end surface of the mating connector is in contact with the front surface of the front wall 41 of the retainer 40 or facing the front wall 41 with a very small clearance 15. Become. The tab 32 relatively enters the mating connector, and is connected to a female terminal fitting (not shown) accommodated in the mating connector so as to be conductive.

  As described above, in the connector of the present embodiment, the front end of the cavity 14 that accommodates the male terminal fitting 30 opens as the through space 19 on the back wall surface 12A of the hood portion 12 of the connector housing 10, and the front end of the male terminal fitting 30 is The tab 32 protrudes in a cantilever manner from the through space 19 into the hood portion 12, and the tab 32 protrudes forward from the opening edge of the through space 19 to the rear end surface 12 </ b> A of the hood portion 12. A restricting portion 21 capable of restricting the left and right shake of 32 is provided. That is, the left and right side surfaces of the tab 32 are not only sandwiched between the left and right partition portions 20, but are also sandwiched between the left and right restriction portions 21 that extend forward from the partition portion 20. Compared with the case where no restricting portion is provided, the region in which the tabs 32 are stacked from both the left and right sides in the front-rear direction is longer. As a result, the tab 32 is restricted from shaking left and right at the portion protruding into the hood portion 12, so that the male terminal fitting 30 is maintained in a stable posture.

  In addition, a plurality of through spaces 19 are arranged in parallel in the width direction of the connector housing 10, and the restricting portion 21 is an edge of the opening edge of the through space 19 that is opposed to each other in the parallel direction (left-right direction) of the through space 19. The connector housing 10 is provided with a retainer 40 that keeps the male terminal fitting 30 from being removed by being assembled from the side, and the retainer 40 extends along the rear wall surface 12A of the hood portion 12 in the mounting process. The front wall 41 is moved in the direction of the rear wall. The retainer 40 is fitted on the rear surface of the front wall 41 along the assembling direction. 32 is characterized in that a relief groove 45 capable of avoiding interference with 32 is recessed.

  According to this configuration, since the escape groove 45 is provided, it is possible to avoid interference between the front wall 41 of the retainer 40 and the restricting portion 21, so that the rear surface of the front wall 41 of the retainer 40 is disposed on the hood portion 12. Can be mounted in a state of being in close contact with or close to the rear wall surface 12A. Therefore, the distance in the front-rear direction between the front wall 41 of the retainer 40 and the back end surface 12A of the hood portion 12 is shortened, and the tab 32 is correspondingly reduced as compared with the case where no escape groove for fitting the restriction portion 21 is provided. The free length ahead of the restricting portion 21 is shorter, and the tab 32 is more difficult to swing.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention, and further, within the scope not departing from the gist of the invention other than the following. Various modifications can be made.
(1) In the above embodiment, the restricting portions are arranged on the edges (left and right edges) facing each other in the parallel direction of the openings in the opening edges of the openings (through spaces). The part may be arranged on an edge (upper and lower edges) different from the edges facing each other in the parallel direction of the openings in the opening edge of the opening.
(2) Although the connector provided with a retainer has been described in the above embodiment, the present invention can also be applied to a connector that does not have a retainer.
(3) In the above embodiment, the front end surface of the restricting portion fitted in the relief groove is substantially flush with the front end surface of the front wall. However, according to the present invention, the restriction portion is fitted in the relief groove. You may make it the front end surface of the regulated part located in the back | inner side (rear) rather than the front end surface of a front wall.

Sectional drawing of Embodiment 1 Sectional view of connector housing with retainer removed A perspective view showing the penetrating space and the restricting portion Cross section of retainer Retainer front view Front view of the retainer in the temporary locking position Front view of the retainer in the fully locked position Front view of connector housing with retainer removed Side view of connector housing

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Connector housing 12 ... Hood | hood part 12A ... Back end surface 14 ... Cavity 19 ... Through space (opening part)
21 ... Restriction part 30 ... Male terminal fitting 32 ... Tab 40 ... Retainer 41 ... Front wall 45 ... Relief groove

Claims (2)

A connector in which a front end of a cavity for housing a male terminal fitting is opened on the back wall surface of the hood portion of the connector housing, and a tab at the front end of the male terminal fitting projects in a cantilever manner from the opening of the cavity into the hood portion Because
A connector characterized in that a restricting portion capable of restricting the deflection of the tab by protruding forward from the opening edge of the opening is provided on the back end surface of the hood portion. A plurality of openings of the cavity are arranged in parallel in the width direction of the connector housing,
The restricting portion is arranged on the edges facing each other in the parallel direction of the openings of the opening edges of the openings,
The connector housing is provided with a retainer for retaining the male terminal fitting.
The retainer has a front wall that moves along the back wall surface of the hood portion in the process of mounting,
The front wall is provided with a relief groove that fits with the restricting portion while the retainer moves along the assembly direction and allows the tab to penetrate to avoid interference with the tab. The connector according to claim 1, wherein:

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