JP2007263726A - Connector inspecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector inspecting device that is less likely to generating a deficiency such as tilting or damage of a probe, and enabling easy replacement of the prove when a deficiency of the probe is generated. <P>SOLUTION: This device is equipped with the probe 9 whose tip is in contact with a connector terminal 7, and a holder 11 for holding the probe. The probe 9 comprises a male screw cylindrical body 21, a shaft rod 23, a contactor 25, a coil spring 27 and a stopper 29. The holder 11 comprises an article, having a rear-end side block part 35 where a female screw part 39, into which the male screw cylindrical body 21 of the probe is screwed, is formed, and a tip side block part 37 formed integrally with the tip side of the rear end side block part 35, wherein each recessed part 41 for storing a part of the coil spring 23 of the probe and a rear end part of the contactor 25 is formed on the tip side block part 37. In the probe 11, the tip part of the contactor 25 is projected from an opening end face 43 of the recessed part 41, in a sate where the male screw cylindrical body 21 is screwed into the female screw part 39 of the holder and fixed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector inspection apparatus that inspects a conduction state and an incorporation state of a terminal incorporated in a connector.

  In a manufacturing process, a connector provided in an electrical junction box or the like or a single connector is strictly inspected for the presence / absence of a terminal, a conductive state, and an assembled state. A connector inspection apparatus used for this type of inspection generally includes a probe whose tip contacts a connector terminal and a holder that holds the probe at a position corresponding to the connector terminal. The rear end of the probe is connected to an inspection circuit via an electric wire (see Patent Document 1).

  The inspection is performed by setting the connector at a predetermined position, moving the holder forward, bringing the probe into contact with the terminal of the connector, and transmitting / receiving an inspection signal by the inspection circuit. When one inspection is completed, the holder is retracted, the connector is removed, and the next connector is inspected.

JP 2001-332370 A

  In the conventional connector inspection apparatus, since the tip of the probe protrudes long from the end face of the holder, problems such as the inclination and damage of the probe are likely to occur during repeated inspection of the connector. If a probe failure occurs, accurate inspection cannot be performed, so that the probe needs to be replaced. However, in the conventional connector inspection apparatus, the probe replacement is troublesome.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a connector inspection apparatus in which problems such as probe tilt and damage are unlikely to occur, and the probe can be easily replaced when a probe malfunction occurs.

To achieve this object, the present invention provides a connector inspection apparatus comprising a probe whose tip contacts a terminal of a connector and a holder that holds the probe at a position corresponding to the terminal of the connector.
The probe slidably penetrates the shaft rod through the male screw cylinder, and a contact that contacts the connector terminal is attached to the tip of the shaft rod, and the coil spring is compressed between the contact and the male screw cylinder. With a stopper provided near the rear end of the shaft rod,
The holder includes a rear end side block portion in which a male screw cylindrical body of the probe is screwed and fixed, and a front end side block portion for connector positioning formed integrally on the front end side of the rear end side block portion. And the front end side block portion is formed with a concave portion for accommodating the coil spring portion of the probe and the rear end portion of the contact,
The probe is characterized in that the tip of the contact protrudes from the opening end surface of the recess in a state where the male screw cylinder is screwed into the female screw of the holder.

  In the inspection apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable that a parallel surface for engaging a tool for rotating the male screw cylinder is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the tip of the male screw cylinder of the probe.

  In the inspection apparatus of the present invention, when the connector to be inspected is a male terminal connector, the front end side block portion of the holder has an outer wall surface slidably contacting the inner wall surface of the housing of the male terminal connector. It is preferable that an abutting surface that abuts against the front end surface of the housing of the male terminal connector is formed at the rear end of the wall surface.

  In the inspection apparatus of the present invention, when the connector to be inspected is a female terminal connector, the front end side block portion of the holder becomes an abutting surface where the opening end surface of the recess abuts against the front end surface of the housing of the female terminal connector. In addition, it is preferable that a peripheral wall having an inner wall surface slidably contacting the outer wall surface of the housing of the female terminal connector is provided around the abutting surface.

  According to the present invention, since the probe is fixed to the holder by screwing the male screw cylinder, the probe can be easily attached and detached, and the probe can be easily replaced. In addition, since the shaft rod is slidably passed through the male threaded cylinder that is screwed into the holder, the tilt of the shaft rod is unlikely to occur and the tip position of the contact is accurate, so contact with the connector terminals The state is stable. Furthermore, the coil spring portion of the probe and the rear end portion of the contact are housed in a recess formed in the front end block, and only the tip of the contact protrudes from the open end surface of the recess. Is less susceptible to damage and less prone to tilting and has high durability against repeated inspections.

  In addition, although the male screw cylinder is screwed into the inner part of the recess, a tool that rotates the male screw cylinder on the parallel surface by forming a parallel surface on the outer peripheral surface of the tip of the male screw cylinder of the probe. The male threaded cylinder can be easily screwed in by engaging.

  In the case of inspection of the male terminal connector, if the outer wall surface of the front end side block portion of the holder is formed so as to be in sliding contact with the inner wall surface of the housing of the male terminal connector, the contact between the male terminal of the connector and the probe Can be accurately and easily positioned. Furthermore, if a contact surface is formed at the rear end of the outer wall surface of the front block, the contact surface of the housing of the male terminal connector contacts, the contact of the probe when the contact of the probe contacts the male terminal of the connector. Since the retreat distance can be made constant, the contact pressure between the probe contact and the male terminal of the connector can be equalized, and a more stable inspection can be performed.

  When inspecting the female terminal connector, if the opening end surface of the concave portion of the block portion on the front end side of the holder is used as an abutting surface against the front end surface of the housing of the female terminal connector, the contact of the probe becomes the female connector of the connector. Since the contact distance of the contact when it hits the terminal can be made constant, the contact pressure between the contact of the probe and the female terminal of the connector can be equalized, and a more stable inspection can be performed. Further, if a peripheral wall having an inner wall surface slidably contacting the outer wall surface of the female terminal connector housing is provided around the abutting surface, positioning of the female terminal of the connector and the contact of the probe can be accurately and easily performed. Can be done.

  [Embodiment 1] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. This connector inspection device 1 inspects the male terminal connector 3. The male terminal connector 3 has a form in which a plurality of male terminals 7 protrude in a predetermined arrangement within a box-shaped housing 5. The inspection device 1 includes a probe 9 whose tip contacts the male terminal 7 of the connector 3 and an insulating holder 11 that holds the probe 9 at a position corresponding to the male terminal 7 of the connector 3. The holder 11 is supported by the piston 19 of the air cylinder 17 via the vertical support 13 and the horizontal support 15 and can move up and down.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the probe 9 has a male screw cylinder 21 having a male screw portion formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof, and a shaft bar 23 is slidably passed through the probe 9. 25, a coil spring 27 is inserted in a compressed state on the outer periphery of the shaft rod 23 between the contact 25 and the male screw cylinder 21, and a stopper 29 is provided near the rear end of the shaft rod 23. . A flange portion 31 having both side surfaces cut in parallel is formed at the distal end portion of the male screw cylinder 21. The parallel surfaces 33 on both sides of the flange portion 31 are portions for engaging a tool (described later) for rotating the male screw cylinder 21. The flange portion 31 may be in the form of a hex nut. When no external force is applied to the contactor 25, the probe 9 is in a state where the stopper 29 is in contact with the rear end of the male screw cylinder 21 by the repulsive force of the coil spring 27 as shown in FIG. When a pushing force is applied to the contactor 25, the shaft bar 23 slides within the male screw cylinder 21 and is displaced upward as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the holder 11 includes a rear end side block portion 35 supported by the vertical support 13 and a front end side block portion 37 protruding from the front end side of the rear end side block portion 35. Have. The front end side block portion 37 is formed in a size that fits into the housing 5 of the male terminal connector 3. The rear end side block portion 35 is formed with a female screw portion 39 to which the male screw cylinder 21 of the probe 9 is screwed and fixed. Further, the distal end side block portion 37 is formed with a recess 41 for accommodating the portion of the coil spring 27 of the probe 9 and the rear end portion of the contact 25. In the probe 9, when the male screw cylinder 21 is screwed and fixed to the female screw portion 39 of the holder 11, the tip of the contact 25 protrudes from the opening end surface 43 of the recess 41.

  With the above configuration, the male threaded cylinder 21 is screwed in at the back of the recess 41. Therefore, when the probe 9 is fixed to the holder 11, a tool 45 as shown in FIG. The tool 45 has a cylindrical portion 47 that accommodates the coil spring 27 and the contact 25 of the probe 9, and sandwiches the parallel surface 33 of the distal end portion of the male screw cylinder 21 at the distal end of the cylindrical portion 47. The piece 49 is formed. When the probe 9 is set in the tool 45 as shown in FIG. 3, the male screw cylinder 21 of the probe 9 is inserted into the recess 41 as shown in FIG. 4A, and the tool 45 is rotated in the screwing direction. The male screw cylinder 21 can be screwed into the female screw portion 39 as shown in FIG. When it is screwed to the end, the flange portion 31 hits the inner surface of the recess 41 and cannot be screwed any further. The tool 45 is pulled out after screwing is completed.

  When the probe 9 needs to be replaced, the tool 45 is attached to the probe to be replaced as shown in FIG. 4B, the tool 45 is rotated in the direction opposite to the screwing, and the probe 9 is removed from the holder 11. After removal, a new probe may be attached as described above. Thus, since this inspection apparatus is easy to attach and detach the probe 9, it is possible to easily and efficiently replace the probe.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an electric wire 53 is connected to the rear end of the probe 9 attached to the holder 11 by a detachable connection cap 51. The electric wire 53 is connected to an inspection circuit (not shown).

  Further, as described above, the front end side block portion 37 of the holder 11 is sized to fit into the housing 5 of the male terminal connector 3, and therefore when the holder 11 is lowered toward the connector 3 ( Alternatively, when the connector 3 is raised toward the holder 11), as shown in FIG. 5, the outer wall surface 55 of the front end side block portion 37 first comes into sliding contact with the inner wall surface 57 of the housing 5. Thereby, the XY coordinate axes of the connector 3 and the holder 11 are exactly coincident, and the male terminal 7 and the contact 25 can be accurately opposed to each other. Therefore, even if the position for setting the connector 3 is slightly deviated, the connector 3 and the holder 11 can be accurately positioned, which not only facilitates work but also makes it difficult for the probe 9 to be damaged.

  Further, when the holder 11 is further lowered, as shown in FIG. 6, after the contact 25 comes into contact with the male terminal 7, the contact 25 is pushed back by the male terminal 7 and retracted by a certain distance from the holder 11. The abutting surface 59 formed at the rear end position of the outer wall surface 55 of the distal end side block portion 37 abuts against the distal end surface 61 of the housing 5. For this reason, the holder 11 cannot be lowered any further. Therefore, the stroke distance of the holder 11 can be made constant, and the contact pressure between the contact 25 and the male terminal 7 can be equalized, so that a more stable inspection without variation can be performed.

  [Embodiment 2] FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the present invention. The connector inspection apparatus 1 inspects the female terminal connector 63. The female terminal connector 63 has a form in which a plurality of female terminals 67 are housed in a predetermined arrangement in a housing 65. The configuration of the inspection apparatus 1 is almost the same as that of the first embodiment. That is, the holder 11 has a rear end side block portion 35 and a front end side block portion 37, an internal thread portion 39 is formed in the rear end side block portion 35, and a concave portion 41 is formed in the front end side block portion 37. The probe 9 includes a male screw cylinder 21, a shaft bar 23, a contact 25, a coil spring 27, and a stopper 29. The difference from the first embodiment is that the opening end surface 43 of the concave portion 41 of the distal end side block portion 37 is an abutting surface that abuts against the distal end surface 69 of the housing 65 of the female terminal connector. A peripheral wall 71 projects from the periphery, and an inner wall surface 73 of the peripheral wall 71 is in sliding contact with an outer wall surface 75 of the housing 65 of the female terminal connector.

  Thus, when the holder 11 is lowered toward the female terminal connector 63, the inner wall surface 73 of the peripheral wall 71 first comes into sliding contact with the outer wall surface 75 of the housing 65, so that the XY coordinate axes of the female terminal connector 63 and the holder 11 are set. Can be accurately matched, and the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained. Further, when the holder 11 is further lowered, as shown in FIG. 8, after the contactor 25 comes into contact with the female terminal 67 and then retracts a predetermined distance from the holder 11, The contact surface 43 abuts on the front end surface 69 of the housing 65, and the holder 11 cannot be lowered any further. Therefore, the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained in this respect.

A sectional view showing one embodiment of a connector inspection device concerning the present invention. 1A is a front view of the probe used in the inspection apparatus of FIG. 1, FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 1A, and FIG. The tool used for attaching the probe of FIG. 2 to a holder, (A) is sectional drawing, (B) is the BB sectional drawing of (A). (A), (B) is sectional drawing which shows the procedure which attaches the probe of FIG. 2 to a holder using the tool of FIG. Sectional drawing which shows the step in the middle of making the probe of the inspection apparatus of FIG. 1 contact the male terminal of a connector. Sectional drawing which shows the state which makes the probe of the test | inspection apparatus of FIG. 1 contact the male terminal of a connector, and test | inspects. Sectional drawing which shows other embodiment of the connector test | inspection apparatus which concerns on this invention in the stage in the middle of making a probe contact the female terminal of a connector. Sectional drawing which shows the state which makes the probe of the inspection apparatus of FIG. 7 contact the female terminal of a connector, and test | inspects.

Explanation of symbols

1: connector inspection device 3: male terminal connector 5: housing 7: male terminal 9: probe 11: holder 17: air cylinder 21: male screw cylinder 23: shaft rod 25: contact 27: coil spring 29: stopper 31: flange Part 33: Parallel surface 35: Rear end side block part 37: Front end side block part 39: Female thread part 41: Recess 43: Open end face 45: Tool 55: Outer wall surface 57: Inner wall surface 59: Abutting surface 61: Front end surface 63 : Female terminal connector 65: Housing 67: Female terminal 69: Tip surface 71: Peripheral wall 73: Inner wall surface 75: Outer wall surface

Claims (4)

In a connector inspection apparatus comprising a probe whose tip contacts a terminal of a connector, and a holder that holds the probe at a position corresponding to the terminal of the connector,
The probe slidably penetrates the shaft rod through the male screw cylinder, and a contact that contacts the connector terminal is attached to the tip of the shaft rod, and the coil spring is compressed between the contact and the male screw cylinder. With a stopper provided near the rear end of the shaft rod,
The holder includes a rear end side block portion in which a male screw cylindrical body of the probe is screwed and fixed, and a front end side block portion for connector positioning formed integrally on the front end side of the rear end side block portion. And the front end side block portion is formed with a concave portion for accommodating the coil spring portion of the probe and the rear end portion of the contact,
The probe is a connector inspection device characterized in that the tip of the contact protrudes from the opening end surface of the recess in a state where the male screw cylinder is screwed and fixed to the female screw of the holder.   2. The connector inspection device according to claim 1, wherein a parallel surface for engaging a tool for rotating the male screw cylinder is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the tip of the male screw cylinder of the probe.   The block on the front end side of the holder has an outer wall surface that is in sliding contact with the inner wall surface of the housing of the male terminal connector, and an abutting surface that abuts against the front end surface of the housing of the male terminal connector at the rear end of the outer wall surface. The connector inspection device according to claim 1, wherein the connector inspection device is formed.   The front end block portion of the holder has an abutting surface in which the opening end surface of the recess abuts against the distal end surface of the housing of the female terminal connector, and slidably contacts the outer wall surface of the housing of the female terminal connector around the abutting surface. The connector inspection device according to claim 1, wherein a peripheral wall having an inner wall surface is projected.

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