JP2007287612A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance fitting reliability by allowing the diameter of a support part to be increased while considering various situations. <P>SOLUTION: A female housing 10 is provided with: a tower part 12 allowed to be fitted in a mating hood part 71, and housing terminal fittings; a cover wall 13 arranged by being faced to the circumferential surface of the tower part 12; and a lock arm 11 positioned in a facing space 90 between the covering wall 13 and the tower part 12, allowed to be flexurally deformed by centering a support part 22, and elastically locked to a lock reception part 72 arranged on the circumferential surface of the hood part 71 when the tower part 12 is regularly fitted to the hood part 71. The support part 22 is connected to a ceiling inside surface of the cover wall 13. Accordingly, the diameter can be adjusted by increasing the thickness of the support part 22 in an optional direction. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector provided with a lock arm.

As a connector with a lock arm, a connector described in Patent Document 1 below is known. As shown in FIG. 8, this is a female connector having a tower portion 3 having a cavity 2 into which a female terminal fitting 1 can be inserted, and an outer cylinder portion 4 surrounding the periphery thereof. A support portion 5 is connected to the substantially upper center portion of the upper surface, and the lock arm 6 is supported by the support portion 5 so as to be able to bend and deform. The lock arm 6 has a form extending in the front-rear direction, and can be bent and deformed in a seesaw shape in the vertical direction with the support portion 5 as the center. On the other hand, the mating male connector includes a substantially cylindrical hood portion 7, and a male tab 8 projects from the hood portion 7 so as to correspond to the female terminal fitting 1. Is provided with a lock receiving portion 9. When the hood portion 7 is externally fitted to the tower portion 3 and enters the gap between the tower portion 3 and the outer cylinder portion 4, the distal end portion of the lock arm 6 rides on the lock receiving portion 9 and is bent and deformed. When they are fitted at the normal depth, the lock arm 6 is elastically restored to lock the lock receiving portion 9, and both connectors are held in a state of being prevented from coming off. In this normal fitting state, the front end of the hood portion 7 and the front surface of the support portion 5 are in a positional relationship where they are in contact with or close to each other.
JP 2005-183342 A

  By the way, when both the connectors have not yet reached the normal fitting state and are in the half-fitting state, the operator may misunderstand that the normal fitting state has been reached and finish the work. In order to avoid such a pocket, a loud striking sound (locking sound) is generated as the lock arm 6 locks the lock receiving portion 9, and this is detected audibly. Measures to try may be taken. According to this, it is required to increase the restoring force in the locking direction of the lock arm 6 by thickening the support portion 5. Further, increasing the thickness of the support portion 5 is important for preventing accidental detachment of both connectors in the locked state.

  In the above case, when the support portion 5 is to be thickened, if the rear end face of the support portion 5 is overlaid, the distance from the rear end of the support portion 5 to the rear end of the lock arm 6 is shortened. However, since an operation portion 6A is formed at the rear end portion of the lock arm 6 to be pressed downward when releasing the locked state of both connectors, the distance from the operation portion 6A to the support portion 5 is short. In this case, there is a situation in which the flexibility of the lock arm 6 is deteriorated and a large operating force is required when releasing the lock.

  Further, even if an attempt is made to build up the front end surface of the support portion 5, the front end surface of the support portion 5 is in contact with or close to the front end surface of the hood portion 7, so that it cannot be built up due to structural constraints. There are circumstances. On the other hand, if the connection position of the support part 5 with respect to the tower part 3 is shifted rearward as a whole, and the front end face of the support part 5 is overlaid on this, it is supported while avoiding interference with the hood part 7. Although it is possible to make the portion 5 thicker, this is not a good idea because the rear end position of the support portion 5 is retreated and the size of the connector is increased.

  An object of the present invention is to increase the fitting reliability by making the support portion thicker while taking into consideration the above-mentioned circumstances.

  As means for achieving the above object, the invention of claim 1 is characterized in that it can be fitted in the hood portion of the mating connector, and is arranged facing the outer peripheral surface of the tower portion for accommodating the terminal fitting and the tower portion. Is located in the facing space between the covering wall and the covering wall and the tower part, and is swingable and displaceable around the support part, and when the tower part and the hood part are properly fitted, A lock arm that engages with a lock receiving portion provided on an outer peripheral surface of the hood portion, and the support portion is connected to the inner surface of the cover wall.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the support portion overlaps the hood portion in a direction perpendicular to the fitting direction when the tower portion and the hood portion are properly fitted to each other. It has a feature in the position to be.
A third aspect of the invention is characterized in that, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the covering wall is configured to surround the lock arm over its entire length.

<Invention of Claim 1>
When the tower portion is fitted into the hood portion and is in a normal fitting state, the lock arm is oscillated and displaced about the support portion and is locked to the lock receiving portion. In this case, since the support portion is connected to the inner surface of the cover wall, even if the support portion is increased in thickness in an arbitrary direction, the increased thickness portion can be prevented from interfering with the front end of the hood portion. Since the thickness of the support portion can be increased by adjusting the thickness of the support portion, the return force in the locking direction of the lock arm can be set large by increasing the thickness of the support portion, thereby improving the fitting reliability. be able to.

<Invention of Claim 2>
When the tower portion and the hood portion are properly fitted, the support portion is allowed to overlap with the hood portion in a direction orthogonal to the fitting direction and be increased in thickness toward the entry side of the hood portion. The connector in the fitting direction can be reduced in size compared to the conventional case where the support portion and the hood portion are arranged side by side in the fitting direction.
<Invention of Claim 3>
Since the cover wall is configured to surround the lock arm over the entire length, the connecting position of the support portion with respect to the cover wall can be arbitrarily set within the formation range of the cover wall, and the degree of freedom in design is increased. Enhanced.

<Embodiment 1>
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. This embodiment exemplifies a waterproof connector F, and includes a female terminal fitting 30, a female housing 10, and a seal member 40. The female housing 10 can be fitted to a male housing 70 of the mating connector M. In the following description, the fitting surface side of both housings 10 and 70 is assumed to be the front.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the male housing 70 is made of a synthetic resin and includes a substantially cylindrical hood portion 71, and a male tab 80 projects from the back wall of the hood portion 71 into the hood portion 71. ing. A plurality of male tabs 80 are arranged side by side in the width direction in two steps. A lock receiving portion 72 is formed to protrude upward at a substantially central portion in the width direction on the upper surface of the hood portion 71. The front surface of the lock receiving portion 72 is a guide surface 72A having a tapered shape that rises toward the rear, and the rear surface of the lock receiving portion 72 is a locked surface 72B that is cut substantially vertically. A lock arm 11 (described later) provided on the female housing 10 can be locked to the lock receiving portion 72.

  The female housing 10 includes a tower portion 12 that is fitted into the hood portion 71 (the hood portion 71 is fitted outside), and a substantially cylindrical covering wall 13 that surrounds the periphery of the tower portion 12. In the tower portion 12, a cavity 14 into which the female terminal fitting 30 can be inserted from the rear is provided at a position corresponding to the male tab 80. The female terminal fitting 30 is formed by bending a metal plate material or the like, and includes a box-shaped main body portion 31 into which the male tab 80 can be inserted, and a barrel-shaped crimping portion 32 that is crimped to the terminal of the electric wire W. It is the structure which connected each back and forth. A rubber plug 35 is fitted to the electric wire W connected to the female terminal fitting 30, and the inside of the cavity 14 is sealed by the rubber plug 35 closely contacting the inner peripheral surface of the cavity 14.

A lance 15 that protrudes forward in a cantilevered manner is provided on the lower surface of the inner wall of the cavity 14 in the tower portion 12 so as to be able to bend and deform. The lance 15 elastically locks the female terminal fitting 30 that is normally inserted into the cavity 14 and holds the female terminal fitting 30 in a retaining state.
A connecting portion 16 projecting in the radial direction is provided at a substantially central portion of the outer peripheral surface of the tower portion 12 in the length direction (the fitting direction of both housings 10 and 70). The part 12 and the covering wall 13 are connected to each other. The connecting part 16 is divided into a plurality of parts in the circumferential direction of the tower part 12, and is not connected on the upper surface of the tower part 12 except for both right and left sides. A seal member 40 is fitted on the outer peripheral surface of the tower portion 12 at a position immediately before the connecting portion 16. When the hood portion 71 is externally fitted to the tower portion 12 from the front, the seal member 40 is elastically compressed between the inner peripheral surface of the hood portion 71 and the outer peripheral surface of the tower portion 12, thereby closely contacting both surfaces. The two housings 10 and 70 can be sealed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cover wall 13 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape that is slightly larger than the mating hood portion 71 so as to be in front of the connecting portion 16 and surround the tower portion 12 over the entire length. . A space 90 between the inner surface of the covering wall 13 and the outer peripheral surface of the tower portion 12 is an opposing space 90 into which the mating hood portion 71 can be inserted. Of the facing space 90, the portion formed between the inner surface of the upper wall of the covering wall 13 and the upper surface of the tower portion 12 penetrates in the front-rear direction and has a large interval in the vertical direction (direction intersecting the fitting direction). The lock arm 11 is arranged here. The total length of the upper wall of the cover wall 13 exceeds the total length of the tower portion 12, and the tower portion 12 is completely covered by the upper wall of the cover wall 13 when viewed from above.

  And the 1st covering part which makes a section trapezoidal shape including the slope of a descent toward the both sides in the field of about 2/3 of the full length from the front end to the back among the upper walls of covering wall 13 13A is formed, and a second covering portion 13B having a substantially gate-shaped cross-sectional substantially rectangular shape is formed behind the first covering portion 13A in the upper wall of the covering wall 13. The second cover portion 13B is connected to the first cover portion 13A via the tapered portion 13C, and has a larger diameter than the first cover portion 13A. When the lock arm 11 is released, a finger can be inserted from the facing space 90 that is largely opened on the second cover portion 13B side.

  The lock arm 11 is formed to extend in the front-rear direction in the facing space 90 described above, and a lock portion 17 facing the tower portion 12 is formed at a front end portion thereof. The rear surface of the lock portion 17 is a locking surface 17A that can be locked to the locked surface 72B of the lock receiving portion 72 described above, and has a reverse taper shape that slightly tilts forward from the vertical axis. A groove portion 18 that opens to the rear end surface of the lock arm 11 extends from the rear surface of the lock portion 17, and a pair of left and right opposing walls 19 are disposed on both sides of the groove portion 18. The groove width of the groove portion 18 is substantially the same as the width dimension of the lock receiving portion 72 and is the same width over the entire length. In addition, an operation portion 21 for unlocking is formed at the rear end portion of the lock arm 11 so as to be wider than other portions. Finger hooks 21A project from the upper surface of the operation unit 21, and the finger hooks 21A are arranged side by side in the width direction with a die cutting space of a support part 22 described later interposed therebetween.

  A support portion 22 is interposed between the lock arm 11 and the inner surface of the cover wall 13 to support the lock arm 11 so as to be able to swing and displace. The support portion 22 is configured to extend in the vertical direction, and the upper end thereof is connected to the rear side (the rear end portion of the first cover portion 13A) slightly behind the substantially central portion in the length direction of the ceiling inner surface of the cover wall 13. The lower end is connected to a substantially central portion in the length direction of the upper surface of the lock arm 11 and is not connected to the tower portion 12. The support portion 22 has a thin plate shape in the width direction, but extends longer in the front-rear direction and is thicker than before, and is back-to-back with both side portions of the upper surface of the lock arm 11 and the opposing walls 19. A pair is formed on the left and right sides. The support portion 22 is set at a position that overlaps the front region, that is, the fitting region, from the connecting portion 16 on the tower portion 12 side in a direction (height direction) orthogonal to the fitting direction of the tower portion 12 and the hood portion 71. Is done. A stepped portion 23 that is continuous with the connecting portion 16 in the circumferential direction is located in the projection range of the support portion 22. By connecting the support portion 22 to the inner surface of the cover wall 13, an opposing space 90 penetrating in the front-rear direction is held between the lock arm 11 and the tower portion 12. The lock arm 11 is swingably displaceable (elastically displaceable) in a seesaw shape in the vertical direction around the support portion 22.

  Further, an auxiliary support portion 24 is interposed between the lock arm 11 and the inner surface of the cover wall 13 at a position different from the support portion 22 described above. The lock arm 11 is supported by the cover wall 13 by the auxiliary support portion 24 in addition to the support portion 22. Specifically, after the auxiliary support portion 24 is connected in a wide range along the length direction to the inner surfaces on both sides of the first cover portion 13A among the inner surfaces of the cover wall 13, and once protruding inward from the connection position. The configuration is such that it extends straight rearward and its extended end is connected to both front end portions of the operation portion 21 of the lock arm 11. The auxiliary support portion 24 ensures the smoothness of the operation of elastically returning the lock arm 11 to the natural state.

Next, the function and effect of this embodiment will be described.
When the two housings 10 and 70 are assembled, the female housing 10 is first opposed to the hood portion 71 of the male housing 70. In this state, the lock arm 11 of the female housing 10 is arranged facing the lock receiving portion 72 of the male housing 70. Subsequently, the tower portion 12 of the female housing 10 is directed to the hood portion 71 and pushed therein. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the tower portion 12 is inserted into the hood portion 71, and eventually the lock portion 17 is moved up as the tip of the lock arm 11 comes into contact with the guide surface 72 </ b> A of the lock receiving portion 72. Is elastically displaced upward and the entire lock arm 11 is tilted in a seesaw shape with the support portion 22 as a fulcrum.

  Thereafter, when the lock portion 17 passes through the lock receiving portion 72 and reaches the rear of the lock receiving portion 72, the lock arm 11 is elastically restored. As a result, the locking surface 17A of the lock portion 17 and the locked surface 72B of the lock receiving portion 72 can face each other and be in close contact with each other, and the housings 10 and 70 are held in a state where they are restricted from being separated. In this locked state, the male tab 80 is electrically connected to the female terminal fitting 30, and both the housings 10 and 70 are liquid-tight via the seal member 40. In this locked state, the front end portion of the support portion 22 is in a positional relationship overlapping with the tip portion of the hood portion 71 in the height direction.

  On the other hand, in order to release the locked state of both housings 10 and 70, a finger or a jig is inserted from behind into the facing space 90 between the second covering portion 13 </ b> B and the tower portion 12 of the covering wall 13. It suffices to reach the operation unit 21 and press the lower part in the figure from that state. When the pressing operation is performed, the front end portion of the lock arm 11 is lifted in a seesaw shape, the locking surface 17A of the lock arm 11 is separated from the locked surface 72B of the lock receiving portion 72, and the locked state of both is released. Is done. Thus, the locking state of the lock arm 11 cannot be released unless a finger or the like is inserted into the facing space 90 between the covering wall 13 and the tower portion 12 from the rear. Therefore, the locked state of the lock arm 11 is prevented from being accidentally released.

  According to this embodiment, since the support portion 22 is connected to the inner surface of the cover wall 13, even if the support portion 22 is increased in thickness in an arbitrary direction, the increased thickness portion interferes with the tip of the hood portion 71. Can be avoided. By thickening the support portion 22 in this way, the return force in the locking direction of the lock arm 11 can be set large, and the fitting reliability can be improved.

  Moreover, when the tower part 12 and the hood part 71 are normally fitted, the support part 22 is in a position overlapping the hood part 71 in a direction (height direction) orthogonal to the fitting direction (front-rear direction), The front end portion of the support portion 22 is thickened forward (the entrance side of the hood portion 71). Thus, by increasing the thickness of the front end of the support portion 22 forward without changing the arrangement of the support portion 22 as a whole, interference with the hood portion 71 can be avoided without increasing the size of the female housing 10. In addition, since it is not necessary to reduce the distance from the support portion 22 to the operation portion 21, it is possible to ensure smooth flexibility of the lock arm 11, and to reduce the operation force when releasing the lock arm 11.

  Furthermore, since the cover wall 13 surrounds the lock arm 11 over the entire length, the connection position of the support portion 22 with respect to the cover wall 13 can be arbitrarily set within the formation range of the cover wall 13. , Design freedom is increased. Further, the cover arm 13 reliably protects the lock arm 11 from external foreign matter.

<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.
(1) In the above embodiment, the support portion is connected to the upper surface of the lock arm and the ceiling inner surface of the cover wall. However, according to the present invention, the support portion is connected to both side surfaces of the lock arm and both inner surfaces of the cover wall. It may be connected. In short, it is only necessary that one end of the support portion is connected to the inner surface of the covering wall instead of the outer peripheral surface of the tower portion.
(2) In the above embodiment, the cover wall has a form that surrounds the tower part over the entire circumference, but according to the present invention, the cover wall has a form that intermittently surrounds the tower part in the circumferential direction. May be.
(3) In the above embodiment, the cover wall is a form that surrounds the lock arm over its entire length, but according to the present invention, the cover wall is any one of the rear end portion, the intermediate portion, and the front end portion of the lock arm. It may be a form that surrounds only.
(4) In the above embodiment, the lock arm has a seesaw shape with the support portion connected to the substantially central portion in the length direction. However, according to the present invention, the lock arm is connected to the inner surface of the covering wall. After being connected to the protruding end of the support portion, it may have a cantilever shape extending forward or backward.
(5) Although the waterproof connector is exemplified in the above embodiment, the present invention can also be applied to a non-waterproof type connector.
(6) In the above embodiment, the lock arm is provided on the female housing side. However, according to the present invention, the lock arm may be provided on the male housing side.

Side sectional view showing a state in which the terminal fitting is inserted into the female housing in the present embodiment Side sectional view showing a state where both housings are properly fitted Side sectional view showing the state where both housings are mated Top view of female housing Rear view of female housing Front view of female housing Cross section of female housing Side sectional view showing a state where both connectors are properly fitted in the conventional example

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Female housing 11 ... Lock arm 12 ... Tower part 13 ... Cover wall 17 ... Lock part 21 ... Operation part 22 ... Support part 30 ... Female terminal metal fitting 70 ... Male housing 71 ... Hood part 72 ... Lock receiving part 90 ... Opposite space

Claims (3)

A tower portion that can be fitted in the hood portion of the mating connector and accommodates the terminal fitting,
A covering wall disposed opposite to the outer peripheral surface of the tower portion;
Positioned in the facing space between the cover wall and the tower portion, and can be displaced by swinging around a support portion, and when the tower portion and the hood portion are properly fitted, the outer peripheral surface of the hood portion And a lock arm that engages with a lock receiving portion provided in the
The said support part is connected with the inner surface of the said cover wall, The connector characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein when the tower portion and the hood portion are normally fitted, the support portion is located at a position overlapping the hood portion in a direction orthogonal to the fitting direction. . The connector according to claim 1, wherein the covering wall is configured to surround the lock arm over its entire length.

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