JP2007317372A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector so devised that a front holder at a temporary locking position will not be easily pushed into a proper locking position, while a condition is satisfied that a work for the proper locking is easy. <P>SOLUTION: A connector housing 1A is constituted of a housing main body 10, into a rear of which terminals are inserted, and a front holder 20 insertion-coupled from the front, which latter is enabled to be pushed in from a front-side temporary locking position to a rear-side proper locking position. A flexible lance is provided at the housing main body for preventing the terminals from falling off, and a lance presser part is provided at the front holder for regulating bending of the flexible lance by being pressed into the proper locking position from the temporary one. A through-hole 40 is provided at the front holder, and a rib 30 is set in protrusion at a front end of the housing main body which advances into the through-hole of the front holder retained at its temporary locking position, and either makes its own front end 30a coincide with a rear end face 20a of the front holder or gets protruded from the rear end face. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector in which a terminal is double-locked to a connector housing using a front holder.

  As this type of connector, for example, those disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 are known.

  8 and 9 show an example thereof. FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 show one connector (male connector) of a pair of connectors that are fitted to each other. A housing 101A of the connector 101 includes a cylindrical portion 111 that accommodates a terminal 130 and an outer periphery thereof. A housing main body 110 having a hood portion 112 disposed on the side, and a front holder 120 fitted from the front to the front side of the outer peripheral portion of the cylindrical portion 111.

  A terminal accommodating chamber 113 is formed inside the cylindrical portion 111, and a terminal (female terminal) 130 inserted from the rear of the housing main body 110 can be secured to a part of the peripheral wall of each terminal accommodating chamber 113. A flexible lance 114 is provided. On the outside of the flexible lance 114, a bending allowance space 115 is secured for the flexible lance 114 to be bent as the terminal 130 is inserted.

  The front holder 120 can be pushed into the housing main body 110 from the temporary locking position on the near side (position in FIG. 8) to the main locking position on the back side (position in FIG. 9). Although not shown, a temporary locking means for temporarily locking the front holder 120 at the temporary locking position and a final locking means for finally locking the front holder 120 at the final locking position are provided. It has been.

  The flexible lance 114 can be bent into the bending allowable space 115 when the front holder 120 is in the temporary locking position, and prevents the terminal 130 inserted from the rear of the housing main body 110 from coming off and locking. Can do.

  When the front holder 120 is pushed from the temporarily locked position to the fully locked position as shown in FIG. A lance presser 121 is provided to enter the bending allowance space 115 of 114 and prohibit the bending of the flexible lance 114 and thereby double-lock the terminal.

  Further, the rear end wall 122 in the pushing direction of the front holder 120 is provided with a terminal insertion hole 123 for inserting a terminal (male terminal) of the mating connector.

  When the connector 101 is assembled, as shown in FIG. 8, first, the front holder 120 is first fitted into the front end portion of the cylindrical portion 111 of the housing body 110 and temporarily locked by the temporary locking means. In this state, the front holder 120 is prevented from being pushed further and is held at the temporary locking position.

Next, a terminal 130 with an electric wire is inserted into each terminal accommodating chamber 113 of the tubular portion 111 from the rear of the housing body 110, and the terminal 130 is primarily locked in the tubular portion 111 with a flexible lance 114. . Then, from that state, as shown in FIG. 9, the front holder 120 is pushed into the final locking position. Then, the lance pressing portion 121 of the front holder 120 enters the bending allowable space 115 of each flexible lance 114, and the front holder 120 is finally locked to the housing body 110 by the main locking means. Thereby, the bending deformation of each flexible lance 114 is regulated, and each terminal 130 is double-locked.
JP-A-9-106847 JP 2004-241155 A

  By the way, the connector 101 is often handled in an assembled state in which the front holder 120 is temporarily locked to the housing main body 110 as shown in FIG. Since it protrudes from the front end 110a of the main body 110, the front holder 120 is accidentally moved from the temporary locking position to the main lock position by, for example, hitting or dropping another object during transportation before attaching the terminal. There was a case where it was pushed to the stop position. Once the front holder 120 is pushed down to the final locking position (the position shown in FIG. 9), the terminal 130 cannot be inserted. The front holder 120 must be returned to the position, which is extremely troublesome.

  Therefore, the following measures are being studied.

  One is to extend the front end of the hood portion of the housing body and hide the front holder by the hood portion (example of Patent Document 2). However, when the hood part is extended, there arises a problem that the connector becomes larger accordingly. Further, when the hood portion prevents the front holder from being pushed in, if the opening of the hood portion is enlarged, the effect is lost. Therefore, the opening of the hood portion must be narrowed, and is therefore not suitable for multipolarization.

  The other is to set the holding force for temporary locking of the front holder high. However, if the holding force for temporary locking is set high, a large force is required to move to the final locking after inserting the terminal, resulting in poor workability.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, is easy to cope with downsizing and multipolarization, and satisfies the condition that the work for the final locking is easy, while the temporary locking position It is an object of the present invention to provide a connector in which the front holder is not easily pushed into the main locking position.

  In the first aspect of the present invention, a connector housing is constituted by a housing main body into which a terminal is inserted from the rear and a front holder fitted into the housing main body from the front, and the front holder is located on the front side of the housing main body. A temporary locking means for temporarily locking the front holder to the temporary locking position and a front holder between the housing body and the front holder can be pushed from the temporary locking position to the main locking position on the back side. The main locking means is provided at the main locking position, and one of the housing main body and the front holder is inserted from the rear of the housing main body with the front holder in the temporary locking position. A flexible lance for retaining and locking the terminal is provided, and the other of the housing main body and the front holder is in a state in which the terminal is retained and locked by the flexible lance. When the lottery holder is pushed from the temporary locking position to the final locking position, the lance holding part that enters into the bending allowable space of the flexible lance and prohibits the bending of the flexible lance, thereby double-locking the terminal. In the provided connector, the front holder is provided with a through-hole penetrating in the pushing direction of the front holder, while the front holder is held at the temporary locking position at the front end of the housing body, A rib that protrudes through the through hole provided in the front holder and whose front end coincides with the rear end surface of the front holder in the pushing direction or protrudes from the rear end surface is provided. And

  The invention according to claim 2 is the connector according to claim 1, wherein the front holder is slidably contacted with each other when the front holder is pushed into the rib and the through hole from the temporary locking position to the final locking position. A guide surface for guiding the pushing-in operation is provided.

  A third aspect of the present invention is the connector according to the first or second aspect, wherein a hood portion for guiding the mating connector is provided on an outer peripheral portion of the housing main body, and the rib is located at a position more than the front end of the hood portion. Projecting forward of the housing body.

  The invention according to claim 4 is the connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the housing main body is provided with a plurality of terminal receiving portions having different systems, and terminals having different systems. By disposing the rib at the boundary portion of the accommodating portion, the terminal accommodating portions of different systems are physically partitioned by the rib.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the rib that enters the through hole of the front holder when temporarily locked is provided at the front end of the housing body, and the length of the rib is set to the rear end surface in the pushing direction of the front holder. In the temporarily locked state, for example, when an article hits the rear end surface of the front holder in the pushing direction and a pushing force acts on the housing body, The pressure can be received at the front end of the protruding rib. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the front holder from being accidentally pushed from the temporary locking position to the final locking position.

  In this case, structurally, it is only necessary to project a rib having an appropriate length that can be inserted into the through hole of the front holder on the housing body side, and it is only necessary to secure a space for the rib. Measures such as extending the front end are unnecessary and can contribute to the miniaturization of the connector. In addition, unlike the hood portion, which receives the hit of the article at the outer peripheral portion of the housing main body, it can receive the hit of the article at the central portion of the housing main body, so that the hood portion can be prevented from hitting the front holder. The opening of the hood part can be freely expanded, and it is possible to easily cope with multipolarization. In addition, since multipolarization is possible, it is possible to contribute to the realization of a hybrid connector in which a power supply terminal and a signal terminal are mounted together. In addition, since it is not necessary to set the holding force for temporary locking particularly high, it is easy to push into the final locking position, and workability is not deteriorated.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the rib and the through hole are provided with guide surfaces for guiding the pushing operation of the front holder by sliding contact with each other when the front holder is pushed from the temporary locking position to the final locking position. Therefore, the workability at the time of fitting the front holder to the final locking position is improved. Further, the stable contact between the guide surfaces can prevent rattling between the front holder and the housing body.

  According to the invention of claim 3, the hood portion for guiding the mating connector is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the housing body, and the rib protrudes forward of the housing body from the front end of the hood portion. Can be shortened, contributing to the miniaturization of the connector.

  According to the invention of claim 4, the housing body is provided with a plurality of terminal accommodating portions of different systems, ribs are arranged at the boundary portions of the terminal accommodating portions of the different systems, and the terminals of different systems are accommodated by the ribs. Since the part is physically partitioned, it helps to prevent leakage between the terminals of both systems. For example, by disposing the rib between the power system terminal and the signal system terminal, leakage between the power system terminal and the signal system terminal can be prevented when the connector is fitted.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  1 is an exploded perspective view of the connector (male connector) of the embodiment, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the connector with the front holder fitted to a temporary locking position, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view in the temporary locking state of FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the connector with the front holder fitted to the final locking position, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view in the final locking state of FIG. 6 is a front view of the mating female connector, and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along arrow VII-VII in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the connector 1 is one connector (male connector) of a pair of connectors that are fitted to each other, and the housing 1 </ b> A of the connector 1 accommodates terminals (not shown). The housing main body 10 has a cylindrical portion 11 to be formed and a hood portion 12 arranged on the outer peripheral side thereof, and a front holder 20 fitted from the front to the front side of the outer peripheral portion of the cylindrical portion 11.

  Terminal housing chambers (not shown) are formed inside the cylindrical portion 11 of the housing body 10, and terminals (female terminals) inserted from the rear of the housing body are removed from a part of the peripheral wall of each terminal housing chamber. A flexible lance (not shown) for stopping and locking is provided. Further, a bending allowance space for the flexible lance to bend with the insertion of the terminal is secured outside the flexible lance.

  The front holder 20 can be pushed into the housing main body 10 from the temporary locking position on the near side (position in FIGS. 2 and 3) to the main locking position on the back side (position in FIGS. 4 and 5). Although not shown between the main body 10 and the front holder 20, a temporary locking means for temporarily locking the front holder 20 at the temporary locking position and a book for permanently locking the front holder 20 at the final locking position. And locking means.

  When the front holder 20 is in the temporary locking position, the flexible lance can be bent in the bending allowable space so that the terminal inserted from the rear of the housing body 10 can be retained and locked. It has become. On the other hand, when the front holder 20 is pushed from the temporary locking position to the final locking position, as shown in FIGS. There is provided a lance pressing portion (not shown) that enters the bending allowance space of the flexible lance to prohibit the bending of the flexible lance and thereby double-locks the terminal.

  Here, although the terminal, the terminal accommodating chamber, the flexible lance, the bending space, the lance pressing portion, and the like are omitted, they are similar to those shown in FIGS. The temporary locking means and the main locking means are also well-known in this type of connector with a front holder, and are not shown.

  What is characteristic about this connector is that the front holder 20 is provided with a through-hole 40 that penetrates in the direction in which the front holder 20 is pushed in, and the front holder 20 is held at the temporary locking position at the front end of the housing body 10. When this occurs, the rib 30 that enters the through hole 40 of the front holder 20 and that has its front end 30a coincides with the rear end surface 20a in the pushing direction of the front holder 20 or projects beyond the rear end surface is provided. That's it. The rib 30 protrudes beyond the front end of the hood portion 12 on the outer peripheral portion of the housing body 10.

  The rib 30 in this case is a rectangular flat plate, and the wide outer surface (guide surface) 30b of the rib 30 and the wide inner surface (guide surface) 40b of the slit-like through hole 40 are the front holder 20. Are brought into sliding contact with each other when they are pushed from the temporary locking position to the final locking position, and the pushing operation of the front holder 20 is guided by the guide action of these sliding contact surfaces (guide surfaces).

  Further, the housing main body 10 is provided with a terminal accommodating portion 15A for power supply terminals and a terminal accommodating portion 15B for signal terminals, which have different systems, and a rib 30 is disposed at the boundary portion. Also, the front holder 20 is provided with portions 25A and 25B corresponding to the terminal accommodating portion 15A for power supply terminals and the terminal accommodating portion 15B for signal terminals, respectively, and a through hole 40 is provided at the boundary portion. ing. And by arrange | positioning the plate-shaped rib 30 in a boundary part, terminal accommodating part 15A, 15B of a different system | strain is physically partitioned off.

  When assembling this connector, first, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the front holder 20 is fitted into the housing body 10, and the front holder 20 is temporarily locked in the temporary locking position by the temporary locking means. To do. In this temporarily locked state, when any article hits the rear end surface 20a in the pushing direction of the front holder 20 and a pushing force is applied, it is flush with the rear end surface 20a or protrudes from the rear end surface 20a. When the article hits the front end 30a of the rib 30 on the housing body 10 side, the rib 30 receives a pushing force. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the pushing force from acting on the front holder 20, and the front holder 20 is not accidentally pushed from the temporary locking position to the final locking position during transportation and movement.

  Next, in this temporarily locked state, a terminal is inserted from the rear of the connector housing 1A, and the terminal is prevented from coming off and locked by a flexible lance. Next, the front holder 20 is pushed from the temporary locking position to the final locking position by manually pressing a place other than the rib 30. If it does so, a lance holding | suppressing part will penetrate | invade in the bending | flexion tolerance space of a flexible lance, and the bending of a flexible lance will be prohibited. Along with this operation, the front holder is finally locked to the housing body by the locking means, thereby completing a connector in which the terminals are double-locked.

  In this fully locked state, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the front end 30 a of the rib 30 protrudes from the front holder 20. Accordingly, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a recess 73 that receives the protruding portion of the rib 30 is provided on the inner bottom surface 72 a of the fitting recess 72 of the housing 70 </ b> A of the mating female connector 70.

  Here, the peripheral wall portion denoted by 71 in the drawing is guided into the gap between the hood portion 12 and the front holder 20 shown in FIG. The rubber seal 90 is closely attached to the outer peripheral lip. Therefore, the waterproof function in the fitting state of the male and female connectors is thereby maintained.

  In the fitting recess 72 of the female connector 70, a plurality of male terminals 77 and 78 for power supply and signals are arranged in groups. The power terminal group 75A is a portion that fits into the power terminal terminal receiving portion 15A of the mating connector 1, and the signal terminal group 75B fits into the signal terminal terminal accommodating portion 15B of the mating connector 1. When the male and female connectors are fitted, the electrical connection portions of the power supply system and the signal system can be partitioned by the ribs 30.

  As described above, the connector 1 of the present embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 protrudes from the front end of the housing body 10 with the rib 30 that enters the through hole 40 of the front holder 20 when temporarily locked. And the length of the rib 30 is set to a dimension that is flush with or protrudes from the rear end surface 20a in the pushing direction of the front holder 20, so that, for example, the pushing of the front holder 20 is performed in the temporarily locked state. Even when an article hits the rear end surface 20a in the direction and a pushing force acts, the front end 30a of the rib 30 on the housing body 10 side can receive the pressure. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the front holder 20 from being accidentally pushed from the temporary locking position to the final locking position.

  In this case, in terms of configuration, the rib 30 having an appropriate length that can be inserted into the through hole 40 of the front holder 20 is simply provided on the housing body 10 side, and the space for the rib 30 may be ensured. Therefore, measures such as extending the front end of the hood portion 12 are not necessary, and the connector 1 can be reduced in size.

  In addition, unlike the hood portion 12, which receives the hit of the article on the outer peripheral portion of the housing main body 10, the hit of the article can be received by the rib 30 at the center of the housing main body 10, so that the article to the front holder 20 can be received. There is no need to consider making the opening of the hood portion 12 small in order to prevent hitting, the opening of the hood portion 12 can be freely widened, and multipolarization can be easily handled.

  Further, since multipolarization is possible, it is possible to easily realize a hybrid connector in which a power supply terminal and a signal terminal are mounted together as in this embodiment.

  In addition, since it is not necessary to set the holding force for temporary locking particularly high, it is easy to push into the final locking position, and workability is not deteriorated.

  Further, when the front holder 20 is pushed into the rib 30 and the through hole 40 from the temporary locking position to the final locking position, the guide surface (the outer surface of the rib 30) that guides the pushing operation of the front holder 20 by sliding contact with each other. Since 30b and the inner side surface 40b) of the through-hole 40 are provided, the workability | operativity at the time of fitting the front holder 20 to this latching position improves.

  Further, since the guide surfaces (the outer side surface 30b of the rib 30 and the inner side surface 40b of the through hole 40) are in stable contact with each other in the final locking state, rattling between the front holder 20 and the housing body 10 is prevented. Can also be planned.

  Further, since the rib 30 is protruded from the front end of the hood portion 12, the length of the hood portion 12 can be shortened, and the connector 1 can be reduced in size.

  Further, the housing body 10 is provided with a plurality of terminal accommodating portions 15A, 15B of different systems (power supply system and signal system), and the ribs 30 are arranged at the boundary between the terminal accommodating portions 15A, 15B of these different systems, Since the ribs 30 physically partition the terminal accommodating portions 15A and 15B of different systems, leakage between the terminals of both systems can be prevented.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the flexible lance is provided on the housing body 10 side and the lance pressing portion is provided on the front holder 20 side has been described.

  In the above embodiment, the number of ribs 30 is not particularly mentioned, but the number of ribs 30 may be one or more. In short, if the rib 30 is disposed at a position where an external force is likely to be applied, an unnecessary external force in the pushing direction can be effectively received by the rib.

It is a disassembled perspective view of the connector (male connector) of the embodiment of the present invention. It is the perspective view of the connector which fitted the front holder to the temporary latching position. It is sectional drawing in the temporary latching state of FIG. It is a perspective view of the same connector which fitted the front holder to this locking position. It is sectional drawing in the main latching state of FIG. It is a front view of the other party female connector. It is VII-VII arrow sectional drawing of FIG. It is a sectional side view which shows the structure of the conventional connector of the state which hold | maintained the front holder in the temporary latching position. It is a sectional side view which shows the structure of the conventional connector of the state which pushed in the front holder to this latching position.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Connector 1A Connector housing 10 Housing main body 12 Hood part 15A Power supply system terminal accommodating part 15B Signal system terminal accommodating part 20 Front holder 20a Rear end surface 30 Rib 30a Front end 30b Outer side surface (guide surface)
40 Through hole 40b Inner surface (guide surface)

Claims (4)

A connector housing is composed of a housing main body into which a terminal is inserted from the rear and a front holder fitted into the housing main body from the front. The front holder is located on the rear side from the temporary locking position on the near side with respect to the housing main body. A temporary locking means for temporarily locking the front holder to the temporary locking position and the front holder to the main locking position between the housing body and the front holder. The main locking means is provided, and a terminal inserted from the rear of the housing main body is locked to one of the housing main body and the front holder while the front holder is in the temporary locking position. A flexible lance is provided, and the front holder is temporarily attached to the other of the housing body and the front holder in a state in which the terminal is retained and locked by the flexible lance. A connector provided with a lance presser part that, when pushed from the stop position into the main locking position, enters the bending allowance space of the flexible lance and prohibits the bending of the flexible lance, thereby double locking the terminal. In
The front holder is provided with a through-hole penetrating in the direction in which the front holder is pushed, while the front holder is provided in the front holder when the front holder is held in the temporary locking position at the front end portion of the housing body. A connector having a rib protruding into the through hole and having its front end coincident with the rear end surface of the front holder in the pushing direction or protrudes from the rear end surface. The connector according to claim 1,
Guide surfaces (30b, 40b) that guide the pushing operation of the front holder by sliding against each other when the front holder is pushed from the temporarily locked position to the fully locked position are provided in the rib and the through hole. A connector characterized by that. The connector according to claim 1 or 2,
A connector characterized in that a hood portion for guiding a mating connector is provided on an outer peripheral portion of the housing body, and the rib protrudes forward from the front end of the hood portion. It is a connector given in any 1 paragraph of Claims 1-3,
The connector main body is provided with a plurality of terminal accommodating portions of different systems, and the ribs are arranged at the boundary portions of the terminal accommodating portions of the systems different from each other. A connector characterized in that is physically partitioned.

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