JP2008300329A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a harness side terminal from interfering with an apparatus side terminal in the middle of engagement. <P>SOLUTION: In this harness side connector 50 provided so that it can be engaged with the apparatus side connector 10 and having a harness side terminal 60 held movably with a play within a prescribed range in a direction perpendicular to the engagement direction with respect to an apparatus side terminal 20 provided in the apparatus side connector 10, and the harness side terminal 60 is bolted to the apparatus side terminal 20 after it is normally engaged with the apparatus side connector 10. This connector has a harness side housing 51 in which a cavity 53 to house the harness side terminal 60 is formed, a lance 54 provided on the inner wall of the cavity 53 to stop the slip-off of the harness side terminal 60 housed at a normal position, and a spring member 55 which is provided independently from the lance 54 in a bendable manner, and energizes the harness side terminal 60 in such a direction as to avoid the harness side terminal 60 from interfering with the apparatus side terminal 20 or a terminal block 14 to support the apparatus side terminal 20 in the middle of engagement. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector.

In general, as a connector having a terminal connected to a mating terminal by bolting, for example, a connector described in Patent Document 1 is known. This connector is a device-side connector that is directly connected to the device side, and has a device-side housing. The equipment side terminal is attached to the equipment side housing by insert molding or the like, and may be attached at a position shifted from the equipment side housing. In such a case, the terminal position is adjusted freely according to the position of the mating terminal by holding the terminal position freely within a predetermined range in the direction intersecting the mating direction with the mating connector. It is possible.
JP 2005-129356 A

However, in the connector described above, since the tip end side of the terminal tends to have a tilted posture that falls downward due to its own weight, when mating is performed in the tilted posture, the mating terminal and the terminal that supports the mating terminal during the mating are performed. There is a risk of interference with the table.
The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to prevent a terminal from interfering with a terminal block of a mating connector during fitting.

  The present invention has a terminal that is provided so as to be matable with a mating connector and is held freely within a predetermined range in a direction crossing the mating direction with respect to the mating terminal provided in the mating connector. A connector in which the terminal is bolted to the mating terminal after being properly fitted to the mating connector, and a connector housing in which the terminal is housed is provided, and an inner wall of the cavity is provided at a normal position. A lance that keeps the terminal accommodated and a lance that can be flexed independently of the lance so that the terminal interferes with the mating terminal or the periphery of the terminal block that supports the mating terminal in the course of fitting. It is characterized by a configuration including a spring member that biases the terminal in a direction to avoid.

  According to such a configuration, the mating with the mating connector is performed in a state where the terminal is urged by the spring member, and by bolting the terminal to the mating terminal after the mating with the mating connector, Both terminals are connected and fixed. At this time, in addition to being able to adjust the position of the terminal according to the position of the counterpart terminal, it is possible to prevent the terminal from interfering with the counterpart terminal or the peripheral portion of the terminal block.

  It is good also as a structure in which the receiving part which receives the terminal urged | biased by the spring member is provided in the inner wall on the opposite side to a spring member across a terminal in a cavity. According to such a configuration, since the terminal urged by the spring member can be received by the receiving portion, the terminal can be reliably held between the spring member and the receiving portion.

  The spring member may be made of resin and provided integrally with the connector housing. According to such a structure, the operation | work of assembling | attaching the spring member provided separately to a connector housing becomes unnecessary.

  A pair of spring members may be arranged on both sides of the lance to urge both ends of the terminal. According to such a configuration, both ends of the terminal can be urged with a good balance by the pair of spring members.

  A metal shield shell may be attached to the outer periphery of the connector housing. According to such a configuration, the connector of the present invention can be applied to a shield connector.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it can prevent that a terminal interferes with the other party terminal and the peripheral part of a terminal block in the middle of a fitting with the other party connector.

<Embodiment>
Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
<Overall configuration>
The shield connector according to the present embodiment is a connector for an electric vehicle, and includes a device-side connector 10 directly connected to a device (not shown) such as an inverter, and a device (not shown) such as a three-phase motor via a wire harness W. The harness side connector 50 is connected to the harness side connector 50. These connectors 10 and 50 are provided so as to be fitted to each other, and include a device-side terminal 20 connected to the device-side electrode and a harness-side terminal 60 connected to the end of the wire harness W. Both terminals 20, 60 are connected and fixed by bolting after both connectors 10, 50 are properly fitted. In addition, although not shown in figure, the apparatus side connector 10 is attached to the apparatus side in the state covered entirely with the metal shielding case (not shown).

<Configuration of Device-Side Connector 10>
The device-side connector 10 corresponds to a “mating connector” of the present invention, and includes a device-side housing 11 made of synthetic resin and three device-side terminals 20 that are insert-molded in the device-side housing 11. The device-side terminal 20 corresponds to the “mating-side terminal” of the present invention, and is configured by a bus bar in the present embodiment. Bolt insertion holes 21 through which the fixing bolts B are inserted and bolted are formed through both ends of the device side terminal 20. The device-side housing 11 is provided with a space communicating with the bolt insertion hole 21, and the fixing nut N is disposed in this space, so that the fixing nut N is screwed with the fixing bolt B inserted through the bolt insertion hole 21. Is possible.

  The device-side housing 11 is formed with a hood portion 12 that can be fitted into a harness-side housing 51 (described later) of the harness-side connector 50 that opens forward. The hood portion 12 is provided with a device-side terminal 20 protruding forward, and a terminal block 14 for supporting the device-side terminal 20 is provided on one side (the lower side in FIG. 1) of the device-side terminal 20. It has been. The terminal block 14 is provided with the fixing nut N described above, and a fixing bolt screwed into the fixing nut N at the back of the fixing nut N (in the direction opposite to the device side terminal 20 around the fixing nut N). An escape space into which the distal end side of B enters is formed.

  On the other hand, in the hood part 12, an entry space is formed on the other side (the upper side in FIG. 1) of the device side terminal 20 to allow the harness side terminal 60 to enter when both the connectors 10 and 50 are properly fitted. Yes. This entry space communicates with the external space through an opening 13 provided penetrating the outer peripheral surface of the hood portion 12, and the fixing bolt B can enter through the opening 13. A cap 30 for closing the opening 13 can be attached to the opening 13 from the outside after the bolting with the fixing bolt B is completed. A recess is provided along the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral surface of the cap 30 entering the opening 13, and a seal ring 31 is fitted in the recess. The seal ring 31 is in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion constituting the opening 13 in a state where the cap 30 is mounted on the opening 13. Accordingly, the intrusion of water from the opening 13 into the hood 12 is restricted.

<Configuration of harness-side connector 50>
The harness side connector 50 is a “connector” in the present invention, and includes a harness side housing 51 made of synthetic resin and three harness side terminals 60 inserted into the harness side housing 51. The harness-side housing 51 corresponds to the “connector housing” of the present invention, and three circular cross-sectional cavities 53 penetrating in the front-rear direction are arranged in parallel at a constant pitch in the left-right direction (direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 1). Is formed.

  A front end portion of the harness-side housing 51 where the cavity 53 is provided can be fitted into the hood portion 12 of the device-side housing 11. A recess is provided along the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral surface of the front end of the harness-side housing 51, and a seal ring 42 is fitted into the recess. The seal ring 42 performs a waterproof function between the connectors 10 and 50 by being in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the hood portion 12 as the connectors 10 and 50 are fitted.

  In addition, a collective rubber plug 40 that collectively seals the three wire harnesses W fixed to the three harness side terminals 60 by caulking can be attached to the rear part of the harness side housing 51. That is, in the harness-side housing 51, a hood-shaped rubber plug housing portion 52 that opens rearward is provided behind the cavity 53, and the rubber plug 40 is mounted in a compressed state inside the rubber plug housing portion 52. ing. Furthermore, a rubber plug holder 41 for preventing the batch rubber plug 40 from being removed is attached to the rubber plug housing portion 52 behind the batch rubber plug 40. As a result, the harness-side connector 50 can restrict water from entering inside through the rubber plug housing portion 52.

  The rubber stopper holder 41 is made of polypropylene and has a structure in which a pair of halves that are vertically symmetrical are connected by a hinge, although not shown. Each halved body is formed with a semicircular portion corresponding to the outer peripheral shape of the wire harness W, and the wire harness W is sandwiched in the circumferential direction by the upper and lower semicircular portions. A pair of retaining protrusions are provided at positions corresponding to the semicircular portions on the upper and lower surfaces of the rubber plug holder 41. Thereby, the rubber plug holder 41 is assembled in a detachment restricted state with respect to the harness-side housing 51 by locking the retaining protrusion in the retaining hole of the rubber stopper housing portion 52.

  The wire harness W is surrounded by a cylindrical shield member (not shown) in which fine metal wires are knitted into a mesh shape, and the three wire harnesses W are collectively shielded by the shield member. A shield shell 70 having a metal ring shape is fixed to the end portion of the shield member. The shield shell 70 has a double cylinder structure of an inner ring 71 and an outer ring 72, and a terminal portion of the shield member is sandwiched between the inner ring 71 and the outer ring 72 and fixed by caulking. The shield shell 70 is set so that the front end portion of the inner ring 17 comes into contact with a shield case (not shown) on the device side when both the connectors 10 and 50 are properly fitted.

  The harness side terminal 60 corresponds to a “terminal” of the present invention, is inserted into each cavity 53 from the rear, and is secured by a lance 54 provided in the cavity 53. The harness side terminal 60 includes a connection portion 61 that is connected to the device side terminal 20 and a barrel portion 62 that is crimped to the end of the wire harness W. The connection portion 61 is formed with a bolt insertion hole 63 through which the fixing bolt B is inserted, and a lance locking hole 64 disposed on the barrel portion 62 side from the bolt insertion hole 63. The harness side terminal 60 is held in a locked state at a normal position in the cavity 53 by locking the locking projection 54 a of the lance 54 to the front end of the peripheral wall constituting the lance locking hole 64.

  By the way, in a state where the harness side terminal 60 is accommodated in the cavity 53, a predetermined clearance is set between the harness side terminal 60 and the inner wall of the cavity 53 that accommodates the harness side terminal 60. This clearance is set to be smaller than a locking allowance between the locking projection 54 a of the lance 54 and the peripheral wall of the lance locking hole 64. For this reason, the harness-side terminal 60 in the normal position is free to move within a predetermined range in the vertical direction (direction intersecting with the fitting direction of the connectors 10 and 50) in a state in which the harness-side terminal 60 is secured rearward by the lance 54. Retained. The reason why the harness side terminal 60 is configured to be freely movable in the cavity 53 in this way is that the device side terminal 20 may be insert-molded at a position shifted in the vertical direction with respect to the normal position. This is because the harness side terminal 60 and the device side terminal 20 can be connected by absorbing such an error during molding.

  However, the harness side terminal 60 is in a state where the tip portion provided with the bolt insertion hole 63 protrudes forward from the front end opening of the cavity 53 in a state where the harness side terminal 60 is accommodated in the normal position in the cavity 53. It tends to be in a posture in which the tip portion falls downward due to its own weight (the bow of the terminal). For this reason, in the conventional harness side connector 100, as shown in FIG. 5, a situation in which the harness side terminal 60 comes into contact with an edge portion or the like of the device side terminal 20 during fitting with the device side connector 10 (the throat to the terminal). May occur). Therefore, in the present embodiment, a “spring member” is provided in the harness-side housing 51 as a countermeasure structure. Hereinafter, the structure of the “spring member” will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the spring member 55 is made of a synthetic resin, and is formed so as to protrude on a support base 56 disposed on both sides of the lance 54 of each cavity 53. In detail, as shown in FIG. 4, the spring member 55 is formed in a cantilever shape so as to protrude obliquely forward on the support base 56, and the front end side can be bent up and down. Thus, the spring member 55 is provided integrally with the harness-side housing 51 in the present embodiment. On the other hand, a receiving portion 57 that receives the harness side terminal 60 biased upward by the spring member 55 is formed on the inner wall of the cavity 53 facing the spring member 55. Accordingly, the harness side terminal 60 is held in a state of being sandwiched between the spring member 55 and the receiving portion 57. Therefore, even when the harness side terminal 60 is housed in the normal position in the cavity 53, it is possible to prevent the tip end portion from being tilted downward and to be fitted while maintaining the horizontal posture. Can be performed (see FIG. 1).

The present embodiment has the above-described structure, and the operation thereof will be described subsequently.
First, the harness side terminal 60 is assembled to the harness side housing 51. The batch rubber plug 40 is attached to the wire harness W connected to the harness side terminal 60, and is inserted into the cavity 53 from the rear side of the harness side housing 51 through the rubber plug housing 52. At this time, the lance 54 interferes with the harness side terminal 60 and bends and deforms downward. However, when the harness side terminal 60 reaches the normal position in the cavity 53, the lance 54 is elastically restored and fitted into the lance locking hole 64. Then, the locking projection 54a of the lance 54 is locked to the peripheral wall of the lance locking hole 64, and the harness side terminal 60 is prevented from being pulled out. On the other hand, the collective rubber plug 40 enters the rubber plug housing portion 52 and comes into close contact with both the outer peripheral surface of the wire harness W and the inner peripheral surface of the rubber plug housing portion 52. Thereafter, the rubber plug holder 41 is inserted into the rubber plug housing portion 52 and fixed in the rubber plug housing portion 52, whereby the batch rubber plug 40 is prevented from coming off.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 1, the harness side terminal 60 is maintained in a horizontal posture by the spring member 55, so that when the connectors 10 and 50 are fitted together, the tip of the harness side terminal 60 is connected to the device side. Problems such as bending due to interference with the edge of the terminal 20 and the terminal block 14 (including the fixing nut N and the resin portion of the harness-side housing 11) can be avoided. Thus, when the connectors 10 and 50 are properly fitted while the harness side terminal 60 is kept in a horizontal position, the bolt insertion hole 63 of the harness side terminal 60 and the bolt insertion hole 21 of the device side terminal 20 are substantially coaxial. By being positioned, the fixing bolt B can be tightened. Tightening with the fixing bolt B is performed by removing the cap 30 from the device-side housing 11 in advance, allowing the fixing bolt B to enter the hood portion 12 through the opening 13, and passing through the bolt insertion holes 21 and 63 of both terminals 20 and 60. Screwed into the fixing nut N. After the fastening with the fixing bolt B is completed, the cap 30 is attached again to close the opening 13.

  Even when the device-side terminal 20 is insert-molded at a position shifted from the device-side housing 11, the harness-side terminal 60 is held freely within a predetermined range in the vertical direction. The position of the harness side terminal 60 can be adjusted according to the position of the device side terminal 20.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the following effects can be achieved.
1. In addition to being able to adjust the position of the harness-side terminal 60 according to the position of the device-side terminal 20, it is possible to prevent the harness-side terminal 60 from interfering with the edge of the device-side terminal 20, the terminal block 14, and the like. Can do. Therefore, the fitting workability of both the connectors 10 and 50 can be improved.
2. Since the harness-side terminal 60 urged upward by the spring member 55 can be received by the receiving portion 57, the harness-side terminal 60 can be reliably held between the spring member 55 and the receiving portion 57.
3. Since the spring member 55 is provided integrally with the harness-side housing 51, there is no need to assemble the spring member 55 provided separately to the harness-side housing 51.
4). Since the pair of spring members 55 are arranged on both sides of the lance 54, the harness side terminal 60 can be urged with good balance on both sides in the left-right direction.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments 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) Although the resin-made spring member 55 is illustrated in this embodiment, according to this invention, it is good also as a metal spring member.
(2) Although the spring member 55 is formed integrally with the harness-side housing 51 in this embodiment, the spring member may be formed separately from the harness-side housing 51 according to the present invention.

(3) Although the receiving portion 57 for receiving the harness side terminal 60 biased by the spring member 55 is provided in the present embodiment, according to the present invention, the receiving portion 57 is not necessarily provided, and the receiving portion 57 is not provided. It is good also as a structure which receives the harness side terminal 60 by the inner wall of the cavity 53 instead of providing.
(4) Although the spring member 55 is provided on the same side as the lance 54 in the cavity 53 in this embodiment, the spring member 55 may be provided on the opposite side of the lance 54 in the cavity 53 according to the present invention. In this case, one spring member 55 may be provided at the center in the left-right direction within the cavity 53.
(5) Although this embodiment exemplifies what is applied to a shield connector, according to the present invention, it may be applied to a connector other than a shield connector.

Sectional view showing the state of both connectors before mating Sectional view showing a state where both connectors are properly fitted and both terminals are bolted Front view showing the harness side connector as seen from the front Sectional drawing which shows the state which expanded the peripheral part of the spring member in FIG. Sectional drawing which showed a mode that terminals interfere in the conventional harness side connector

Explanation of symbols

10: Device side connector (mating side connector)
14 ... Terminal block 20 ... Equipment side terminal (mating side terminal)
50 ... Harness side connector (connector)
51. Harness side housing (connector housing)
53 ... Cavity 54 ... Lance 55 ... Spring member 57 ... Receiving part 60 ... Harness side terminal (terminal)
70 ... Shield shell

Claims (5)

A terminal that is provided so as to be matable with a mating connector, and is held freely within a predetermined range in a direction intersecting the mating direction with respect to the mating terminal provided in the mating connector; A connector that is bolted to the mating terminal after the terminal is properly fitted to the side connector,
A connector housing in which a cavity for accommodating the terminal is provided;
A lance that is provided on the inner wall of the cavity and prevents the terminal accommodated in a normal position;
The terminal is provided so as to be able to bend independently of the lance, and the terminal is attached in a direction to avoid interference with the mating terminal or a peripheral portion of the terminal block supporting the mating terminal during fitting. A connector having a spring member for biasing. The connector according to claim 1, wherein a receiving portion that receives the terminal biased by the spring member is provided on an inner wall opposite to the spring member across the terminal in the cavity. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the spring member is made of resin and is provided integrally with the connector housing. The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a pair of the spring members are arranged on both sides of the lance and bias both end portions of the terminal. The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a metal shield shell is attached to the outer periphery of the connector housing.

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