JP2009135017A - Connector housing - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector housing for effectively materializing a small configuration, especially a low-profile structure. <P>SOLUTION: A lock arm 20 is provided on the upper surface of a connector housing 10 to fix the arm to other connectors. An outer wall 38 (corresponding to the rear side 38a of the upper surface of an inner wall) serving as the lower borderline of a lock-arm sheltering space 60 is formed as displaced in the lower direction with respect to the position of an arm base 24, in order to secure a space large enough to act as the lock-arm sheltering space 60 so as to make the lock arm 20 flexible to the lower side. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector housing, and more particularly to a connector housing in which a terminal fitting can be mounted in a storage chamber.

  In small connectors used for vehicle wiring, etc., the terminal fitting inserted into the terminal housing of the connector housing is generally locked by a terminal locking piece formed integrally with the connector housing. It is properly fixed to the storage part and prevented from falling off. Similarly, the connectors are connected by fitting with another connector to which the terminal fitting is fixed. At that time, the connectors are fixed to each other by a lock mechanism including a lock arm and a lock engaging portion formed on an outer peripheral portion of the connector, together with a connection force between the terminal fittings.

  Conventionally, the weight reduction and miniaturization of automobiles and the like have been strongly promoted, and efforts have been made to reduce the weight as much as possible by accumulating weight reduction in grams. Of course, there is a strong demand for connectors.

  Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, there is a technology that regulates rattling of the terminal fitting mounted in the cavity of the housing of the connector 116 in order to ensure the connection between the connectors while realizing the miniaturization. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). The housing of the connector 116 has a terminal housing chamber 120 formed in a cavity formed in a lower portion in a cross-sectional view of FIG. 6, and a lance (engagement) slightly from the center of the upper inner wall surface of the terminal housing chamber 120. (Stop piece) 117 extends forward, and the lance 117 can be elastically bent in the vertical direction. In addition, a lock arm 123 used to fix the connection when connecting to another predetermined connector is formed on the outer peripheral upper portion of the connector.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, there is a technique for reducing the size of the connector 121 and securely mounting the terminal (terminal fitting) 125 to the terminal storage chamber 123 (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
Japanese Patent No. 3560132 Japanese Patent No. 3032942

  By the way, the request | requirement of size reduction and weight reduction of components in a motor vehicle etc. is increasing more than before. In particular, improvement of fuel consumption rate has become a more important theme than ever, and weight reduction is the most effective factor.

  From such a viewpoint, for example, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, there are many relatively thick portions in the region W from the root portion to the rear end portion of the lance 117 that locks the terminal fitting. As a result, there has been a problem that the low profile of the connector 116 is hindered.

  Further, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2, as in Patent Document 1, there are many thick portions in the formation portion (region V) of the locking piece (terminal locking piece) 127 of the terminal 125, and between the connectors. Since the lock arm 122 that joins is not formed adjacent to the locking piece 127, there is a problem in terms of weight reduction in realizing the locking function of the locking piece 127.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a condition, and it aims at providing the connector housing which can solve the said subject.

One embodiment of the present invention relates to a connector housing. This connector housing is provided with a lock arm having an engaging portion that elastically bends downward and engages the mating connector, and a terminal fitting that is elastically bent downward in the terminal accommodating chamber and is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber. A connector housing having a lance for stopping, wherein the extending direction of the lance and the extending direction of the lock arm are substantially opposite, and the root position of the lance is made to coincide with the root position of the lock arm. .
Moreover, this connector housing may form the base position of the said lance thicker than the thickness of the side wall part which comprises the said terminal storage chamber.
The space formed in the base of the lance, the side wall portion constituting the terminal storage chamber, and the lock arm may be a region where the lock arm can be bent.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the connector housing which can implement | achieve size reduction, especially low profile effectively can be provided.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “embodiment”) will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, with respect to the shape of the connector housing of the connector, a lock arm (or also called “lock lever”) that holds the connectors in an appropriate connection state, and a lance (locking piece) that locks the terminal fitting. The root portion is formed at a close position. As a result, the connectors can be properly connected to each other, and a useless thickness shape (thickness portion) in the connector housing is prevented from being formed, thereby reducing the size of the connector, in particular, reducing its height.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a connector 100 according to the present embodiment. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the connector 100 with the terminal fitting 90 removed from the connector 100 of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the connector 100 of FIG. 2 with the mating connector 80 inserted. . In FIG. 4, part of the reference numerals is omitted in order to avoid complicated drawings.

  As shown mainly in FIG. 2, the connector 100 mainly includes a connector housing 10 and a terminal fitting 90 housed in the connector housing 10.

  First, the structure of the connector housing 10 will be described mainly based on FIG. 1 and FIG. The connector housing 10 has a substantially box-shaped outer shape made of resin. In FIG. 1, coordinate axes are shown for convenience, the positive direction of the X-axis indicates the front (front side), the negative direction indicates the rear (back), the Y-axis direction is the horizontal direction, and the Z-axis direction is the height direction. Is shown.

  A lock arm 20 that is elastically bent in the vertical direction is formed on the upper surface portion 11 of the connector housing 10. More specifically, the arm main body 21 extends to the rear end of the connector housing 10 so as to extend rearward and slightly upward (upper right direction in the drawing) with the position slightly forward from the center of the upper surface portion 11 as the arm base portion 24. Is extended.

  A locking engagement portion 22 that is convex upward is formed in a substantially central portion of the arm body 21 in a sectional view. As shown in FIG. 4, the locking engagement portion 22 of the lock arm 20 engages with the lock portion 83 of the mating connector 80 when it is connected to another connector (mating connector 80). Hold the connection properly.

  Furthermore, an arm operation unit 26 for bending the arm body 21 downward is provided at the distal end portion of the arm body 21. When the connector 100 is removed from the mating connector 80, the arm operating portion 26 is operated downward, so that the lock arm 20 and the lock portion 83 are unlocked. In the released state, the connectors can be separated back and forth.

  Further, a lock arm retracting space 60 is formed in a region R between the lock arm 20 and the partition wall outer surface portion 37 so that the lock arm 20 can be bent downward. In the present embodiment, in order to secure a sufficient space as the lock arm retracting space 60, the outer wall portion 38 (inner wall upper surface rear portion 38 a) that is the lower boundary of the lock arm retracting space 60 is positioned at the position of the arm root portion 24. On the other hand, it is shifted downward. In the figure, it is displaced downward by the thickness of the front portion 38b on the inner wall upper surface.

  In addition, a thick-walled portion 56 that is resin-molded to a position higher than the partition wall outer surface portion 37 that is the upper surface of the inner wall upper surface rear portion 38a is formed in a portion of the arm base portion 24 on the lock arm retracting space 60 side. The thick portion 56 is formed to be thicker than the side walls (the right side surface portion 13 and the left side surface portion 14) that constitute the lock arm retracting space 60.

  As will be described later, since the lance root portion 53 of the lance 50 is formed with the base (region P) substantially the same position as the arm root portion 24, the thick portion 56 is formed in this way to form the lock arm 20 and the lance 50. A strength of 50 can be appropriately secured. Further, the thick portion 56 is approximately half the height of the lock arm retracting space 60 in the arm base portion 24. Accordingly, even when the lock arm 20 is bent downward, the base portion of the arm main body 21 is not inhibited by the thick portion 56. In other words, the strength of the portions where the lock arm 20 and the lance 50 are formed is appropriately ensured, and at the same time, a sufficient downward bending region of the lock arm 20 is ensured.

  Next, a housing structure for the terminal fitting 90 of the connector housing 10 will be described. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the connector housing 10 includes first to fourth terminal storage portions 31 to 34 penetrating from the front surface portion 15 to the back surface portion 16 in two rows in the vertical and horizontal directions.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the terminal metal fitting 90 is each attached to the 1st-4th terminal accommodating parts 31-34. In the present embodiment, the upper first and second terminal accommodating portions 31 and 32 have the same shape, and similarly the lower third and fourth terminal accommodating portions 33 and 34 have the same shape. Therefore, in the following description, description of the shapes of the second terminal storage portion 32 and the fourth terminal storage portion 34 will be omitted as appropriate.

  As shown in FIG. 4, when the connector 100 and the mating connector 80 are fitted, four male terminal fittings 85 (two upper and lower are shown in the drawing) attached to the mating connector 80. It inserts from the 1st-4th front side opening 45-48, and also contacts the to-be-inserted part 93 of each terminal metal fitting 90. FIG. At the same time, as described above, the locking engaging portion 22 and the locking portion 83 are engaged, and the connector 100 and the mating connector 80 are properly connected.

Next, the first to fourth terminal accommodating portions 31 to 34 will be described mainly with reference to FIG.
First, the first terminal storage portion 31 is a space that is substantially rectangular in the front-rear direction in the AA cross-sectional view and is sandwiched between the upper inner wall upper surface portion 35 and the lower inner wall bottom surface portion 36. A first front-side opening 45 is provided, and a first back-side opening 41 is provided on the back surface portion 16. Further, it is a space between the upper inner wall upper surface portion 35 and the lower inner wall bottom surface portion 36. The second to fourth terminal accommodating portions 32 to 34 are similar to the first terminal accommodating portion 31, and the second to fourth front side openings 46 to 48 are formed in the front surface portion 15, and the second back surface portion 16 is secondly disposed. -It has the 4th back side openings 42-44.

  A lance 50 is formed in front of the center of the inner wall upper surface portion 35 so as to continue to the outer wall portion 38 and extend forward (left direction in the figure). A lance locking portion 52 is formed on the front tip portion of the lance 50 so as to be convex and downward. In addition, the lance root part 53 of the extension point of the lance 50 is formed in the substantially the same position as the arm root part 24 as mentioned above. A lance retracting space 61 is provided in the area Q of the upper surface portion of the lance 50 so that the lance 50 can be bent.

  When the terminal fitting 90 is attached to the first terminal storage portion 31, the lance engaging portion 52 and the engaging hole 92 of the terminal fitting 90 are fitted, so that the terminal fitting 90 is properly attached. The terminal fitting 90 is prevented from coming off.

  When the terminal fitting 90 is inserted, the lance 50 is pushed by the terminal fitting 90 and elastically changes, and temporarily bends in the direction of the lance retracting space 61, that is, upward. When the terminal fitting 90 is inserted to an appropriate position, the elastic change of the lance 50 is released, and the lance locking portion 52 is fitted into the locking hole 92.

  The internal shape of the third terminal storage portion 33 is substantially the same as the shape of the first terminal storage portion 31, but the lock arm retracting space 60 of the lock arm 20 is unnecessary, and the first The inner partition wall 39 in the rear portion of the lance 50 has a thick portion extending to the rear portion so as to have a shape that properly holds the terminal fitting 90 in the terminal storage portion 31.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the inner wall upper surface rear portion 38a that is the lower boundary surface of the lock arm retracting space 60 is lower than the inner wall upper surface front portion 38b that is the extension source of the lock arm 20. It is formed as follows. Thereby, a space for sufficiently moving the locking engagement portion 22 downward is secured.

  In other words, when the lock arm 20 is formed, for example, in the upper part of the second front side opening 46, the space below the lock arm 20 (the lock arm retracting space 60) is sufficiently secured as illustrated. Need to be higher. In that case, the height of the connector 100 cannot be lowered. However, in this embodiment, in the rear portion of the lance 50, a useless thick portion is deleted, and the deleted space can be used as a space for unlocking the lock arm 20. As a result, the lock arm 20 can be lowered. That is, a reduction in the height of the connector housing 10 can be realized. Further, the length α of the lock arm 20 can be shortened as compared with the conventional case where the length α is substantially the same as the depth direction of the connector housing 10. With such a configuration, the connector housing 10 can be reduced in size, and accordingly, the connector 100 can be reduced in weight. Furthermore, the material cost of the connector 100 can be reduced.

<Second Embodiment>
In this embodiment, the shape of the connector housing 10 having the shape shown in the first embodiment is partially changed. Therefore, the connector housing 10a of the present embodiment will be described with respect to portions different from those of the first embodiment, and the same configuration and shape will be denoted by the same reference numerals and the description will be appropriately given.

  FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the connector housing 10a according to the present embodiment. The structure different from the connector housing 10 of the first embodiment is in a portion where the arm root portion 24 and the lance root portion 53 are formed. More specifically, the thick portion 56 in the first embodiment is removed.

  By adopting such a configuration, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be realized, and further weight reduction can be realized. Furthermore, since the arm root portion 24 and the lance root portion 53 of the connector housing 10a have a simple shape, it is possible to improve the efficiency of mold creation and maintenance management for manufacturing the connector housing 10.

  The present invention has been described based on the embodiments. This embodiment is an exemplification, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to combinations of these components, and such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention.

It is a perspective view of a connector concerning a 1st embodiment. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. 1 of the connector based on 1st Embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the connector housing which remove | eliminated the terminal metal fitting from sectional drawing of the connector of FIG. 2 based on 1st Embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which connected the connector based on 1st Embodiment with the other party connector. It is sectional drawing of the connector housing based on 2nd Embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the connector based on a prior art. It is sectional drawing of the connector based on a prior art.

Explanation of symbols

10, 10a Connector housing 11 Upper surface portion 13 Right side surface portion 14 Left side surface portion 15 Front surface portion 16 Back surface portion 20 Lock arm 24 Arm base portion 31 First terminal storage portion 32 Second terminal storage portion 33 Third terminal storage portion 34 4 terminal storage portion 35 inner wall upper surface portion 36 inner wall bottom surface portion 37 partition wall outer surface portion 38 outer wall portion 38a inner wall upper surface rear portion 38b inner wall upper surface front portion 39 inner partition wall 50 lance 53 lance root portion 56 thick portion 60 lock arm retracting space 61 Lance retracting space 83 Locking portion 90 Terminal fitting 92 Locking hole 93 Inserted portion 100 Connector

Claims (3)

A lock arm having a locking portion that elastically bends downward and locks the mating connector, and a lance that elastically bends downward in the terminal storage chamber and locks the terminal fitting housed in the terminal storage chamber. Connector housing,
The extending direction of the lance and the extending direction of the lock arm are substantially opposite,
A connector housing characterized in that a root position of the lance coincides with a root position of the lock arm.
The connector housing according to claim 1, wherein a base position of the lance is formed thicker than a thickness of a side wall portion constituting the terminal storage chamber.
  3. The connector according to claim 1, wherein a space formed in the base of the lance, the side wall portion constituting the terminal storage chamber, and the lock arm is an area where the lock arm can be bent. 4. housing.

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