JP2009224111A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector for making the height low by suppressing the height of the connector. <P>SOLUTION: The connector 10 includes a housing 11 in which a cavity 12 for housing a female terminal 26 is formed, an arm 14 which is supported by the housing 11 and arranged separately from the outer side face of the housing 11 and approaches the housing 11 with flexibility, an operating part 16 which is connected to the arm 14 and bends the arm 14 in a direction to come close to the housing 11, a locking pawl 18 which is installed on the outer side face on the opposite side to the housing 11 of the arm 14, and a lance 22 which is supported by the arm 14 and protrudes or retreats from the cavity 11. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector having a lance for holding a terminal in a cavity of a housing.

  The connector includes a female housing having a cavity into which a female terminal can be inserted. In this female housing, the lance is formed so as to be elastically deformable obliquely forward from the front upper surface wall of the cavity, and the lock arm is extended so as to be elastically deformable from the upper surface to the rear. A lock claw projects from the upper surface of the extended lock arm.

When the female terminal is inserted to a predetermined position of the cavity, the lance plays a role of locking the female terminal and preventing the female terminal from coming out of the cavity.
The lock claw is engaged with a lock receiving portion formed in the female housing in a state where the female housing is housed in the male housing.
In this state, the female terminal is connected to the male terminal of the male housing (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2007-305484 A

In recent years, with the miniaturization of connectors, there has been a demand for connector height reduction (that is, to keep the height of the connector low).
However, in Patent Document 1, a lance is formed on the front upper surface wall of the cavity, and a lock claw projects from a lock arm formed on the upper surface of the housing.
Thus, since the lock claw and the lance are provided in different parts, there is a limit to the reduction in height.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the situation mentioned above, The objective is to provide the connector which can be reduced in height.

In order to achieve the above-described object, the connector according to the present invention is characterized by the following (1) to (4).
(1) A housing in which a cavity for accommodating a terminal is formed, a support portion supported on the outer surface of the housing, and a displacement extending from the support portion and spaced apart from the outer surface of the housing A flexible arm, and a flexible arm in which the displaceable portion is close to the housing, and a displaceable portion of the arm, and the displaceable portion is connected to the housing. An operating portion for bending in a direction approaching, a lock claw provided on the outer surface of the arm displaceable portion on the opposite side to the housing, and supported by the displaceable portion of the arm with respect to the cavity. And a lance that can be retracted.

(2) A connector configured as described in (1) above,
A support portion of the arm is provided with a first leg portion erected on a portion of the housing on the terminal insertion port side of the cavity, and a second leg erected on a portion of the housing on the terminal abutment side. And the displaceable part is suspended between the first leg part and the second leg part.

(3) A connector configured as described in (1) or (2) above,
A lance piece integrally formed on the displaceable portion, the lance piece extending so as to be orthogonal to the flexible direction of the displaceable portion and arranged in parallel with the displaceable portion; A base end of the cavity on the terminal insertion port side of the lance piece is connected to the displaceable part, and the lance is provided at a tip of the cavity on the terminal abutment side of the cavity. What is being done.

(4) The connector according to (2) or (3) above,
The lance has a contact surface that contacts an opening edge of the lance hole of the terminal and faces the terminal abutment side of the cavity, and a proximal end portion of the contact surface is more than a distal end side of the contact surface. It is an inclined surface arranged on the terminal insertion port side of the cavity.

In the connector having the configuration (1), a lock claw is provided on the outer surface of the displaceable portion constituting the arm, and the lance is supported on the arm. As described above, the lances are collectively supported by the arm provided with the lock claw, so that the distance between the lock claw and the lance in the height direction can be reduced.
As a result, the height of the connector can be kept small, and the height of the connector can be reduced.

  In the connector having the configuration (2), the displaceable part is stretched between the first leg part and the second leg part. Thereby, since the both ends of a displaceable part can be supported by the 1st leg part and the 2nd leg part, since intensity | strength is obtained for an arm, it can reduce in thickness.

In the connector having the configuration (3), the lance pieces are arranged in parallel with the displaceable portion. And the base end part of the lance piece was connected with the displaceable part, and the lance was provided in the front-end | tip part of a free end.
Therefore, the lance can be favorably swung upward or downward with the base end portion as the center.
As a result, it is possible to secure a large amount of movement of the lance, and it is possible to detach the connector and the terminal using the amount of movement of the lance.

In the connector having the configuration (4), the contact surface of the lance is inclined by placing the proximal end side closer to the terminal insertion port side of the cavity than the distal end side.
By making the contact surface of the lance an inclined surface, the movable portion can be moved in the direction of pushing out the terminal in a state where the displaceable portion is elastically deformed to the housing side by the operation portion and the lock is released.

Therefore, the terminal can be pushed out on the inclined surface and the terminal can be abutted against the housing of the mating connector. By abutting the terminal against the housing of the mating connector, a reaction force acts on the terminal from the housing.
As a result, the reaction force acting can automatically move the housing (connector) halfway in the direction of detachment, and the connector can be detached from the housing of the mating connector.

Further, when the wire harness is pulled, the displaceable portion is elastically deformed toward the housing. Here, the contact surface of the lance is formed on an inclined surface by disposing the proximal end side closer to the terminal insertion port side of the cavity than the distal end side.
Therefore, by pulling the lance toward the terminal insertion port side of the cavity, it is possible to displace the inclined surface of the lance from a state where it is engaged with the terminal to a state where the engagement can be released.

By displacing the inclined surface, the inclined surface of the lance is detached from the terminal, and the lance can be extracted from the cavity.
Thereby, when a wire harness is pulled carelessly, it can prevent that a wire harness disconnects.

  According to the connector of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the height of the connector by collectively supporting the lance on the arm provided with the lock claw.

Hereinafter, a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4, the connector 10 includes a housing 11 in which a cavity 12 is formed, a pair of arms 14 supported by the housing 11, an operation unit 16 coupled to the pair of arms 14, and a pair of A lock claw 18 provided on each of the arms 14, a lance piece 21 provided on the pair of arms 14, and a lance 22 provided on the lance piece 21 are provided.

The housing 11 is a female housing that is formed so as to be freely inserted / extracted (detached) from the male housing 24 and in which a cavity 12 is formed along the insertion direction.
The cavity 12 is a space for accommodating a female terminal (terminal) 26.
That is, the connector 10 is a female connector.

The female terminal 26 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and as shown in FIG. 4, a wire harness 29 is fastened to the base end portion 26A, and a fitting portion 26C that fits the male terminal 27 is formed at the distal end portion 26B. .
The male terminal 27 shown in FIG. 4 is provided in the male housing 24.

  The arm 14 is provided on each side of the housing 11, and the displaceable portion 33 is spaced apart from the upper outer surface (outer surface) 11 </ b> A of the housing 11 by a predetermined distance S <b> 1 (see FIG. 3).

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the arm 14 includes a first leg 31 erected on the insertion port 12 </ b> A side of the cavity 12 on the upper outer side (outer side) 11 </ b> B of the housing 11, and the upper outer side of the housing 11. 11B, a second leg portion 32 standing on the abutment 12B side of the cavity 12 and a displaceable portion 33 spanned between the first leg portion 31 and the second leg portion 32 are provided.
The displaceable portion 33 is a portion that is disposed substantially parallel to the upper outer surface 11A of the housing 11 and is flexible in a direction close to the housing 11 (downward in FIG. 3).

As described above, by displacing the displaceable portion 33 between the first leg portion 31 and the second leg portion 32, both end portions of the displaceable portion 33 can be supported by the first leg portion 31 and the second leg portion 32. it can.
Therefore, since the strength of the arm 14 can be increased, the thickness of the displaceable portion 33 can be reduced.

In the operation unit 16, a pair of side leg portions 41 are connected to a pair of displaceable portions 33, respectively, and an operation site 42 is spanned between the pair of side leg portions 41.
That is, the side leg portion 41 is erected upward in a portion 33A (see FIG. 2) in the vicinity of the first leg portion 31 of the displaceable portion 33.
By pressing the operation part 42 toward the housing 11, the arm 14 (displaceable part 33) can be bent in a direction approaching the housing 11.

Therefore, the lock claw 18 and the lance 22 can be moved in the direction approaching the housing 11 by bending the arm 14 (the displaceable portion 33) in the direction approaching the housing 11 by the operation unit 16, respectively.
The movement of the lock claw 18 and the lance 22 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

The lock claw 18 protrudes upward from the outer surface 33 </ b> C on the opposite side of the housing 11 at a substantially central portion 33 b of the displaceable portion 33.
As shown in FIG. 4, the locking claw 18 is locked to the locking claw 44 of the male housing 24 while being inserted into the male housing 24.
Therefore, the housing 11 is kept inserted in the male housing 24.

  When the locking claw 18 is inserted into the male housing 24, the locking claw 18 abuts on the locking claw 44, and the arm 14 (the displaceable portion 33) is elastically deformed to the housing 11 side by this abutting force and moves to the housing 24 side. It is a possible site.

The lance piece 21 is interposed between the pair of displaceable portions 33, is orthogonal to the flexible direction of the displaceable portion 33 and is arranged in parallel to the displaceable portion 33.
Further, the lance piece 21 has a base end portion 21A on the side of the insertion port 12A of the cavity 12 spanned (connected) to the pair of displaceable portions 33 and is directed from the base end portion 21A toward the abutment 12B side of the cavity 12. It has been extended.

The lance 22 is provided at the tip 21B of the lance piece 21 on the abutment 12B side of the cavity 12.
That is, the lance 22 is supported by the displaceable portion 33 via the lance piece 21.
Therefore, when the arm 14 (displaceable portion 33) is elastically deformed toward the housing 11, the lance 22 can be moved toward the housing 24 via the lance piece 21.

The lance 22 is provided at a position separated from the portion 33A of the displaceable portion 33 on the abutting 12B side of the cavity 12 by a distance S2 (see FIG. 3).
Further, the lance 22 protrudes from the distal end portion 21 </ b> B toward the cavity 12.
As shown in FIG. 4, the lance 22 includes a contact surface 46 that contacts the opening edge 45 </ b> A of the lance hole 45 of the female terminal 26 and faces the abutment 12 </ b> B of the cavity 12.

The contact surface 46 is formed on an inclined surface in which the base end 46A side is disposed closer to the insertion port 12A side of the cavity 12 than the distal end 46B side.
Hereinafter, the contact surface 46 will be described as an inclined surface. The reason why the contact surface 46 is inclined will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

By inserting the lance 22 into the lance hole 45 of the female terminal 26, the inclined surface 46 faces the opening edge 45 </ b> A of the lance hole 45.
Therefore, the inclined surface 46 abuts (contacts) with the opening edge 45 </ b> A, and the female terminal 26 can be held in a state of being inserted into the cavity 12.

As described above, the lock claw 18 is provided on the outer surface 33 </ b> C of the displaceable portion 33, and the lance 22 is supported on the displaceable portion 33.
As described above, the lance 22 is collectively supported by the displaceable portion 33 provided with the lock claw 18, thereby suppressing the distance between the lock claw 18 and the lance 22 in the height direction of the lock claw 18 and the lance 22. be able to.
As a result, the height H (see FIG. 3) of the connector 10 can be kept small, and the height of the connector 10 can be reduced.

Next, an example in which the connector 10 is inserted into the male connector 24 will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, an example in which the female terminal 26 is attached to the cavity 12 of the housing 11 will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 5A, the female terminal 26 is inserted into the cavity 12 of the housing 11 as indicated by an arrow A.

The front end portion 26 </ b> B of the female terminal 26 contacts the lance 22. A pressing force F1 acts on the lance 22 upward. The arm 14 (displaceable part 33) is raised in the direction of arrow B toward the side away from the housing 11 side.
In this state, the female terminal 26 is further inserted in the direction of arrow A, so that the lance hole 45 reaches the lance 22.

As shown in FIG. 5B, the arm 14 (the displaceable portion 33) is restored to the state before elastic deformation, and the lance 22 is inserted into the lance hole 45.
As a result, the inclined surface 46 of the lance 22 contacts the opening edge 45 </ b> A, and the female terminal 26 is held in the cavity 12 of the housing 11.

Next, an example in which the connector 10 is inserted into the male connector 24 will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 6A, the connector 10 is inserted into the male connector 24 as shown by an arrow D.
The lock claw 18 of the connector 10 contacts the locking claw 44 of the male housing 24. A pressing force F <b> 2 acts downward on the lock claw 18.

The arm 14 (displaceable part 33) is elastically deformed toward the housing 11 and the lock claw 18 is lowered as shown by an arrow E.
In this state, when the connector 10 is further inserted in the direction of arrow D, the lock claw 18 gets over the locking claw 44.

As shown in FIG. 6B, after the lock claw 18 gets over the locking claw 44, the arm 14 (the displaceable portion 33) is restored to the state before elastic deformation, and the lock claw 18 is moved to the locking claw 44. Lock to.
Therefore, the housing 11 can be kept inserted in the male housing 24.

Next, an example of extracting the connector 10 from the male connector 24 will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 7A, the operation part 42 of the operation unit 16 is pressed toward the housing 11.
The pressing force F <b> 3 acts downward on the portion 33 </ b> A in the vicinity of the first leg portion 31 in the displaceable portion 33 through the side leg portion 41.
The arm 14 (displaceable part 33) bends in the direction approaching the housing 11, and the lock claw 18 moves to the housing 11 side.

  As shown in FIG. 7B, when the lock claw 18 moves, the lock claw 18 is separated from the locking claw 44 and the locked state between the lock claw 18 and the locking claw 44 is released.

By the way, the arm 14 (the displaceable portion 33) bends in the direction approaching the housing 11, so that the lance 22 moves to the housing 11 side together with the lock claw 18.
Here, when the arm 14 (the displaceable part 33) is pushed down by the operation part 16, the part 33A in the vicinity of the first leg part 31 of the arm 14 (the displaceable part 33) is pushed downward.

A portion 33A in the vicinity of the first leg portion 31 is provided at a position separated from the lance 22 by a distance S2 on the insertion port 12A side of the cavity 12.
Therefore, the lance 22 swings upward in the direction of the arrow G around the portion 33A in the vicinity of the first leg 31.
Since the inclined surface 46 of the lance 22 is in contact with the opening edge 45A of the lance hole 45, the lance 22 swings upward.

Here, the base end portion 21A of the lance piece 21 is connected to the displaceable portion 33, and the distal end portion 21B is formed at the free end. And the lance 22 is provided in the front-end | tip part 21B.
In addition, the lance 22 is provided at a position separated from the portion 33A of the displaceable portion 33 on the abutment 12B side of the cavity 12 by a distance S2.
Therefore, the lance 22 can swing well upward, and the opening edge 45A of the lance hole 45 can be pushed in the direction of the arrow H by the inclined surface 46 of the lance 22.

The female terminal 26 moves in the direction of arrow H, and the tip end portion 26 </ b> B of the female terminal 26 abuts against a projecting piece 47 provided on the male housing 24.
Therefore, a reaction force F4 acts on the female terminal 26 from the protruding piece 47. With this reaction force F4, the female terminal 26 and the female housing 11 can be automatically pushed out halfway in the direction of separating from the male housing 24.

Next, an example in which the female terminal 26 is extracted from the connector 10 will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 8A, when a tensile force acts on the female terminal 26 in the direction of arrow I, a pressing force acts on the inclined surface 46 of the lance 22 from the opening edge 45A of the lance hole 45 in the direction of arrow I. To do.
The arm 14 (the displaceable portion 33) is a portion that can be elastically deformed.
Therefore, the arm 14 (the displaceable portion 33) is elastically deformed, so that the lance piece 21 swings in the arrow J direction around the base end portion 21A.

Here, the base end portion 21A of the lance piece 21 is connected to the displaceable portion 33, and the distal end portion 21B is formed at the free end. And the lance 22 is provided in the front-end | tip part 21B.
In addition, the lance 22 is provided at a position separated from the portion 33A of the displaceable portion 33 on the abutment 12B side of the cavity 12 by a distance S2.
Therefore, the lance 22 can swing favorably downward.

In FIG. 8B, the inclined surface 46 of the lance 22 is inclined substantially vertically, and the opening edge 45 </ b> A of the lance hole 45 is separated from the inclined surface 46.
Therefore, the locking of the female terminal 26 by the lance 22 can be released, and the lance 22 can be detached from the cavity 12.
Therefore, when the tensile force acts on the female terminal 26 in the direction of arrow I carelessly, the wire harness 29 can be prevented from being disconnected.

  In addition, the housing 11, the cavity 12, the arm 14, the operation part 16, the lock claw 18, the lance piece 21, the lance 22, the first leg part 31, the second leg part 32, the displaceable part 33, etc. shown in the above embodiment. The shape is not limited to those illustrated, but can be changed as appropriate.

  The present invention is suitable for application to a connector having a lance for holding a terminal in a cavity of a housing.

It is a perspective view which shows the connector which concerns on this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the cross-sectional state of the connector which concerns on this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the connector which concerns on this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which inserted the female terminal in the connector which concerns on this invention. It is sectional drawing explaining the example which inserts a female terminal in the connector which concerns on this invention. It is sectional drawing explaining the example which inserts the connector which concerns on this invention into a female connector. It is sectional drawing explaining the example which makes the connector which concerns on this invention detach | leave from a female connector. It is sectional drawing explaining the example which makes a female terminal remove | separate from the connector which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

10 Connector 11 Housing 11A Upper outer surface (outer surface) of housing
11B Upper outer side of housing (outside)
12 Cavity 12A Cavity Insertion Port 12B Cavity Abutment 14 Arm 16 Operation Part 18 Locking Claw 21 Lance Piece 21A Lance Piece Base End 21B Lance Piece Tip 22 Lance 26 Female Terminal (Terminal)
31 1st leg part 32 2nd leg part 33 Displaceable part 33C Outside surface (outside surface of arm) of displaceable part
45 Lance hole 45A Open edge of lance hole 46 Contact surface (inclined surface)
46A Base end on contact surface (inclined surface) 46B Tip end on contact surface (inclined surface)

Claims (4)

A housing in which a cavity for receiving a terminal is formed;
A support portion supported on the outer surface of the housing; and a displaceable portion extending from the support portion and spaced apart from the outer surface of the housing, and the displaceable portion is A flexible arm proximate to the housing;
An operation unit connected to the displaceable part of the arm and bending the displaceable part in a direction approaching the housing;
A lock claw provided on the outer surface of the arm in the displaceable portion opposite to the housing;
A lance supported by the displaceable portion of the arm and capable of projecting and retracting with respect to the cavity;
A connector comprising: The connector according to claim 1,
A support portion of the arm is provided with a first leg portion erected on a portion of the housing on the terminal insertion port side of the cavity, and a second leg erected on a portion of the housing on the terminal abutment side. A connector, wherein the displaceable part is spanned between the first leg part and the second leg part. The connector according to claim 1 or 2, wherein
A lance piece integrally formed on the displaceable portion, the lance piece extending so as to be orthogonal to the flexible direction of the displaceable portion and arranged in parallel with the displaceable portion; And
The base end portion of the cavity on the terminal insertion port side of the lance piece is connected to the displaceable portion, and the lance is provided at the tip end portion of the cavity on the terminal abutment side of the cavity. A connector characterized by having The connector according to claim 2 or claim 3, wherein
The lance has a contact surface that contacts an opening edge of the lance hole of the terminal and faces the terminal abutment side of the cavity;
A connector characterized in that a base end side portion of the contact surface is an inclined surface disposed closer to a terminal insertion port side of the cavity than a distal end side of the contact surface.

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