JP2010123487A - Electric connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electric connector which does not allow a locking state with a mating connecting body to be easily released, and which can detach an arbitrary connector easily. <P>SOLUTION: The electric connector 1 is formed by connecting a plurality of connectors 10A, 10B, 10C to the mating connecting body 50 in parallel in right and left width directions of a housing 20. In the housing 20 of respective connectors 10A, 10B, 10C, the lower stage housing part 21 is equipped with a first protrusion 22 to protrude from one end part in the right and left width directions of the upper stage housing part 23, and the upper stage housing part 23 is equipped with a second protrusion 24 protruded from the end part on the side opposite to the end part having the first protrusion 22 in the right and left width directions of the lower stage housing part 21. One end of respective lower stage housing parts 21 is equipped with a convex part 28 engaged with the mating connecting body 50 and serving as the rotary axis, and the other end thereof is equipped with a lock part 26 locked to the mating connecting body 50. A gap 60 to allow rotation of the housing 20 is installed between the first protrusion 22 and the second protrusion 24 of the housings 20 neighboring each other. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrical connector connected to a mating connector such as a fuel cell.

  An example of a fuel cell mounted on an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle is shown in FIG. 9 (see Patent Document 1). The fuel cell 200 is configured by stacking a large number of power generation units called cells (single cells) 210. Each single cell 210 is configured by sandwiching an electrolyte membrane made of an ion exchange membrane between the anode and the cathode from both sides, and further sandwiching the outside with a pair of separators 215. The separator 215 is formed with passages (not shown) for supplying fuel gas such as hydrogen gas and oxidant gas such as oxygen gas to the anode and the cathode, respectively. By supplying the fuel gas and the oxidant gas through the passage, a chemical reaction occurs in the cell and power generation is performed.

  Here, in order to control the supply amount of the fuel gas and the oxidant gas, find a defective cell, and the like, it is necessary to manage the power generation state of each single cell 210 in such a fuel cell 200. Therefore, the potential difference (voltage) between the separators 215 for each single cell 210 is measured using a plurality of electrical connectors 100 (see FIG. 10 and Patent Document 1).

  In order to connect the electrical connector 100, connector support portions 213 for supporting the electrical connector 100 are provided at both front and rear end portions (FIG. 9 only shows the front end portion) of the upper surface of the fuel cell 200. The connector support portion 213 includes an upright portion 213a that rises from the upper surface of the resin 211 constituting the single cell 210, and a support portion 213b that extends backward from the upper end of the upright portion 213a toward the center of the fuel cell 200. The layers 210 are stacked in the stacking direction. The distance between the upper surface of the fuel cell 200 and the lower surface of the support portion 213b is set to be slightly larger than the height between the upper surface and the lower surface of the electrical connector 100. A concave locking portion 214 is provided on the lower surface of the support portion 213b. The separator 215 of each single cell 210 is provided with a plate-like electrode portion 216 that protrudes upward from the upper surface of the resin 211 constituting the single cell 210. The pitch between the adjacent electrode portions 216 is set to be the same as the pitch between the adjacent single cells 210.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the electrical connector 100 includes a housing 110 and a plurality of (five) contacts (not shown) attached to the housing 110.
The housing 110 includes a lower housing portion 111 and an upper housing 113, and is integrally formed by molding an insulating resin. The lower housing portion 111 includes a first projecting portion 112 that projects from one end of the upper housing portion 113 in the left-right width direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 10B). The upper housing portion 113 includes a second projecting portion 114 projecting from an end portion on the opposite side to the end portion having the first projecting portion 112 in the left-right width direction of the lower housing portion 111. In the lower housing 111, a plurality of (four) contact accommodating portions 117 that accommodate contacts are formed in the left-right width direction at the same pitch as the pitch of the electrode portions 216. A single contact accommodating portion 118 that accommodates a contact is formed on the second projecting portion 114 of the upper housing portion 112. Further, a cantilever-like lock arm 115 is provided on the upper surface of the upper housing portion 113. On the upper surface of the lock arm 115, a locking projection 116 that is locked to a locking portion 214 provided on the support portion 213 b of the fuel cell 200 is formed to protrude. A plurality of slits 119 into which the plate-like electrode portion 216 of the single cell 210 enters the front end portions (the left end portion in FIG. 10A) of the lower housing portion 111 and the upper housing portion 113 have the same pitch as the pitch of the electrode portions 216. It is formed in the width direction.

A plurality of electrical connectors 100 are prepared, and the plurality of electrical connectors 100 are connected to the fuel cell 200 in parallel in the width direction of the housing 110 as shown in FIG. 11 (see Patent Document 1). At the time of this connection, each electrical connector 100 is inserted between the upper surface of the fuel cell 200 and the lower surface of the support portion 213b, the electrode portion 216 enters the slit 119 of each electrical connector 100, and the locking projection 116 is formed. The fuel cell 200 is locked to a locking portion 214 provided on the support portion 213b. The contacts provided on the electrical connector 100 are electrically connected to the electrode portions 216 of the single cells 210 of the fuel cell 200. Each contact of the electrical connector 100 is connected to each electric wire W, and the potential difference (voltage) between the separators 215 of each single cell 210 can be measured by connecting the electric wire W to a voltage sensor or the like.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-200362

By the way, in recent years, with the improvement in power generation efficiency of single cells constituting a fuel cell, there has been an increasing demand for reducing the thickness of each single cell, and power generation using thinner single cells has become possible. ing.
Here, in the case of the fuel cell 200 shown in FIG. 9, the thickness (width) of the single cells 210 constituting the fuel cell 200 is reduced, and accordingly, the pitch of the adjacent single cells 210 and the pitch of the separators 215 are reduced. That is, the thickness (width) of the upright portion 213a and the support portion 213b constituting the connector support portion 213 is decreasing.

  In this way, although the upright portions 213a and the support portions 213b constituting the connector support portion 213 are small in thickness (width), the lock portions 214 for locking the electrical connector 100 are provided for each single unit. It is in a substantially central portion of the support portion 213b located so as to go around from the upper surface of the resin 211 constituting the cell 210 via the upright portion 213a. Therefore, since the distance from the fixed end of the upright portion 213a to the locking portion 214 is long and the bending rigidity is small, the locking protrusion 116 of the lock arm 115 provided on the upper surface of the electrical connector 100 is engaged with the locking portion 214. When stopped, the support portion 213b may be easily deformed and the locked state may be easily released.

Further, in the electrical connector 100, a plurality of slits 119 into which the plate-like electrode portion 216 of the single cell 210 enters are provided at the front end portions of the lower housing portion 111 and the upper housing portion 113 constituting the housing 110. Here, since the wall 120 for partitioning each slit 119 is formed in a cantilever shape, there is a problem that the strength of the wall 120 is low.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an upper housing portion in which the lower housing portion includes a first projecting portion projecting from one end in the width direction of the upper housing portion. However, a plurality of connectors having a housing having a second projecting portion projecting from an end opposite to the end portion having the first projecting portion in the width direction of the lower housing portion are arranged in parallel in the lateral width direction of the housing. An object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector that cannot be easily released from a locked state with a mating connector when it is connected to the mating connector, and that can be easily detached from any connector.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector having a high strength wall that defines a slit for receiving a plate-like contact member.

  To achieve the above object, an electrical connector according to claim 1 of the present invention has a lower housing part and an upper housing part located above the lower housing part, and the lower housing part is the upper housing part. A first projecting portion projecting from one end portion in the left-right width direction of the first housing portion, and the upper housing portion projects from an end portion opposite to the end portion where the first projecting portion is located in the left-right width direction of the lower housing portion. An electrical connector for connecting a plurality of connectors having a housing having a second protrusion to a mating connector in parallel in the left-right width direction of the housing, at one end in the front-rear direction of the lower housing part, A convex portion that engages with the mating connector and serves as a rotating shaft, and has a lock portion that is locked to the mating connector at the other end in the front-rear direction of the lower housing portion. Is characterized in that a gap is provided to permit rotation of said housing between said first protrusion and said second protrusion of said connector housing.

  An electrical connector according to a second aspect of the present invention is the electrical connector according to the first aspect, wherein a contact accommodating chamber for accommodating a contact is arranged in each of the lower housing portion and the upper housing portion constituting the housing. The upper and lower two rows of contact accommodating chambers are arranged in a staggered manner along the left and right width direction.

  Moreover, the electrical connector which concerns on Claim 3 among this invention is the electrical connector of Claim 1 or 2 WHEREIN: The said lower stage housing part and the said upper stage housing part which comprise the said housing were provided in the said other party connection body. A slit for receiving the plate-like contact member is formed upward from the lower surface of the lower housing portion, and both end portions of the wall defining the slit are formed on the first base portion of the lower housing provided with the convex portion, and It is connected with the 2nd base of the lower housing part in which the lock part was provided.

  According to the electrical connector of the present invention, the lower housing part includes a first projecting part that projects from one end part in the left-right width direction of the upper housing part, and the upper housing part is the left-right width of the lower housing part. A plurality of connectors having a housing having a second projecting portion projecting from an end opposite to the end portion having the first projecting portion in the direction to the mating connector in parallel in the left-right width direction of the housing In the electrical connector, the lower housing part has a convex part that is engaged with the mating connection body and serves as a rotating shaft at one end in the front-rear direction, and is locked to the mating connection body at the other end in the front-rear direction of the lower housing part. Therefore, the height position of the locking portion of the mating connector to which the locking portion is locked can be kept low, and an electric connector that can be easily released from the locked state is provided. Rukoto can. In addition, since a clearance allowing the rotation of the housing is provided between the first protrusion and the second protrusion of the adjacent housing, after connecting a plurality of connectors to the mating connector, removing any connector When rotating the connector to be removed, it does not interfere with the adjacent connector. For this reason, the connector which should be removed can be removed easily. Further, when the connector is connected to the mating connector due to the gap, the adjacent connector is not interfered when the connector to be connected is rotated. For this reason, the connector which should be connected can be connected easily.

  Moreover, according to the electrical connector according to claim 2 of the present invention, in the electrical connector according to claim 1, contact accommodation for accommodating contacts in each of the lower housing portion and the upper housing portion constituting the housing. The chambers are arranged in two upper and lower contact housing chambers, and the two upper and lower row contact housing chambers are staggered along the left-right width direction. The arrangement pitch can be made narrow. And the 1st protrusion part which protrudes from the left-right width direction one end part of an upper stage housing part is provided in a lower stage housing part, and an upper stage housing part is opposite to the edge part with the 1st protrusion part in the left-right width direction of a lower stage housing part. Since the 2nd protrusion part which protrudes from the edge part of the side is provided, the double row | line-shaped contact accommodating chamber arranged in a staggered direction in the left-right width direction can be provided without providing a useless space in a housing.

  Furthermore, according to the electrical connector according to claim 3 of the present invention, in the electrical connector according to claim 1 or 2, the lower connector portion and the upper housing portion constituting the housing are provided on the mating connector. A slit for receiving the formed plate-shaped contact member is formed upward from the lower surface of the lower housing portion, and both ends of the wall defining the slit are the first of the lower housing provided with the convex portions. Since the base part and the second base part of the lower housing part provided with the lock part are connected to each other, the wall for partitioning the slit is formed in a doubly supported beam shape with both ends as fixed ends. The strength of the wall can be made higher than when the wall is formed in a cantilever shape.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1A and 1B show a state in which an electrical connector according to the present invention is connected to a fuel cell. FIG. 1A is a plan view, FIG. 1B is a front view, and FIG. 2A and 2B show a state in which the electrical connector according to the present invention is connected to the fuel cell, where FIG. 2A is a right side view and FIG. 2B is a rear view.
1 and 2, the electrical connector 1 includes a plurality of connectors 10 </ b> A, 10 </ b> B, and 10 </ b> C (which are three or more in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 but actually more) as a fuel cell 50. The connector 10A, 10B, 10C is configured to be connected in parallel in the left-right width direction (left-right direction in FIG. 1A) of each connector 10A, 10B, 10C.

  Here, the fuel cell 50 serving as the mating connector is configured by stacking a large number of power generation units called cells (single cells), similarly to the fuel cell 200 shown in FIG. Each single cell is configured by sandwiching an electrolyte membrane made of an ion exchange membrane from both sides between an anode and a cathode, and further sandwiching the outside between a pair of separators 51. Each separator 51 is formed of a metal plate. Each separator 51 is formed with a passage (not shown) for supplying a fuel gas such as hydrogen gas and an oxidant gas such as oxygen gas to the anode and the cathode, respectively. By supplying the fuel gas and the oxidant gas through the passage, a chemical reaction occurs in the cell and power generation is performed.

  Then, in order to connect each of the plurality of connectors 10A, 10B, and 10C to the fuel cell 50, as shown in FIG. 2 (A), portions of the separators 51 positioned at the front and rear ends of the upper surface of the fuel cell 50 ( In FIG. 2A, only the front end portion is shown), and a connector support portion 51a for supporting each connector 10A, 10B, 10C is provided. The connector support portion 51 a includes a locking portion locking recess 53 formed at the rear edge of the plate-like first upright portion 52 rising from the front end portion of each separator 51 protruding from the upper surface of the fuel cell 50. The connector support portion 51a is formed at the front edge of the plate-like second upright portion 54 that rises from a part of each separator 51 that is separated from the first upright portion 52 by a predetermined distance in the center direction of the fuel cell 50. A concave portion 55 for convex portion engagement is provided. The interval between the first upright portion 52 and the second upright portion 54 is set to be slightly larger than the length of each connector 10A, 10B, 10C in the front-rear direction (left-right direction in FIG. 2A). A plate-like electrode portion (plate-like contact member) 56 extending upward is provided between the first standing portion 52 and the second standing portion 54 of each separator 51. The pitch of the adjacent electrode portions 56 is set to be the same as the pitch of the adjacent single cells.

  FIGS. 3A and 3B show a state in the middle of connecting the electrical connector to the fuel cell, where FIG. 3A is a perspective view seen from the front oblique upper side, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view. 4A and 4B show a state where the electrical connector has been connected to the fuel cell, where FIG. 4A is a perspective view seen from the front obliquely upper side, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4B-4B in FIG. . 5A and 5B show a state in which the electrical connector has been connected to the fuel cell, where FIG. 5A is a perspective view seen from the obliquely upper side of the back surface, and FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5B-5B in FIG. . 6A and 6B show the connector in which the retainer is temporarily locked, in which FIG. 6A is a perspective view seen from the front oblique upper side, FIG. 6B is a perspective view seen from the rear oblique upper side, and FIG. (D) is a left side view. 7A and 7B show the connector with the retainer in the final locking state, where FIG. 7A is a rear view and FIG. 7B is a left side view. 8A and 8B show a state in which the retainer is separated from the connector. FIG. 8A is a perspective view seen from the front obliquely upper side, and FIG. 8B is a perspective view seen from the obliquely lower front side.

Since the plurality of connectors 10A, 10B, and 10C constituting the electrical connector 1 have the same shape, only the configuration of the connector 10A will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 3 to 8, the connector 10 </ b> A includes a housing 20, a plurality of contacts 30 attached to the housing 20, and a retainer 40 for secondary locking of the contacts 30 to the housing 20. ing.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the housing 20 includes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped lower housing part 21 and a substantially rectangular parallelepiped upper housing part 23 positioned above the lower housing part 21. The lower housing portion 21 and the upper housing portion 23 are integrally formed by molding an insulating resin.

  Further, in the rear part of the lower housing part 21 (the right part in FIGS. 3B and 4B), as shown in FIG. 6C, one end in the left-right width direction of the upper housing part 20 is provided. The 1st protrusion part 22 which protrudes from is provided. As shown in FIG. 6A, the first projecting portion 22 extends from the rear end surface of the lower housing portion 21 forward to a substantially central portion in the front-rear direction. Further, the upper housing part 23 is provided with a second projecting part 24 projecting from an end part on the opposite side to the end part having the first projecting part 22 in the left-right width direction of the lower housing part 21. As shown in FIGS. 6B and 6D, the second projecting portion 24 extends from the rear end surface of the upper housing portion 23 to the front end surface of the upper housing portion 23 in the forward direction. The second projecting portion 24 is continuous with the projecting plate portion 21 a in front of the side surface of the lower housing portion 21. For this reason, on the side surface of the lower housing portion 21, the second projecting portion 24 and the projecting plate portion 21a define a recess 21b that is recessed relative to the second projecting portion 24 and the projecting plate portion 21a. The recess 21b is set to a size that can receive the first protrusion 22 of the adjacent housing 20 with a gap.

  Here, when the plurality of connectors 10A, 10B, 10C are connected to the fuel cell 50, the first protrusion 22 and the second protrusion 24 between the adjacent connectors 10A, 10B (the same applies to 10B, 10C). The positional relationship will be described. As shown in FIG. 2B, when a plurality of connectors 10A, 10B, 10C are connected to the fuel cell 50, the second protrusion 24 of the housing 20 of the connector 10A and the first protrusion of the housing 20 of the connector 10B. A gap 60 that allows rotation of each housing 20 is formed between the housing 22 and the housing 22. Similarly, a gap 60 that allows rotation of each housing 20 is formed between the second protrusion 24 of the housing 20 of the connector 10B and the first protrusion 22 of the housing 20 of the connector 10C. The size of the gap 60 may be a size that allows rotation of each adjacent housing 20 and can avoid interference between the first protrusion 22 and the second protrusion 24 of the adjacent housing 20 during rotation.

  In each of the lower housing portion 21 and the upper housing portion 23, as shown in FIG. 6B and FIG. 6C, contact accommodation chambers 25 for accommodating the contacts 30 are arranged in two rows. The contact accommodating chamber 25 is provided. The upper and lower two rows of contact accommodating chambers 25 are arranged in a staggered manner along the left-right width direction. The arrangement pitch in the left-right width direction of contact storage chambers 25 (the arrangement pitch of contact storage chambers 25 adjacent in the vertical direction) is set to be the same as the pitch of adjacent electrode portions 56.

  Thus, by arranging the upper and lower two rows of contact accommodating chambers 25 in a zigzag manner along the left-right width direction, the arrangement pitch in the left-right width direction of the contacts 30 accommodated in the contact accommodating chamber 25 is made narrow. Can do. Accordingly, it is possible to cope with a decrease in the arrangement pitch of adjacent single cells and the arrangement pitch of the separators due to the thinner thickness of each single cell. The lower housing portion 21 is provided with a first projecting portion 22 projecting from one end in the left-right width direction of the upper housing portion 20, and the first projecting portion 22 in the left-right width direction of the lower housing 21 portion is provided on the upper housing portion 23. There is provided a second protrusion 24 that protrudes from an end opposite to the end. Thus, the two rows of contact accommodating chambers 25 staggered in the left-right width direction can be provided in the housing 20 without providing a useless space.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the lower housing portion 21 has a lower end portion that engages with a convex engagement recess 55 of the connector support portion 51 a of the fuel cell 50 to rotate the rotation shaft. A convex portion 28 is formed so as to protrude rearward. As shown in FIG. 6C, the convex portion 28 extends over the entire region in the left-right width direction of the lower housing portion 21. On the other hand, at the lower end portion of the front end surface of the lower housing portion 21, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 5 and 6, there is a lock portion 26 that extends forward from the lower end portion and extends upward via a curved portion. Is provided. The lock portion 26 is provided with a lock protrusion 27 that is locked to the lock portion locking recess 53 of the connector support portion 51 a of the fuel cell 50. As shown in FIG. 6A, the lateral width of the lock portion 26 is set smaller than the lateral width of the lower housing portion 21. The lateral width of the lock projection 27 is substantially the same as the lateral width of the lock portion 26. The upper end position of the lock portion 26 is the same position as the half height position of the housing 20, and is substantially the same position as the upper end position of the first upright portion 52 of the fuel cell 50. The vertical position of the lock protrusion 27 is slightly above the vertical center position of the lock portion 26 and is slightly above the vertical center position of the first upright portion 52. A pair of protective walls 26 a and 26 b extending so as to cover both sides of the lock portion 26 are provided on both sides of the front end surface of the lower housing portion 21. These protective walls 26a and 26b protect the lock portion 26 from the outside.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 3B, 4B, 5B, and 8B, the lower housing portion 21 and the upper housing portion 23 constituting the housing 20 are provided with a fuel cell 50. A plurality of slits 29 for receiving the plate-like electrode portion 56 are formed upward from the lower surface of the lower housing portion 21. As shown in FIG. 5B, one of the adjacent slits 29 is formed so as to penetrate the contact housing chamber 25 of the lower housing portion 21 from the lower surface of the lower housing portion 21 upward. Yes. Further, the other slit 29 among the adjacent slits 29 is formed so as to penetrate the contact housing chamber 25 of the upper housing portion 23 upward from the lower surface of the lower housing portion 21 as shown in FIG. Has been. Then, as shown in FIG. 8 (B), both ends of the walls that define the respective slits 29 are provided in the lower stage where the first base portion 29a of the lower stage housing portion 21 provided with the convex portion 28 and the lock portion 26 are provided. The housing portion 21 is connected to the second base portion 29b. Accordingly, the wall for partitioning each slit 29 is formed in a doubly-supported beam shape having both ends as fixed ends. Therefore, the wall of the conventional connector 100 shown in FIG. The strength of the wall can be increased.

Also, on one side wall (left side wall) of the lower housing part 21 and the upper housing part 23, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, a retainer receiving recess 41 for receiving the retainer 40 is provided. It is formed to extend from the side wall to the back side.
Next, as shown in FIGS. 3 (B), 4 (B), and 5 (B), each contact 30 includes a wire connecting portion 31 for crimping and connecting the wire W, and a front side of the wire connecting portion 31. The contact part 32 with which the electrode part 56 contacts is provided. Each contact 30 is formed by punching and bending a metal plate. When the contact 30 is accommodated in the contact accommodating chamber 25 on the both side walls on the front side of the electric wire connecting portion 31, a pair of primary contacts for locking the contact 30 to the both side walls of the contact accommodating chamber 25. A protrusion 33 is provided. The contact portion 32 is composed of a pair of elastic contact plates that can receive the electrode portion 56 from the lower side.

  Furthermore, the retainer 40 is accommodated in a retainer receiving recess 41 formed in the housing 20, and is locked to the housing 20 at both the temporary locking position shown in FIG. 6 and the final locking position shown in FIG. When the retainer 40 is locked to the housing 20 at the temporary locking position shown in FIG. 6, the respective contacts 30 connected to the electric wires W are accommodated in the respective contact accommodating chambers 25 from the rear of the housing 20. At this time, both protrusions 33 of each contact 30 are press-fitted into both side walls of the contact accommodating chamber 25, and each contact 30 is primarily locked. Then, when the retainer 40 is pushed in from the temporary locking position shown in FIG. 6 to reach the final locking position shown in FIG. 7, the retainer 40 secondarily locks each contact 30.

Next, a method of connecting the connectors 10A, 10B, and 10C constituting the electrical connector 1 to the fuel cell 50 that is the mating connector will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, the connector 10A at the end of the connectors 10A, 10B, 10C is provided at the rear end of the housing 20 while the electrode portion 56 of the fuel cell 50 is inserted into the slit 29 with the rear end facing downward. The protrusion 28 is engaged with the protrusion engaging recess 55 of the fuel cell 50.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the connector 10 </ b> A is rotated about the convex portion 28 serving as the rotation axis about the front end side downward, and the lock protrusion 27 provided on the lock portion 26 is moved to the first of the fuel cell 50. It is inserted into the locking portion locking recess 53 from above the standing portion 52 and locked. Accordingly, the connector 10A is connected to the fuel cell 50. The lock portion 26 is formed to be elastically deformed. When the connector 10 </ b> A is connected, when the lock protrusion 27 comes into contact with the upper end portion of the first upright portion 52, the lock portion 26 is once bent inward. Further, when the connector 10A rotates, the lock protrusion 27 enters the lock portion locking recess 53, the lock portion 26 is restored to its original state, and the lock protrusion 27 engages with the upper edge of the lock portion locking recess 53. It is stopped.

Here, when the connector 10 </ b> A is connected to the fuel cell 50, as shown in FIG. 5B, one of the adjacent electrode portions 56 is in the contact housing chamber 25 of the upper housing portion 23. The contact part 32 of the contact 30 accommodated in the contact is made. Further, the other electrode portion 56 among the adjacent electrode portions 56 contacts the contact portion 32 of the contact 30 accommodated in the contact accommodating chamber 25 of the lower housing portion 21.
The connectors 10B and 10C are sequentially connected to the fuel cell 50 by the same operation as the connector 10A.

  Thus, when each contact 30 of the connectors 10A, 10B, 10C constituting the electrical connector 1 comes into contact with the electrode portion 56 of the fuel cell 50, the separator 51 of each single cell is connected via the electric wire W connected to each contact 30. The potential difference (voltage) between them is measured.

  In the present embodiment, the lower housing portion 21 has a convex portion 28 that engages with the convex portion engaging concave portion 55 and serves as a rotation shaft at one end in the front-rear direction, and the lower housing portion 21 has the other end in the front-rear direction. It has the lock part 26 with the lock protrusion 27 latched by the recessed part 53 for lock part latching. The lock locking recess 53 is formed at the rear edge of the plate-like first upstanding portion 52 rising from the front end portion of each separator 51, and the height position from each separator 51 is low. Therefore, the height position of the lock locking recess 53 of the fuel cell 50 to which the lock portion 26 is locked, and thus the height of the first upright portion 52 can be kept low. It is possible to provide the electrical connector 1 in which the locked state of the locking recess 53 is not easily released.

  When any connector is removed after the plurality of connectors 10A, 10B, 10C are connected to the fuel cell 50, the lock portion 26 is bent inward at one end of the connectors 10A, 10B, 10C to be removed to lock the lock protrusions 27. The locked state with respect to the partial locking recess 53 is released. Thereafter, the convex portion 28 may be removed from the convex portion engaging concave portion 55 by causing the connector to perform a rotational operation opposite to the aforementioned rotational operation. At this time, a gap 60 that allows rotation of the housing 20 is provided between the first protrusion 22 and the second protrusion 24 of the housing 20 of the adjacent connectors 10A, 10B, and 10C. When the connectors 10A, 10B, and 10C are rotated, they do not interfere with adjacent connectors. For this reason, the connectors 10A, 10B, and 10C to be removed can be easily removed. Due to the clearance 60, when the connectors 10A, 10B, and 10C are connected to the fuel cell 50, when the connectors 10A, 10B, and 10C to be connected are rotated, they do not interfere with adjacent connectors. For this reason, it is possible to easily connect the connectors 10A, 10B, and 10C to be connected.

As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention has been described, this invention is not limited to this, A various change and improvement can be performed.
For example, the fuel cell 50 has been described as the mating connector, but the present invention is not limited to this as long as a plurality of connectors constituting the electrical connector 1 are connected in parallel.
In addition, the convex engaging recess 55 and the locking portion locking concave 53 constituting the connector support 51a are integrally provided in the metal separator 51, but the convex engaging concave 55 and the lock are provided. The portion locking recess 53 may be made of resin.

  Further, the plate-like electrode portion 56 of the fuel cell 50 has been described as a plate-like contact member. However, any plate-like contact member may be used, for example, a tab terminal used in a general electrical connector. .

The state which connected the electric connector which concerns on this invention to the fuel cell is shown, (A) is a top view, (B) is a front view, (C) is a bottom view. The state which connected the electric connector which concerns on this invention to the fuel cell is shown, (A) is a right view, (B) is a rear view. The state in the middle of connecting an electric connector to a fuel cell is shown, (A) is a perspective view seen from the front diagonally upper side, and (B) is a sectional view. The state which completed the connection of the electrical connector to a fuel cell is shown, (A) is the perspective view seen from the front diagonally upper side, (B) is sectional drawing which follows the 4B-4B line | wire in FIG. 2 (B). The state which completed the connection of the electrical connector to a fuel cell is shown, (A) is the perspective view seen from the back diagonally upper side, (B) is sectional drawing which follows the 5B-5B line | wire in FIG. 2 (B). The retainer shows the connector in a temporarily locked state, (A) is a perspective view seen from the front diagonally upper side, (B) is a perspective view seen from the diagonally upper rear side, (C) is a rear view, and (D) is a rear view. It is a left side view. The retainer shows the connector in a fully locked state, (A) is a rear view, and (B) is a left side view. The state which isolate | separated the retainer from the connector is shown, (A) is the perspective view seen from the front diagonally upper side, (B) is the perspective view seen from the front diagonally lower side. It is a fragmentary perspective view which shows an example of a fuel cell. The conventional electrical connector is shown, (A) is a perspective view, (B) is a rear view. FIG. 10 is a partial perspective view of the fuel cell shown in FIG. 9 with the connector shown in FIG. 10 connected thereto.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electrical connector 10A, 10B, 10C Connector 20 Housing 21 Lower housing part 22 1st protrusion part 23 Upper stage housing part 24 2nd protrusion part 25 Contact accommodating chamber 26 Lock part 28 Convex part 29 Slit 29a 1st base part 29b 2nd base part 30 Contact 50 Fuel cell (partner connector)
56 Electrode (contact member)
60 gap

Claims (3)

A lower housing part and an upper housing part located above the lower housing part, the lower housing part comprising a first projecting part projecting from one end in the left-right width direction of the upper housing part, and the upper housing part A plurality of connectors having a housing having a second projecting portion projecting from an end opposite to the end portion where the first projecting portion is located in the left-right width direction of the lower housing portion. An electrical connector for connecting to the mating connector in parallel in the direction,
One end of the lower housing portion in the front-rear direction has a convex portion that engages with the mating connector and serves as a rotating shaft, and is locked to the other connector in the front-rear direction of the lower housing portion. An electrical connector having a lock portion, wherein a gap allowing rotation of the housing is provided between the first projecting portion and the second projecting portion of the adjacent housing of the connector.   In each of the lower housing portion and the upper housing portion constituting the housing, contact housing chambers for housing contacts are arranged to form two upper and lower rows of contact housing chambers, and the upper and lower two rows of contact housing chambers are arranged on the left and right sides. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the electrical connector is staggered along the width direction.   In the lower housing part and the upper housing part constituting the housing, a slit for receiving a plate-like contact member provided in the mating connector is formed upward from the lower surface of the lower housing part. The both ends of the wall partitioning the wall are connected to the first base portion of the lower housing provided with the convex portion and the second base portion of the lower housing portion provided with the lock portion. Item 3. The electrical connector according to Item 1 or 2.

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