JP2010123518A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent position shifting of a short-circuiting terminal when press-fitted. <P>SOLUTION: The connector is provided with a housing 10 and a short-circuiting terminal 30 for short-circuiting both of terminal metal fittings 20 arranged inside the housing 10, wherein the short-circuiting terminal 30 is provided with both contacting pieces 34, 35 each contacting with both of the metal fittings 20 in a state protruding forward from both side walls 32 and a bottom wall 31 for supporting both of the side walls 32. The connector is further provided with a terminal housing part 12 opening backward of the housing 10 and housing inside the short-circuiting terminals 20 while supporting a lower face of the bottom wall 31 and a regulating part 14 provided along un upper face of the bottom wall 31 and regulating the bottom wall 31 from moving upward. Both of the side walls 32 are regulated from moving upward by an inner wall upper face 15 of the terminal housing part 12 and a press-insertion into the terminal housing part 12 of the bottom wall 31 is carried out in a state that the bottom wall 31 and both of the side walls 32 are regulated from moving both up and down. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector.

Conventionally, a connector described in Patent Document 1 is known as a connector having a short terminal. The connector includes a housing, both terminal fittings disposed inside the housing, and a short terminal that short-circuits the both terminal fittings. The short terminal has both contact pieces that come into contact with both terminal fittings, and a bottom wall that supports the base end portion of both contact pieces. The housing is provided with a terminal accommodating portion that can accommodate a short terminal therein. The terminal accommodating portion has a shape that opens to the rear of the housing, and a mounting groove is provided on the lower edge of the terminal accommodating portion so that the side edge of the bottom wall can be attached in a press-fit state. Thus, when the short terminal is pushed into the terminal accommodating portion, the side edge of the bottom wall is press-fitted into the mounting groove in a state where the vertical movement of the bottom wall is restricted.
JP 2001-297827 A

  However, in the above configuration, although the vertical movement of the bottom wall is restricted by the mounting groove, the vertical movement of the base end portions of both contact pieces is not restricted. For this reason, if the base end part of both contact pieces receives the force of an up-down direction at the time of press injection, there exists a possibility that both contact pieces may shift to an up-down direction. In addition, since it is configured to guide in the front-rear direction only with the mounting groove, if the press-fitting is started with the bottom wall slightly tilted in the vertical direction, the tilted posture may not be corrected only with the mounting groove. There is also a possibility that the wall is press-fitted while being displaced in the vertical direction from the normal press-fitting position.

  The present invention has been completed based on the above-described circumstances, and an object thereof is to prevent misalignment when a short terminal is press-fitted.

  The present invention includes a housing and a short terminal for short-circuiting both terminal fittings disposed inside the housing, and the short terminal protrudes forward from the base end portion so as to contact both terminal fittings. A connector having a contact piece and a bottom wall that supports the base ends of both contact pieces. The connector has a shape that opens to the rear of the housing, and accommodates the short terminal while supporting the lower surface of the bottom wall. A terminal accommodating portion and a regulating portion that is provided along the upper surface of the bottom wall and restricts the bottom wall from moving upward, and the base end portion of both contact pieces is the inner wall on the rear end opening side of the terminal accommodating portion. The upper surface is restricted from moving upward, and the bottom wall and the contact end of the bottom wall are both press-fitted into the terminal accommodating portion in a state where movement in the vertical direction is restricted. However, it has characteristics.

  According to such a configuration, the bottom wall is supported by the terminal housing portion so that the bottom wall is restricted from moving downward, and the restriction portion is restricted from moving upward, and the terminal housing The upper end of the inner wall on the rear end opening side of the part restricts the base end portions of both contact pieces from moving upward. As a result, the bottom wall and the base end portions of both contact pieces are restricted from moving in the vertical direction, and the short terminal is held in a normal posture. Since the bottom wall is press-fitted in this state, the bottom wall can be press-fitted into the regular press-fitting position with respect to the terminal accommodating portion. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a positional shift when the short terminal is press-fitted.

The following configuration is preferable as an embodiment of the present invention.
The base end portions of both contact pieces may be configured to rise upward from both side edges at the rear end portion of the bottom wall.
According to such a configuration, the base end portions of both contact pieces can be formed long in the front-rear direction, and when receiving a force in the vertical direction, this force can be dispersed throughout the base end portion. Therefore, even when the base ends of both contact pieces receive a strong force, the movement in the vertical direction can be restricted without being deformed.

The short terminal may have a rear wall that rises upward from the rear edge of the bottom wall.
According to such a configuration, the bottom wall can be pressed into the terminal accommodating portion by pushing the short terminal forward with the rear surface of the rear wall as the pushing surface. For this reason, the short terminal can be pushed in stably.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent positional displacement when the short terminal is press-fitted.

<Embodiment 1>
Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings of FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1, the connector in this embodiment has a housing 10 made of synthetic resin. A plurality of cavities 11 arranged side by side in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction are formed in the housing 10 so as to penetrate in the front-rear direction. In the following description, the front-rear direction refers to the mating direction of the connector, and the front side refers to the mating surface side. Further, the vertical direction is a direction perpendicular to the front-rear direction and is the vertical direction in FIG. Moreover, let the left-right direction be a direction orthogonal to both the front-back direction and the up-down direction.

  The counterpart connector that can be fitted to the connector of this embodiment will be briefly described. The mating connector has a mating housing (not shown) made of synthetic resin. The mating housing has a hood portion (not shown) that forms a hood and opens forward. The housing 10 can be fitted inside the hood portion. A plurality of tab-like terminals (not shown) protrude from the back wall of the hood portion, and a plurality of open ribs R protrude.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the housing 10 has a substantially square block shape as a whole. A terminal fitting 20 can be inserted into the cavity 11 of the housing 10 from the rear. The terminal fitting 20 inserted into the cavity 11 is arranged corresponding to the tab-like terminal of the mating connector. For this reason, when both connectors are fitted, the terminal fitting 20 and the tab-like terminal are connected so as to be conductive.

  Now, in the housing 10, a pair of cavities 11 that are adjacent to each other in the first and second rows from the right shown in FIG. 1 are configured as a pair, and a pair that is adjacent to the left and right in the third and fourth rows from the right. The cavities 11 are configured as a set. Between the pair of cavities 11, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, a terminal accommodating portion 12 that accommodates the short terminal 30 is disposed. One terminal accommodating portion 12 is provided for one set of cavities 11, and a short terminal 30 can be inserted into the terminal accommodating portion 12 from behind.

  In addition, an entrance hole 13 is formed in the front surface of the housing 10 to allow the inside and the outside of the terminal accommodating portion 12 to communicate with each other. As shown in FIG. 2, the entry hole 13 is arranged corresponding to the opening rib R of the mating connector, and the opening rib R passes through the entry hole 13 and the inside of the terminal accommodating portion 12 with the fitting of both connectors. Can enter.

  The inside of the entry hole 13 communicates with the inside of the cavity 11. For this reason, the short terminal 30 accommodated in the terminal accommodating portion 12 contacts the terminal fitting 20 accommodated in the cavity 11 through the inside of the entry hole 13. When both connectors are fitted, as shown in FIG. 3, the open rib R is split between the short terminal 30 and the terminal fitting 20, whereby the both terminal fittings 20 are electrically opened.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the short terminal 30 is formed by punching a metal flat plate and then bending it. The short terminal 30 includes a bottom wall 31, a pair of side walls (an example of the “base end portion” of the present invention) 32 that rises upward from both side edges at the rear end of the bottom wall 31, and a rear edge of the bottom wall 31. The rear wall 33 rises upward, and includes a pair of contact pieces 34 and 35 extending forward from the front edges of the side walls 32.

  In FIG. 11, the longer contact piece disposed on the back side is referred to as one contact piece 34, and the shorter contact piece disposed on the near side is referred to as the other contact piece 35. In the following description, the side wall 32 disposed on the back side in FIG. 11 may be referred to as the right side wall 32, and the side wall 32 disposed on the near side may be referred to as the left side wall 32.

  Both corners of the front edge of the bottom wall 31 are notched, and by further notching the upper edge of the notch, a tapered surface 31A is formed with a plate thickness that decreases toward the end. Further, biting portions 31 </ b> B that can bite into the resin of the housing 10 are formed on the side edges corresponding to the one contact piece 34 on both side edges of the bottom wall 31.

  Both side walls 32 are connected to both side edges at the rear end of the bottom wall 31 as described above. The lower part of the rear edge of the side walls 32 is cut out by the thickness of the rear wall 33. Lower portions 33A on both side edges of the rear wall 33 are fitted into the notches 32B. Lower portions 33A at both side edges of the rear wall 33 are locked in the front-rear direction with respect to the cutout portions 32B of the side walls 32. As a result, the rear wall 33 is restricted from falling inward (forward).

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 12, the upper portions of both side edges of the rear wall 33 are cut away by the thickness of the side walls 32. The upper portion 32A at the rear edge of the side walls 32 is fitted into the notch 33B. The upper portion 32A at the rear edge of the side walls 32 is locked in the left-right direction with respect to the notch 33B. Thereby, both side walls 32 are restricted from falling inward (left-right direction).

  As shown in FIG. 13, the one contact piece 34 extends forward from the front edge of the right side wall 32, is then folded outward, and extends obliquely rearward. When one of the contact pieces 34 receives a force inward from the terminal fitting 20 or the open rib R, the one contact piece 34 is inward at two fulcrum points, a first fulcrum 34A located on the proximal end side and a second fulcrum 34B located on the distal end side. It can be bent. In this case, a force smaller than the force received from the terminal fitting 20 or the open rib R is applied to the second fulcrum 34B, and this small force may be supported by the first fulcrum 34A. Can be formed.

  The elastic force of the second fulcrum 34B is set to be smaller than the elastic force of the first fulcrum 34A. For this reason, when receiving a force inward from the terminal fitting 20 or the open rib R, first, only the second fulcrum 34B is bent and deformed, and when the second fulcrum 34B approaches the elastic limit, the first fulcrum 34A starts to bend and deform. . In this way, buckling at the second fulcrum 34B can be prevented.

  The other contact piece 35 extends forward from the front edge of the left side wall 32, is then bent outward, and extends obliquely forward. When the other contact piece 35 receives a force inward from the terminal fitting 20, it can be bent inward at a fulcrum 35A located on the base end side.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, both the contact pieces 34 and 35 are inserted into the terminal accommodating portion 12 with the contact pieces 34 and 35 approaching each other (hereinafter referred to as “approaching posture”). When the regular insertion position shown in FIG. 6 is reached, the natural state is restored.

  As shown in FIG. 14, both contact pieces 34 and 35 are arranged in a parallel posture with respect to the bottom wall 31. On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 9 to 10, the terminal accommodating portion 12 that accommodates both the contact pieces 34 and 35 includes a lower accommodating portion 12A that can accommodate the bottom wall 31 in a press-fitted state, and both contact pieces. It is comprised from the upper side accommodating part 12B which can accommodate 34,35. As shown in FIG. 8, the biting portion 31 </ b> B of the bottom wall 31 starts to bite into the right side surface of the lower housing portion 12 </ b> A when reaching the press-fitting start position. The press-fitting start position refers to the position of the short terminal 30 shown in FIGS. 5, 7, and 8.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the restricting portion 14 constituting the upper surface of the lower accommodating portion 12A protrudes rearward from the front surface of the lower accommodating portion 12A. Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the restricting portions 14 are connected to both side walls of the lower accommodating portion 12 </ b> A, and are provided as a pair with a predetermined interval in the left-right direction. The distance between the restricting portions 14 and the lower surface of the lower accommodating portion 12 </ b> A is approximately the same as the thickness of the bottom wall 31. At the press-fitting start position, the front end portion of the bottom wall 31 is disposed between the lower surface of the lower accommodating portion 12A and the restricting portions 14, thereby restricting the front end portion of the bottom wall 31 from moving in the vertical direction. The

  When the bottom wall 31 is inserted between the restricting portions 14 and the lower surface of the lower accommodating portion 12A, the bottom wall 31 is interposed between the restricting portions 14 and the lower surface of the lower accommodating portion 12A by the tapered surface 31A. It can be inserted smoothly. At the press-fitting start position, the upper edges of the both side walls 32 are in contact with the inner wall upper surface 15 on the rear end opening side of the terminal accommodating portion 12. For this reason, even if both the contact pieces 34 and 35 receive a strong force in the vertical direction, they can be supported by the side walls 32, so there is no possibility that the contact pieces 34 and 35 are displaced in the vertical direction. Therefore, the short terminal 30 at the press-fitting start position is restricted from being inclined in the vertical direction inside the terminal accommodating portion 12 and is held in a normal posture.

  When the bottom wall 31 at the press-fitting start position is press-fitted into the lower housing portion 12A, the biting portion 31B bites into the right side surface of the lower housing portion 12A, so that the bottom wall 31 is prevented from coming back backward. Further, the bottom wall 31 is disposed between the restricting portions 14 and the lower surface of the lower housing portion 12A, whereby the lifting of the front end portion of the bottom wall 31 is restricted. In this manner, the bottom wall 31 can be press-fitted into the normal press-fitting position with respect to the terminal accommodating portion 12 while the short terminal 30 is held in the normal posture. Can be prevented.

  Next, the short terminal 30 in the unfolded state will be briefly described with reference to FIG. From the viewpoint of shortening the dimension of the short terminal 30 in the front-rear direction, the contact pieces 34, 35 are extended forward from both side edges of the rear wall 33, thereby eliminating the side wall 32 and correspondingly in the front-rear direction. It is effective to shorten it. However, if both the contact pieces 34 and 35 are formed integrally with the rear wall 33, the both contact pieces 34 and 35 project to the left and right sides of the rear wall 33 in the unfolded state, and the pitch between the short terminals 30 increases. End up. This is not a good idea because the number of short terminals 30 per unit area is reduced. Therefore, in this embodiment, both the side walls 32 are provided, and both the contact pieces 34 and 35 are provided in a form of projecting forward from the front edges of the side walls 32. In this way, the bottom wall 31 and the contact pieces 34 and 35 can be arranged in parallel, and the pitch between the short terminals 30 is reduced, so that the number of short terminals 30 per unit area is increased. Can do.

  The present embodiment is configured as described above, and its operation will be described subsequently. First, from the state of FIG. 4, the short terminals 30 are inserted into the terminal accommodating portion 12 after the contact pieces 34 and 35 are brought into the approaching posture. When the short terminal 30 reaches the press-fitting start position shown in FIG. 5, the bottom surface of the bottom wall 31 is vertically locked with respect to the bottom surface of the lower housing portion 12 </ b> A as shown in FIG. The portions are vertically locked with respect to the restricting portions 14, and the side walls 32 are vertically locked with respect to the inner wall upper surface 15 on the rear end opening side of the terminal accommodating portion 12. Thereby, the short terminal 30 is allowed to move forward, but the front and rear end portions are restricted from being inclined in the vertical direction.

  In this state, as shown in FIG. 8, press-fitting into the right side surface of the lower accommodating portion 12 </ b> A of the biting portion 31 </ b> B has not yet started, and the short terminal 30 is moved forward by pushing the rear surface of the rear wall 33 from here. When inserted, the biting portion 31B can be press-fitted while the short terminal 30 is held in a normal posture. When the short terminal 30 reaches the normal insertion position shown in FIG. 6, both contact pieces 34 and 35 are restored to the natural state, and the short terminal 30 is prevented from coming back backward at the normal press-fitting position by the biting portion 31B. Held in a state. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a positional shift when the short terminal 30 is press-fitted.

  Thereafter, when the terminal fitting 20 is inserted into the cavity 11 to the proper insertion position, both terminal fittings 20 are electrically short-circuited through the short terminal 30. Thereafter, when the two connectors are fitted, the release rib R enters the entrance hole 13 from the state shown in FIG. 2, and the tip of the release rib R contacts one of the contacts as shown in FIG. By splitting between the piece 34 and the terminal fitting 20, the both terminal fittings 20 are electrically opened.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the front end portion of the bottom wall 31 is disposed between the lower surface of the lower housing portion 12A and the restricting portions 14, thereby restricting the movement of the front end portion of the short terminal 30 in the vertical direction. Since the side walls 32 are disposed between the inner wall upper surface 15 and the lower surface of the lower housing portion 12A on the rear end opening side of the terminal housing portion 12, movement of the rear end portion of the short terminal 30 in the vertical direction is restricted. Thus, the front and rear end portions of the short terminal 30 are restricted from being inclined in the vertical direction. Accordingly, since the bottom wall 31 is press-fitted while the short terminal 30 is held in a normal posture, the bottom wall 31 can be press-fitted into the normal press-fitting position with respect to the lower housing portion 12A. It is possible to prevent positional displacement during press-fitting.

  Further, since the vertical force can be received by the both side walls 32, even when both the contact pieces 34 and 35 receive a strong force, the both side walls 32 are not deformed and the both contact pieces 34 and 35 are moved in the vertical direction. Can be controlled. Further, since the bottom wall 31 can be pressed into the terminal accommodating portion 12 by pushing the short terminal 30 forward with the rear surface of the rear wall 33 as the pushing surface, the short terminal 30 can be pushed in stably. it can.

<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) In the present embodiment, both contact pieces 34, 35 extend forward from the front edge of both side walls 32, but according to the present invention, both contact pieces 34, 35 are forward from both side edges of the rear wall 33. You may extend to. That is, the base end portions of both contact pieces 34 and 35 may be the rear wall 33.

  (2) Although the rear wall 33 is provided so as to rise upward from the rear edge of the bottom wall 31 in the present embodiment, according to the present invention, the rear wall 33 can be connected to the rear edge of the side wall 32. Good.

  (3) In this embodiment, although the short terminal 30 is arrange | positioned between the both terminal fittings 20 adjacent on the left and right, according to this invention, the short terminal 30 is arrange | positioned between the both terminal fittings 20 adjacent up and down. May be.

Perspective view of housing viewed from diagonally forward Side sectional view of the state before the opening rib is inserted into the entrance hole when the terminal fitting is accommodated inside the cavity as seen from the side Side sectional view of the state after inserting the opening rib into the entrance hole as seen from the side A plan sectional view of the state before the short terminal is inserted into the terminal housing from above. A plan cross-sectional view of the state in the middle of inserting a short terminal inside the terminal accommodating portion with both contact pieces approaching each other, as viewed from above Plan sectional view of the state after inserting the short terminal inside the terminal accommodating part as seen from above AA line sectional view in FIG. BB sectional view in FIG. Rear view of the state before the short terminal is inserted into the terminal housing from the rear Rear view of the state after the short terminal has been inserted into the terminal housing as seen from the rear Perspective view of short terminal viewed from diagonally forward Perspective view of short terminal viewed from diagonally behind Plan view of short terminal Side view of short terminal Rear view of short terminal Plan view showing short terminal in unfolded state

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Housing 12 ... Terminal accommodating part 14 ... Restriction part 15 ... Inner wall upper surface 20 ... Terminal metal fitting 30 ... Short terminal 32 ... Side wall (base end part)
33 ... Rear wall 34 ... One contact piece 35 ... The other contact piece

Claims (3)

A housing and a short terminal for short-circuiting both terminal fittings disposed inside the housing, wherein the short terminal protrudes forward from a base end portion and contacts both the terminal fittings respectively. And a bottom wall that supports the base ends of both contact pieces,
A terminal accommodating portion for accommodating the short terminal therein while supporting a lower surface of the bottom wall;
Provided along the upper surface of the bottom wall, and comprising a restricting portion for restricting the bottom wall from moving upward,
The base end portions of the two contact pieces are restricted from moving upward by the inner wall upper surface on the rear end opening side of the terminal accommodating portion, and the bottom wall and the base end portions of the two contact pieces are vertically moved. A connector, wherein the bottom wall is press-fitted into the terminal accommodating portion in a state where movement is restricted. 2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein base ends of the contact pieces are configured to rise upward from both side edges at a rear end of the bottom wall. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the short terminal has a rear wall that rises upward from a rear edge of the bottom wall.

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