JP2011018522A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector excellent in conservation of space, which does not have to particularly secure a forming area for a lance in a connector housing.SOLUTION: A connector comprises: a terminal fixture 60 having a cylindrical body 61; and a connector housing 10 that has a plurality of cavities 11 being arranged in parallel in a width direction across a partition wall 12 and having an inside in which the terminal fixture 60 is inserted and has a lance 17 extending along an insertion direction of the terminal fixture 60 from a base end to a front end and constituting a part of the partition wall 12 while being flexibly deformable in the width direction, so as to elastically lock a rear end portion of the terminal fixture 60 normally inserted in the cavity 11 in the insertion direction of the body 61.

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a conventional connector. This connector includes a connector housing and a terminal fitting. A cavity is formed in the connector housing, and a lance that can be bent and deformed in the height direction is formed. A terminal fitting is inserted into the cavity from the rear, and the normally inserted terminal fitting is elastically locked by a lance.

  The lance extends from the front end of the lower wall of the cavity toward the front while gradually entering the cavity, and a locking portion projects from the distal end of the lance so as to protrude into the cavity. The terminal fitting interferes with the lance during the insertion process into the cavity and bends and deforms the lance downward. Retained. A step in the height direction is formed at the front end of the lower wall of the cavity, and a space for allowing the lance to bend is formed in front of the step.

JP 2009-123373 A

In the conventional connector configuration described above, the lance formation region has to be secured in the height direction including the space portion, and there is a lack of space saving.
The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a connector excellent in space saving.

  As means for achieving the above-mentioned object, the invention of claim 1 is arranged such that a terminal fitting having a cylindrical main body and a partition wall are arranged in parallel across the partition wall, and the terminal fitting is inserted therein. It has a plurality of cavities, extends along the insertion direction of the terminal fitting while forming a part of the partition wall from the proximal end to the distal end, and is deformable by bending in the width direction. The inserted terminal fitting includes a connector housing having a lance that elastically locks the rear end of the main body in the insertion direction.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the main body portions of the respective terminal fittings inserted into the cavities adjacent to each other are engaged with both widthwise end portions on the distal end side of the lance. It is characterized in that a stop surface that can be stopped is formed.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, a locking portion is formed to protrude into the cavity at the distal end side of the lance, and at one end side in the height direction of the locking portion. Is formed with a locking guide surface capable of locking the main body, and can be brought into contact with a jig for bending and deforming the lance in the unlocking direction at the other end in the height direction of the locking portion. A release guide surface is formed, the locking guide surface is a slope along the insertion direction of the terminal fitting, and the release guide surface is the locking slope along the insertion direction of the jig. It is characterized by a reverse slope.

<Invention of Claim 1>
Since the lance forms a part of the partition wall from the proximal end to the distal end and extends along the insertion direction of the terminal fitting, it is not necessary to secure a special lance formation region in the connector housing. In addition, since the rear of the terminal fitting in the insertion direction of the main body portion is an empty space, the space can be effectively used by using the rear end portion of the main body portion in the insertion direction as a locking portion of the lance. Therefore, according to the present invention, a connector excellent in space saving can be provided.

<Invention of Claim 2>
Since locking surfaces are formed at both ends in the width direction on the distal end side of the lance, the main body of the terminal fitting inserted into the cavity is locked by the locking surfaces of the two lances. The holding power to the bracket is increased.

<Invention of Claim 3>
Since the locking guide surface and the release guiding surface are formed in common with the locking portion of the lance, each of them is more excellent in space saving than being formed separately. Further, since the locking guide surface is a slope along the insertion direction of the terminal fitting and the release guide surface is a slope along the insertion direction of the jig, the insertion operation of the terminal fitting into the cavity and the jig Any insertion operation can be performed smoothly. Moreover, since the release guide surface is a slope opposite to the locking guide surface, there is no need to insert a jig along the insertion direction of the terminal fitting, and the portion of the terminal fitting that is behind the main body in the insertion direction. It is possible to avoid the jig from interfering with.

It is sectional drawing which looked at the terminal metal fitting inserted in the cavity concerning the connector of Embodiment 1 of this invention from upper direction. It is sectional drawing which looked at the inside of the cavity of a connector housing from the side. It is sectional drawing which looked at the inside of the cavity of a connector housing from upper direction. It is the front view which looked at the inside of the cavity of a connector housing from the front. It is sectional drawing which looked at the state by which a terminal metal fitting is inserted in a cavity, and also the jig | tool is further inserted from the front. It is sectional drawing which looked at the state by which a terminal metal fitting is inserted in a cavity, and the jig | tool is further inserted from the front from upper direction. It is sectional drawing which looked at the state which bends and deform | transforms a lance in the latch release direction with a jig | tool, and pulls out a terminal metal fitting from the inside of a cavity.

<Embodiment 1>
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The connector according to the first embodiment includes a connector housing 10 and a terminal fitting 60 accommodated in the connector housing 10. The connector housing 10 can be fitted into a mating connector housing (not shown), and the terminal fitting 60 is electrically connected to a mating terminal fitting (not shown) mounted on the mating connector housing in accordance with the fitting. In the following description, in the front-rear direction, the fitting surface side of the connector housing 10 is the front.

  The terminal fitting 60 is integrally formed by bending a conductive metal plate or the like, and as shown in FIG. 1, as shown in FIG. 1, a rectangular tube-shaped main body portion 61 and barrel portions 62 and 63 coupled to the rear of the main body portion 61. And have. Barrel portions 62 and 63 are wire barrel portion 62 that is caulked and connected to core wire 91 exposed at the end portion of covered electric wire 90, and insulation barrel portion 63 that is caulked and connected to insulating coating 92 at the end portion of covered electric wire 90. It consists of.

  A tab of the mating terminal fitting is inserted into the main body 61 from the front and connected. A stabilizer 64 is formed on the upper wall of the main body 61 by bending. The stabilizer 64 is inserted by being fitted into a guide groove (not shown) formed in the connector housing 10, thereby guiding the insertion operation of the terminal fitting 60 and preventing the erroneous insertion of the terminal fitting 60. A locking projection 81 of a retainer 80 assembled to the connector housing 10 can be locked to the rear end edge of the stabilizer 64.

  A connecting portion 65 having a substantially U-shaped cross section is formed between the rear end of the main body portion 61 and the front end of the wire barrel portion 62, and an open portion above the connecting portion 65 is an empty space. And both the width direction both ends of the rear-end upper part of the main-body part 61 are made into a pair of to-be-latched edge 66 latched by the lance 17 mentioned later.

  The connector housing 10 is made of a synthetic resin and has a block shape as a whole. As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of cavities 11 extending in the front-rear direction are formed in the connector housing 10. The cavities 11 are arranged in parallel in the width direction, and the adjacent cavities 11 are partitioned by thin partition walls 12 along the front-rear direction. A terminal fitting 60 is inserted into each cavity 11 from behind.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a front wall 13 is formed in a substantially lower half of the front surface of the cavity 11, and the terminal fitting 60 can be stopped by the front wall 13. An insertion groove 14 into which a tab can be inserted is formed in the front wall 13, and a tapered guide surface 15 for guiding the tab is formed on the front surface of the insertion groove 14 so as to expand. A jig insertion passage 16 through which a jig 50 (to be described later) can be inserted is formed in a substantially upper half portion of the front surface of the cavity 11 so as to communicate with the cavity 11.

  Now, the partition 12 which partitions between the adjacent cavities 11 is formed with a lance 17 which can be bent and deformed in the width direction. Specifically, the lance 17 includes a lance body 18 that extends in the front-rear direction and a pair of locking portions 19 that protrude into the cavity 11 from both sides in the width direction on the distal end side of the lance body 18.

  The lance body 18 is configured to extend forward (in the direction in which the terminal fitting 60 is inserted into the cavity 11) while forming a part of the partition wall 12 from the proximal end serving as a fulcrum of the bending operation to the distal end. A notch 21 is formed in a substantially upper half of the partition wall 12 so as to open forward, and a lance body 18 is defined inside the notch 21. As shown in FIG. 4, the tip of the lance 17 is visible from the front through the notch 21 and the jig insertion passage 16. The lance body 18 is not intruded into the cavities 11 on both sides in the natural state.

  The pair of locking portions 19 are respectively formed into a locking main body portion 22 protruding from a substantially lower half portion in the height direction of the lance 17 and a jig protruding from a substantially upper half portion in the height direction of the lance 17. The locking body 23 and the jig receiving part 23 are arranged in parallel in the height direction. The locking main body portion 22 is disposed at the same height as the locked edge 66 of the main body portion 61 of the terminal fitting 60 inserted into the cavity 11, and the jig receiving portion 23 is at the same height as the jig insertion passage 16. It is arranged in the position.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the front surface of the locking main body portion 22 is a locking surface 24 that stands substantially vertically. The locking surfaces 24 are arranged at both ends in the width direction of the front end surface (tip surface) of the lance 17 while being flush with the front end surface of the lance body 18 and are inserted into the adjacent cavities 11. The main body 61 can be locked. In other words, the main body 61 of the terminal fitting 60 inserted into the cavity 11 can be locked by the lances 17 adjacent to each other with the cavity 11 in between. A tapered locking guide surface 25 is formed on the rear surface of the locking main body portion 22 so as to extend forward along the insertion direction of the terminal fitting 60. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, a tapered release guide surface 26 is formed on the front surface of the jig receiving portion 23 so as to expand rearward along the insertion direction of the jig 50. That is, the engagement guide surface 25 and the release guide surface 26 are inclined to be opposite to each other, and the engagement main body portion 22 and the jig receiving portion 23 are substantially point-symmetric with each other when viewed from a plan view. Make.

Next, the operation of the connector of this embodiment will be described.
The terminal fitting 60 is inserted into the cavity 11 of the connector housing 10 from the rear. In the process of insertion, both sides in the width direction of the front end of the main body 61 slide on the locking guide surfaces 25 of the corresponding locking main body 22 of the lance 17, whereby the lance main bodies 18 of both lances 17 are adjacent to the cavity 11. It is bent and deformed to the side. When the terminal fitting 60 is properly inserted into the cavity 11, the lance main body 18 is elastically restored so that the locking surface 24 of the locking main body 22 can be locked to the locked edge 66 of the main body 61 from the rear. Be placed. Subsequently, by inserting the retainer 80 deeply into the connector housing 10, the retaining protrusion 81 of the retainer 80 is disposed on the rear end edge of the stabilizer 64 so as to be able to be engaged from behind. Due to the locking action of both the lances 17 and the retainer 80, the terminal fitting 60 is held in the cavity 11 and is regulated as shown in FIG.

  Next, when the terminal fitting 60 is extracted from the cavity 11 in response to a request for maintenance or the like, the jig 50 is inserted from the front into the jig insertion passage 16 of the connector housing 10 as shown in FIGS. To do. The illustrated jig 50 has a bifurcated shape having a pair of engaging pieces 51 corresponding to each of the lances 17 arranged opposite to each other with the cavity 11 in between, and a space for allowing the stabilizer 64 to escape between the two engaging pieces. It is supposed to be held. During the insertion process, the tip of the jig 50 slides on the release guide surface 26 of the jig receiving part 23 of the lance 17, whereby the lance body 18 is bent and deformed toward the adjacent cavity 11. When the jig 50 is properly inserted into the cavity 11, as shown in FIG. 7, the locked state between the locked edge 66 of the main body 61 and the locking surface 24 of the locking main body 22 is released, In this state, the terminal fitting 60 can be pulled out rearward of the connector housing 10 by pulling the covered electric wire 90 and pulling it backward.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the lance 17 is configured to extend along the insertion direction of the terminal fitting 60 while forming a part of the partition wall 12 from the proximal end toward the distal end. The area for forming the lance 17 in 10 need not be specially secured. In addition, since a portion of the terminal fitting 60 behind the locked edge 66 of the main body 61 becomes an empty space, the locking portion 19 enters the empty space and locks the locked edge 66. This makes it possible to effectively use the space. Therefore, according to the present invention, a connector excellent in space saving can be provided. As a result, it can be effectively applied to the small terminal fitting 60 and the small connector.

  Further, since the locking surfaces 24 are formed at both ends in the width direction on the tip side of the lance 17, the main body portion 61 of the terminal fitting 60 inserted into the cavity 11 is engaged by the locking surfaces 24 of the two lances 17. As a result, the holding force of the lance 17 to the terminal fitting 60 is increased.

  Furthermore, since the locking guide surface 25 and the release guide surface 26 are formed in common with the locking portion 19 of the lance 17, each of them is more excellent in space saving than being formed separately. Further, since the locking guide surface 25 is a slope along the insertion direction of the terminal fitting 60 and the release guide surface 26 is a slope along the insertion direction of the jig 50, the terminal fitting 60 into the cavity 11 is inserted. Both the insertion operation and the insertion operation of the jig 50 can be performed smoothly. Moreover, since the release guide surface 26 has a slope opposite to that of the locking guide surface 25, it is not necessary to insert the jig 50 into the cavity 11 from the rear side, and the rear end of the terminal fitting 60 with respect to the main body 61. It is possible to avoid the jig 50 from interfering with the portion.

<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) A locking protrusion that protrudes only into one of the adjacent cavities may be formed at the tip of the lance. In this case, the locked edge of the terminal fitting is formed only on one side in the width direction of the rear end of the main body portion, corresponding to the one locking protrusion.
(2) The lance may have a pair of elastic pieces that are bifurcated, and locking portions that protrude into the cavities adjacent to the distal ends of both elastic pieces may be formed. If it carries out like this, both elastic pieces can bend and deform | transform independently from each other in the insertion process in the cavity of a terminal metal fitting.
(3) The terminal fitting may be a male terminal fitting having a cylindrical main body and a tab protruding forward from the front end of the main body.
(4) The retaining projection of the retainer may be configured to latch the widthwise central portion (between both locked edges) of the rear end of the main body, not the rear end edge of the stabilizer. In some cases, the retainer may be omitted.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Connector housing 11 ... Cavity 12 ... Bulkhead 17 ... Lance 19 ... Locking part 24 ... Locking surface 25 ... Locking guide surface 26 ... Release guide surface 50 ... Jig 60 ... Terminal metal fitting 61 ... Body part

Claims (3)

A terminal fitting having a cylindrical main body,
While having a plurality of cavities that are arranged in parallel in the width direction across the partition wall and into which the terminal fitting is inserted,
In the terminal fitting that is configured to form a part of the partition wall from the proximal end to the distal end, extend along the insertion direction of the terminal fitting and bendable in the width direction, and is normally inserted into the cavity. And a connector housing having a lance that elastically locks the rear end of the main body in the insertion direction.   Locking surfaces capable of locking the main body portions of the terminal fittings inserted into the cavities adjacent to each other are formed at both ends in the width direction on the front end side of the lance. The connector according to claim 1.   A locking portion is formed on the distal end side of the lance so as to protrude into the cavity, and a locking guide surface capable of locking the main body is formed on one end side in the height direction of the locking portion, On the other end side in the height direction of the locking portion, a release guide surface that can contact a jig for bending and deforming the lance in the lock release direction is formed, and the lock guide surface is formed by the terminal fitting. 3. The slope according to claim 1, wherein the release guide surface is a slope opposite to the locking slope along the insertion direction of the jig. Connector.

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