JP2011049043A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector which is configured to prevent the abnormal deformation of a short circuit terminal incorporated in a connector housing so as to allow the execution of complete fitting. <P>SOLUTION: A short spring (a short circuit terminal) is mounted in a spring storage chamber 41 formed in a female connector housing 5. In a state that a female terminal is not stored in a terminal storage chamber 33 formed in the female connector housing 5, contact parts 55a, 55b and elastic support parts 59a, 59b formed on the short spring, respectively, partially protrude into the terminal storage chamber 33. By fitting male/female connector housings 3, 5 to each other, a short circuit release bar 29 formed in the male connector housing 3 is in contact with the upper side face of a part 61 to be moved by pressing that is formed on the short spring 7. As a result, a pair of elastic parts 53a, 53b constituting the short spring is moved in a short circuit release direction (an X-direction) so as to prevent the abnormal deformation of the short spring. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector.

FIG. 6 shows a configuration of a connector disclosed in Patent Document 1 below.
The connector 100 is used as an automobile airbag connector and includes a male connector housing 112 having a male terminal fitting 110 and a short-circuit terminal 111 and a female connector housing 114 having a female terminal fitting 113. The connector housings 112 and 114 are configured to be able to be fitted and detached from each other. In the following description, the direction in which the connector housings 112 and 114 are fitted together is referred to as the front direction.

  The male connector housing 112 is made of synthetic resin, and a bracket fixing portion 155 for attaching the entire male connector housing 112 to a fixing wall (not shown) is provided on the lower surface side thereof. The front half region of the male connector housing 112 is a fitting recess 133 that opens to the front surface, and the female connector housing 114 is accommodated therein.

  On the other hand, the female connector housing 114 is also made of synthetic resin and is formed in a block shape. A plurality of cavities 115 are formed in the female connector housing 114 side by side in the width direction. A female terminal fitting 113 is inserted into each cavity 115, and these female terminal fittings 113 are prevented from being detached from the female connector housing 114.

  In other words, the locking projection 117 formed on the bottom surface of the female terminal fitting 113 and the lance 116 formed on the bottom surface of the cavity 115 are locked, and the retainer assembled to the retainer mounting port 118 communicating with each cavity 115. By 119, the female terminal fitting 113 is doubly retained inside each cavity 115.

  The short-circuit terminal 111 is made of a metal material having elasticity, and is inserted and assembled into the accommodation chamber 134 from the fitting recess 133 side, and is held at the illustrated position. In this state, the elastic claw 147 of the short-circuit terminal 111 is in contact with the front edge of the extending wall 154 from the front, thereby restricting the short-circuit terminal 111 from being displaced rearward. Further, the locking claw 138 of the short-circuit terminal 111 is in contact with the locking portion 139 of the storage chamber 134 from the rear, thereby restricting the short-circuit terminal 111 from being displaced forward.

  At this time, the contact portion 146 of the elastic contact piece 145 of the short-circuit terminal 111 enters the opening 136 of the accommodation chamber 134 and comes into contact with the male terminal fitting 110 exposed in the opening 136. Each elastic contact piece 145 is brought into contact with the respective male terminal fitting 110, whereby the adjacent male terminal fittings 110 are short-circuited by the short-circuit terminal 111. The position of the short circuit terminal 111 at this time is the short circuit position.

Next, cancellation of the short circuit between the male terminal fitting 110 and the short terminal 111 will be described.
The short circuit is released by fitting the male connector housing 112 and the female connector housing 114 to each other. That is, the female connector housing 114 is inserted into the fitting recess 133 formed in the male connector housing 112. When this insertion is advanced, the tapered surface 127A of the push-in portion 125 formed on the female connector housing 114 is brought into sliding contact with the release guide surface 128 formed on the short-circuit terminal 111. Then, the holding portion 141 begins to bend and deform downward, and the engagement between the elastic claw 147 formed on the holding portion 141 and the upper edge of the extending wall 154 is released. As a result, the short-circuit terminal 111 can be displaced backward in the accommodation chamber 134.

  Further, the return portion 130 formed in the female connector housing 114 enters the return lock portion 132 formed in the short-circuit terminal 111 from below. Then, the push-in part 125 comes into contact with the front wall 144 of the short-circuit terminal 111 from the front, and the short-circuit terminal 111 is pushed in by the push-in part 125 and moves to the rear of the housing chamber 134.

  In this way, the advancement of the female connector housing 114 releases the engagement between the elastic claw 147 and the front end edge of the extending wall 154, and the short-circuit terminal 111 can be moved rearward. Furthermore, the male terminal fitting 110 and the female terminal fitting 113 are electrically connected.

  When the fitting further proceeds from the fitting state, the short-circuit terminal 111 is pushed into the push-in portion 125 and moves to the release position, and the rear wall 143 of the short-circuit terminal 111 abuts against the rear wall of the storage chamber 134 and the short-circuit terminal It is restricted that 111 is displaced backward. At this time, the elastic contact piece 145 of the short-circuit terminal 111 rides on the tapered surface 127 </ b> C formed on the partition wall 135 of the storage chamber 134. As a result, the partition wall 135 is interposed between the contact portion 146 of the elastic contact piece 145 and the male terminal fitting 110, so that the short circuit between the adjacent male terminal fittings 110 is released.

  In the connector 100, when the male connector housing 112 and the female connector housing 114 are fitted together, the two-pole male terminal fitting 110 is short-circuited by the short-circuiting terminal 111 and connected to the female terminal fitting 113, and then the short-circuit is released. Is configured to do.

  Therefore, when the male connector housing 112 and the female connector housing 114 are fitted, malfunction of the airbag ignition device due to static electricity can be prevented.

JP 2006-73365 A

  Depending on how the connector 100 is used, the male terminal fitting 110 may not be inserted into the cavity 115 and a certain cavity 115 may be left empty. In this case, since the short-circuit terminal 111 is not supported by the male terminal fitting 110, the short-circuit terminal 111 is mounted in a state in which rattling occurs. Then, the push-in part 125 may not be in proper contact with the short-circuit terminal 111, the short-circuit terminal 111 is not pushed down by the push-in part 125, and the short-circuit terminal 111 and the female connector housing 114 abut against each other, so-called dragging occurs. In some cases, complete fitting between the male connector housing 112 and the female connector housing 114 is prevented.

  In order to prevent the sticking and to completely fit the male connector housing 112 and the female connector housing 114, a terminal that does not function as an electric circuit, in other words, a dummy terminal is inserted into the empty cavity and the short-circuit terminal 111 is inserted. It must be fully depressed.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a connector configured to prevent incomplete mating when a male and female connector housings are mated with each other.

The above object of the present invention is achieved by the following configurations.
(1) a male connector housing in which male terminals are accommodated in a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers;
A female connector housing containing female terminals in a plurality of terminal containing chambers;
A short-circuiting terminal that is built in one of the male connector housing or the female connector housing and that simultaneously contacts two terminals housed in the connector housing to short-circuit both terminals;
A short-circuit releasing mechanism provided in the other connector housing in which the short-circuiting terminal is not incorporated;
With
In the process of fitting the male connector housing and the female connector housing, the short-circuit release mechanism is applied to the short-circuit terminal, and the contact between the terminal and the short-circuit terminal is completed by the short-circuit release mechanism when the fitting is completed. A connector to be released,
The short-circuit terminal is
A substrate section;
A pair of elastic members cantilevered on the substrate part;
A contact portion formed on each of the elastic members and capable of contacting each of the two terminals housed in the one connector housing;
An elastic support part for elastically supporting the contact part;
A pushing portion having an inclined surface that is formed in the elastic support portion and extends to the other connector housing side than the front end portion of the elastic support portion and contacts the short-circuit releasing member;
Is formed as a unit,
The short-circuit release mechanism is
In a state where the contact portion is in contact with the terminal that needs to be short-circuited, the contact portion enters the space between the contact portion and the terminal after contacting the elastic support portion and releases the contact between the two. In a state where the contact portion is not in contact with the terminal, a short-circuit release bar that contacts the push portion and biases the push portion in the short-circuit release direction to displace the entire pair of elastic members in the short-circuit release direction. is there,
A connector characterized by that.

  According to the configuration of (1) above, in one connector housing to which the short-circuit terminals are mounted, the male and female connector housings are mutually connected in a state where the male or female terminals are housed in the terminal housing chamber that is the short-circuit terminal. When fitted, the short-circuit release bar comes into contact with the elastic support portion of the short-circuit terminal, and the short-circuit release bar enters between the contact portion and the male or female terminal according to the progress of the fitting, and the entire pair of elastic portions is It is deformed so as to be displaced in the short-circuit releasing direction. As a result, in the fully fitted state, the contact between the contact portion and the male or female terminal is released, and the short circuit is released.

  On the other hand, when the male and female connector housings are fitted to each other in a state in which the terminal is not accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber to be short-circuited in the one connector housing to which the short-circuit terminal is mounted, The inclined surface comes into contact with the short-circuit releasing bar, and the pushing portion is guided in the short-circuit releasing direction according to the progress of the fitting, and the entire pair of elastic portions are deformed so as to be displaced in the short-circuit releasing direction. As a result, the short-circuit terminal and the short-circuit release bar are not stuck, and abnormal deformation of the short-circuit terminal is prevented.

  The connector according to the present invention is short-circuited in any of the male-female connector housings, even if the terminal is accommodated in the terminal-accommodating chamber in which the short-circuited terminal is short-circuited or the terminal is not accommodated. The release member displaces the short-circuit terminal in the short-circuit release direction so that the short-circuit terminal and the short-circuit release bar do not get stuck, and abnormal deformation of the short-circuit terminal can be prevented. Accordingly, the male and female connector housings can be completely and smoothly engaged with each other.

It is a perspective view of the male connector housing which comprises the connector which is one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a female connector housing. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a short spring. It is sectional drawing which shows the fitting state of the male and female connector housing of the state which accommodated the male and female terminal in the terminal storage chamber. It is sectional drawing which shows the fitting state of the male and female connector housing of the state which does not accommodate a male and female terminal in a terminal storage chamber. It is sectional drawing which shows the fitting state of the conventional male and female connector housing.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a connector according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  The connector 1 in this embodiment is for an airbag device. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, a male connector housing 3, a female connector housing 5, a short spring (short-circuit terminal) 7, a male terminal 9, and a female Terminal 11 etc. are provided.

  The male connector housing 3 is integrally molded using a synthetic resin. As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 23 partitioned by a partition wall 21 are formed on the rear end side of the outer surface. Yes. The male terminals 9 are inserted and attached to the terminal accommodating chambers 23 as indicated by an arrow A as required in the circuit configuration. An electric wire W is connected to the male terminal 9 in advance.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a fitting recess 25 for fitting the female connector housing 5 is formed in the male connector housing 3. The plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 23 are formed so as to communicate with the fitting recess 25 from the rear end of the male connector housing 3. Therefore, when the male terminal 9 is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 23, the tip protrudes into the fitting recess 25 so as to be electrically connected to the female terminal 11 described later, and the electric wire W is led out from the rear end side. It becomes like this.

  A lance 27 is formed in the terminal accommodating chamber 23 so that the inserted male terminal 11 is locked so as not to be pulled out.

  The female connector housing 5 is integrally formed using a synthetic resin and is fitted into a fitting recess 25 formed in the male connector housing 3. The female connector housing 5 is also formed with a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 33 partitioned by a partition wall 31 as shown in FIG. Each terminal accommodating chamber 33 is formed to communicate with the female connector housing 5 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Then, the female terminals 11 are inserted and attached to the terminal accommodating chambers 33 from the direction indicated by the arrow B in FIG. An electric wire W is connected to each female terminal 11 in advance.

  When the female terminal 11 is mounted in the terminal accommodating chamber 33, the tip thereof is positioned at a position slightly inward from the end face of the female connector housing 5 as shown in FIGS. Will be derived. The female terminal 11 is positioned and prevented from being pulled out by a lance 35 provided in the terminal accommodating chamber 33.

  The female connector housing 5 is formed with a spring accommodating chamber 41 as shown in FIGS. 2, 4, and 5. The spring accommodating chamber 41 is for accommodating the short spring 7 shown in FIG. 3, and the short spring 7 resists its own elastic force in the spring accommodating chamber 41 from the direction indicated by the arrow C in FIG. And pushed.

  The short spring 7 is formed using a metal plate having conductivity and elasticity, and prevents the airbag ignition device from malfunctioning due to static electricity when the male connector housing 3 and the female connector housing 5 are fitted together. Is to do.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the short spring 7 includes a flat plate-like substrate portion 51, a pair of elastic members 53 a and 53 b that are cantilevered and supported by the substrate portion 51, and the pair of elastic members 53 a and 53 b. Contact portions 55a and 55b provided at the tops of the elastic members 53a and 53b, a connecting portion 57 for connecting the pair of elastic members 53a and 53b, and an elastic member for elastically supporting the pair of elastic members 53a and 53b. Supporting portions 59a and 59b, and a tongue-like pushing portion 61 for urging the pair of elastic members 53a and 53b downward against the elastic force of the elastic supporting portions 59a and 59b are provided.

  A wall-shaped reinforcing portion 63 is bent and formed on three sides of the outer periphery of the substrate portion 51 to prevent deformation of the entire short spring 7.

  The short spring 7 is inserted into the spring accommodating chamber 41 as indicated by an arrow C in FIG. 2, and at this time, the elastic support portions 59a and 59b are bent to reduce the height. At the time of complete insertion, the contact portions 55a and 55b are positioned at positions corresponding to the two terminal storage chambers 33 immediately above the spring storage chamber 41.

  In this state, when the female terminal 11 is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 33 from the arrow B direction, the entire pair of elastic members 53a and 53b of the short spring 7 is pushed downward X as shown in an enlarged manner in FIG. However, since the elastic force of each elastic support part 59a, 59b acts, contact part 55a, 55b comes to contact | abut elastically with the side surface of the female terminal 11, and there is no contact defect etc. and it contacts reliably.

  Next, when the end of the female connector housing 5 is inserted into the fitting recess 25 formed in the male connector housing 3 and pushed in as it is, the male connector housing 3 is formed as shown in FIG. 4 prior to complete fitting. The tip of the short-circuit releasing bar 29 is brought into contact with the upper surfaces of the elastic support portions 59a and 59b. At this time, as described above, the short spring 7 and the female terminal 11 come into contact with each other, the tip 9a of the male terminal 9 is inserted into the female terminal 11, and the male terminal 9 and the female terminal 11 come into contact with each other.

  That is, all of the short spring 7, the male terminal 9, and the female terminal 11 are in mechanical contact and electrically connected.

  At this time, it is assumed that, for example, a gap G shown in FIG. 4 is interposed between the male connector housing 3 and the female connector housing 5. When the gap G is further narrowed for complete fitting, the elastic support portions 59a and 59b are pushed down by the short-circuit release bar 29, and the entire pair of elastic members 53a and 53b integrated with the elastic support portions 59a and 59b It will be pushed downward X.

  As a result, when the male connector housing 3 and the female connector housing 5 are completely fitted, the contact portions 55a and 55b and the female terminal 11 are not in contact with each other. However, since the male terminal 9 and the female terminal 11 are in contact with each other so as to be energized prior to this non-contact, malfunction of the airbag due to static electricity or the like can be prevented.

  Next, the operation of the short spring 7 when the female terminal 11 is not inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 33 and there is an unused circuit will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 5, when the female terminal 11 is not inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 33, the contact portions 55a and 55b do not contact the female terminal 11, and therefore are not biased downward. 55 b and a part of the elastic support portions 59 a and 59 b protrude into the terminal accommodating chamber 33.

  Here, paying attention to the configuration of the short spring 7, as shown in FIG. 3, the pushing portion 61 is extended in the shape of a tongue piece, and the tip thereof is positioned in front of the end surfaces of the elastic support portions 59a and 59b. The portion of the pusher 61 that is connected to the connecting portion 57 is formed to have a slope substantially the same as that of the elastic support portions 59a and 59b, but is gradually formed to be steep toward the tip. It is formed in a curved shape.

  According to this configuration, as shown in FIG. 5, when the contact portions 55a and 55b are not pushed down, the elastic support portions 59a and 59b are positioned above the short-circuit release bar 29. The tip of 61 is positioned below the short-circuit release bar 29.

  When the fitting between the male connector housing 3 and the female connector housing 5 is advanced in this state, the short-circuit releasing bar 29 acts to urge the pushing portion 61 downward from the upper side as the gap G narrows. As a result, the entire pair of elastic portions 53a and 53b is pushed downward as indicated by an arrow X in the enlarged portion of FIG.

  Therefore, even when the female terminal 11 is not inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 23 and there is an unused circuit, the short-circuit releasing bar 29 hits the short spring 7 as in the conventional case, and a so-called doggy state is obtained. This prevents the short spring 7 from being deformed or damaged.

  For this reason, when the male connector housing 3 and the female connector housing 5 are fitted, the short spring 7 does not become an obstacle, and incomplete fitting can be prevented.

  In addition, the airbag connector 1 according to the present embodiment has a simple structure of the short spring 7 and the short-circuit release bar 29 and a simple release action, so that low-cost production is possible and maintenance is easy. Become.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be appropriately modified and improved. In addition, the material, shape, dimension, numerical value, form, number, arrangement location, and the like of each component in the above-described embodiment are arbitrary and are not limited as long as the present invention can be achieved.

  For example, the short spring 7 may be provided in the male connector housing 3 and the short-circuit releasing bar 29 may be provided in the female connector housing 5.

1 Connector 3 Male Connector Housing 5 Female Connector Housing 7 Short Spring (Short Terminal)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 9 Male terminal 11 Female terminal 21, 31 Bulkhead 23,33 Terminal accommodating chamber 25 Fitting recessed part 27 Lance 29 Short-circuit release bar 35 Lance 41 Spring accommodating chamber 51 Board | substrate part 53a, 53b Elastic member 55a, 55b Contact part 57 Connection part 59a , 59b Elastic support part 61 Pushing part

Claims (2)

A male connector housing containing male terminals in a plurality of terminal containing chambers;
A female connector housing containing female terminals in a plurality of terminal containing chambers;
A short-circuiting terminal that is built in one of the male connector housing or the female connector housing and that simultaneously contacts two terminals housed in the connector housing to short-circuit both terminals;
A short-circuit releasing mechanism provided in the other connector housing in which the short-circuiting terminal is not incorporated;
With
In the process of fitting the male connector housing and the female connector housing, the short-circuit release mechanism is applied to the short-circuit terminal, and the contact between the terminal and the short-circuit terminal is completed by the short-circuit release mechanism when the fitting is completed. A connector to be released,
The short-circuit terminal is
A substrate section;
A pair of elastic members cantilevered on the substrate part;
A contact portion formed on each of the elastic members and capable of contacting each of the two terminals housed in the one connector housing;
An elastic support part for elastically supporting the contact part;
A pushing portion having an inclined surface that is formed in the elastic support portion and extends to the other connector housing side than the front end portion of the elastic support portion and contacts the short-circuit releasing member;
Is formed as a unit,
The short-circuit release mechanism is
In a state where the contact portion is in contact with the terminal that needs to be short-circuited, the contact portion enters the space between the contact portion and the terminal after contacting the elastic support portion and releases the contact between the two. In a state where the contact portion is not in contact with the terminal, a short-circuit release bar that contacts the push portion and biases the push portion in the short-circuit release direction to displace the entire pair of elastic members in the short-circuit release direction. is there,
A connector characterized by that.   The connector according to claim 1, wherein the short-circuit releasing bar is configured to deform the entire pair of elastic members in accordance with a fitting state between the male connector housing and the female connector housing.

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