JP2015032562A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector capable of recognizing the propriety of terminal insertion before moving a spacer from a temporary lock position to a lock position.SOLUTION: A connector 1 comprises: a connector housing 2 including a terminal 14, a terminal housing chamber 15 having the terminal 14 housed by insertion and a spacer fitting chamber 10 opened to the terminal housing chamber 15; and a spacer 3 inserted into the spacer fitting chamber 10 and freely displaced between a temporary lock position allowing the terminal 14 to be inserted into the terminal housing chamber 15 and a lock position locked in the terminal 14. A part of the connector housing 2 is formed in a thin wall part 18 so as to be seen through the terminal 14 housed in the terminal housing chamber 15.

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector having a spacer that prevents a terminal in a connector housing from being pulled out.

  Various types of connectors of this type have been conventionally proposed. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). One conventional example of such a connector is shown in FIG.

  9, a connector 100 includes a connector housing 101 having a plurality of terminals, a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 103 in which each terminal is accommodated by insertion, and a spacer fitting chamber 105 that opens to the plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 103, and a connector. And a spacer 102 mounted in a spacer fitting chamber 105 of the housing 101.

  The spacer 102 is displaceable between a temporary locking position that allows insertion of the terminal into the terminal accommodating chamber 103 and a final locking position that locks the terminal.

  In the above configuration, the spacer 102 is set to the temporary locking position, and the terminals are inserted and accommodated in the terminal accommodating chambers 103 of the connector housing 101.

  Next, the spacer 102 is moved from the temporary locking position to the final locking position. When all the terminals are accommodated in proper accommodation positions, the spacer 102 moves to the final engagement position, and the spacers 102 are engaged with all the terminals. This restricts the movement of all terminals in the pulling direction. If even one terminal is not accommodated in an appropriate position, the spacer 102 cannot interfere with an improperly inserted terminal and cannot move from the temporary locking position to the final locking position. Thereby, it can recognize that all the terminals are not accommodated in the appropriate accommodation position.

JP 2013-51077 A

  However, in the conventional connector, whether or not the terminal is inserted cannot be recognized at a stage before the spacer is moved from the temporary locking position to the final locking position. Therefore, conventionally, the suitability of terminal insertion was recognized by load management at the time of terminal insertion, but accuracy is lacking.

  If there is an improperly inserted terminal and the spacer is moved from the temporary locking position to the final locking position, the spacer and the terminal come into contact (interference), and the terminal or spacer is damaged and deformed. There is also a risk of defective products.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a connector that can recognize whether or not a terminal is inserted before moving the spacer from the temporary locking position to the final locking position. And

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the invention according to claim 1 includes a terminal 14, a terminal accommodating chamber 15 in which the terminal 14 is accommodated by insertion, and a spacer fitting chamber 10 that opens into the terminal accommodating chamber 15. Between the connector housing 2, a temporary locking position that is inserted into the spacer fitting chamber 10 and allows the terminal 14 to be inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 15, and a final locking position that locks the terminal 14. And a spacer 3 that is freely displaceable, and a portion of the connector housing 2 is formed in a thin portion 18 so that the terminal 14 accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 15 can be seen through. It is characterized by that.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the connector 1 according to claim 1, wherein the spacer 3 is provided with a reinforcing portion 26 that overlaps the thin portion 18 at the final locking position.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the connector 1 according to the first or second aspect, the thin-walled portion 18 is a mark serving as a mark for the insertion position of the terminal 14 accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 15. It is characterized by being set to a transparent position.

  In invention of Claim 4, It is the connector 1 in any one of Claims 1-3, Comprising: The said thin part 18 has the said opening part 10a of the said spacer fitting chamber 10 of the said connector housing 2 outside. The opening 9 is formed around the opening 10a.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the thin portion where the terminal can be seen is formed in the connector housing, whether or not the terminal is properly inserted is determined before moving the spacer from the temporary locking position to the final locking position. Can be recognized.

  According to the invention described in claim 2, the thin portion for transparently recognizing that the terminal has been inserted is provided, but the thin portion is formed thinner than other portions of the connector housing. Therefore, the strength is relatively weak. However, since the reinforcing portion is provided so as to overlap the thin portion, the thin portion can be reinforced by the reinforcing portion of the spacer at the final locking position.

  Furthermore, according to the third aspect of the present invention, it is sufficient that only a portion corresponding to a partial region of the terminal is a thin-walled portion, so that a decrease in strength of the connector housing can be prevented as much as possible.

  In addition, according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the thin portion can be reinforced with a simple structure in which the reinforcing portion is extended from the spacer body portion by forming the periphery of the opening portion as a thin portion.

The connector perspective view which shows the assembly completion state of a housing and a spacer. The connector perspective view which shows the state before the assembly | attachment of a housing and a spacer. The side view of the connector shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a top view of the connector shown in FIG. 2. The side view of a housing. FIG. 6 is a top view of the housing shown in FIG. 5. Sectional drawing which shows the state which latched the spacer temporarily to the housing. (A) BB sectional view taken on the line shown in FIG. 2, (b) CC sectional view taken on the line shown in FIG. The connector disassembled perspective view which shows the conventional connector structure.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the connector 1 of the present invention includes a terminal 14, a connector housing 2 having a terminal accommodating chamber 15 in which the terminal 14 is accommodated, and a spacer fitting chamber 10 that opens to the terminal accommodating chamber 15. A spacer 3 that is mounted on the connector housing 2 and is displaceable between a temporary locking position that allows insertion of the terminal 14 into the terminal accommodating chamber 15 and a final locking position that locks the terminal 14. I have.

  As shown in FIG. 8 in particular, the terminal 14 includes a mating terminal connecting portion 12 that is connected to a mating terminal (not shown) and a wire connecting portion 16 that is crimped to the electric wire W.

  The mating terminal connection portion 12 is formed in a substantially box shape, and an elastic piece on one side protrudes into the box and is connected to a mating terminal not shown in the mating terminal connection portion 12. Further, the end portion 32 of the mating terminal connecting portion 12 is a locking portion that is locked to the terminal removal preventing portion 24 of the spacer 3.

  Further, the electric wire connecting portion 16 includes a covering material crimping portion 16 a that crimps the covering material 31 of the electric wire W, and a core wire crimping portion 16 b that crimps the core wire 33 of the electric wire W.

  The connector housing 2 includes a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 15 arranged in parallel in two upper and lower stages, and a spacer fitting chamber 10 that opens into the lower terminal accommodating chamber 15. Both ends of the terminal accommodating chamber 15 are open to the outside. The counterpart terminal is inserted from one opening 5. Moreover, while the terminal 14 is inserted from the other opening part which is not illustrated, the electric wire W crimped | bonded to the electric wire connection part 16 is pulled out.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, an opening 10 a of the spacer fitting portion 10 is opened in the upper surface wall 9 that is the wall portion of the connector housing 2.

  In the opening 10 a, the spacer fitting chamber 10 is opened in the upper surface wall 9, and a part of the terminal 14 is exposed from the opening 10 a disposed in the terminal accommodating chamber 15.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the upper wall 9 of the connector housing 2 is formed with a thin portion 18 through which the terminal 14 accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 15 can be seen. The thin portion 18 is provided in the entire upper surface wall 9 corresponding to the position where the terminal 14 is inserted.

  Further, the thickness of the thin portion 18 is formed to be 0.15 mm or less in order to permeate and recognize the terminal 14 inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 15.

  The connector housing 2 is made of resin, and for example, PBT (polybutylene terephthalate) is preferable. Further, since the connector housing 2 recognizes the terminal 14 inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 15, white or the original color of the resin is preferable.

  The side wall 11 of the connector housing 2 is provided with a spacer guide groove 22 into which the spacer 3 is inserted. The spacer guide groove 22 is formed to have substantially the same width as the elastic arm 25 of the spacer 3, and a temporary locking portion 20 and a main locking portion 21 are formed.

  The temporary locking portion 20 formed in the spacer guide groove 22 is temporarily locked with a locking claw (not shown) of the spacer 3 so as to enter the terminal accommodating chamber 15 as shown in FIGS. This is a temporary locking position where the terminal 14 can be inserted.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, the main locking portion 21 is formed adjacent to the lower side of the temporary locking portion 20. The main locking portion 21 is further inserted into the spacer guide groove 22, so that the locking claw of the spacer 3 temporarily locked to the temporary locking portion 20 is detached from the temporary locking portion 20 and is finally locked. It locks to the part 21 and becomes the final locking position.

  As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 7, the spacer 3 extends from a corresponding side of the spacer main body 23 and the spacer main body 23 that is inserted from the opening 10 a and enters and fits into the spacer fitting chamber 10. And a pair of elastic arms 25.

  The spacer body 23 includes a reinforcing portion 26 extending from the upper surface of the spacer body 23 and a terminal retaining portion 24 that protrudes into the terminal accommodating chamber 15 at the main locking position.

  The reinforcing portion 26 is formed in the same shape as the thin-walled portion 18 in a plate shape, and the reinforcing portion 26 overlaps the thin-walled portion 18 by the spacer 3 and the connector housing 2 being in the final locking position. Strength is strengthened.

  The terminal retaining portion 24 guides the terminal 14 inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 15 without protruding into the terminal accommodating chamber 15 communicating with the spacer fitting chamber 10 in the temporary locking position. Further, at the final locking position, the terminal 14 is disposed so as to protrude into the terminal accommodating chamber 15, and the terminal 14 is prevented from coming out of the terminal accommodating chamber 15.

  The pair of elastic arms 25 extending from the corresponding sides of the spacer body 23 is formed with elasticity, and is inserted into the spacer guide groove 22 of the connector housing 2 and is temporarily attached to the connector housing 2. A locking claw (not shown) that locks to the locking portion 20 and the main locking portion 21 is provided.

  Next, attachment of the terminal 14 to the connector housing 2 will be described.

  First, as shown in FIG. 8A, the terminal 14 is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 15 from the state where the spacer 3 is temporarily locked to the connector housing 2. When all the terminals 14 have been inserted, it is confirmed whether or not the terminals 14 have been inserted through the thin portion 18 to a predetermined position. If the terminal 14 is not normally inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 15, the terminal 14 is inserted again at this time.

  When it is confirmed that all the terminals 14 have been normally inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 15, the spacer 3 is displaced from the temporary locking position to the final locking position as shown in FIG.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 8B, the locking claw provided on the elastic arm 25 is detached from the temporary locking portion 20 of the spacer guide groove 22 and finally locked to the final locking portion 21.

  As described above, since the thin portion 18 through which the terminal 14 can be seen is formed in the connector housing 2, whether or not the terminal 14 is inserted before moving the spacer 3 from the temporary locking position to the final locking position is determined. Can be recognized.

  In addition, since the spacer 3 can be permanently locked with the terminal 14 inserted at a predetermined position, the spacer 3 and the terminal 14 do not interfere with each other, and the terminal 14 or the spacer 3 is not damaged. Therefore, deformation or breakage of the terminal 14 or the spacer 3 can be prevented.

  Since the thin portion 18 is formed thinner than other portions of the connector housing 2, the strength is relatively weak. However, since the reinforcing portion 26 is provided so as to overlap the thin portion 18, the thin portion 18 can be reinforced by the reinforcing portion 26 of the spacer 3 at the main locking position.

  Since only the portion corresponding to the partial region of the terminal 14 accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 15 needs to be the thin portion 18, the strength reduction of the connector housing 2 can be prevented as much as possible.

  In addition, by setting the periphery of the opening 10 a as the thin portion 18, the thin portion 18 can be reinforced with a simple structure in which the reinforcing portion 26 is extended from the spacer main body portion 23.

  The thin-walled portion 18 only needs to recognize that the terminal 14 accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 15 is in an appropriate insertion position. The thin-walled portion 18 is an upper surface wall 9 in which the opening 10a of the connector housing 2 opens, What is necessary is just to provide around 10a.

  Although not shown in the present embodiment, the thin wall portion 18 may be provided on the lower wall (the wall surface facing the upper wall 9) of the connector housing 2, or the thin wall portion 18 may be provided on the side wall 11.

  Furthermore, although the latching claw is provided in the spacer 3 in this embodiment, the latching claw may be provided in the temporary locking part 20 and the final locking part 21, and the spacer 3 and the connector housing 2 are temporarily locked. As long as it can be fully locked, it may have any shape.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Connector 2 Connector housing 3 Spacer 9 Upper surface wall 10 Spacer fitting chamber 11 Side wall 14 Terminal 15 Terminal accommodating chamber 18 Thin part 20 Temporary locking part 21 Main locking part

Claims (4)

A connector housing having a terminal, a terminal accommodating chamber in which the terminal is accommodated by insertion, and a spacer fitting chamber opened to the terminal accommodating chamber; and the terminal is inserted into the spacer fitting chamber, and the terminal is connected to the terminal accommodating chamber. A connector comprising a temporary locking position that allows insertion and a spacer that is displaceable between a final locking position that locks the terminal,
A connector characterized in that a part of the connector housing is formed in a thin portion so that the terminal accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber can be seen through. The connector according to claim 1,
The connector, wherein the spacer is provided with a reinforcing portion that overlaps the thin portion at the final locking position. The connector according to claim 1 or 2, wherein
The connector is characterized in that the thin-walled portion is set at a position that passes through a location that serves as a mark for the insertion position of the terminal accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber. The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The thin-walled portion is a connector in which the opening portion of the connector housing is a wall portion that opens to the outside, and is formed around the opening portion of the spacer fitting chamber.

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