JP2015088405A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector capable of effectively utilizing a space on a sidewall of a housing by reexamination of a hinge-type retainer structure.SOLUTION: A connector 10 includes: a housing 11, having a wall surrounding a contact 12, for retaining the contact 12; and a retainer 21, formed on the wall of the housing 11 in a swingable manner through a hinge 23, for engaging the contact 12 to the housing 11. The retainer 21 includes a lock projection 26 projecting toward the front side of the wall of the housing 11 in a state that the retainer 21 engages the contact 12.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrical connector provided with a hinge type retainer for secondary locking for locking a contact with a housing.

The connector housing is provided with a lance and a retainer for locking the contact to the housing in order to prevent the contact from coming out of the housing.
The retainer is distinguished from a type that is formed separately from the housing and attached to the housing, and a type that is swingably formed on the side wall of the housing via a hinge (for example, Patent Document 1).
Since the latter, which is a hinge type retainer, is formed integrally with the housing by injection molding, it has the advantage that the number of parts can be reduced compared to a retainer that is separate from the housing.
This hinge type retainer partially protrudes into the housing through the opening in the side wall of the housing, and locks the contact.

JP 2012-142089 A

The hinge type retainer described above is formed on one or two sides of the side wall of the housing, and occupies a predetermined area on each side. For this reason, the position of the latching part which bears the lock | rock with the other functional part of a connector, for example, a mating connector, will be restrict | limited.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a connector that can effectively utilize the space on the side wall of the housing by reexamining the structure of the hinge type retainer.

The connector of the present invention includes a housing that holds a contact and has a wall that surrounds the contact, and a retainer that is swingably formed on the wall of the housing via a hinge and locks the contact with the housing.
The present invention is characterized in that the retainer has a protrusion protruding toward the front side of the wall of the housing in a state where the retainer is engaged with the contact.
The protrusion in the connector of the present invention can be suitably used, for example, as a member for locking a locking portion formed on the housing of the mating connector.

In the present invention, another function different from the function of the retainer necessary for the connector can be provided to the protrusion of the retainer without newly consuming the area of the wall of the housing. As a result, the area of the wall of the housing occupied by the retainer is used for both the function of locking the contact with the housing and the function of the protrusion.
Therefore, the space on the wall surface of the housing is effectively utilized, and the position at which the member having another function is provided is not restricted by the retainer.

  According to the connector of the present invention, since the space on the side wall of the housing is effectively utilized, it is possible to improve the degree of freedom of the position of the part responsible for the function required for the connector.

(A)-(d) is a figure which shows the female connector which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows operation | movement of the retainer of a female connector (II-II sectional view taken on the line of FIG. 1). It is a figure which shows the fitted female connector and male connector. (A) is a perspective view, (b) is a plan view. It is sectional drawing which shows the female connector and male connector which were fitted.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
A connector 10 (female connector) shown in FIG. 1 includes a housing 11 and a plurality of female contacts 12 (FIG. 4) held by the housing 11.
The housing 11 includes a plurality of cavities 13 that accommodate the contacts 12 and retainers 21 and 22 that lock the contacts 12 accommodated in the cavities 13.
The housing 11 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped outer shape by injection molding, and has four rectangular side walls 15 to 18.

  The cavity 13 penetrates the housing 11 from the front end 11A to the rear end 11B (FIG. 4). An electric wire (not shown) connected to the contact 12 is drawn out from the rear end of the cavity 13.

The retainer 21 is formed integrally with the side wall 15 of the housing 11.
The retainer 21 includes a hinge 23 set on the side wall 15, a rectangular retainer plate 24 that can swing with respect to the side wall 15 via the hinge 23, and a pressing portion provided on the back surface 24 </ b> B of the retainer plate 24. 25 and a lock projection 26 provided on the surface 24A of the retainer plate 24.

The hinge 23 is formed thin so that the retainer plate 24 can swing. In this embodiment, the hinge 23 is along the direction orthogonal to the front-rear direction of the connector 10 and is located behind the retainer plate 24.
The retainer plate 24 can swing around the hinge 23. The retainer plate 24 continues to the side wall 15 via the hinge 23.
The retainer plate 24 closes the rectangular opening 151 formed in the side wall 15 when the surface 24A is pushed in. At this time, the front end of the retainer plate 24 is overlapped with the side wall 15.

When the retainer plate 24 is pushed in, the pressing portion 25 protrudes into the housing 11 through the opening 151 of the side wall 15 and locks the contact 12 with respect to the housing 11. The holding part 25 is. This is a part that bears the basic function of the retainer 21 that locks the contact 12 to the housing 11.
The pressing portion 25 is formed from a plurality of protrusions 251 extending along the front-rear direction of the connector 10. The protrusions 251 correspond to each of the plurality of contacts 12 positioned directly below the retainer 21, and three are provided in the present embodiment.
Each protrusion 251 starts from the hinge 23 and extends to the end located before the front end of the retainer plate 24. Each protrusion 251 is formed so as to gradually become taller from the hinge 23 toward the front.

The lock protrusion 26 protrudes from the surface 24 </ b> A of the retainer plate 24. The lock protrusion 26 locks the lock arm 73 (FIG. 4) of the mating connector 70 to which the connector 10 is fitted.
The lock protrusion 26 is formed with an inclined surface 26A inclined with respect to the surface 24A.

The retainer 22 is formed integrally with the side wall 17 facing the side wall 15.
The retainer 22 is configured in the same manner as the retainer 22 except that the retainer 22 does not have the lock protrusion 26.

As shown in FIG. 4, the contact 12 is formed by bending a metal plate into a cylindrical shape, and a contact portion 12 </ b> A formed by cutting and raising a wall body, and a lance 12 </ b> B for locking the contact 12 to the housing 11. And have.
The lance 12 </ b> B is locked to a locking portion 14 formed on the housing 11, thereby temporarily locking the contact 12 to the housing 11.

The contact 12 is secondarily locked to the housing 11 by being pressed against the housing 11 by the retainers 21 and 22 described above.
The retainers 21 and 22 are slightly opened with respect to the side walls 15 and 17 as shown in FIG. 2A when they are taken out from the injection mold.
In order to avoid the damage of the retainers 21 and 22, as shown in FIG. 2B, the retainers 21 and 22 are lightly pushed and set on the side walls 15 and 17, respectively. At this time, the front end of the protrusion 251 is locked to the peripheral edge of the opening 151.
Before or after the setting process of the retainers 21 and 22, the contact 12 is inserted into each cavity 13. At this time, the retainers 21 and 22 do not hold the contact 12 yet.
Then, as shown in FIG. 2C, when the retainers 21 and 22 are pushed in simultaneously or sequentially, the protrusion 251 protruding into the cavity 13 hits the contact 12 and the contact 12 is locked to the housing 11. .
As described above, the contact 12 is locked to the housing 11 by the retainers 21 and 22.
The contact 12 is securely held by the housing 11 by being sandwiched from both sides by the retainers 21 and 22.

The connector 10 described above is fitted with a mating connector (male connector) 70 shown in FIG.
The mating connector 70 includes a housing 71 and a male contact (not shown) that is electrically connected to the contact 12.
The housing 71 includes a receiving space 72 that receives the connector 10.
One of the four side walls of the housing 71 is formed with a lock arm 73 that is engaged with the lock protrusion 26 of the retainer 21 described above.
The lock arm 73 is formed by being partitioned by a slit 74 on the side wall of the housing 71. A protrusion 731 is formed on the back side of the lock arm 73 (FIG. 4).

  When the connector 10 and the mating connector 70 are fitted as shown in FIG. 4, the protrusion 731 of the lock arm 73 gets over the lock protrusion 26 of the retainer 21 and is locked. As a result, the connector 10 and the mating connector 70 are locked in a fitted state.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the retainer 21 is provided with the lock protrusion 26 that performs a lock function different from the function of secondarily locking the contact 12, and the side wall of the housing 11 occupied by the retainer 21. The area 15 is used for both the function of locking the contact 12 with respect to the housing 11 and the function of the lock projection 26.
Therefore, although it has the advantage that the number of parts can be reduced because it is integral with the housing 11, the position of other functional parts of the connector is easily restricted in order to occupy a predetermined area on the side wall 15 of the housing 11. In the connector 10 employing the retainer, the space of the side wall 15 of the housing 11 can be effectively utilized.
Moreover, since the lock protrusion 26 for latching with a housing can be provided in the retainer 21, the location which provides the lock protrusion 26, ie, a freedom degree, can be enlarged rather than the conventional connector.

In addition to the above, as long as the gist of the present invention is not deviated, the configuration described in the above embodiment can be selected or changed to another configuration as appropriate.
For example, if the holding force required for connector fitting lock is large, the retainer 21 and the retainer 22 are provided with a lock projection 26, and the pair of lock connectors 26 and 26 of the retainers 21 and 22 provide a pair of mating connectors. It can also be configured to lock the lock arm.
In the connector of the present invention, the number of retainers is not limited, and the present invention allows a connector having only one retainer.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Connector 11 Housing 11A Front end 11B Rear end 12 Contact 12A Contact part 12B Lance 13 Cavity 14 Locking part 15-18 Side wall 21 Retainer 22 Retainer 23 Hinge 24 Retainer plate 24A Front surface 24B Back surface 25 Holding part 26 Lock protrusion 26A Slope 70 Mating connector 71 Housing 72 Receiving space 73 Lock arm 74 Slit 151 Opening 251 Projection 731 Projection

Claims (2)

A housing holding a contact and having a wall surrounding the contact;
A retainer that is swingably formed on the wall of the housing via a hinge and that locks the contact with the housing;
The retainer has a protrusion that protrudes toward the front side of the wall of the housing in a state where the retainer locks the contact.
A connector characterized by that. The protrusions lock the locking portions formed on the housing of the mating connector;
The connector according to claim 1.

Images