JP2016096028A - connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector capable of returning aligning plate from a retreat position to a terminal holding position.SOLUTION: A connector comprises: a male side connector part 2 that has a connector fitting chamber 4; an aligning plate 10 that is arranged movably in the connector fitting chamber 4; a female side connector part 20; a plate holding arm 6 that holds the aligning plate 10 at a terminal holding position; plate position returning means PR in which a clipping projection part 24 is arranged to a female side connector housing 21, and a pair of clipping arms 14 is arranged to the aligning plate 10, and, in a connector fitting step, a pair of clipping arms 14 clips the clipping projection part 24 to the aligning plate 10 at the terminal holding position; a cancel projection part 23 on which, in the connector fitting step, a pair of clipping arms 14 clips the clipping projection part 24, and thereafter cancels the holding of plate holding arm 6; and a plate pull-out prevention arm 13 that blocks the movement in a connector separation direction from the terminal holding position of the aligning plate 10.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector having an aligning plate for holding a male terminal.

  As this type of conventional connector, there is one described in Patent Document 1. As shown in FIG. 14, the connector 100 includes a male connector portion 104 in which a male terminal 103 is disposed in a connector fitting chamber 102 of a male connector housing 101, and a male terminal 103 disposed in the connector fitting chamber 102. An aligning plate 110 movably disposed from a terminal holding position for holding 103 to a retracted position on the back side of the connector fitting chamber 102, and a female connector housing 120 that can be fitted in the connector fitting chamber 102. The female-side connector housing 120 includes a female-side connector portion 121 in which female terminals (not shown) are arranged.

  The male connector housing 101 is provided with a plurality of plate holding arms 105 for holding the aligning plate 110 at the terminal holding position (solid line position). The aligning plate 110 is provided with a terminal insertion hole (not shown) at an appropriate position of each male terminal 103. The aligning plate 110 holds and aligns the male terminals 103 at appropriate positions.

  In this conventional example, when the female connector housing 120 is fitted into the connector fitting chamber 102, the female connector housing 120 presses the aligning plate 110 during the connector fitting process. Then, with this pressing force, the plate holding arm 105 is forcibly elastically deformed in the direction of the arrow, and the holding of the aligning plate 110 is released. The aligning plate 110 released from holding is moved to the retracted position (the position of the imaginary line) at the back of the connector fitting chamber 102 by being pressed by the female connector housing 120 or the like. When the aligning plate 110 is retracted, the female terminal (not shown) enters the fitting position with the male terminal 103, and the two terminals are connected at the connector fitting position.

JP 2009-187865 A

  However, in the conventional example, since there is no mechanism for returning the aligning plate 110 from the retracted position to the terminal holding position, the aligning plate 110 does not perform the terminal holding / alignment function during the second and subsequent connector fitting operations. Therefore, there is a demand for the development of a connector provided with plate position returning means for returning the aligning plate 110 from the retracted position to the terminal holding position.

  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 return the aligning plate from the retracted position to the terminal holding position in the connector detachment process.

  The present invention has a male connector housing provided with a connector fitting chamber, a male connector portion in which a male terminal protruding into the connector fitting chamber is disposed in the male connector housing, and the connector fitting chamber. And an aligning plate arranged to be movable in a connector fitting / removing direction between a terminal holding position for holding the male terminal and a retracted position on the back side of the connector fitting chamber, and the connector fitting A female connector housing having a female connector housing that can be fitted in a chamber, wherein a female terminal is disposed on the female connector housing, plate holding means for holding the aligning plate in a terminal holding position, and the female One of the side connector housing and the aligning plate is provided with a pair of flexible holding arms, and the other is provided with a pair of holding arms. And a pair of clamping arms that flex with respect to the aligning plate at the terminal holding position in a direction of widening each other during the connector fitting process of the female connector housing. And a plate position return means for clamping the sandwiched protrusion at the position of the inclined surface, and in a process of fitting the female connector housing to the connector fitting chamber, a pair of the sandwiching arms is moved to the sandwiched protrusion. Plate holding release means for releasing the holding of the plate holding means after clamping the portion, and plate removal preventing means for preventing the aligning plate from moving in the connector detaching direction from the terminal holding position. This is a featured connector.

  It is preferable that the sandwiched protrusion is formed on an inclined surface in which both surfaces sandwiched by the pair of sandwiching arms are gradually narrower than the position of the maximum width. The female connector housing is subjected to a fitting force in the connector fitting direction on the female connector housing by operation in one direction, and the connector is detached from the female connector housing by operation in the opposite direction to the above. Including those provided with a lever for applying a direction detachment force. Preferably, the aligning plate is provided with a pair of clamping arms, and the female connector housing is provided with the clamped protrusions.

  According to the present invention, the sandwiched protrusion is sandwiched between the pair of sandwiching arms during the connector fitting process of the female connector housing, whereby the female connector housing and the aligning plate are combined, and then the female connector housing In the connector detachment process, when the aligning plate is returned to the terminal holding position together with the female connector housing, the movement of the aligning plate is blocked by the plate detachment preventing means, so that the sandwiched protrusion is a pair of sandwiching arms. Further, the union of the female connector housing and the aligning plate is released, whereby the aligning plate moved to the terminal holding position is again held by the plate holding means. As described above, the aligning plate can be returned from the retracted position to the terminal holding position in the connector detachment process.

1 is an exploded perspective view of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1A and 1B show an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is an enlarged view of a portion A in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of the plate holding means according to the embodiment of the present invention. One Embodiment of this invention is shown, (a)-(c) is a front view which shows each process in which a pair of clamping arm clamps a to-be-clamped protrusion. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, (a) is a front view of a connector showing a process of connector fitting operation, and (b) is a partially broken cross-sectional view. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, (a) is a front view of a connector showing a process of connector fitting operation, and (b) and (c) are partially cutaway sectional views. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, (a) is a front view of a connector showing a process of connector fitting operation, and (b) is a partially broken cross-sectional view. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, (a) is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a state in which a pressed protrusion of a plate holding arm is pressed by a releasing protrusion, and (b) is a diagram showing that the plate holding arm is displaced to a releasing position. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows a state. It is a front view of the connector which shows one Embodiment of this invention and shows one process (connector complete fitting state) of connector fitting operation | movement. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, (a) is a front view of a connector showing a process of connector detachment operation, and (b) is a partially broken sectional view. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, (a) is a front view of a connector showing a process of connector detachment operation, and (b) and (c) are partially cutaway sectional views. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a front view of a connector showing a process of connector detachment operation, and (b), (c), and (d) are partially cutaway sectional views. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, (a) is a front view of a connector showing a process of connector detachment operation, and (b) is a partially broken sectional view. It is sectional drawing of the connector of a prior art example.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 13 show an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, the connector 1 includes a male connector 2, an aligning plate 10, a female connector 20, and a lever 30.

  The male side connector part 2 is provided with the male side connector housing 3 which has the connector fitting chamber 4 by which one surface was opened. The male connector housing 3 is provided with a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers (not shown) behind the bottom surface of the connector fitting chamber 4. Male terminals (not shown) are arranged in the respective terminal accommodating chambers. A tab portion (not shown) of each male terminal is arranged in a state of projecting from the bottom surface of the connector fitting chamber 4 toward the opening.

  The male connector housing 3 is provided with plate holding arms 6 as plate holding means at substantially four corner positions of the connector fitting chamber 4. As shown in FIG. 3, the plate holding arm 6 is a cantilevered elastic arm extending toward the back of the connector fitting chamber 4. The plate holding arm 6 has a plate hook portion 6a on its lower end side (free end side). The four plate holding arms 6 hold the aligning plate 10 at the terminal holding position. A pressed protrusion 6 b is integrally provided on the lower end side (free end) of the plate holding arm 6.

  A pair of stepped portions 7 (shown in FIGS. 1 and 12) are formed on a pair of opposed inner walls of the male connector housing 3. A pair of lever projection guide grooves 8 are formed in a pair of opposed inner walls of the male connector housing 3. Each lever protrusion guide groove 8 has a vertical portion (not labeled) extending along the connector fitting direction and an inclined portion (labeled) that is continuous at the back of the vertical portion and is inclined toward the depth. Z)).

  The aligning plate 10 is a flat rectangular plate. In the aligning plate 10, terminal insertion holes 11 are respectively formed at appropriate positions above the male terminals. The aligning plate 10 holds and aligns each male terminal in an appropriate position. The aligning plate 10 is disposed in the connector fitting chamber 4. The aligning plate 10 moves in the connector fitting / removing direction between the terminal holding position for holding the male terminal (position in FIG. 5) and the retracted position on the back side of the connector fitting chamber 4 (position in FIG. 10). It is free. The aligning plate 10 has notches 12 formed at four corners. The plate holding arm 6 can enter and exit from the notches 12. The plate hook 6 a of the plate holding arm 6 that has entered below the notch 12 can support the lower surface of the aligning plate 10.

  A pair of plate removal prevention arms 13 serving as plate removal prevention means project upward from the ends of both sides of the aligning plate 10 in the longitudinal direction. When the aligning plate 10 moves, the pair of plate removal prevention arms 13 slides on the inner surface of the male connector housing 3 by its elastic force. The pair of plate removal prevention arms 13 abut against the stepped portion 7 of the male connector housing 3 at the terminal holding position of the aligning plate 10 and prevent movement from the terminal holding position of the aligning plate 10 in the connector detachment direction ( (See FIG. 12).

  A pair of sandwiching arms 14 project upward from four locations on the left and right side edges of the aligning plate 10. As shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 4, the pair of sandwiching arms 14 can be bent and deformed in a direction in which the interval between the pair is sandwiched. Each clamping arm 14 is cantilevered and has a free end. Each clamping arm 14 has a locking claw 15 at its free end. The inner surfaces of the pair of locking claws 15 that face each other are inclined surfaces 15a that gradually reduce the distance from the leading edge toward the base end side of the cantilever support, the horizontal surfaces 15b that have the same distance from each other, and the distance between them. It is formed on a reverse inclined surface 15c that gradually widens.

  The female connector portion 20 has a female connector housing 21 that can be inserted into the connector fitting chamber 4. The female connector housing 21 is provided with a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers (not particularly designated). Each terminal accommodating chamber accommodates a female terminal (not shown). A tab portion (not shown) of the male terminal can enter into each terminal accommodating chamber from an opening (not marked in particular) on the lower surface side.

  On the outer surface of the female connector housing 21, release protrusions 23 serving as plate holding release means are respectively provided at the positions of the four corners, specifically, the positions corresponding to the four notches 12 of the aligning plate 10. Yes. The four release protrusions 23 are positions where the plate hooks 6 a are disengaged from the lower surface of the aligning plate 10 by pressing the pressed protrusions 6 b of the plate holding arm 6 during the connector fitting process of the female connector housing 21. The plate holding arm 6 is elastically deformed to (support release position).

  At the left and right side ends of the female connector housing 21, sandwiched protrusions 24 are respectively provided at positions corresponding to the pair of sandwiching arms 14 of the aligning plate 10. As shown in FIG. 2B, the sandwiched protrusion 24 has a circular arc surface 24a on the insertion side to the pair of sandwich arms 14, and both surfaces gradually narrower than the position of the maximum width of the arc surface 24a. This is a protruding shape having a slanted surface 24b. Thus, both surfaces sandwiched by the pair of sandwiching arms 14 are both inclined surfaces 24b.

  During the connector fitting process of the female connector housing 21, the sandwiched protrusions 24 are sandwiched between the pair of sandwiching arms 14 of the aligning plate 10 at the terminal holding position. The female connector housing 21 and the aligning plate 10 are united by clamping the clamped protrusions 24 of the pair of clamping arms 14, and the aligning plate 10 is moved from the retracted position to the terminal holding position in the connector removal process of the female connector section 20. Return (lift). In other words, the plate position return means PR (see FIG. 5) is configured by the pair of sandwiching arms 14 and the sandwiched protrusion 24.

  On the left and right outer surfaces of the female connector housing 21 in the longitudinal direction, lever guide pins 25 are provided at two locations, and lever temporary holding projections 26 are provided at one location.

  The lever 30 includes a pair of arm plate portions 31 and an operation portion 32 that connects them on the rear end side. Arc-shaped guide holes 33 are provided at two positions on the distal end side of the pair of arm plate portions 31. The lever guide pins 25 of the female connector housing 21 are inserted (engaged) into the guide holes 33, respectively. The lever 30 is attached to the female connector housing 21 by inserting the two lever guide pins 25 of the female connector housing 21 into the two guide holes 33. A support protrusion 34 is provided at the tip of each arm plate portion 31. The support protrusion 34 is inserted (engaged) into the lever protrusion guide groove 8 of the male connector housing 3 when the connector is fitted or detached. In the lever 30, the two lever guide pins 25 are only allowed to move in the two guide holes 33 when the connector is fitted and detached, and the support protrusion 34 is in the lever protrusion guide groove 8. Only movement is allowed, and a large fitting force / detachment force is applied between the female connector housing 21 and the male connector housing 3 with a low operating force by the lever principle.

  Next, connector fitting work will be described. In the connector detached state, the aligning plate 10 is held at the terminal holding position by the plate hook portion 6 a of the plate holding arm 6 in the connector fitting chamber 4 of the male connector housing 3. Each male terminal (not shown) is held at an appropriate protruding position by the aligning plate 10.

  As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the pair of support protrusions 34 of the lever 30 are aligned with the pair of lever protrusion guide grooves 8 of the male connector housing 3. The female connector housing 21 is inserted into the connector fitting chamber 4 to the position shown in FIG.

  In this insertion process, as shown in FIG. 6B, the pair of sandwiching arms 14 of the aligning plate 10 sandwich the sandwiched protrusion 24 of the female connector housing 21. Thereby, the aligning plate 10 is united with the female connector housing 21.

  Next, the operation part 32 of the lever 30 is pressed downward. Then, the lever 30 rotates about the support projection 34 as a fulcrum, and the lever guide pins 25 are pressed downward at the peripheral edges of the guide holes 33 of the lever 30. As shown in FIG. Is gradually inserted into the connector fitting chamber 4.

  At this time, the release protrusion 23 of the female connector housing 21 starts to press the pressed protrusion 6b of the plate holding arm 6 of the male connector housing 3, and the plate is held in the direction indicated by the arrow M in FIG. The arm 6 is gradually elastically deformed. As shown in FIG. 8, the plate holding arm 6 is elastically deformed to a position where the plate hook portion 6 a of the plate holding arm 6 is disengaged from the bottom surface of the aligning plate 10. Thereby, the movement of the aligning plate 10 to the retracted position is allowed. As described above, movement to the retracted position is allowed in a state where the aligning plate 10 is combined with the female connector housing 21.

  Furthermore, the operation part 32 of the lever 30 is pressed downward. Then, the lever 30 rotates at a large angle with respect to the female connector housing 21, and a strong fitting force acts on the female connector housing 21 so that the fitting between the connectors with the fitting between the terminals is low. Done with force. The aligning plate 10 moves integrally with the female connector housing 21 in the direction of the retracted position (downward) in the connector fitting chamber 4. As shown in FIG. 9, when the lever 30 is rotated to the operation position that is parallel to the upper surface of the female connector housing 21, the connector fitting completion position where the male connector portion 2 and the female connector portion 20 are completely fitted. It becomes. In the connector fitting completion position, the aligning plate 10 is located at the retracted position at the back of the connector fitting chamber 4.

  Next, the connector removal operation will be described. At the connector fitting completion position in FIG. 10, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 10, the operating portion 32 of the lever 30 is pressed upward (in the opposite direction to that during connector fitting). Then, the lever 30 rotates at a large angle with respect to the female connector housing 21, the lever 30 exerts a strong detachment force on the female connector housing 21, and the detachment between the connectors accompanying the detachment between the terminals is a low operating force. Done. The aligning plate 10 moves integrally with the female connector housing 21 in the connector fitting chamber 4 in the direction of the terminal holding position (upward). When the movement of the female connector housing 21 in the connector detaching direction proceeds and the aligning plate 10 moves to the terminal holding position, as shown in FIG. 12 (d), the plate removal preventing arm 13 comes into contact with the stepped portion 7, The aligning plate 10 is prevented from moving further in the connector detaching direction.

  At this slightly earlier timing, the release protrusion 23 of the female connector housing 21 comes off the pressed protrusion 6b of the plate holding arm 6 of the male connector housing 3, and in the direction indicated by the arrow N in FIG. The plate holding arm 6 is gradually elastically restored and deformed. As shown in FIG. 12C, the plate holding arm 6 is elastically deformed to a position where the plate hook portion 6 a of the plate holding arm 6 holds the bottom surface of the aligning plate 10. Thereby, the aligning plate 10 is hold | maintained in a terminal holding position in the state united with the female connector housing 21. FIG.

  Thereafter, by pulling out the female connector housing 21 from the male connector housing 3, as shown in FIG. 13, the sandwiched protrusion 24 is detached from the pair of sandwiching arms 14, and the connector 1 is completely detached.

  As described in the above operation process, the pair of sandwiching arms 14 grips the sandwiched protrusions 24 when the connector is fitted, and the sandwiched projections 24 are detached from the pair of sandwiching arms 14 when the connector is detached. The separation operation will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 4A, in the connector fitting process, when the sandwiched protrusion 24 enters between the locking claws 15 of the pair of sandwiching arms 14, as shown in FIG. The pair of sandwiching arms 14 bends and deforms in a direction that increases the distance between them, and the sandwiched protrusion 24 is gradually inserted between the pair of locking claws 15. The pair of sandwiching arms 14 bends and deforms the most at the maximum width portion of the sandwiched protrusion 24, but when the portion of the sandwiched projection 24 reaches the maximum width, the pair of sandwiching arms 14 gradually returns along the inclined surfaces 24b on both sides. As shown in FIG. 4C, the pair of sandwiching arms 14 sandwich the sandwiched protrusion 24 as shown in FIG. In the connector detachment process, the pair of sandwiching arms 14 is detached from the sandwiched protrusions 24 by an operation substantially reverse to the above operation.

  As described above, the connector 1 includes the plate position return means PR in which the aligning plate 10 is provided with the pair of sandwiching arms 14 and the female connector housing 21 is provided with the sandwiched protrusions 24. Accordingly, during the connector fitting process of the female connector housing 21, the pair of clamping arms 14 clamp the clamped protrusions 24, whereby the female connector housing 21 and the aligning plate 10 are combined, and then the female connector housing. In the connector detaching process 21, when the aligning plate 10 is returned to the terminal holding position together with the female connector housing 21, the movement of the aligning plate 10 is blocked by the plate removal prevention arm (plate removal prevention means) 13. Thus, the sandwiched protrusions 24 are detached from the pair of sandwiching arms 14, thereby uncoupling the female connector housing 21 and the aligning plate 10, while the aligning plate 10 that has moved to the terminal retaining position is again retained by the plate. With arm (plate holding means) 6 It is lifting. As described above, the aligning plate 10 can be returned from the retracted position to the terminal holding position in the connector removal process. Even during the second and subsequent connector fitting operations, the aligning plate 10 exhibits a terminal holding / aligning function.

  Further, the plate position return means PR includes a pair of sandwiching arms 14 and a sandwiched protrusion 24 formed on an inclined surface 24b in which both surfaces sandwiched by the pair of sandwiching arms 14 gradually become narrower than the maximum width position. It is composed of Therefore, no locking noise is generated when the female connector housing 21 and the aligning plate 10 are combined or detached. Therefore, it is possible to prevent work failures due to sound misunderstandings. In other words, the union and detachment of the female connector housing 21 and the aligning plate 10 is an operation process that does not require the operator to recognize the sound. When sound is produced in such a work process, it is confused with other work processes that make sound (especially when the work processes are close to each other), which may cause work defects. In the present invention, it is possible to prevent such poor work due to such misunderstanding of sound. Even if the aligning plate 10 has fallen into the retracted position for some reason before the connector fitting operation is started, the pair of holding arms 14 are held by the connector fitting operation of the female connector housing 21. Since 24 is clamped, the aligning plate 10 can be returned to the terminal holding position by the connector releasing operation.

  In this embodiment, since the sandwiched protrusion 24 is provided on the female connector housing 21 and the pair of sandwiching arms 14 are provided on the aligning plate 10, the female connector housing 21 detached from the male connector housing 3 to the outside is provided. The size does not increase. Of course, the female connector housing 21 may be provided with a pair of clamping arms, and the aligning plate 10 may be provided with clamping protrusions. The female connector housing 21 has a first sandwiched protrusion and a pair of first sandwiching arms, and the aligning plate 10 sandwiches the first sandwiched protrusion and the pair of second sandwiching arms and the pair of first sandwiching arms. You may provide the 2nd to-be-clamped protrusion which pinches.

  The female connector housing 21 is subjected to a fitting force in the connector fitting direction on the female connector housing 21 by an operation in one direction, and the connector is detached from the female connector housing 21 by an operation in the opposite direction to the above. A lever 30 is provided for applying a directional detachment force.

1 Connector 2 Male Connector Housing 3 Connector Fitting Chamber 6 Plate Holding Arm (Plate Holding Means)
10 Aligning plate 13 Plate removal prevention arm (Plate removal prevention means)
14 A pair of clamping arms (plate position return means)
20 Female side connector part 21 Female side connector housing 23 Release protrusion (plate holding release means)
24 Clamping protrusion (plate position return means)
30 levers

Claims (4)

A male connector housing having a male connector housing provided with a connector fitting chamber, and a male terminal projecting into the connector fitting chamber on the male connector housing; and
An aligning plate disposed in the connector mating chamber and movably disposed in a connector mating / removing direction between a terminal holding position for holding the male terminal and a retracted position on the back side of the connector mating chamber; ,
A female connector housing that can be fitted into the connector fitting chamber, and a female connector portion in which a female terminal is disposed in the female connector housing;
Plate holding means for holding the aligning plate in a terminal holding position;
One of the female connector housing and the aligning plate is provided with a pair of flexible holding arms, and the other is provided with a holding protrusion for holding the pair of holding arms. In a connector fitting process of the housing, a plate position returning means for sandwiching the sandwiched protrusion by bending and deforming a pair of the sandwiching arms in a direction to widen the mutual spacing with respect to the aligning plate at the terminal holding position;
In the process of fitting the female connector housing into the connector fitting chamber, a plate holding release means for releasing the holding of the plate holding means after a pair of the holding arms holds the held protrusions;
A connector comprising: a plate removal prevention means for preventing the aligning plate from moving in the connector detaching direction from the terminal holding position. The connector according to claim 1,
The connector is characterized in that the sandwiched protrusion is formed on an inclined surface where both surfaces sandwiched by a pair of the sandwiching arms are gradually narrower than the position of the maximum width. The connector according to claim 1 or 2, wherein
The female connector housing is subjected to a fitting force in the connector fitting direction on the female connector housing by operation in one direction, and the connector is detached from the female connector housing by operation in the opposite direction to the above. A connector that is provided with a lever that applies a detaching force in a direction. The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A connector characterized in that the aligning plate is provided with a pair of clamping arms, and the female connector housing is provided with the clamped protrusions.

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