JP2016207253A - Connection structure for connector and terminal fitting - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connection structure for a connector and a terminal fitting capable of enhancing holding property of the terminal fitting without increasing insertion resistance during insertion of the terminal fitting.SOLUTION: A connection structure comprises: a lance 4 tiltedly projected inward from an internal wall of a terminal housing hole 3 of a connector housing 1 and having an engaging groove 6 formed at a tip part 4b; and a lance hole 22 cut out and formed in an upper wall part 16 of a terminal fitting 2, and when the tip of the lance is elastically engaged into the lance hole, a hole edge 22a of a front end side can be engaged to a vertical surface 6a of the engaging groove. A projection part 7 is provided on a part of a bottom surface of the engaging groove, while a recessed notch 23 for fitting the projection part is provided on the hole edge of the front end side.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to a connection structure of a connector and a terminal fitting used for connecting, for example, a wire harness disposed in an automobile.

  As a conventional connection structure between a connector and a terminal fitting, one described in Patent Document 1 below is known.

  The connector has a lance for locking the terminal fitting in a terminal accommodating hole for accommodating the terminal fitting. The lance has a base end portion as a fulcrum, and the tip end side can be elastically deformed through the space portion, and the lance hole of the terminal fitting is formed on the bottom surface (locking surface) of the locking groove formed in the tip portion. By locking the front end hole edge, the terminal fitting is held in the terminal receiving hole.

  Further, the lance has an upper surface formed as a guide surface for slidingly guiding the terminal fitting, and a built-up portion is formed on the upper tip end side. This built-up portion secures a wide shear area with respect to the shearing force acting on the locking groove from the front end hole edge of the lance hole when the terminal fitting moves out of the terminal accommodating hole. ing.

  As a result, the lance has improved shear strength against the shearing force received from the front end hole edge of the lance hole at the bottom surface of the locking groove, and in a state where the terminal fitting is connected to the connector, High holding power can be demonstrated.

JP 2012-49081 A

  However, in the conventional lance, since the upper surface position of the guide surface is increased by the build-up portion, the sliding resistance between the terminal metal fitting and the terminal metal fitting when the terminal metal fitting is inserted into the terminal receiving hole is increased. Will become bigger. That is, by providing the build-up part, the terminal fitting must elastically deform the lance into the space of the terminal receiving hole, so that the build-up part has an insertion resistance when inserting the terminal. It was a factor to increase.

  The present invention has been devised in view of the above-described conventional technical problems, and without increasing the insertion resistance when inserting the terminal fitting, improves the shear strength of the lance and increases the holding force on the terminal fitting. An object of the present invention is to provide a connection structure between a connector and a terminal fitting.

  The present invention provides a lance that protrudes inwardly from the inner wall of the terminal housing hole of the connector housing, has a locking groove formed at the tip, and is notched in the outer wall of the terminal fitting, and the tip of the lance. And a lance hole whose front end side hole edge can be locked to the bottom surface of the locking groove when it is elastically inserted, and the lance has a protrusion on a part of the bottom surface of the locking groove. On the other hand, the lance hole is characterized in that a notch recess into which the protrusion is fitted and locked is provided at the hole edge on the front end side.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the shear strength of the lance and increase the holding force with respect to the terminal fitting without increasing the insertion resistance when the terminal fitting is inserted.

It is a perspective view showing a connector housing provided for an embodiment of the present invention in a longitudinal section. It is an expansion perspective view which shows the lance of the connector housing. It is the perspective view seen from the upper part of the female terminal metal fitting provided for this embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows a section of the female terminal metal fitting in cross section. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the state which connected the female terminal metal fitting to the connector housing. It is a perspective view which shows the connection state of a female terminal metal fitting and a connector housing partly in cross section. It is a principal part enlarged view of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the shear force which acts on the shear surface of the lance of this embodiment, and its direction.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a connector and terminal fitting connection structure according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In each of the embodiments described below, this connector and terminal fitting connection structure is applied to a connector and a terminal fitting for connecting a wire harness connected to an electric device of an automobile.

  More specifically, the connector includes a box-shaped connector housing 1 integrally formed of a synthetic resin material, and a plurality of terminal receiving holes 3 as shown in FIG. Has been. On the other hand, the terminal fitting is constituted by a plurality of female terminal fittings 2 inserted and fixed inside from one side in the axial direction of the terminal receiving hole 3 of the connector housing 1.

  The connector housing 1 includes a flat bottom wall 1a, a pair of side walls 1b, 1b that rise substantially vertically from both side edges of the bottom wall 1a, and walls on both sides of the terminal housing hole 3 that define the terminal receiving holes 3. 1b, and an upper wall 1c connecting the upper end edges of 1b.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 5, and 6, the terminal receiving hole 3 is formed in a substantially rectangular cross section from one end opening 3 a on the rear end side to the other end opening 3 b on the front end side, The upper surface of the bottom wall 1a on the one end opening 3a side is formed as a notched surface 3c that is cut out in a flat shape, and the notch surface 3c forms a relatively large opening area on the one end opening 3a side. Further, a tapered surface 3d having an upward slope is formed from the leading edge of the notch surface 3c to a predetermined position on the other end opening 3b side, and the other end opening 3b side is a flat surface 3e from the tapered surface 3d. Is formed.

  Further, the other end opening 3b of the terminal receiving hole 3 is formed with a small opening area by a convex portion 3f having a substantially triangular cross section formed at each tip of each of the wall portions 1a to 1c, and The tip of the male terminal 17 of the male terminal fitting, which will be described later, is guided to the inside of the terminal receiving hole 3 through the inclined surface of each convex portion 3f formed so as to be inclined upward toward the one end opening 3a. It has become.

  A lance 4 for locking the female terminal fitting 2 is provided at a substantially central position in the longitudinal direction of the lower surface of the upper wall 1c constituting the terminal accommodating hole.

  The lance 4 is integrally formed when the connector housing 1 is resin-molded. As shown in FIGS. 1, 5, and 6, the lance 4 is located at a substantially central position in the width direction of the lower surface of the upper wall 1c. 1 is formed so as to be inclined downward from the inner peripheral wall of the formed space portion 5 in FIG. 1 and elastically deformable in the vertical direction via the space portion 5. That is, the lance 4 has a base end portion 4a that is a fixed end coupled to a substantially central position in the width direction and the longitudinal direction of the lower surface of the upper wall 1c, while a tip end portion 4b that is a free end is connected to the base end portion 4a. The tip portion 4b is elastically deformed in the vertical direction via the space portion 5 with the base end portion 4a as a fulcrum.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 5 to 7, the lance 4 is formed with a guide surface 4c that is gradually inclined downward from the base end portion 4a toward the tip end portion 4b. Has been. The guide surface 4c guides the movement of the female terminal fitting 2 in accordance with the elastic deformation of the lance 4 into the space 5 when the female terminal fitting 2 is inserted.

  Further, the tip portion 4b of the lance 4 is formed with a step-shaped locking groove 6 cut out in a substantially inverted L shape in FIG.

  The bottom surface of the locking groove 6 extends substantially horizontally from the vertical surface 6a rising in the vertical direction in FIG. 2 and from the upper end edge of the vertical surface 6a toward the distal end side of the terminal receiving hole 3. And a hole edge 22a on the front end side of a lance hole 22 to be described later is locked by the vertical surface 6a. Further, the vertical surface 6 a slightly protrudes toward the other end opening 3 b side at the lower end side compared to the upper end side, and this protruding portion engages with the hole edge 22 a on the front end side of the lance hole 22. By restricting the movement of the lance 4 in the direction of the space 5 at the time, unintentional unlocking is suppressed.

  A prismatic protrusion 7 that projects toward the distal end side of the terminal receiving hole 3 is integrally formed on a part of the bottom surface of the locking groove 6. The protrusion 7 is provided across the vertical surface 6a and the horizontal surface 6b, is formed in a substantially rectangular cross section, and has a width shorter than the width of the locking groove 6. The locking groove 6 is disposed at the center position in the width direction. Therefore, the locking groove 6 remains on both side portions of the protrusion 7.

  The protrusion 7 has a tip surface 7a extending to the vicinity of the tip edge of the horizontal surface 6b of the locking groove 6, and both side surfaces 7b, 7b are substantially perpendicular to the tip surface 7a. It is formed as follows. Further, the distal end surface 7a is formed in an inclined shape that is inclined from the upper end side toward the lower end side toward the other end opening 3b side of the terminal accommodating hole 3.

  As the projection 7 is formed, the lance 4 has a second locking groove between the lower portion of the distal end surface 4d of the distal end portion 4b and the upper portion of the distal end surface 7a of the projection portion 7. 8 is formed. The second locking groove 8 has a bottom surface 8a formed so as to extend over substantially the entire width direction of the tip end surface 7a of the protrusion 7, and is locked to an inner bottom edge 23a of a notch recess 23 described later. It is like that.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 5, and 6, the distal end surface of the upper wall 1 c of the connector housing 1 is cut out substantially in parallel with the terminal receiving hole 3, so that the outside of the connector housing 1 and the space A communication hole 9 for communicating with the portion 5 is formed. The communication hole 9 serves as a jig insertion hole for inserting a jig (not shown) for releasing the connection between the lance 4 and the female terminal fitting 2.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, stabilizers 19, which will be described later, are inserted into both side edges of the lower surface of the upper wall 1 c on the side of the one end opening 3 a, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6. A pair of left and right guide grooves 10 through which 19 is inserted are notched along the longitudinal direction.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the female terminal fitting 2 is formed by bending a metal plate such as copper or copper alloy, which is a conductive material, into a cylindrical shape by press molding, and is substantially box-shaped on the front end side. A terminal body 11 that is formed and used for connection to a terminal of a mating terminal fitting (a male terminal 17 described later of a male terminal member that is not illustrated in the present embodiment), and a coupling portion on the rear end side of the terminal body 11 And a barrel portion 13 which are integrally coupled via 12 and are connected by crimping to the end of the electric wire.

  The terminal body 11 is formed in a rectangular tube shape that is long in the front-rear direction, and as shown in FIG. 4, the bottom wall part 14 extending in the front-rear direction, and substantially perpendicular to both side edges of the bottom wall part 14. The both side wall parts 15 and 15 which stood up, and the upper wall part 16 which connects the upper end edge of this both side wall parts 15 and 15 are provided, and these whole wall parts 14-16 comprise the outer wall. .

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the terminal main body 11 is formed in an elongated plate-like shape that protrudes from the distal end portion of the male terminal member (not shown) at the distal end portion defined by the wall portions 14 to 16. The opening 11a through which the male terminal 17 (see the one-dot chain line in FIG. 5) is inserted is formed.

  The bottom wall portion 14 is formed by overlapping both end portions of the metal plate when the terminal body 11 is press-formed. That is, the bottom wall portion 14 is formed in duplicate by the inner bottom wall portion 14a and the outer bottom wall portion 14b that abuts on the outer surface of the inner bottom wall portion 14a.

  On the inner side surface of the inner bottom wall portion 14a, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, a pair of left and right contact beads 18a, 18b with which the male terminal 17 inserted into the inside from the opening portion 11a contacts is longitudinal. Are formed in an elongated and parallel manner. The contact beads 18a and 18b are formed by pressing from the outside of the inner bottom wall portion 14a to the inside by a press machine, and each has a substantially circular cross section.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the both side wall portions 15, 15 have a pair of left and right stabilizers 19, 19 extending further upward from the upper end edges of the both side wall portions 15, 15 on the rear end side. It is integrally formed. Each of the stabilizers 19 and 19 is formed so that the outer end surfaces thereof are flush with the outer end surfaces of the corresponding side wall portions 15 and 15 by opening the rear end side of the upper wall portion 16 symmetrically. . Reinforcing ribs 19a, 19a are pressed and formed at the center positions of the stabilizers 19, 19 by a press.

  As a result, the female terminal fitting 2 is inserted into the terminal receiving hole 3 in a state in which the guide grooves 10 and 10 and the stabilizers 19 and 19 are fitted, so that the stability upon insertion is improved. In addition, erroneous insertion such as upside down insertion is suppressed.

  In addition, although the location where the said upper wall part 16 was opened and opened becomes the lance hole 22 used for the connection with the said lance 4, it mentions later concretely.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the upper wall portion 16 is formed substantially parallel to the bottom wall portion 14, and is extended toward the inside of the terminal body 11 at the tip portion thereof. A contact spring 20 that elastically clamps the male terminal 17 in cooperation with the contact beads 18a and 18b is integrally provided.

  The contact spring 20 is formed by bending a long and thin plate spring-like metal plate, and is folded back obliquely downward with respect to the upper wall portion 16 from a base end portion 20a that is a joint portion with the upper wall portion 16. Yes. Accordingly, when a pressing force is generated when the male terminal 17 is inserted into the contact spring 20, the base end portion 20a serves as a fulcrum, and a spring force is exerted in a direction against the pressing force. .

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the contact spring 20 is formed by pressing a circular protrusion 21 projecting toward the opening 11 a at a location where the contact spring 20 is in contact with the male terminal 17 by a press machine. When the male terminal 17 is inserted into the opening 11a, the male terminal 17 is brought into point contact via the protrusion 21.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the distal end portion 20 b of the contact spring 20 on the distal end side with respect to the protruding portion 21 is further folded back obliquely upward. The tip 20b is elastically applied to the contact spring 20 by exerting a spring force by elastically contacting the lower surface of the upper wall 16 when an excessive pressing force is applied to the contact spring 20. It is intended to avoid deformation.

  Further, as described above, the lance hole 22 is formed in the rear end side in the longitudinal direction of the upper wall portion 16 when the stabilizers 19 and 19 are formed. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 7, the lance hole 22 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape in plan view, and the lance 4 can be elastically inserted, and when the lance 4 is inserted, A hole edge 22 a on the front end side is locked to the vertical surface 6 a of the locking groove 6.

  A notch recess 23 having a substantially rectangular shape in plan view is formed in the hole edge 22 a on the front end side of the lance hole 22 so as to correspond to the protrusion 7.

  As shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 6 to 8, the notch recess 23 is formed at a substantially central position in the width direction of the front end side hole edge 22 a of the lance hole 22. The notch recess 23 includes an inner bottom edge 23a formed so as to be substantially orthogonal to the axial direction of the terminal receiving hole 3, and a pair of side edges rising substantially vertically from both ends of the inner bottom edge 23a. 23b, 23b.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the notch recess 23 has a groove depth D of a distance H1 between the bottom surface 8a of the second locking groove 8 and the vertical surface 6a of the locking groove 6. It is formed so as to have substantially the same size, and the groove width W thereof is formed so as to be substantially the same as the distance H2 between both side surfaces 7b, 7b of the projection 7, and the notch recess The protrusion 7 can be fitted into the inner side of 23 through a minute gap.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 6 to 8, rounded portions 23 c each having a substantially arc shape in plan view are formed at the corners of the notches 23.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the barrel portion 13 has a pair of U-shaped caulking pieces 13 a and 13 b at the front and rear, and the caulking piece 13 a on the front side caulks and fixes a core portion of an electric wire not shown in the drawing. On the other hand, the rear caulking piece 13b caulks and fixes the covered portion of the electric wire.

In FIGS. 5 and 6, the caulking pieces 13 a and 13 b of the barrel portion 13 are not connected to the caulking core and covering portions of the electric wire by caulking. The female terminal fitting 2 is inserted into and fixed to the terminal receiving hole 3 while being crimped to the terminal 13.
[Operation of this embodiment]
The connector and the female terminal fitting 2 in this embodiment are connected by inserting the female terminal fitting 2 into the terminal accommodating hole 3.

  When the terminal main body 11 side of the female terminal fitting 2 is inserted into the terminal receiving hole 3 from the one end opening 3a and pushed in as it is, the terminal main body 11 is connected to the stabilizers 19 and 19 and the guide grooves 10 and 10. It moves toward the tip side while sliding in the terminal accommodating hole 3 while maintaining a stable posture by fitting.

  Subsequently, when the distal end portion of the terminal body 11 reaches the guide surface 4c on the base end portion 4a side of the lance 4, the insertion resistance is improved by the elastic force of the lance 4, but the female terminal fitting 2 is further increased from here. When a pushing force is applied to the terminal body 11, the terminal body 11 moves further toward the distal end side of the terminal receiving hole 3 while elastically deforming the lance 4 into the space 5 against the elastic force of the lance 4.

  Thereafter, when the hole edge 22a on the front end side of the lance hole 22 reaches the position where the locking groove 6 of the lance 4 is formed, the distal end portion 4b side of the lance 4 is elastically restored downward in the lance hole 22 itself. The protrusion 7 is inserted into the notch recess 23 almost simultaneously with the insertion of the protrusion 7. In this state, when the pushing force against the female terminal fitting 2 is released, both side portions of the hole edge 22a on the front end side of the lance hole 22 are locked to the vertical surface 6a of the locking groove 6 and at the same time, The inner bottom edge 23 a of the notch recess 23 is locked to the bottom surface 8 a of the second locking groove 8. Thereby, the movement of the female terminal fitting 2 in the pull-out direction is restricted, and the connection between the connector and the female terminal fitting 2 is completed (see FIGS. 5 to 7).

  And in this embodiment, since the said projection part 7 was provided in the bottom face of the said locking groove 6 instead of the guide surface 4c side of the said lance 4, the said female terminal metal fitting 2 is inserted in the said terminal accommodation hole 3. FIG. Thus, the insertion resistance when passing through the guide surface 4c does not increase. For this reason, an insertion operation can be performed smoothly without applying a large insertion force to the female terminal fitting 2.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, when the force to the direction pulled out from the said barrel part 13 with respect to the said electric wire is applied, as shown in FIG. 5, with respect to the contact part with the said female terminal metal fitting 2 of the said lance 4 The shearing force F acts in a direction inclined by an angle θ from the direction in which the female terminal fitting 2 is pulled out. In the present embodiment, since the projection 7 is provided on the lance 4, the sectional area (shear area) that receives the shearing force F of the lance 4 is only the sectional integral of the projection 7 as shown in FIG. 8. Since it can increase, the shear rigidity of the said lance 4 can be improved and the shear fracture | rupture by the shear force F, etc. can be suppressed.

  Moreover, in the present embodiment, the contact area when the lance 4 is inserted into the lance hole 22 is smaller than that of the structure having no protrusion 7 and notch recess 23, and the notch recess 23. Since the surface integral of both side edges 23b and 23b of the lance 4 is increased, the influence of the shearing force F applied to the lance 4 can be reduced.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, the hole edge 22a on the front end side of the lance hole 22 is locked to the vertical surface 6a of the locking groove 6, and at the same time, the inner bottom edge of the notch recess 23 23 a is locked to the bottom surface 8 a of the second locking groove 8. Accordingly, since the female terminal fitting 2 can be doubly locked by the two locking grooves 6 and 8 formed in the lance 4, the holding force for the female terminal fitting 2 can be further improved. it can.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the notch recess 23 is formed at a substantially central position in the width direction of the hole edge 22a on the front end side of the lance hole 22, and the protrusion 7 is formed on the vertical surface 6a of the locking groove 6. Since the protrusion 7 receives the shearing force F from the inner bottom edge 23a of the notch recess 23, as shown by the arrow in FIG. Since the force can be evenly distributed, the strength against the shearing force F can be further increased.

  Further, in the connected state between the connector and the female terminal fitting 2, the projection 7 is formed so as to be fitted into the notch recess 23, so that the female terminal fitting 2 is arranged in the left-right direction (both sides of the connector housing 1. Vibrations in the direction of the walls 1b and 1b can be suppressed.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the rounded portion 23c is provided at the tip corner of the notch recess 23, the risk of breakage due to interference with the notch recess 23 of the protrusion 7 can be reduced. The protrusion 7 can be smoothly inserted into the notch recess 23 while being guided by the rounded portions 23c.

  The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the embodiment, and for example, the female terminal fitting 2 can be a male terminal fitting.

  In the present embodiment, the inner bottom edge 23a of the notch recess 23 is locked by the bottom surface 8a of the second locking groove 8. However, this is omitted and the protrusion 7 The inner bottom edge 23a of the notch recess 23 can be locked by the front end surface 7a.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the cross-sectional shape of the protrusion 7 and the front view shape of the notch recess 23 are described as being substantially rectangular, but the shape is not limited. Also good.

The technical ideas of the invention other than the claims ascertained from the embodiment will be described below.
[Claim a]
The connection structure of the connector and the terminal metal fitting according to claim 1 or 2, wherein rounded portions are formed at the corners of the tip of the notch recess.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Connector housing 2 ... Female terminal metal fitting 3 ... Terminal accommodation hole 4 ... Lance 4b ... Tip part 6 ... Locking groove 6a ... Vertical surface (bottom surface)
6b ... Horizontal plane (bottom)
7 ... Projection 7a ... Tip surface 7b ... Side 8 ... Second locking groove 8a ... Bottom 11 ... Terminal body 14 ... Bottom wall (outer wall)
15 ... Side wall (outer wall)
16 ... Upper wall (outer wall)
22 ... Lance hole 22a ... Front edge side hole edge 23 ... Notch recess 23a ... Inner bottom edge 23b ... Side edge 23c ... Earl part

Claims (2)

A lance that protrudes inwardly from the inner wall of the terminal housing hole of the connector housing and has a locking groove formed at the tip;
A lance hole that is notched in the outer wall of the terminal fitting, and when the tip of the lance is elastically fitted, the hole edge on the front end side can be locked to the bottom surface of the locking groove;
With
While the lance is provided with a protrusion on a part of the bottom surface of the locking groove,
The lance hole is provided with a connector and a terminal fitting connection structure, wherein a notch recess into which the projection is fitted and locked is provided at a hole edge on the front end side.   The connector and terminal fitting connection structure according to claim 1, wherein a second locking groove that locks the inner bottom edge of the notch recess is formed on a tip surface of the protrusion.

Images