JP2021057213A - connector - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a connector capable of suppressing half-insertion of a contact.SOLUTION: A connector includes a housing 10 in which contacts 30 are accommodated from the rear sides of contact accommodating spaces 121, and lance locking portions are locked to locked portions of the contacts 30 at accommodation positions. The housing 10 is continuously provided with auxiliary spaces in front of the contact accommodating spaces 121. The contact 30 passes through a locking start position between the contact 30 and a lance 130 during an insertion step. When a tip portion of the contact 30 is located at a tip portion of the contact accommodating space 121, the lance locking portion is hooked to an edge portion of the locked portion, and when the tip portion of the contact 30 is within the auxiliary space, the lance locking portion is set to be locked in front of the edge portion of the locked portion. The housing 10 has a retainer 20, the retainer 20 has an adjusting portion 231 that comes into contact with the contact 30 in the contact accommodating space 121, and the contacts 30 are aligned with one another in a front-rear direction when the retainer 20 is loaded.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a connector that suppresses half-insertion of a contact.

As a technique in this field, the technique described in Patent Document 1 is known. An elastic ring is attached to the tip end portion and the base end portion of the fitting portion on the housing of one connector, and the inclination between the housings in the fitted state is suppressed. Here, when the front retainer is attached in a state where the contact is incompletely inserted (half-inserted) when assembling one of the housings, the tip of the housing lance collides with the tip of the retainer during the insertion. Will occur, and the front retainer will stop in the middle position without being inserted to the regular mounting position. At this time, the operator detects that the contact is in an incompletely inserted state (semi-inserted), and prevents the defective product from flowing out to the subsequent process.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-171621

As described above, in the invention described in Patent Document 1, it is possible to know (guess) the half-inserted state of the contact when the front retainer is attached, and it is possible to prevent the defective product from flowing out to the next process. However, the technique described in Patent Document 1 cannot suppress the occurrence of semi-insertion of the contact itself. In addition, since the housing has a separate structure, it is expected that productivity will decrease as it is.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a connector capable of suppressing semi-insertion of a contact.

The connector of the present invention includes (1) a housing in which a contact is accommodated from the rear of the contact accommodating space, and a lance locking portion is locked to a locked portion on the side surface of the contact at the accommodating position. An auxiliary space is continuously provided in front of the contact accommodating space, the contact passes through a locking start position between the contact and the lance during the insertion process, and the tip of the contact becomes the tip of the contact accommodating space. At one time, the locking portion is associated with the edge of the locked portion, and when the tip of the contact is at the tip of the auxiliary space, the locking portion is from the edge of the locked portion. It is characterized in that it is in a lockable state in front.

According to the present invention, since the housing provides an auxiliary space in front of the contact accommodating space, the contact can be moved to a position in front of the insertion position of the contact in which the locking portion of the lance and the locked portion of the contact are locked. It will be inserted. Since the range of the lockable state is expanded in this way, the half-insertion state is eliminated and a connector capable of suppressing the half-insertion of the contact can be obtained.

Preferably, in the housing according to (1) above, the connector of the present invention includes a retainer mounted from the front, and the retainer corresponds to the contact in the contact accommodating space or the auxiliary space. It is characterized in that it is provided with an adjusting portion that comes into contact with the contact, and the contacts are aligned in the front-rear direction when the retainer is attached.

According to the present invention, the contacts in the contact accommodating space or the auxiliary space have their tips aligned by contact with the retainer, so that the contacts aligned in the front-rear direction can be obtained.

Preferably, in the housing according to (3) (2) above, the connector of the present invention is provided with a lance control unit at the tip of the retainer, and the lance control unit of the retainer at the mounting position is engaged with the lance. It is characterized in that the amount of locking in the locked state increases.

According to the present invention, since the amount of locking between the lance and the contact is increased by attaching the retainer, a connector having an enhanced contact holding force can be obtained.

Preferably, the connector of the present invention is characterized in that, in the housing according to (4) above (3), the tip end portion of the lance control unit is provided with a tapered surface so as to easily engage with the lance. It is a thing.

According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a connector in which the tip of the lance control unit is provided with a tapered surface so that the lance can be smoothly locked.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a connector in which a contact and a retainer are incorporated in the housing according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is an external view in which the retainer is attached to the connector, in which (1) is before attachment and (2) is in the attached state. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a single housing of the connector. FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of the retainer of the connector alone. FIG. 5 is an external view of a contact incorporated in the connector. FIG. 6 is a process diagram in which the retainer is mounted on the housing of the connector, where (1) is a first mounting step and (2) is a second mounting step. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a process in which the retainer is attached to the housing of the connector, and is a diagram showing an incompletely attached state of the retainer when the contact is half-inserted.

Although embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments and is modified and implemented without departing from the gist of the invention. be able to. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a connector in which a contact and a retainer are incorporated in the housing according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is an external view in which the retainer is attached to the connector, in which (1) is before attachment and (2) is in the attached state. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a single housing of the connector. FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of the retainer of the connector alone. FIG. 5 is an external view of a contact incorporated in the connector. FIG. 6 is a process diagram in which the retainer is mounted on the housing of the connector, where (1) is a first mounting step and (2) is a second mounting step. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a process in which the retainer is attached to the housing of the connector, and is a diagram showing an incompletely attached state of the retainer when the contact is half-inserted. The direction instructions in the explanation follow the direction definition described in the target drawing.

The connector 1 of this embodiment includes a retainer 20 as shown in FIG. The retainer-20 is mounted on the front surface of the housing 10 from the front of the housing 10 and integrated with the housing 10. The housing 10 includes a fitting portion 120 having a contact accommodating space 121 formed therein, and a main body portion behind the fitting portion 120 that covers the outlet of the electric wire W. Housing 10
And the retainer 20 are both injection-molded products of non-conductive synthetic resin. In the present embodiment, the housing 10 and the retainer 20 are configured as separate members, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the housing 10 and the retainer 20 may be partially connected, for example.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the fitting portion 120 is a flat box body, and a contact accommodating space 121 for accommodating the contact 30 is formed therein. The contact accommodating space 121 is partitioned by a partition wall for each contact 30, and is arranged at equal intervals in the left-right direction and the up-down direction. The pin-shaped contact 30 is inserted through the opening behind the contact accommodating space 121 and is held in the regular mounting position. An opening is formed in the front wall of the contact accommodating space 121, and the contact 30 held in the normal mounting position is connected to a mating contact (not shown) that has passed through the opening at the time of fitting.
Groove-shaped retainer locking portions 123 extending in the vertical direction are formed on the left and right side walls of the fitting portion 120.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a lance 130 extends on the lower surface of the inner wall of the contact accommodating space 121. The lance 130 holds the contact 30 mounted in the regular mounting position in a fixed position, and is a cantilever beam whose tip portion can be displaced along the vertical direction. A part of the contact accommodating space 121 is shared with the lance movable space. The lance 130 is locked to the contact 30 at the mounting position by the lance locking portion 131 at the tip portion, and is held at this position. At the time of inserting the contact, the entire lance 130 falls toward the inner wall side so as not to hinder the progress of the contact 30, and the contact path is secured in the contact accommodating space 121.

<Auxiliary space>
As shown in FIG. 3, an auxiliary space 150 is continuously formed in front of the contact accommodating space 121. The auxiliary space 150 is a device provided to ensure that the lance locking portion 131 and the locked portion 311 of the contact 30 are locked. The inner wall forming the auxiliary space 150 is continuous with the inner wall forming the contact accommodating space 121. The auxiliary space 150 does not prevent the entry of contacts traveling through the contact accommodation space 121. The front-rear dimension of the auxiliary space is preferably 1.0 to 2.0 mm, more preferably 1.0 to 1.5 mm. If the front-rear dimension of the auxiliary space 150 is too large, the connector dimension will increase and the rattling of the contact 30 will also increase. On the other hand, if it is too small, the semi-insertion deterrent effect may be diminished.

When the leading portion of the contact 30 reaches the leading portion (front end portion) of the contact accommodating space 121 in the process of inserting the contact 30, a locked state occurs between the lance locking portion 131 and the locked portion 311 of the contact 30. As described above, the lance locking portion 131 and the locked portion 311 of the contact 30 have a predetermined positional relationship. However, the housing 10 has dimensional variations between individuals due to the processing accuracy of the mold, the shrinkage rate at the time of molding, and the like, and similarly, the contact 30 also has dimensional variations between individuals due to the processing accuracy of the mold and the like. There is. In addition to these variations in dimensional accuracy, there are also variations in the contact insertion depth, and there may be a case where the lance locking portion 131 and the locked portion 311 of the contact 30 do not engage with each other. The auxiliary space 150 provided in the present embodiment is a device provided for preventing such an unlocked state of the contact 30 from occurring.

The contact 30 is inserted through the rear opening of the contact accommodating space 121 when worn and advances forward. At the position where the tip end portion (front end portion) of the contact 30 reaches the front end portion of the contact accommodating space 121, the lance locking portion 131 and the locked portion 311 of the contact 30 are not locked due to the above-mentioned dimensional variation. Can occur with a given probability.
In the case of the connector 1 of the present embodiment, the contact 30 can advance further forward from this position by the amount corresponding to the front-rear dimension of the auxiliary space 150, and the insertion proceeds. Therefore, all of the unlocked state that was in the locked state in one step will reach the locked state by advancing by the extension generated by the auxiliary space 150. As a result, the occurrence of the semi-inserted state is eliminated.

<Retainer>
As shown in FIG. 4, the retainer 20 includes a basic structural portion including a base portion 210 and a cover portion 220, and a post-shaped control portion 230 extending from the inner wall of the base portion 210. The base 210 is provided with openings 211 at equal intervals, and a control unit 230 is provided beside the openings 211. The cover portion 220 connected to the end portion of the base portion 210 is provided with a locking portion 221 on a pair of facing surfaces.

As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 230 includes a stepped adjustment unit 231 near the base end portion and a lance control unit 232 having a tapered surface formed at the tip end portion.

As shown in FIG. 2, the retainer 20 is mounted from the front of the housing 10, and the locking portion 221 provided on the cover portion 220 and the retainer locking portion 123 provided on the side surface of the housing 10 are locked and fixed. The control unit 230 enters the contact accommodating space 121 through the opening 122 on the front surface of the housing 10. By mounting the retainer 20, the adjusting unit 231 comes into contact with the tip of the contact 30, and the lance control unit 232 comes into contact with the lance 130.

<Contact>
The contact 30 is a plastically processed product of a rolled metal material, and as shown in FIG. 5, has a pin shape in which the contact portion 310, the connecting portion 313, and the connecting portion 317 are connected from the front to the rear.

In the contact portion 310, an elastic portion formed inside in a tubular shape connects to a mating contact (not shown). A locked portion 311 is formed behind the rear end portion of the contact portion 310. The locked portion 311 comes into contact with the lance locking portion 131 when mounted, and the contact 30 is prevented from coming out to the rear.

The connecting portion 317 includes a conductor connecting portion that connects to the conductor portion of the electric wire W and a covering portion connecting portion that connects to the covering portion of the electric wire W. It is connected to the conductor by crimping.

<Insert contact and attach retainer>
The contact 30 is inserted from the rear surface of the housing 10 as shown in FIG. The inserted contact 30 has a variation in the insertion amount, but the leading portion thereof is in the auxiliary space 150. For example, the one inserted all the way to the back is at a position where the front portion abuts on the front wall of the auxiliary space 150, and the one inserted shallowly has the front portion at a position closer to the rear of the auxiliary space 150. As described above, even if the insertion amount varies, the locked portion 311 of any contact 30 is in a lockable state with the lance locking portion 131.
That is, even if the insertion amount is relatively small, the absolute insertion amount is increased due to the provision of the extension region of the insertion amount forward by the auxiliary space 150, so that the insertion amount is not locked due to insufficient insertion. The occurrence of the state will be resolved.

Due to the increase in the absolute insertion amount by the auxiliary space 150 described above, the allowable amount of movement of the contact 30 in the mounted state in the front-rear direction is also increased. That is, rattling has occurred. If it is desired to regulate the movement of the contact 30 in the housing 10 to a predetermined amount, the problem can be solved by attaching the retainer 20 to the housing 10.

The retainer 20 is mounted from the front of the housing 10 as shown in FIG. The control unit 230 that has entered through the opening 122 on the front surface of the housing 10 comes into contact with the tip of the contact 30 at the adjustment unit 231 near the base end. The contact 30 in contact is displaced rearward. When the retainer 20 is mounted to the regular mounting position, the contact 30 retracts in the contact accommodating space 121. At this time, the retainer locking portion 123 is in a substantially contacting state with the locked portion 311 of the contact 30. That is, the forward movement of the contact 30 in the mounted state is regulated by the retainer 20, and the backward movement is regulated by the lance 130. As a result, the housing 10 with less rattling of the contact 30 in the contact accommodating space 121 can be obtained.

When the retainer 20 is attached, as shown in FIG. 6, the lance control unit 232 at the tip of the control unit 230 comes into contact with the lower surface of the lance 130 and raises the tip of the lance 130. As a result, the amount of locking between the lance locking portion 131 and the locked portion 311 of the contact 30 increases, so that the connector 1 having an enhanced holding force of the contact 30 can be obtained.

<Semi-insertion detection>
When the contact 30 is incompletely inserted (half-inserted), as shown in FIG. 7, the retainer 20 is not mounted to the normal mounting position, so that the half-insertion of the contact 30 can be detected. That is, when the contact 30 is insufficiently inserted, the lance 130 bends toward the inner wall side of the contact accommodating space 121, and when the retainer 20 is mounted in this state, the tip of the control unit 230 becomes the retainer 20. Collide with the tip of. Due to the collision, the progress of the retainer 20 is blocked and it becomes impossible to mount the retainer 20 to the normal mounting position. As a result, the operator detects that the insertion of the contact 30 has a problem.

<Effect>
-By slightly extending the contact accommodating space 121 to provide the auxiliary space 150, a connector 1 capable of suppressing half-insertion of the contact 30 can be obtained.
As for the rattling of the contact 30, the connector 1 that can be aligned by the retainer 20 can be obtained.
-Since the retainer abuts on the lance and increases the locking amount, the connector 1 in which the contact is prevented from coming off can be obtained.
-A tapered surface is provided at the tip of the control unit 230 of the retainer 20, and a connector 1 that smoothly engages with the lance can be obtained.
-When the contact 30 is half-inserted, the retainer 20 cannot be mounted up to the regular mounting position, so that the connector 1 capable of detecting the half-insertion can be obtained.

1 Connector 10 Housing 120 Fitting 121 Contact accommodation space 122 Opening 123 Retainer locking 130 Lance 131 Lance locking 150 Auxiliary space 20 Retainer 210 Base 211 Opening 220 Cover 221 Locking 230 Control 231 Adjustment 232 Lance control unit 30 Contact 310 Contact unit 311 Locked unit 313 Connecting unit 317 Connection unit
W electric wire

Claims (4)

A housing is provided in which the contact is accommodated from the rear of the contact accommodating space, and the locking portion of the lance is locked to the locked portion on the side surface of the contact at the accommodating position.
The housing is continuously provided with an auxiliary space in front of the contact accommodating space.
The contact passes through the locking start position of the contact and the lance in the insertion process, and when the tip of the contact is at the tip of the contact accommodating space, the locking portion is the edge of the locked portion. A connector characterized in that when the tip of the contact is at the tip of the auxiliary space, the locking portion is in a lockable state in front of the edge of the locked portion. In the connector according to claim 1,
The housing has a retainer that is mounted from the front.
A connector characterized in that the retainer includes an adjusting portion that abuts the contact in the contact accommodating space or the auxiliary space, and the contacts are aligned in the front-rear direction when the retainer is attached. The connector according to claim 2 is characterized in that a lance control unit is provided at the tip of the retainer, the control unit of the retainer at the mounting position is engaged with the lance, and the amount of locking in the locked state is increased. Connector with. The connector according to claim 3, wherein the tip of the lance control unit is provided with a tapered surface so as to easily engage with the lance.

Images