JP2024062021A - connector - Google Patents

Abstract

A connector is provided that can reliably prevent damage to partition walls that separate terminal accommodating chambers due to terminal insertion operations.
[Solution] The connector 1 comprises a housing 10 having a partition wall 11 that divides a terminal accommodating chamber 12 and a terminal insertion hole 14 formed in the partition wall 11, and a terminal 20 having an electrical connection portion 21 to which a mating terminal is connected and an electric wire connection portion 29 to which an end of an electric wire 2 is connected, and which is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 12 from the rear of the housing 10, the terminal 20 having a locking portion 23a that locks into a flexible locking arm portion 18 formed on the housing 10, and an elastic piece that abuts against the partition wall 11 when the electrical connection portion 21 is inserted into the terminal insertion hole 14, urging the electrical connection portion 21 toward the rear of the housing 10.
[Selected Figure] Figure 9A

Description

The present invention relates to a connector.

One such type of connector is described in Patent Document 1. The connector described in Patent Document 1 includes a housing with a tab insertion hole in the front wall (partition wall) that separates the cavity of the terminal accommodating section from the hood section, and a male terminal with a tab that is inserted into the tab insertion hole in the front wall from the rear of the housing. When the male terminal is inserted into the cavity of the terminal accommodating section from the rear of the housing and the tab of the male terminal is inserted into the tab insertion hole in the front wall, the male terminal is engaged with the lance and prevented from coming out.

JP 2018-125167 A

However, in the above-mentioned conventional connector, when inserting a male terminal into the terminal accommodating portion of the housing, if an excessive insertion load (insertion force) is applied to the male terminal when inserting it into the cavity, there is a risk that the front wall will be damaged by the impact when the male terminal abuts against the front wall of the housing.

The present invention was made in consideration of the problems inherent in the conventional technology. The object of the present invention is to provide a connector that can reliably prevent damage to the partition walls that separate the terminal receiving chambers during the terminal insertion process.

The connector according to the present invention includes a housing having a partition wall that divides a terminal receiving chamber and a terminal insertion hole formed in the partition wall, and a terminal that has an electrical connection part to which a mating terminal is connected and an electric wire connection part to which an end of an electric wire is connected, and is inserted into the terminal receiving chamber from the rear of the housing, and the terminal has a locking part that is locked to a flexible locking arm formed in the housing, and an elastic piece that abuts against the partition wall when the electrical connection part is inserted into the terminal insertion hole, urging the electrical connection part toward the rear of the housing.

The present invention provides a connector that can reliably prevent damage to the partition walls that separate the terminal receiving chambers during the terminal insertion process.

1 is a perspective view showing an example of a male connector (connector) according to an embodiment of the present invention in a state before terminals are inserted. FIG. FIG. 2 is a front view of the male connector. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 2. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a male terminal (terminal) used in the male connector. 4 is a perspective view of a terminal removal jig used in the male connector. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VII-VII in FIG. 2 at the start of terminal insertion. 7B is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 7A. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VII-VII in FIG. 2 during terminal insertion. FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 8A. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VII-VII in FIG. 2 when the terminal insertion is complete. 9B is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 9A. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VII-VII in FIG. 2 at the start of the terminal removal operation. 10B is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 10A. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VII-VII in FIG. 2 during a terminal removal operation. 11B is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 11A. 2 is a perspective view showing a state before terminals of a female connector (mating connector) are inserted. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a female terminal (mating terminal) used in the female connector. FIG. 4 is a front view of the male connector and female connector in a mated state as viewed from the female connector side. FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 14. 15B is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 15A.

The following describes in detail the connector according to an embodiment of the present invention using the drawings.

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a state before terminal insertion of an example of a male connector (connector) according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a front view of the male connector. Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in Figure 2. Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV in Figure 2. Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of a male terminal (terminal) used in the male connector. Figure 6 is a perspective view of a terminal removal jig used in the male connector. Figure 7A is a cross-sectional view taken along line VII-VII in Figure 2 at the start of terminal insertion. Figure 7B is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in Figure 7A. Figure 8A is a cross-sectional view taken along line VII-VII in Figure 2 during terminal insertion. Figure 8B is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in Figure 8A. Figure 9A is a cross-sectional view taken along line VII-VII in Figure 2 when terminal insertion is completed. Figure 9B is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in Figure 9A. Figure 10A is a cross-sectional view taken along line VII-VII in Figure 2 at the start of terminal removal work. FIG. 10B is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 10A. FIG. 11A is a cross-sectional view taken along line VII-VII in FIG. 2 during the terminal removal operation. FIG. 11B is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 11A. FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing the state before the terminal is inserted into the female connector (mating connector). FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a female terminal (mating terminal) used in the female connector. FIG. 14 is a front view of the mated state of the male connector and female connector as seen from the female connector side. FIG. 15A is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 14. FIG. 15B is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 15A.

As shown in FIG. 1, the male connector 1 includes a male housing 10 made of synthetic resin and a male terminal 20 connected to the end of the electric wire 2.

As shown in Figures 1 to 4, the male housing 10 has a rectangular tubular main body 10a and a rectangular tubular hood 10b with a larger diameter than the main body 10a. The main body 10a and hood 10b are separated by a rectangular plate-shaped front wall (partition wall) 11 and are connected in the axial direction.

As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the main body 10a of the male housing 10 has a terminal accommodating chamber 12 formed therein, and the hood portion 10b of the male housing 10 has a mating space 13 into which the female housing (mating housing) 50 of the female connector (mating connector) 5 is mated. The front of the terminal accommodating chamber 12 is partitioned by a front wall 11. The terminal accommodating chamber 12 and the mating space 13 are partitioned in the axial direction by the front wall 11 that partitions the terminal accommodating chamber 12. In other words, the front wall 11 that partitions the terminal accommodating chamber 12 also serves as a partition wall for the mating space 13.

As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the front wall 11 of the male housing 10 is formed with a tab insertion hole (terminal insertion hole) 14 through which the tab 21 of the male terminal 20 described later is inserted. The terminal accommodating chamber 12 and the mating space 13 communicate in the axial direction via the tab insertion hole 14. Furthermore, the front wall 11 is formed with a pair of left and right recesses 15 recessed from the surface 11a on the terminal accommodating chamber 12 side at positions corresponding to the spring piece (elastic piece) 27 of the male terminal 20. The bottom surfaces 15a of the pair of recesses 15, 15 serve as spring abutment surfaces against which the spring piece 27 is accommodated and abuts.

As shown in FIG. 3, a lance forming space 16 is formed below the terminal receiving chamber 12 of the main body 10a and near the front wall 11. This lance forming space 16 communicates with the terminal receiving chamber 12 in the height direction. The lance forming space 16 also communicates with the fitting space 13 in the axial direction, and the front portion of the lance forming space 16 serves as a jig insertion opening 17 into which a release pin 42 protruding from the gripping portion 41 of the terminal removal jig 40 shown in FIG. 6 is inserted. In other words, the jig insertion opening 17 is provided below the tab insertion hole 14 in the front wall 11.

As shown in FIG. 3, the main body 10a of the male housing 10 is provided with a cantilever-shaped lance (flexible locking arm) 18 that is elastically deformable and protrudes into the lance molding space 16. The lance 18 is provided with a locking projection 18a that is locked into the locking hole (locking portion) 23a of the male terminal 20 and a jig operating portion 18b against which the tip 42a of the release pin 42 of the terminal removal jig 40 comes into contact. The locking projection 18a protrudes into the terminal accommodating chamber 12.

As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the main body 10a of the male housing 10 is provided with a guide rib 19 that protrudes downward within the terminal accommodating chamber 12 and guides the tabs 21 of the male terminals 20 arranged in series in the axial direction into the tab insertion holes 14. This guide rib 19 has a first guide rib 19b with a first slope 19a and a second guide rib 19d with a second slope 19c, from the rear to the front of the center of the inner ceiling surface of the main body 10a. This second guide rib 19d is connected to the front wall 11, and the second slope 19c is continuous with the edge of the tab insertion hole 14 in the front wall 11.

As shown in FIG. 3, the front end of the ceiling inner surface of the hood portion 10b of the male housing 10 is provided with a locking projection 10c that protrudes into the fitting space 13. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, a vehicle fixing portion 10d for mounting to a vehicle is provided on one outer surface of the hood portion 10b of the male housing 10.

As shown in Figures 1 and 5, from the front to the rear, the male terminal 20 has a tab (electrical connection portion) 21 to which the female terminal (mating terminal) is connected, a main body portion 22, a connecting portion 28, and an electric wire connection portion 29.

As shown in FIG. 5, the tab 21 extends forward from the bottom wall 23 of the main body 22 in the shape of a rectangular plate. The main body 22 is formed in a rectangular tube shape by the bottom wall 23, opposing side walls 24, and an upper wall 25 opposing the bottom wall 23. In the rectangular tube-shaped main body 22, the edges of the opposing upper walls 25 are spaced apart in the axial direction, and a guide slit 26 is formed for inserting the guide rib 19. In addition, a locking hole (locking portion) 23a that locks onto the locking protrusion 18a of the lance 18 is formed in the bottom wall 23 of the rectangular tube-shaped main body 22.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, a spring piece (elastic piece) 27 is provided on the front edge of the opposing side walls 24 of the rectangular tubular main body 22, extending in an arc in the width direction inward. When the tab 21 of the male terminal 20 is inserted into the tab insertion hole 14 of the front wall 11, this spring piece 27 abuts against the bottom surface 15a of the recess 15 of the front wall 11, urging the tab 21 toward the rear of the male housing 10.

As shown in FIG. 5, the electric wire connection portion 29 has a conductor crimping portion 29a that is crimped to the core wire 3 exposed at the end of the electric wire 2, and a coating crimping portion 29b that is crimped to the insulating coating 4 at the end of the electric wire 2.

As shown in FIG. 12, the female connector (mating connector) 5 includes a female housing (housing) 50 made of synthetic resin that fits into the hood portion 10b of the male housing 10, and a female terminal (terminal) 60 that is connected to the end of the electric wire 2.

12 and 15A, the female housing 50 has a box-shaped main body 51 with a front wall 51a and a terminal receiving chamber 52 formed therein. The front wall 51a of the main body 51 of the female housing 50 is provided with a tab insertion hole 51b through which the tab 21 of the male terminal 20 is inserted. The main body 51 of the female housing 50 is provided with a cantilever-shaped lance (flexible locking arm) 53 that is elastically deformable so as to protrude into the terminal receiving chamber 52. The lance 53 is provided with a locking protrusion 53a that is locked into the locking hole 63 of the female terminal 60. In addition, the upper surface 51c of the main body 51 of the female housing 50 is provided with a locking arm 54 having a protruding locked portion 54a that is locked (engaged) with the locking protrusion 10c of the hood portion 10b of the male housing 10.

As shown in Figures 13 and 15A, the female terminal 60 includes, from the front to the rear, a box portion (electrical connection portion) 61 that is connected to the tab 21 of the male terminal 20, a connecting portion 68, and an electric wire connection portion 69.

As shown in Figures 13 and 15A, the box portion 61 has a rectangular cylindrical shape with a bottom wall 62, opposing side walls 64, and an upper wall 65 opposing the bottom wall 62. An electrical contact spring 66 is provided on the bottom wall 62 of the rectangular cylindrical box portion 61 so as to be elastically deformable, and is bent in a curved shape toward the opposing upper wall 65 in the axial direction. The tab 21 of the male terminal 20 comes into contact with this electrical contact spring 66 and is electrically connected. In addition, a locking hole (locking portion) 63 that locks onto the locking protrusion 53a of the lance 53 is formed on the bottom wall 62 of the rectangular cylindrical box portion 61.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 13, a spring piece (elastic piece) 67 is provided on the front edge of the opposing side walls 64 of the square cylindrical box portion 61, extending in an arc in the width direction inward. When the female terminal 60 is inserted into the terminal receiving chamber 52 of the female housing 50, this spring piece 67 abuts against the front wall 51a of the box-shaped main body portion 51 of the female housing 50 to cushion the impact between the female terminal 60 and the front wall 51a of the box-shaped main body portion 51.

As shown in FIG. 13, the electric wire connection portion 69 has a conductor crimping portion 69a that is crimped to the core wire 3 exposed at the end of the electric wire 2, and a coating crimping portion 69b that is crimped to the insulating coating 4 at the end of the electric wire 2.

Next, the assembly process for the male connector 1 will be explained in sequence with reference to Figures 7A to 9B.

First, as shown in Figures 7A and 7B, an operator inserts the male terminal 20 into the terminal receiving chamber 12 of the male housing 10. During the process of inserting the male terminal 20 into the terminal receiving chamber 12, the guide rib 19 of the male housing 10 fits into the guide slit 26 of the male terminal 20, and the male terminal 20 is guided by the guide rib 19 into the terminal receiving chamber 12 and is smoothly inserted.

Next, as shown in Figures 8A and 8B, the tab 21 of the male terminal 20 is inserted into the tab insertion hole 14 of the front wall 11 of the male housing 10. At this time, the tab 21 and bottom wall 23 of the male terminal 20 slide against the locking projection 18a of the lance 18 protruding into the terminal accommodating chamber 12, causing the lance 18 to temporarily elastically deform downward, as shown by the arrow in Figure 8A.

As shown in Figures 9A and 9B, when the male terminal 20 is fully inserted into the terminal receiving chamber 12, the locking projection 18a of the lance 18 enters the locking hole 23a in the bottom wall 23 of the male terminal 20, and the lance 18, which was temporarily elastically deformed, returns to its original state. This restoration of the lance 18 causes the locking hole 23a in the bottom wall 23 of the male terminal 20 to lock onto the locking projection 18a of the lance 18, and the male terminal 20 is inserted to the fully inserted position, resulting in a fully inserted state.

In this way, the male terminal 20 connected to the end of the electric wire 2 is held in the male housing 10, and the male connector 1 is assembled. When the male connector 1 is assembled, as shown in FIG. 9A, the tab 21 of the male terminal 20 protrudes into the mating space 13 of the hood portion 10b of the male housing 10.

In addition, during the process of inserting the male terminal 20 into the terminal accommodating chamber 12, if the male terminal 20 is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 12 while tilted relative to the axial direction, the tip of the tab 21 slides against the guide rib 19 and finally slides against the second inclined surface 19c of the guide rib 19. By the tip of the tab 21 sliding against the second inclined surface 19c, the tab 21 is easily and reliably connected to the tab insertion hole 14 in the front wall 11.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 9B, during the insertion process of the male terminal 20 into the terminal receiving chamber 12, the spring piece 27 of the male terminal 20 abuts against the bottom surface 15a, which is the spring abutment surface of the recess 15 of the front wall 11, and elastically deforms until the locking protrusion 18a of the lance 18 enters the locking hole 23a of the male terminal 20. When this spring piece 27 is elastically deformed, a restoring force is generated in the spring piece 27 as it tries to restore from the elastic deformation, and a force (F') due to the restoring force is generated in the male terminal 20. Due to this restoring force, the worker can feel the force (F') due to the restoring force when inserting the terminal with a predetermined amount of insertion force (F). Therefore, it is possible to suppress the application of excessive insertion force (F) during the insertion operation of the male terminal 20 into the terminal receiving chamber 12 by the worker, and it is possible to prevent the male terminal 20 from damaging the front wall 11 of the male housing 10 due to the excessive insertion force (F) being applied to the male terminal 20.

In addition, the bottom surface 15a of the recess 15 formed in the front wall 11 of the male housing 10 serves as a spring contact surface against which the spring piece 27 of the male terminal 20 contacts, so that when the male connector 1 is assembled, the spring piece 27 of the male terminal 20 is located within the recess 15 of the front wall 11. Therefore, by forming the recess 15 in the front wall 11, the male connector 1 can be made smaller in the axial direction.

Next, the action and effect of the terminal extraction jig 40 when extracting the male terminal 20 will be explained using Figures 10A to 11B.

During maintenance of the male connector 1, it is necessary to remove the male terminal 20 connected to the end of the electric wire 2 from the male housing 10. In this case, a terminal removal tool 40 having a release pin 42 at the tip side of the gripping portion 41 shown in Figure 6 is used.

First, as shown in FIG. 10A, the release pin 42 of the terminal removal jig 40 is inserted into the lance molding space 16 through the jig insertion opening 17 of the male housing 10. Then, the tip 42a of the release pin 42 is hooked onto the jig operating portion 18b of the lance 18 to elastically deform the lance 18, and the locking projection 18a of the lance 18, which has entered the locking hole 23a of the male terminal 20 inserted in the fully inserted position, is pulled out from within the locking hole 23a. This releases the lock of the male terminal 20 that is locked to the lance 18.

As shown in FIG. 11A, when the male terminal 20 engaged with the lance 18 of the male housing 10 is released, the spring piece 27 of the male terminal 20, which has been elastically deformed, returns to its original shape. At this time, the spring piece 27 presses the front wall 11 of the male housing 10 by restoring, and the male terminal 20 is pushed backward within the terminal accommodating chamber 12 of the male housing 10 and moves backward a predetermined amount. Therefore, if the locking projection 18a of the lance 18 is pulled out from the locking hole 23a of the male terminal 20 to release the locking of the male terminal 20 engaged with the lance 18, the locking projection 18a of the lance 18 will not enter the locking hole 23a of the male terminal 20 again. Therefore, the male terminal 20 can be easily removed from the terminal accommodating chamber 12 of the male housing 10, making the removal operation of the male terminal 20 easier.

Next, the action and effect of suppressing micro-sliding when mating the male connector 1 and female connector 5 will be explained using Figures 15A and 15B.

As shown in FIG. 15A, when the male connector 1 and the female connector 5 are mated, the female connector 5 is inserted into the mating space 13 of the hood portion 10b of the male connector 1, and the locked portion 54a of the lock arm 54 of the female connector 5 is engaged with the lock protrusion 10c of the hood portion 10b. The tab 21 of the male terminal 20 is inserted into the rectangular cylindrical box portion 61 of the female terminal 60, and the tab 21 contacts and is electrically connected to the elastically deformable electrical contact spring 66 arranged in the box portion 61. The male connector 1 and the female connector 5 are mounted on a vehicle (not shown) in a mated state via the vehicle fixing portion 10d provided on the hood portion 10b of the male connector 1.

When vibrations such as those caused by the vehicle running are applied to the male connector 1 and female connector 5 in the mated state, the male terminal 20 tends to rattle in the terminal accommodating chamber 12 of the male housing 10 due to the assembly clearance between the male connector 1 and the male terminal 20. However, as shown in FIG. 15B, the spring piece 27 of the male terminal 20 elastically deforms and abuts against the bottom surface 15a of the recess 15 as the spring abutment surface of the front wall 11 of the male housing 10, so rattling of the male terminal 20 in the axial direction is suppressed. Furthermore, the variation between the male terminal 20 and the female terminal 60 is also suppressed by the elastic deformation of the spring piece 67 of the female terminal 60. By suppressing rattling between the two terminals 20 and 60 by these spring pieces 27, 67, micro-sliding friction at the contact portion between the tab 21 of the male terminal 20 and the elastically deformable electrical contact spring 66 of the female terminal 60 is suppressed, and the generation of friction powder can be suppressed. In other words, it is possible to suppress the generation of friction powder due to scraping of the oxide film and plating on the surface of the tab 21 of the male terminal 20 and the surface of the electrical contact spring 66 of the female terminal 60 caused by micro-sliding friction. As a result, it is possible to easily and reliably suppress the deterioration of the electrical reliability of the male connector 1 and the female connector 5.

Although the present embodiment has been described above, the present embodiment is not limited to these, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the gist of the present embodiment.

That is, according to the above embodiment, a recess is formed in the front wall as a partition wall at a position corresponding to the spring piece, and the bottom surface against which the spring piece is housed and abuts serves as the spring abutment surface. However, this recess may not be formed and the surface of the front wall facing the terminal accommodating chamber itself may serve as the spring abutment surface.

1 Male connector (connector)
2 Electric wire 10 Male housing (housing)
11 Front wall (partition wall)
12 Terminal accommodating chamber 14 Tab insertion hole (terminal insertion hole)
15 Recess 17 Jig insertion opening 18 Lance (flexible locking arm)
18a: locking projection 18b: jig operating portion 19: guide rib 20: male terminal (terminal)
21 Tab (electrical connection part)
22 Square tubular main body 23a Locking hole (locking portion)
25 Upper wall 26 Guide slit 27 Spring piece (elastic piece)
29 Electric wire connection portion 40 Terminal removal jig 42a Tip 60 Female terminal (mating terminal)

Claims (5)

a housing having a partition wall that divides a terminal accommodating chamber, the partition wall having a terminal insertion hole formed therein;
a terminal having an electrical connection portion to which a mating terminal is connected and an electric wire connection portion to which an end of an electric wire is connected, the terminal being inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber from the rear of the housing;
Equipped with
The terminal is a connector having a locking portion that locks onto a flexible locking arm formed on the housing, and an elastic piece that abuts against the partition wall when the electrical connection portion is inserted into the terminal insertion hole, thereby urging the electrical connection portion toward the rear of the housing. The housing has a guide rib protruding downward within the terminal accommodating chamber,
2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the terminal has a rectangular tubular main body between the electrical connection portion and the wire connection portion, and an upper wall of the rectangular tubular main body has a guide slit into which the guide rib is inserted. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the partition wall has a tool insertion opening below the terminal insertion hole through which a terminal removal tool is inserted. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the partition wall has a recess in a position corresponding to the elastic piece, in which the elastic piece is received and abuts. The connector according to claim 3, wherein the flexible locking arm has a locking protrusion that locks into the locking portion of the terminal and a tool operating portion against which the tip of the terminal removal tool comes into contact.