JP2797920B2 - Connector inspection device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector inspection apparatus for detecting a mounting failure of a terminal fitting inserted into a connector housing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A connector is generally constructed by mounting a terminal fitting crimped on the end of an electric wire in a plastic connector housing, and the terminal fitting is provided with a lance (elastic locking claw) provided integrally with the connector housing. Is stopped by the When the terminal fitting is inserted into the connector housing, the lance bends toward the bending space once, and when the terminal fitting is inserted to the "regular position", it is elastically restored and engages with the terminal fitting. Thus, the terminal fitting is prevented from coming off. When this type of retaining structure is adopted, when the terminal fitting is inserted up to the point where the lance is bent, a certain amount of frictional force acts on the terminal fitting, so the terminal fitting is in a pseudo retaining state. ,
An operator who inserts the terminal fitting may mistakenly think that the insertion has been completed and may stop the operation halfway.

However, if the terminal fitting is not completely inserted to the "regular position" where it engages with the lance of the connector housing, the terminal fitting may come off during use. It needs to be checked and corrected in advance. Therefore, conventionally, various connector inspection devices for detecting a mounting failure of the terminal fitting have been developed,
An example is described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Sho 62-47093. This has a connector holder that holds a connector in a predetermined position, and a lance check pin is provided in a protruding shape so as to face a lance of the connector held by the connector holder. The terminal extends toward the bending space and comes into contact with the tip of a lance located in the bending space when the terminal fitting is in a mounting failure state. According to this configuration, when trying to set the connector in the connector holder, if the lance is located in the bending space due to improper mounting of the terminal fitting, the lance check pin hits the tip of the lance and the Since the set cannot be made, the mounting failure can be found.

[0004]

However, in the above configuration, when the connector is forcibly set in the connector holder in a state where the terminal fitting is not properly mounted, the tip of the lance check pin strongly contacts the lance, and the plastic lance is deformed. There were times when it was done. Should such a deformation occur, the connector would be set in the connector holder, making it impossible to detect the improper mounting of the terminal fittings, and would damage the lance and render the connector unusable. Such damage to the lance is particularly likely to occur in a device in which the lance check pin is forcibly advanced into the connector housing by using a cam mechanism or the like, which hinders the mechanization of the inspection. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances. Therefore, it is possible to reliably detect a defective mounting of a terminal fitting, perform a highly reliable inspection, and prevent damage to a lance. An object of the present invention is to provide a connector inspection device.

[0006]

To achieve the above object, a connector inspection apparatus according to the present invention comprises a connector holder for holding the connector to be inspected in a predetermined position, and a connector holder for holding the connector to be inspected. A lance check pin that is provided so as to face the lance and that can be brought into contact with the lance when the terminal fitting is in a mounting failure state, wherein the lance check pin is capable of moving forward and backward along the projecting direction. A conductive check pin body biased in a direction to advance toward the lance side by an elastic body;
The check pin body includes a conductive contact member that separates or comes in contact with the lance when the check pin body comes into contact with the lance and retreats. It is characterized in that a mounting failure detection switch for detecting contact between the lance and the lance check pin is configured.
Invention).

[0007] In addition to the above-mentioned lance check pin, a continuity inspection probe for contacting a terminal fitting mounted at a proper position may be provided. Further, when the continuity inspection probe is provided as described above, the mounting failure detection switch is a normally closed switch that is turned off when the lance check pin is retracted, and the continuity inspection probe is connected in series with the mounting failure detection switch. It can be configured to be connected to the continuity test circuit via the circuit (the invention of claim 3).

[0008]

In the connector inspection apparatus according to the first aspect, in the connector held by the connector holder, when the terminal fitting is at the proper position, the lance check pin does not contact the lance, and the mounting failure detection switch does not operate. However, when the terminal fitting is in a mounting failure state, the lance check pin contacts the lance and retreats, so that this is detected by the mounting failure detection switch. At this time, the lance check pin is movable along the extension direction and is urged forward by the elastic body. Therefore, even if the lance check pin is forcibly pressed against the lance, the lance check pin is compressed while the elastic body is compressed. No excessive force acts on the lance because the check pin retracts.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the terminal fitting of the connector set in the connector holder is at a proper position, the continuity inspection probe comes into contact with the terminal fitting,
A continuity test can be performed at the same time. Further, when the terminal fitting is not inserted even at the position where the lance is bent, the terminal fitting does not come into contact with the continuity inspection probe, so that this can also be detected.

Further, in the inspection apparatus according to the third aspect, when the lance check pin is retracted and the improper mounting detection switch is turned off, or when the terminal fitting is not at the proper position and the continuity inspection probe does not come into contact therewith. In either case,
It is cut off from the continuity check circuit. Therefore, it is possible to detect, under the OR condition, both a mounting failure where the terminal fitting is inserted to a position where the lance is bent and deformed and a mounting failure at a position where the lance is not bent. Further, one terminal fitting can be detected. Can be completed by one circuit.

[0011]

As described above, according to the connector inspection apparatus of the present invention, when the lance check pin comes into contact with the lance, the lance check pin retreats and the improper mounting detection switch is operated, so that the terminal fitting is not required. Poor mounting can be detected reliably, and reliability is high. Moreover, since no excessive force acts on the lance, damage to the lance can be reliably prevented.

In particular, according to the connector inspection apparatus of the present invention, which is provided with a continuity inspection probe, it is possible to simultaneously detect a mounting failure at a position where the lance does not bend and a conduction failure of the terminal fitting. Therefore, the inspection of the connector and the wire harness can be performed efficiently. Furthermore, according to the connector inspection apparatus of the third aspect, the configuration is extremely simplified because the number of circuits is reduced while having high functionality.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS <First Embodiment> A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, the connector 40 to be inspected using the inspection apparatus 10 of the present embodiment
Will be described. The connector housing 41 is made of plastic, is formed into a rectangular shape as a whole, and has a plurality of cavities 42 formed therein in two stages. Each cavity 42 has a shape penetrating back and forth, into which a terminal fitting 43 is inserted from the rear side (left side in FIG. 1), and a lance 44 is integrated with the connector housing 41 to fix the terminal fitting 43 in a retaining state. It is provided in.

The lance 44 is in the form of an elastically deformable protruding piece having a locking portion near the tip, and a flexible space 4 in the cavity 42 for allowing the lance 44 to elastically deform downward.
2a is formed. In this embodiment, the terminal fitting 43 has a female shape, which forms a pair with a male terminal fitting of a mating connector (not shown), and has a known structure in which an electric wire 45 is crimped. When the terminal fitting 43 is inserted into the cavity 42, the tip of the terminal fitting 43 comes into contact with the lance 44 to elastically deform the lance 44 toward the bending space 42 a, and the terminal fitting 43 is inserted to the innermost part of the cavity 42. Then, the lance 44, which has been elastically deformed during the insertion, encounters an engaging hole (not shown) of the terminal fitting 43 and is restored to its original position, and the engaging portion is engaged with the engaging hole. The terminal fitting 43 is in a state of being prevented from falling off. In order to show the state of engagement of the lance 44 described above, the terminal fitting 43 drawn on the upper stage of the connector 40 in FIG. 1 shows a state where the terminal fitting 43 has been inserted to the “regular position” and completely engaged with the lance 44. The terminal fitting 43 drawn in the lower part does not reach the “regular position” and the lance 4
4 shows a state in which it has been inserted to the point where it has been elastically deformed toward the bending space 42a.

Next, an inspection apparatus 10 for inspecting the connector 40 will be described. The inspection apparatus 10 has two substrates 11 facing each other with a dimension sandwiching the connector housing 41 from above and below, and the connector holder 12 is configured by using these substrates. A left end portion of the lower substrate 11 is bent downward to form a mounting portion 13 at a lower end, and a lock claw 14 is guided by a guide member 15 at the bent portion and held so as to be vertically movable. The upper end of the lock claw 14 is formed with a slope 14a on the connector insertion side (left side in the figure) and is always urged upward by a compression spring 14b. When the connector 40 is inserted into the connector holder 12 from the left side in the figure, the lock claw 14 is pushed down according to the slope 14 a of the lock claw 14 while the connector 4
0 enters, and the lock claw 14 is restored upward in a state where it is completely inserted, and the connector 40 is prevented from coming off. Also,
When the lock release portion 16 attached to the lock claw 14 is pulled down, the lock claw 14 is pulled down and the connector 40 can be pulled out.

A probe holder 17 is provided between the substrates 11, and each terminal fitting 43 of the connector 40 is provided here.
A continuity inspection probe 18 is provided in correspondence with.
In this configuration, the probe body 19 at the distal end is always urged toward the forward side by a spring 20.
The connector 40 comes in contact with the tip of the terminal fitting 43 of the connector 40 and is electrically connected thereto. In addition,
The amount of protrusion of the probe main body 19 depends on the connector holder 12.
When the terminal fitting 43 of the connector 40 set to the position is in the "regular position" (the position of the upper terminal fitting 43 of the two drawn in FIG. 1), and when it does not reach the "regular position", the lance is not reached. When the probe body 44 is in the position where it is pushed down (the position of the lower terminal fitting 43 of the two drawn in FIG. 1; hereinafter, this is referred to as the “half-insertion position”), the probe body 19 and the terminal fitting 43 come into contact with each other In the case where the terminal fitting 43 does not reach the half-insertion position (the position of the lower terminal fitting 43 of the two drawn in FIG. 5; hereinafter, this is referred to as an “uninserted position”), Are set so that they do not touch.

A lance check pin 30 is provided below the continuity inspection probe 18 in the connector housing 4.
One lance 44 is provided correspondingly. this is,
When the connector 40 is mounted on the connector holder 12, the connector 40 protrudes from the probe holder 17 toward the connector 40 and is located at a position where the connector 40 can enter the bending space 42 a provided below each lance 44. The base end has a structure as shown in FIG. To elaborate on this,
The base end of the check pin main body 31 can be moved along the extension direction of the conductive guide tube 32 (conductive contact member which is a constituent feature of the present invention) via the insulating tube 33 via the conductive guide tube 32 attached to the probe holder 17. It is held and constantly biased to the left (toward the lance check pin 30) by a compression spring 35 corresponding to an elastic body provided between the contact flange 31a provided in the insulating cylinder 33 and the insulating spacer 34. ing. A stopper flange 31b is formed at an end of the check pin main body 31 so that it is in electrical contact with an electrode tube 37 (a conductive contact member that is a component of the present invention) provided on the insulating holder 36. is there. These structures constitute a mounting failure detection switch 38, and the check pin body 31 is
When the guide tube 32 and the electrode tube 37 are in the state shown in FIG.
When the check pin main body 31 is pushed rightward in the figure from this state, the contact flange 31a of the check pin main body 31
Is separated from the guide cylinder 32 and becomes electrically non-conductive.
That is, the mounting failure detection switch 38 is configured as a normally closed switch.

The continuity test probe 18 is connected to the continuity test circuit 39 and connected to the continuity test circuit 39. The electrical connection relation of one terminal 43 is shown in FIG. become that way. Here, the continuity inspection circuit 39 is for inspecting whether or not the correct terminal fitting 43 is inserted into each cavity 42 of the connector 40 assembled as a wire harness, and includes a power supply for continuity inspection inside. This is a well-known configuration in which an inspection is performed based on whether an electric current flows between predetermined terminal fittings 43 of two connectors 40 at both ends of a wire harness.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. In advance,
The terminal fittings 43 crimped to the ends of the electric wires 45 are inserted into the predetermined cavities 42 of the connector housing 41 as far as possible, and a number of electric wires 45 are bundled together by taping or the like to form a wire harness. As described above, the mounting failure inspection and the continuity inspection of the terminal fitting 43 are performed. Here, the wire harness to be inspected is placed on a predetermined inspection plate, and its connector 40 is set in the connector holder 12 of the connector inspection device 10.

First, the connector 40 is connected to the connector holder 12.
, The lock claw 14 is engaged with the rear edge of the connector housing 41, and the connector 40 is prevented from coming off as shown in FIG. At this time, if the terminal fitting 43 of the connector 40 is in the “regular position” where the terminal fitting 43 of the connector 40 engages with the lance 44 of the connector housing 41 as shown in the upper part of FIG. , The tip of the lance check pin 30 enters here. Accordingly, the check pin main body 31 does not move, and the mounting failure detection switch 38 maintains the ON state. At the same time, the distal end of the continuity inspection probe 18 comes into contact with the terminal fitting 43 as shown in the figure, and an electric circuit is formed from the terminal fitting 43 through the mounting failure detection switch 38 in series. Therefore, the continuity inspection circuit 39
This confirms that the terminal fitting 43 is at the “regular position” and that it is mounted in the predetermined cavity 42.

However, when the terminal fitting 43 is at the "half-insertion position" in which the terminal fitting 43 does not engage with the lance 44 as shown in the lower part of the figure, the lance 44 is pushed down into the bending space 42a by the terminal fitting 43. . As a result, the tip of the lance check pin 30 abuts against the lance 44, and the check pin main body 31 is pushed to the right while compressing the compression spring 35, so that the contact flange 31a of the check pin main body 31 separates from the guide cylinder 32. The mounting failure detection switch 38 is turned off. At this “half-insertion position”, the tip of the continuity inspection probe 18 also contacts the terminal fitting 43, so that the continuity inspection probe 18 and the terminal fitting 43 are electrically connected, but are connected in series with this. Since the mounting failure detection switch 38 is turned off, the input side 39a of the continuity inspection circuit 39 is in an electrically floating state,
The continuity inspection circuit 39 detects that there is an abnormality in the terminal fitting 43 portion. When the lance 44 is pushed down into the bending space 42a as described above, the tip of the lance check pin 30 contacts the lance 44. For this reason, the connector 40 is connected to the connector holder 12.
Although the insertion resistance when setting the connector 40 increases, the connector 40 may be set to the connector holder 12 regardless of this. This is because the check pin main body 31 is pushed rightward while compressing the compression spring 35, so that excessive pressure does not act on the lance 44, and damage to the lance 44 can be reliably prevented.

If the insertion depth of the terminal fitting 43 is at a "non-insertion position" which is shallower than the "half-insertion position" as shown in the lower part of FIG.
Is located above the flexure space 42a in the same manner as in the "regular position", the tip of the lance check pin 30 enters the flexure space 42a, and the mounting failure detection switch 38 maintains the on state. Resulting in. However, when the terminal fitting 43 is at the “uninserted position”, the terminal fitting 43
Since the continuity inspection probe 18 does not contact the continuity inspection probe 18 and the terminal fitting 43, the electrical connection between the continuity inspection probe 18 and the terminal fitting 43 does not occur, and the input side 39a of the continuity inspection circuit 39 is also electrically floated. The inspection circuit 39 detects that the terminal fitting 43 has an abnormality.

Incidentally, the relationship between the position of the terminal fitting 43 and the inspection result is summarized and shown in the following table. Unless the terminal fitting 43 is in the "regular position", an abnormality may be detected. it is obvious. Conduction of terminal fitting 43 Conduction with terminal fitting 43 Detection of mounting failure Inspection result Inspection probe 18 Switch 38 “Regular position” Conduction on Normal “Semi-insertion position” Conduction off Abnormal “Uninserted position” Non-conduction On Abnormal According to the example, the lance check pin 30
Even if the connector 40 is forcibly set in the connector holder 12 in a state in which the check pin body 31 can be moved in the extending direction in a state where the connector 40 can be brought into contact with the lance 44, the check pin body 31 is retracted so as to escape from the lance 44, Lance 4
Excessive pressure does not act on 4, and damage to the lance 44 can be reliably prevented. Further, since the continuity inspection probe 18 is also provided on the probe holder 17, the position of the lance 44 is confirmed, that is, the terminal fitting 43 is set to the “regular position” by one operation of setting the connector 40 on the connector holder 12. It is possible to simultaneously confirm whether or not there is the terminal fitting 43 and whether or not the terminal fitting 43 is mounted in the predetermined cavity 42, so that the inspection work can be made rational and efficient.

In this embodiment, the mounting failure detection switch 38 is normally closed and is connected in series with the continuity inspection probe 18.
8 is turned off (the terminal fitting 43 is at the "half-insertion position").
In the continuity test circuit 39, or when the continuity test probe 18 does not contact the terminal fitting 43 (when the terminal fitting 43 is in the “non-insertion position”).
Becomes electrically floating, and these abnormalities can be easily detected. If a series connection circuit as in this embodiment is not configured, two switches from the mounting failure detection switch 38,
One lead wire is led out from the continuity inspection probe 18 and connected to the continuity inspection circuit 39.
9 requires a circuit configuration for performing a failure detection by taking the OR conditions of both, so that the number of lead wires becomes extremely large and the circuit configuration becomes complicated. On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, the number of lead wires is reduced to 1/3, and the circuit configuration of the continuity inspection circuit 39 can be considerably simplified and the cost can be reduced.

<Second Embodiment> FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. The fundamental difference from the first embodiment is that the lance check pins 30 are mechanically moved toward the connector 40 side. The other configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment. Therefore, in order to omit redundant description, the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals, and only different portions will be described in detail. The probe holder 17 holding the group of lance check pins 30 and the group of continuity inspection probes 18 is provided movably on the substrate 51 in the left-right direction in FIG.
The cam handle 52 is provided so as to be rotatable by rotating the cam handle 52. The lance check pin 30 and the continuity inspection probe 18 provided here have the same configuration as in the previous embodiment.

On the other hand, a connector holder 53 is fixedly provided at the left end of the substrate 51 in the figure. This is composed of a U-shaped support block 54 and a U-shaped back plate 55 detachably attached to the support block 54, and a connector fixing groove 56 opening upward is formed between the two. A ridge (not shown) projecting from the outer surface of the connector housing 41 is fitted into the connector fixing groove 56 from above, thereby guiding the two ridges up and down to sandwich the connector housing 41 between the support blocks 54. The connector housing 41 can be held in the positioning state, and in this state, the connector housing 41 cannot move in the left-right direction.

In this configuration, first, the connector 40 is picked, and the connector 40 is set so as to be fitted into the connector holder 53 from above. When the cam handle 52 is rotated to move the probe holder 17 to the left side in the drawing, the lance check pin 30 and the continuity inspection probe 18 advance to the connector 40 side, and the lance check pin 30 is a bending space 42a whose tip is below the lance 44
And the continuity inspection probe 18 moves toward the terminal fitting 43. Thus, as in the first embodiment, the mounting check of the terminal fitting 43 is performed based on the position of the lance 44, and the connection check of the terminal fitting 43 is performed by the continuity inspection probe 18. The same operation and effect as the example can be obtained.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but can be modified as follows, for example.

In the above embodiment, the mounting failure detection switch 3
8 is configured as a normally closed type that opens when the check pin main body 31 is pressed, but is not limited thereto, and may be configured as a normally open type that closes when the check pin main body 31 is pressed. Can adopt the structure shown in FIG. In the figure, the check pin main body 31 is movable in the left-right direction, is constantly urged leftward by a compression spring 61, and is connected to the check pin main body 31 via an insulating cylinder 63 fixed in a guide cylinder 62 made of a conductive material. A contact shaft 64 is fixed coaxially. Normally, the check pin main body 31 and the contact shaft 64 are separated from each other, but when the check pin main body 31 is pushed and moves rightward, the right end of the check pin main body 31 and the left end of the contact shaft 64 come into contact with each other. , A guide cylinder 62, a check pin main body 31, and a contact shaft 64 (a conductive contact member which is a constituent element of the present invention) constitute an electric circuit. When this structure is adopted as a mounting failure detection switch, it is needless to say that when the switch is closed, it is determined that there is a mounting failure of the terminal fitting.

Other mounting failure detection switches include:
Not limited to the type that mechanically closes the contact, a photoelectric switch that performs switching by blocking or opening the optical path by moving the check pin may be used.
Alternatively, various changes can be made without departing from the gist, for example, a pressure switch utilizing a resistance change due to pressure may be used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an entire connector inspection apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a main part of a lance check pin.

FIG. 3 is an electric circuit diagram of a main part.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a state of inspection of the connector.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a state of inspection of a connector different from that of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a modification of the lance check pin.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 ... Connector holder 18 ... Continuity inspection probe 30 ... Lance check pin 31 ... Check pin main body 35 ... Compression spring 38 ... Installation failure detection switch 39 ... Continuity inspection circuit 40 ... Connector 42 ... Cavity 42a ... Deflection space 43 ... Terminal fitting 44 ... Lance 45 ... Electric wire

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Atsushi Takahari 1-14 Nishisuehirocho, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie Sumitomo Wiring Systems, Ltd. (56) References JP-A-7-113836 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H01R 43/00 H01R 13/42 H01R 13/64 G01R 31/04

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An apparatus for inspecting a connector in which a terminal fitting inserted into a connector housing is prevented from being removed by a lance integrally formed with the connector housing, wherein the connector holder holds the inspected connector at a predetermined position. And a lance check pin provided so as to protrude opposite to the lance of the connector held by the connector holder and capable of contacting the lance when the terminal fitting is in a mounting failure state, Is a conductive check pin main body which is capable of moving back and forth along its protruding direction and is urged by an elastic body in a direction to advance to the lance side, and the check pin main body comes into contact with the lance and retreats. And a conductive contact member that separates or comes in contact with the check pin body. Connector inspection apparatus characterized by poor mounting detection switch for detecting the contact between the lance and the lance check pin in the child fitting poor mounting state is configured. 2. The connector inspection apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a continuity inspection probe that comes into contact with the terminal fitting mounted on a proper position of the connector held by the connector holder. . 3. The continuity check circuit is a normally-closed switch that is turned off when the lance check pin retreats, and the continuity test probe is connected in series with the deficiency detection switch. 3. The connector inspection device according to claim 2, wherein the connector inspection device is connected to a connector.