JP3014033B2 - Automotive connector plug - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automobile connector plug which can be smoothly inserted into and removed from automobile cigarette lighter connector sockets having different diameters in Japan, the United States, Europe and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in response to a rapid increase in demand for portable telephones, a power supply and a charger are required when the portable telephone is mounted on a vehicle. Along with that, an automotive connector plug for extracting power from the cigarette lighter connector socket,
Demand is increasing although a DC-DC converter is integrated therein. However, connector sockets vary from country to country and from vehicle type to vehicle type, and at present the specifications are not uniform. By the way, the connector socket of Japanese and American cars has a diameter of 20.9 to 21.1 mm, and the connector socket of European cars has 22.1 to 22.1 mm.
22.3 mm. Even if the connector socket has such a difference in size, it is desired that the connector plug be used for automobiles that can cope with all types of vehicles in the world.

Various conventional connector plugs 10 for automobiles have been proposed to achieve such an object.
The present applicant has already proposed a method of switching by a slider 52 as shown in FIG. In FIG. 7, the contact 13 is formed by a linear base 33, a contact piece 34 extending integrally from the base 33, and a folded piece 36 having the tip of the contact piece 34 bent inward. One (upper side in the figure) is on the ground side, and the other (lower side in the figure) is on the dummy side. The lead wire 19 of the power cord 20 is connected to only the base 33 of the contact 13 on the ground side. The upper and lower contacts 13 fit the base 33 into the base holding groove 41 of the housing 11 and
The contact piece 34 is provided so as to protrude slightly outward from the projecting window 12, and the folded piece 36 faces the circuit protection wall 50 and is assembled.

The folded portion 36 of the contact 13 has two steps 36a and 36b. Sliders 52 are slidably provided between the folded pieces 36 of the upper and lower contacts 13 and the circuit protection wall 50, respectively. The upper and lower sliders 5
2 are integrally connected at the base end, and further, the housing 1
A slide is provided by a knob 54 projecting from a slide window 53 opened on the side of the first side. In addition,
14 is a fuse tube holder, 15 is a fuse tube, 1
8 is a head terminal.

[0005] In such a configuration, when the connector plug 10 is made to correspond to the connector socket 24 having a large diameter, the slider 52 is slid to the left in the figure by the knob 54 as shown in FIG. Then, when the slider 52, which has been between the stepped portion 36b and the circuit protection wall portion 50, passes through the tapered portion 55, the upper and lower contacts 13 are pushed out to spread the stepped portion 36a and the circuit protection wall portion 50.
Press in between. Therefore, the upper and lower contacts 13
Are pushed outward, respectively, so that the amount of protrusion of the contact piece 34 from the housing 11 increases. Therefore,
It is adapted to a connector socket 24 having a large diameter.

When the connector plug 10 is made to correspond to the connector socket 24 having a small diameter, as shown in FIG. 8, when the slider 52 is slid rightward in the drawing, the slider 52 is moved to the stepped portion 36b and the circuit protection wall. It moves between the unit 50. Therefore, the upper and lower contacts 13 try to return to their original states by their own elasticity, and the amount of protrusion of the contact piece 34 from the housing 11 is reduced. Therefore,
It is adapted to a small diameter connector socket 24.

[0007]

In the above-mentioned conventional structure, not only the shape of the contact 13 becomes complicated,
There is a problem in that a movable mechanism called a slider 52 is required, and the structure becomes extremely complicated. That is, the contact 13 needs to be formed with a stepped portion 36a and a stepped portion 36b in the folded piece portion 36, and the slider 52 has a structure for simultaneously operating the upper and lower contacts 13, This requires a configuration for sliding inside the housing, a configuration for projecting the knob portion 54 from the sliding window 53, and the like. Further, there is a problem that a movable portion with a complicated mechanism may be damaged by use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a plug which can be smoothly inserted and removed with a simple configuration even for automobile cigarette lighter connector sockets having different sizes.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided an automotive connector plug 10 having a plug housing 11 in which a contact 13 made of a leaf spring is provided so as to be able to move forward and backward. The contact 13 has a narrow width having conductivity and elasticity. And a contact piece 3 extending integrally with the base 33.
4 and a folded-back portion 36 in which the tip of the contact portion 34 is bent inward. A contact protruding window 12 is formed in the housing 11, and a circuit protection wall is formed inside the protruding window 12. The circuit protection wall 50 is formed by forming the
The tip position of the small connector socket 24 having a diameter of
A connector plug for an automobile, comprising a contact escape recess 40 deeper than a circuit protection wall portion 50 for absorbing a large bending at the tip of the contact 13 when inserted .

[0010]

When inserted into the connector socket 24 having a large diameter, the contact piece 34 of the contact 13 is inserted and removed while smoothly contacting the inner wall of the connector socket 24. When the connector socket 24 has a large diameter, the folded piece 36 comes into contact with the circuit protection wall 50, but does not fall into the contact escape recess 40.

When the contact piece 34 is inserted into the small-diameter connector socket 24, the tip of the contact piece 34 comes into contact with the circuit protection wall 50 and is further pushed in, so that the tip of the contact piece 34 falls down to the contact recess 40. Bend like so. Therefore, the contact piece 3 of the contact 13
4 is inserted and removed while smoothly contacting the inner wall of the connector socket 24 in the same manner as described above.

[0012]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 11 denotes a housing having a shape obtained by dividing a cylindrical body into two in the vertical direction, and is composed of an upper housing 11a and a lower housing 11b. By combining these two housings 11a and 11b with each other, the front end of the connector housing 2 is substantially halfway.
The rear end is a base end 26 for accommodating the DC-DC converter 30 mainly composed of the circuit element 29. The shape of the base end portion 26 is such that the mounting side of the power cord 20 gradually increases in diameter, but is not particularly limited to this.

On both sides of the insertion end 25, a projecting window 12 for projecting the contact 13 is formed. Inside the projecting window 12, a circuit protection wall 50 is formed integrally with the housing 11. Have been. Between the projecting window 12 and the circuit protection wall 50 in the housing 11, a projection 21 for locking the contact 13 bent in advance outward and applying an initial pressure is integrally provided. . Also,
A contact escape recess 40 for absorbing a large bending of the tip of the contact 13 when the plug 10 is inserted into the small-diameter socket 24 is formed at the tip of the circuit protection wall 50.

A printed circuit board 27 is accommodated in a hollow portion 28 formed by the two housings 11a and 11b, and is fixed on a mounting table 42.
A circuit element 29 such as a transistor, a capacitor, a resistor, and a choke coil is attached to the printed board 27 to form a DC-DC converter 30.

In addition to the circuit element 29, the contact 13, the coil spring 45, the power cord 20, the power lamp 32 and the like are integrally mounted on the printed circuit board 27. The contact 13 is, as shown in FIG.
A thin metal plate having conductivity and elasticity is formed by bending a base 33 and contact pieces 34 extending from both sides of the base 33 into a substantially U-shape. The base 33 has a fixed piece 3
7, forming a horizontal holding piece 38 and a positioning projection 39,
In the contact pieces 34 on both sides, a spherical portion 35 is formed by bulging outward, and the tip of the contact piece 34 is bent inward to form a folded piece 36. The spherical portion 35 is formed in a spherical shape having an outer diameter substantially equal to or slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the connector socket 24 to be inserted.

The contact 13 thus formed
The fixing piece 37 is inserted into a substantially central through-hole of the printed board 27, and the tip of the fixed piece 37 protruding from the back surface of the printed board 27 while the horizontal holding piece 38 is in contact with the printed board 27. It is fixed with solder 43 and connected to a circuit pattern.

An end of a coil spring 45 having conductivity and elasticity is inserted into a through hole at the tip of the printed board 27. The end of the coil spring 45 passes through the through hole 46 and is Is fixedly attached by solder 43 on the back surface of the chip, and is connected to a chip type fuse 44 via a circuit pattern. . A power lamp 32 is fixedly provided at a corner of the base end of the printed circuit board 27.
And it is electrically attached with the solder 43. When the power supply lamp 32 is housed in the housing 11, the power supply lamp 32 faces the light-transmitting plate 31.

A cap 17 is screwed into the distal end of the insertion end 25 of the housing 11, and the head terminal 18 is loosely fitted in the advance / retreat hole 47 of the cap 17 so as to freely advance and retreat. It is energizing. The diameter of the cap 17 is formed according to the size of the bimetal 49 of the smallest connector socket 24.

Next, the contacts 13, the coil springs 45 and the like are fixed to the printed board 27, and the DC
-A circuit element 29 for constituting the DC converter 30 is incorporated and housed in the lower housing 11b. At this time, when fixing the contact 13 to the printed circuit board 27,
The base 33 is fitted into the base holding groove 41 of the housing 11 while narrowing the contact piece 34 from trying to spread outward, and furthermore, the contact piece 34 is pushed slightly inward to give an initial pressure and the folded piece is applied. 36 is fitted between the protrusion 21 and the circuit protection wall 50 to apply initial pressure at two places. Then, a sufficient initial pressure is applied to the contact 13 and the contact 1 when the socket 24 is inserted and removed.
By reducing the amount of deflection of 3, the decrease in elasticity is suppressed as much as possible, and therefore the initial pressure can be maintained for a long time. At this time, the contact piece 3
4 is blocked by the projection 21, the curved portion at the tip of the contact piece 34 and the folded piece 36 is always located in the projecting window 12, and is particularly small in diameter. Even when the plug 10 is inserted into the socket 24, the plug 10 is smoothly inserted into the socket 24.

The printed circuit board 27 is mounted on the lower housing 11b.
After mounting, the upper housing 11a is covered and fixed integrally with screws or the like. A cap 17 into which the head terminal 18 is loosely fitted is screwed to the tip of the insertion end 25. At this time, the coil spring 45 is connected to the head terminal 18.
Is inserted and screwed together, the head terminal 18 always projects from the cap 17 by the coil spring 45. Connector plug 10 thus incorporated
As shown in FIG. 4, the contact 13 is set such that the distance d between the spherical portions 35 is slightly larger than the inner diameter of the connector socket 24, which is the largest.

In the above configuration, FIG.
(B) shows the case where the connector 13 is inserted into the connector socket 24 having a large diameter. At this time, since the spherical portion 35 of the contact 13 is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the connector socket 24 or is curved substantially the same, the connector 13 is bent. The socket 24 is inserted and removed while smoothly contacting the inner wall of the socket 24. In addition, since the connector socket 24 has a large diameter, the folded piece 36 comes into contact with the circuit protection wall 50 but does not fall into the contact escape recess 40.

FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b) show the case of insertion into a small-diameter connector socket 24.
Since the spherical portion 35 of the contact 13 is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the connector socket 24 or is curved substantially in the same manner as described above, the spherical portion 35 is inserted into and removed from the inner wall of the connector socket 24 while smoothly contacting the inner wall. Here, since the connector socket 24 has a small diameter, the tip of the contact piece 34 comes into contact with the circuit protection wall 50 and is further pushed into the connector socket 24 so that the tip of the contact piece 34 contacts the contact escape recess 40.
It is bent so that it falls.

In the above embodiment, the contact 13 has a base 33 and two contact pieces 3 extending from both sides of the base 33.
4, but is not limited to this. The two contact pieces 34 extending from both sides may be separately formed and individually fixed to the printed circuit board 27. Good. Further, when the two contact pieces 34 extending from both sides are separately formed, the lead wire 1
One of the contact pieces 34 to be connected to the ground 9 and connected to the ground side may be fixed to the printed circuit board 27, and the other contact piece 34 as a dummy may be mounted in a free state as in the conventional method.

[0024]

【The invention's effect】

(1) In the present invention, a contact protruding window 12 is formed in a housing 11, a circuit protection wall 50 is formed inside the protruding window 12, and a tip of a contact 13 is formed on the circuit protection wall 50. The contact escape recess 40 for absorbing a large bending of the plug 10 is formed, not only when the plug 10 is inserted into the socket 24 having a large diameter,
Even when inserted into a small diameter socket 24,
Since the tip of the contact piece 34 is bent so as to fall down to the contact escape recess 40, the contact piece 34 of the contact 13 is inserted and removed while smoothly contacting the inner wall of the connector socket 24.

(2) Since the projection 21 blocks the force of the contact piece 34 to spread outward, the curved portion at the tip of the contact piece 34 and the folded piece 36 always has the projecting window 12.
The plug 10 is smoothly inserted into the socket 24 even when the plug 10 is inserted into the socket 24 having a small diameter. (3) When fixing the contact 13 to the printed circuit board 27, the base 33 is fitted into the base holding groove 41 of the housing 11, and the contact piece 34 is pressed slightly inward to apply the initial pressure to the folded piece 36 to form the projection 21. And the circuit protection wall portion 50, the initial pressure is applied at two places, so that the initial pressure to the contact 13 is sufficiently applied, and the contact 1 when the socket 24 is inserted and removed.
By reducing the amount of deflection of 3, the decrease in elasticity is suppressed as much as possible, and therefore the initial pressure can be maintained for a long time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of an automotive connector plug according to the present invention, with an upper housing removed.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a contact according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a main part in FIG. 1, (a) is a front view, and (b) is an end view taken along the line BB.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a vehicle connector plug according to the present invention inserted into a large-diameter connector socket;
(A) is a front view, (b) is a CC end view.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the vehicle connector plug according to the present invention inserted into a small-diameter connector socket;
(A) is a front view, (b) is a DD line end view.

FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway front view showing a conventional automobile connector plug.

FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway front view showing another conventional connector plug for an automobile.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Connector plug for automobile, 11 ... Housing, 1
2. Projection window, 13 Contact, 14 Fuse tube holder, 15 Fuse tube, 16 Conductive coil spring,
17 ... Cap, 18 ... Head terminal, 19 ... Lead wire, 20 ... Power cord, 21 ... Protrusion, 22 ... Insertion hole, 23 ... Both sides, 24 ... Connector socket, 25 ...
Insertion end, 26 ... Base end, 27 ... Printed circuit board, 28 ...
Hollow part, 29 ... Circuit element, 30 ... DC-DC converter, 31 ... Transparent plate part, 32 ... Power lamp, 33 ... Base part,
34 ... contact piece part, 35 ... spherical part, 36 ... turned piece part,
36a step, 36b step, 37 fixing piece, 38
Horizontal holding piece part, 39 positioning protrusion, 40 contact recess, 41 base holding groove, 42 mounting table, 43 base
Solder, 44: chip type fuse, 45: coil spring, 4
6 ... through-hole, 47 ... advance / retreat hole, 48 ... socket body, 49
... bimetal, 50 ... circuit protection wall, 51 ... tip, 5
2: slider, 53: slider window, 54: knob, 5
5 ... Tapered part.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 17/04

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An automotive connector plug 10 in which a contact 13 made of a leaf spring is provided on a plug housing 11 so as to be able to move forward and backward, the contact 13 is made of a thin metal plate having conductivity and elasticity, and a base 33; This base 3
The contact piece 34 is formed integrally with the contact piece 3 and the folded piece 36 is formed by bending the tip of the contact piece 34 inward. inside of the window 12, to form a circuit protective wall portion 50, the tip position of the circuit protective wall portion 50, small diameter
Circuit protection for absorbing a large bend at the tip of the contact 13 when inserted into the connector socket 24.
A connector plug for an automobile, wherein a contact escape recess (40) deeper than a protection wall (50) is formed. 2. A contact 1 is formed between a projecting window 12 in a housing 11 and a circuit protection wall 50 by locking a folded back portion 36 of the contact 13 bent in advance outward.
The automotive connector plug according to claim 1, wherein the projection (3) is provided on the third connector (3) for applying an initial pressure. 3. The base 33 of the contact 13 is fitted into the base holding groove 41 of the housing 11, and the inwardly folded piece 36 of the tip of the contact 13 is inserted into the projecting window 12.
2. The connector plug for an automobile according to claim 1, wherein the plug is engaged with a protrusion between the contact and the circuit protection wall to apply initial pressure to the contact at two places.