JP3060371B2 - Connector housing structure - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a housing structure of a connector for connecting a wire harness used in an automobile or the like. It relates to a housing structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various housing structures for connectors have been known. For example, a connector housing as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8 is known.
As shown in FIG. 6 and FIG.
And a suitable number of connection terminals 31 (8 in FIG. 6).
) Connector housing 52 having terminal housing chambers 53
Is a connector that is inserted from the front side of the connector and is positioned and fixed by positioning means.

[0003] The positioning means comprises a connection terminal 31.
A stabilizer 33 is provided at the front of the bottom plate 32 on the side, and the locking surface protrudes rearward, and the locking surface protrudes forward to the top plate 35 of the contact fitting portion 34 of the connection terminal 31. A lance piece 36 provided and a lifting prevention piece 37 provided rearward at the rear end of the bottom plate 32. Further, on the connector housing 52 side, a first locking groove 61, a second locking groove 62 in which the stabilizer 33, the lance piece 36, and the lifting prevention piece 37 are locked, respectively.
The third locking groove 63 is provided at the bottom wall 58 of the terminal housing chamber 53 of the connector housing 52, the inner surface of the top wall 54, and the base of the projection 59 at the rear end of the bottom wall 58. The top wall 54 covers the front part of the terminal accommodating chamber 53.

More specifically, the bottom plate 32 of the connection terminal 31 is provided with a contact fitting portion 34 at a front portion, a pressing blade 38 for pressing the wire 30 at a central portion, and a wire 30 at a rear portion. A caulking portion 39 for tightening is provided. Further, a locking projection 56 for locking the mating connector 40 is provided on a side wall 55 of the connector housing 52.

In the above configuration, when the connection terminal 31 is first inserted from the front of the terminal accommodating chamber 53 of the connector housing 52, the stabilizer 33 is locked at the rear end of the first locking groove 61 and the lance piece The connection terminal 31 is initially abutted against the top wall 54 and bends downward, but is finally locked in the second locking groove 62, so that the connection terminal 31 is locked in the front-rear direction. In addition, since the lifting prevention piece 37 is locked in the third locking groove 63, the connection terminal 31 does not lift even when pulled backward by the electric wire 30 guided backward along the protrusion 59.

After the connection terminal 31 is positioned and fixed in the terminal accommodating chamber 53 by the positioning means, the electric wire 30 is connected to the press contact blade 3.
8 and crimped by the caulking portion 39, further bent obliquely upward along the projection 59, and then guided rearward. When the connector housing 52 is fitted to the mating connector 40, the opposite bottom wall 58 side of the terminal accommodating chamber 53 is covered by the top wall of the mating connector 40. Therefore, in combination with the fact that the connection terminal 31 is reliably positioned by the positioning means, even if the electric wire 30 is pulled backward by a strong force, the strain relief function works and the rearward escape of the electric wire 30 is reliably prevented.

As another housing structure of a connector, one disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 57-51508 is known. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the connector housing 71 of the connector 70 is
An abutment wall 73 protrudes from both side walls on the inner rear side of the inside of the abutment. Further, a flexible locking arm 75 is provided inside an upper wall 72a forming the terminal accommodating chamber 72, and a hook 7
6, and a projection 77 is provided at the front end of the opposed bottom wall 72c.

First, after the electric wire 81 is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 72, the female terminal 78 is fixed to the electric wire 81 and then pulled backward. Then, the rear end of the electrical contact portion 79 of the female terminal 78 comes into contact with the inclined surface 76a of the hook portion 76 while bending the locking arm 75 upward. Then, the rear end of the electric contact portion 79 abuts on the front end surface of the abutment wall 73, and the front end thereof is connected to the hook 7.
By engaging with the rear end of the projection 6 and the projection 77, it is securely locked so that it cannot be pulled out front and rear.

[0009]

However, in the above-described conventional connector 51, if the fitting gap is increased in order to facilitate the connection operation with the mating connector 40, the connector housing 52 becomes as shown in FIG. When inserted obliquely from below, the lower mating tab 41 is connected to the inside of the top wall 54 of the connector housing 52 and the connection terminal 31.
Is pressed between the top plates 35, and a problem arises that fitting connection cannot be performed. When the connection terminal 31 is pressed forward in the terminal receiving chamber 53, the lance piece 36 and the second
There is a problem that a reliable locking state cannot be ensured only by the locking groove 62.

In the other conventional connector, when the female terminal 78 is inserted into the connector housing 71, there is a possibility that the locking arm 75 may be bent and deformed inward. Also, there is a concern that the locking arm 75 is bent inward to deform both the female and male terminals.

An object of the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and even if the fitting gap between the connector housing and the mating connector is large, the mating tab is not stuck and the connection is reliable and easy, and the workability is good. And a highly reliable connector housing structure.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a terminal for connecting a wire, which is inserted from the front side of a connector housing having a terminal accommodating chamber, and is fixed at a predetermined position in the terminal accommodating chamber by positioning means. In the housing structure of the connector, a flexible wall is provided at a front portion of a top wall of the terminal accommodating chamber, the flexible wall having a bending preventing portion that is flexible outward and prevents bending inward. This can be achieved by the connector housing structure.
Further, it can be achieved by providing a tapered surface for introducing a mating tab at the front end of the flexible wall.

According to the above configuration, the front portion of the top wall of the terminal accommodating chamber is a flexible wall, and the tapered surface is provided at the front end of the flexible wall. It can be easily inserted from the side, and the mating gap between the connector housing and the mating connector is large, so that even if the connector housing is inserted obliquely into the mating connector, the mating tab can be easily formed by the tapered surface and the flexible wall. It can be reliably introduced into the connection terminal.

The flexible wall 5 is flexed outward at a thin portion 19 formed by a notch 18 provided inside the top wall 4, and is inwardly contacted by both end surfaces of the notch 18. This can be achieved by preventing flexing. Further, it can be achieved by the bending prevention portions being the bending prevention walls 18a and 18b which are both end surfaces of the notch 18. According to the above configuration, it is possible to reliably perform outward bending with a simple configuration, and to reliably prevent inward bending.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the connector housing structure of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 is an assembled perspective view showing an embodiment of the housing structure of the connector according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is an assembled sectional view in FIG.
2 is an explanatory diagram of the operation in FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the operation in FIG.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the connector 1 is
A housing structure in which a plurality of connection terminals 31 for press-fitting and connecting the electric wires 30 are inserted from the front side into a connector housing 2 having an appropriate number (ten in FIG. 1) of terminal housing chambers 3 and positioned and fixed by positioning means 10. It is.
A housing lance 5 is provided at the front of the top wall 4 of the terminal accommodating chamber 3 as a flexible wall which can be flexed outward, and a mating tab 41 is introduced into the front end 6 of the housing lance 5. Tapered surface 7 is provided.
The flexibility of the housing lance 5 is such that by forming a notch 18 inside the top wall 4 to form a thin portion 19, bending prevention walls 18a and 18b are formed on both end surfaces of the notch 18. It is possible to bend only in the outward direction without bending inward.

The positioning means 10 includes a stabilizer 33 provided at a front portion of the bottom plate 32 on the connection terminal 31 side and having a locking surface protruding rearward, and a connection terminal 31 having a locking surface protruding forward. A lance piece 36 protruding from the top plate 35 of the contact fitting portion 34 and a lifting prevention piece 37 provided rearward at the rear end of the bottom plate 32. Further, the positioning means 10 on the connector housing 2 side.
The first locking groove 11, the second locking groove 12, and the third locking groove 13 in which the stabilizer 33, the lance piece 36, and the lifting prevention piece 37 are respectively locked are respectively formed in the terminal housing chamber 3 of the connector housing 2. Of the bottom wall 8, the inner surface of the top wall 4, and the base of the projection 9 at the rear end of the bottom wall 8.

More specifically, a displaceable hinge 14 is provided at the rear end of the top wall 4 of the connector housing 2, and a rear lid 15 for covering the rear of the terminal accommodating chamber 3 is rotated forward to be opened. It is connected in the state where it was. Further, the rear cover 15 is provided with a first wire holder 16 and a second wire holder 17 for holding the pressed wire 30 toward the bottom wall 8. A locking mechanism (not shown) is provided so as to be locked to the connector housing 2 when the rear cover 15 covers the rear part of the terminal accommodating chamber 3. In addition, locking projections 19 for locking the mating connector 40 are provided on both side walls 18 of the connector housing 2. The connection terminal 31
The bottom plate 32 is provided with a contact fitting portion 34 at the front portion, and a pressing blade 38 for pressing the electric wire 30 at the center portion.
A crimping portion 39 for crimping the electric wire 30 is provided at the rear portion.

In this embodiment having the above-described structure,
First, when the connection terminal 31 is inserted from the front of the terminal accommodating chamber 3 of the connector housing 2 as shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the lance piece 36 is connected to the housing lance 5.
The connection terminal 31 is inserted in a state in which the housing lance 5 is bent downward by contacting the front end portion 6 and the housing lance 5 is bent upward with the thin portion 19 formed by the cut 18 as a fulcrum. Due to the upward bending, the prevention wall 18a is displaced in a direction in which the prevention wall 18a is relatively separated from the deflection prevention wall 18b. And
As shown in FIG. 3C, the stabilizer 33 is connected to the first locking groove 11.
And the lance piece 36 is locked in the second locking groove 12. In addition, the lifting prevention piece 37 is
It is locked in the locking groove 13.

Then, the housing lance 5 returns, and the front end 6 locks the front end face of the connection terminal 31. The return of the housing lance 5 causes the prevention wall 18a to come into contact with the deflection prevention wall 18b again, so that the inward bending of the housing lance 5 is reliably prevented. Accordingly, the workability is improved, and the connection terminal 31 is securely locked in the front-rear direction, and even if the connection terminal 31 is pulled backward by the electric wire 30 guided backward along the projection 9, the connection terminal 31 is lifted. There is no.

After the connection terminal 31 is positioned and fixed in the terminal accommodating chamber 3 by the positioning means 10, the electric wire 30 is pressed against the press-contact blade 38, and is crimped to the crimping portion 39, and further along the projection 9. After being bent obliquely upward, it is guided backward. When the rear cover 15 is rotated by the hinge 14 to cover the rear portion of the terminal accommodating chamber 3 of the connector housing 2, the first and second electric wire retainers 16 and 17 respectively connect the electric wire 30 in the press-contact blade 38 and the caulking. The part 39 is pressed. Therefore, coupled with the fact that the connection terminal 31 is reliably positioned by the positioning means 10, the electric wire 3
Even if 0 is pulled backward by a strong force, the strain relief function works, and the wire 30 is reliably prevented from slipping back.
Therefore, the reliability of the connector is further improved.

Next, when the connector housing 2 is mated and connected to the mating connector 40, if the mating gap is increased to facilitate the connection operation, the connector housing 2 is slightly connected to the mating connector 40 as shown in FIG. When it is inserted obliquely from below, the tip of the lower mating tab 41 hits the tapered surface 7 and pushes down the housing lance 5 below in the figure. That is, one of the prevention walls 18a constituting the cut 18
Is displaced in a direction away from the other prevention wall 18b to deflect the lower housing lance 5, and
The deflection of the housing lance 5 in the upper part in the figure is prevented by the two prevention walls 18.
This can be prevented by abutting the a and 18b, and the entire connector housing 2 is pushed down. Accordingly, the work of fitting and connecting the connectors can be performed without any trouble, and the connection workability is remarkably improved.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be embodied in other modes by making appropriate changes. For example, in the present embodiment, a notch is provided on the inner side in order to make the front portion of the top wall 4 a housing lance 5 which bends outward, but the notch width is increased to improve flexibility. take,
It is also possible to attach a separate deflection preventing member to prevent inward flexibility. Also, housing lance 5
The portion may have a configuration in which a member having greater flexibility than the connector housing 2 is attached to the front end of the ceiling wall 4.

[0024]

As described above, according to the connector housing structure of the present invention, a flexible wall which is outwardly flexible is provided at the front of the top wall of the terminal accommodating chamber, and the front end thereof is provided. Is provided with a tapered surface for introducing a mating tab. Therefore, the connection terminal can be easily inserted from the front side of the terminal accommodating chamber, and the fitting gap between the connector housing and the mating connector is large. With the flexible wall, the mating tab can be easily and reliably introduced into the connection terminal. Therefore, assembling and fitting operations of the connector are remarkably improved, and reliability can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an assembled perspective view showing an embodiment of a housing structure of a connector according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the completed assembly in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory view in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory view in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of a housing structure of a conventional connector.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the completed assembly in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an operation explanatory diagram in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing an example of a housing structure of another conventional connector.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a completed assembly state in FIG. 9;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Connector 2 Connector housing 3 Terminal accommodating chamber 4 Top wall 5 Housing lance (flexible wall) 6 Housing front end part 7 Tapered surface 8 Bottom wall 9 Projection part 10 Positioning means 11 First locking groove 12 Second locking groove 13 3 Locking groove 18 Notch 18a, 18b Deflection prevention wall 19 Thin portion 30 Electric wire 31 Connection terminal 32 Bottom plate 33 Stabilizer 34 Contact fitting portion 35 Top plate 36 Lance piece 37 Lift prevention piece 41 Counterpart tab

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 13/42 H01R 13/631 H01R 24/00

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A connector housing structure in which a connection terminal for connecting an electric wire is inserted from a front side of a connector housing having a terminal receiving chamber and is fixed at a predetermined position by a positioning means in the terminal receiving chamber. A connector housing structure, characterized in that a flexible wall is provided at a front portion of the top wall, the flexible wall being flexible outward and having a bending preventing portion for preventing bending inward. 2. The connector housing structure according to claim 1, wherein a tapered surface for introducing a mating tab is provided at a front end of the flexible wall. 3. The flexible wall is outwardly flexible by a thin portion formed by a cut provided inside the top wall, and is prevented from bending inward by abutting both end surfaces of the cut. The housing structure for a connector according to claim 1, wherein 4. The connector housing structure according to claim 1, wherein the bending prevention portions are bending prevention walls that are both end surfaces of the cut.