JP3284200B2 - Electrical connector assembly - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention has a short contact for short-circuiting contacts housed in an insulating housing, so that when the contacts are opened, a current is suddenly induced and the connected electronic circuit malfunctions. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electrical connector assembly capable of detecting that connectors are completely fitted with each other.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-29896, as an electrical connector used in an airbag device of an automobile, a short contact for shorting contacts in an open state is provided. An electric connector is known in which an airbag does not malfunction even when a current is suddenly induced in the contact during inspection or assembly of the airbag device. The short contact is in contact with the plurality of short-circuited contacts when the electrical connector provided with the short contact is detached from the mating electric connector, and when the electric connector is fitted with the mating electric connector, It is configured to be elastically deformed by a contact release member provided in the electric connector and to be in a non-contact state with a short-circuited contact.

[0003]

If the connectors of the connector assembly are not completely fitted, the short-circuited contacts remain in a non-contact state and cannot function as the connector assembly. In order to solve such a problem, the present invention relates to an electrical connector having a short contact, and an electrical connector assembly capable of electrically detecting that the short contact has been separated and the connector has reached a practically usable state. The purpose is to provide.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an electric connector assembly according to the present invention includes first and second connectors which are fitted to each other. The first short circuit is closed in the case of
Short-circuit contact and second when both connectors are mated
A second short-circuit contact for closing the short-circuit;
The connector has a short-circuit release member that engages with the first short-circuit contact in the fitted state to open the connector, and a mating detection contact that contacts the second short-circuit contact when both connectors are in the fitted state. When the connector shifts from the unmated state to the mated state, the first short-circuit contact opens, and then the second short-circuit contact comes into contact with the mating detection contact.

[0005]

In the above-described electrical connector assembly according to the present invention, when the first and second connectors are shifted from the unmated state to the mated state, the first short-circuit contact of the first connector is connected to the second connector. The first short-circuit contact is released by engagement with the short-circuit release member, and then the second short-circuit contact of the first connector comes into contact with the mating detection contact of the second connector. After the connection is established, the complete fitting of the first and second connectors is detected, the half-fitting of the connectors can be reliably prevented, and the connector assembly can function.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing the entire configuration of an electric connector assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is one of the electric connector assemblies used in the above-mentioned electric connector assembly in a state where no contacts are accommodated. Electrical connector (first connector)
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a sectional structure of the first locker in a state where a contact is accommodated and a double lock member is in a temporary locking position.
FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the sectional structure of the connector, and FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the sectional structure of the first connector in a state where the contacts are accommodated and the double lock member is at the final locking position. In FIG. 3 and thereafter, the signal line 16 connected to the female contact 14 is omitted. The illustrated electrical connector assembly according to the present embodiment is one in which the present invention is applied to an electrical connector assembly used in an airbag device mounted on an automobile.

As shown in FIG. 1, the electrical connector (first connector) 2 is an insertion type (female type) which is inserted and fitted into a receiving type (female type) insulating housing 6 of a mating electrical connector (second connector) 4. As shown in FIG. 2, the insulating housing 8 is provided with a plurality of contact accommodating chambers 10 penetrating the insulating housing 8 in the insertion direction (the left-right direction in the drawing). It has a contact accommodating portion 12 configured. Each of the contact storage chambers 10 is vertically arranged in two rows in the insulating housing 8, and each of the contact storage chambers 10 has a signal line 16 on the airbag device side.
And the female contacts 14 connected thereto are accommodated.

As shown in FIG. 1, a short contact housing adjacent to each of the contact housing chambers 10 is provided at a lower side of the six contact housing chambers 10 provided at the upper central portion of each of the contact housing chambers 10. A chamber 18 is provided, and when the female contact 14 is housed in the six contact housing chambers 10 in the short contact housing chamber 18,
A total of three sets of the female contacts 14 of two adjacent female contacts 14 are short-circuited to each other to form a first contact 14 and a short contact 20 (first short-circuit contact).
Three short contacts 20 for closing the short circuit are accommodated. Each short contact 20 is formed of a conductive thin metal piece and has a pair of elastic contact pieces 20a and 20b extending bifurcated from a base 20c as shown in FIG. A locking claw 22 is formed on the base 20c, and as shown in FIG.
20c and a short contact support portion 18a formed in the short contact storage chamber 18 so that the support portion 18a and the locking claw 22 are engaged with each other. Will be retained. As best shown in FIG. 2, the elastic contact piece 20a of the short contact 20
(20b) is bent upward in the shape of a chevron. On the other hand, a partition wall 24 separating the contact accommodating chamber 10 and the short contact accommodating chamber 18 has a top portion of the bent elastic contact piece 20a (20b). An entry hole 28 is provided so that a part of 26 can enter the contact accommodating chamber 10.

The elastic contact piece 20 of the short contact 20
The structure of the top 26a (20b) will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 9, the top portion 26 is
(20b) is formed by slitting a predetermined length along its length direction and then bending the contact surface portion 26a to enter the contact accommodating chamber 10, and the contact surface portion 26b contacting the lower surface of the partition wall 24. , 26c.
The contact surface 26a is configured to contact the female contacts 14 accommodated in the contact accommodating chamber 10, thereby short-circuiting two adjacent female contacts 14 (FIGS. 3 and 4). However, in the present embodiment, when the short contact 20 is set in the short contact accommodating chamber 18 (the state shown in FIG. 2), the contact surfaces 26b, 26
The elastic contact piece 20a (20b) is bent so that a predetermined pressing force acts on the lower surface of the partition wall 24 from c, so that the contact surface portion 26a can more reliably come into contact with the female contact 14. It is composed.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
Each short contact 20 is connected to a pair of elastic contact pieces 20a,
Each of the short contacts 20 has two adjacent female contacts 14 among the six female contacts 14 accommodated in the six contact accommodating chambers 10 in the upper central portion.
The individual female contacts are short-circuited to each other, and this is replaced with six elastic contact pieces as shown in FIG.
The above six female contacts 14 have a shape having 20d.
All of them may be short-circuited. Here, FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a modified example of the short contact in the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 2, the electrical connector 2 is located on the bottom side of the insulating housing 8 in which the insertion hole 30 is formed, that is, from the side where the short contact 20 is provided with respect to the contact accommodating chamber 10. The insulating housing 8
It has a double lock member 32 inserted therein. The double lock member 32, together with an elastic locking member 34 formed on the upper wall portion of the contact storage chamber 10, is used when the female contact 14 is stored in the contact storage chamber 10. The contact 14 is doubly locked, and includes a locking portion 36 for locking the female contact 14 housed in the contact housing chamber 10. The locking portion 36 is formed by a wall portion that continuously extends in the width direction (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface) of the double lock member 32, thereby increasing its strength.

At the lower rear end of the double lock member 32,
The temporary locking projection 38 and the final locking projection 40 are formed respectively, and the double lock member 32 is temporarily
38 is inserted into the insulating housing 8 to the temporary locking position shown in FIG. In the state inserted to the temporary locking position, the locking portion 36 is
Does not enter the contact accommodating chamber 10, the female contact 14 is inserted into the contact accommodating chamber 10 in this state (see FIG. 3), and then the double lock member 32 is Projecting part 40 is insulated housing 8
When the insertion portion 36 is inserted into the insulating housing 8 to the final locking position where the female contact 14 engages with the female contact 14 (FIG. 4). reference).

The double lock member 32 has a space 42 penetrating through the inside of the double lock member 32 in the left-right direction in the drawing at a position corresponding to the position where the short contacts 20 are provided. When assembling, first, the double lock member is inserted into the insulating housing 8 to the temporary locking position shown in FIG.
It is inserted through 42 and set in the insulating housing 8.
This space portion 42 also serves as an escape portion so as not to interfere with the short contact 20 when the double lock member 32 moves between the temporary locking position and the full locking position. When the lock member 32 is in the final locking position, the short contact 20 is also allowed to be displaced when the short contact 20 separates from the female contact 14 with which the short contact 20 comes into contact.

As shown in FIG. 1, an elastic fitting lever 44 is provided on the upper surface of the insulating housing 8 for fitting and unmating with the mating electrical connector 4. As shown in FIG. 2, the elastic fitting lever 44 is a resilient member extending in a cantilever manner from the fitting surface side (left side in the figure) of the insulating housing 8 with the mating electric connector 4, and is provided with a mating electric connector. 4 has a fitting step 48 that fits into a fitting projection 46 (see FIG. 5) formed on the inner surface of the insulating housing 6, and the fitting step 48 and the mating projection 46 are mated. The fitting can be released by pressing the distal end portion 44a from the fitted state. Here, FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the electric connector before being fitted to the mating electric connector.

Also, as shown in FIG.
A fitting detecting member (second short-circuit contact) 50 is provided below the elastic fitting lever 44 so as to be along the elastic fitting lever 44. The fitting detecting member 50 has elastic detecting pieces 50b and 50c extending bifurcated from the base 50a. As shown in FIG. 2, the base 50a is fixed to the fixed end 44b of the elastic fitting lever 44. The elastic detection pieces 50b and 50c are provided so that the distal ends thereof abut against the distal end 44a of the elastic fitting lever 44 from below. Further, the fitting detecting member 50 is bent so as to urge the distal end portion 44a of the elastic fitting lever 44 upward, thereby increasing the fitting force of the elastic fitting lever 44, and This prevents the elastic fitting lever 44 from being deformed and disengaged by being exposed to severe use conditions such as high temperature.

The fitting detecting member 50 detects that the insulating housing 8 is completely fitted with the mating insulating housing 6 and that the fitting detecting member 50 is fitted with the mating insulating housing 6. This is provided so as to be confirmed by making contact with the mating detection contact 52 (see FIG. 5) and closing the second short circuit composed of the mating detection member 50 and the mating detection contact 52. On the upper surface of the elastic detecting pieces 50b and 50c of the mating detecting member 50, there is formed a contact portion 54 which comes into contact with the mating detecting contact 52 in the completely mated state. As shown in FIG. 10, the contact portion 54 is formed by cutting a part of the elastic contact pieces 50b and 50c and bending the portion upward.
It comes into contact with the fitting detection contact 52 at substantially one point, and the contact sensitivity and durability are improved.
FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line BB in FIG.

Further description will be given with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the electric connector 2 slightly fitted to the mating electric connector 4, and FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the electric connector 2 partially fitted to the mating electric connector 4. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the electric connector 2 in a completely fitted state with the mating electric connector 4. FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5, the mating insulating housing 6 has a pin-shaped male contact 56 and a contact release member (short-circuit release member) 58 extending substantially parallel to the male contact 56.
Are provided. As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, when the two insulating housings 6 and 8 are fitted with each other, the contact releasing member 58 is provided with an elastic contact piece of the short contact 20 which is in contact with the female contact 14. 20a (20b
) And the female contact 14 to break them into a non-contact state to cancel the short-circuit state.
At this time, the short contact 20 is displaced away from the female contact 14 (downward in the drawing). As described above, the space 42 of the double lock member 32 is configured to allow this displacement.

As described above, the fitting detecting member 50 and the fitting detecting contact 52 are formed by the fitting step 48 of the fitting lever 44 and the fitting projection 46 as shown in FIG. Until the non-fitting state, they are not in contact with each other. However, as shown in FIG. 8, the fitting step 48 and the fitting projection 46 are configured to come into contact with each other when they are in the fitting state. This makes it possible to confirm whether or not the insulating housings 6, 8 are completely fitted to each other.

Although the embodiment of the electric connector assembly according to the present invention has been described above, the electric connector assembly according to the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment.

For example, the electric connector 2 of the above embodiment is
Although the female connector 14 is shipped from the factory as a product in a state where it is not housed (the state shown in FIG. 2), the electrical connector 2 used in the electrical connector assembly according to the present invention has the contact 14 housed therein. The product may be in a state in which it is performed (the state shown in FIG. 4).

Further, it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to an electric connector assembly used in a device other than the airbag device of an automobile.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing an entire configuration of an electrical connector assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a sectional configuration of a first connector used in the electric connector assembly.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a sectional configuration of the first connector in a state where contacts are accommodated and a double lock member is inserted to a temporary locking position.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a sectional configuration of the first connector in a state where contacts are accommodated and a double lock member is inserted to a full locking position.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a sectional configuration of the first connector in a state before being fitted to a mating second connector.

FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a cross-sectional configuration of the first connector in a state where the first connector is slightly fitted to the mating second connector.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a sectional configuration of the first connector in a half-fitted state with a mating second connector.

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a sectional configuration of the first connector in a completely fitted state with a mating second connector.

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

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 2;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a modified example of the short contact of the first electrical connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 electrical connector (first connector) 4 mating electrical connector (second connector) 8 insulated housing 14 female contact (contact) 20 short contact (first short-circuit contact) 50 mating detection member (second short-circuit contact) 52 mating Match detection contact 58 Contact release member (short circuit release member)

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2-103881 (JP, A) JP-A-3-192669 (JP, A) JP-A-3-272578 (JP, A) JP-A-6-131387 (JP) , U) Japanese Utility Model Application Hei 5-59766 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Application Hei 2-50982 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Publication No.62-1744 (JP, Y1) Japanese Utility Model Application Hei 3-29896 (JP, Y2) (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 13/64 H01R 13/703

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A first short-circuit contact that closes a first short-circuit when the first and second connectors are in a non-mated state; A second short-circuit contact that closes a second short-circuit when both connectors are in a mating state, wherein the second connector engages with the first short-circuit contact in a mating state and opens the short circuit. A release member, and a mating detection contact that comes into contact with the second short-circuit contact when the two connectors are in a mating state; and when the two connectors transition from the non-mating state to the mating state. An electrical connector assembly, wherein the first short-circuit contact is separated, and then the second short-circuit contact contacts the mating detection contact.