JP3319581B2 - connector - 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 provided with an electric wire cover.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 shows a conventional connector provided with a wire cover. In this method, a terminal fitting (not shown) is inserted into the housing 1, an electric wire (not shown) is pressed against a press-contact blade at the rear end of the terminal fitting, and the electric wire cover 2 is covered so as to cover the press-contact portion. 1. A lock arm 3 is formed on the upper surface of the housing 1 so as to extend rearward in a cantilever manner, and engages with the lock receiving portion when the lock arm 3 is fitted with a mating connector (not shown). By engaging the portion 3A, both connectors are locked in the fitted state. Also,
When the operating portion 3B at the rear end of the lock arm 3 is pressed down to bend the lock arm 3, the lock is released, and both connectors can be disconnected.

In this connector, a pair of arm protection ribs 4 are formed so as to sandwich the operation portion 3B from both sides in order to prevent the lock from being accidentally released in the locked state. The wires that are pressed and extended in the vertical direction of the housing 1 are routed rearward along the upper and lower surfaces of the wire cover 3, and are bundled behind the wire cover 2 by tape winding or the like. At this time, if the wires are displaced to the side and come off the outer surface of the wire cover 2, the wiring work and the bundling work are hindered. Therefore, the outer surface of the wire cover 2 has a pair along the side edge. Are formed.

[0004]

When the electric wire cover 2 is assembled to the housing 1 in the above connector, as shown in FIG. 6, the electric wire guide ribs 5 and the arm protection ribs 4 are continuously connected back and forth without any gap. As shown in the figure, when the number of poles is small or the size is reduced, the interval between the ribs 4 and 5 may be so small that the operator's finger cannot be accommodated. In such a case, a space for performing the unlocking operation with a finger is not secured not only on the side of the operation unit 3B but also on the rear side, and therefore, there is a problem that the operability of unlocking is poor. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and aims to improve the operability of unlocking.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a housing which can be fitted with a mating connector, and which is formed on an outer surface of the housing and which is engaged with the mating connector by pushing an operation portion. A lock arm elastically displaced from a lock position to be disengaged from the mating connector to an unlocked position, an arm protection rib erected at a side position of the operation portion on an outer surface of the housing, and housed in the housing. An electric wire cover attached so as to cover a connection portion between the terminal fitting and the electric wire, and the electric wire along the outer surface of the electric wire cover comes off the outer surface of the electric wire cover.
A connector comprising a wire guide rib provided upright so as to be continuous with said arm protection ribs to restrict the, wherein the contiguous portion of the arm protection rib and the wire guide rib, the operation at the time of unlocking operation Addressed to the department
Finger touches the arm protection rib and the wire guide rib.
An escape space in a cut-out form is formed to avoid interference.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the relief space on the wire cover side is provided with the operating portion.
And the electric wire routed along the electric wire cover
The configuration is cut out so as to avoid interference with the line . The invention of claim 3 is claim 1 or
In the invention of claim 2, wherein the electric wire guide ribs are
The structure is formed along both sides of the wire cover.
Was. The invention according to claim 4 is any of claims 1 to 3
In one aspect of the invention, the electric wire guide ribs
Over the entire area of the routing of the wires on the outer surface of the bar
This is a configuration provided.

[0007]

<Operation and Effect of the Invention><Invention of claim 1> At the time of the lock release operation, the operation part is pushed with a finger to elastically displace the lock arm from the lock position to the lock release position. The escape portion of the continuous portion between the arm protection rib and the wire guide rib can be accommodated in the escape space. Therefore, the operability of unlocking does not decrease due to the interference of the finger with the rib. In addition, since an escape space is formed in both the arm protection rib and the wire guide rib, even when the operation unit is located near the wire cover, it is possible to reliably avoid interference between the finger and the wire guide rib.

<Embodiment of Claim 2> Since the escape space is deviated from the wiring route of the electric wires, there is no possibility that the finger will interfere with the electric wires at the time of the unlocking operation, and the workability can be improved.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The connector according to the present embodiment includes a housing 10, a terminal fitting 20, an electric wire 25, and an electric wire cover 30. A pair of left and right cavities 11 are formed inside the housing 10 and open to both front and rear end surfaces. Terminal cavities 20 are inserted into the respective cavities 11 from behind. The front end of the terminal fitting 20 is a connection 21 with a mating male terminal fitting (not shown), and a pressure contact blade 22 is formed at one rear end. The press-connecting blade 22 has an electric wire 2
5 is pressed by being pushed in from the rear with its axis oriented vertically. The pressed wire 25 is
It extends in both up and down directions through the relief recess 12 of the housing 10 and is routed along the outer surface of the wire cover 30.

On the upper surface of the housing 10, there is formed a lock arm 13 for locking the housing 10 in a state of being fitted with a mating connector (not shown). The lock arm 13 cantileverly extends rearward from the front end of the housing 10, and the rear end serves as an operation unit 14 for a lock release operation. The lock arm 13 extends in a bifurcated manner in a parallel manner in an entire region between a base end portion connected to the housing 10 and the operation portion 14, and a central space thereof has an engagement portion engageable with a mating connector. 15 are formed. When the connector of the present embodiment is fitted with the mating connector, the engaging portion 1
5 engages with a lock receiving portion (not shown) of the mating connector, whereby both connectors are locked in the fitted state. When the operation unit 14 is pressed down from the state where the lock arm 13 is in the lock position (see FIG. 4), the lock arm 13 is pressed.
Are elastically displaced to the unlock position as shown by the chain line in FIG. 3, the engaging portion 15 is disengaged from the lock receiving portion, and the lock of both connectors is released.

A pair of left and right arm protection ribs 16 are formed on the upper surface of the housing 10 as a means for preventing other members or foreign matter from interfering with the operation unit 14. The arm protection rib 16 rises in a wall shape and is arranged so as to sandwich the operation unit 14 from both sides.
When the arm protection rib 16 is viewed from the side, the operation unit 14
Has a pentagonal shape in which a rectangular wall covering a displacement area between the lock position and the unlock position is notched in a triangular shape from its upper edge to its rear edge. The triangular cutout forms a relief space 17 which is a means for preventing the operator's finger from interfering with the arm protection rib 16 during the unlocking operation. When the escape space 17 is viewed from the side, the rear end of the operation unit 14 at the lock position can be seen.

The electric wire cover 30 is assembled to the housing 10 so as to cover the press contact portion between the press contact blade 22 and the electric wire 25 at the rear end of the housing 10, and the engaging projection 18 of the housing 10 and the engaging arm of the electric wire cover 30. 31 is locked in the assembled state. This wire cover 3
Reference numeral 0 denotes a box shape that opens forward, the upper surface of which covers a predetermined area from the rear end edge of the upper surface of the housing 10 from above, and the electric wire 25 is distributed a short distance forward through the gap. The wire is further folded back through the recess 37 at the front edge of the wire cover 30 and is routed along the upper surface of the wire cover 30. On the other hand, the lower surface of the wire cover 30 covers the rear region of the lower surface of the housing 10, and the wires 25 are routed forward through the gap, folded at the front end and rearward along the lower surface of the wire cover 30. Will be routed to. The wiring portion of the electric wire 25 routed along the upper surface and the lower surface of the electric wire cover 30 is wound with a tape (not shown).
Are bundled together.

The wire cover 30 is provided with a wire guide rib 32 for preventing the wire 25 from escaping to the side and coming off the wire cover 30 when the wire 25 is routed along the outer surface thereof. There is one opposition on the left and right.
The front end on the upper surface side of the electric wire guide rib 32 is in a positional relationship such that it is connected to the rear end of the arm protection rib 16 when assembled to the housing 10. That is, the distance between the arm protection ribs 16 and the distance between the wire guide ribs 32 are the same, and the rear end of the arm protection ribs 16 and the front end of the wire guide ribs 32 are correspondingly provided with a slight gap. I have.

An escape space 33 is formed at the front end of the wire guide rib 32 on the upper surface side. When viewed from the side, the relief space 33 is substantially symmetric with the relief space 17 on the arm protection rib 16 side, and is continuous with the relief space 17 on the arm protection rib 16 side. The portion where the escape space 33 is formed will be described in more detail. The front end of the upper edge of the wire guide rib 32 is a horizontal surface 34 having the same height as the upper surface of the wire cover 30. Slope 35
It has become.

The position of the inner end of the concave portion 37 of the electric wire cover 30 (the inner periphery of the folded electric wire 25) is
It is set at a position further away from the rear. Therefore, when viewed from the side, the electric wire 2 folded back by the concave portion 37
The wire 5 is arranged along the upper surface of the wire cover 30 without protruding from the wire guide rib 32. Also,
The folded portion of the electric wire 25 is located behind the horizontal surface 34. Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. To assemble the connector, the terminal fitting 20 is housed in the housing 10, the wire 25 is pressed against the press-contact blade 22, and the wire cover 3 is pressed.
0, the wires 25 are routed along the outer surface of the wire cover 30, and the wires 25 are bundled behind the wire cover 30.
The procedure is as follows. In the assembled state, the lock arm 13
The operating portion 14 has only its rear end protruding into the escape space 17 on the arm protection rib 16 side, and the electric wire 25 is folded back in a region that is separated rearward from the escape space 33 on the wire guide rib 32 side. When such a connector is fitted to the mating connector, the lock arm 13 elastically bends during the fitting, and when the mating state is reached, the engaging portion 15 of the lock arm 13 engages with the lock receiving portion of the mating connector. And
As a result, both connectors are locked in a properly fitted state.

When releasing the lock, the operation unit 1
4 is depressed to elastically bend the lock arm 13, and the engaging portion 15 is disengaged from the lock receiving portion. If both connectors are pulled apart in this state, they can be disconnected.
When releasing the lock, the operator presses down the fingertip (not shown) of the forefinger, for example, to the upper surface of the operation unit 14. When the width of the wire cover 30 is narrow, the interval between the arm protection ribs 16 and the interval between the wire guide ribs 32 may be smaller than the width of the finger. However, in the present embodiment, a relief space 17, in which both the ribs 16, 32 are cut out behind the displacement area of the operation unit 14,
Since the finger 33 is formed, the wide part of the finger can escape while the fingertip is hooked on the operation part 14 and can be stored in the spaces 17 and 33. That is, the finger does not need to interfere with either the arm protection rib 16 or the wire guide rib 32, and the operation unit 1
4 can be performed without any trouble. Also,
The folded portion of the electric wire 25 is located behind the operation unit 14, but since the electric wire 25 is arranged in a region outside the escape space 33, a finger does not interfere with the electric wire 25.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the finger to be operated does not interfere with any of the arm protection rib 16 and the electric wire guide rib 32 when the operation portion 14 is pressed down, so that the lock releasing operation can be performed easily and easily. It can be done reliably. In addition, since interference between the finger and the electric wire 25 is also avoided, operability is also improved in this regard. In addition, the escape spaces 17 and 33 are provided not only in one of the arm protection ribs 16 and the wire guide ribs 32 but also in both formation regions, so that the operation unit 14 is located near the wire cover 30. However, interference between the finger and the wire guide rib 32 can be reliably avoided.

<Other Embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. In addition, various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. (1) In the above embodiment, the relief space is provided in a region deviating from the wiring route of the electric wires. However, according to the present invention, the relief space may be provided so as to cover a part of the wiring route of the electric wires.

(2) In the above embodiment, a two-pole type is described, but the present invention can be applied to a case of one pole or three or more poles. (3) In the above-described embodiment, the case where the terminal fitting and the electric wire are connected by pressure welding has been described. Can also be applied. (4) In the above embodiment, the relief space has a shape in which the corners of the arm protection rib and the wire guide rib are cut out in a tapered shape. However, according to the present invention, another cutout shape such as an arc shape can be used. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a separated state of a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an assembled state of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing an assembled state of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing an assembled state of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a separation state of a conventional example.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an assembled state of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Housing 13 ... Lock arm 14 ... Operation part 16 ... Arm protection rib 17 ... Relief space 20 ... Terminal fitting 25 ... Wire 30 ... Wire cover 32 ... Wire guide rib 33 ... Relief space

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01R 13/639 H01R 13/56 H01R 4/24

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] A housing that can be fitted with the mating connector; and a housing formed on an outer surface of the housing, which is disengaged from the mating connector from a locked position where the operating portion is pushed to engage with the mating connector. A lock arm elastically displaced to a lock release position, an arm protection rib provided upright on an outer surface of the housing at a side position of the operation unit, and a connection portion between a terminal fitting and an electric wire housed in the housing. A wire cover attached to the wire cover and an outer surface of the wire cover along the outer surface of the wire cover.
A connector provided with an electric wire guide rib erected so as to be connected to the arm protection rib in order to restrict the detached electric wire from coming off , wherein a lock is provided at a connection portion between the arm protection rib and the electric wire guide rib. The finger addressed to the operation unit during the release operation
Interference with the arm protection rib and the electric wire guide rib
A connector in which a relief space in a notched form is formed so as to avoid the problem . 2. The relief space on the wire cover side ,
Routing along the finger and the wire cover addressed to the operation unit
Notch to avoid interference with the wire
The connector according to claim 1, wherein the connector has a bent shape . 3. The electric wire cover according to claim 2, wherein the electric wire guide rib is provided on the electric wire cover.
Characterized by being formed along both side edges of
3. The connector according to claim 1 or 2. 4. The electric wire cover according to claim 1, wherein the electric wire guide rib is provided on the electric wire cover.
Over the entire area of the wire routing path on the outer surface of
4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the device is provided.
The connector according to any one of the above.