JP3489543B2 - Connector housing - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a connector housing, and more particularly, to a retainer which double-locks terminal fittings in a retaining state before the terminal fittings are inserted. It is intended to prevent the user from inadvertently moving. 2. Description of the Related Art A connector housing 1 of this type is known from Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-50382. This connector housing 1 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (B), the terminal fitting T is inserted into each terminal accommodating chamber 3 of the housing main body 2 provided with the plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 3 and engaged with the housing main body 2, while the peripheral wall of the housing main body 2 is provided. The retainer 5 is inserted from the retainer insertion opening 4 formed in the portion so as to penetrate the terminal accommodating chamber 3, and the retainer 5 regulates the movement of the terminal fitting T in the removal direction. In the above configuration, the retainer 5 is inserted and locked in the housing body 2 in advance in consideration of the efficiency of assembly work. First, the retainer 5 is locked in a “temporary locking position” that does not hinder the insertion and removal of the terminal fitting T, and in this state, is carried into a work process of inserting the terminal fitting T attached to the wire end into the terminal receiving chamber 3. . Then, when all the terminal fittings T are inserted into the terminal accommodating chambers 3 in the process, the retainer 5 is pushed into the “finally locked position” at a deeper insertion position and fixed, so that the terminal fittings T are completely prevented from coming off. To do. As described above, the retainer 5 of the connector housing 1 is locked and held by the temporary locking means 6 at the temporary locking position until the terminal fitting T is inserted into the housing body 2. However, while the connector housing 1 is boxed and transported to the site where the terminal fitting T is inserted into the housing body 2, the retainer 5 falls down to the final locking position due to mutual collision of the connector housings 1 and collision of other foreign matter. Sometimes. In this case, before inserting the terminal fitting T, the retainer 5 must be pulled back to the temporary locking position again. In order to prevent this drop, it is conceivable to set the retaining force of the retainer 5 at the temporary locking position to be strong, but on the other hand, in this case, after the terminal fitting T is inserted, the retainer 5 is brought into the final locking position. There is a problem in that the burden on the worker during the work of manually pushing it up increases. [0005] As a connector housing 1 'having a function of preventing the retainer from being inadvertently dropped into the final locking position as described above, a connector housing 1' described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 10-189114 is known. As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the connector housing 1 '
The insertion direction is not the vertical direction to the length direction of the terminal accommodating chamber 3 ', but is inserted in the inclined direction, so that the external force acting on the retainer 5' in the vertical direction can be countered with a strong holding force. Like that. That is, the retainer 5 '
When moving from the temporary locking position to the final locking position, the guide grooves 5b 'formed in the left and right side plates 5a'
Is moved along the second locking projection 2b 'protruding from the first locking projection 2b', and gets over the first locking projection 2a 'positioned at the temporary locking position to reach the final locking position. Therefore,
Compared to the case where the retainer 5 'is pushed in an oblique direction along the guide groove 5b', when the retainer 5 'is pressed from the vertical direction, the pressure is dispersed, so that a strong resistance is exerted. Inadvertent dropping to the final locking position is prevented. However, since the path of the retainer 5 'moving from the temporary locking position to the final locking position has the same inclination angle over the entire range, the required angle is required. Until the insertion depth reaches, the moving distance of the retainer 5 'in the direction parallel to the length direction of the terminal accommodating chamber 3' increases,
There has been a problem that the length direction of the housing body 2 'is correspondingly increased. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and even if another connector housing or other foreign matter collides with the retainer during transportation of the connector housing, the retainer is inadvertently moved to the full locking position. Without being depressed,
It is another object of the present invention to provide a connector housing capable of reducing the size of a housing main body as compared with a conventional connector housing. [0008] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention comprises a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers capable of accommodating terminal fittings inserted from a rear end face, and a length of the terminal accommodating chambers. A housing body having a cavity recessed from the outer peripheral wall so as to intersect with the vertical direction, and being inserted into the cavity and allowing the terminal fitting to be inserted at a shallow insertion position with respect to the cavity. A temporary locking position, and a retainer that can be locked to the housing main body at a final locking position where the terminal fitting can be prevented from being removed at a deeper insertion position, and the retainers are concave portions formed on both sides of the housing main body. With side pieces that protrude from outside,
A connector housing formed on the side piece with a guide groove for guiding the retainer in an insertion direction inclined with respect to an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the terminal accommodating chamber along a locking projection projecting from the recess; Wherein the locking projection comprises a first locking projection and a second locking projection, and the first locking projection contacts the lower end surface of the side piece when the retainer is at the temporary locking position, and The second locking projection is located in the guide groove and abuts on the lower end surface of the guide groove at the temporary locking position to restrict the movement of the retainer in the pull-out direction. On the other hand, when the retainer is in the temporary locking position, the rear end surface of the retainer is in contact with the rear receiving surface of the concave portion, and the retainer moves from the temporary locking position to the full locking position. When the side piece gets over the first locking projection, The first locking protrusion fits into the guide groove and abuts on the lower end surface of the guide groove to regulate the movement of the retainer in the full locking position in the removal direction, and the guide groove includes A first area for guiding the retainer along the first locking projection at an initial stage of insertion from the temporary locking position to the full locking position, and a second area for guiding the retainer to the full locking position continuously from the first area. There is provided a connector housing comprising two regions, wherein an inclination angle of the second region with respect to the axis is set to be smaller than that of the first region. According to the above configuration, when the retainer is inserted from the temporary locking position to the final locking position, in the first region in the initial stage, the guide groove for regulating the moving direction of the retainer is provided in the terminal receiving chamber. Are inclined at a large angle to an axis perpendicular to the length direction. For this reason, when an external force acts on the retainer from the vertical direction, the pressing force does not act on the retainer in the moving direction and is dispersed, so that a strong resistance to the fall of the retainer can be exerted. On the other hand, when manually inserting the retainer from the temporary locking position to the final locking position, the retainer is pressed in a direction along the inclination angle of the first area of the guide groove, so that the pressing force is temporarily locked. Since all acts as a force for releasing the restriction at the position, it can be moved to the final locking position with a light force. Also, after the restriction is released at the temporary locking position, the inclination angle of the second region of the guide groove with respect to the vertical axis becomes smaller and approaches the vertical direction, so that the retainer can be quickly moved to the full locking position with a small stroke. Can be. Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a connector housing 11 of the present invention, which is made of a synthetic resin and is made of a synthetic resin, and a housing body 12 having a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 13 capable of accommodating a terminal fitting T inserted from a rear surface portion. It comprises a separate retainer 15 attached to the housing body 12 to prevent the terminal fitting T from coming off. The housing body 12 is molded into a box shape,
A terminal insertion hole 12a capable of receiving a terminal (not shown) of the mating connector is opened in the front surface, and a terminal opening 1 for inserting the terminal fitting T is opened largely in the rear surface.
2b. As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, a lance 13a for locking and fixing the terminal fitting T extends obliquely forward at substantially the center of the lower surface of the terminal accommodating chamber 13. The distal end side of the lance 13a is formed so as to be elastically deformable downward, and is elastically engageable with a lance hole Ta provided in the terminal fitting T. The state of locking by the lance 13a is referred to as primary locking, and the state of locking of the terminal fitting T to the step portion Tb by the secondary locking projection 15f of the retainer 15 performed thereafter is referred to as secondary locking. The connector in the locked state is called a double locked connector. As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, a retainer insertion opening 14 is formed on one surface of the outer peripheral wall of the housing body 12 and crosses the terminal accommodating chamber 13 in the longitudinal direction. The hollow portion 14a is recessed toward the inside so as to communicate with each other from the same direction. As shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C, the retainer 15 is formed of a lattice-shaped frame provided with a terminal insertion passage 15g corresponding to each terminal accommodating chamber 13 of the housing main body 12. Twelve retainer insertion ports 14 are inserted into the cavity 14a. Then, the retainer 15 is moved to the temporary locking position P1 (FIG. 4A, FIG.
(A)) and a full locking position P2 which is a deep complete insertion position.
(FIG. 4 (B), FIG. 6 (C)). At the final locking position P <b> 2, the pressing surface 15 a, which is a pressed portion of the retainer 15, is flush with the outer peripheral surface of the housing body 12. The temporary locking position P1 and the final locking position P2
The retainer locking means for locking the retainer 15 to the housing 1 includes a concave portion 12c formed on both sides of the housing body 12 and a concave portion 1c.
It is provided between a pair of side pieces 15c projecting downward on both sides of the retainer 15 so as to sandwich 2c. Side piece 15c
The rear end face 15d of the housing body 12 on the terminal insertion hole 12b side (rear) is inclined toward the terminal insertion hole 12a side (front), and the front end face 15e is perpendicular to the length direction of the terminal accommodating chamber 13. Along the axis A, the lower end face 15h is inclined in a direction perpendicular to the front end face 15e.
On the other hand, the front and rear dimensions of the concave portion 12c are set larger than the side pieces 15c, and the retainer 15 is moved to the temporary locking position P1 as described later.
, The rear end face 15d abuts on the rear receiving face 12d, and when the retainer 15 is at the final locking position P2, the front end face 15e abuts on the front receiving face 12e. As shown in FIG. 2A, a first locking projection 12f and a second locking projection 12g are formed in the recess 12c so as to have a required space in the retainer insertion direction A. As shown in FIG. 3A, the side piece 15c has a guide groove 15j for guiding the retainer 15 in a direction inclined with respect to the axis A along the first locking projection 12f and the second locking projection 12g. Has formed. The guide groove 15j is shown in FIG.
As shown in (D), the first region 15j-1 guided by the retainer 15 at the initial stage of insertion from the temporary locking position P1 to the final locking position P2, and continues to the first region 15j-1. It is composed of two regions of a second region 15j-2 for guiding to the final locking position P2. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the inclination angle θ2 of the second region 15j-2 with respect to the axis A is set smaller than the inclination angle θ1 of the first region 15j-1. In the present embodiment, θ1 = 60 °,
θ2 = 35 °. The first locking projection 12f contacts the lower end face 15h of the side piece 15c when the retainer 15 is at the temporary locking position P1, thereby restricting the movement of the retainer 15 in the insertion direction. The projection 12g is located in the guide groove 15j, and is arranged so as to contact the lower end surface at the temporary locking position P1 so as to restrict the movement of the retainer 15 in the removal direction. When the retainer 15 moves from the temporary locking position P1 to the final locking position P2, the side piece 15c elastically bends and the first locking projection 1
2f, the first locking projection 12f fits into the guide groove 15j and comes into contact with the lower end surface of the guide groove 15j, so that the movement of the retainer 15 in the removal direction at the full locking position P2 can be restricted. . Next, in the connector housing 11 having the above configuration, the retainer 15 is attached to the housing body 12.
Will be described from the temporary locking position P1 to the final locking position P2. First, connector housing 1
In the first molding step, as shown in FIG. 6A, the retainer 15 is mechanically inserted into the cavity 14a from the retainer insertion opening 14 of the housing main body 12 and temporarily locked at the temporary locking position P1.
In this state, packed in a box in this state, and transported to a wire harness assembling process. At the temporary locking position P1, as described above, the lower end surface 15h of the side piece 15c is
The movement of the retainer 15 in the insertion direction is restricted by abutting on 2f. In this embodiment, the retainer 15 is connected to the guide groove 1.
5j is pressed in a direction along the inclination of the first region 15j-1 (θ1 = 60 °), and the side piece 15c gets over the first locking projection 12f, so that it is necessary to move to the full locking position P2. The insertion force f is set at about 15 to 30N. This is a condition that can be easily operated manually. On the other hand, the insertion force F when the pressing force is applied to the retainer 15 from the direction of the axis A perpendicular to the length direction of the terminal accommodating chamber 13.
Are dispersed, so that F = 1 / cos60 ° = 2f, and insertion from this direction requires twice the force of the above-described tilt direction. Therefore, when an external force acts on the retainer 15 from the direction of the axis A perpendicular to the retainer 15, the retainer 15
Can be prevented from easily falling into the final locking position P2. With the retainer 15 at the temporary locking position P1, the terminal fittings T are sequentially inserted into the housing body 12,
After all the terminal fittings T have been inserted, the retainer 15 is pressed in the required inclination direction as described above. As a result, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6B, the side piece 15c bends outward to get over the first locking projection 12f, and then, as shown in FIG. 6C, the first locking projection 12f is inserted into the guide groove 15j. Fit.
At this time, the movement direction of the retainer 15 is regulated by the second locking projection 12g fitted into the guide groove 15j. In the initial stage of movement, the robot moves along the first area 15j-1 at an angle of about 60 ° with respect to the axis A, but immediately moves to the second area 15j-
2 at an angle of about 30 °. Therefore, the amount of movement of the retainer 15 in the length direction of the terminal accommodating chamber 13 can be reduced. In the final locking position P2, the position of the retainer 15 is fixed by the lower end surface 15h of the retainer 15 abutting on the lower end receiving portion 12h of the concave portion 12c and the first locking protrusion 12f abutting on the lower end surface of the guide groove 15j. Is done. As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the retainer locked in the temporary locking position with respect to the housing main body has the axis perpendicular to the length direction of the terminal accommodating chamber. Strong holding force can be exerted against the pressing force from the direction. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the retainer from dropping to the full locking position due to a collision between the connector housings during transportation of the connector housing or a collision with other foreign matter. On the other hand, when the retainer is inserted into the final locking position, it can be operated with a light insertion force by pressing the retainer in a required inclination direction. When the retainer is inserted in the inclined direction, the guide direction is set in two stages,
In the second region following the first region in the initial stage, the amount of movement in the length direction of the terminal accommodating chamber is set to be small, so that it is possible to contribute to downsizing of the housing body in this direction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front view of a connector housing of the present invention. 2A is a front view of a housing main body, FIG. 2B is a plan view, and FIG. 2C is a side view. 3A is a front view of a retainer, FIG. 3B is a plan view, FIG. 3C is a side view, and FIG. 3D is an enlarged view of a guide groove. 4A is a longitudinal sectional view of the connector housing at a temporary locking position, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view at a final locking position. FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a main part at a temporary locking position. FIGS. 6A to 6C are diagrams showing a process of pushing a retainer from a temporary locking position to a full locking position. 7A and 7B are diagrams showing a conventional example. FIGS. 8A and 8B are diagrams showing a conventional example. [Description of Signs] 11 Connector housing 12 Housing main body 12c Recess 12f First locking projection (locking projection) 12g Second locking projection (locking projection) 13 Terminal accommodating chamber 14 Retainer insertion opening 14a Cavity 15 Retainer 15c side Piece 15j guide groove 15j-1 first area 15j-2 second area T terminal fitting P1 temporary locking position P2 final locking position A axis

Claims (1)

(57) [Claim 1] A plurality of terminal accommodating chambers capable of accommodating terminal fittings inserted from a rear end face are provided, and the terminal accommodating chambers intersect with the length direction of the terminal accommodating chambers. A housing body having a cavity recessed from the outer peripheral wall, a temporary locking position inserted into the cavity and allowing insertion of the terminal fitting at a shallow insertion position with respect to the cavity, and a deeper insertion A retainer that can be locked to the housing body at a final locking position where the terminal fitting can be prevented from falling out at the position, and the retainer protrudes from outside so as to sandwich concave portions formed on both sides of the housing body. A guide groove for guiding the retainer in an insertion direction inclined with respect to an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the terminal accommodating chamber along a locking projection projecting from the recess; Shit In Kuta housing, the locking projection consists first locking projection and the second locking projection,
The first locking projection contacts the lower end surface of the side piece when the retainer is at the temporary locking position, thereby restricting the movement of the retainer in the insertion direction. contact with the lower end face of the guide groove in the temporary locking position there in one arranged to restrict the movement of the punching direction of the retainer, said Li when the retainer is at the partial locking position
The rear end surface of the tena is in contact with the rear receiving surface of the recess,
When the retainer moves from the temporary locking position to the final locking position, the side piece rides over the first locking projection, and the first locking projection fits into the guide groove, and the By contacting the lower end surface, the movement of the retainer in the withdrawal direction at the final locking position is regulated, and the guide groove is provided at the time of initial insertion of the retainer from the temporary locking position to the final locking position. A first area guided along the first locking projection in the step, and a second area continuously guided to the full locking position in the first area. A connector housing, wherein the inclination angle is set to be smaller than the first area.