JP3612926B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a connector, particularly to accommodate a plurality of sub-connectors.
[0002]
[Prior art]
14 and 15 show a connector 54 that accommodates a plurality of sub-connectors 50 inside the frame 51. FIG. Each of the sub-connectors 50 is provided with a male terminal fitting 52. In order to protect the tip end portion of the terminal fitting 52, the front end face of the sub-connector 50 covers each terminal fitting 52 with a hood. A portion 53 is provided.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, a partition wall 55 for separating the sub-connector 50 is provided on the frame 51 side. When the sub-connector 50 is assembled to the frame 51, the partition wall 55 and the hood portion 53 overlap each other. It has become. That is, the protection of the terminal fitting 52 is doubled in this portion.
By the way, since the hood part 53 of the sub-connector 50 is a part for receiving the female housing, it is slightly larger than the part in which the terminal fitting is accommodated. However, in the case of being accommodated in the frame 51 as shown in the drawing, if the entire sub-connector is not formed in accordance with the size of the hood portion 53, rattling occurs internally. As a result, the interval between the partition walls is set in accordance with the widened size of the hood portion, which leads to an increase in the size of the frame 51 and an increase in the size of the connector 54 as a whole.
[0004]
In order to meet this requirement, it is conceivable to eliminate the hood portion of the sub-connector. However, if it is simply abolished, the terminal metal fittings cannot be protected especially when the sub-connector is used alone. Therefore, there has been a demand for the development of a connector that surely meets these requirements.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the problem is a connector that can protect a male terminal fitting when the sub connector is alone, and has good workability even if the hood portion of the sub connector is not provided. Is to provide.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention according to claim 1 for solving the above-described problems is that the frame is entirely formed in a frame shape, and the inside is partitioned into a plurality of storage chambers by partition walls, and male terminal fittings are stored in the respective storage chambers. A plurality of male sub-connectors formed so as to be capable of being assembled, wherein the male sub-connector has a front end portion of a male terminal fitting exposed from a front surface of the male sub-connector. A movable protective member is assembled to the front side of the connector housing so as to be movable in the front-rear direction, and the male terminal fitting is attached to the movable protective member by a lance before the male sub-connector is assembled to the frame. A protective position that substantially covers up to the tip of the male terminal fitting in an elastically locked state, and the protective position when the male sub-connector is assembled to the frame. An assembly position that holds the male terminal fitting in a retaining state by restricting the bending of the lance, and when the female connector is fitted, the assembly associated with the fitting of the female connector A fitting position that is deeper than the attachment position and that exposes the male terminal fitting to be connected with a proper insertion allowance for the female terminal fitting is set.
[0006]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the movable protection member and the housing of the male sub-connector are elastically deformable and have a recess formed in the movable protection member. The flexure engaging piece is assembled with three types of convex portions formed on the housing side so as to be engageable with the concave portion, and the flexural engaging piece is included in the convex portion of the housing. The force when getting over the temporary locking projection on the near side and reaching the protection position is such that the bending engagement piece gets over the final locking projection located on the back side of the temporary locking projection. It is characterized by being smaller than the force when reaching the assembly position.
[0007]
Operation and effect of the invention
According to the invention of claim 1, the movable protection member is held at three positions with respect to the housing of the male sub-connector. Among these, the male terminal fitting is protected at the shallowest protection position because the male terminal fitting is covered up to the tip when the male sub connector is a single unit. Further, when assembling into the frame, the movable protection member is pushed from the protection position to the assembly position. Then, since the movable protective member enters the bending area of the lance and restricts the bending of the lance, it is incorporated in a state where the holding of the male terminal fitting by the lance is strengthened. Furthermore, when the female connector is fitted, the movable protective member is retracted by this fitting operation, and the connection with the female terminal fitting is advanced while exposing the tip of the male terminal fitting. The bracket is in a normal connection state.
[0008]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the housing and the movable protection member are assembled, the force when the member in the state where both members are separated from each other is set to the protection position. Has been smaller than. For this reason, it is less necessary to apply a large force to the assembling position during the assembling work at the protection position, and the workability is improved.
[0009]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 11 or FIG. 12, the connector 1 of this embodiment includes a total of four sub-connectors 2 that can accommodate male terminal fittings 4 and a frame 3 that can accommodate the sub-connectors 2 collectively. Composed.
[0010]
The frame 3 is formed in a box shape from a synthetic resin, and the inside is a housing space 6 in which each sub-connector 2 can be housed (see FIG. 11). On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 13, each sub-connector 2 is provided with a positioning projection 7 for the frame 3. These are inserted into positioning grooves (not shown in detail) formed at corresponding positions on the inner wall surface of the frame 3 when the sub-connector 2 is inserted into the frame 3 so as to serve as a guide during insertion. It has become. Further, when each sub-connector 2 is fitted to the normal depth position, the sub-connector 2 is prevented from coming off by the lock means 8 configured between the corresponding sub-connector 2 and the corresponding position of the frame 3. Yes.
[0011]
In the housing space 6 described above, a partition wall 5 is provided at equal intervals in the width direction on the front end surface of the frame 3 (surface that fits with a female connector on the other side not shown). The mating operation of the mating connector can be guided. The partition wall 5 also functions as a protective wall for protecting the distal end portion of the male terminal fitting 4 after the sub-connector 2 is assembled in the housing space 6.
The sub-connector 2 includes a housing 9 that can store the male terminal fitting 4 and a movable protection member 10 that is movably assembled to the housing 9.
[0012]
The housing 9 is formed of a synthetic resin in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. The housing 9 accommodates the male terminal fitting 4 therein, and when the mating connector housing is fitted in the frame 3, the front surface of the mating connector housing is the front surface of the mating connector housing. In this state, the male and female terminal fittings are electrically connected. The front side of the housing 9 is a fitting portion 30 that is slightly smaller than the rear side, and is fitted into the movable protective member 10. When the movable protection member 10 is assembled, the fitting portion 30 becomes substantially flush with the sub connector 2 as a whole. For this reason, even if the movable protection member 10 is provided, the sub-connector 2 is prevented from becoming large.
A central portion of the housing 9 is a terminal accommodating portion 11 that accommodates the male terminal fitting 4. In this embodiment, the housing 9 is formed so that it can be arranged in two rows. The rear side of the terminal accommodating portion 11 is a terminal accommodating port 11A for inserting the male terminal fitting 4 (see FIG. 4).
[0013]
A lance 12 that can be bent and deformed from upper and lower wall surfaces is provided at the center of the terminal accommodating portion 11 so as to protrude forward. A terminal engaging claw 12A is provided at the tip of the lance 12, and is engaged with the lance engaging portion 13 of the male terminal fitting 4 to be primarily locked. Moreover, the front-end | tip part of the wall surface which divides the upper and lower terminal accommodating parts 11 is made somewhat thick, and the stabilizer engaging part 14 is formed in this part at the rail shape along a length direction from a rear-end surface, and is a male terminal. While guiding the insertion of the stabilizer 21 formed in the metal fitting 4, the insertion of the male terminal metal fitting 4 in the inverted posture is restricted. Further, in the terminal accommodating portion 11, the front portion of the lance 12 is opened outward (the bending direction of the lance 12).
Since the length of the terminal accommodating portion 11 is shorter than the male terminal fitting 4 to be described later, when the male terminal fitting 4 is attached to the terminal accommodating portion 11, the tab portion 20 in front of the male terminal fitting 4 is connected to the housing 9. It will be in the state of protruding from.
[0014]
The left and right wall surfaces 15 of the housing 9 are provided with three types of convex portions 16, 17, and 18 at substantially equal pitches in the front and rear directions so that the movable protection member 10 described later can be held at three positions. Here, each pitch width is substantially the same as or slightly wider than the length of the locking edge 19 of the movable protective member 10 described later.
Of the locking projections, a pair of temporary locking projections 16 positioned in the foremost row are provided on the left and right wall surfaces 15 respectively, and the front end face side is cut off in a tapered shape so that the movable protective member 10 is fitted. The guide surface 16A guides the operation, and the rear end surface is cut off at a substantially right angle. When the locking edge 19 of the movable protection member 10 gets over the temporary locking projection 16 and engages, the movable protection member 10 is held in the protected position.
[0015]
Next, a rear locking projection 17 is provided with a pair of upper and lower projections 17 behind the temporary locking projection 16. A guide surface 17A is also formed on the front end side of the main locking convex portion 17, but its rising angle is made more obtuse than the guiding surface 16A of the temporary locking convex portion 16. For this reason, the force when the locking edge 19 of the movable protection member 10 gets over the main locking projection 17 requires a larger force than when the locking edge 19 gets over the temporary locking projection 16. When the locking edge 19 gets over the locking projection 17 and engages, the movable protection member 10 is held in the assembled position.
Further, a fitting convex portion 18 is provided behind the main locking convex portion 17 so as to project substantially at the center of the left and right wall surfaces 15. On the front end portion of the fitting convex portion 18, a guide surface 18 </ b> A similar to the main locking convex portion 17 is formed. When the locking edge 19 climbs over and engages with the fitting convex portion 18, the movable protection member 10 is held in the fitting position.
[0016]
The male terminal fitting 4 is formed by bending a conductive metal plate, and a tab portion 20 to be inserted into a mating female terminal fitting (not shown) is provided at the tip portion. A pair of stabilizers 21 is formed behind the tab portion 20, and when the male terminal fitting 4 is attached to the terminal accommodating portion 11, it fits into the stabilizer engaging portion 14. A lance engagement portion 13 is formed on the surface opposite to the surface on which the stabilizer 21 is projected, and the terminal engagement claw 12A of the lance 12 is engaged therewith. Further, a barrel portion 22 is provided at the rear portion of the male terminal fitting 4 for caulking the electric wire.
As shown in FIG. 2, two types of male terminal fittings 4 having different sizes are used.
[0017]
The movable protection member 10 is made of synthetic resin, and is assembled to the housing 9 so as to be engageable at three different positions in the front-rear direction (the aforementioned protection position, assembly position, and fitting position). The movable protection member 10 is formed into a bottomed rectangular tube shape, and a front surface of the movable protection member 10 is a terminal protection surface 24 in which a tab hole 23 into which the tab portion 20 of the male terminal fitting 4 can be inserted is formed. The tab hole 23 is provided in accordance with the position of the male terminal fitting 4, is opened so as to expand inward from the opening edge of the terminal protection surface 24, and inserts the tab portion 20 of the male terminal fitting 4. It can be done smoothly. Further, the four side surface portions of the movable protection member 10 can receive the fitting portions 30 of the housing 9. Since the rear portions of the side surfaces are separated by the slits 27, they can be bent and deformed in the expanding direction.
[0018]
Of these side surfaces, the one formed on the long side (the position corresponding to the surface side where the lance 12 is formed in the housing 9) is a pair of regulating surfaces 25. When the movable protective member 10 and the housing 9 are assembled at the assembly position or the fitting position, the restricting surface 25 is positioned so as to contact the lance 12 from the outside, and the lance 12 is bent outward and deformed. The male terminal fitting 4 is double-locked. An inner portion of the tip portion of the regulation surface 25 is thinned to form a relief portion 28. When the movable protection member 10 is in the protection position, the tip portion of the lance 12 is located in the escape portion 28, so that the lance 12 can be bent and deformed.
Further, the remaining pair of surfaces (that is, the positions corresponding to the surfaces on which the convex portions 16, 17, 18 are provided on the housing 9 side) are flexible engagement pieces 26 that can be expanded and deformed. A central portion of the flexure engaging piece 26 is opened to form a recess 29, and a locking edge 19 is formed at the rear end portion. The engaging edge 19 is assembled to the three convex portions 16, 17, 18, and the convex portions 16, 17, 18 are located in the concave portion 29, thereby engaging the housing 9 with the movable protective member 10. Do.
[0019]
Among these, the protection position where the locking edge 19 is locked to the temporary locking projection 16 is in a state before the sub-connector 2 is assembled and assembled to the frame 3. At this time, the tab portion 20 of the male terminal fitting 4 slightly penetrates the tab hole 23, and only the tip portion protrudes from the terminal protection surface 24 (see FIGS. 3, 4 and 6). For this reason, even when the sub-connector 2 is single, the tab portion 20 of the male terminal fitting 4 is protected from deformation or the like. Further, in this protected position, since the relief portion 28 of the restricting surface 25 is positioned at the tip portion of the lance 12 as described above, the lance 12 can be elastically deformed, and the male terminal fitting 4 is The terminal accommodating portion 11 can be inserted and removed.
[0020]
Next, the tab portion 20 further protrudes from the tab hole 23 at the assembly position where the locking edge 19 engages with the main locking projection 17. This assembly position corresponds to a state in which the sub-connector 2 is inserted into the housing space 6 of the frame 3 and the assembly of the connector 1 is completed (see FIGS. 7, 8, and 12). In the assembly position, the tip portion of the restricting surface 25 is assembled so as to cover the tip portion of the lance 12 from the outside. For this reason, since the lance 12 bends outward and becomes difficult to deform, the male terminal fitting 4 is almost double-locked. In addition, the partition wall 5 of the frame 3 also serves as a protective wall for the tab portion 20 at the assembly position.
Finally, at the fitting position where the locking edge 19 is engaged with the fitting convex portion 18, the terminal protection surface 24 of the movable protection member 10 is in contact with the front end portion of the housing 9. The mating position is such that when the mating female connector (not shown) and the connector 1 reach the mating position, the movable protective member 10 is moved by the front end surface of the female connector (the surface side where both connectors come into contact with each other). This is achieved by pressing and moving backward (see FIGS. 9 and 10). In the fitting position, the restricting surface 25 is completely covered from the outside of the lance 12, so that the lance 12 cannot be bent and deformed, and the male terminal fitting 4 is double-locked.
[0021]
Next, the effect of this embodiment comprised as mentioned above is demonstrated.
First, the housing 9 and the movable protection member 10 are assembled into the protection position. That is, when the fitting portion 30 of the housing 9 is pushed in from the rear side of the movable protection member 10, the temporary locking convex portion 16 of the wall surface 15 and the locking edge 19 of the movable protection member 10 come into contact with each other. When the members 9 and 10 are pushed in here, the locking edge 19 rides on the guide surface 16A, so that the bending engagement piece 26 is bent and deformed in the expanding direction. When further pressed, the locking edge 19 gets over the temporary locking projection 16 and the engaging piece 26 is returned and deformed and reaches the protected position. When in the protected position, the relief portion 28 of the restricting surface 25 is located outside the lance 12, so that the lance 12 can be elastically deformed.
[0022]
Next, the male terminal fitting 4 is attached to the terminal accommodating portion 11 of the housing 9. When the male terminal fitting 4 is pushed in from the terminal accommodating port 11A side, the lance 12 is pushed by the male terminal fitting 4 to bend and deform outward. When the male terminal fitting 4 reaches a predetermined position, the terminal engagement claw 12A engages with the lance engagement portion 13 while the lance 12 returns and deforms. Thus, the male terminal fitting 4 is primarily locked. At this time, the tip of the tab portion 20 of the male terminal fitting 4 slightly protrudes from the tab hole 23 of the terminal protection surface 24. During this operation, the tab hole 23 is largely opened while forming a slope on the rear surface side of the terminal protection surface 24. For this reason, even if there is a slight misalignment between the position of the tab portion 20 and the position of the tab hole 23, the tab portion 20 protrudes to the front side of the terminal protection surface 24 along this slope. Can do.
[0023]
Further, since the inclination of the guide surface 16A of the temporary locking convex portion 16 is made smaller than the inclination of the guide surface 17A of the main locking convex portion 17, the locking edge 19 gets over the temporary locking convex portion 16. The force at the time may be a smaller force than when getting over the locking projection 17. For this reason, it is difficult for the locking edge 19 that has reached the protection position to move over the main locking projection 17 and move to the assembly position as it is.
[0024]
The sub-connector 2 assembled in the protected position in this way is assembled to the frame 3 as shown in FIG. First, in the sub connector 2, the movable protection member 10 is pushed into the housing 9 and moved to the assembly position.
At this time, when the male terminal fitting 4 is inserted to the normal position of the terminal accommodating portion 11, the distal end portion of the restricting surface 25 of the movable protection member 10 is located in the bending region of the lance 12. Are almost double-locked.
On the other hand, when the male terminal fitting 4 is not inserted to the normal position of the terminal accommodating portion 11, the lance 12 remains bent and deformed outward by the male terminal fitting 4. The edge abuts on the lance 12, making it impossible to move to the assembly position. For this reason, the operator knows that the male terminal fitting 4 is in a half-inserted position with respect to the terminal accommodating portion 11.
In this way, the assembly of the connector 1 is completed by pushing the sub-connector 2 into which the movable protective member 10 has been pushed to the assembly position into the housing space 6 of the frame 3 to a predetermined position (see FIG. 12). . In this position, the tab portion 20 protrudes forward of the terminal protection surface 24, but the partition wall 5 of the frame 3 protects the male terminal fitting 4.
[0025]
Thereafter, the female connector (not shown) and the connector 1 are fitted. During the fitting, the terminal protection surface 24 of the movable protection member 10 is pressed by the front surface of the female connector. For this reason, the locking edge 19 gets over the guide surface 18A of the fitting convex portion 18 and engages. At this fitting position, the restriction surface 25 covers almost the entire length of the lance 12, so that the male terminal fitting 4 is double-locked. At this time, since the tab portion 20 is fitted to the mating female terminal fitting, electrical connection between the two connectors is achieved.
In the above, in order to move the movable protection member 10 from the protection position to the assembly position, the pressing operation is performed on the operator side in advance. However, the operation may be integrated with the operation of pushing the sub connector 2 into the frame 3. That is, when the sub connector 2 is pushed into the housing space 6 of the frame 3, the rear end of the partition wall 5 and the terminal protection surface 24 of the movable protection member 10 come into contact with each other at a predetermined position. Therefore, when the sub-connector 2 is pushed in as it is, the terminal protection surface 24 is pressed to the rear position, and the locking edge 19 rides on the guide surface 17A of the main locking projection 17, so that the flexible engagement piece 26 is expanded and deformed. To do. When pushed in as it is, the locking edge 19 gets over the locking projection 17 and engages, and the bending engagement piece 26 returns to the assembled position. If it does in this way, a work process can be reduced.
[0026]
Thus, according to the present embodiment, the movable protection member 10 is held at three positions with respect to the housing 9. Of these, the male terminal fitting 4 is protected at the shallowest protection position because the male terminal fitting 4 is covered to the tip when the male sub-connector 2 is a single unit. Moreover, when incorporating in the flame | frame 3, the movable protection member 10 is pushed into an assembly position from a protection position. Then, since the movable protection member 10 enters the bending region of the lance 12 and restricts the bending of the lance 12, the holding of the male terminal fitting 4 by the lance 12 is thereby strengthened. Further, when the female connector is fitted, the movable protective member 10 is retracted by this fitting operation, and the connection with the female terminal fitting (not shown) proceeds while the tip of the male terminal fitting 4 is exposed. At the position, the male and female terminal fittings are properly connected.
[0027]
Further, when the housing 9 and the movable protection member 10 are assembled, the force when the two members are separated from each other to the protection position is made smaller than the force when the position is changed from this position to the assembly position. Yes. For this reason, it is less necessary to apply a large force to the assembling position during the assembling work at the protection position, and the workability is improved.
[0028]
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the following, for example, are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
The protective surface protruding rearward from the movable protective member does not have to be planar. For example, a prismatic shape may be projected from the apex of the terminal protection surface. In such a case, the movable protective member can be reduced in weight and size.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side view before assembling a sub-connector in the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a plan view before assembling a sub-connector. FIG. 3 is a side view when the sub-connector is in a protected position. Side sectional view when the connector is in the protected position [Fig. 5] Front view when the sub connector is in the protected position [Fig. 6] Plan view when the sub connector is in the protected position [Fig. 7] Assembly of the sub connector Side view when in position [Fig. 8] Side sectional view when sub-connector is in assembly position [Fig. 9] Side view when sub-connector is in mating position [Fig. 10] Sub-connector is in mating position Fig. 11 is a side sectional view before assembling a plurality of sub-connectors to the frame. Fig. 12 is a side sectional view after assembling the connectors. Fig. 13 is a front view after assembling the connectors. FIG. 14 shows a conventional connector. Front view of FIG. 15 is a side cross-sectional view of the connector in the same embodiment EXPLANATION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Connector 2 ... Sub connector 3 ... Frame 4 ... Male terminal metal fitting 5 ... Partition wall 6 ... Accommodating space (accommodating chamber)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 9 ... Housing 10 ... Movable protection member 12 ... Lance 16 ... Temporary latching convex part 17 ... This latching convex part 26 ... Deflection engagement piece 29 ... Concave part

Claims (2)

A frame having a frame shape as a whole and partitioned into a plurality of storage chambers by a partition wall, and a plurality of male sub-connectors formed so that male terminal fittings can be housed therein and incorporated into the respective storage chambers. A connector comprising:
The male sub-connector is configured such that the front end of the male terminal fitting is exposed from the front surface of the male sub-connector, and a movable protective member is assembled to the front side of the housing of the male sub-connector so as to be movable in the front-rear direction.
And in this movable protection member,
Before the male side sub-connector is assembled to the frame, a protective position that substantially covers the male terminal fitting until it reaches the tip of the male terminal fitting with the male terminal fitting elastically locked by a lance,
When the male sub-connector is assembled to the frame, the assembly position is a fitting position deeper than the protection position and restricts the bending of the lance to hold the male terminal fitting in a retaining state;
When the female connector is fitted, it is a fitting position deeper than the assembly position when the female connector is fitted, and the male terminal fitting is exposed to be connected to the female terminal fitting with a proper insertion allowance. A connector characterized in that a joint position is set. The movable protective member and the housing of the male sub-connector according to claim 1, wherein the movable protective member and the flexible engagement piece formed in the movable protective member are elastically deformable and provided with a recess, It is assembled with three kinds of convex portions formed on the housing side and made engageable with the concave portions,
The force when the bending engagement piece gets over the temporary locking protrusion on the front side of the housing among the protrusions to reach the protection position is such that the bending engagement piece is more than the temporary locking protrusion. A connector characterized in that it is made smaller than the force when it gets over the main locking projection located on the far side to reach the assembly position.

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