JP3643296B2 - Inertia lock connector - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an inertia lock connector that enables reliable connection of both male and female terminals by abutting a male terminal against an arm of a connector housing containing a female terminal to obtain the inertia force of the male terminal.
[0002]
[Prior art]
5 to 6 sequentially show a state in which a male terminal used for connecting a rear defogger or the like of an automobile is connected to a female terminal in a mating connector.
[0003]
In FIG. 5, reference numeral 81 denotes a male terminal having a contact tab portion 81 a, and 82 denotes a connector that houses a female terminal 83. The male terminal 81 is formed, for example, bent in a substantially crank shape, and the other connecting portion (not shown) following the one contact tab portion 81a is connected to the terminal of the rear defogger hot wire by soldering. A locking hole 84 is formed in the center of the contact tab 81a. The male terminal 81 remains exposed to the outside and is not accommodated in the connector housing 85 like the female terminal 83.
[0004]
The connector 82 includes a connector housing 85 made of synthetic resin and a female terminal 83 made of metal. The connector housing 85 includes a front wall and upper, lower, left and right wall portions. The front wall is formed with an insertion hole 86 for the male terminal 81, and the lower wall is a flexible member having a locking projection 87a for the female terminal 83. A locking arm 87 is formed.
[0005]
The female terminal 83 has a box-shaped electrical contact portion 88 on one side and a wire connection portion (crimping portion) 89 on the other side. An elastic contact piece 90 is provided inside the electrical contact portion 88, and a locking projection 91 for the hole 84 of the male terminal 81 is formed on the elastic contact piece 90. As shown in FIG. 6, the contact tab portion 81 a of the male terminal 81 is inserted and connected between the elastic contact piece 90 of the female terminal 83 and the holding wall 92, and the locking projection 91 is engaged with the hole portion 84, so-called. Positive lock is performed. The elastic contact piece 90 is displaced downward by a mechanism (not shown), and the connector 82 having the male terminal 81 or the female terminal 83 is pulled to release the locking between the terminals 81 and 83.
[0006]
In FIG. 5, the electric wire connecting portion 89 is composed of a pair of conductor crimping pieces on the front side and a pair of covering crimping pieces on the rear side. The electric wire 93 is, for example, a power line for an automobile, and supplies electricity to the male terminal 81 side to heat, for example, a heat wire for a rear defogger.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above conventional structure, since there is no connector housing on the male terminal 81 side, the male and female connector housings cannot be fitted and locked with each other. It is difficult to confirm whether or not the terminal 83 is completely inserted and connected, and the male terminal 81 is likely to be half-inserted (incompletely inserted) with respect to the female terminal 83. Therefore, there is a problem that the male terminal 81 easily comes out of the female terminal 83. Further, when the terminals 81 and 83 are large or when the number of poles of the terminals 81 and 83 is large, sliding resistance between the terminals increases when the terminals are connected, and a large insertion force is required for the male terminal 81. However, there is a problem that half insertion of the male terminal 81 is likely to occur.
[0008]
Conventionally, when a male connector containing a female terminal is fitted into a female connector (not shown) containing a male terminal, for example, one connector housing is used to prevent half-fitting of both connectors. Proposed and implemented are means for fitting the two connectors by obtaining a large inertial force by abutting the locking projections of the other connector housing against the flexible lock arm. However, there is no good means for reliably connecting the male terminal 81 having no connector housing to the female terminal 83 in the mating connector 82 without causing half insertion, and such means has been desired.
[0009]
An object of the present invention is to provide an inertia lock connector that can reliably connect a male terminal to a female terminal in the connector without causing half-insertion.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a connector for inserting and connecting a male terminal to a female terminal in a connector housing, wherein the connector housing is provided with an arm for abutting the male terminal, and the abutting portion of the arm In the state where the arm protrudes into the connector housing, a locking portion for primarily locking the arm is provided in the connector housing, and the male terminal abuts against the abutting portion protruding into the connector housing . An inertia lock connector is employed, in which an inertia force in a terminal connecting direction is generated, the engagement by the engagement portion is released, and the arm is pushed back outward (Claim 1).
The arm is provided in an opening portion of the outer wall of the connector housing, the locking portion is provided in the opening portion, and the arm is engaged with the locking portion in a secondary state in a state of closing the opening portion. It is also effective that the portion is provided on the arm (claim 2).
It is also effective for the arm to have an elastic force toward the outside of the connector housing.
It is also effective that the arm engages with the insertion hole of the female terminal to lock the female terminal (claim 4).
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.
1 to 4 show an embodiment of an inertia lock connector according to the present invention.
[0012]
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a connector housing made of synthetic resin, and 2 denotes a contact tab portion of the male terminal 3. The male terminal 3 is connected and fixed to, for example, a heat wire for a defroster in a rear window of an automobile by solder. The connector housing 1 is configured as a male connector 5 containing a female terminal 4 (FIG. 2), and the female terminal 4 is a power source. Crimp connection to the electric wire 6 (FIG. 2). The connector housing 1, the female terminal 4, and the male terminal 3 constitute an inertia lock connector 7.
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 1, the connector housing 1 integrally has an elastic arm 9 for abutting a male terminal on an upper wall (outer wall or wall portion) 8, and the arm 9 bends upward in a free state, as shown in FIG. 1 and 3, the arm 9 is pushed into the connector housing 1 as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, so that the arm protrudes from the inner surface 11 of the opening 10 for projecting the arm. The upper surface tip 13 is primarily locked, and a part of the protrusion 14 of the arm 9 (the portion on the tip side) acts as an abutting portion 15 for the male terminal.
[0014]
The arm 9 is formed so as to protrude outward as shown in FIG. 2 during resin molding, thereby having an outward elastic force (restoring force). With the arm 9 protruding outward, the female terminal 4 is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 17 from the rear opening 16 of the connector housing 1 as shown in FIG.
[0015]
As shown in FIG. 1, the base portion 18 of the arm 9 is located near the front wall 19 of the connector housing 1, and the free end of the arm 9 is located far from the front wall 19. That is, the arm 9 extends toward the rear of the connector housing 1.
[0016]
The arm 9 includes a main body 21 formed by cutting the upper wall 8 of the connector housing 1 into a substantially U-shape, and a thick wall having a substantially triangular shape in a longitudinal section protruding into the terminal accommodating chamber 17 following the main body 21. The projecting portion 14 includes a projecting portion 15 and a butting portion 15 having a rectangular longitudinal cross section that is extended to the tip end side (lower end side) of the projecting portion 14. The main body portion 21, the projecting portion 14, and the abutting portion 15 are integrally formed of synthetic resin.
[0017]
The length of the main body portion 21 (the length in the terminal insertion direction) is substantially the same as the length of the protruding portion 14, thereby increasing the elastic force of the arm 9. When the length of the main body portion 21 is set long, the elastic force of the arm 9 becomes weak. By appropriately setting the length of the arm 9, the elastic force of the arm 9, that is, the inertial force of the male terminal 3 to be described later can be freely adjusted.
[0018]
The main body 21 is formed to be slightly smaller than the opening 10 of the housing upper wall 8, and the opening 10 can be completely sealed. A locking projection 12 having a triangular cross section is provided on the inner surface 11 on the rear side of the opening 10, and a substantially V-shaped engaging groove (engaging portion) for the locking projection 12 is formed on the free end side of the arm 9. 22 is formed. The locking protrusion 12 is formed slightly longer in the horizontal direction (shorter than the inner width of the opening 10). The lower inclined surface 12a of the locking projection 12 acts as a stop surface against the arm 9, and the upper inclined surface 12b slides the arm 9 protruding outward as shown in FIG. 2 into the connector housing smoothly. Acts as a moving surface.
[0019]
As shown in FIG. 1, the arm 9 is primarily locked in a state where the upper surface tip 13 of the main body 21 is brought into contact with the lower inclined surface 12 a of the locking protrusion 12 by an upward restoring force. At this time, the protruding portion 14 of the arm 9 protrudes greatly into the terminal accommodating chamber 17. In this state, the male terminal 3 is inserted into the slit-like insertion hole 23 of the housing front wall 19, and the tip 24 of the contact tab 2 abuts against the abutment 15 at the tip of the projection.
[0020]
The vertical width of the male terminal insertion hole 23 is a little wider than the plate thickness of the tab portion 2, and the tip 24 of the tab portion 2 reliably abuts against the abutting portion 15 of the arm 9. A horizontal guide wall (not shown) is provided at the lower end edge 25 of the insertion hole 23 so as to protrude into the terminal accommodating chamber 17, and the tab portion 2 faces the abutting portion 15 of the arm 9 along the upper surface of the guide wall. It is also possible to guide accurately. A vertical hole 26 for locking the female terminal 4 (FIG. 2) is provided at the center of the tab portion 2 in the width direction.
[0021]
As shown in FIG. 2, the female terminal 4 with an electric wire is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 17 of the connector housing 1 from the rear opening 16 with the arm 9 protruding outward due to its elastic force. Since the arm 9 protrudes outward, interference with the female terminal 4 is prevented, and the female terminal 4 can be smoothly inserted. Since the shape of the female terminal 4 is the same as that described in the prior art, a detailed description is omitted. In the female terminal 4, for example, the hole 28 of the electrical contact portion 27 is locked by the protrusion 31 of the locking arm 30 of the lower wall 29 of the connector housing 1. Since the locking arm 30 is integral with the lower wall 29 and is in the same plane, the female terminal 4 is always in contact with the inner surface of the lower wall 29, and the male terminal 3 hits the arm 9 when the male terminal 3 in FIG. In this case, the female terminal 4 is not displaced (not loosely) in the height direction.
[0022]
In this embodiment, the locking arm 30 is used. However, the locking arm 30 may be eliminated and only the abutting arm 9 may be used to lock the female terminal 4. In this case, when the female terminal 4 is inserted into the connector housing 1, the operator pushes down the arm 9 by the automatic assembly machine or protrudes into the electrical contact portion 27 of the female terminal 4. As a result, the female terminal 4 is locked and the female terminal 4 is prevented from coming off.
[0023]
An insertion hole 35 for the protruding portion 14 of the arm 9 is formed in the upper wall 32 of the female terminal 4, that is, the contact plate portion 34 facing the elastic contact piece 33 in this embodiment. The size of the insertion hole 35 is for projecting the arm 9 into the terminal accommodating chamber 17, and is preferably as small as necessary from the viewpoint of electrical contact.
[0024]
From the state of FIG. 2, for example, the operator presses the arm 9 downward and bends it, and protrudes into the terminal accommodating chamber 17, that is, into the female terminal 4 as shown in FIG. 3. At this time, the top end 13 of the upper surface of the arm 9 climbs over the locking projection 12 of the opening 10 and protrudes downward, and the top end 13 of the arm 9 contacts the inclined surface 12a below the locking projection 12 (FIG. 2). (Primary locking), the upward restoring operation of the arm 9 is prevented. The steeper the angle of the lower inclined surface 12a, the greater the force required to restore the arm 9. The protruding portion 14 of the arm 9 passes through the insertion hole 35 (FIG. 2) of the upper wall 32 of the female terminal 4, and the abutting portion 15 at the tip of the protruding portion protrudes into the electrical contact portion 27 of the female terminal 4. The protruding length of the abutting portion 15 is set such that the elastic contact piece 33 is not touched or lightly touched.
[0025]
In this state, the male terminal 3 is inserted into the connector housing 1 from the insertion hole 23 of the housing front wall 19. The same applies when the connector housing 1 is moved toward the male terminal 3 on the fixed side. The tip 24 of the tab portion 2 of the male terminal 3 abuts against the abutting portion 15 of the arm 9, and in this state, the operator strongly presses the male terminal 3 in the insertion direction, or the connector housing 1 faces the male terminal 3. By pressing strongly, a large pressing force is accumulated, and when the pressing force exceeds the specified insertion force of both male and female terminals 3 and 4, the arm 9 is pushed back upward as shown in FIG. It is inserted at a stretch to the specified position in the female terminal 4 by inertia force.
[0026]
The force to be primarily locked by the locking protrusion 12 of the opening 10 in a state where the arm 9 is bent downward is set to be larger than the force required for insertion of both the male and female terminals 3 and 4, that is, the insertion force. Yes. While the arm 9 is restored upward, the engaging groove 22 engages with the engaging protrusion 12 in the opening 10 (secondary engagement or secondary engagement), and is positioned on the same plane as the housing upper wall 8. The opening 10 is closed.
[0027]
When the female terminal 4 is locked by the arm 9, it is preferable that the abutting portion 15 of the arm 9 is slightly extended downward in FIG. 4 to engage with the insertion hole 35 of the female terminal 4. It is also possible to lock both terminals 3 and 4 only by engaging the locking projection 36 of the elastic contact piece 33 of the female terminal 4 with the hole 26 of the male terminal 3. If the inclined surface 12a on the lower side of the locking projection 12 is set to be steep at the stage of FIG. 3, the restoring prevention force of the arm 9 is increased and the strong inertial force of the male terminal 3 is exhibited. The inertial force of the male terminal 3 can be appropriately adjusted by setting the angle of the locking projection 12.
[0028]
Inertial insertion of the male terminal 3 prevents half-insertion of both terminals 3 and 4, and a reliable electrical connection is made. As shown in FIG. 4, in a state where the tab portion 2 of the male terminal 3 is sandwiched and connected between the elastic contact piece 33 of the female terminal 4 and the contact plate 34, the elastic contact piece 33 is locked in the hole portion 26 of the tab portion 2. The protrusion 36 is engaged, and the male and female terminals 3 and 4 are locked to each other (positive lock).
[0029]
The form of the abutting arm 9 is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the arm 9 is elastic until the upper surface of the arm 9 (substitute with reference numeral 21 in FIG. 1) and the housing upper wall 8 are flush with each other. It may be restored by force, and no more will be restored upward. Further, the arm 9 may have an elastic force in a downward direction, that is, in a direction protruding into the connector housing 1. The arm 9 is pushed up by the male terminal 3 against the bias. In short, it is necessary to obtain a large inertial force of the male terminal 3 by blocking the arm 9 with the locking projection 12 in the opening 10 so as not to bend outward (the pushing direction). In these cases, when inserting the female terminal 4 into the connector housing 1, the operator needs to bend the arm 9 upward.
[0030]
Further, the length of the arm 9 is appropriately set according to the required inertial force of the male terminal 4, and the shape of the protruding portion 14 (in the present embodiment, a substantially triangular cross section) can be appropriately set. It is necessary for the direction of the arm 9 that the arm free end is rearward to prevent the buckling deformation of the arm 9 and to perform smooth restoration, but these points (buckling and the like) are eliminated. If it is a shape, the direction of the arm 9 may be reversed (the arm free end faces forward).
[0031]
Further, an engagement projection (engagement portion) is provided at the tip of the arm 9, and the lower end edge 37 (FIG. 2) of the inner surface 11 of the opening 10 of the connector housing 1 acts as a locking portion for abutting against the engagement projection. It is also possible to provide a locking groove on the inner surface 11 of the opening 10 for secondary engagement of the engaging protrusion.
[0032]
The male terminal 3 is accommodated in a female connector housing (not shown), and the male terminal housing 1 and the female connector housing 1 accommodating the female terminal 4 are fitted into the female connector housing at the same time as the arm 9 is operated. It is also possible to exert the inertia force of 3. In this case, a relief portion for the arm 9 is formed in the female connector housing.
[0033]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the arm is held in a state of protruding into the connector housing by the locking portion, and the male terminal abuts against the abutting portion of the arm, whereby the insertion direction of the male terminal is reached. As a result, a strong inertia force is exerted on the male terminal and the male terminal is securely inserted and connected to the female terminal without being half-inserted. This prevents the male terminal from being pulled out due to incomplete insertion. In particular, by locking the arm with the locking portion of the connector housing protruding in the connector housing, a strong force is required for restoring the arm, and a large inertial force of the male terminal can be obtained.
[0034]
According to the second aspect of the invention, since the arm is locked (secondary engagement) in a state where the opening of the connector housing is blocked, entry of foreign matter or the like from the opening into the connector housing is prevented. At the same time, the projection of the arm to the outside is eliminated and interference with the outside is prevented.
[0035]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, the female terminals can be smoothly inserted into the connector housing without interference in a state where the arm protrudes to the outside of the connector housing, and the assembly workability of the connector is improved. .
[0036]
According to the invention of claim 4, since the arm also serves as a locking member for the female terminal, there is no need to separately provide a female terminal locking member in the connector housing, and the structure is simplified, made compact, Cost reduction.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a principal section showing an embodiment of an inertia lock connector according to the present invention in a longitudinal section.
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state in which a female terminal is inserted into the connector housing with an abutting arm protruding outward.
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state in which a male terminal is inserted in a state where an arm protrudes to the inside of a connector housing.
FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state where the male terminal is completely inserted into the female terminal by inertial force.
FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing one embodiment of a conventional connector.
FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state where a male terminal is similarly inserted.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Connector housing 3 Male terminal 4 Female terminal 7 Inertial lock connector 8 Upper wall (outer wall)
9 Arm 10 Opening portion 12 Locking protrusion (Locking portion)
15 Abutting portion 22 Engaging groove (engaging portion)
35 Insertion hole

Claims (4)

In the connector for inserting and connecting the male terminal to the female terminal in the connector housing, the connector housing is provided with an arm that abuts the male terminal, and the abutting portion of the arm projects into the connector housing. A locking portion for primarily locking the arm is provided in the connector housing, and the male terminal abuts against the abutting portion protruding into the connector housing, so that an inertial force in the terminal connection direction is generated while the engagement is being generated. An inertia lock connector, wherein the latch is released and the arm is pushed back outward .   The arm is provided in the opening of the outer wall of the connector housing, the locking portion is provided in the opening, and the arm is engaged with the locking portion in a secondary state with the opening being closed. The inertia lock connector according to claim 1, wherein a portion is provided on the arm.   The inertial lock connector according to claim 1, wherein the arm has an elastic force toward the outside of the connector housing.   The inertia lock connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the arm engages with the insertion hole of the female terminal to lock the female terminal.

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