JP3753017B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a connector provided with a lance.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, an example of a connector provided with a lance in a connector housing is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-325814. As shown in FIG. 10, a plurality of cavities 3 into which a terminal fitting 2 can be inserted are provided in a connector housing 1 in a horizontal direction and arranged in two stages in a vertical direction. A lance 4 is provided on the side, and can be bent and deformed into a bending space 5 provided further above. When the terminal fitting 2 is inserted into the cavity 3, the lance 4 is bent and deformed in the bending space 5, the terminal fitting 2 is inserted to the normal position, and the lance 4 is returned and deformed to be locked to the terminal fitting 2. The terminal fitting 2 is prevented from coming off.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In recent years, there has been a demand for miniaturization of the connector. However, in the case of miniaturization of the connector as described above, for example, by reducing the thickness of the lance 4 and further reducing the flexure space 5, the arrangement of the cavities 3 can be reduced. It is conceivable to reduce the pitch. However, when the thickness of the lance 4 is reduced, the lance 4 is easily bent, so that the terminal fitting 2 is easily removed. Moreover, since the amount of bending deformation of the lance 4 is small, that is, the hooking amount is small, the terminal fitting 2 is easily pulled out, and the locking force cannot be obtained sufficiently.
In addition, it is conceivable to reduce the size in the vertical direction by providing a lance on the side surface of the cavity to bend and deform in the horizontal direction, but naturally the size is increased in the horizontal direction.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a connector that can be miniaturized while securing the locking force of the lance to the terminal fitting.
[0004]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The connector according to the first aspect of the present invention for solving the above-described problem is provided in a connector housing having a plurality of cavities into which terminal fittings can be inserted, and arranged on the inner peripheral surface of the cavity. has lockable locking portion, the deformable lance flexure in a direction that diagonally provided with respect to the arrangement direction of a direction orthogonal to the insertion direction and the cavities of the terminal fitting, wherein The lance extends along the insertion direction of the terminal fitting, and its cross-section is substantially L-shaped along the direction in which the cavities are arranged and the direction perpendicular thereto, and the corner of the cavity is formed at the corner. It is characterized by being arranged in a direction along the shape .
[0007]
The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 1 , the lance also serves as a peripheral wall surrounding the cavity.
[0008]
Operation and effect of the invention
According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the lance is bent in an oblique direction with respect to the direction in which the cavities are arranged (longitudinal direction or lateral direction), the amount of bending deformation along the bending direction of the lance is smaller. It is possible to reduce the size of the deflection space required in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. Accordingly, the connector can be miniaturized by reducing the arrangement pitch of the cavities while securing the locking force to the terminal fitting.
[0009]
In addition , since the cross section of the lance is substantially L-shaped along the direction in which the cavities are arranged and the direction perpendicular thereto, that is, the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, the bending rigidity of the entire lance is increased. Therefore, even if the vertical or horizontal wall surface is thinned, the locking force is secured, so that the size can be further reduced in the vertical and horizontal directions.
[0010]
Furthermore, generally in the dead space is likely to occur in the diagonal direction of the region with respect to the cavity of the wall surrounding the cavity, but distribution lance of approximately L-shaped cross section in a direction along the shape of the corner portion at a corner of the cavity By doing so, the lance can be bent to the region in the diagonal direction, and the space can be used efficiently.
[0011]
According to the invention of claim 2 , since the lance also serves as a peripheral wall surrounding the cavity, the connector can be reduced in size as compared with the conventional case where the lance and the bending space are formed inside the peripheral wall of the cavity. .
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
The connector of the present embodiment is a female connector that can be fitted to a male connector housing (not shown) having a male terminal fitting, and includes four female terminal fittings as shown in FIG. 10 is provided with a female connector housing 20 to which 10 is mounted, and a retainer 40 for double-locking the female terminal fitting 10. In the following description, the direction in which the female terminal fitting 10 is inserted into the female connector housing 20 is the front.
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 1, the female terminal fitting 10 is formed by punching one conductive metal plate into a predetermined shape and then bending it, and a male tab of the male terminal fitting is formed on the front end side. A rectangular tube portion 11 to be connected is provided, and a barrel portion 12 to which a terminal of the electric wire W is connected is provided on the rear end side. The barrel portion 12 includes a wire barrel 13 and an insulation barrel 14 at the front and rear, and the wire barrel 13 includes a pair of caulking pieces extending from the left and right ends of the bottom plate so that the core portion of the electric wire W can be viewed from above. It is crimped. The insulation barrel 14 is similarly provided with a pair of caulking pieces, by which the covering portion of the electric wire W and the rubber stopper 15 fitted around the electric wire W are caulked from above.
[0014]
The rectangular tube portion 11 has an elastic contact piece inside, and when the male tab is inserted from the opening on the front surface, the elastic contact piece makes an elastic contact so that it is electrically connected to the male terminal fitting. It has become. A pair of stabilizers 16A and 16B for insertion guidance are provided on the upper surface of the rectangular tube portion 11 so that the central portion in the width direction protrudes in the front-rear direction. A lance entry recess 17 is formed between the front and rear stabilizers 16 </ b> A and 16 </ b> B on the top surface of the rectangular tube portion 11, and a lance 29 described later enters the lance entry recess 17. The rear end edge of 16A is locked.
[0015]
The female connector housing 20 is made of a synthetic resin material, and as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. A hood portion 22 is formed. Inside the terminal mounting portion 21, two cavities 23 into which the female terminal fitting 10 can be inserted in the front-rear direction are provided in two stages in the horizontal direction (see “Cavity Arrangement” in the present invention). The direction ”may be either the horizontal direction or the vertical direction), and a terminal insertion port 24 for inserting the female terminal fitting 10 is opened at the rear end of each cavity 23. The terminal mounting portion 21 is a square portion 25 in which the outer shape of the portion from the back surface of the hood portion 22 to the vicinity of the center in the front-rear direction has a substantially square cross section. An elongated protrusion 26 is projected forward. These protrusions 26 have a shape that covers substantially the lower half of the front end portion of the female terminal fitting 10 inserted into each cavity 23, and a front wall that serves as a front stop of the female terminal fitting 10 at the front end. 27 is formed, and the front wall 27 constitutes the lower half of the hole edge portion of the tab insertion port through which the male tab of the male terminal fitting can be inserted. Further, a guide groove 28 into which the stabilizers 16A and 16B of the female terminal fitting 10 can enter is formed on the ceiling surface of each cavity 23 along the front-rear direction.
[0016]
From the front end of the rectangular portion 25, a lance 29 for preventing the female terminal fitting 10 from coming off is provided above the protruding portion 26 for each cavity 23. The lance 29 has a length that is about half the length of the protrusion 26 and extends forward. As shown in FIG. 3, the lance 29 extends along the upper wall 29 </ b> A along the lateral direction of the female connector housing 20. It has a substantially L-shaped cross section with a side wall 29B. In addition, the lance 29 is disposed in the upper right corner as viewed from the front of the cavity 23 in an orientation along the shape of the corner. In the upper wall 29A of the lance 29, the guide groove 28 is formed continuously to the tip. The top end of the upper wall 29A is a locking portion 31 protruding inside the cavity 23. The locking portion 31 enters the lance entry recess 17 of the female terminal fitting 10 and can be locked to each other. It has become. The upper wall 29A and the side wall 29B of the lance 29 are formed in a thin shape as a whole, and the locking portion 31 at the tip thereof can be bent and deformed in an oblique direction (upper right direction) as will be described in detail later. Further, the lance 29 is configured to serve as a peripheral wall surrounding the cavity 23. For example, the space above the lance 29 in the lower left position in FIG. 3 communicates with the cavity 23 in the upper left position without sandwiching other wall surfaces. The space on the right side of the lance 29 communicates with the cavity 23 in the lower right position without sandwiching other wall surfaces.
[0017]
On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the retainer 40 is also formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape from a synthetic resin material, and through holes 41 penetrating back and forth are provided at positions corresponding to the cavities 23. It can be attached to the front side of the square portion 25 so that the protruding portion 26 is fitted into the through hole 41. A front wall 42 is formed at the top of the front end of each through hole 41, and this front wall 42 is a front wall of the protrusion 26 when the retainer 40 is attached to the female connector housing 20 at a final locking position described later. 27, the upper half of the hole edge portion of the tab insertion slot through which the male tab can be inserted is formed. Further, a bending restricting portion 44 for restricting the bending is provided on the ceiling surface of the through hole 41 above the locking portion 31 of the lance 29, and the rear side of the bending restricting portion 44 is on the lance 29. It is opened so as to allow the bending. The retainer 40 has a main locking position (see FIG. 7) in which the bending restricting portion 44 restricts the bending of the lance 29 relative to the female connector housing 20 by positioning means (not shown), and the bending restricting portion 44 is in the main locking position. It can be held in two positions: a temporary locking position (see FIG. 5) that retracts further forward and allows the lance 29 to bend.
[0018]
Next, the operation of the present invention will be described.
In order to attach the female terminal fitting 10 to the female connector housing 20, first, the retainer 40 is held in the temporary locking position as shown in FIG. 5, and the female terminal fitting 10 is inserted into the cavity from the terminal insertion port 24. 23 is inserted. When the female terminal fitting 10 is advanced, the front and rear stabilizers 16A and 16B are fitted into the guide groove 28 in order, and the insertion posture of the female terminal fitting 10 is stabilized. When the tip of the rectangular tube portion 11 hits the upper wall 29A of the lance 29 and the front stabilizer 16A enters the lower side of the upper wall 29A, the upper wall 29A is pressed upward while the side wall is formed at the side end. Since 29B is formed, the tip of the lance 29 is bent and deformed in an oblique direction (upper right direction) as a whole as shown in the lower left position of FIG. .
[0019]
When the female terminal fitting 10 reaches the normal position where it abuts against the front wall 27, the stabilizer 16A passes over the locking portion 31 of the lance 29 as shown in FIG. Enters the lance entry recess 17 and is locked to the front edge portion and the stabilizer 16A, and the female terminal fitting 10 is primarily locked (the state shown in the lower right position in FIG. 3).
[0020]
In this way, after the female terminal fittings 10 are mounted in all the cavities 23, the retainer 40 is subsequently pushed backward, and the retainer 40 is held in the final locking position as shown in FIG. Advancing to a position above the locking portion 31 of the lance 29, the bending thereof is restricted, whereby the female terminal fitting 10 is double locked. Thus, the assembly of the female connector is completed.
In the above process, if one of the female terminal fittings 10 is in a half-inserted state that does not reach the normal position by mistake, the retainer 40 is moved to the full locking position. As shown in FIG. 8, since the movement of the retainer 40 is restricted when the bending restricting portion 44 abuts against the engaging portion 31 of the lance 29, it is possible to know that the operator is in the half-inserted state.
[0021]
When removing the female terminal fitting 10, first, the retainer 40 is removed from the female connector housing 20, and then, as shown in FIG. 9, the tip of the jig J is inserted inside the locking portion 31 of the lance 29. The lance 29 is bent in an oblique direction to release the lock. Therefore, when the electric wire W is pulled backward, the female terminal fitting 10 is pulled out from the cavity 23. Since the lance 29 also serves as a peripheral wall surrounding the cavity 23, the periphery is largely open, so that the unlocking operation is easy.
[0022]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the lance 29 is bent in an oblique direction with respect to the direction in which the cavities 23 are arranged (longitudinal direction or lateral direction), the amount of bending deformation along the bending direction of the lance 29 is increased. In comparison, the dimensions of the flex space required for the vertical and horizontal directions of the female connector housing 20 can be reduced. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the connector size by reducing the arrangement pitch of the cavities 23 while securing the locking force to the female terminal fitting 10.
[0023]
In addition, since the cross section of the lance 29 is substantially L-shaped along the direction in which the cavities 23 are arranged and the direction orthogonal thereto, that is, the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, the bending rigidity of the entire lance 29 is increased. Therefore, even if the vertical or horizontal wall surface is thinned, the locking force is secured, so that the size can be further reduced in the vertical and horizontal directions.
[0024]
Further, in general, a dead space is likely to be generated in a region diagonal to the cavity of the peripheral wall surrounding the cavity. However, in this embodiment, a lance 29 having a substantially L-shaped cross section is formed at the corner of the cavity 23. By arranging in the direction along, the lance 29 can be bent to the area of the diagonal direction, and space can be used efficiently.
[0025]
Further, since the lance 29 also serves as a peripheral wall surrounding the cavity 23, the connector can be reduced in size as compared with the conventional case where the lance and the bending space are formed inside the peripheral wall of the cavity.
[0026]
The technical scope of the present invention is not limited by the above-described embodiments, and, for example, those described below are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
(1) The present invention can also be applied to a male connector provided with a male terminal fitting.
(2) The lance may be formed inside the peripheral wall surrounding the cavity.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an exploded longitudinal sectional view of a connector in the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a front view of a connector housing. FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged front view of a connector housing for explaining the operation of a lance. 5] A longitudinal sectional view showing a state where the lance is bent and deformed. [Fig. 6] A longitudinal sectional view showing a state where the lance is locked to the female terminal fitting. [Fig. FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state when a half-insertion state is detected. FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a process of removing a female terminal fitting with a jig. FIG. Longitudinal sectional view [Explanation of symbols]
10: Female terminal fitting (terminal fitting)
20: Female connector housing (connector housing)
23 ... Cavity 29 ... Lance 31 ... Locking part

Claims (2)

A connector housing having a plurality of cavities into which terminal fittings can be inserted is arranged, and has a locking portion that can be locked to the terminal fittings on the inner peripheral surface of the cavity, in the insertion direction of the terminal fittings. A lance is provided that can be bent and deformed in a direction that is orthogonal to and oblique to the direction in which the cavities are arranged .
The lance extends along the insertion direction of the terminal fitting, and its cross section is substantially L-shaped along the direction in which the cavities are arranged and the direction perpendicular thereto, and the corner of the cavity is at the corner. A connector characterized by being arranged in a direction along the shape of the connector. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the lance also serves as a peripheral wall surrounding the cavity .

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