JP3977322B2 - Circuit board housing structure in housing with cover - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a circuit board accommodating structure of the cover with a housing suitable for containing and fixing the circuit board in the housing.

  Conventionally, a structure in which a plate-like component such as a circuit board is fixed and accommodated in a housing is known. As an example of such a structure, in order to suppress rattling and abnormal noise of a printed circuit board housed in a housing, there is a structure in which a protrusion having a triangular cross section is installed and the substrate is sandwiched and fixed (for example, Patent Documents) 1).

  In this structure, as shown in FIG. 5, a protrusion 112 having an isosceles triangular cross section with an acute angle is formed on the upper surface of the base 111 of the lower case 110, and when assembled, as shown in FIG. The peripheral edge of the printed circuit board 130 is placed on the base 111 of the lower case 110 on which the protrusion 112 is formed. Next, the upper case 120 is put on the upper surface of the lower case 110. As a result, the clamping unit 122 presses the printed board 130, and the printed board 130 is pressed against the pedestal 111 side while crushing the tip of the protrusion 112. Then, as shown in FIG. 5B, when the locking collar 113 is fitted into the locking hole 114 through elastic deformation and the upper and lower cases 110 and 120 are fitted to each other, the peripheral edge of the printed circuit board 130 is obtained. Is sandwiched between the pinching portion 122 of the upper case 120 and the crushed protrusion 112 on the pedestal 111 of the lower case 110 and stored in the cases 110 and 120.

  Further, the circuit board is housed in the housing, and the circuit board is accommodated in the housing and the cover while the circuit board is housed in the housing and the pressing convex part of the cover is pressed against a part of the circuit board to crush the pressing convex part. There are also structures that are sandwiched between and fixed (see FIGS. 6 to 8).

JP-A-8-1445019 (page 3-4, FIG. 3)

  In the prior art structure described in Patent Document 1, no special guide rib or the like is provided for fitting the upper case 120 to the lower case 110. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the structure described as the related art only includes locking claws 221 and 222 that latch and engage one side at a time when the cover 220 is fitted into the housing 210. Therefore, in these structures, when the cover 220 is fitted into the housing 210, the cover 220 is usually inclined with respect to the fitting surface of the housing 210 for ease of assembly as shown in FIGS. One of the cover side edges is fitted to the housing 210. Accordingly, one cover side edge portion (the left side edge portion in FIGS. 7 and 8) fitted first is slowly fitted to the locking claw 211 of the housing, so that the pressing convex portion 223 provided on the side edge side is The other cover side edge portion (the right side edge portion in FIGS. 7 and 8) to be fitted later is latch-engaged with the latching claw 211 of the housing vigorously. As a result, the pressing convex portion 224 of the cover 220 also strikes the circuit board 230 vigorously, and is considerably crushed compared to the pressing convex portion 223 that first contacts the circuit board 230.

  In this way, since the side to be fitted from the rear of the cover 220 fits more vigorously, the circuit board 230 may be removed if the holding projections on the side fitted later tend to collapse more than the holding projections on the side fitted first. The amount of crushing of the pressing convex portions 223 and 224 being pressed differs between the pressing convex portion 223 on one cover edge and the pressing convex portion 224 on the other cover edge. As a result, the circuit board 230 may be slightly tilted from the normal position in the housing. In addition to this, for example, as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, when a plurality of terminals 231 are suspended from the circuit board 230, these terminals 231 are inclined by tilting the circuit board 230 in the housing. May become slanted, and the position of the tip of the terminal may slip and may not fit well with the mating terminal (not shown).

An object of the present invention is to provide a structure in which a circuit board accommodated in a housing is sandwiched between the housing and a cover fitted to the housing and securely held.

In order to solve the above-described problem, the circuit board housing structure to the cover-equipped housing according to the present invention includes:
A circuit board, part has an opening, and a connector housing capable of accommodating the circuit board therein with at least a portion is in contact with one surface of the circuit board,
Cover and having a pressing protrusion for plastically deformable plurality of circuit board holding that is pressed on the other surface of the circuit board in fitted state of latch engageable with said connector housing in the opening of the connector housing Have
The circuit board includes a plurality of terminals that can be fitted with terminals accommodated in a mating connector housing that fits into the connector housing,
In the fitted state into the connector housing of the cover, the circuit board of the circuit board is sandwiched between the pressing convex portion of the cover and the connector housing, the cover with the connector housing which is configured to secure within the connector housing In the containment structure,
The cover has a plurality of engaging claws that can latch-engage with the connector housing, and a cover fitting guide portion that is formed integrally with a positioning rib that protrudes from the tip of the engaging claw,
Immediately before the engagement claw portion on the cover and the engagement claw portion on the connector housing start engagement, the cover fitting guide portion comes into contact with the engagement claw portion on the connector housing, The cover is once positioned parallel to the opening surface of the connector housing;
Furthermore, the engagement claw portions on the plurality of covers and the engagement claw portions on the plurality of connector housings are simultaneously latch-engaged,
Fit the cover in parallel with the opening surface of the connector housing opening ,
In the fitted state, the pressing convex portions are uniformly plastically deformed .

  By providing such a cover fitting guide portion, the plate-like component can be evenly sandwiched between the cover and the housing, and the plate-like component is securely held in the housing.

  Since the cover fitting guide part is composed of such positioning ribs, it is possible to evenly sandwich the plate-like component between the cover and the housing just by fitting the cover to the housing from the state where the cover is temporarily placed on the housing. Hold the plate-shaped part firmly in the housing.

  Since the engaging claw portion and the cover fitting guide portion are integrally formed, the plate-like component can be securely held in the housing with a simple structure.

  Since the amount of crushing of the pressing protrusions holding the plate-like component becomes uniform, the plate-like component does not tilt slightly in the housing.

  Even if the pressing convex portion is formed on the plate-shaped component instead of forming the pressing convex portion on the cover, the plate-shaped component can be firmly held in the housing with the simple structure as described above.

  Since the pressing projections provided on the cover are evenly crushed, the circuit board does not tilt slightly in the connector housing. As a result, the terminal provided on the circuit board does not tilt from the normal posture, and the positional deviation of the terminal tip can be eliminated, and the terminals can be securely fitted to each other.

  In the present invention, since the cover fitting guide portion capable of fitting the cover in parallel with the opening surface of the housing opening portion is formed on the cover, the amount of crushing of the pressing convex portion for pressing the plate-like component formed on the cover Becomes uniform, and the plate-shaped component does not tilt in the housing. As a result, when the plate-like component is made of a circuit board and provided with a terminal, the position of the terminal tip does not shift. Thereby, when a housing is a connector housing, favorable fitting with an external connection connector can be performed and terminal insertion force also becomes small.

Hereinafter, a circuit board housing structure of a housing with a cover according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the present embodiment, an example in which this structure is applied to a joint connector will be described. A joint connector 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention to which such a structure is applied includes a female connector 2 that holds a large number of female terminals (not shown) and a housing that can accommodate the female connector 2, as shown in an exploded perspective view of FIG. 30 and a male terminal assembly 50 having a number of male terminals M connected to the female terminals of the female connector 2 and a cover 40 that is attached to the opposite side of the housing 30 from the female connector insertion side. It consists of a connector 3.

  The female connector 2 has a structure in which female connector elements 20 including a rectangular thick plate-shaped female terminal holder (one-stage parallel-shaped connector housing) and female terminals arranged in parallel with the female terminal holder are stacked in the vertical direction. . The female connector elements 20 correspond to one sub-harness (not shown) here, and a separate sub-harness is attached to each female connector element 20. The female terminal holder of the female connector element 20 is made of, for example, a resin material such as PBT (polybutylene terephthalate) or PP (polypropylene), and the female terminal receiving groove is formed at a predetermined interval across the entire width of the holder on the upper surface. A plurality are formed. Further, each female terminal receiving groove and one side surface of the female terminal holder communicate with each other through a male terminal insertion hole (not shown).

  Moreover, although not shown in detail here, the female connector element 20 includes element locking means for laminating and combining the female connector elements 20 in a plurality of stages (in the illustrated example, 10 stages). The element locking means is also made of a resin material such as PBT (polybutylene terephthalate) or PP (polypropylene), and is formed by plastic molding.

  On the other hand, the male connector 3 shown in the figure includes a rectangular tubular housing 30, a male terminal assembly 50 that can be inserted into the housing 30, and a cover 40 that is attached to the housing 30. The housing 30 is made of a resin material such as PBT (polybutylene terephthalate) or PP (polypropylene). The cover 40 has a rectangular plate shape, and is attached to the side of the housing 30 where the male terminal assembly 50 is mounted. The cover 40 holds the male terminal assembly 50 in the housing and protects it. The cover 40 is also made of a resin material such as PP (polypropylene) or PBT (polybutylene terephthalate), and is formed by plastic molding.

  The housing 30 has a rectangular tube shape and includes a bottom wall portion 31 to be retrofitted inside. Further, a plurality of engaging groove portions 30a are formed in parallel on the inner wall side surface of the housing 30 to engage the female connector 2 when the female connector 2 is inserted and accommodate the female connector 2 inside the housing. The housing 30 not only holds the male terminal assembly 50 but also guides the female connector 2 to the male connector 1 in a proper position so that the male terminal M and the female terminal (not shown) can be easily engaged. Also plays. The detailed structure of the housing 30 and the cover 40 will be described later.

  The male terminal assembly 50 includes a circuit board 51 and a large number of male terminals M provided in a matrix on one surface of the circuit board 51. The end of each male terminal M is press-fitted into a terminal insertion hole (not shown) formed in the circuit board 51 on the matrix, and is soldered to the circuit board 51. The male terminal M is press-fitted and fixed to the circuit board 51 by general driving, and then soldered to a copper foil circuit pattern (not shown) formed on the circuit board 51.

  Subsequently, a structure for housing the circuit board 51 in the housing 30 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the housing 30 described above has a rectangular tube shape, and includes a bottom wall portion 31 in contact with one surface of the circuit board 51. The bottom wall portion 31 also serves as a partition plate that partitions the interior of the housing into the female connector housing portion 32 and the circuit board housing portion 33. The bottom wall portion 31 is formed with a number of through holes (not shown) through which a large number of male terminals M provided on the circuit board 51 penetrate and project toward the female connector housing portion side of the housing 30.

  On the other hand, on the side wall portion 34 on the circuit board housing side of the housing 30, there is an engaging claw portion 35 that latches and engages with the cover 40 at the upper edge of a pair of opposing wall inner walls (the left and right wall inner walls in FIG. 2). A total of four of each two are provided (FIG. 2 shows only the front engaging claw portion).

  On the other hand, the cover 40 has a rectangular plate shape, and a pair of parallel side edges of the cover 40 has an engagement claw portion 35 of the housing 30 and an edge contacting the circuit board housing opening 33 a of the housing 30. A total of four engaging claw portions 45 that are latched and engaged by elastic deformation are formed. Further, at the tip of each engagement claw portion 45, the cover 40 can be positioned in parallel with the opening surface of the circuit board housing opening 33a of the housing 30 before the cover 40 is fitted into the housing 30. A positioning rib (cover fitting guide portion) 46 for placement is formed.

  That is, in FIG. 2, the positioning rib 46 extends and protrudes from the tip of the engaging claw portion of the cover 40 covered from above, and the cover 40 can be temporarily fixed to the opening of the housing 30 by the positioning rib 46. Then, as will be described later, the cover 40 is temporarily fixed in parallel with the opening surface of the circuit board housing opening 33a of the housing 30, and then the entire cover is pressed in parallel, whereby the cover 40 opens the opening surface of the circuit board housing opening 33a. The cover 40 is adapted to fit into the housing 30 while maintaining parallel to the housing 30.

  Thus, since the positioning rib 46 protrudes from the tip of the engaging claw portion 45 and is integrally formed, the engaging claw portion 45 and the positioning rib 46 can be formed without taking a complicated configuration.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a total of four pressing protrusions 47 are formed at the four corners inside the cover so as to abut against the four corners of the circuit board 51 and press the circuit board 15 against the bottom wall 31 of the housing 30. Has been. In a state where the cover 40 is fitted to the housing 30, the circuit board 51 is sandwiched between the housing 30 and the pressing protrusion 47 of the cover 40 to fix the circuit board 51 in the housing.

  Further, the pressing convex portion 47 of the cover 40 is plastically deformed according to a predetermined pressing force. In the state where the cover 40 is fitted to the housing 30, as shown in FIG. 4, the pressing protrusions 47 are uniformly plastically deformed by the action of positioning ribs 46 described later. In addition, if the crushing amount of the pressing projection 47 is different, the circuit board 51 is slightly inclined in the connector housing, and as a result, the male terminal M connected to the circuit board 51 is inclined and the position of the tip of the terminal is shifted. However, since the amount of crushing of the pressing protrusion 47 is uniform, such a phenomenon can be reliably fitted between the terminals.

  Next, an example of a fitting procedure for fitting the cover 40 to the housing 30 will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 2, the housing 30 is positioned so that its circuit board housing opening faces upward, for example. Then, the male terminal M of the circuit board 51 is inserted into the male terminal through hole formed in the bottom wall portion 31 of the housing 30, and the circuit board 51 is brought into contact with the bottom wall portion 31 of the housing 30. In this state, as shown in FIG. 3, the positioning rib 46 of the cover 40 is positioned inside the opening edge of the circuit board housing opening 33 a of the housing 30. Accordingly, the cover 40 is temporarily placed on the circuit board housing opening 33 a of the housing 30 in parallel with the opening surface. In this state, the cover 40 is pressed against the housing 30 through a simple pressing jig, for example. As a result, the cover 40 is pushed in parallel to the opening surface of the housing 30 (without tilting with respect to the opening surface), and eventually the engagement claw portion 45 of the cover 40 and the engagement claw portion 35 of the housing 30. The cover 40 is fitted into the housing 30 by latch engagement. That is, by providing the positioning ribs 46 for temporarily placing the cover 40 in parallel on the housing 30 as described above, when the cover 40 is fitted to the housing 30, the engaging claws 35 and 45 are simultaneously latched on both sides. It is possible to make it.

  As is apparent from the fitting operation, in the case of the joint connector 1 according to the present embodiment, both cover side edges (left and right edges in FIG. 2) are fitted simultaneously as shown in FIG. The pressing projection 47 provided on the edge side is uniformly crushed. That is, it is not necessary to incline the cover 40 with respect to the fitting surface of the housing 30 and fit the cover 40 to the housing 30 from one of the cover side edges as in the prior art. As a result, the pressing protrusion on the side that is fitted after the pressing protrusion on the side that is fitted first is excessively crushed in order to fit the engaging claw on the side that is fitted later as in the related art described above. There is no.

  In this way, the crushing amount of each pressing projection 47 is equalized, so that it is possible to prevent the circuit board 51 from being tilted slightly in the housing. As a result, the male terminal M connected to the circuit board 51 is not inclined.

  Next, the female connector 2 is fitted into the male connector 3 assembled in this way. In this connector fitting, the female connector 2 is inserted into the opening of the female connector housing portion 32 of the housing 30. In this insertion operation, as described above, the male terminal 3 of the male connector 3 is not misaligned, so that the terminals can be securely fitted together, and the connector can be smoothly fitted. 1 can be assembled efficiently.

  As described above, since the present embodiment includes the cover fitting guide portion such as the positioning rib 46, the cover 40 is simply fitted to the housing 30 from the state where the cover 40 is temporarily placed on the housing 30. The circuit board 51 can be evenly sandwiched between the cover 40 and the housing 30 and can be firmly held in the housing.

  Unlike the above-described embodiment, instead of the cover 40 having the pressing protrusion 47, the circuit board 51 has a pressing protrusion, and each pressing protrusion 47 is even in the state where the cover 40 is fitted to the housing 30. The structure may be plastically deformed. As described above, it is also possible to exert the above-described effect by forming the pressing convex portion on the circuit board 51 instead of forming the pressing convex portion 47 on the cover 40.

  Further, the number of engaging claw portions and pressing convex portions is not limited to the above-described embodiment. Further, the guide rib need not be formed integrally with the tip of the engaging claw, and may be formed on a part of the cover near the engaging claw.

The scope of application of the circuit board housing structure to the cover-equipped housing according to the present invention is not limited to the connector described above, and is suitable for, for example, a circuit board (plate-shaped part) such as an electrical connection box that is housed in the cover-equipped housing. Is available.

It is a disassembled perspective view of the joint connector which applied the circuit board accommodation structure to the housing with a cover concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing which showed the state which attached the circuit board to the housing of the joint connector shown in FIG. 1, and the cover was brought close to the housing. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where a cover is temporarily placed on the housing of the joint connector, following FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where the cover is fitted to the housing of the joint connector, following FIG. 3. It is sectional drawing which showed partially the circuit board accommodation structure to the housing with a cover of a prior art. It is sectional drawing which showed the state which attached the circuit board to the housing of the joint connector of related technology, and the cover was brought close to the housing. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where one side edge portion of the cover is engaged with the housing of the joint connector, following FIG. 6. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where the other side edge portion of the cover is engaged with the housing of the joint connector, following FIG. 7.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Joint connector 2 Female connector 3 Male connector 20 Female connector element 30 Housing 30a Engaging groove part 31 Bottom wall part 32 Female connector accommodating part 33 Circuit board accommodating part 33a Circuit board accommodating opening part 34 Side wall part 35 Engaging claw part 40 Cover 45 Engagement claw part 46 Positioning rib (cover fitting guide part)
47 Pressing convex part 50 Male terminal assembly 51 Circuit board 110 Lower case 111 Base 112 Protrusion 113 Locking hook part 114 Locking hole 120 Upper case 122 Holding part 130 Printed circuit board 210 Housing 211 Locking claw 220 Cover 221 Locking claw 223 224 Pressing convex part 230 Circuit board 231 Terminal M Male terminal

Claims (1)

A circuit board, part has an opening, and a connector housing capable of accommodating the circuit board therein with at least a portion is in contact with one surface of the circuit board,
Cover and having a pressing protrusion for plastically deformable plurality of circuit board holding that is pressed on the other surface of the circuit board in fitted state of latch engageable with said connector housing in the opening of the connector housing Have
The circuit board includes a plurality of terminals that can be fitted with terminals accommodated in a mating connector housing that fits into the connector housing,
In the fitted state into the connector housing of the cover, the circuit board of the circuit board is sandwiched between the pressing convex portion of the cover and the connector housing, the cover with the connector housing which is configured to secure within the connector housing In the containment structure,
The cover has a plurality of engaging claws that can latch-engage with the connector housing, and a cover fitting guide portion that is formed integrally with a positioning rib that protrudes from the tip of the engaging claw,
Immediately before the engagement claw portion on the cover and the engagement claw portion on the connector housing start engagement, the cover fitting guide portion comes into contact with the engagement claw portion on the connector housing, The cover is once positioned parallel to the opening surface of the connector housing;
Furthermore, the engagement claw portions on the plurality of covers and the engagement claw portions on the plurality of connector housings are simultaneously latch-engaged,
Fit the cover in parallel with the opening surface of the connector housing opening ,
A circuit board housing structure in a housing with a cover , wherein the pressing convex portions are uniformly plastically deformed in the fitted state .

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