JP4045206B2 - Connector support structure - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a connector support structure.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a support structure for attaching a connector to a fixing member such as an electric junction box mounted on an automobile, a structure using uneven fitting is known (for example, Patent Document 1).
This is provided with a pair of concave portions 2 facing each other on the fixing member 1 side, while a pair of convex portions 6 that can be fitted to the concave portions 2 are provided on both left and right side surfaces of the connector 5. Assembly is performed by inserting the convex portion 6 of the connector 5 into the concave portion 2 of the fixing member 1 from the lower side of FIG. In addition, a protrusion 3 is provided on the fixing member 1 side, and a step 7 that can be locked to the protrusion 3 is provided on the connector 5 side, and the connector 5 is removed from the fixing member 1. It comes to stop.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-345653
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the structure described above, a certain amount of gap is usually set between the concave portion 2 side and the convex portion 6 in order to smoothly assemble, but after the attachment, the connector 5 is rattled by the gap. As described above, if the connector 5 supported by the fixing member 1 has a backlash, when the mating connector is fitted to the connector 5, the supported connector 1 escapes by the backlash. There is a problem that the fitting operation of both connectors cannot be performed efficiently.
The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a connector support structure with little backlash.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
As a means for achieving the above object, the invention of claim 1 is a support structure for supporting a standby connector to which a mating connector can be connected to a fixed member, the fixed member or the standby. A support groove is provided on one side of the side connector, and a support portion is formed on the other side so as to be fitted to the support groove and support the standby connector with respect to the fixing member. In addition, a part of either the outer wall of the support part or the inner wall of the support groove may be located between the other wall surface in the initial stage of the insertion of the support part into the support groove. In addition, a crushing protrusion is provided that contacts the other wall surface at the end of the insertion operation and is crushed and fits the support portion into the support groove without a gap. Is formed, and the slide into inserting the supporting part relative to the support groove, in which the spacing between the wall of the support groove and the support part located opposite the day become gradually narrower, the crushing The projecting portion is characterized in that the cross-sectional shape thereof is gradually narrowed toward the outer wall of the support wall or the inner wall of the support groove .
[0007]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the support groove is provided in the fixing member, and the support portion is provided in the standby connector. Is characterized in that at least three protrusions including the crushing protrusions that can come into contact with the inner wall of the support groove are provided.
[0008]
[Action and effect of the invention]
<Invention of Claim 1>
According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the support portion and the support groove can be fitted together without any gap, the standby connector can be fixed to the fixing member without rattling. Therefore, the mating connector can be easily assembled to the standby connector. In addition, since the crushing protrusion is crushed at the end of the insertion operation, the operator can easily work with momentum and is excellent in assembling workability.
[0009]
Moreover, according to this invention, a crushing protrusion is a structure which is crushed from the front end side with the assembly | attachment operation | movement with respect to a fixing member, and the crushing amount increases gradually. Therefore, compared with the case where the amount of crushing is set to be equal from the start to the end of crushing, it becomes easier for the operator to work with momentum.
[0010]
<Invention of Claim 2 >
According to the invention of claim 2 , in a state where the assembling is completed, at least three protrusions including the crushing protrusions abut against the support groove, and the support parts are supported at so-called three points. That is, if these protrusions are arranged in a balanced manner with respect to the support portion (for example, both end portions and the central portion), the entire support portion can be effectively supported. In addition, since the main body portion (portion excluding the protrusion) of the support portion is supported in a state of floating from the support groove, the warp of the main body portion does not affect the support.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a metal (aluminum die-cast) casing (corresponding to the fixing member of the present invention). One side 11 is opened in the front and rear and formed in a box shape as a whole. A circuit board (not shown) can be accommodated. The opening portion of the one side surface 11 is an attachment portion 12 for attaching a standby side connector described below. Hereinafter, the front side in FIG. 1 will be described as the front side.
[0012]
The standby connector 20 is made of synthetic resin, and has a horizontally long rectangular tube-shaped first hood portion 22 and a rectangular tube-shaped second hood portion 23 smaller than the first hood portion 22 on the front surface thereof. The mating connector (not shown) can be fitted into the hood portions 22 and 23 from the front. A plurality of terminal mounting holes 24 are formed through the front and rear of the rear end surfaces 21 of the hood portions 22 and 23. Each terminal mounting hole 24 is provided in the horizontal direction at a predetermined pitch, and is provided in the first hood part 22 with three stages in the upper and lower stages, and in the second hood part 23 with two stages in the upper and lower parts, and a terminal fitting 30 is press-fitted therein.
[0013]
The terminal fitting 30 is made of an elongated metal rod, and is press-fitted and locked in a state of being penetrated from the rear into the terminal mounting hole 24. One end portion of the terminal fitting 30 that protrudes from the terminal mounting hole 24 into the hood portions 22 and 23 is electrically connected to a female terminal fitting (not shown) included in the mating connector fitted to the hood portions 22 and 23. Connected. Further, as will be described in detail later, a portion of the terminal fitting 30 that extends to the back side of the standby connector 20 is bent at a right angle (L-shaped) at the front end side and is formed on the electric circuit board on the casing 10 side. Connected.
[0014]
A total of five vertical plate-like terminal protection walls 25A, 25B are extended backward on the back surface of the standby connector 20. Each of the terminal protection walls 25A and 25B is provided to be separated from each other at a predetermined interval so as to sandwich each terminal fitting 30 therebetween. Each terminal protection wall 25 </ b> A, 25 </ b> B has a rectangular shape, and its upper end substantially covers the upper side of the terminal fitting 30 sandwiched therebetween, and its rear end projects rearward from the rear end of the terminal fitting 30. That is, most of each terminal fitting 30 is covered with the terminal protection walls 25A and 25B from both the left and right sides, and only the tip portion protrudes above the terminal protection walls 25A and 25B.
[0015]
The pair of terminal protection walls 25A is thicker than the other terminal protection walls 25B, and an attachment protrusion 26 and a screw hole 27 that are fitted into attachment holes (not shown) of the electric circuit board are formed at the upper ends thereof. Has been. The electric circuit board is screwed in a state where the mounting hole is fitted to the mounting protrusion 26 and is fixed to the rear side of the upper surface of the standby connector 20. In this state, the end of the terminal fitting 30 of the standby connector 20 enters the through wheel of the electric circuit board, and the terminal fitting 30 is electrically connected to the circuit on the electric circuit board by soldering. It has come to be. Although not shown in the drawing, a receiving portion (not shown) for supporting the electric circuit board is formed on the inner surface of the casing 10 so as to protrude, and the casing 10 is on the upper surface side in a state where the electric circuit board is accommodated. Is sealed by a lid member (not shown).
[0016]
Next, a support structure for attaching the standby connector 20 to the casing 10 will be described.
A pair of rail pieces 13 and 14 extending in the vertical direction are formed on the left and right inner walls of the attachment portion 12. The rail pieces 13 and 14 are formed over the entire height of the mounting portion 12 and open at the upper end side. The portions sandwiched between the opposing wall surfaces 13A and 14A of the rail pieces 13 and 14 form a support groove 15, which will be described in detail later, and there is a support piece 42 of the standby connector 20 there. It is inserted from above.
Further, as shown in FIG. 5, both the wall surfaces described above, that is, the wall surface 13 </ b> A located closer to the front surface of the casing 10 and the wall surface 14 </ b> A located on the back side are inclined, and the insertion direction of the standby connector 20 is The distance between the wall surfaces 13A and 14A is gradually reduced toward the lower side.
[0017]
On the other hand, a support piece (corresponding to a support portion of the present invention) 42 formed so as to be able to be inserted into the support groove 15 projects outwardly in the center portion in the depth direction of the left and right side surfaces 41 of the standby connector 20. Is formed. The support piece 42 is formed up and down over the entire height of the standby-side connector 20, and both the support grooves 15 are provided even when the width dimension between the outer edges of both the support pieces 42 (A dimension shown in FIG. 4) is the widest part. It is set so that it may become smaller than the width dimension (B dimension shown in FIG. 1) between back wall 15A. Further, the protruding amount of the support piece 42, that is, the protruding amount from the side surface 41 is formed with a substantially constant width at the upper end portion (rear end in the insertion direction), but from the position closer to the center to the lower end portion (insertion direction). The amount of protrusion gradually decreases toward the tip of The reason for this configuration is that the insertability into the support groove 15 is taken into consideration.
[0018]
Further, the thickness of the support piece 42 is gradually increased from the lower end side (the front end side in the insertion direction with respect to the support groove 15), and the upper end side is formed thicker. The inclination follows the wall surfaces 13A and 14A of the rail pieces 13 and 14. Shape. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the outer wall 44 on the side facing the wall surface 13 </ b> A of the rail piece 13 among the outer wall surfaces of the support piece 42 is formed with an inclination substantially parallel to the wall surface 13 </ b> A. The outer wall 46 on the side facing the wall surface 14A is formed with an inclination substantially parallel to the wall surface 14A.
[0019]
Therefore, the gap between the outer surface wall 44 of the support piece 42 and the wall surface 13A of the rail piece 13 and the gap between the outer surface wall 46 of the support piece 42 and the wall surface 14A of the rail piece 14 are such that the support piece 42 is in the support groove 15. On the other hand, in the initial stage of insertion, the support piece 42 is secured sufficiently wide so that the insertion operation can be performed smoothly, but the gap gradually becomes narrower as the insertion operation proceeds. In addition, in the mounted state (see FIG. 6), support is provided between the outer surface wall 44 of the support piece 42 and the wall surface 13A of the rail piece 13, and between the outer surface wall 46 of the support piece 42 and the wall surface 14A of the rail piece 14. A substantially uniform gap is formed over the entire height of the piece 42, and the contact protrusion 47 and the crushing protrusion 45, which will be described below, are filled in the gap.
[0020]
The outer surface wall 46 of the support piece 42 is provided with a pair of upper and lower contact protrusions 47F and 47R that can contact the wall surface 14A of the rail piece 14. Both the contact protrusions 47F and 47R have a semicircular cross section (see FIG. 4) and are provided along the insertion direction of the support piece 42. On the other hand, the crushing protrusion 45 is provided along the insertion direction of the support piece 42 in the central portion of the outer surface wall 44 opposite to the outer surface wall 46 where the abutting protrusion 47 is provided, like the abutting protrusion 47. ing. The crushing protrusion 45 is located at a position sandwiched between both contact protrusions 47F and 47R with respect to the insertion direction of the support piece 42, and the protrusions 45 and 47 do not overlap in the insertion direction.
[0021]
Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the crushing protrusion 45 has a flat seat 45A, and the crushing portion 45B having a substantially triangular cross section is formed so that the upper surface portion of the seat 45A tapers toward the wall surface 13A. Has been.
The overhanging height (C dimension shown in FIG. 6) of the crushing protrusion 45 is formed to be substantially uniform over the entire length, and the D dimension shown in FIG. 6 (outer wall of the support piece 42 in the attached state). The distance is set slightly higher than the distance between the wall 44 and the wall surface 13 </ b> A of the rail piece 13. That is, the crushing protrusion 45 is positioned with a gap at the initial stage when the support piece 42 is inserted into the support groove 15 with respect to the wall surface 13A of the rail piece 13, and the apex portion of the crushing protrusion 45 is increased as the insertion operation proceeds. In contact with the wall surface 13A, the contacted apex portion is crushed almost uniformly over the entire length. In this way, the support piece 42 is press-fitted into the support groove 15 so that it is prevented from being removed when the attachment operation is completed.
Strictly speaking, when the support piece 42 is press-fitted into the support groove 15 at the end of the insertion operation, not only the crushing protrusion 45 but also the abutting protrusion 47 is slightly crushed at the apex portion, The crushing amount is smaller than the crushing amount of the crushing protrusion 45. The crushing protrusion 45 and the contact protrusion 47 described above correspond to the protrusions of the present invention.
[0022]
Then, the effect | action and effect of this embodiment are demonstrated.
In order to assemble the standby connector 20 to the casing 10, the standby connector 20 is directly opposed to the mounting portion 12 of the casing 10, and the standby connector 20 is inserted into the support groove 15 on the left side of the casing 10. The left support piece 42 is aligned with the right support groove 15 with respect to the right support groove 15. From this state, the standby side connector 20 is pushed downward while the support pieces 42 enter the support grooves 15. Then, the standby connector 20 is guided into the mounting portion 12 by the fitting of the support piece 42 and the support groove 15.
[0023]
In the initial stage of this insertion operation, the entrance side of the support groove 15 has a wide space between the facing wall surfaces 13A and 14A, so that the support piece 42 has the abutment protrusion 47 and the crushing protrusion 45 in the support groove 15. However, since the space between the opposing wall surfaces 13A and 14A is narrow on the back side of the support groove 15, the outer wall 44 of the support piece 42 is gradually inserted. When the outer wall 46 approaches the wall surface 14A and the end of the insertion operation of the support piece 42 approaches, the contact protrusions 47F and 47R become the wall surface 14A, and the crushing protrusion 45 becomes the wall surface 13A. Abut. When the support piece 42 is further pushed in from this state, the fitting progresses while the crushing protrusion 45 of the support piece 42 is crushed over the entire length, and eventually the lower end of the support piece 42 comes into contact with the bottom surface of the support groove 15. Further insertion operations are restricted, whereby the assembly of the standby connector 20 to the casing 10 is completed.
[0024]
In this way, the crushing protrusion 45 is crushed, so that the support piece 42 is fitted into the support groove 15 without a gap in a state where the assembly is completed. That is, since the entire standby connector 20 is supported with respect to the casing 10 without backlash, the mating connector can be easily assembled thereafter.
Further, in the assembled state, the support piece 42 is in a state where the three contact protrusions 47F and 47R and the crushing protrusion 45 are in contact with the wall surfaces 13A and 14A constituting the support groove 15 and are supported at three points. It is in. That is, since the upper, lower, and central portions of the support piece 42 are fixed with respect to the support groove 15 in a balanced manner, the support is stabilized.
[0025]
Further, the crushing protrusion 45 has a substantially triangular cross section, and is crushed from the apex side with the insertion operation of the support piece 42 so that the amount of crushing gradually increases. Therefore, compared with the case where the amount of crushing is set to be large from the beginning, the operator can easily work with the momentum during assembly, and the assembly workability is excellent.
[0026]
<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention, and further, within the scope not departing from the gist of the invention other than the following. Various modifications can be made.
[0027]
(1) In this embodiment, the cross-sectional shape of the crushing protrusion 45 is a substantially triangular shape, but may be other than a triangular shape as long as the crushing amount gradually increases.
[0028]
(2) In the present embodiment, the support piece 42 is provided with three protrusions to support the support piece 42 at three points. However, the protrusions may be three or more, for example, four, five, etc. .
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a standby connector and a casing according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view of the standby connector. FIG. 3 is a side view of the standby connector. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the situation before attaching the standby connector. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the situation where the standby connector is attached. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the fitting state between the support groove and the support piece. ] Perspective view of conventional example [Explanation of symbols]
10. Casing (fixing member)
13A ... Wall surface 14A ... Wall surface 15 ... Support groove 20 ... Standby side connector 42 ... Support piece (support part)
45 ... Crushing protrusion 47F ... Contact protrusion 47R ... Contact protrusion

Claims (2)

A support structure for supporting a standby connector to which a mating connector can be connected to a fixed member,
A support groove is provided on one side of the fixing member or the standby side connector, and the other side is formed so as to be able to fit into the support groove, and supports the standby side connector with respect to the fixing member. And a support for
In the initial stage of the insertion operation of the support part into the support groove, a gap is formed between a part of either the outer wall of the support part or the inner wall of the support groove with the other side wall surface. as well as position, abuts the end of the insertion operation the wall surface of the other side, Ri configuration der provided with crushing projection as fitted without gaps being crushed the supporting portion relative to said support groove, and
When the support part is inserted into the support groove, the distance between the support groove and the wall surface of the support part which are located opposite to each other is gradually reduced.
The support structure for a connector, wherein the crushing protrusion has a configuration in which a cross-sectional shape gradually becomes narrower toward an outer wall of the support wall or an inner wall of the support groove . The fixing member is provided with the support groove, and the standby connector is provided with the support portion.
2. The configuration according to claim 1 , wherein the front and back outer walls of the support portion are provided with at least three protrusions that can contact the inner wall of the support groove including the crushing protrusion. Connector support structure.

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