JP4075806B2 - Board connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a board connector.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a vehicle has been provided with a connector portion for connecting an explosion processing circuit so that the airbag can be operated simply by pressing a remote switch when the airbag is disposed of. In such a connector part, since electrical connection reliability is strictly required, the connector part prevents deformation of the terminal and prevents foreign matter from entering until it is mated with the mating connector during processing. It is required to protect the mating surface. For this reason, a box-shaped cap is attached to the fitting surface of the connector portion, and this cap is removed immediately before mating with the mating connector. This type of connector is disclosed in Patent Document 1 below.
Design Registration No. 1047088

  By the way, the conventional connector is connected to a substrate, and the substrate with the connector is fixed to a case. Furthermore, the case is fixed to the mounted body by bolting. At this time, the position of the bolt is restricted in relation to the peripheral parts of the case, and the head of the bolt is placed immediately before the connector part. Is supposed to be located. Then, since the head of the bolt is arranged at a position opposite to the direction in which the cap is removed, even when trying to remove the cap when fitting with the mating connector, the cap and the head of the bolt interfere, Or there is a situation that it is difficult to remove the cap because the operator's fingers hit the head of the bolt.

  The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to improve workability when removing a cap.

As means for achieving the above object, a first aspect of the invention, a connector housing fixed on the substrate, provided in the connector housing, and a terminal to which the rear end is bent on the substrate side, At the front of the connector housing, a fixing member for mounting and fixing to the mounted body from above is provided so as to protrude upward, and the front surface of the connector housing is fitted with a mating connector that can be fitted. An upper edge is aligned at the same height position as the upper edge of the fitting portion, and is arranged adjacent to the fitting portion and forms a circuit different from the fitting portion. A fitting body is provided, and on the rear surface of the connector housing, a protective wall is provided on both sides of the terminal bent downward from the fitting body to protect the terminal. Set up Are fitting surface of the fitting portion is always is closed by a cap, while the guide groove provided along the longitudinal direction on the side of the cap, the side wall of the fitting portion in the longitudinal direction A guide rib extends along the guide groove, and the cap is movable along the guide rib by engaging the guide groove with the guide rib. A lock arm is provided on the upper surface, the extension end of which is bent in the up-down direction and deformable, and a lock projection is provided on the upper surface of the lock arm. A lock receiving portion protrudes downward from the upper wall of the upper wall, and the cap is held in a state of being prevented from coming off from the fitting portion by engaging the lock protruding portion with the lock receiving portion. like And Tsu, upon engagement with said mating connector, a connector for the fitting ready with the mating connector by removing the cap, the front end upper surface of the lock arm is engaged with the mating connector An operation portion for releasing the engagement is provided, and the front end surface of the operation portion is provided substantially flush with the closing surface of the cap, and the closing surface of the cap serves as a finger contact surface when removing the cap. The finger contact surface is provided in a portion recessed rearward of the fitting surface of the fitting main body portion, and the fixing member is arranged using the recessed portion and is predetermined in the vertical direction. A board connector characterized in that the board member is arranged so as to be exposed above the protruding end of the fixing member with an interval .

<Invention of Claim 1>
Prior to fitting with the mating connector, the cap attached to the fitting portion is removed. In the case of the present invention, since the finger contact surface is provided on the cap, the cap can be pulled out from a state where the finger is applied to the finger contact surface. In addition, since this finger contact surface is arranged behind the fixing member and exposed above the protruding end of the fixing member, when the cap is removed, the cap interferes with the fixing member or a finger hits. Can be avoided, and the cap can be removed smoothly. In addition, since the fixing member is provided in front of the connector housing and the finger contact surface of the cap is positioned higher than the protruding end of the fixing member, the width dimension of the connector and the entire unit with the connector is not increased. I'll do it. Also, since the finger contact surface is provided in a portion recessed rearward from the fitting surface of the fitting main body portion, and the fixing member is arranged using this recessed portion, this connector and the unit with this connector The overall longitudinal dimension can be made compact.
Since the upper edge of the mating part is aligned with the upper edge of the mating body part, it is possible to raise the mating part as high as possible without increasing the overall height of the connector. Thus, the workability at the time of removing the cap can be further improved.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
The board connector according to this embodiment is an airbag connector connected to an airbag circuit, and exemplifies a case where the connector is applied to the male connector 10. In the following description, the fitting surface side with the female connector that is the counterpart is the front, and the vertical direction is based on FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the male connector 10 includes a male housing 20 (corresponding to the connector housing of the present invention) made of a synthetic resin material and a plurality of male terminal fittings 40. Further, the male housing 20 includes two connector portions 21 and 31 having a substantially rectangular tube shape that are juxtaposed side by side and project forward. The two connector parts 21 and 31 are located adjacent to the main connector part 21 (corresponding to the fitting main body part of the present invention) that opens wide in a horizontally-long rectangular shape, and opens small in a vertically-long rectangular shape. It is comprised by the subconnector part 31 (equivalent to the fitting part of this invention). A female connector (not shown) on the other side is tightly fitted in both the connector portions 21 and 31, and forwards from the rear end surfaces of both connector portions 21 and 31. The protruding male terminal fitting 40 can be connected to the corresponding counterpart female terminal fitting.

  The main connector portion 21 located on the left side in FIG. 2 of the male housing 20 has a cylindrical cam pin 22 and a guide rib 23 on the upper surface thereof, and these are arranged to protrude downward. The guide rib 23 extends from the front end position of the main connector portion 21 in the front-rear direction, and enters the guide groove of the female connector to guide the fitting operation when mated with the female connector. Further, the cam pin 22 can be fitted into the cam groove of the female connector. When the cam pin 22 moves along the cam groove, a cam action is exerted between the cam groove and the two connectors are pulled toward each other. It leads to the mating state. On the lower surface of the main connector portion 21, a receiving groove 24 is formed along the front-rear direction so as to be engageable with the guide rib of the female connector.

  On the other hand, the sub-connector portion 31 located on the right side of FIG. 2 in the male housing 20 is always closed by a plug-like cap 50 formed of resin. The sub-connector portion 31 is provided separately from the main airbag circuit through which the main connector portion 21 is connected. When the airbag is disposed of, the sub-connector portion 31 is a female female for processing that becomes the counterpart when the cap 50 is removed. It is fitted with a mold connector, forms the processing circuit, and operates the airbag.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the upper wall of the sub-connector portion 31 is formed with a lock receiving portion 32 that protrudes downward at a position closer to the front end thereof to lock the cap 50 in a retaining state. The lock receiving portion 32 can be elastically engaged with a lock protrusion 52 of a lock arm 51 provided on the cap 50. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a pair of guide walls 33 extending in the front-rear direction so as to extend along both side edges of the lock receiving portion 32 is provided on the upper wall of the sub-connector portion 31. The lock arm 51 enters the opposed surfaces of the guide walls 33 and reaches the lock position while being guided by the guide walls 33. Further, a pair of left and right guide ribs 34 extend inward along the front-rear direction on both side walls of the sub-connector portion 31, and can be engaged with guide grooves 53 provided in the cap 50 when the cap 50 is mounted. It has become.

  By the way, the arrangement position of the sub-connector portion 31 is set so as to be positioned higher in the height direction than the corresponding portion of the conventional product. Specifically, the lower edge of the sub-connector portion 31 is pulled up from the lower edge of the main connector portion 21 to reach the central portion of the main connector portion 21 in the height direction. The upper edge is aligned at substantially the same height as the upper edge of the main connector portion 21. And the upper edge of the main connector part 21 and the sub-connector part 31 is continued at the substantially same height position over the whole area of the width direction.

  Next, the structure of the cap 50 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the cap 50 has an outer shape substantially along the inner wall of the sub-connector portion 31, and guides along the front-rear direction on both side surfaces thereof. A groove 53 is provided. The cap 50 is movable to the back of the sub connector portion 31 while being guided along the guide rib 34 by engaging the guide groove 53 with the guide rib 34.

  A cantilevered lock arm 51 that extends forward is integrally connected to the rear end of the upper surface of the cap 50. The front end portion of the lock arm 51 is retracted to substantially the same position as the front end surface of the cap 50 and can be bent and deformed in the vertical direction, and has an operation portion 54 that can be easily picked up by being slightly raised upward. ing. Protective walls 55 are raised on both sides of the operation unit 54 so that inadvertent bending deformation of the lock arm 51 can be prevented.

  Further, a lock projection 52 projects from the center of the upper surface of the lock arm 51. The lock arm 51 is bent and deformed downward when the lock projection 52 is pressed by the lock receiving portion 32 in the process of insertion into the sub-connector portion 31, and the lock projection 52 gets over the lock receiving portion 32 and is elastically restored. Thus, the lock projection 52 is engaged with the lock receiving portion 32. In this locked position, the cap 50 is held with respect to the sub-connector portion 31 in a retaining state as shown in FIG.

  Further, the operation portion 54 of the lock arm 51 is exposed from the front end surface of the sub-connector portion 31, that is, the fitting surface, when the lock position is reached. The front end surface of the cap 50 is a closed surface that has a substantially vertical flat shape. While the finger is placed on the front end surface, the operation portion 54 of the lock arm 51 is picked and operated by another finger, and the lock arm 51 is bent downward. The lock by the lock arm 51 can be released. That is, the front end surface of the cap 50 becomes an operation pressing surface when the cap 50 is removed, and constitutes the finger contact surface 56 of the present invention.

  Here, the male terminal fitting 40 is fixed to the male housing 20 by press fitting, and a portion of the male terminal fitting 40 exposed rearward is bent downward at a right angle. The bent front end portion 41 is inserted into an engagement hole of a printed circuit board (not shown) and soldered and connected, and the male housing 20 is placed on the upper surface of the printed circuit board and fixed by a known fixing means. The printed circuit board is attached to a case 82. Further, the case 82 is installed at the bottom of a body to be attached, for example, a console box, and then fixed to the body to be attached by a fixing member 90 such as a bolt. . In the case 82, the right end of the front edge and the left and right ends of the rear edge are respectively provided with overhang portions 81 projecting forward and backward within the width dimension of the case 82, and through holes formed through the overhang portion 81. A fixing member 90 is inserted into 83 from above. The overhanging portion 81 is protruded forward and backward within the width dimension of the case 82 in this manner in order to avoid interference with peripheral parts existing outside the both ends of the case 82.

  Now, the fixing member 90 that is arranged at the right end of the front end is arranged so as to protrude forward of the front surface of the male housing 20. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the sub-connector portion 31 in the male housing 20 is positioned just behind the fixing member 90. However, the sub-connector portion 31 is disposed so as to be exposed above the protruding end of the fixing member 90, that is, the upper end surface of the head 90 </ b> A exposed on the case 82. Therefore, the fixing member 90 is not arranged at a position opposite to the insertion / extraction direction of the cap 50 with respect to the sub-connector portion 31, and a passage for performing the insertion / extraction operation of the cap 50 is secured above the fixing member 90. Yes.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, a cap 50 is attached to the sub-connector portion 31 until the sub-connector portion 31 is mated with the mating connector to protect the male terminal fitting 40. At this time, the cap 50 is pushed in the direction of the arrow in the figure from the state of facing the fitting surface of the sub-connector portion 31. When the lock arm 51 is once bent and deformed and then elastically restored to reach the lock position, the operation portion 54 of the lock arm 51 is exposed at a position close to the upper edge of the front end surface of the sub connector portion 31.
As shown in FIG. 5, the cap 50 thus mounted always maintains a state in which the fitting surface of the sub-connector portion 31 is closed, but immediately before the sub-connector portion 31 is fitted to the female connector. Removed. In order to remove the cap 50, first, the index finger, the middle finger or the like is applied to the operation unit 54 of the lock arm 51 while the thumb or the like is applied to the finger contact surface 56, and the operation unit 54 is pushed downward in this state. Then, the lock protrusion 52 and the lock receiving portion 32 are unlocked, and the cap 50 is pulled out rearward as it is, so that the cap 50 is detached from the sub connector portion 31.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the finger contact surface 56 provided on the cap 50 is provided behind the fixing member 90 and above the protruding end of the fixing member 90. When removing, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the cap 50 interferes with the fixing member 90 or a finger collides, and the cap 50 can be smoothly removed from the sub-connector portion 31.

  In addition, since the fixing member 90 is provided in front of the male housing 20 and the finger contact surface 56 of the cap 50 is located higher than the protruding end of the fixing member 90, the unit including the male connector 10 and the case 82 is included. It is not necessary to increase the overall width dimension.

  Furthermore, since the upper edge of the sub-connector portion 31 is aligned with the substantially same height as the upper edge of the main connector portion 21, the sub-connector portion 31 is made as much as possible without increasing the height of the male housing 20 as a whole. It becomes possible to position it higher, and the workability when removing the cap 50 can be further improved.

<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.
(1) In the above embodiment, the case applied to the connector for an air bag is illustrated, but the present invention can also be applied to other types of board connectors that are not used for an air bag.
(2) In the above embodiment, a bolt is used as the fixing member. However, in the present invention, a known clip or the like may be used as the fixing member.

The front view which shows the state by which the connector for substrates which concerns on embodiment of this invention was fixed Front view showing the state before attaching the cap to the sub connector Front view showing the cap attached to the sub connector Enlarged view of the main part showing the state before the cap is attached to the sub connector. Enlarged view of the main part showing the cap attached to the sub connector Plan view showing the state fixed to the case

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Male connector 20 ... Male housing 21 ... Main connector part (fitting main-body part)
31 ... Sub-connector part (fitting part)
40 ... Male terminal fitting 50 ... Cap 54 ... Operation part 56 ... Finger contact surface 90 ... Fixing member

Claims (1)

A connector housing fixed on the substrate, provided in the connector housing, and a terminal to which the rear end is bent on the substrate side, in front of the connector housing, mounted fixed from above the mounting member A fixing member for projecting upward is arranged, and on the front surface of the connector housing, a fitting part capable of fitting a mating connector, and a fitting part arranged next to the fitting part are arranged. The upper edge is aligned at substantially the same height as the upper edge of the fitting part, and a fitting main body part that forms a circuit different from the fitting part is provided, and on the rear surface of the connector housing, A terminal protection wall that is disposed on both sides of the terminal bent downward from the fitting main body portion of the terminal and protects the terminal is provided to protrude rearward,
The fitting surface of the fitting part is always closed by a cap,
A guide groove is provided on the side surface of the cap along the front-rear direction, and a guide rib extends along the front-rear direction on the side wall of the fitting portion, and the guide groove is engaged with the guide rib. The cap is movable along the guide rib while being movable to the back of the fitting portion.
The upper surface of the cap is provided with a lock arm that extends forward, and its extending end portion is vertically deformable and deformable, and a lock protrusion projects from the upper surface of the lock arm, A lock receiving portion protrudes downward from the upper wall of the fitting portion, and the cap is secured to the fitting portion by locking the lock protrusion to the lock receiving portion. Are to be retained,
At the time of mating with the mating connector, it is a connector that can be fitted with the mating connector by removing the cap,
An operation portion for releasing the mating with the mating connector is provided on the upper surface of the front end of the lock arm, and the front end surface of the operation portion is provided substantially flush with the closing surface of the cap. The closing surface is a finger contact surface when removing the cap, and this finger contact surface is provided in a portion recessed backward from the fitting surface of the fitting main body portion, and this recessed portion is used. The board connector is characterized in that the fixing member is arranged and is exposed above the protruding end of the fixing member at a predetermined interval in the vertical direction .

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