JP4285166B2 - Connector with locking mechanism - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector with a lock mechanism used for a wire harness.

  A lock arm comprising a male / female connector to be fitted and connected, with a locking portion provided in one housing, and a locking claw that engages with the locking portion in the other housing has a hinge portion that is elastically deformable. When assembling a wire harness using a connector with a lock mechanism provided so as to be able to be bent, a plurality of the assembled harnesses are bundled and managed, transported and supplied. At this time, there is a problem in that the bundled wires of the harness enter the gap between the lock arm and the housing of the connector and become entangled or caught to cause deformation of the lock arm.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and when used in a wire harness, it can prevent the wires of the bundled harness from being entangled or caught on the lock arm, and can also be fitted and connected to the mating connector. It is an object of the present invention to provide a connector with a lock mechanism that does not cause trouble.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a female / male connector to be fitted and connected, wherein a locking portion is provided in one housing, and a locking claw that engages with the locking portion is provided in the other housing. In the connector with a lock mechanism, the lock arm having a lock mechanism provided so as to be bendable via an elastically deformable hinge portion, between the movable portion of the rear end portion on the free end side of the lock arm and the other housing A severable connecting piece is integrally provided, and the connecting piece is configured to be cut by a bending operation of the lock arm when the female / male connector is fitted and connected.

According to a specific configuration of the connector of the present invention, the lock arms are a pair, and each lock arm is connected to the hinge portion provided at the front end portion of the other housing so as to be bent outward. In addition, the intermediate portion extends obliquely outward and rearward, and the severable connecting piece is integrally provided between the rear end portion on the free end side and the other housing, and the grip is provided on the rear end portion. The connecting piece is configured to be cut by a bending operation in which the rear ends of the lock arms approach each other when the female / male connector is fitted and connected.

  In the above configuration, the hinge portion is formed to protrude from the upper surface of the rear end portion of the other housing and is provided on both sides of the front end portion of the support arm extending to the vicinity of the front end.

  As a preferred embodiment of the connecting piece, it is formed in a pyramid shape such as a quadrangular pyramid, its base end portion is integrally connected to the lock arm, and the tip end portion is integrally connected to the other housing. And is configured to be easily cut.

As described above, according to the present invention, since the severable connecting piece is integrally provided between the movable part of the rear end portion of the free end of the lock arm and the housing, the connector having the lock arm is provided. When the assembled harness is bundled, the wire of the harness enters the gap between the lock arm and the housing and becomes entangled or caught, so that inconveniences such as deformation of the lock arm can be reliably prevented. In addition, since the connecting piece provided at the movable rear end portion is easily cut by the bending operation of the lock arm at the time of mating connection with the mating connector, there is no problem in the mating connection work. There is no fear.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of a connector with a locking mechanism according to the present invention. The connector comprises a female connector 1 and a male connector 2 to be fitted and connected. The female connector 1 is used as a wire harness. The male connector 2 is a pin header that is surface-mounted on the printed wiring board 30. Both the housing 3 of the female connector 1 and the housing 4 of the male connector 2 are formed of an insulating resin material such as nylon resin.

  As shown in FIG. 1 and FIGS. 2 to 4, the housing 3 of the female connector 1 has a plurality of receiving portions 5 for individually accommodating socket contacts (female contacts) 16 that are crimped and connected to the ends of the electric wires 15. Is inserted in the front-rear direction, as shown in FIG. 1, a socket contact 16 that is crimped and connected from the rear end opening of the receiving portion 5 to the end of the electric wire 15 is inserted and the lance 17 of the socket contact 16 is received. The female connector 1 is formed as a wire harness by being latched and held by the latching shoulder 6 protruding from the inner wall of the portion 5.

A pair of lock arms 7 is provided on the upper surface side of the housing 3. Both lock arms 7, 7 project from the central portion of the upper surface of the rear end portion of the housing 3, and are elastically deformable hinge portions 9, 9 integrally formed on both sides of the front end portion of the support arm 8 extending to the vicinity of the front and rear of the housing 3. Are connected to bendable. Each lock arm 7 is connected to the hinge portion 9 so as to be able to bend outward, and the intermediate portion obliquely extends outward and rearwardly to expand outward, and the rear end portion 10 on the free end side. A severable connecting piece 11 is integrally provided between the housing 3 and the upper surface of the housing 3. A knob 12 is formed on the outer surface of the rear end portion 10 so as to protrude in the lateral direction. Further, a locking claw 13 projecting in the lateral direction is provided on the outer surface of the intermediate portion of each lock arm 7. The locking claw 13 is engaged with a locking projection 25 provided on the housing 4 of the male connector 2 described later. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the connecting piece 11 has a short quadrangular pyramid shape, and the base end portion is integrally connected to the lower surface of the rear end portion 10 of the lock arm 7, and the pointed end portion 11 a. Are integrally connected to the upper surface of the housing 3 and can be easily cut.

  On the other hand, the housing 4 of the male connector 2 is formed in a flat box shape having a fitting cavity portion 20 having an open front surface and penetrates the rear side wall 21 as shown in FIGS. A plurality of arranged pin contacts 22 project into the fitting space portion 20, and the male connector 2 is used as a pin header to be surface-mounted by soldering 31 the lead portions 23 of the pin contacts 22 to the printed wiring board 30. Is configured. In addition, locking projections 25 and 25 that engage locking claws 13 and 13 provided on the lock arms 7 and 7 of the female connector 1 are integrally formed with the housing 4 so as to protrude from both ends of the upper surface of the front end portion of the housing 4. ing.

  In the above configuration, the female connector 1 and the male connector 2 are electrically connected by inserting the front half of the housing 3 into the fitting space 20 of the housing 4 and fitting the socket contact 16 and the pin contact 22 together. However, at the same time when the housing 3 is inserted into the fitting space 20 of the housing 4, both lock arms 7, 7 enter between both locking projections 25, 25, and the housing 3 is further inserted. Then, the locking claws 13 and 13 of the lock arms 7 and 7 come into contact with the locking protrusions 25 and 25, and as shown in FIG. Bend inward at the fulcrum. Along with the bending operation of both the lock arms 7, 7, both the connecting pieces 11, 11 are cut at the tip portions 11a, 11a. The force required for this cutting is very small, it is easily cut only by the bending operation to the inside of both lock arms 7, 7, and there is almost no influence on the fitting connection work between the female connector 1 and the male connector 2. .

  When the housing 3 is further inserted and advanced, and the fitting connection between the female connector 1 and the male connector 2 is completed, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, both lock arms that have passed between the both locking projections 25, 25. 7 and 7 expand outward due to the elastic restoring force of the hinge portions 9 and 9, both the locking claws 13 and 13 engage with both the engaging protrusions 25 and 25, and the housing 3 and the housing 4 are locked. .

It is a partially vertical side view which shows the use condition before the fitting connection of the female connector and male connector which concern on this invention. It is a top view of the housing of a female connector same as the above. It is a back surface of the housing of a female connector same as the above. It is a side view of the housing of a female connector same as the above. It is a top view of a male connector same as the above. It is a side view of a male connector same as the above. It is a top view which shows the state in the middle of fitting connection of a female connector and a male connector same as the above. FIG. 8 is a side view of FIG. 7. It is a top view which shows the state of the fitting connection completion of a female connector and a male connector same as the above. FIG. 10 is a side view of FIG. 9.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Female connector 2 Male connector 3 Female connector housing 4 Male connector housing 5 Receiving part 7 Lock arm 8 Support arm 9 Hinge part 10 Rear end part of lock arm 7 11 Connection piece 12 Pick 13 Locking claw 15 Electric wire 16 Socket contact 20 Mating space 22 Pin contact 25 Locking protrusion 30 Printed wiring board

Claims (5)

A lock arm comprising a female / male connector to be fitted and connected, having a locking portion on one housing, and having a locking claw that engages the locking portion on the other housing has a hinge portion that is elastically deformable. In the connector with a locking mechanism provided to be bent through
A severable connecting piece is integrally provided between the movable portion of the rear end portion of the free end side of the lock arm and the other housing, and the lock arm of the lock arm at the time of fitting connection of the female / male connector is provided. the bending operation,-out with lock mechanism, characterized in that the connecting piece is configured to cut the connector. The lock arms consist of a pair, and each lock arm is connected to the hinge portion provided at the front end portion of the other housing so that it can be bent outward, and the intermediate portion is inclined rearward and outward. extend, a rear end portion of the free end side and can be cut between the other housing the connecting piece is integrally provided, is formed with gripping further to the rear portion,
The connector with a lock mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the connecting piece is cut by a bending operation in which the rear end portions of the lock arms approach each other when the female / male connector is fitted and connected. Wherein the other of the projecting molding the rear end portion upper face of the housing, according to claim 2-out with the locking mechanism connector according to the hinge portion to the front end sides of the support arm, characterized in that it is provided extending to the vicinity of the front end. The connecting piece is formed in a pyramid shape, a base end portion thereof is integrally connected to the lock arm, a pointed end portion is integrally connected to the other housing, and can be easily cut. and-out with the locking mechanism connector according to claim 1, wherein it is characterized in that is. Connector the other housing,-out with the locking mechanism according to any one of claims 1 and has a plurality of receptacles for accommodating the contacts that crimp connection to the wire end portion spaced apart from individually in 4.

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