JP4492442B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector that accommodates a terminal fitting.

Conventionally, for example, a connector described in Patent Document 1 is known as a connector for housing a terminal fitting. This connector has a connector housing in which a lance is formed in a cavity for accommodating the terminal fitting, which is elastically locked to the terminal fitting to prevent the terminal fitting from being removed, and is attached to the front end of the connector housing. By doing so, the lance is composed of a front retainer that restricts deformation of the lance in the direction of disengagement from the terminal fitting.
JP 2003-123890 A

  However, according to the above configuration, since the front retainer is attached so as to cover the peripheral wall of the cavity from the outside, the outer side wall of the cavity located at the outermost end in the arrangement direction of the cavities and the side wall of the front retainer And a double wall structure, and there is a problem that the connector is enlarged in the width direction.

  The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a connector that is miniaturized in the width direction.

As means for achieving the above object, the invention of claim 1 is directed to a connector housing in which cavities for accommodating a plurality of terminal fittings are formed side by side, and an attachment attached to the front end of the connector housing from the front. And a cutout portion cut out rearward from the front edge of the side wall on the outer side wall of the cavity located at the outermost end in the arrangement direction of the cavities. The replenishment wall which comprises the outer side wall of the cavity located in the outermost end of the left-right direction is formed in the said attachment member so that the said cutting part may be fitted, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the cavity is formed with a lance that is elastically locked to the terminal fitting to prevent the terminal fitting from coming off. The upper wall or the lower wall of the cavity is configured and can be bent and deformed so as to protrude outward of the connector housing, and the mounting member is bent and deformed in a direction in which the lance is detached from the terminal fitting. It is a front retainer which prevents that.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the terminal fitting is a female terminal fitting into which a male tab is inserted, and the female terminal fitting is provided at a front end portion of the cavity. A front stop portion is formed to contact the front end portion of the female side metal fitting, and the front stop portion is formed at a position corresponding to the cavity on the front wall of the mounting member. And is exposed to the outside of the connector housing from a tab insertion hole for inserting the male tab, and the male tab is provided on the outer surface of the front stop and the hole edge of the tab insertion hole. An inclined surface for guiding is formed, and a guide surface for guiding the male tab to the female terminal fitting is formed by the front stop portion and the front wall of the mounting member. .

<Invention of Claim 1>
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the attachment member is formed with the replenishment wall adapted to the cut portion formed by notching the side wall outside the cavity located at the outermost end in the arrangement direction. Thereby, while omitting a part of the outermost side wall in the arrangement direction of the cavities, the side wall of the cavity can be constituted by the above-mentioned supplementary wall. As a result, the outer side wall of the outermost cavity and the side wall of the front retainer can be prevented from having a double wall structure, so that the connector can be miniaturized in the direction in which the cavities are arranged.

<Invention of Claim 2>
According to the invention of claim 2, since the upper wall or the lower wall of the cavity is a lance, the height of the connector can be reduced as compared with the case where the upper wall or the lower wall of the cavity and the lance are separately formed. .

<Invention of Claim 3>
According to the invention of claim 3, the guide surface for guiding the male tab is formed by the front stop portion exposed from the tab insertion hole and the front wall of the mounting member. By arranging the front stop portion and the front wall of the mounting member on the same plane in this manner, it is possible to prevent the front stop portion and the front wall of the mounting member from having a double wall structure in the front-rear direction. The connector can be downsized in the front-rear direction.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
The connector in this embodiment includes a female terminal fitting (corresponding to a terminal fitting according to the present invention) 20 into which a male tab (not shown) is inserted, and a connector housing 10 having a cavity 13 into which the female terminal fitting 20 can be inserted. And a front retainer (corresponding to the mounting member according to the present invention) 30 which is attached to the front end portion of the connector housing 10. In the following description, the front-rear direction is based on the mounting direction of the front retainer 30, and the mounting surface side is the front, and the left-right direction and the vertical direction are based on FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the female terminal fitting 20 has a rectangular tube portion 26, and an elastic contact piece 27 that can be bent is provided inside the upper surface portion thereof. Further, a bottom surface portion is knocked inwardly to form a contact protrusion 29 at a substantially front half portion of the rectangular tube portion 26, and a male tab is formed between the contact protrusion 29 and the elastic contact piece 27. It is connected elastically so as to be conductive. A lance hole 28 that engages with a lance 22 described later is opened at a substantially central portion on the upper surface of the rectangular tube portion 26. Further, a stabilizer 21 is formed so as to protrude downward at the lower end portion of the right side surface portion of the rectangular tube portion 26 and behind the contact projection 29. The stabilizer 21 is formed by cutting and raising a part of the bottom surface portion of the rectangular tube portion 26 substantially at right angles to the outside.

  The connector housing 10 is made of synthetic resin. As shown in FIG. 11, a substantially front half portion of the connector housing 10 is a terminal locking portion 19 that sandwiches the female terminal fitting 20 from the vertical direction. A substantially second half portion is a main body portion 11, and a lock arm 12 that can be bent in the up-down direction is formed in a cantilevered manner in the front half of the upper surface of the main body portion 11. As shown in FIG. 8, four cavities 13 shown in the figure are penetrated in the front-rear direction and juxtaposed in the left-right direction at equal intervals.

  A flange portion 14 is formed in a substantially central portion of the main body portion 11 so as to project along the circumferential direction. However, only the portion where the lock arm 12 and the receiving portion 17 at the opposite position are provided is cut out. A step 15 is formed on the front surface of the flange 14 so as to protrude. At substantially the latter half of the main body 11, attachment locking portions 16 are provided on both side surfaces in the left-right direction, and a wall surface (not shown) to which the connector housing 10 is fixed can be sandwiched between the flange portion 14. Moreover, the substantially front half part of the main-body part 11 is formed in a block shape with a substantially oval cross section, and the waterproof rubber plug 40 can be fitted along the outer surface.

  The cavities 13 for accommodating the respective female terminal fittings 20 are formed as spaces in which four sides are individually partitioned in the main body 11. On the other hand, each cavity 13 of the terminal locking part 19 is composed of a lance 22 that constitutes the upper wall of the cavity 13 and a support part 23 at the opposite position. Further, with respect to the cavities 13 located at both outer ends in the direction in which the cavities 13 are arranged, a part of the outer side wall is cut away from the front end edge of the cavity 13 toward the rear, so that a cut portion 41 is formed. The square tube portion 26 of the female terminal fitting 20 is exposed.

  The lance 22 extends forward from the front end of the upper surface of the main body 11, and by holding a slit between the adjacent lances 22, each can be bent in the vertical direction. A locking claw 22 </ b> A that can be locked to the lance hole 28 when the female terminal fitting 20 is inserted into the normal position is formed at the tip of each lance 22.

  The support portion 23 extends forward from the front end of the main body portion 11, and its front end position is set to be forward of the lance 22. 3 except the one located at the left end in FIG. 3 is a support wall 23A that supports the bottom surface of the rectangular tube portion 26 of the female terminal fitting 20, and one length direction of the support wall 23A. It consists of a partition wall 23B that stands up from the side edge and partitions the cavities 13 and has an L-shape as a whole. In addition, only the support part 23 located in the illustration left end is formed with a cut-out part 41 cut back from the front end edge of the partition wall 23B. However, since the rear end edge of each partition wall 23B is connected to the front end of the main body 11, the vertical direction is set in spite of the cantilever structure except for the support portion 23 located at the left end shown in FIG. It is difficult to bend. Therefore, when the female terminal fitting 20 is inserted into the cavity 13, only the lance 22 is bent and deformed exclusively.

  Moreover, as shown in FIG. 1, the slit-shaped guide part 18 is hold | maintained along the length direction between each support wall 23A. Each guide portion 18 plays a role of receiving the stabilizer 21 and guiding the movement when the female terminal fitting 20 is inserted. The entire stroke of the guide portion 18 includes a stroke in which the stabilizer 21 moves and a stroke in which the locking protrusions 35 and 36 described later move.

  On the other hand, a temporary locking structure for temporarily locking a later-described front retainer 30 is formed at the tip of the support wall 23A (see FIG. 1). The front end of each support wall 23 </ b> A has a portion protruding in the width direction so as to intersect with the guide portion 18. The length of each overhanging portion is set to be long or short. In FIG. 1, the longest overhanging portion 37 is arranged at the left end, and the short overhanging portion 24 is adjacent to this. Yes. The long overhanging portion 37 has a front end surface in a stepped shape at a position slightly retracted from the front end of the support wall 23A. This front end surface becomes a push-in restricting surface 37A that makes it possible to restrict the push-in of the front retainer 30 by abutting against the engaging protrusion 36 when the front retainer 30 is in the temporary engaging position. In addition, the front end of the rectangular tube portion 26 of the female terminal fitting 20 is abutted against the front end surface of the support wall 23A where the long projecting portion 37 is provided and in front of the push-in restricting surface 37A. A front stop portion 24 </ b> A for performing the front stop is formed upright.

  In the support wall 23A adjacent to the support wall 23A having the above-described long overhanging portion 37, the above-described short overhanging portion 24 is formed by extending the front stop portion 24A in the direction intersecting the guide portion 18 as it is. Yes. The short projecting portion 24 regulates disengagement of the front retainer 30 by locking the locking projection 35 to the back side when the front retainer 30 is in the temporary locking position.

  In addition, on the lower surfaces of the long overhanging portion 37 and the short overhanging portion 24, as shown in FIG. This is to alleviate the fitting resistance when the locking projections 35, 36 of the front retainer 30 ride over the corresponding overhanging portions 24, 37 while sliding. In addition, an inclined surface 25 for guiding a male tab (not shown) is formed on the outer surface of each support wall 23A on the tip side from the front stop portion 24A.

  The front retainer 30 is made of a synthetic resin and is formed in a substantially horizontally long hood shape as a whole. The front retainer 30 can be attached to the terminal locking portion 19 and can move between the temporary locking position and the main locking position. Here, the temporary locking position refers to a mounting position of the front retainer 30 where the female terminal fitting 20 can be inserted into and removed from the cavity 13, and the lance 22 locked to the female terminal fitting 20 is released. It is also a position that allows operation. The main locking position refers to the mounting position of the front retainer 30 that prevents the female terminal fitting 20 from coming off. At the main locking position, the front retainer 30 presses from above so as to restrict the bending of the lance 22. This prevents the lance 22 from being released.

  As shown in FIG. 10, four window portions 34 shown in the figure are provided in a substantially front half portion of the upper surface portion of the front retainer 30. When the front retainer 30 is in the temporary locking position, The front edge is located in front of the front edge of the lance 22, and the rear edge of the window portion 34 is set at approximately the same position as the fulcrum of the lance 22, so that the lance 22 can be bent. On the rear end surface of the front retainer 30 (on the side of the mating surface with the connector housing 10), a pressing portion 31 for pressing the front surface of the waterproof rubber plug 40 and holding it in front is provided. On the other hand, on the front end surface of the front retainer 30, a tab insertion port 32 for a male tab to enter corresponding to the position of each cavity 13 and a release jig (not shown) are inserted from the front to release the lance 22. The jig insertion port 33 to be performed is formed in communication. An inclined surface 25 for guiding the male tab is formed on the outer surface of the hole edge of the tab insertion hole 32.

  In a state where the front retainer 30 is held at the main locking position with respect to the connector housing 10, the outer surface of the front stop portion 24A of the connector housing 10 is exposed from the lower end portion of the tab insertion hole 32, and this front stop portion. The front end portion of 24A is substantially flush with the front end surface of the front retainer 30 (see FIGS. 14 and 17). A guide surface 42 for guiding the male tab is formed by the front stop 24A and the front end surface of the front retainer 30 (see FIG. 14).

  As shown in FIG. 15, the rear end portions of the left and right side walls of the front retainer 30 are notched forward from the rear end edge. A portion of the left and right side walls of the front retainer 30 that remains without being cut out fits with the cutout portion 41 of the cavity 13 and constitutes a replenishment wall 43 that constitutes an outer side wall of the cavity 13 positioned at the outermost end in the left-right direction. (See FIGS. 17 and 18).

  As shown in FIG. 4, guide ribs 44 extending in the front-rear direction and projecting outward are formed on the outer surfaces of the left and right side walls of the front retainer 30 so as to guide a mating connector (not shown). It has become.

  As shown by the broken lines in FIG. 10, a total of four locking projections 35 and 36 are provided at the center in the length direction of the surface opposite to the surface on which the window 34 is provided inside the front retainer 30. Corresponding to the guide portion 18 is provided. The positions of the locking protrusions 35 and 36 in the front-rear direction are alternately changed. That is, the portion corresponding to the long overhang portion 37 is arranged closer to the front end face of the front retainer 30 than the one corresponding to the short overhang portion 24. The rear side locking projection 35 is inclined at the rear end side so as to easily get over the short overhanging portion 24. On the other hand, the front side locking projection 36 has a front and rear end surfaces that are cut off, so that the front retainer 30 is not inadvertently moved from the temporary locking position to the main locking position. In addition, the front end side of the rear side locking projection 35 is an upright surface and restricts the movement of the front retainer 30 in the disengagement direction.

  Each of the locking projections 35 and 36 is formed with a width dimension so as to fit into the guide portion 18 and enters the guide portion 18 at the temporary locking position or the main locking position, and the front retainer 30 is moved to the temporary locking position. It is formed so as to be movable along the guide portion 18 when moving from the position to the main locking position.

The present embodiment has the above-described structure, and the operation thereof will be described subsequently.
First, the front retainer 30 is attached to the connector housing 10 at the temporary locking position. The front retainer 30 is fitted from the front of the connector housing 10 and the front side locking projection 35 abuts on the front surface of the short overhanging portion 24, but the rear end side of the front side locking projection 35 is inclined, so Without causing the fitting resistance, the front retainer 30 is expanded to ride on the tapered surface 38 of the short overhanging portion 24 and smoothly move to the temporary locking position. When the front retainer 30 reaches the temporary locking position, the front locking projection 35 enters the guide portion 18 and the front retainer 30 is elastically restored, and the front locking projection 35 is locked to the rear surface of the short overhanging portion 24. Disengagement of the front retainer 30 is restricted. At this time, since the rear side locking projection 36 is locked to the push-in restricting surface 37A of the long overhanging portion 37, the front retainer 30 is prevented from being carelessly moved from the temporary locking position to the main locking position. The

  Next, the female terminal fitting 20 is inserted into the connector housing 10 from the rear. The female terminal fitting 20 is guided to the regular mounting position when the stabilizer 21 enters the guide portion 18. When the female terminal fitting 20 reaches the normal mounting position, the front end of the female terminal fitting 20 comes into contact with the front stop portion 24A of the front end of the support portion 23, and at the same time, the front end is stopped. Is inserted into the lance hole 28 of the female terminal fitting 20 and is elastically locked, thereby preventing rearward removal.

  Subsequently, the front retainer 30 at the temporary locking position is pushed toward the final locking position. When an operating force exceeding the fitting resistance in the temporarily locked state is applied to the front retainer 30, the front retainer 30 expands and deforms, and the rear locking protrusion 36 rides on the tapered surface 38 of the long overhanging portion 37. . Then, the fitting resistance of the front retainer 30 is relaxed, and movement to the final locking position is allowed. The front retainer 30 is guided to the full locking position by the front locking protrusion 35 moving in the guide portion 18. When the front retainer 30 reaches the final locking position, the rear locking projection 36 enters the guide portion 18 and the front retainer 30 is elastically restored, so that the rear locking projection 36 locks with the rear surface of the long overhanging portion 37. Therefore, the front retainer 30 is held in a state of being prevented from being detached from the connector housing 10.

  In a state where the front retainer 30 is held at the main locking position with respect to the connector housing 10, the replenishment wall 43 of the front retainer 30 is connected to the cutout portion 41 on the outer side wall of the cavity 13 positioned at the outermost end in the left-right direction. Conforms and constitutes the side wall of the cavity 13. Accordingly, a part of the outer side wall of the cavity 13 located at the outermost end in the left-right direction can be omitted, and the side wall can be constituted by the replenishing wall 43. Therefore, the side wall of the cavity 13 and the side wall of the front retainer 30 , Can prevent the double wall structure. Thereby, a connector can be reduced in size in the left-right direction.

  Further, since the lance 22 constitutes the upper wall of the cavity 13, the connector can be downsized in the vertical direction as compared with the case where the upper wall of the cavity 13 and the lance 22 are separately formed.

  Also, since the guide surface 42 is formed by arranging the front stop portion 24A and the front end surface of the front retainer 30 on the same surface, the front stop portion 24A and the front end surface of the front retainer 30 are front and rear. A double wall structure can be prevented in the direction. Thereby, a connector can be reduced in size about the front-back direction.

<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 this embodiment, the front stop 24A formed at the front edge of the cavity constitutes a guide surface 42 that guides the male tab to the female terminal fitting 20 together with the front wall of the front retainer 30. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the guide surface 42 may be configured by only the front wall of the front retainer 30 separately from the front stop portion 24A.

  (2) In the present embodiment, the attachment member is the front retainer 30, but is not limited thereto, and may be a front mask that does not have a retainer function and has only a terminal front stop function.

  (3) In the present embodiment, the upper wall of the cavity 13 is configured as the lance 22, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the lower wall of the cavity 13 may be configured as the lance 22. Both the lower walls may be lances 22. Further, the upper wall or the lower wall of the cavity 13 and the lance 22 may be formed separately.

  (4) In the present embodiment, the guide ribs 44 protrude from the outer surfaces of both side walls of the front retainer 30, but the guide ribs 44 may be omitted.

The principal part enlarged plan view showing the latching state of the connector and front retainer in a temporary latching position and this latching position in this embodiment Bottom view of connector housing Front view of the connector before mounting the front retainer Front view of the connector after the front retainer is installed Front view of connector housing The plan view Its side view Front view of front retainer Back view The plan view Sectional drawing showing the locked state of the temporary locking projection when in the temporary locking position Sectional drawing which shows the latching state of this latching protrusion when it exists in a temporary latching position Sectional drawing which shows the latching state of the temporary latching protrusion when it exists in this latching position Sectional drawing which shows the latching state of this latching protrusion when it exists in this latching position AA line sectional view of the front retainer and connector housing in FIG. AA line sectional view in FIG. 4 showing the state of the front retainer and the connector housing when in the temporary locking position AA line sectional view in FIG. 4 showing the state of the front retainer and the connector housing when in the final locking position. BB line sectional view in Drawing 17 showing the state of the front retainer when it is in this locking position

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Connector housing 13 ... Cavity 20 ... Female side terminal metal fitting (terminal metal fitting)
22 ... Lance 24A ... Front stop 25 ... Inclined surface 30 ... Front retainer (mounting member)
32 ... Tab insertion hole 41 ... Cut part 42 ... Guide surface 43 ... Replenishment wall

Claims (3)

A connector housing comprising a connector housing in which cavities for accommodating a plurality of terminal fittings are formed side by side, and an attachment member that is attached to the front end of the connector housing from the front,
Of the cavities, on the outer side wall of the cavity located at the outermost end in the arrangement direction, a cut portion is formed by cutting back from the front edge of the side wall,
Wherein the attachment member, the connector, wherein a replenishing wall constituting the outer side wall of the cavity located at the outermost end in the lateral direction comply with the cut portion is formed. The cavity is formed with a lance that is elastically locked with the terminal fitting to prevent the terminal fitting from being detached, and the lance constitutes an upper wall or a lower wall of the cavity and the connector. It can be bent and deformed so as to protrude outward of the housing,
The connector according to claim 1, wherein the attachment member is a front retainer that prevents the lance from being bent and deformed in a direction in which the lance is detached from the terminal fitting. The terminal fitting is a female terminal fitting into which a male tab is inserted,
The front end portion of the cavity is formed with a front stop portion that makes a front stop of the female terminal fitting by contacting the front end portion of the female terminal fitting, and the front stop portion of the mounting member The front wall is formed at a position corresponding to the cavity and is exposed to the outside of the connector housing from a tab insertion hole for inserting the male tab,
An inclined surface for guiding the male tab is formed on the outer surface of the front stop and the hole edge of the tab insertion hole, and the male tab is formed by the front stop and the front wall of the mounting member. The connector according to claim 1, wherein a guide surface for guiding the connector to the female terminal fitting is formed.

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