JP5012326B2 - Joint connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a joint connector in which sub-connectors are stacked in a plurality of stages.

As this type of joint connector, for example, a joint connector described in Patent Document 1 below is known. This joint connector is provided with a contact portion and a contact receiving portion on the side surface of each step, and when the sub-housings constituting the joint connector are properly stacked, the contact portion and the contact receiving portion are The plurality of sub-housings are assembled in alignment with each other by abutting at a regular assembly position. The sub-housing is provided with a cavity in which the terminal fitting can be accommodated, and the terminal of the wire harness is connected to the terminal fitting. After the terminal fitting is accommodated inside the cavity, the sub-housing before stacking is mounted on the inspection device, and the conduction probe provided in the inspection device is brought into contact with the terminal fitting, thereby conducting the continuity inspection of the terminal fitting.
Japanese Patent No. 3433797

However, in this continuity test, it is possible to inspect whether or not the terminal fitting is connected to a regular wire harness, but whether or not the terminal fitting is accommodated in a regular sub-housing. I can't. For this reason, if the terminal fitting is accommodated in a sub-housing different from the regular sub-housing, the wiring harness is incorrectly wired after the sub-housings are stacked.
The present invention has been completed based on the above situation, and an object thereof is to correctly wire the wire harness after the sub-housings are stacked.

The present invention can be stacked in a plurality of stages, and the can accommodate sub housing terminal fittings connected to the wire harness, each formed to project on both sides in the width direction definitive in the auxiliary housing, they are stacked in a plurality of stages And a pair of guide pieces that guide the fitting operation of the two housings by entering a guide groove provided in the counterpart housing when the sub-housing is fitted to the counterpart housing. A sub-housing is attached to the inspection device, and a continuity probe provided in the inspection device is brought into contact with the terminal metal fitting to check whether the terminal metal fitting is connected to the regular wire harness. A joint connector in which the terminal fitting is connected to the mating terminal fitting provided in the mating housing in a conductive manner as the housing is fitted. The guide piece has a notch formed in a different arrangement for each of the sub-housings, and the presence or absence of the notch is detected by a detection unit provided separately from the conduction probe during the conduction test. A detection unit for identifying the type of the sub-housing by detecting the detection unit ; and the detection unit is positioned at an intermediate portion of the sub-housings stacked in a plurality of stages, excluding both end sides in the stacking direction. The sub-housings are characterized in that they are provided respectively .

According to such a configuration, the terminal fitting connected to the wire harness is accommodated in the sub-housing, and the continuity probe is brought into contact with the terminal fitting in the continuity inspection before the sub-housing is laminated, so that the terminal fitting is connected to the regular wire harness Conduct a continuity test to determine whether or not At the time of this continuity test, the type of the sub-housing can be identified by detecting the notch provided in the detected part by the detecting part. Therefore, it is possible to inspect whether or not the terminal fitting is accommodated in the correct sub-housing in the continuity test. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the wire harness from being incorrectly wired after the sub-housings are stacked.
Further, the detected parts are respectively provided in the sub-housings that are located in an intermediate portion of the sub-housings stacked in a plurality of stages excluding both end sides in the stacking direction. Usually, in the joint connector, the sub-housing located in the intermediate portion is often the one having the same shape in appearance, so that the terminal fitting may be accommodated in the non-regular sub-housing. Therefore, it is not necessary to inspect all the laminated sub-housings, and the inspection efficiency can be increased by inspecting only the sub-housings located in the intermediate portion.

The following configuration is preferable as an embodiment of the present invention.
The detection unit is a contact type sensor, and when the notch is formed, the sensor is in a non-contact state, but when the notch is not formed, the sensor is in contact with the tip of the guide piece. It is good also as composition which becomes. According to such a configuration, the presence or absence of a notch can be detected using a contact-type sensor.

  According to the present invention, the wire harness can be correctly wired after the sub-housings are stacked.

<Embodiment 1>
Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
<Overall configuration>
As shown in FIG. 1, the joint connector 10 according to the present embodiment is provided so as to be fitted into a fitting recess 22 described later of the relay connector 20. Inside the relay connector 20, a terminal fitting 40 connected to the wire harness W is accommodated. When the two joint connectors 10 are fitted on both sides of the relay connector 20, the relay provided inside the relay connector 20. The wire harnesses W connected to the two joint connectors 10 are electrically connected to each other by connecting the terminal (an example of the “mating terminal metal fitting” of the present invention) 24 and the terminal metal fitting 40 so as to be conductive. Here, the front-rear direction refers to the mating surface side of the joint connector 10 and the relay connector 20 as the reference.

  At the rear portion of the joint connector 10, a hand pushing portion 13 that is pushed when the joint connector 10 is fitted to the relay connector 20 is formed. A pair of the hand pressing portions 13 are provided so as to protrude on both sides in the width direction. As shown in FIG. 2, when both the connectors 10 and 20 are properly fitted, they face the opening edge of the fitting recess 22 of the relay connector 20. It is set to be.

<Composition of joint connector>
The joint connector 10 has a laminated housing 11 made of synthetic resin, and this laminated housing 11 is called six sub-housings S1, S2, S3, S4, S5 and S6 (hereinafter referred to as “sub-housings S1 to S6” for short). The sub-housing S is sometimes laminated). These sub-housings S are arranged in order from the upper side in a properly stacked state, in order from the first sub-housing S1, the second sub-housing S2, the third sub-housing S3, the fourth sub-housing S4, the fifth sub-housing S5, 6 sub-housing S6. Here, the vertical direction refers to the first sub-housing S1 side as the upper side with reference to the stacking direction of the sub-housings S.

  As shown in FIG. 6, each sub-housing S includes a plate-like main body 30 and projecting pieces 31 that protrude on both sides in the width direction at the rear part of the main body 30. The main body 30 of the second sub-housing S2 to the sixth sub-housing S6 includes three cavities 32 penetrating in the front-rear direction and arranged side by side in the width direction, and inside these cavities 32, The terminal fitting 40 can be accommodated from the rear. A lance 33 is formed on the side wall of the cavity 32 so as to be able to bend in the width direction, and the terminal fitting 40 can be held in the cavity 32 in a locked state by locking the lance 33 to the terminal fitting 40 from the width direction. It is.

  Retainer insertion ports 34 common to the three cavities 32 are collectively formed through the upper surfaces of the second sub housing S2 to the sixth sub housing S6. The three cavities 32 communicate with the outside of the cavity 32 through the retainer insertion port 34. On the other hand, on the lower surfaces of the first sub-housing S1 to the fifth sub-housing S5, three retainers 35 that respectively enter the three cavities 32 project through the retainer insertion ports 34 when the sub-housings S are properly stacked. Is provided. The retainer 35 can hold the terminal fitting 40 inside the cavity 32 in a locked state by being locked to the rear end of the box portion of the terminal fitting 40 inserted in the regular insertion position inside the cavity 32. In other words, the terminal fitting 40 is held in a double locked state by the locking by the lance 33 and the locking by the retainer 35.

  The first sub-housing S1 is provided with a lock arm 12 that holds the connectors 10 and 20 in a properly fitted state. The lock arm 12 includes a base end portion 12A that rises upward from the front end of the upper surface of the first sub-housing S1, and an arm portion 12B that has a cantilever shape extending rearward from the base end portion 12A and can be bent up and down. Yes. At the rear end of the arm portion 12B, a release operation portion 12C for performing the release operation of the lock arm 12 is provided. In addition, a lock protrusion 12D that protrudes upward is formed slightly forward of the release operation part 12C in the arm part 12B.

  A predetermined clearance is set between the side wall of the retainer 35 and the opening edge of the retainer insertion port 34 in order to reduce the fitting force when the sub-housings S are stacked. However, since this clearance is provided, each sub-housing S is displaced in the front-rear direction. As a result, for example, when only the lowermost sixth sub-housing S6 is pushed in and the connectors 10 and 20 are fitted together, the posture is shifted rearward toward the upper side, and in the uppermost first sub-housing S1 May occur that the lock arm 12 is not locked. As a countermeasure, a rib 35 </ b> A is provided near the base of the retainer 35 to loosen the gap between the retainer 35 and the opening edge of the retainer insertion port 34.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the hand pressing portion 13 is configured by laminating the projecting pieces 31 of the sub-housings S in close contact with each other. Identification protrusions A are provided on the lower surface of the mating surfaces of the protrusions 31 so as to protrude downward. Identification protrusions B that can receive the identification protrusions A are provided on the upper surface. These identification protrusions A and identification recesses B are arranged side by side in the stacking direction of the sub-housings S when the sub-housings S are normally stacked. For this reason, the intervals between the identification protrusions A and the intervals between the identification recesses B are the same.

  Although the detailed description of each identification protrusion A and each identification recess B of each sub-housing S is omitted, as shown in FIGS. 10 to 19, each identification protrusion A has a substantially L-shaped cross section. It has a shape, each identification recess B has a hole shape that matches the cross-sectional shape of each identification projection A, and each corresponding identification projection A can be received only when each sub-housing S is properly stacked. It is. In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, each identification protrusion A is, in order from the upper side, the first identification protrusion A1, the second identification protrusion A2, the third identification protrusion A3, the fourth identification protrusion A4, It is set as 5 identification protrusion A5. Similarly to each identification protrusion A, each identification recess B is also arranged in order from the upper side, the first identification recess B1, the second identification recess B2, the third identification recess B3, the fourth identification recess B4, and the fifth identification recess B5. It is said that.

<Configuration of relay connector>
The relay connector 20 includes a relay housing 21 (an example of the “mating housing” according to the present invention) 21 made of a synthetic resin. The relay housing 21 includes a pair of fitting recesses 22 that open forward and rearward. An intermediate wall 23 is formed inside the relay housing 21 to partition the fitting recesses 22. A relay terminal 24 is fixed to the intermediate wall 23 by being press-fitted from one fitting recess 22 toward the other fitting recess 22. As shown in FIG. 5, three relay terminals 24 are arranged at a predetermined interval in the width direction. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the relay terminal 24 has five tab-like terminals arranged in the vertical direction corresponding to the terminal fittings 40 of the second sub-housing S2 to the sixth sub-housing S6. Adjacent tab-like terminals are connected together and integrated.

  On the upper surface of the relay housing 21, a pair of lock holes 25 penetrating the inside and the outside of the fitting recess 22 is provided. The lock projection 25 </ b> D is fitted into the lock hole 25 from the inside of the fitting recess 22 as the joint connector 10 is fitted into the fitting recess 22. The lock protrusion 12D can hold both the connectors 10 and 20 that are normally fitted by being locked to the inner peripheral surface of the lock hole 25 in a disconnected state. A fixing portion 26 is provided on the side surface of the relay housing 21 for mounting and fixing to a mounting stay (not shown) fixed to the device side.

  Guide grooves 27 are recessed along the front-rear direction on both sides in the width direction on the inner peripheral surface of the fitting recess 22 of the relay housing 21. The guide groove 27 is formed in accordance with each sub-housing S, and a guide piece 36 protruding from both sides in the width direction of the main body 30 can be inserted. Thereby, the fitting operation | movement of both the housings 10 and 20 can be guided.

  In addition, on the upper surface of the guide piece 36, four bending locking pieces 37 that protrude upward from the upper surface of the main body 30 are provided. The four bending locking pieces 37 are arranged at a predetermined interval in the front-rear direction while facing the width direction. A locking claw 37A protruding inward is provided at the protruding end of each bending locking piece 37, and the bending locking piece 37 is provided so that the locking claw 37A side can be displaced in the width direction. On the other hand, in each of the first sub-housing S1 to the fifth sub-housing S5, below the guide pieces 36, as shown in FIG. A locked portion 38 that can hold the portions 30 in a stacked state is formed.

<Sub-housing misassembly detection structure>
By the way, before the sub-housings S are stacked, a continuity test for inspecting whether or not the terminal fitting 40 is connected to the regular wire harness W is performed. This continuity test is performed by bringing three continuity probes E provided in an inspection apparatus (not shown) into contact with the front end portion of the terminal fitting 40 as shown in FIGS. In this continuity test, it is possible to inspect whether or not the terminal fitting 40 is connected to the regular wire harness W, but whether or not the terminal fitting 40 is accommodated in the regular sub-housing S is inspected. I can't. Therefore, in order to detect erroneous assembly of the sub-housing S, the inspection apparatus of the present embodiment is provided with a pair of contact probes (an example of the “detection unit” of the present invention) C in addition to the conduction probe E.

  The inspection apparatus includes an inspection unit in which the conduction probe E and the contact probe C are integrally assembled, a mounting portion for mounting the sub-housing S before stacking, and an inspection unit for the sub-housing S mounted on the mounting portion. It is the structure provided with the operation lever made to approach and separate. The contact probe C includes a contact type sensor, and a detection signal is sent to a control unit (not shown) when an object comes into contact with the sensor. The control unit determines the presence or absence of the notch 36A based on the detection signal sent from the contact probe C.

  On the other hand, the detected part detected by the contact probe C is provided at the front end of the guide piece 36 of the second sub-housing S2 to the fifth sub-housing S5. Then, when the contact probe C detects the detected portion, it is possible to identify the type of the sub-housing S and inspect whether or not the terminal fitting 40 is accommodated in the regular sub-housing S.

Here, the configuration of the detected part will be specifically described for each sub-housing S.
In the second sub-housing S2, as shown in FIG. 20, the notches 36A are not formed at the front ends of both guide pieces 36. For this reason, both the contact probes C are in contact with the front ends of both guide pieces 36, and a detection signal is sent to the control unit.
In the third sub-housing S3, as shown in FIG. 21, a notch 36A is formed only in the upper guide piece 36 in the drawing. For this reason, although the contact probe C on the upper side in the figure is in a non-contact state with the peripheral wall constituting the notch 36A, the contact probe C on the lower side in the figure is in a contact state with the front end of the guide piece 36, and the detection signal is transmitted to the control unit. Sent to.

In the fourth sub-housing S4, a notch 36A is formed at the front ends of both guide pieces 36, as shown in FIG. For this reason, both the contact probes C are in a non-contact state with the peripheral wall constituting the notch 36A.
In the fifth sub-housing S5, as shown in FIG. 23, a notch 36A is formed only in the lower guide piece 36 in the drawing. For this reason, the lower contact probe C in the figure is in a non-contact state with the peripheral wall constituting the notch 36A, but the upper contact probe C in the figure is in contact with the front end of the upper guide piece 36, and the detection signal Is sent to the control unit.

  The control unit stores storage means (not shown) in which the presence / absence and position of the notch 36A and the position and the type of the sub-housing S are stored in association with each other, and whether the sub-housing S is a regular sub-housing S by referring to the storage means. Determination means (not shown) for determining whether or not. Thereby, it is inspected whether or not the terminal fitting 40 is connected to the regular wire harness W by the continuity probe E during the continuity test, and whether or not the terminal fitting 40 is accommodated in the regular sub-housing S by the contact probe C. Can be inspected. When conducting the continuity test of the sixth sub-housing S6, it is possible to switch to the test mode in which the test by the contact probe C is not performed.

<Operation of this embodiment>
The present embodiment is configured as described above, and its operation will be described subsequently.
First, the terminal fitting 40 connected to the wire harness W is inserted into the cavity 32. When the insertion of all the terminal fittings 40 is completed, the continuity test before lamination is performed on the second sub-housing S2 to the sixth sub-housing S6. When each of the sub-housings S2 to S6 is mounted on the mounting portion of the inspection apparatus and the operation lever is turned, the inspection unit approaches the sub-housing S mounted on the mounting portion, and the conduction probe is located at the front end of the terminal fitting 40. It is inspected whether or not the contact is connected to the regular wire harness W. At the same time, the presence or absence of the notch 36A is determined by detecting the detected portion by the contact probe C, and whether or not the terminal fitting 40 is accommodated in the regular sub-housing S by referring to the storage means. Determined.

  When the continuity inspection is completed for all the sub-housings S2 to S6, the sub-housings S are stacked. For example, when the first sub-housing S1 and the second sub-housing S2 are stacked, the first identifying protrusions A1 are accommodated inside the first identifying recesses B1, thereby stacking the two sub-housings S1 and S2. Is acceptable. At this time, the retainer 35 of the first sub-housing S1 enters the cavity 32 through the retainer insertion port 34 of the second sub-housing S2. The sub-housings S1 and S2 are held in the normal positions by the rib 35A being in contact with the opening edge of the retainer insertion port 34.

  In parallel with these operations, the locking claw 37A gets over the locked portion 38 while the bending locking piece 37 is bent outward in the width direction, and the bending locking piece 37 is elastically restored, so that the locking claw 37A The to-be-latched part 38 is latched, and each sub-housing S is held in a stacked state. Thus, when the joint connector 10 is configured by properly stacking the sub-housings S, the joint connector 10 is inserted into the fitting recess 22 of the relay connector 20.

  At this time, each guide piece 36 is inserted into each guide groove 27 to guide the fitting operation of both connectors 10 and 20. Further, the lock projection 12D is fitted into the lock hole 25 from the inside of the fitting recess 22 while the lock arm 12 is bent downward, and the lock arm 12 is elastically restored and the inner periphery of the lock projection 12D and the lock hole 25 is deformed. The surface is locked. As a result, the joint connector 10 and the relay connector 20 are held in a disconnected state, and the terminal fitting 40 of the joint connector 10 and the relay terminal 24 of the relay connector 20 are connected so as to be conductive. As for the joint connector 10 on the opposite side, the wire harnesses W connected to the terminal fittings 40 of the joint connectors 10 are electrically connected to each other by performing the laminating operation and the fitting operation in the same manner as described above.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the following effects can be achieved.
1. By detecting the type of the sub-housing S using the guide piece 36, it is possible to inspect whether or not the terminal fitting 40 is accommodated in the regular sub-housing S in the continuity inspection before stacking. Therefore, the wire harness W can be correctly wired after the sub housings S are stacked.

2. By using the contact probe C which is a contact type sensor, the presence or absence of the notch 36A provided at the front end of the guide piece 36 can be easily detected.
3. Since the detected portion is provided only in the second sub-housing S2 to the fifth sub-housing S5 and the inspection with the contact probe C is performed, the inspection efficiency can be improved.

<Embodiment 2>
Next, Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the inspection apparatus of this embodiment, it is comprised so that the to-be-detected part of the subhousing S can be detected with a shape. Here, the fourth sub-housing S4 will be described as an example. That is, the inspection apparatus of the present embodiment has a housing accommodating portion 50 that can accommodate the sub-housing S4. An example of “detection unit” 51 is provided. If it does in this way, it can detect that it is 4th sub-housing S4 by inserting 4th sub-housing S4 in the housing accommodating part 50, and pushing in the 4th sub-housing S4 to the back end of the housing accommodating part 50. . On the other hand, if a sub-housing S (for example, the second sub-housing S 2) other than the fourth sub-housing S 4 is to be inserted into the housing accommodating portion 50, the detected portion (the front end of both guide pieces 36) interferes with the two protruding portions 51. Then, it is detected that it is not the fourth sub-housing S4 when it cannot be pushed into the back end of the housing accommodating portion 50.

<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.

  (1) Although the contact probe C and the protrusion 51 are used as the detection unit in the present embodiment, a non-contact type sensor may be used as the detection unit according to the present invention.

  (2) Although the presence or absence of the notch 36A is detected in the first embodiment, according to the present invention, the notch 36A has a different shape for each sub-housing S, and the detecting unit that fits into the notch 36A is provided. It may be provided for each sub-housing S.

(3) Although the detection unit is provided in the inspection device in the present embodiment, the detection unit may be provided separately from the inspection device according to the present invention.

The perspective view which showed the state before the fitting of the joint connector and the relay connector in Embodiment 1. The perspective view which showed the state after the fitting of the joint connector and a relay connector A longitudinal sectional view showing a state after the joint connector and the relay connector are fitted. Front view of the relay connector Cross section of the relay connector The perspective view which showed the state before lamination | stacking of each subconnector The perspective view which showed the state after the lamination | stacking of each subconnector Front view showing the state of each sub-connector before lamination Rear view showing the state of each sub connector before lamination Bottom view of the first sub-housing Plan view of the second sub-housing Bottom view of the second sub-housing Plan view of the third sub-housing Bottom view of the third sub-housing Plan view of the fourth sub-housing Bottom view of the fourth sub-housing Plan view of the fifth sub-housing Bottom view of the fifth sub-housing Plan view of the sixth sub-housing The figure which showed a mode that the continuity test | inspection of the 2nd subhousing was carried out The figure which showed a mode that the continuity test of the 3rd sub housing was carried out The figure which showed a mode that the continuity test of the 4th sub housing was carried out The figure which showed a mode that the 5th sub-housing is inspected for continuity The figure which showed a mode that a 4th sub-housing is inspected for continuity in Embodiment 2.

Explanation of symbols

10 ... Joint connector 21 ... Relay housing (mating housing)
24 ... Relay terminal (mating terminal fitting)
27 ... Guide groove 36 ... Guide piece 40 ... Terminal fitting 51 ... Projection (detection part)
C: Contact probe (detector)
E ... Conduction probe S (S1 to S6) ... Sub housing W ... Wire harness

Claims (2)

A sub-housing that can be stacked in a plurality of stages and can accommodate a terminal fitting connected to a wire harness;
Wherein each formed to project on both sides of the definitive width direction to the sub-housing, and enters the sub-housings are stacked in a plurality of stages in the guide groove provided in the mating housing when fitted to a mating housing A pair of guide pieces for guiding the fitting operation of both housings,
The continuity test is performed to check whether or not the terminal fitting is connected to the regular wire harness by attaching the sub-housing before stacking to the inspection device and bringing the continuity probe provided in the inspection device into contact with the terminal fitting. The joint connector is connected to the mating terminal fitting provided in the mating housing so as to be conductive with the fitting of the two housings,
The tip of the guide piece has a notch formed in a different arrangement for each sub-housing, and the presence or absence of the notch is detected by a detection unit provided separately from the conduction probe during the conduction test. And a detected portion for identifying the type of the sub-housing ,
And the said to-be-detected part is each provided in the said subhousing located in the intermediate part except the both ends side in the said lamination direction among the said subhousing laminated | stacked in multiple steps, The joint connector characterized by the above-mentioned . The detection unit is a contact-type sensor. When the notch is formed, the sensor is in a non-contact state, but when the notch is not formed, the sensor is not connected to the guide piece. The joint connector according to claim 1, wherein the joint connector is in contact with the tip of the connector.

Images