JP5098856B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector.

The connector is usually configured to include a housing that can accommodate terminal fittings (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The housing is formed with a cavity into which the terminal fitting can be inserted from the rear in the front-rear direction, and a lance that prevents the terminal fitting from being pulled backward is provided on the inner wall of the cavity so that it can bend further. A front wall for stopping the front of the terminal fitting is provided. The terminal fittings normally accommodated in the cavity are restricted from moving in the front-rear direction by the lance and the front wall.
JP 2003-36917 A

  By the way, when assembling the terminal fitting, the terminal fitting is inserted into the cavity from behind while picking the electric wire connected to the terminal fitting. For this reason, the response when the terminal fitting abuts against the front wall may not be felt, and the terminal fitting may be held in the semi-accommodating position in front of reaching the regular accommodation position. As a result, the locking force of the lance does not work, and there is a risk that the terminal fitting will inadvertently come out of the cavity.

  The present invention has been completed based on the above-described circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to ensure that the terminal fitting is securely accommodated in the regular accommodation position.

As a means for achieving the above object, the invention of claim 1 includes a housing capable of accommodating a terminal fitting, and an open state and a closed state centered on a shaft portion provided on the front end side of the housing. A lid member that is pivotably supported between the terminal member and the lid member in contact with the terminal metal member in the process from the open state to the closed state, and the terminal metal member can be guided to a normal storage position. The front wall of the terminal fitting is provided, and the upper surface of the housing is opened so that the terminal fitting can be inserted and removed in the open state, and is closed by the lid member in the closed state. ,
The housing and the lid member are engaged with each other, whereby the lid member is held in the open state .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the lid member is substantially perpendicular to the bottom wall while the front wall is in contact with the front end of the bottom wall of the housing in the opened state. It is characterized by standing in the direction .

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the lid member is provided with a locking portion, and the terminal fitting is provided with a locking receiving portion. Either one of the locking receiving portions is a convex portion, and the other is a concave portion. When the terminal fitting is in a proper accommodation position, the convex portion is formed as the lid member is in the closed state. When the terminal fitting is in a semi-accommodating position that fits into the recess to prevent the terminal fitting from coming out backward, but the terminal fitting is in a semi-accommodating position that does not reach the proper accommodation position, the tip of the convex portion It is characterized in that the lid member is restricted from coming into the closed state by abutting against a portion other than the concave portion .

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the one according to any one of the first to third aspects of the present invention, the lid member is engaged with a mating housing to which the housing is fitted, so that the two housings are fitted. It is characterized in that a lock portion for holding is provided .

<Invention of Claim 1>
When the terminal fitting is assembled to the housing, the front wall contacts the terminal fitting in the process from the open state to the closed state, even if the terminal fitting is placed in a forward position beyond the normal housing position. Thus, the terminal fitting is guided to the proper accommodation position, so that the terminal fitting accommodation position is corrected. As a result, the terminal fitting is reliably accommodated in the regular accommodation position.
Further, since the terminal fitting can be assembled to the housing from above when the lid member is in the open state, the assembling work of the terminal fitting is facilitated. Moreover, since the accommodation position of a terminal metal fitting can be visually recognized from upper direction, the half accommodation state of a terminal metal fitting is prevented beforehand.
Further, since the lid member is held in the open state, the assembling work of the terminal fitting is further facilitated.

<Invention of Claim 2 >
Since the lid member stands up in a direction substantially perpendicular to the bottom wall while the front wall is in contact with the front end of the bottom wall of the housing in the open state, a special structure is added to the housing and the lid member. Without being held open with a simple configuration.

<Invention of Claim 3 >
When the terminal fitting is in the proper housing position, the front and rear positions of the terminal fitting are defined because the convex portion fits into the concave portion and prevents the terminal fitting from coming out backward as the lid member is closed. The When the terminal fitting is in the semi-accommodating position, the end of the convex portion abuts against a portion other than the concave portion on the other side and restricts the lid member from being closed, so that the semi-contained state of the terminal fitting is detected.

<Invention of Claim 4 >
Since the lid member is provided with a lock portion that holds both housings in the fitted state, the configuration of the housing is simplified.

<Embodiment 1>
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The connector 10 of this embodiment includes a housing 20, a lid member 40, and a terminal fitting 60.

  The housing 20 is made of synthetic resin, and can be fitted together with a lid member 40 and a mating housing (not shown). As shown in FIGS. 9 to 11, the housing 20 has a rectangular plate-like bottom wall 21, a pair of side walls 22 rising from both ends in the width direction of the bottom wall 21, and parallel to both side walls 22 on the upper surface of the bottom wall 21. And a plurality of partition walls 23 standing up. Each of the side wall 22 and the partition wall 23 has a strip shape elongated in the front-rear direction, and the side wall 23 is thicker than the partition wall 23. The upper surface open region surrounded by the cross section angle U by the bottom wall 21, the side wall 22 and the partition wall 23, and the upper surface open region surrounded by the cross section angle U by the partition wall 23 adjacent to the bottom wall 21 are terminals. The housing portion 24 of the metal fitting 60 is used. In each accommodating portion 24, the terminal fitting 60 can be accommodated in a horizontal row while facing the front-rear direction.

  The terminal fitting 60 is formed by bending a metal plate or the like. As shown in FIG. 2, the terminal fitting 60 has a rectangular tube-shaped main body portion 61 on the front side and an open barrel-shaped barrel portion 62 on the rear side. . A mating terminal fitting (not shown) is inserted into the main body 61 from the front in accordance with the fitting of the two housings, whereby the two terminal fittings are electrically connected. The upper plate of the main body portion 61 is provided with a convex portion 63 (locking receiving portion) whose rear surface is vertically cut. The barrel portion 62 is connected to the end of the electric wire 90 by caulking. An electric wire 90 connected to each terminal fitting 60 is drawn out from the rear surface of the housing 20 as an example.

  A pair of left and right shafts 25 are provided on the outer surface of the side walls 22 of the housing 20 at the lower edge of the front end. The shaft portion 25 has a cylindrical shape, and the lid member 40 is pivotally supported on the shaft portion 25 so as to be rotatable. In addition, a pair of left and right holding portions 26 are provided on the outer surfaces of the side walls 22 of the housing 20 at substantially the center in the height direction of the rear end portion. The holding portion 26 has a rib-like shape extending in the front-rear direction, and a holding receiving portion 49 (described later) of the lid member 40 is elastically locked thereto. The upper surface of the holding portion 26 is a downwardly inclined guide surface, and the lower surface of the holding portion 26 is a substantially horizontal locking surface.

  The front end of the bottom wall 21 is arranged behind the front ends of the side walls 22 and is allowed to rotate between the front end of the bottom wall 21 and the front ends of the side walls 22. 27 are held. The front end of the bottom wall 21 is used as a standard 30 when the terminal fitting 60 is placed on each housing portion 24 of the housing 20 as described later (see FIG. 3).

  Next, the lid member 40 will be described. The lid member 40 is made of synthetic resin, and is supported so as to be rotatable between the open state and the closed state about the shaft portion 25 with respect to the housing 20. In the open position, the upper surface of the housing 20 is opened, and in the closed position, the upper surface of the housing 20 is closed.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, the lid member 40 falls from a rectangular plate-like ceiling wall 41, a pair of left and right hanging walls 42 that fall from both ends in the width direction of the ceiling wall 41, and a front end of the ceiling wall 41. And a front wall 43. On the upper surface of the ceiling wall 41, a cantilevered lock portion 44 extending rearward from the front end thereof is provided so as to be deflectable. The lock portion 44 has a lock protrusion 45 at a substantially central portion in the front-rear direction of the housing 20, and both the housings are detached by elastically engaging the lock protrusion 45 with a lock receiving portion (not shown) of the counterpart housing. It is held in a restricted state (fitted state).

  The hanging wall 42 has an elongated strip shape in the front-rear direction, the front wall 43 has an elongated strip shape in the width direction, and the lower end of the hanging wall 42 and the lower end of the front wall 43 are aligned at the same height. Each protruding dimension of the front wall 43 and the vertical wall 42 is substantially equal to a value obtained by adding the protruding dimension of the partition wall 23 (or the side wall 22) of the housing 20 and the plate thickness dimension of the bottom wall 21. The ceiling wall 41 is formed to be slightly larger than the bottom wall 21 of the housing 20 in the width direction. A gap corresponding to the plate thickness of the side wall 22 of the housing 20 is formed between the inner surface of both the hanging walls 42 and the outer surfaces on both sides of the front wall 43, and the side wall 22 is inserted into this gap at the closed position. An assembly space 46 is provided. A receiving groove 47 into which the upper end of the partition wall 23 is fitted in the closed position is formed on the lower surface of the ceiling wall 41 corresponding to each partition wall 23. In addition, on the lower surface of the ceiling wall 41, a recess 48 (locking portion) into which the protrusion 63 of the terminal fitting 60 is fitted in the closed position is formed corresponding to each storage portion 24. The receiving grooves 47 and the recesses 48 are alternately arranged in the width direction. The concave portion 48 has a depth substantially equal to the protruding amount of the convex portion 63, and the convex portion 63 can be locked to the inner rear surface that stands substantially vertically at the closed position.

  A holding receiving portion 49 having a shape corresponding to the holding portion 26 is recessed in the inner surface of both the hanging walls 42 at the center in the height direction of the rear end portion. When the holding receiving portion 49 is elastically locked to the holding portion 26 in the closed position, the lid member 40 is held across the housing 20 from both sides. On the inner surfaces of the both vertical walls 42, a notch 51 having a shallower depth than the holding receptacle 49 is provided immediately below the holding receptacle 49 in order to reduce assembly resistance due to interference between the lid member 40 and the holder 26. It is recessed. In addition, a pair of left and right bearing portions 52 that can be fitted to the shaft portion 25 are recessed in the inner surfaces of both the hanging walls 42 at the lower edge portion of the front end. The bearing portion 52 has a circular cross section and constitutes a pivot point of the lid member 40 together with the shaft portion 25. The illustrated bearing portion 52 is configured to penetrate through the outer surfaces of both hanging walls 42 in the thickness direction.

  The front wall 43 is disposed to face the housing portion 24 in front of the housing portion 24 in the closed position, and stops the terminal fitting 60 that is normally housed in the housing portion 24 in a covered state. The front wall 43 is formed with a substantially rectangular tab insertion hole 53 into which the male tab of the mating terminal fitting can be inserted from the front at every position corresponding to each housing portion 24. A tapered lead-in surface 54 that surrounds the entire circumference of the tab insertion hole 53 is formed on the front surface of the front wall 43, so that the male tab is drawn into the tab insertion hole 53 by this lead-in surface 54. It has become.

  In the front wall 43, horizontally long slits 55 that are formed as the recesses 48 are formed are formed above the tab insertion holes 53 so as to correspond to the respective recesses 48. More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the front wall 43 includes a thick front wall main body 56 having a tab insertion hole 53 facing the housing portion 24, and a lower end of the front wall main body 56. It consists of a front wall end portion 57 that is thinner than the front wall main body portion 56 that continues to the substantially front half portion. Both the front and rear surfaces of the front wall main body 56 are arranged to stand substantially vertically at the closed position. The lower end edge of the rear surface of the front wall main body 56 is a pushing portion 58 that pushes the terminal fitting 60 from the front in the process from the opening position to the closing position to reach the normal accommodation position.

  The front wall end portion 57 is accommodated in the rotation allowable space 27 of the housing 20, and its front surface is flush with the front surface of the front wall main body portion 56, while its rear surface is along the rotation locus of the lid member 40. The circular arc surface 59 is provided so that interference with the upper edge of the front end of the bottom wall 21 can be avoided during rotation. In addition, the lower surface of the front wall end portion 57 is arranged substantially vertically at the open position, and contacts the front end surface of the bottom wall 21 in a face-to-face manner in this state. Thereby, the rotation of the lid member 40 to the side opposite to the housing 20 is restricted, and the lid member 40 can be held in an upright posture with respect to the bottom wall 21. That is, the lower surface of the front wall end portion 57 is a holding means for holding the lid member 40 in the open position together with the front end surface of the bottom wall 21.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
First, the bearing portion 52 is fitted into the shaft portion 25 with the bending operation of both the hanging walls 42, and the lid member 40 is rotatably attached to the housing 20. Subsequently, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the lid member 40 is held in the open position, and in this state, the terminal fitting 60 with the electric wire 90 is inserted into each housing portion 24 of the housing 20 from above. At this time, it is preferable to make the front end of the terminal fitting 60 coincide with the front end of the bottom wall 21. The front end of the bottom wall 21 is located slightly ahead of the regular housing position, and when the terminal fitting 60 is assembled to the housing 20, this is used as a guideline 30 so that the subsequent rotation of the lid member 40 can be performed smoothly. The

  Next, the lid member 40 is rotated in the clockwise direction in the drawing toward the closing position around the shaft portion 25. In the process of rotation, as shown in FIG. 4, the pushing portion 58 of the lid member 40 comes into contact with the front end of the terminal metal 60, and as the rotation proceeds, the terminal metal 60 is pushed backward (regular accommodation position). During this time, the arcuate surface 59 of the front wall end 57 rotates so as to be in sliding contact with the upper edge of the front end of the bottom wall 21. When the lid member 40 reaches the closed position in this manner, as shown in FIG. 1, the terminal fitting 60 is brought to the regular accommodation position, and the convex portion 63 is fitted into the concave portion 48, so that the rear surface of the convex portion 63 The inner rear surface of the concave portion 48 is disposed so as to be in contact with it, thereby preventing the terminal fitting 60 from coming off rearward. Further, the front wall 43 is disposed so as to be able to contact the front surface of the terminal fitting 60, and the terminal fitting 60 is prevented from coming off forward. Furthermore, in the closed position, the holding portion 26 elastically locks the holding receiving portion 49, and the closed state of the lid member 40 is held. Thereafter, the connector 10 is fitted into a mating housing (not shown), whereby the mating terminal fitting penetrates the tab insertion hole 53 of the front wall 43 and is electrically connected to the corresponding terminal fitting 60.

  On the other hand, when the terminal fitting 60 is held in the semi-accommodating position behind the regular accommodating position, the convex portion 63 is located on the lower surface of the ceiling wall 41 of the lid member 40 (before the lid member 40 reaches the closed position). Since the lid member 40 does not reach the closed position by abutting against the recess 48 (except for the recess 48), it can be detected that the terminal fitting 60 is held in the semi-accommodating position. In this case, the terminal fitting 60 may be moved forward and the lid member 40 may be rotated again.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the terminal fitting 60 is assembled to the housing 20, the lid member 40 is in the open state even if the terminal fitting 60 is disposed at a front position beyond the regular accommodation position. In the process from the closed state to the closed state, the front wall 43 comes into contact with the terminal fitting 60 and guides the terminal fitting 60 to the regular accommodation position, so that the accommodation position of the terminal fitting 60 is corrected. As a result, the terminal fitting 60 is surely brought to the proper accommodation position.

  Further, since the terminal fitting 60 can be assembled to the housing 20 from above when the lid member 40 is in the open state, the assembling work of the terminal fitting 60 is facilitated. At this time, since the accommodation position of the terminal fitting 60 can be viewed from above, the semi-contained state of the terminal fitting 60 is prevented in advance.

  Further, since the lid member 40 is held in the open state by the holding means, the assembling work of the terminal fitting 60 is further facilitated. In this case, the holding means is configured such that the lid member 40 stands up in a direction substantially perpendicular to the bottom wall 21 while bringing the front wall 43 into contact with the front end of the bottom wall 21 of the housing 20 in the open state. There is no need to add a special structure to the housing 20 and the lid member 40, and the configuration can be simplified.

  Furthermore, when the terminal fitting 60 is in the semi-accommodating position, the tip of the convex portion 63 abuts against a portion other than the concave portion 48 of the ceiling wall 41 to restrict the lid member 40 from being closed. The semi-contained state is detected in advance. In addition, since both the concave portion 48 and the convex portion 63 are provided so as not to be elastically displaceable, the locking force is increased as compared with a known lance. Furthermore, since the lock member 44 that holds both the housings in the fitted state is provided on the lid member 40, the structure of the housing 20 can be simplified.

<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) The holding means for holding the lid member in the open state may be constituted by a known elastic engagement means.
(2) Contrary to the above, the convex portion may be provided on the lid member and the concave portion may be provided on the terminal fitting.

It is a sectional side view of the connector of Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is a sectional side view which shows the state before attaching a terminal metal fitting to a housing by making a cover member into an open state. It is a sectional side view which shows the state which assembled | attached the terminal metal fitting to the housing with the cover member opened. It is a sectional side view which shows the state which guide | induces a terminal metal fitting to a regular accommodation position in the process in which a cover member rotates from an open state toward a closed state. It is a side view of a lid member. It is a front view of a lid member. It is a rear view of a lid member. It is a bottom view of a lid member. It is a side view of a housing. It is a top view of a housing. It is a front view of a housing.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Connector 20 ... Housing 21 ... Bottom wall 25 ... Shaft part 40 ... Lid member 43 ... Front wall 44 ... Lock part 48 ... Recessed part (locking part)
60 ... Terminal fitting 63 ... Convex part (locking receiving part)

Claims (4)

A housing capable of accommodating a terminal fitting, and a lid member supported so as to be rotatable between an open state and a closed state with a shaft portion provided on the front end side of the housing as a center,
The lid member is provided with a front wall that contacts the terminal fitting in a process from the open state to the closed state and can guide the terminal fitting to a proper receiving position to stop the terminal fitting. ,
And the upper surface of the housing is opened so that the terminal fitting can be inserted and removed in the open state, and closed by the lid member in the closed state,
The connector , wherein the lid member is held in the open state by the housing and the lid member engaging with each other . 2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein, in the opened state, the lid member stands up in a direction substantially perpendicular to the bottom wall while the front wall is in contact with a front end of the bottom wall of the housing . The lid member is provided with a locking portion, the terminal metal fitting is provided with a locking receiving portion, and either the locking portion or the locking receiving portion is a convex portion, and the other is a concave portion. And
When the terminal fitting is in a proper housing position, the convex portion fits into the concave portion to prevent the terminal fitting from coming out backward as the lid member is in the closed state, When the terminal fitting is in a semi-accommodating position that does not reach the proper accommodating position, the tip of the convex portion is in contact with a portion other than the concave portion on the counterpart side and the lid member is restricted from being in the closed state. The connector according to claim 1 or 2 . The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the lid member is provided with a lock portion that locks a mating housing to which the housing is fitted and holds both housings in a fitted state. .

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