JP5212284B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector.

Patent Document 1 discloses a conventional connector. This includes a housing that can be fitted with a mating housing, and a lock arm that extends forward after rising from the upper surface of the housing. A mating lock part is formed in the mating housing, and when the two housings are properly fitted, the lock arm elastically locks the mating lock part, and the two housings are held in the fitted state. Yes.
A protective wall that covers the rear end of the lock arm is formed on the housing, and the protective wall prevents an inadvertent unlocking operation on the lock arm. An R surface is formed at the upper corner of the rear end of the protective wall, and the fitting operation of both housings is advanced while pressing the R surface.

JP 2008-66030 A

  By the way, in the above configuration, when the R surface is pressed, a finger slips and turns around to the free end portion side of the lock arm, where the free end portion is pressed down and the lock arm is inadvertently bent and deformed. is there. Then, when the two housings are properly fitted, there is a possibility that the lock sound that is generated when the lock arm strikes the wall surface of the counterpart housing due to the return operation is not sufficiently generated, and the lock feeling may be dull.

  The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to improve the lock feeling.

  As means for achieving the above object, the invention of claim 1 is a piece having a housing that can be fitted with a mating housing, a fulcrum portion that rises from the housing, and an arm portion that extends forward from the fulcrum portion in the fitting direction. A lock arm that has a holding shape and can be deformed flexibly and holds both housings in a fitted state by a locking operation of the arm portions during normal fitting, and a fitting direction of the fulcrum portion formed in the housing It is characterized in that it is provided with a pressing portion that is located rearward and connected or opposed to the fulcrum portion and that can be pressed in the fitting process.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, with respect to the width direction orthogonal to the fitting direction, the dimension between the widthwise ends of the pressing portion is greater than the dimension between the widthwise ends of the arm portion. It has features where it is set.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, a step-shaped hooking portion that can be hooked with a finger is formed between the rising end portion of the fulcrum portion and the pressing portion. It has the characteristics where it is done.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein a front wall that covers a free end side of the arm portion is formed in the housing.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the housing according to the fourth aspect is characterized in that a rear wall that covers a base end side of the front arm portion and the fulcrum portion is formed in the housing.

  According to a sixth aspect of the invention, in the fifth aspect of the invention, a release space that allows a finger to enter between the front wall and the rear wall when the fitting state of the two housings is released. It has the feature that is held.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the rear wall is arranged at the same height as the front wall or higher than the front wall with respect to a height direction orthogonal to the fitting direction. It has the characteristics where it is done.

  The invention according to claim 8 is the one according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the arm portion has a pair of arm bodies in a width direction orthogonal to the fitting direction, and the pressing portions are respectively It is characterized in that it is formed in a pair so as to correspond to the arm portion.

  A ninth aspect of the invention is characterized in that, in any one of the first to eighth aspects, the pressing surface of the pressing portion is a slope inclined along the rising direction of the fulcrum portion. Have

<Invention of Claim 1>
Since the pressing part is located behind the locking arm fulcrum in the fitting direction and is connected or opposed to this fulcrum, the housing is fitted by pressing the pressing part during the fitting process of both housings. You can push straight along the direction. Therefore, both housings can be correctly fitted.
In addition, it is possible to prevent the lock arm from being bent and deformed inadvertently by turning the finger toward the free end side of the lock arm and pressing the finger against the free end side of the arm portion. As a result, a good lock feeling can be obtained.

<Invention of Claim 2>
Since the dimension between both ends in the width direction of the pressing part is set to be larger than the dimension between both ends in the width direction of the arm part, a large pressing area can be secured, and even if the connector is small, the pressing operation to the pressing part can be performed. Easy to do.

<Invention of Claim 3>
By hooking the finger on the hook portion, it is possible to more reliably prevent the finger from slipping during the fitting process of both housings.

<Invention of Claim 4>
The free end side of the arm portion is protected by the front wall, and the lock arm can be prevented from being bent and deformed carelessly.

<Invention of Claim 5>
The rear wall protects the base end side and the fulcrum portion of the arm portion, and can prevent the lock arm from being bent and deformed carelessly.

<Invention of Claim 6>
When removing both housings, the lock arm can be easily bent and deformed in the unlocking direction by inserting a finger into the releasing space.

<Invention of Claim 7>
Since the rear wall is arranged at the same height position as the front wall or higher than the front wall, unlike the case where the front wall is arranged higher than the rear wall, in the fitting process of both housings, It is possible to avoid an operator from pressing the front wall by mistake.

<Invention of Claim 8>
By forming the pressing portion corresponding to each of the both arm bodies, the pressing force is concentrated and applied to the portion corresponding to the rear side in the fitting direction of the fulcrum portion of the lock arm in the fitting process of both housings. . For this reason, a housing is pushed in along a fitting direction, and stability of fitting operation of both housings is improved more.

<Invention of Claim 9>
Since the pressing surface of the pressing portion is an inclined surface that is inclined along the rising direction of the fulcrum portion, it is easy to touch the finger along the pressing surface, and the operability is improved. Further, since the slope serves as an index for recognizing the pressing portion, it is possible to prevent the operator from pressing the portion other than the pressing portion by mistake.

Sectional drawing of both the housings in a fitting state in the connector of Embodiment 1. Cross section of housing Front view of housing Rear view of housing Top view of housing Side view of housing Sectional drawing of the housing in the connector of Embodiment 2.

<Embodiment 1>
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The connector according to the first embodiment includes a housing 10 and a terminal fitting 60. The housing 10 can be fitted with the mating housing 80. In the following description, in the front-rear direction, the mutual fitting surface side of the housing 10 and the counterpart housing 80 is the front.

  The mating housing 80 is made of synthetic resin and has a horizontally long cylindrical hood portion 81 as shown in FIG. The male tab 91 of the mating terminal fitting 90 is inserted through the back wall of the hood portion 81, and the distal end portion of the male tab 91 projects into the hood portion 81. A lock piece 82 is formed on the upper surface of the mating housing 80 and protrudes forward after standing up almost vertically from the upper surface. A locking hole 82 is formed in the locking piece 82 so as to open on the rear surface, and a lock receiving body 84 is formed in the width direction at the front end of the locking hole 82 at the front of the locking hole 83. The lock receiving body 84 is formed with a lock claw 85 protruding downward.

  The housing 10 is made of synthetic resin, and has a horizontally long block-shaped housing main body 11 and a horizontally long cylindrical fitting cylinder portion 12 surrounding the housing main body 11 as shown in FIGS. Yes. The housing body 11 and the fitting cylinder portion 12 are integrally connected by a connecting portion 13. The connecting portion 13 is connected to the housing body 11 slightly behind the center in the front-rear direction of the housing body 11. Further, a fitting space 14 in which the hood portion 81 of the mating housing 80 can enter from the front is held between the housing body 11 and the fitting cylinder portion 12.

  A plurality of cavities 15 are formed in the housing body 11 as an example. A terminal fitting 60 is inserted into each cavity 15 from the rear, and a deflectable lance 16 protruding forward is formed on the lower surface of each cavity 15. The normally inserted terminal fitting 60 is elastically locked by the lance 16 and is prevented from coming out backward.

  An overhang-shaped step 17 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the housing main body 11, and a rear portion with the step 17 as a boundary is arranged outside the front portion. A rubber seal ring 70 is fitted in front of the step 17 on the outer peripheral surface of the housing body 11. The seal ring 70 plays a role of sealing between the two housings 10 and 80 in close contact with the two housings 10 and 80 at the time of normal fitting. In the rear surface of the housing main body 11, a lightening hole 18 is formed along the periphery of each cavity 15, and the back end of the lightening hole 18 is located immediately after the step 17.

  The terminal fitting 60 inserted into each cavity 15 is integrally formed by bending a conductive metal plate or the like, and has a cylindrical connecting portion 61 on the front side and an open barrel-like barrel portion on the rear side. 62. The male tab 91 of the mating terminal fitting 90 is inserted into the connecting portion 61 from the front, whereby the two terminal fittings 60 and 90 are electrically connected. The barrel portion 62 is caulked and connected to the core wire exposed at the end of the electric wire W on the front side thereof, and is caulked and connected to the rubber plug 50 fitted on the end covering of the electric wire W on the rear side thereof. The rubber plug 50 is inserted into the cavity 15 together with the terminal fitting 60 and is in close contact with the inner peripheral surface of the cavity 15, thereby fulfilling the role of taking a seal within the cavity 15.

  A cantilevered lock arm 19 is formed on the upper surface of the housing body 11. The lock arm 19 includes a fulcrum portion 21 that is integrally connected to the upper surface of the housing body 11 and rises upward, and an arm portion 22 that extends forward from the fulcrum portion 21, and the arm portion 22 is vertically movable with the fulcrum portion 21 as a fulcrum. It can be bent and deformed in the height direction. The fulcrum part 21 is disposed at the same position as the connecting part 13 in the front-rear direction, and is integrated in the width direction with the connecting part 13 connected to the upper surface of the housing body 11 (see FIG. 4).

  As shown in FIG. 5, the arm portion 22 has a pair of arm main bodies 23 arranged at intervals in the width direction, and the base ends of both arm main bodies 23 are integrally connected to the front end of the fulcrum portion 21. Yes. A lock body 24 is installed in the width direction between the distal ends of both arm bodies 23, and the distal ends of both arm bodies 23 are connected together via the lock body 24. The rear surface of the lock body 24 is a locking surface 25 that locks the mating lock piece 82 when the housings 10 and 80 are fitted together. A lock hole 26 is formed at the rear of the lock body 24 and between the arm bodies 23 so as to open to the rear surface.

  Further, the fitting cylinder portion 12 is formed with a horizontally long rectangular opening 27 cut out above the middle portion of the arm portion 22. A rear wall 29 is formed to bulge upward. The front wall 28 is arranged so as to cover the upper side of the distal end side of the arm part 22 including the lock body 24, and the rear wall 29 is arranged so as to cover the upper side of the proximal end side of the arm part 22. As shown in FIG. 2, an entrance space 30 into which the lock piece 82 can enter is held between the front wall 28 and the arm portion 22, and the front wall 28 is arranged at a higher position than the rear wall 29. Has been.

  Further, the front wall 28 is thicker than the rear wall 29 and is longer in the front-rear length than the rear wall 29. The rear end portion of the rear wall 29 is integrally connected to the fulcrum portion 21 and the connecting portion 13 on both sides in the width direction, and is arranged so as to cover the upper rear end of the lock hole 26. The inside of the opening 27 formed between the front wall 28 and the rear wall 29 is a release space 31 that is large enough to allow the tip of the finger F to enter. Is to be inserted.

  A pair of pressing portions 32 project in the width direction pressed by the finger F during the fitting process of the housings 10 and 80 immediately after the fulcrum portion 21 on the upper surface of the housing body 11. The pressing portions 32 are arranged in pairs at positions corresponding to the both arm main bodies 23 and have the same shape and size. The width dimension of both pressing parts 32 is substantially the same as the width dimension of the fulcrum part 21 and the arm part 22, and the dimension between both ends in the width direction of both pressing parts 32 is the width direction of the fulcrum part 21 and arm part 22. The dimensions between both ends are almost the same. In short, both pressing portions 32 are formed in the projection range of the lock arm 19 in the front-rear direction.

  Each of the pressing portions 32 has a triangular shape in a side view, a front end thereof is integrally connected to the rear end of the fulcrum portion 21, and a lower end thereof is integrally connected to the upper surface of the housing body 11. The rear ends of the pressing portions 32 are inclined surfaces 33 that are inclined upward, which is the rising direction of the fulcrum portion 21, and the fingers F can be brought into close contact with the inclined surfaces 33. Specifically, the inclined surface 33 is formed in a tapered shape having an upward slope from the upper surface of the housing body 11 to the rear end of the fulcrum portion 21. Further, the rear end of the slope 33 coincides with the rear end of the housing body 11, and the upper end of the slope 33 is arranged at a position slightly lower than the upper end of the fulcrum part 21. A step-shaped hooking portion 34 is formed between the upper end of the rear surface of the fulcrum portion 21 and the upper end of the inclined surface 33, and the tip of the finger F comes into contact with the hooking portion 34 in a hooked state, so that the finger F No more slipping forward.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
The fitting operation of both the housings 10 and 80 is started from a state in which the both housings 10 and 80 face each other. In the process of fitting, the inclined surface 33 of the pressing part 32 is pressed with the finger F from the rear. Then, a forward pressing force is applied to the rear end of the fulcrum portion 21, the lock arm 19 is pushed straight forward, and the housing 10 is maintained in a normal fitting posture. Further, in the fitting process, the lock main body 24 is slidably contacted with the tip of the lock claw 85 and the arm portion 22 is bent and deformed downward. When the two housings 10 and 80 are properly fitted, the arm portion 22 is elastically restored, so that the lower surface of the lock piece 82 is slammed and a lock sound is generated. Accordingly, the lock claw 85 is moved to the lock hole 26. And is arranged to be able to be locked to the lock body 24 (see FIG. 1). Thereby, both the housings 10 and 80 are held in the separation restricted state. Thus, in a state where both housings 10 and 80 are properly fitted, the front wall 28 is arranged so as to cover the upper portion of the lock claw 85, and the lock claw 85 is hidden by the front wall 28 when viewed in plan. (See FIG. 5).

  By the way, when both the housings 10 and 80 are detached as necessary for maintenance or the like, the finger F is inserted from above into the release space 31 opened between the front wall 28 and the rear wall 29. Then, the tip of the finger F presses the middle part of both arm bodies 23 from above, and the arm part 22 is bent and deformed downward in the unlocking direction with the fulcrum part 21 as a fulcrum. As a result, the locked state of the lock main body 24 and the lock receiving main body 84 is released. In this state, the two housings 10 and 80 can be detached by pulling the two housings 10 and 80 in opposite directions. It becomes. In this case, since the lock claw 85 is positioned so as not to enter the release space 31, the release operation is not hindered by the tip of the finger F hitting the lock claw 85 or the like.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the pressing portion 32 is located behind the fulcrum portion 21 of the lock arm 19 and connected to the fulcrum portion 21, the fitting process of both the housings 10 and 80 is performed. Thus, by pressing the pressing portion 32, the housing 10 can be pushed straight in the fitting direction toward the counterpart housing 80. For this reason, both housings 10 and 80 are maintained in a regular fitting posture and are properly fitted.

  Further, in the process of fitting the two housings 10 and 80, the pressing portion 32 located behind the fulcrum portion 21 is pressed, so that unlike the case where the upper corner of the rear end of the lock arm 19 is pressed, the lock There is little possibility that the finger F turns around to the free end side of the arm 19, and the lock arm 19 can be prevented from being bent and deformed carelessly. For this reason, as both the housings 10 and 80 are properly fitted, the return operation of the lock arm 19 is correctly performed, and a locking sound in which the lock arm 19 strikes the mating housing 80 is appropriately generated. As a result, a good lock feeling can be obtained. In particular, in the process of fitting the two housings 10 and 80, the tip of the finger F is caught by the catching portion 34 of the fulcrum portion 21, so that the tip of the finger F slips and turns around to the free end side of the lock arm 19. It can be avoided reliably.

Further, since the dimension between both ends in the width direction of the pressing part 32 is set to the same dimension as the dimension between both ends in the width direction of the arm part 22, a large pressing area of the pressing part 32 can be secured, and the connector is small. However, it is easy to perform a pressing operation on the pressing portion 32.
Further, since the pressing portion 32 is formed corresponding to each of the arm main bodies 23, a pressing force is applied to a portion corresponding to the rear of the fulcrum portion 21 of the lock arm 19 in the fitting process of both the housings 10 and 80. Granted in a concentrated manner. For this reason, the housing 10 is pushed in along the fitting direction, and the stability of the fitting operation of both the housings 10 and 80 is further improved.

  Furthermore, since the pressing surface of the pressing portion 32 is an inclined surface 33 that is inclined along the rising direction of the fulcrum portion 21, the finger F can be easily placed along the pressing surface, and the operability is improved. In addition, since the slope 33 serves as an index for recognizing the pressing portion 32, it is possible to avoid the operator from pressing parts other than the pressing portion 32 by mistake.

<Embodiment 2>
FIG. 7 shows Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In the second embodiment, the form of the rear wall 29A is different from that of the first embodiment. The rest of the configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, and the same components as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  In the second embodiment, the upper surface of the rear wall 29A is arranged at the same height as the upper surface of the front wall 28, and the height position of the rear wall 29A is shifted upward as compared with the first embodiment. Accordingly, the height of the fulcrum portion 21 is increased, and the slope of the inclined surface 33 of the pressing portion 32 is tightened. Further, the upper end of the peripheral wall of the fitting cylinder portion 12 located between the rear wall 29 and the front wall 28 is also connected at the same height position as both upper ends of the rear wall 29 and the front wall 28. Further, the rear wall 29 has the same thickness as the front wall 28.

  According to the second embodiment, since the rear wall 29 is disposed at the same height as the front wall 28, unlike the case where the front wall 28 is disposed at a position higher than the rear wall 29, both housings 10, In the fitting process 80, it is possible to avoid the operator from pressing the front wall 28 by mistake.

<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 pressing part may be located behind the fulcrum part and facing the fulcrum part with a space therebetween.
(2) The dimension between the width direction both ends of a press part may be made larger than the dimension between the width direction both ends of an arm part.
(3) The upper end of the rear wall may be arranged at a position higher than the upper end of the front wall. Also in this case, the effect of the second embodiment can be enjoyed.
(4) The housing may be a male housing capable of accommodating a male terminal fitting having a male tab, and the mating housing may be a female housing capable of accommodating a female terminal fitting.
(5) The rear wall may be omitted.

F ... finger 10 ... housing 19 ... lock arm 21 ... fulcrum part 22 ... arm part 23 ... arm body 28 ... front wall 29, 29A ... rear wall 31 ... release space 32 ... pressing part 33 ... slope 34 ... hooking part 60 ... terminal Hardware 80 ... Mating housing

Claims (9)

A housing that can be mated with a mating housing;
It has a cantilever shape that has a fulcrum portion that rises from the housing and an arm portion that extends forward from the fulcrum portion in the fitting direction, and can be flexibly deformed. A lock arm that holds the joint,
A connector, comprising: a pressing portion formed in the housing and positioned behind and in connection with the fulcrum portion of the fulcrum portion and capable of being pressed in the fitting process.   2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein, with respect to a width direction orthogonal to the fitting direction, a dimension between both ends in the width direction of the pressing portion is set to be equal to or greater than a dimension between both ends in the width direction of the arm portion.   The connector according to claim 1, wherein a stepped hooking portion that can be caught by a finger is formed between the rising end portion of the fulcrum portion and the pressing portion.   The connector according to claim 1, wherein a front wall that covers a free end side of the arm portion is formed in the housing.   The connector according to claim 4, wherein a rear wall that covers a base end side of the arm portion and the fulcrum portion is formed in the housing.   6. The connector according to claim 5, wherein a release space is provided between the front wall and the rear wall to allow a finger to enter when releasing the fitted state of the two housings. .   The connector according to claim 6, wherein the rear wall is arranged at the same height position as the front wall or higher than the front wall with respect to a height direction orthogonal to the fitting direction.   The said arm part has a pair of arm main body in the width direction orthogonal to a fitting direction, and the said press part is formed in a pair so as to correspond to each said arm main body. The connector according to any one of 7 to 7.   The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the pressing surface of the pressing portion is a slope inclined along the rising direction of the fulcrum portion.

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