JP5599300B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector provided with a short terminal that enables a pair of terminals to be short-circuited.

  In the connector in which one housing having a female terminal and the other housing having a male terminal are connected and the terminals are connected to each other, the male terminal is led to the female terminal in one housing. There is one in which a tapered guide portion is integrally formed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In addition, with the further miniaturization and narrowing of the connector and the formation of a lance for preventing terminal detachment, it is difficult to mold a sufficiently large guide part into one housing. It is also known that a separate front holder is mounted on the front side of the terminal accommodating chamber of one housing to secure a guide portion large enough to guide the terminals (see, for example, Patent Document 2). ).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-57809 JP 2004-273252 A

  By the way, in a connector used for an airbag circuit, in an inflator-related circuit, there is a case where a short terminal for short-circuiting between two electrodes is installed for the purpose of preventing malfunction or explosion due to static electricity. In this type of connector, a plate-like short-circuit release bar is provided on the other housing, and the short-circuit release bar is inserted between the female terminal and the short terminal during connection to release the short-circuit state. It is necessary to.

  However, in the connector of this structure, in order to avoid interference with the guide part of the short-circuit release bar at the time of connection, a gap or insertion hole into which the short-circuit release bar can be inserted must be secured below the guide part. Will lead to an increase in size. In this case, in order to suppress the increase in size of the connector, it is conceivable to make the guide part small or make the short-circuit release bar thin. However, if the guide part is made small, it becomes difficult to guide the male terminal, and the short-circuit release bar If the thickness is reduced, the short-circuit release bar may be broken or damaged, and the short-circuit release may not be smoothly performed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a connector capable of smoothly and satisfactorily guiding terminals and canceling a short circuit without causing an increase in size. .

In order to achieve the above-described object, the connector according to the present invention is characterized by the following (1) or (2).
(1) A male housing to which a male terminal with a protruding tab is mounted, a female housing to which a female terminal connected to the male terminal is mounted, and a mounting hole formed in the front surface of the female housing are housed in the mounting hole. A front mask having a tab receiving hole having a guide surface inclined inward in the insertion direction of the tab, a short terminal mounted on the female housing and capable of short-circuiting a pair of female terminals, and the male housing A connector provided with a short-circuit releasing plate that releases a short circuit between the pair of female terminals and the short terminal when the connector is fitted,
The male housing includes a protrusion having a tapered surface capable of abutting on the front mask at a tip portion,
The protrusion protrudes to the tip side from the short-circuit release plate, and when the connector is fitted, the taper surface comes into contact with the front mask in which the tab is inserted into the tab receiving hole to lift the front mask. A connector characterized by being displaced upward and disposed at a position deviated from the front of the short-circuit release plate.

According to this connector, when the connector is fitted, the front mask is lifted by the taper surface of the protruding portion protruding to the tip side from the short-circuit release plate contacts the front mask in which the tab is inserted into the tab receiving hole. And is displaced upward and is disposed at a position away from the front of the short-circuit release plate. Accordingly, the short circuit releasing plate is inserted between the pair of female terminals and the short terminal without interfering with the front mask, and the short circuit of the female terminals is released.
Therefore, it is not necessary to reduce the front mask or thin the short circuit release plate to avoid interference with the short circuit release plate, so that the guide of the tab of the male terminal by the guide surface of the front mask becomes insufficient or thin. It is possible to eliminate a problem that the short-circuit release plate is damaged and the short-circuit release is not smoothly performed. Moreover, it is not necessary to increase the size of the connector in order to secure the insertion space for the short-circuit release plate.
That is, it is possible to smoothly and satisfactorily perform the guide of the tab of the male terminal and the release of the short circuit of the female terminal without causing an increase in size.

(2) In the connector according to (1), the front mask has a tapered surface that slides in contact with the tapered surface of the protrusion, and the tapered surfaces are in contact with each other to slide. The connector, wherein the front mask is displaced by the protrusion.

  According to this connector, the tapered surfaces of the front mask and the projecting portion come into contact with each other and slide, so that the front mask can be smoothly displaced by the projecting portion, and the connector is fitted and the short circuit is released accordingly. Smoothing can be achieved.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the connector which can perform the guidance of a terminal and short circuit cancellation smoothly and favorably without causing enlargement can be provided.

It is a figure which shows the external appearance of the connector which concerns on this invention, (a) is a side view of the connector in the middle of fitting, (b) is the front view seen from the male housing side of the connector. It is AA sectional drawing in FIG.1 (b). It is BB sectional drawing in FIG.1 (b). It is the disassembled perspective view in which the male housing was partially broken. It is a front view of a male housing. It is a disassembled perspective view of a female housing. It is a front view of a female housing. It is a figure which shows the front mask provided in the female housing, (a) is a perspective view, (b) is a front view. It is a perspective view of a short terminal. It is an AA sectional view in Drawing 1 (b) of a connector in the middle of fitting explaining a fitting process of a connector. It is a BB sectional view in Drawing 1 (b) of a connector in the middle of fitting explaining a fitting process of a connector. It is an AA sectional view in Drawing 1 (b) of a connector just before completion of fitting explaining a fitting process of a connector.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1A and 1B are views showing the appearance of a connector according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a side view of the connector in the middle of fitting, FIG. 1B is a front view of the connector viewed from the male housing side, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 1B, FIG. 4 is a partially exploded perspective view of the male housing, FIG. 5 is a front view of the male housing, and FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the housing, FIG. 7 is a front view of the female housing, FIG. 8 is a view showing a front mask provided on the female housing, (a) is a perspective view, (b) is a front view, and FIG. 9 is a short terminal. FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the connector 11 according to the present invention includes a male housing 19 to which a male terminal 17 is attached and a female housing 15 to which a female terminal 13 to which a tab 29 of the male terminal 17 is connected is attached. And have. The male housing 19 and the female housing 15 are made of a synthetic resin material and are fitted to each other. In addition, both housings have the fitting surface side as the front.

First, the male housing 19 into which the female housing 15 can be fitted will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the male housing 19 includes a male housing main body 21 and a rectangular hood 23 surrounding the male housing main body 21, and the male housing main body 21 includes a plurality of male terminals 17. A male terminal accommodating chamber 25 is formed to accommodate each. The male terminal accommodating chamber 25 accommodates the male terminals 17, and each male terminal 17 is prevented from being detached by a male terminal lance 27.

  The tab 29 of the male terminal 17 protrudes forward from the male terminal accommodating chamber 25 and faces the hood portion 23 so that it can be connected to the counterpart female terminal 13. A ridge 31 is formed on the inner wall of the hood portion 23 along the longitudinal direction, and a guide groove 33 provided in the female housing 15 is engaged with the ridge 31 to guide the fitting of the female housing 15. It is like that.

  A lock protrusion 35 is provided vertically at the center of the lower surface of the top plate of the hood 23, and the lock protrusion 35 is a lock engaging portion 39 of a lock arm 37 (see FIG. 6) formed in a cantilever shape on the upper portion of the female housing 15. Engage with. When the male housing 19 and the female housing 15 are fitted, the lock projection 35 presses down the lock arm 37, and the lock latching portion 39 of the lock arm 37 which is elastically restored upon completion of the fitting is engaged with the lock projection 35 to be detached. Is regulated. The engagement lock is released by pressing the release operation portion 41 (see FIG. 6) which is the free end of the lock arm 37, and the lock projection 35 and the lock engaging portion 39 are separated from each other to release the engagement lock. The

  A tab through hole 45 through which the tab 29 passes is formed in the front wall portion 43 of the male housing located in the back of the hood portion 23. In the present embodiment, a plurality of tab through holes 45 are arranged in the upper and lower stages on the front wall portion 43 of the male housing. A short-circuit releasing portion 71 is provided between the upper and lower tab through holes 45.

  This short circuit cancellation | release part 71 has a pair of short circuit cancellation | release board 73 arrange | positioned horizontally, and these short circuit cancellation | release board 73 are integrally formed in the support bar part 75 provided in the downward side. . The short circuit releasing plate 73 is integrally formed with the male housing 19 and has an insulating property. At the time of connector fitting, the short-circuit releasing portion 71 is inserted into an upper portion of a short terminal accommodating chamber 49 (see FIG. 6) described later of the female housing 15, and the support rod portion 75 is inserted into the short terminal accommodating chamber 49. The short-circuit releasing plate 73 is inserted and removed between the short terminal 51 and the female terminal 13 by a connector fitting operation and a connector fitting releasing operation. When the short-circuit release plate 73 is inserted between the short terminal 51 and the female terminal 13, the short-circuit state between the pair of female terminals 13 by the short terminal 51 is released, and the short-circuit release plate 73 is also connected to the short terminal. When being pulled out from between 51 and the female terminal 13, the pair of female terminals 13 are short-circuited by the short terminals 51.

  Between the short-circuit releasing plates 73, a lifting projection (projection portion) 77 formed in a prismatic shape is projected. The lifting projection 77 protrudes from the short-circuit releasing plate 73, and a tapered surface 79 that is gradually inclined upward toward the rear side in the connector fitting direction is formed at the upper portion of the tip portion. .

Next, the female housing 15 will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, in the female housing 15, the female housing front wall portion 53 is inserted into the hood portion 23 of the male housing 19. The female housing front wall 53 is provided with a plurality of tab receiving holes 55 corresponding to the tabs 29 of the male terminals 17 in two upper and lower stages. A female terminal housing chamber 59 (see FIG. 2) for housing the female terminal 13 is formed in the female housing main body 57, and the female terminal housing chamber 59 communicates with the tab receiving hole 55. The female terminal accommodating chamber 59 accommodates the female terminal 13 and is prevented from being detached by a female terminal lance 61 (see FIG. 2). The tab receiving hole 55 is also communicated with a front mask 83 described later, and is a guide surface that is gradually inclined inward toward the insertion direction of the tab 29 on four sides of the opening edge portion of the tab receiving hole 55 in the front mask 83. 56 is formed. Accordingly, the tab 29 is smoothly guided to the tab receiving hole 55 by the guide surface 56.

  A mask mounting hole 81 connected to the female terminal accommodating chamber 59 is formed in the female housing front wall portion 53 at the arrangement position of the upper tab receiving hole 55 along the width direction. A front mask 83 is attached.

  As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the front mask 83 is formed in an elongated shape along the width direction of the female housing 15, and has a tab receiving hole 55 on the upper stage side. The front mask 83 has engaging portions 87 that protrude in the mounting direction of the mask mounting hole 81 at both ends, and the engaging projections 89 are formed on the outer surface of these engaging portions 87. ing. Further, at the center of the front mask 83, a tapered surface 95 is formed in the lower portion on the front end side. The tapered surface 95 is gradually inclined downward in the mounting direction to the mask mounting hole 81.

  The front mask 83 is fitted into the mask mounting hole 81 of the female housing front wall 53 from the engagement portion 87 side. As a result, the front mask 83 engages with engagement holes (not shown) formed on the inner surfaces of both sides of the mask mounting hole 81 at the engagement projections 89 of the engagement portion 87, and the female housing front wall portion 53. Is mounted so that the front surface is flush.

  As described above, when the front mask 83 is mounted in the mask mounting hole 81, the axial center of the tab receiving hole 55 and the axial center of the female terminal 13 accommodated in the female terminal accommodating chamber 59 are in alignment. Here, the front mask 83 that is inserted into the mask mounting hole 81 and mounted is formed to have an outer shape slightly smaller than the mask mounting hole 81 in consideration of dimensional variations and assembling properties during molding. Accordingly, the front mask 83 mounted in the mask mounting hole 81 has a slight backlash relative to the mask mounting hole 81. In this embodiment, the backlash of the front mask 83 relative to the mask mounting hole 81 is increased. Accordingly, the front mask 83 is lowered downward by its own weight, and a slight gap is formed between the front mask 83 and the mask mounting hole 81 in the upper part.

  In the front mask 83, the guide surface 56 is made as large as possible in order to guide the tab 29 of the male terminal 17 satisfactorily. For this reason, the front mask 83 reaches the front of the short-circuit releasing plate 73 of the short-circuit releasing unit 71 that enters when the female housing 15 and the male housing 19 are fitted to each other. That is, the height position of the short-circuit releasing plate 73 at the time of connector fitting is a position that interferes with the lower portion of the front mask 83.

  A short terminal accommodating chamber 49 is opened between the upper and lower tab receiving holes 55 in the front wall portion 53 of the female housing. The short terminal accommodating chamber 49 is formed below the upper female terminal accommodating chamber 59 and accommodates the short terminal 51. The short-circuit releasing portion 71 protruding from the above-described male housing front wall portion 43 enters the short terminal accommodating chamber 49.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the short terminal 51 includes a base plate portion 61 and a pair of contact springs 62 formed on the upper portion of the base plate portion 61. The contact springs 62 are arranged at the same interval as the interval between the adjacent female terminals 13, and the portions protruding above the contact springs 62 are the contact portions 63. The contact spring 62 has a spring property that biases the female terminal 13, and the contact portion 63 serves as a contact portion with the pair of female terminals 13.

  When the short terminal 51 is accommodated in the short terminal accommodating chamber 49, the contact portions 63 of the contact springs 62 of the short terminal 51 come into contact with the pair of female terminals 13, so that the pair of female terminals 13 are electrically connected. Short circuit.

  As a result, when the connector 11 is used in an airbag circuit, the two terminals can be short-circuited by the short terminal 51 for the purpose of preventing malfunction and explosion due to static electricity in an inflator-related circuit. Yes.

Next, the operation of the connector 11 configured as described above will be described.
FIG. 10 to FIG. 12 are cross-sectional views of the connector in the middle of fitting, explaining the connector fitting process.
The short terminal 51 is accommodated in the short terminal accommodating chamber 49 of the female housing 15, and the female terminal 13 is accommodated in the female terminal accommodating chamber 59. At this time, the contact portion 63 of the short terminal 51 is applied with a contact load by the action of the contact spring 62 to come into contact with the pair of female terminals 13 and the two adjacent poles are short-circuited. A male terminal 17 is accommodated in the male terminal accommodating chamber 25 of the male housing 19.

  As shown in FIG. 10, when the fitting of the female housing 15 and the male housing 19 is started, the tab 29 of the male terminal 17 is first guided by the guide surface 56 into the tab receiving hole 55 and inserted into the female terminal 13. And the circuit is conducted. At this time, the adjacent circuits are still short-circuited.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the tapered surface 79 formed on the lifting projection 77 of the short-circuit releasing portion 71 provided on the male housing 19 abuts on the tapered surface 95 of the front mask 83, and these tapered surfaces 79, 95 Slide on each other, so that the front mask 83 is lifted by the gap formed on the upper side. At this time, since the tab 29 of the male terminal 17 is already inserted and connected to the female terminal 13, insertion of the tab 29 of the male terminal 17 is inhibited by a slight displacement of the front mask 83 upward. There is nothing.

As described above, when the fitting further proceeds with the front mask 83 lifted upward, as shown in FIG. 12, the short-circuit release plate 73 of the short-circuit release unit 71 enters the lower side of the front mask 83, The short-circuit releasing plate 73 enters between the female terminal 13 and the contact portion 63 of the short terminal 51.
As a result, the contact portion 63 of the female terminal 13 and the short terminal 51 is brought into a non-conductive state by the short-circuit releasing plate 73 interposed therebetween, so that the short circuit between the adjacent female terminals 13 by the short terminal 51 is released. Thereafter, the connector 11 is completely fitted.

  Here, as described above, the height position of the short-circuit releasing plate 73 when the female housing 15 and the male housing 19 are fitted is a position that interferes with the lower portion of the front mask 83. However, before the short-circuit releasing plate 73 reaches the front mask 83, the front mask 83 is lifted upward by the lifting protrusion 77 protruding forward in the fitting direction from the short-circuit releasing plate 73. 73 is inserted below the front mask 83 without interfering with the front mask 83.

  When the fitting between the female housing 15 and the male housing 19 is released, the short-circuit releasing plate 73 of the short-circuit releasing portion 71 is pulled out from between the female terminal 13 and the contact portion 63 of the short terminal 51, whereby the female terminal 13 and the short terminal 51 are removed. As a result, the short terminal 51 comes into contact with the pair of female terminals 13 and the adjacent circuits are short-circuited.

  Note that the contact between the contact portion 63 of the short terminal 51 and the female terminal 13 is slid with the short-circuit releasing plate 73 in a state where a contact load is applied by the biasing force of the contact spring 62 of the short terminal 51. By this sliding, the oxide film formed on the contact portion 63 of the short terminal 51 and the surface of the female terminal 13 is removed, and the contact portion 63 and the female terminal 13 are surely brought into conductive contact.

  Thus, according to the connector 11 according to the present invention, the tab 29 is inserted into the tab receiving hole 55 by the taper surface 79 of the lifting projection 77 protruding from the short-circuit release plate 73 toward the tip side when the connector is fitted. By contacting the front mask 83, the front mask 83 is lifted upward and disposed at a position away from the front of the short-circuit release plate 73. As a result, the short-circuit releasing plate 73 is inserted between the pair of female terminals 13 and the short terminals 51 without interfering with the front mask 83, and thus the short-circuit of the female terminals 13 is released.

Therefore, in order to avoid interference with the short-circuit release plate 73, it is not necessary to make the front mask 83 small or thin the short-circuit release plate 73. Therefore, the tab 29 of the male terminal 17 by the guide surface 56 of the front mask 83 is not required. It is possible to eliminate problems such as insufficient guide or damage to the thin short-circuit release plate 73 and the short-circuit release cannot be smoothly performed. Further, it is not necessary to increase the size of the connector in order to secure the insertion space for the short-circuit release plate 73.
That is, it is possible to smoothly and satisfactorily guide the tab 29 of the male terminal 17 and release the short circuit of the female terminal 13 without causing an increase in size.

  Further, since the tapered surfaces 79 and 95 of the front mask 83 and the lifting projection 77 are in contact with each other and slide, the front mask 83 can be smoothly displaced by the lifting projection 77, and the connector is fitted and accompanied. Smoothening of short circuit cancellation can be achieved.

11 Connector 13 Female terminal 15 Female housing 17 Male terminal 19 Male housing 29 Tab 51 Short terminal 55 Tab receiving hole 56 Guide surface 73 Short-circuit release plate 77 Lifting protrusion (protrusion)
79,95 Tapered surface 81 Mask mounting hole (mounting hole)
83 Front mask

Claims (2)

A male housing to which a male terminal with a protruding tab is attached, a female housing to which a female terminal connected to the male terminal is attached, and insertion of the tab accommodated in a mounting hole formed on the front surface of the female housing A front mask having a tab receiving hole having a guide surface inclined inwardly in a direction, a short terminal mounted on the female housing and capable of short-circuiting a pair of female terminals, and a connector provided in the male housing A connector provided with a short-circuit releasing plate that releases a short circuit between the pair of female terminals and the short terminal during fitting,
The male housing includes a protrusion having a tapered surface capable of abutting on the front mask at a tip portion,
The protrusion protrudes to the tip side from the short-circuit release plate, and when the connector is fitted, the taper surface comes into contact with the front mask in which the tab is inserted into the tab receiving hole and lifts the front mask The connector is displaced upward and disposed at a position away from the front of the short-circuit releasing plate.   The front mask has a taper surface that slides in contact with the taper surface of the protrusion, and the front mask is displaced by the protrusion when the taper surfaces contact and slide. The connector according to claim 1.

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