JP5631430B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector.

  As means for locking the connectors in the fitted state, there is a structure in which a lock arm is provided along the outer surface of one connector, and a lock receiving portion that engages with the lock arm is provided on the other connector. As a connector having such a lock arm, for example, a connector disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known. In the connector of Patent Document 1, the lock arm includes a release operation unit for flexing the arm and elastically deforming it in the unlocking direction.

JP 2006-147291 A

  With the connector configured as described above, when the operator performs a mating operation with the mating connector, the finger that tries to grip the connector housing accidentally touches the release operation part, and the lock arm is unlocked. It may be elastically deformed in the direction.

  In such a case, the striking sound and the operational feel generated by the lock arm returning elastically and engaging the lock receiving portion when the fitting is completed are lost or reduced. Then, the worker cannot quickly perceive completion of the fitting operation between the connectors. For this reason, it is necessary to confirm the engagement state between the lock arm and the lock receiving portion again, which causes a problem of delaying the work.

  This invention is completed based on the above situations, Comprising: It aims at providing the connector which can perform fitting operation with the other party connector smoothly.

The connector of the present invention includes a housing that can be fitted to the mating housing, a lock position that is provided on an outer wall surface of the housing and locks the housing and the mating housing in a mating state, the housing and the housing A lock arm that is displaceable between a lock release position that releases the lock with the counterpart housing, and a release operation portion that is provided on the lock arm and that displaces the lock arm to the lock release position, The release operation portion is positioned on the outer wall surface of the housing in front of the rear end in the fitting direction with the mating housing, and the outer wall surface of the housing has the mating member with respect to the lock arm. It is behind the fitting direction with the side housing and overlaps the lock arm in the direction intersecting with the fitting direction with the counterpart housing All SANYO the finger hook portion protruding from the location, at the outer wall surface of the housing, fitting direction front region of the mating housing than the formation position of the finger catching portion is formed flat, The lock arm is provided with a die-cutting hole for forming the finger-hanging portion penetrating in the fitting direction with the mating connector, and the finger-hanging portion is formed on the housing of the inner surface of the die-cutting hole. a shall have projecting lower than the height from the outer wall surface of the farthest surface from the outer wall surface.

According to the above configuration, since the rear end of the release operation portion in the lock arm is located in front of the rear end of the housing in the fitting direction, on the outer wall surface of the housing, A space is formed between the rear end of the housing. And in this space, the finger-hanging part protrudes so that the operator can easily put his / her finger during the fitting operation. As a result, during the fitting operation, the operator picks up the housing while placing a finger on the finger-hanging portion, so that the operator's fingers are prevented from touching the release operation portion. For this reason, the operator can quickly perceive the completion of the fitting operation between the connectors from the striking sound and operation feeling when the lock arm is elastically restored, and the fitting operation can be performed smoothly.
In addition, after the mating, an operation of moving both connectors back and forth in the mating direction may be performed to confirm whether or not the two connectors are securely mated. Even in such a case, since the housing can be picked while putting a finger on the finger-hanging portion, the operation can be easily performed.
In addition, according to the above configuration, when forming the housing, it is possible to form the connector by using only a mold that is die-cut in the fitting direction without using a slide mold, so that the connector can be manufactured inexpensively and easily. can do.

  The following configuration is preferable as an embodiment of the present invention.

  It is preferable that the finger hook portion is provided at a rear end of the outer wall surface in the fitting direction with the counterpart housing.

  According to the above configuration, the finger hooking portion is provided on the outer wall surface of the housing at the rear end in the fitting direction with the counterpart housing, that is, at a position as far as possible from the release operation portion. Accordingly, it is possible to reliably avoid the operator's finger from touching the release operation portion during the fitting operation, and the fitting operation can be performed more smoothly.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the connector which can perform a fitting operation with the other party connector smoothly can be provided.

Front view of the connector of the embodiment Top view of the connector of the embodiment Bottom view of connector of embodiment Side view of connector of embodiment Rear view of the connector of the embodiment Side sectional view which shows the state by which the connector of embodiment was fitted by the other party connector Side sectional view which shows the state which tries to detach | leave the connector of embodiment from the other party connector

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. The connector of the present embodiment is a female connector 10 and includes a female housing 11 (corresponding to a housing) that can be fitted to a male housing 31 (corresponding to a mating housing) that is a mating side. In the following description, in the male housing 31 and the female housing 11, the fitting surface side with the mating side is defined as the front side.

  The female housing 11 is formed in a block shape from a synthetic resin. In the female housing 11, a plurality of cavities 12 penetrating in the front-rear direction (the direction along the fitting direction with the male housing 31) are formed so as to be aligned vertically and horizontally. A female terminal fitting (not shown) is inserted into the cavity 12 from behind.

  A lock arm 13 is integrally formed on the upper surface 11 </ b> A (corresponding to the outer wall surface) of the female housing 11. The lock arm 13 is provided at the center position in the left-right direction (direction intersecting with the fitting direction with the male housing 31) on the upper surface 11 </ b> A of the female housing 11. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 6, the lock arm 13 extends in a cantilevered manner from a leg portion 14 that rises upward from the front end portion of the upper surface 11 </ b> A of the female housing 11 and from the upper end of the leg portion 14. A plate-like arm main body 15 to be taken out, and a plate-like release operation portion 16 formed at the extending end of the arm main body 15 are provided.

  On the upper surface 11 </ b> A of the arm body 15, a lock protrusion 17 that protrudes upward is formed. The front surface of the lock protrusion 17 is a riding upper surface 17A inclined forward and downward, and the rear surface is a locking surface 17B with a lock receiving portion 35 of a male housing 31 described later.

  The lock arm 13 can be elastically bent in the vertical direction (direction approaching or separating from the upper surface 11A of the female housing 11) with the leg portion 14 as a fulcrum, and in a free state where the lock arm 13 is not elastically bent, The female housing 11 is in a non-deflection state which takes a posture substantially parallel to the upper surface 11A of the female housing 11. When the female housing 11 is fitted to the male housing 31, the lock position is pushed by the lock receiving portion 35 (described later in detail) of the male housing 31 and is elastically bent slightly downward from the non-deflection position; It can be displaced between a lock release position where the engagement between the lock protrusion 17 and the lock receiving portion 35 is released by elastically bending further downward than the lock position.

  The rear end of the release operation part 16 is located slightly forward of the rear end of the upper surface 11A of the female housing 11, and the upper end 11A of the female housing 11 extends from the rear end of the release operation part 16 to the rear end of the female housing 11. The area up to this point is a finger rest surface 20 that is open upward.

  A finger hooking rib 21 (corresponding to a finger hooking portion) projects upward from the rear end of the finger resting surface 20. As shown in FIG. 2, the finger-hook rib 21 is formed to be elongated in the left-right direction, and the length in the left-right direction is slightly smaller than the width of the leg portion 14 in the lock arm 13. The finger hook rib 21 is disposed at a position overlapping the lock arm 13 in the left-right direction. The finger hook rib 21 is formed at the same time when the female housing 11 is molded by a mold (not shown). At this time, a part of the mold for forming the finger hook rib 21 is moved forward. Since the die is punched, a die punching hole 18 penetrating in the front-rear direction is formed in the leg portion 14 of the lock arm 13 by the die cutting. In order to perform this die cutting, a region from the position where the leg portion 14 of the lock arm 13 rises to the position where the finger hooking rib 21 is formed is formed flat on the upper surface 11A of the female housing 11.

  On the upper surface 11 </ b> A of the female housing 11, a pair of protective walls 22 extending in parallel with the lock arm 13 are provided on the outer side in the left-right direction of the lock arm 13. The longitudinal length of the protective wall 22 is substantially the same as the longitudinal length of the lock arm 13. As shown in FIG. 1, the protective wall 22 has a height substantially equal to the height of the apex of the lock projection 17 of the lock arm 13, and as shown in FIGS. The arm 13 is arranged in the vicinity of both side edges, and is configured to block the side of the flex space existing between the arm main body 15 of the lock arm 13 and the upper surface 11A of the female housing 11. This prevents foreign matter from entering the bending space.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, a pair of guide ribs 23 for guiding the fitting operation of the female housing 11 with respect to the male housing 31 are provided on the left and right side edges of the upper surface 11 </ b> A of the female housing 11. Is formed over the entire length in the front-rear direction.

  At the rear portion of the upper surface 11A of the female housing 11, connecting ribs 24 that connect the left and right protective walls 22 and the guide ribs 23 are formed in left and right pairs. The connection rib 24 extends rearward from the rear ends of the pair of protective walls 22 while extending slightly to the left and right, reaches the rear end edge of the female housing 11, and extends from there to the guide rib 23 along the rear end edge of the female housing 11. ing.

  As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a deformation prevention receiving portion 25 that protrudes inward from the upper end (on the lock arm 13 side) is provided at the end portion of each connecting rib 24 that is connected to the protective wall 22. Is provided. On the other hand, on both side edges of the release operation portion 16 in the lock arm 13, deformation preventing projections 19 projecting outward from the lower ends thereof are provided. The deformation preventing projection 19 abuts against the deformation preventing receiving portion 25 from below, so that the lock arm 13 is prevented from being deformed to the outside of the female housing 11.

  Furthermore, a finger-hanging wall 26 that protrudes downward is formed on the rear edge of the lower surface of the female housing 11 over substantially the entire left and right width.

  Next, the male connector 30 fitted to the female connector 10 will be described. The male connector 30 includes a male housing 31 made of synthetic resin. The male housing 31 includes a terminal accommodating portion 32 formed in a block shape, and a hood portion 33 that protrudes forward from the outer peripheral edge of the terminal accommodating portion 32 and can receive the female housing 11 therein. Although not shown in detail, a plurality of cavities penetrating in the front-rear direction are formed in the terminal housing portion 32 so as to be aligned vertically and horizontally. A male terminal fitting (not shown) connected to the female terminal fitting of the female connector 10 is inserted into the cavity from the rear of the male housing 31.

  As shown in FIG. 6, a lock arm housing groove 34 extending in the front-rear direction is formed in the ceiling surface 33 </ b> A of the hood portion 33 at the center position in the left-right direction. The lock arm accommodating groove 34 is formed with a width dimension that can accommodate the lock arm 13 of the female housing 11, and the rear end penetrates the rear surface wall of the hood portion 33. Further, a lock receiving portion 35 that protrudes inside the hood portion 33 is formed at the front end position of the lock arm receiving groove 34. The rear surface of the lock receiving portion 35 is an engagement surface 35A that stands up substantially orthogonal to the ceiling surface 33A of the hood portion 33, and the lock arm 13 engagement surface 17B is engaged therewith.

  Further, although not shown in detail, a guide groove that can receive the guide rib 23 and a protective wall insertion groove that can receive the protective wall 22 are formed on the ceiling surface 33A of the hood portion 33.

  When fitting the male connector 30 and the female connector 10 configured as described above, an operator picks the male housing 31 with one finger and the female housing 11 with the other finger, The female housing 11 is pushed into the inside of the hood 33 at 31. At this time, as shown in FIG. 6, the finger hanging rib 21 is formed at the rear end position on the upper surface 11 </ b> A of the female housing 11, and the finger hanging wall 26 is formed at the rear end position on the lower surface. The female housing 11 can be easily picked and pushed into the male housing 31 by hooking the thumb and forefinger on the rib 21 and the finger hanging wall 26. Thereby, it is avoided that an operator's finger | toe touches the cancellation | release operation part 16 accidentally.

  When the female housing 11 is pushed into the hood portion 33, the lock projection 17 of the lock arm 13 interferes with the lock receiving portion 35 of the hood portion 33, so that the lock arm 13 moves downward (the upper surface 11 </ b> A of the female housing 11. Elastically deformed in a direction approaching When the female housing 11 is pushed to the normal fitting position, the lock projection 17 gets over the lock receiving portion 35 and the lock arm 13 is elastically restored upward. At this time, before the lock arm 13 reaches the non-deflection position (free state), that is, before the elastic restoring force stored in the lock arm 13 disappears, the upper surface of the lock arm 13 is against the lower surface of the lock receiving portion 35. It collides elastically and vigorously from below, and a hitting sound is generated by this collision. In addition, a feeling that the lock arm 13 and the lock receiving portion 35 have collided is transmitted to the fingers that the operator holds the female housing 11 and the male housing 31.

  When the female housing 11 and the male housing 31 reach the normal fitting state, the upper surface of the lock arm 13 comes into contact with the lower surface of the lock receiving portion 35, so that further elastic return of the lock arm 13 is restricted. The lock arm 13 is held at the locked position where the lock arm 13 is bent slightly downward from the non-flexed position. Then, the engagement surface 17B of the lock protrusion 17 is engaged with the engagement surface 35A of the lock receiving portion 35, and the female housing 11 and the male housing 31 are locked in a state in which separation is restricted. At the same time, the male terminal fitting and the female terminal fitting are connected so as to be conductive. At this time, both the release operation unit 16 and the finger hanging wall 26 are in a state where the entire region is exposed to the outside of the hood unit 33.

  When the mated female connector 10 is detached from the male connector 30, as shown in FIG. 7, the operator places his thumb on the upper surface of the release operation portion 16 of the lock arm 13 and holds the index finger. Hook on the wall 26, and in this state, push the release operation unit 16 downward. By this pushing operation, the lock arm 13 is elastically bent to the lock release position, and the engagement of the lock protrusion 17 with the lock receiving portion 35 is released. The operator pulls the female housing 11 backward while keeping the lock arm 13 elastically bent, thereby detaching the female housing 11 from the hood portion 33 of the male connector 30.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the female connector 10 includes the female housing 11 that can be fitted to the male housing, and the lock arm 13 provided on the upper surface 11 </ b> A of the female housing 11. The lock arm 13 is displaceable between a lock position where the female housing 11 and the male housing 31 are locked in a fitted state and a lock release position where the lock between the female housing 11 and the male housing 31 is released. . The lock arm 13 includes a release operation unit 16 for displacing the lock arm 13 to the unlock position. The release operation part 16 is located on the upper surface 11 </ b> A of the female housing 11 in front of the rear end in the fitting direction with the male housing 31. Further, a finger hooking rib 21 protrudes from the upper surface 11A of the female housing 11. The finger-hook rib 21 is formed at a position behind the lock arm 13 in the fitting direction with the male housing 31 and overlapping the lock arm 13 in the direction intersecting with the fitting direction with the male housing 31.

According to the above configuration, since the rear end of the release operation part 16 in the lock arm 13 is located in front of the rear end of the female housing 11 in the fitting direction, the release is performed on the upper surface 11A of the female housing 11. A space is generated between the rear end of the operation unit 16 and the rear end of the female housing 11. This space becomes the finger rest surface 20 on which the operator puts his / her finger during the fitting operation. A finger hooking rib 21 is projected from the finger rest surface 20 so that an operator can easily put his / her finger on during the fitting operation. As a result, the operator grips the female housing 11 while putting a finger on the finger-hooking rib 21 during the fitting operation, so that the operator's fingers touch the release operation portion 16 for releasing the fitting. Is avoided. For this reason, it is avoided that the hitting sound and the operational feeling generated by the lock arm 13 elastically restoring and engaging the lock receiving portion 35 when the fitting is completed are lost or reduced. Completion of the operation can be quickly perceived by a hitting sound or operation feeling. Thereby, fitting operation can be performed smoothly.
Moreover, after fitting, the operation which moves the female housing 11 and the male housing 31 back and forth with respect to the fitting direction may be performed to check whether the two housings 11 and 31 are securely fitted. Even in such a case, since the female housing 11 can be picked while putting a finger on the finger hanging rib 21, the operation can be easily performed.

  Further, the finger hooking rib 21 is provided on the upper surface 11 </ b> A of the female housing 11 at the rear end in the fitting direction with the male housing 31, that is, at a position as far back as possible from the release operation portion 16. Accordingly, it is possible to reliably avoid the operator's finger from touching the release operation unit 16 during the fitting operation, and the fitting operation can be performed more smoothly.

  Further, on the upper surface 11 </ b> A of the female housing 11, a region on the front side in the fitting direction from the formation position of the finger hook rib 21 is formed flat, and the lock arm 13 has a die-cut hole 18 for forming the finger hook rib 21. Is provided penetrating in the fitting direction with the male housing 31.

  According to the above configuration, when the female housing 11 is molded, the die that is die-cut in the fitting direction without using the slide die that moves in the lateral direction with respect to the fitting direction with the male housing 31. Therefore, the female connector 10 can be manufactured inexpensively and easily.

<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) In the above embodiment, the female housing 11 is provided with the lock arm 13 and the male housing 31 is provided with the lock receiving portion 35 that engages with the male housing 31, but the male housing is provided with the lock arm and the female housing. A lock receiving portion that engages with the lock receiving portion may be provided.

(2) In the above embodiment, the finger hooking rib 21 is provided at the rear end in the fitting direction with the male housing 31 on the upper surface 11A of the female housing 11, but the finger hooking portion is provided in front of the rear end of the housing. It doesn't matter.

(3) In the above-described embodiment, the finger housing rib 21 is provided on the female housing 11, but the shape of the finger hanging portion may be any shape that allows the operator to hook the finger when gripping the housing.

10 ... Female connector (connector)
11 ... Female housing (housing)
11A ... Upper surface (outer wall surface)
13 ... Lock arm 16 ... Release operation part 18 ... Die-release hole 21 ... Finger hook rib (finger hook part)
31 ... Male housing (mating housing)

Claims (2)

A housing that can be mated with a mating housing;
Displaced between a lock position that is provided on the outer wall surface of the housing and locks the housing and the counterpart housing in a fitted state and a lock release position that unlocks the housing and the counterpart housing. A possible lock arm,
A release operation portion provided on the lock arm for displacing the lock arm to the unlock position;
The release operation portion is located in front of the rear end in the fitting direction with the counterpart housing on the outer wall surface of the housing;
The outer wall surface of the housing has a finger hooking portion at a position behind the lock arm in the fitting direction with the counterpart housing and overlapping the lock arm in a direction intersecting with the fitting direction with the counterpart housing. all SANYO that but projecting,
On the outer wall surface of the housing, a region on the front side in the fitting direction with respect to the mating housing with respect to the formation position of the finger hanging portion is formed flat, and the lock arm is provided with the finger hanging portion for forming the finger hanging portion. A die punching hole is provided penetrating in the mating direction with the mating connector, and the finger-hanging portion is a height from the outer wall surface of the innermost surface of the die punching hole that is farthest from the outer wall surface of the housing. A connector that protrudes lower than that .   The connector according to claim 1, wherein the finger-hanging portion is provided at a rear end of the outer wall surface in the fitting direction with the counterpart housing.

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