JP6025062B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a first housing having a lock arm that can be bent (second housing in Patent Document 1) and a second housing having a lock portion (locking protrusion in Patent Document 1) (first housing in Patent Document 2). ) And a detection member (a fitting detection member in Patent Document 1) that is assembled to be movable between an initial position and a detection position with respect to the first housing. The first and second housings can be fitted to each other, and the first and second housings are held in a fitted state by elastically locking the lock portion to the lock arm. The detection member is maintained at the initial position by contacting the lock arm until the first and second housings are properly fitted, and the lock arm is moved as the first and second housings are normally fitted. The contact state is released, and movement to the detection position is allowed. At the detection position, the detection member restricting portion (the portion indicated by reference numeral 38) abuts the front stop portion (the portion indicated by reference numeral 23D) of the first housing, so that the detection member further advances (the direction away from the initial position). Movement) is regulated.

JP 2009-43648 A

  By the way, in the case of the conventional connector, a front stop portion must be provided on the first housing at a position where the detection member can be stopped at the detection position, and the structure of the first housing is complicated accordingly. There is a circumstance. In particular, the first housing needs to be provided with a space for assembling the detection member, and there is a situation that the structure is likely to be complicated.

  This invention is completed based on the above situations, Comprising: It aims at simplifying the structure of the member in which a detection member is assembled | attached.

The present invention includes a first housing having a bendable lock arm, and a lock portion, and the lock portion is elastically locked to the lock arm so as to be held in a fitted state in the first housing. a second housing that, the first assembled to the housing, the is along the lock arm to the initial position and movable between a detection position, the first, until the second housing is fitted normalized A detection member that is retained at the initial position and is allowed to move from the initial position to the detection position by properly fitting the first and second housings, and the detection member includes the detection member has a movement restricting portion which is fastened against the locking portion of the second housing at a position, and slides the guide portion of the locking arm in the process toward the detection position from the initial position that Therefore, it has a guided portion that guides the movement of the detection member to the detection position, and the movement restricting portion and the guided portion have portions that overlap each other in the height direction along the bending direction of the lock arm. It is.

At the detection position, the movement restricting portion is stopped against the lock portion of the second housing, whereby further movement of the detecting member is restricted. In this case, the contact partner of the movement restricting portion is the lock portion of the second housing, and unlike the conventional case, the first housing is not provided with a dedicated structure, so the configuration of the first housing is simplified. be able to. In addition, since the movement restricting portion and the guided portion have portions that overlap each other in the height direction, the size of the detection member is prevented from increasing in the height direction due to the overlap .

In the connector of Example 1 of this invention, the 1st, 2nd housing is normally fitted, and it is sectional drawing which shows the state which the detection member reached the detection position. It is a top view which shows the state by which the 1st, 2nd housing was normally fitted and the detection member reached the detection position. It is a top view which shows the state by which the detection member was kept in the initial position with respect to the 1st housing. It is a front view which shows the state by which the detection member was kept in the initial position with respect to the 1st housing. It is sectional drawing which shows the state by which the detection member was kept in the initial position with respect to the 1st housing. It is a top view of the 1st housing. It is a front view of the 1st housing. It is a rear view of a 1st housing. It is a top view of a detection member. It is a side view of a detection member. It is a front view of a detection member.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown below .

  The contact surface of the lock part with respect to the movement restricting part is arranged so as to stand upright in a direction substantially orthogonal to the moving direction of the detection member. Thus, the movement restricting portion is prevented from climbing on the contact surface of the lock portion, and further movement of the detection member is reliably restricted at a position where the movement restricting portion contacts the contact surface of the lock portion.

<Example 1>
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The connector according to the first embodiment includes first and second housings 10 and 40 that can be fitted to each other, and a detection member 70 that is assembled to the first housing 10 so as to be movable between an initial position and a detection position. ing. In the following description, with respect to the front-rear direction, the surfaces (fitting surfaces) where the first and second housings 10 and 40 face each other at the start of fitting are defined as the front, and the vertical direction is based on FIG. .

  As shown in FIG. 1, the second housing 40 is made of synthetic resin, and has a block-shaped terminal accommodating portion 41 and a cylindrical hood portion 42 that protrudes forward from the outer periphery of the front end of the terminal accommodating portion 41. ing. The terminal accommodating portion 41 is provided with a plurality of second cavities 43 extending in the front-rear direction, and each second cavity 43 is provided with a second lance 44 that can bend and protrude forward. Then, the second terminal fittings 60 are inserted into the respective second cavities 43 from the rear, and the normally inserted second terminal fittings 60 are elastically locked to the second lances 44 to prevent the second terminal fittings 60 from coming into the second cavities 43. Is done. In addition, a second retainer 45 is attached to the terminal accommodating portion 41 from the front, and the second retaining piece 46 of the second retainer 45 enters the bending space 47 of the second lance 44, whereby the bending operation of the second lance 44 is performed. The second terminal fitting 60 is substantially double-locked.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the second terminal fitting 60 is integrally formed by bending a conductive metal plate or the like, and is located behind the cylindrical second main body portion 61 and the second main body portion 61. It has the 2nd barrel part 62 connected by the crimping | compression-bonding to the terminal part of the electric wire W2, and the tab 63 which protrudes ahead of the 2nd main-body part 61. FIG. When the second terminal fitting 60 is properly inserted into the second cavity 43, the second main body portion 61 is hooked and locked on the second lance 44, and the tab 63 protrudes into the hood portion 42.

  On the upper surface of the hood portion 42, a lock portion 48 is provided so as to protrude in the center in the width direction of the upper surface. The lock portion 48 has a rib-like shape extending in the width direction. As shown in FIG. 1, the front surface of the lock portion 48 is in the vertical direction (the direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the detection member 70 and the lock arm 24 described later). The contact surface 49 is a direction along the bending direction (hereinafter, referred to as a height direction), and is a locking surface 51 that is inclined slightly rearward toward the upper end.

  The first housing 10 is made of synthetic resin, and as shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, a block-shaped housing main body 11, a cylindrical fitting cylindrical portion 12 surrounding the outer periphery of the housing main body 11, and the housing main body 11. And the connecting portion 13 along the radial direction connecting the fitting cylinder portion 12. A fitting space 14 in which the hood portion 42 of the second housing 40 can be fitted is opened between the housing body 11 and the fitting cylinder portion 12 and in front of the connecting portion 13.

  The housing main body 11 is provided with a first cavity 15 and a first lance 16 that have the same form as the second cavity 43 and the second lance 44 described above. A first terminal fitting 65 is inserted into each first cavity 15 of the first housing 10 from the rear, and the normally inserted first terminal fitting 65 is elastically retained and locked by the first lance 16. As shown in FIG. 1, the first retainer 17 is attached to the housing body 11 from the front, and the first terminal fitting 65 is secured by the first retaining piece 18 of the first retainer 17 in the same manner as the second retainer 45 described above. The state is substantially double-locked.

  The first terminal fitting 65 is integrally formed by bending a conductive metal plate or the like, and as shown in FIG. 1, the first terminal fitting 65 is located behind the cylindrical first main body portion 66 and the first main body portion 66. It has the 1st barrel part 67 connected by the crimping | compression-bonding to the terminal part of the electric wire W1. When the first and second housings 10 and 40 are properly fitted, the tab 63 of the second terminal fitting 60 is inserted into the first main body 66 of the first terminal fitting 65 to be electrically connected.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a seal ring 19 is fitted on the outer peripheral surface of the housing body 11 in front of the connecting portion 13. The seal ring 19 is held between the stepped portion 20 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the housing body 11 and the first retainer 17 attached to the housing body 11 in a state in which movement in the front-rear direction is restricted. . When the first and second housings 10 and 40 are properly fitted, the seal ring 19 is elastically sandwiched between the housing main body 11 and the hood portion 42, thereby the first and second housings 10 and 40. The space is sealed liquid-tight.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, a pair of side walls 21 are provided upright in the width direction at the upper portion of the fitting cylinder portion 12, and a covering wall along the width direction is provided at the front end portions of the side walls 21. 22 is provided across. A space part 23 opened upward is formed behind the cover wall 22 and between the side walls 21.

  As shown in FIG. 6, a lock arm 24 is exposed in the space 23 of the first housing 10. The lock arm 24 includes an arm main body 25 extending in the front-rear direction, and a pair of wing-shaped fulcrum portions 26 that project outward in the width direction from both side edges of the arm main body 25 and connect to the inner surfaces of the both side walls 21. The arm body 25 can be bent and deformed so that the arm body 25 swings in a seesaw shape in the vertical direction with the portion 26 as a fulcrum.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the arm main body 25 is provided with a locked portion 27 at the front end, and extends behind the locked portion 27 in the front-rear direction and opens at the rear end of the arm main body 25. 28 is provided through. The front surface of the locked portion 27 has a guided surface 29 that is largely inclined backward toward the lower end, and the rear surface of the locked portion 27 faces the lock hole 28 and is slightly inclined forward toward the upper end. The surface 30 is used.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the arm body 25 is provided with a slide space 31 in which the detection member 70 slides in a form communicating with the lock hole 28 and opened rearward. The arm main body 25 is provided with a pair of guide portions 32 extending in the front-rear direction while projecting inward from both side surfaces of the slide space 31. Both guide portions 32 have a plate-like shape that defines the lock hole 28, and the detection member 70 can slide on both upper and lower surfaces. Further, on both side surfaces of the slide space 31 of the arm body 25, as shown in FIGS. 6, 7, and 8, a pair of locking portions 33 protrudes inward in a form protruding from the upper surfaces of both guide portions 32. Is provided.

  Next, the detection member 70 will be described. The detection member 70 is made of a synthetic resin and has a relatively small size so that it can be mounted in the slide space 31 of the arm body 25. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 9, 10, and 11, the detection member 70 includes a plate-shaped detection main body 71 that extends in the front-rear direction and a width-direction central portion of the lower surface of the detection main body 71. A rib-shaped movement restricting portion 72 that protrudes downward and extends in the front-rear direction, and a rib-shaped guided portion 73 that protrudes in the width direction at the lower end of the movement restricting portion 72 and extends in the front-rear direction. doing.

  On the upper surface of the rear end portion of the detection main body 71, an operation portion 74 is provided so as to protrude. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, when the detection member 70 is in the initial position, the operation unit 74 is disposed so as to cover the upper surface of the rear end portion of the arm body 25, and the operation unit 74 is pressed downward. Thus, the lock arm 24 can be bent and deformed in the locking release direction.

  As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the lower surface of the front end portion of the detection main body 71 is provided with a restricting portion 75 at the center in the width direction. As shown in FIG. 5, when the detection member 70 is in the initial position, the detection member 70 moves from the initial position to the detection position by the restriction portion 75 coming into contact with the rear surface of the locked portion 27 of the arm body 25. To be regulated. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, when the detection member 70 is in the detection position, the detection member 70 is moved from the detection position to the initial position by the restriction portion 75 coming into contact with the front surface of the locked portion 27 of the arm body 25. The movement back to is restricted.

  As shown in FIG. 9, a pair of locked portions 76 are provided protruding from both side edges of the detection main body 71. As shown in FIG. 3, when the detection member 70 is in the initial position, the detection members 70 come out rearward by the two locked portions 76 coming into contact with the front surfaces of the both lock portions 33 of the arm body 25. Is regulated. In addition, the detection member 70 is provided with a pair of punching holes 77 that penetrates as a mold for molding the guided portion 73 passes. Both mold punching holes 77 have a slit-like shape extending side by side in the front-rear direction at a substantially central portion of the detection body 71 in the front-rear direction.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the front surface of the movement restricting portion 72 is configured as an abutted surface 78 that is positioned forward of the front surfaces of the both guided portions 73 and extends so as to stand substantially perpendicular to the height direction. Has been. When the detection member 70 is at the detection position, the contact surface 78 of the movement restricting portion 72 is abutted against the contact surface 49 of the lock portion 48 of the second housing 40, so that the detection member 70 is further forward. Is restricted from moving to. Further, when the detection member 70 is viewed from the front, the abutted surface 78 of the movement restricting portion 72 and the front surface of the guide portion 32 are arranged side by side in the width direction, and the abutted surface of the movement restricting portion 72 in the height direction. 78 and the front surface of the guide portion 32 are disposed so as to overlap each other. And the upper end part of the to-be-contacted surface 78 of the movement control part 72 has the positional relationship which overlaps with the control part 75 in a height direction, and it hides behind the control part 75 in front view, and cannot be seen.

The structure of the connector according to the first embodiment is as described above. Next, a method for fitting the first and second housings 10 and 40 and a method for moving the detection member 70 will be described.
Prior to the fitting of the first and second housings 10 and 40, the detection member 70 is inserted into the slide space 31 of the arm main body 25 of the lock arm 24 of the first housing 10 from the rear to reach the initial position. In the initial position, as shown in FIG. 3, the both locked portions 76 of the detection member 70 are disposed so as to be able to contact the front surfaces of the both locking portions 33 of the arm body 25, and as shown in FIG. The restricting portion 75 of the detecting member 70 enters the lock hole 28 of the arm body 25 and is disposed so as to be able to come into contact with the rear surface (locked surface 30) of the locked portion 27. The movement is held in a restricted state.

  Subsequently, the first and second housings 10 and 40 are fitted. In the fitting process, the guided surface 29 of the locked portion 27 of the lock arm 24 of the first housing 10 slides on the lock portion 48 of the second housing 40, thereby lifting the front end portion of the arm body 25 upward. As described above, the lock arm 24 is bent and deformed around the both fulcrum portions 26. When the first and second housings 10 and 40 are properly fitted, the lock arm 24 is elastically restored, and the locked surface 30 of the locked portion 27 faces the locking surface 51 of the lock portion 48. Thus, the first and second housings 10 and 40 are held in the fitted state. At the same time, the first and second terminal fittings 65 and 60 are conductively connected in a normal state.

  Further, as the first and second housings 10 and 40 are properly fitted, the lock portion 48 of the second housing 40 enters the lock hole 28 of the first housing 10, and the restriction portion 75 of the detection member 70 is moved. It is pressed by the lock portion 48 and comes out of the lock hole 28 upward. Thereby, the movement of the detection member 70 to the detection position is allowed. On the other hand, until the first and second housings 10 and 40 are properly fitted, the state in which the restricting portion 75 of the detection member 70 enters the lock hole 28 is maintained. Movement to is regulated. Therefore, whether or not the first and second housings 10 and 40 are properly fitted can be determined depending on whether or not the movement of the detection member 70 to the detection position is allowed.

  When the first and second housings 10 and 40 are properly fitted, the operation portion 74 of the detection member 70 is pushed forward, and the detection member 70 is moved to the detection position. In the process of moving to the detection position, both guided portions 73 of the detection member 70 slide on the lower surfaces of both guide portions 32 of the lock arm 24 and the arms of the detection member 70 on the upper surfaces of both guide portions 32 of the lock arm 24. When the main body 25 slides, the movement of the detection member 70 is guided. In particular, in the state where the restricting portion 75 of the detection main body 71 is pressed by the lock portion 48, the front end portion of the detection main body 71 is bent and deformed. In this case, the both guided portions 73 abut against the both guide portions 32. Thus, the smoothness of the bending operation of the detection main body 71 is ensured.

  As shown in FIG. 1, when the detection member 70 reaches the detection position, the elastic body of the detection body 71 is restored, and the regulating portion 75 of the detection member 70 comes into contact with the front surface of the locked portion 27 of the lock arm 24. The detection member 70 is restricted from moving in the direction of returning to the initial position. In addition, the front end portion of the detection main body 71 of the detection member 70 is disposed so as to go below the cover wall 22. Therefore, even if the front end portion of the arm body 25 is lifted upward, the front end portion of the detection body 71 abuts against the cover wall 22, so that the lock arm 24 unintentionally releases the locked state with the lock portion 48. Is prevented.

  At the detection position, the contact surface 78 of the movement restricting portion 72 of the detection member 70 contacts the contact surface 49 of the lock portion 48 of the second housing 40, so that the detection member 70 is in front of the detection position. Movement in the direction away from the initial position is restricted. In this case, the contact surface 49 of the lock portion 48 and the contacted surface 78 of the movement restricting portion 72 are in contact with each other along the height direction substantially orthogonal to the moving direction of the detection member 70. The detection member 70 that has reached the position is accurately abutted against the lock portion 48, and further advancement is reliably restricted. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, the portions 79 protruding outward in the width direction at the operation portion 74 of the detection member 70 are brought into contact with both the locking portions 33 of the arm body 25 of the lock arm 24 in a semi-locked state. It is supplementarily suppressed that the detection member 70 moves forward from the detection position.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, when the detection member 70 is in the detection position, the movement restricting portion 72 contacts the lock portion 48 of the second housing 40, so that the detection member 70 is further forward. Is restricted from moving to. In this case, since the counterpart side with which the movement restricting portion 72 abuts is provided on the second housing 40 side, the configuration of the first housing 10 can be simplified. In particular, since the contact partner of the movement restricting portion 72 is constituted by the lock portion 48 of the second housing 40, it is not necessary to provide a dedicated structure as the contact partner of the movement restricting portion 72 in the second housing 40, and the entire connector As a result, the configuration can be simplified.

  Further, since the movement restricting portion 72 and the guided portion 73 are arranged so as to overlap each other in the height direction, the height dimension of the detection member 70 can be suppressed, and consequently the height dimension of the entire connector can be suppressed. it can.

  Further, since the contact surface 49 of the lock portion 48 is arranged so as to stand in the height direction, the movement restricting portion 72 slides on the contact surface 49 of the lock portion 48 when the detection member 70 reaches the detection position. Thus, it is avoided to ride on the lock portion 48, and the movement restricting portion 72 is reliably restricted at a position where it abuts against the abutment surface 49 of the lock portion 48. In this case, even if the contact surface 49 of the lock portion 48 is arranged so as to stand up in the height direction, the guided surface 29 is provided on the front surface of the lock arm 24, so There is no hindrance to the bending operation.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following aspects are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
(1) A spring member such as a compression coil spring may be incorporated in the detection member, and may be biased by the spring force of the spring member when the detection member moves to the detection position.
(2) The first housing in which the detection member is incorporated may be a male connector housing into which a male terminal fitting (corresponding to the second terminal fitting of the first embodiment) is inserted.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... 1st housing 24 ... Lock arm 32 ... Guide part 40 ... 2nd housing 48 ... Lock part 49 ... Contact surface 70 ... Detection member 72 ... Movement control part 73 ... Guided part 78 ... Contacted surface

Claims (2)

A first housing having a deflectable lock arm;
A second housing having a lock portion, the lock portion being elastically locked to the lock arm and held in a fitted state in the first housing;
The assembled to the first housing along said locking arm being movable between an initial position and a detection position, the first, until the second housing is fitted normal location bear in the initial position A detection member that is allowed to move from the initial position to the detection position by properly fitting the first and second housings;
The detection member has a movement restricting portion that is stopped against the lock portion of the second housing at the detection position , and is provided in the guide portion of the lock arm in the process of moving from the initial position to the detection position. And a guided portion that guides the movement of the detection member to the detection position by sliding, and the movement restricting portion and the guided portion are connected to each other with respect to a height direction along a bending direction of the lock arm. A connector characterized by having overlapping portions . The connector according to claim 1 , wherein a contact surface of the lock portion with respect to the movement restricting portion is arranged so as to stand upright in a direction substantially orthogonal to a moving direction of the detection member .

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