JP6306382B2 - Fixing structure when assembling the connector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a fixing structure when assembling a connector, and more particularly to a fixing structure for fixing a connector to a predetermined position of a transport rail.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a moving body such as an automobile is mounted with a PCB connector (hereinafter abbreviated as a connector) attached to a PCB (Printed Circuit Board). This type of connector is configured by assembling a plurality of rod-like or needle-like terminals into a resin housing. The housing has a plate-like base portion to which a plurality of terminals are assembled, and a cylindrical body that extends from the base portion in a cylindrical shape and surrounds the plurality of terminals. A plurality of terminal press-fitting holes into which the terminals are press-fitted are formed in the base, and the terminals are held in the housing by press-fitting the terminals into the terminal press-fitting holes (see Patent Document 1).

  In this type of connector, the housing is transported to a predetermined position along the transport rail in the assembly process. A guide surface that guides the base of the housing in the transport direction of the connector is formed on the transport rail. The housing is conveyed sideways with the base facing the guide surface and with the axial direction oriented in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the conveying rail.

  The housing transported to a predetermined position on the transport rail is pressed against the fixing jig, and the base is pressed against the guide surface, whereby the housing is fixed at the predetermined position on the transport rail. A terminal is press-fitted into the housing fixed to the transport rail. The terminal is cantilevered by the terminal press-fitting jig, and the tip part is press-fitted into the terminal press-fitting hole by moving the terminal press-fitting jig.

JP 2009-146659 A

  By the way, in the above assembly process, for example, when a plurality of terminals are simultaneously press-fitted into the housing, a large external force acts on the housing in the press-fitting direction of the terminals. For this reason, in order to hold the posture against the external force of the housing, a fixing jig is pressed against the opening end surface of the cylindrical body, and the pressing force is received by the guide surface of the transport rail through the base portion. Yes.

  However, the opening end face of the cylinder is set to be thinner than the other parts of the housing, and the fixing jig presses a part of the opening end face to prevent interference with the terminal press-fitting jig. ing. For this reason, stress concentrates on the opening end face pressed against the fixing jig, and the opening end face may be deformed inside the cylinder.

  When the opening end surface is deformed inward in this manner, the deformed portion (for example, an edge) comes into contact with the mating connector inserted into the cylinder, and the mating connector may be damaged. Further, when the deformed portion comes into contact with the packing attached to the outer peripheral surface of the mating connector, the packing surface may be damaged, and the airtightness may be reduced. Furthermore, if the amount of deformation of the opening end face is large, it is difficult to insert the mating connector.

  This invention is made in view of such a problem, and makes it a subject to prevent a deformation | transformation of the opening end surface of a housing, when fixing a housing to a conveyance rail.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the connector fixing structure according to the present invention includes a connector housing having a plate-like base portion to which a plurality of terminals are assembled and a cylindrical body projecting from the base portion and surrounding the plurality of terminals. Conveying rail and transport fixture and fixing jig to fix the housing at a predetermined position of the transport rail. The transport rail has a guide surface that guides the base of the housing in the transport direction of the housing. The jig is formed so that the base portion can be pressed against the guide surface directly or via a protrusion provided on the outer surface of the cylindrical body.

  In this way, by pressing the fixing jig against the protrusion of the housing, it is possible to prevent external force from acting on the opening end surface, so that when the connector is fixed to the transport rail, deformation of the opening end surface can be prevented. it can. In addition, the fixing jig can directly press the base instead of the protrusion. According to this, even if there is no protrusion in the housing, the base portion can be pressed against the guide surface, so the applicable range of the housing can be expanded. Moreover, since the base has high rigidity, it does not deform even when pressed by a fixing jig.

  In this case, as a protrusion, the protrusion which comprises the engaging part mutually engaged with the other party connector fitted by a housing can be used.

  That is, since this type of engaging portion is conventionally formed in a connector housing, if a fixing jig is pressed against such a portion, there is no need to provide a new protrusion, and the connector The manufacturing cost can be kept low.

  Further, the projecting portion constituting the engaging portion is engaged with an arc-shaped groove portion formed on an operation lever that is rotatably attached to the mating connector, and can be moved along the groove portion by rotating the operation lever. The mating connector can be pulled into the housing and fitted by the movement of the protrusion.

  According to this, even if the protrusion is pressed against the fixing jig and deformed, the function of the operation lever is not impaired as long as the engagement with the groove is ensured. That is, if the opening end face is deformed, there is a risk of causing a problem in fitting between the connectors with a slight amount of deformation, but this type of protrusion is in engagement with the groove portion even if the amount of deformation is relatively large. As long as the above is maintained, the function of the operation lever is not impaired, and a certain degree of deformation is allowed.

  Here, the protrusion has a barrel portion protruding from the cylindrical body and an engagement protrusion extending from the protruding tip portion of the barrel portion and engaging with the groove portion. It is assumed that the abutting surface is formed flat.

  According to this, even if a part of the engagement protrusion is deformed, as long as the engagement protrusion protrudes from the body portion, the engagement state with the groove portion can be maintained, so that the function of the operation lever can be ensured. it can. Further, by forming a flat surface on the engaging protrusion, a wide contact area with the fixing jig can be secured and the pressing force can be dispersed, so that deformation can be more effectively suppressed.

  In order to solve the above problems, a connector according to the present invention includes a housing having a plate-like base portion to which a plurality of terminals are assembled, a cylindrical body projecting from the base portion and surrounding the plurality of terminals, and an outer surface of the cylindrical body The protrusion is engaged with a groove of an operation lever that is rotatably attached to a mating connector that is fitted to the housing, and the counterpart of the operation lever is rotated by the operation of the operation lever. The connector is formed so as to be connectable by being drawn into the housing, and the front surface extending in the protruding direction of the cylindrical body serves as a pressing surface that is pressed when the terminals are assembled.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, when fixing a housing to a conveyance rail, a deformation | transformation of the opening end surface of a housing can be prevented.

1 is an external perspective view of a connector to which a fixing structure of the present invention is applied during assembly. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the housing of FIG. It is an external appearance perspective view of the housing of FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an assembling apparatus to which a fixing structure of the present invention is applied. It is sectional drawing of the assembly apparatus of FIG. In FIG. 5, it is a figure explaining the process of press-fitting a terminal into a housing. In FIG. 6, it is a figure explaining the process of bending a terminal. It is an external appearance perspective view which shows the state by which the connector of FIG. 1 and the other party connector were fitted via the operation lever. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of FIG.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a fixing structure when assembling a connector to which the present invention is applied will be described. In this embodiment, a process of assembling a PCB connector mounted on a moving body such as an automobile will be described as an example.

  First, the configuration of a PCB connector (hereinafter abbreviated as “connector”) according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. 1 indicates the front-rear direction (axial direction) of the connector, the arrow Y indicates the width direction of the connector, and the arrow Z indicates the height direction (vertical direction) of the connector. The X direction is defined as the front side being the front side. These definitions also apply to the description of other drawings as appropriate.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the connector 11 includes a resin housing 13 and a plurality of terminals 15 that are press-fitted into the housing 13. The terminal 15 is a rod-shaped or needle-shaped metal conductor, and is formed by constricting both ends in a pyramid shape. The housing 13 includes a plate-like base portion 17 to which a plurality of terminals are assembled, two cylindrical bodies 19a and 19b that project from one surface (front surface) of the base portion 17 and surround the plurality of terminals, A hood portion 21 that protrudes in a frame shape from the other surface (back surface) is formed. The cylinders 19 a and 19 b are each formed in a rectangular cross-section, and are arranged at intervals from each other with the longitudinal direction facing the width direction of the base portion 17.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the base portion 17 is formed with a plurality of terminal press-fitting holes 23 at set intervals in the height direction and the width direction, and the terminals 15 are press-fitted into these terminal press-fitting holes 23, respectively. Yes. The base portion 17 is formed in a flange shape by extending outward from the outer peripheral surface of each cylindrical body 19 and the hood portion 21 (a direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the cylindrical body 19).

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cylindrical body 19a is formed with protrusions 25a protruding on the upper and lower outer peripheral surfaces (longitudinal outer peripheral surface), and the cylindrical portion 19b is formed on the upper and lower outer peripheral surfaces with the protrusions 25b. Is formed protruding. Each protrusion 25a, 25b is provided at a substantially central portion in the width direction of the cylinders 19a, 19b, respectively. As shown in FIG. 3, the protrusion 25a extends in a plate shape from the outer surface of the cylindrical body 19a in a columnar shape, and from the leading end of the cylindrical portion 27 in the protruding direction of the cylindrical body 19a. The front surface (tip surface) in the extending direction of the engaging protrusion 29 forms a flat surface 31. As will be described later, the flat surface 31 is a pressing surface that is pressed when the terminal 15 is assembled. The protrusion 25b is also formed with the same shape and size as the protrusion 25a.

  Next, a fixing structure when the connector 11 is assembled will be described. Note that the fixing structure of the present embodiment is a main part of the fixing device for the housing 13. As shown in FIG. 4, the fixing structure (device) of this embodiment includes a transport rail 33 that transports the housing 13 and a fixing jig 35 that fixes the housing 13 to a predetermined position of the transport rail 33.

  The transport rail 33 has a first groove 39 through which the base portion 17 of the housing 13 passes and a second groove 41 through which the projections 25 a and 25 b pass through a transport surface 37 that faces the housing 13. The first groove 39 and the second groove 41 are formed to extend in parallel with each other in the transport direction of the housing 13 along the transport surface 37, and both have a rectangular cross section. As shown in FIG. 4, the transport rail 33 includes a first rail surface 43, a first groove 41, a second rail surface 45, a second groove 41, and a third rail surface from the rear to the front in the width direction. 47 are sequentially formed. The groove width of the first groove 39 is set to be larger than the thickness dimension of the base portion 17, and the groove width of the second groove 41 is set to be larger than the entire width in the front-rear direction of the protrusions 25a and 25b.

  In the housing 13 set on the transport rail 33, the hood portion 21 is grounded to the first rail surface 43, and the cylinders 19 a and 19 b are grounded to the second rail surface 47, while the base portion 17 is in the first groove 39. By inserting the protrusions 25a and 25b into the second groove 41, the protrusions 25a and 25b are disposed sideways with respect to the transport rail 33 (a state in which the axial direction of the cylinder 19 is directed in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction). The

  The base portion 17 inserted into the first groove 39 is disposed to face the guide surface 49 of the first groove 39 substantially in parallel. The guide surface 49 is a wall that guides the base portion 17 in the transport direction, and has two groove side surfaces that are continuous with the groove bottom of the first groove 41 and face each other. Note that the first groove 41 is not limited to a rectangular cross section, and it is sufficient that the first groove 41 has the guide surface 49 at least at a position facing the back surface of the base portion 17.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the fixing jig 35 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and is assembled to a recess 51 formed by cutting out a part of the third rail surface 47 of the transport rail 33. A connecting tool 53 for connecting to a driving means (not shown) is attached to the fixing jig 35. The fixing jig 35 is assembled in the concave portion 51 with the longitudinal direction facing the conveyance direction, and is slidable in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction by the driving means.

  The upper surface of the fixing jig 35 is positioned lower than the conveying surface 37 of the third rail surface 47 so that the cylinders 19 a and 19 b do not contact the upper surface of the fixing jig 35. Thereby, the fixing jig 35 does not come into contact with the opening end surfaces or the outer peripheral surfaces of the cylinders 19a and 19b during sliding. Since the housing 13 is supported by the first rail surface 43 and the second rail surface 45, the housing surface 13 does not rattle even if it is not in contact with the fixing jig 35.

  Next, the operation of the fixing structure of this embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, the housing 13 set on the transport rail 33 has the base 17 inserted into the first groove 39 and the protrusions 25 a and 25 b inserted into the second groove 41. The base portion 17 inserted into the groove 39 is fed in the transport direction (the direction of the arrow a) while being guided by the guide surface 49. The power for moving the housing 13 may be a conveyor that runs on the transport rail 33 in tandem with the housing 13, but is not limited thereto.

  The housing 13 transported to the stop position of the transport rail 33 stops traveling (state shown in FIG. 4). In this stop position, the housing 13 is positioned so that the protrusions 25 a and 25 b located in the second groove 41 face the end face of the fixing jig 35. Subsequently, the fixing jig 35 is slid backward (in the direction of the arrow b) by a driving means (not shown). Thereby, the flat surface 31 of the protrusions 25a and 25b is pressed against the fixing jig 35, and the housing 13 moves rearward.

  FIG. 5 shows a cross section when the protrusions 25 a and 25 b are pressed against the fixing jig 35. The fixing jig 35 is formed so that the base portion 17 can be pressed against the front guide surface 49 via the protrusions 25a and 25b. For this reason, when the protrusions 25 a and 25 b are pressed by the fixing jig 35, the housing 13 moves rearward and the base portion 17 comes into contact with the guide surface 49. When the protrusions 25 a and 25 b are further pressed against the fixing jig 35, the base 17 presses the guide surface 49. As a result, the housing 13 is fixed to the transport rail 33 so as to be sandwiched between the guide surface 49 and the fixing jig 35. Since the fixing jig 35 stops when it moves to the set position, the state where the base portion 17 presses the guide surface 49, that is, the state where the housing 13 is fixed to the transport rail 33 is maintained.

  On the other hand, the protrusions 25 a and 25 b are configured such that the fixing jig 35 is brought into contact with the flat surface 31. For this reason, since the protrusions 25a and 25b can ensure a wide contact area with the fixing jig 35 and can disperse the pressing force of the fixing jig 35, deformation is suppressed.

  Subsequently, the terminal 15 is press-fitted into the housing 13 fixed to the transport rail 33. As shown in FIG. 6, the terminal 15 is inserted into the cylinders 19 a and 19 b of the housing 13 while being supported by the terminal press-fitting jig 55 in a cantilevered manner. Press fit. The terminal press-fitting jig 55 is inserted into the cylinders 19a and 19b from the inside of the opening edges of the cylinders 19a and 19b. The terminal press fitting jig 55 presses the plurality of terminals 15 simultaneously. When the terminal 15 is press-fitted, external force at the time of press-fitting the terminal 15 acts on the housing 13 backward. However, since the housing 13 is fixed to the transport rail 33 by the fixing jig 35, the external force is resisted. And maintain posture.

  When the terminal 15 is press-fitted to the set position of the housing 13, the terminal press-fitting jig 55 is retracted and the terminal 15 is detached from the terminal press-fitting jig 55. Thus, the housing 13 into which all the terminals 15 are press-fitted is taken out from the transport rail 33 and sent to the next process, where the terminals 15 are bent.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the tip end portion of the terminal 15 that has passed through the terminal press-fitting hole 23 is bent at a substantially right angle in the hood portion 21, and protrudes downward from the housing 13. On the other hand, the base end portion of the terminal 15 is accommodated in the cylinders 19a and 19b so as to extend parallel to the axial direction. A mating connector (not shown) is fitted into each of the cylinders 19a and 19b, and when both connectors are properly fitted, the terminal 15 of the connector 11 and the terminal of the mating connector are connected.

  Next, the technical significance of the protrusions 25a and 25b of the connector 11 in the fixing structure when assembling the connector according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a state in which the mating connector 57 is assembled to the connector 11. In FIG. 8, the terminal 15 is omitted. The connector 11 of the present embodiment is adapted to be fitted to the mating connector 57 via a resin operation lever 59 that is rotatably attached to the mating connector 57.

  The operation lever 59 is formed in a gate shape by connecting a pair of circular plate portions 65 having an opening 61 and an arcuate groove portion 63 by an operation portion 67. The operation lever 59 is rotatably attached so as to straddle the mating connector 57 by engaging the support shafts 69 protruding from the mating connector 57 with the openings 61 of the both plate portions 65.

  In order to fit the mating connector 57 into the cylindrical body 19 a of the connector 11, first, the operation lever 59 attached to the mating connector 57 is set to the initial position (FIG. 8), and the connector 11 is inserted into the groove 63 of the both plate portions 65. The protrusion 25a is engaged. Next, the operating portion 67 of the operating lever 59 is grasped and rotated. Thereby, the protrusion 25a moves in the groove 63, and the mating connector 57 is drawn into the connector 11 by the cam action generated at this time, and is brought into a fitted state. As described above, the protrusions 25 a and 25 b are engaged with the groove 63 of the operation lever 59 attached to the mating connector 57, and are formed to be movable along the groove 63 by the turning operation of the operation lever 59.

  By the way, when the protrusions 25a and 25b are pressed by the fixing jig 35 and the engagement protrusion 29 is deformed, there is a concern that the engagement with the groove 63 may be hindered.

  In this respect, as shown in FIG. 8, the groove 63 has a stepped shape in which a stepped portion 71 extends inside the inner peripheral surface, and the protrusions 25 a and 25 b have the engaging protrusion 29 formed by the stepped portion 71. The groove part 63 is moved in such a manner that it engages with. Therefore, even if the engagement protrusion 29 is deformed, as long as the engagement protrusion 29 protrudes from the outer surface of the body part 27, the protrusions 25 a and 25 b engage with the groove part 63 via the step part 71. Can be maintained. Therefore, if the protrusions 25a and 25b are pressed by the fixing jig 35, the function of the operation lever 59 can be maintained even if a predetermined deformation occurs in the protrusions 25a and 25b.

  The operation lever 59 has a groove portion 63 extending to the outer peripheral edge of the circular plate portion 65, and a thin plate-like connecting portion 73 that bridges both side portions of the groove portion 63 is formed on the outer peripheral edge. For this reason, even when the projecting portion 25a is assembled to the groove 63 of each of the plate portions 65, even if the deformed projecting portion 25a comes into contact with the connecting portion 73, the projecting portion 25a gets over the deformed connecting portion 73. Therefore, the protrusion 25a can be assembled without any trouble. FIG. 9 shows a state in which the protrusion 25 a is mounted on the groove 63 over the connecting portion 73.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, when the housing 13 is fixed to the transport rail 33, the fixing jig 35 presses the protrusions 25a and 25b protruding from the outer surfaces of the cylinders 19a and 19b, respectively, thereby Since 17 is pressed against the guide surface 49 of the transport rail 33, deformation of the opening edges of the cylinders 19a, 19b can be reliably prevented. Thereby, damage to the mating connector 57 and the packing 75 attached to the connector 57 can be prevented.

  Further, in the present embodiment, since the protrusions 25a and 25b are protrusions that engage with the groove 63 of the operation lever 59, even if the engagement protrusion 29 is deformed by being pressed against the fixing jig 35, the groove The engagement with 63 is ensured, and the function of the operation lever 59 can be maintained. In addition, the engagement protrusion 29 has a flat surface 31 that is pressed against the fixing jig 35. When the fixing jig 35 is brought into contact with the flat surface 31, a contact area with the fixing jig 35 is reduced. A wide area can be secured and deformation can be suppressed. Furthermore, by adjusting the shape and size of the engagement protrusion 29, the width and thickness of the flat surface 31 can be set to be large, so that the area of the flat surface 31 corresponding to the pressing force of the fixing jig 35 can be set. It becomes easy to adjust.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention has been explained in full detail with drawing, said embodiment is only an illustration of this invention and this invention is not limited only to the structure of said embodiment. .

  For example, in the present embodiment, the protrusions 25a and 25b that press the fixing jig 35 form an engagement part that engages with the groove part 63 of the operation lever 59, but the engagement part is the protrusion of the protrusions 25a and 25b. Thus, it is not limited to the one that engages with the operation lever 59, and the main point is that it can be directly or indirectly engaged with the mating connector 57 fitted to the housing 13. In this case, for example, the engaging portion protruding from the outer surface of the housing 13 may be formed so as to be directly engageable with the mating connector surrounding the housing 13.

  Further, the fixing jig 35 may be configured to directly press the base portion 17 in place of the protruding portions protruding from the outer surfaces of the cylinders 19 a and 19 b of the housing 13. In this case, as for the fixing structure of the housing 13, for example, in FIG. 4, a path through which the fixing jig 35 enters needs to be formed on the second rail surface 45. According to this, even if the protrusion is not formed in the housing 13, the housing 13 can be fixed to the conveyance rail 33, and the applicable range of a housing can be expanded. Further, since the base portion 17 has high rigidity, there is an advantage that it is difficult to be deformed even if strongly pressed. Furthermore, by directly pressing the base portion 17, the base portion 17 can be surely pressed against the guide surface 49, so that the fixing force of the housing 13 can be further increased.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Connector 13 Housing 15 Terminal 17 Base 19a, 19b Cylindrical body 23 Terminal press-fit hole 25a, 25b Protrusion 27 Body 29 Engagement protrusion 31 Flat surface 33 Conveying rail 35 Fixing jig 49 Guide surface

Claims (4)

A conveyance rail that conveys a connector housing having a plate-like base portion to which a plurality of terminals are assembled and a cylindrical body that protrudes from the base portion and surrounds the plurality of terminals, and the housing is fixed to a predetermined position of the conveyance rail A fixing jig,
The transport rail has a guide surface that guides the base of the housing in the transport direction of the housing;
The fixing jig is a fixing structure when assembling a connector, wherein the fixing jig is formed to be able to press the base portion against the guide surface directly or via a protrusion provided on the outer surface of the cylindrical body.   The fixing structure when assembling the connector according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion constitutes an engaging portion that engages with a mating connector fitted into the housing.   The protrusion is engaged with an arcuate groove formed on an operation lever that is rotatably attached to the mating connector, and is formed to be movable along the groove by a turning operation of the operation lever. The fixing structure when assembling the connector according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the mating connector is pulled into and fitted into the housing by the movement of the protrusion.   The protrusion includes a body portion protruding from the cylindrical body, and an engagement protrusion that extends from a protruding front end portion of the body portion and engages with the groove portion. The fixing structure when assembling the connector according to claim 3, wherein a surface with which the tool abuts is formed flat.

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