JP6350873B2 - Connector device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector device.

  In Patent Document 1, flexible locking arms project from the four inner edges of the fitting opening of the bracket, and when the connector housing is inserted into the fitting opening, the tip of each flexible locking arm is A configuration is disclosed in which a connector is supported by a bracket by locking a stopper provided in the housing. The connector is fitted to a meter fitting portion as a mating connector while being supported by the bracket.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No.59-20578

  By the way, there is a case where a configuration is required in which the connector can behave integrally with the mating connector by detaching the connector from the bracket after the both connectors are fitted. In such a case, it is necessary to release the locking between the flexible locking arm and the stopper and detach the connector from the bracket. However, when a dedicated locking release member is prepared when releasing the locking, the number of parts is reduced. This is not preferable because it increases and the configuration becomes complicated.

  On the other hand, if the setting is made so that the locking between the flexible locking arm and the stopper is automatically released by applying a pushing force to the bracket in the mating direction after both connectors are mated, It is not necessary to prepare a release member, and it can be said that it is preferable because the detachment operation can be performed continuously with the connector fitting operation. However, in this case, in addition to the pushing force applied to the bracket, there is a delicate difference between the locking strength of the connector lock portion that acts when the two connectors are fitted and the locking strength of the flexible locking arm and the stopper. Adjustment is necessary, and if the adjustment is not successful, the connector may be detached from the bracket before the connector lock portion is engaged, and the connector may be left in a half-fitted state.

  The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to prevent the connector from being half-fitted when the connector is detached from the bracket after the connector is fitted.

The connector device according to the present invention includes a mating connector having a mating first locking portion and a releasing portion, a first locking portion, and a second locking portion. a connector locking projections with the reaching the position the first locking portion is held the on retaining state the mating connector by locking the mating first locking portion has a second locking portion bracket side The bracket side second lock portion supports the connector by locking the second lock portion until the fitting position is reached, and the fitting is further advanced past the fitting position. The release portion reaches a push-in position corresponding to the bracket-side second lock portion, and the bracket-side second lock portion and the second lock portion are unlocked by the release portion at the push-down position. , Spaced from the connector And a bracket comprising a Noh, the mating connector has a recessed groove end face is closed by the mating first locking part, in the pushed-in position, spaced the locking projections from the mating first locking portion And it has the characteristic in the place which approachs the said ditch | groove .

  When the mating of both connectors has progressed and the mating position has been reached, both the connectors are held in the mating state by the locking of the first locking portion and the mating first locking portion, and further past the mating position. When the push-in position is reached, the bracket-side second lock part and the second lock part are unlocked by the release part of the mating connector so that the bracket can be separated from the connector. Can be detached from the bracket and behave integrally with the mating connector. According to this, when the connector is detached from the bracket, there is no need to prepare a dedicated locking release member for releasing the locking between the second lock portion and the bracket-side second lock portion, and the detachment operation Can be performed continuously with the connector fitting operation.

  Furthermore, at the stage where the bracket can be separated from the connector at the pushed-in position, the release portion of the mating connector has reached the position corresponding to the bracket-side second lock portion, and has always passed through the fitting position. The state in which both connectors are held in a fitted state is secured by the engagement between the first lock portion and the mating first lock portion at the mating position. Therefore, since the bracket can be separated from the connector, a situation where the connector is left in a half-fitted state can be avoided.

In Example 1 of this invention, it is sectional drawing of the side view direction which shows the state by which the connector was hold | maintained with the other party connector in the fitting position. Furthermore, it is sectional drawing of the side view direction which shows the state which reached the pushing position. Furthermore, it is sectional drawing of the side view direction which shows the state which the bracket was pushed in and the connector removed from the bracket. It is sectional drawing of the planar view direction corresponding to FIG. It is sectional drawing of the planar view direction corresponding to FIG. It is sectional drawing of the planar view direction corresponding to FIG. It is a front view of the other party connector hold | maintained at the holder. It is a side view similarly. It is a front view of the connector supported by the bracket. It is a side view similarly. It is a front view of a connector. It is a side view similarly. It is also a plan view.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown below.
The release portion has a lock function for locking the second lock portion in place of the bracket-side second lock portion at the push-in position. Since the release function and the lock function are collectively provided in the release unit, the configuration can be simplified as compared to the case where both functions are provided separately in different parts.

  The mating connector is a standby connector supported by a mounting member, the bracket is provided on the mounted member, and the connector approaches the mating connector together with the bracket in the process of mounting the mounted member to the mounting member. This is a movable connector. According to this, since the connector can be brought from the fitting position to the pushed-in position by performing the work of attaching the member to be attached to the attachment member, the operability is excellent.

<Example 1>
Embodiment 1 will be described below with reference to the drawings. The connector device includes a mating connector 70, a holder 90 that holds the mating connector 70 so as to be displaceable, a connector 10 that can be fitted to the mating connector 70, and a bracket 30 that supports the connector 10. The holder 90 is provided on an attachment member (not shown), and the bracket 30 is provided on an attachment member (not shown). The attachment member is attached to the member to be attached, and the connector 10 is fitted to the mating connector 70 in the attachment process. In the following description, in the front-rear direction, the side of the connectors 10 and 70 that face each other at the start of fitting is defined as the front side.

  The mating connector 70 has a mating housing 71 made of synthetic resin. As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the mating housing 71 includes a substantially rectangular block-shaped mating housing portion 72 that is long in the front-rear direction, and a substantially rectangular tube-shaped hood portion 73 that projects forward from the front end of the mating housing portion 72. have. As shown in FIG. 8, a step 74 is provided at the rear end of the hood portion 73 between the upper surface of the mating housing portion 72 and the upper surface of the hood portion 73. The mating housing portion 72 is fitted with a mating terminal fitting connected to a terminal portion of an electric wire (not shown). In the hood part 73, a tab part (not shown) of the mating terminal fitting is arranged so as to protrude.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the front end portion of the hood portion 73 is provided with a guiding portion 75 that greatly expands in a trumpet shape over the entire circumference. A pair of claw-shaped release portions 76 are provided on the outer surfaces of both sides of the guide portion 75 so as to protrude in the center in the vertical direction. The release portion 76 is disposed at the foremost position of the mating connector 70.

  On the inner surface of the upper wall of the hood portion 73, as shown in FIG. 1, a claw-like mating first lock portion 77 protrudes at a position corresponding to the rear end portion (expanded base end portion) of the guide portion 75. Is provided. The inner surface of the upper wall of the hood portion 73 is provided with a concave groove 78 that extends in the front-rear direction and whose front end is blocked by the counterpart first locking portion 77 and whose rear end is open to the step 74.

  As shown in FIG. 7, a pair of engaging portions 79 protrude from the rear end portions of both side surfaces of the mating housing portion 72. As shown in FIG. 4, the engaging portion 79 has a plate shape that is bent stepwise, and the rear end surface is a sliding surface 79 </ b> A along the vertical direction.

  The holder 90 is made of a synthetic resin and has a rectangular frame shape surrounding the rear end portion of the counterpart housing portion 72. As shown in FIG. 4, on both sides of the holder 90, rail groove-shaped engagement receiving portions 91 into which the rear end portions of the engagement portions 79 are inserted in a retaining state are provided. The engaging portion 79 can be displaced along the sliding surface 79 </ b> A in a direction perpendicular to the front-rear direction within a gap range with the engagement receiving portion 91.

  Next, the connector 10 will be described. The connector 10 includes a synthetic resin housing 11. As shown in FIGS. 11 to 13, the housing 11 has a substantially rectangular block-shaped housing body 12 that is long in the front-rear direction. A terminal fitting connected to a terminal portion of an electric wire (not shown) is attached to the housing body 12. As shown in FIG. 1, the upper surface of the housing body 12 is provided with a first lock portion 13 protruding from the front end and extending rearward in a cantilevered manner. The first lock portion 13 can be bent and deformed in the vertical direction with a base end portion connected to the housing body 12 as a fulcrum. A claw-like lock protrusion 14 is provided on the upper surface of the first lock portion 13 at a position near the base end portion.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 13, a gate-shaped protection portion 15 surrounding the rear end portion (free end portion) of the first lock portion 13 is provided on the upper surface of the rear end portion of the housing body 12. Yes. When the first lock portion 13 is bent and deformed in the bending direction (upward in the drawing), the first lock portion 13 has an elastic limit because the rear end portion of the first lock portion 13 comes into contact with the upper wall of the protection portion 15. It is designed to prevent drowning beyond.

  As shown in FIGS. 11 and 13, a pair of second lock portions 16 protrude from both side surfaces of the rear end portion of the housing body 12. The second lock portion 16 includes a side protrusion 17 that protrudes laterally from the housing body 12 and a front protrusion 18 that protrudes forward from the protruding end of the side protrusion 17, and has a substantially L shape in plan view. Is formed. Moreover, the 2nd lock | rock part 16 has the plate-shaped form along the up-down direction as a whole. The second lock portion 16 can be bent and deformed in the direction of opening outward with the base end portion connected to the housing body 12 as a fulcrum. As shown in FIG. 12, the front protrusion 18 is provided with a substantially rectangular lock hole 19 penetrating laterally at the center in the vertical direction.

  The bracket 30 is made of synthetic resin and has a point-symmetrical structure (also line-symmetrical) as a whole, and has a substantially rectangular frame-shaped frame body 31 as shown in FIG. The frame 31 is composed of a plate-shaped portion along the front-rear direction. A pair of bracket-side second lock portions 32 are provided on both side portions 35 of the frame body 31 in the center portion in the vertical direction. As shown in FIG. 10, the bracket-side second lock portion 32 includes a substantially prismatic locking piece 33 projecting forward from the side portion 35, and a substantially projecting front portion from the side portion 35 to surround the locking piece 33. It consists of a square U-shaped holding frame portion 34.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the locking piece 33 can be bent and deformed in a direction of opening outward with a base end portion connected to the side portion 35 as a fulcrum. A claw-like locking projection 36 is provided on the front end of the locking piece 33 so as to protrude inward. As shown in FIG. 4, the locking projection 36 can be fitted into the lock hole 19 of the second lock portion 16 from the outside. As shown in FIG. 9, the portion of the locking piece 33 excluding the locking projection 36 is disposed on the outer side in the thickness direction of the side portion 35 of the frame body 31 when viewed from the front, and the locking projection 36 includes the side portion 35. It is arrange | positioned in the thickness direction inner side.

  The holding frame portion 34 can be bent and deformed in the direction of opening outward with the base end portions on both the upper and lower sides connected to the side portion 35 of the frame body 31 as fulcrums. As shown in FIG. 10, a fitting space portion 37 into which the front protruding portion 18 of the second lock portion 16 is fitted is formed inside the holding frame portion 34. As shown in FIG. 6, the fitting space portion 37 extends in the front-rear direction, the front end is closed by the stopper portion 38, and is opened rearward. As shown in FIG. 9, the holding frame portion 34 is disposed on the inner side in the thickness direction of the side portion 35 of the frame body 31 when viewed from the front. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 6, the locking projection 36 is arranged to protrude in the fitting space portion 37 of the holding frame portion 34.

The structure of the connector device according to the first embodiment is as described above. Next, the operation of the connector device will be described.
In assembly, the connector 10 is attached to and supported by the bracket 30. In this case, the connector 10 is inserted into the frame body 31 of the bracket 30 from the rear. Then, the front projecting portion 18 of the second lock portion 16 enters the fitting space portion 37 of the bracket-side second lock portion 32 and is stopped by the stopper portion 38, and the front projecting portion 18 becomes the fitting space portion 37. The connector 10 is fitted in the positioning state (see FIG. 10), and the locking projection 36 of the locking piece 33 is elastically fitted into the lock hole 19 of the front protrusion 18 from the outside, so that the connector 10 is mounted on the bracket 30. Is supported in a state where movement in the front-rear direction is restricted.

  Subsequently, the connector 10 is fitted to the mating connector 70. Since the connector 10 is connected to an attachment member (not shown) via the bracket 30, the fitting operation of the connector 10 is synchronized with the operation of attaching the attachment member to the attachment member (not shown) that holds the mating connector 70. Done. That is, the connector 10 is moved toward the mating connector 70 as a standby side connector together with the bracket 30 as a movable side connector. Here, when the fitting shafts of the connectors 10 and 70 are displaced at the start of fitting, the tip of the housing 11 slides on the inner peripheral surface of the guiding portion 75 of the mating housing 71 and the mating housing 71 is engaged. By displacing in a direction intersecting the fitting direction within a gap range between the portion 79 and the engagement receiving portion 91, the fitting axes of both the connectors 10 and 70 are corrected so as to coincide with each other.

  When the housing 11 is fitted into the hood portion 73 of the mating housing 71, the lock protrusion 14 of the first lock portion 13 slides on the inner surface of the guide portion 75, and the first lock portion 13 is bent and deformed. When the fitting progresses to the fitting position, the first locking portion 13 is elastically displaced in the return direction, and the locking projection 14 is disposed so as to be able to lock the mating first locking portion 77, so that both the connectors 10, 70 are arranged. Is held in the fitted state (prevented state) (see FIG. 1). At this time, the first lock portion 13 does not completely return to the natural state, and the lock protrusion 14 is in contact with the inner surface of the upper wall of the hood portion 73 in a preloaded state.

  Further, at the fitting position, a clearance is secured between the front end of the housing 11 and the inner surface of the hood portion 73, and both connectors 10 and 70 can be fitted more deeply within the clearance range. Further, at the mating position, the release portion 76 of the mating housing 71 interferes with the distal end portion of the holding frame portion 34 of the bracket-side second lock portion 32, and the holding frame portion 34 is bent and deformed outward (see FIG. 4). ). At this time, the stopper portion 38 of the holding frame portion 34 is displaced in the direction of retreating from the front end of the front protruding portion 18, but the state in which the locking projection 36 is fitted in the lock hole 19 is maintained, so that the connector 10 Is prevented from falling off the bracket 30.

When the connector 10 is further deeply fitted from the fitting position, the leading end of the housing 11 reaches a push-in position where the front end of the housing 11 is stopped against the back surface of the hood 73, and further fitting operations of both the connectors 10 and 70 are restricted. (See FIG. 2). In the pushed-in position, a terminal fitting (not shown) and a mating terminal fitting are connected in a normal state. Further, at the pushed-in position, the lock protrusion 14 is separated from the counterpart first lock portion 77 and enters the concave groove 78 in a fitted state. Furthermore, in the push-in position, the release portion 76 of the mating housing 71 is elastically fitted into the lock hole 19 of the second lock portion 16 from the inside (see FIG. 5). As the release portion 76 fits into the lock hole 19 in this way, the locking projection 36 is pushed out of the lock hole 19 by the release portion 76, and the locking piece 33 is bent and deformed outward. As a result, the bracket-side second lock portion 32 and the second lock portion 16 are unlocked, and the bracket 30 is allowed to move forward relative to the connector 10. Further, the connectors 10 and 70 are held in a state where the detachment is restricted by the engagement between the release portion 76 and the second lock portion 16.

  Thereafter, the bracket 30 is advanced to a fixed position where the attached portion is attached to the attachment portion, leaving the connector 10 (see FIG. 6). At this time, both the connectors 10 and 70 in the fitting state are arranged in the loosely inserted state in the frame body 31 of the bracket 30. On the other hand, the connector 10 is released from the bracket 30 and can behave integrally according to the movement of the mating connector 70.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the connector 10 reaches the pushed-in position, the bracket-side second lock portion 32 and the second lock portion 16 are locked by the release portion 76 of the mating connector 70. Thus, the connector 10 can be detached from the bracket 30, so that the detaching operation can be performed continuously with the fitting operation of the connector 10, and the operability is improved. In addition, the fitting operation of the connector 10 is performed in synchronism with the operation of attaching the attached member to the attachment member, so that the operability is improved.

  In addition, when releasing the engagement between the bracket-side second lock portion 32 and the second lock portion 16, it is not necessary to use a dedicated lock release member by using the release portion 76 of the mating connector 70, so that The number of points can be reduced and the configuration can be simplified. Moreover, since the release portion 76 has a lock function for locking the second lock portion 16 in addition to the lock release function, there is no need to provide a separate portion having the lock function, and the configuration can be simplified. Can do.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the connector 10 reaches the push-in position through the fitting position, and the release portion 76 interferes with the locking projection 36 of the bracket-side second lock portion 32 at the push-down position. Since the two connectors 10 and 70 are deeply fitted, the bracket 30 can be separated from the connector 10 at the pushed-in position, so that the connector 10 has passed the fitting position. That is, it is ensured that the engagement between the counterpart first lock part 77 and the first lock part 13 is completed. Therefore, a situation in which the mating first lock portion 77 and the first lock portion 13 are in a half-hanging state and the connector 10 is left in a semi-fitted state that can be detached from the mating connector 70 is avoided.

<Other embodiments>
Other embodiments will be briefly described below.
(1) Contrary to the first embodiment, the mating connector may be a movable connector, the connector may be a standby connector, and the mating connector may approach the connector and advance the mating in the mating process. . Further, both the connector and the mating connector may be configured as a movable connector.
(2) The mating connector may not be held displaceably in the holder but may be fixed to the device or the like. In that case, it is not necessary to provide a counterpart connector corresponding to the guiding portion of the first embodiment.
(3) The bracket may be a structure that can support the connector, and may not be formed in a frame shape.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Connector 11 ... Housing 13 ... 1st lock part 16 ... 2nd lock part 30 ... Bracket 31 ... Frame body 32 ... Bracket side 2nd lock part 70 ... Mating connector 71 ... Mating housing 75 ... Guide part 76 ... Release | release part 77 ... counterpart 1st lock

Claims (3)

A mating connector having a mating first locking part and a releasing part;
Has a first locking portion and a second locking portion, said complete the mating with the mating connector, engage the locking projection of the first locking portion with the result in the fitting position the mating first locking portion A connector that is held in a state of being retained by the mating connector by stopping ,
The bracket side second lock portion has the bracket side second lock portion, and the bracket side second lock portion supports the connector by locking the second lock portion until the fitting position is reached. When the engagement is further advanced, the release portion reaches the push-in position corresponding to the bracket-side second lock portion, and the bracket-side second lock portion and the second lock portion are engaged at the push-down position. A stop is removed at the release portion, and includes a bracket that can be separated from the connector ,
The mating connector has a concave groove whose end surface is blocked by the mating first lock portion, and the locking projection enters the concave groove away from the mating first lock portion at the pushing position. A connector device.   2. The connector device according to claim 1, wherein the release portion has a lock function of locking the second lock portion in place of the bracket-side second lock portion at the push-in position.   The mating connector is a standby connector supported by a mounting member, the bracket is provided on the mounted member, and the connector approaches the mating connector together with the bracket in the process of mounting the mounted member to the mounting member. The connector device according to claim 1, wherein the connector device is a movable connector.

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