JP6626347B2 - Terminals and connectors - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector including a housing for housing a terminal.

  2. Description of the Related Art As a connector that makes conductive contact with an object to be connected, a connector having a lance for preventing a terminal from coming off from a housing is used. Such a lance usually has a cantilever shape extending from the inner wall of the terminal receiving portion toward the inside of the terminal receiving portion, and is engaged with the terminal received in the terminal receiving portion, so that the terminal can be pulled out of the housing. It can be stopped (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP-A-2015-072824

  By the way, such connectors are mounted on in-vehicle electrical equipment, household electrical equipment, and the like, and are used for various purposes. In recent years, these devices have been required to be more and more miniaturized, and the connectors themselves used for them have also been required to be miniaturized. On the other hand, as described above, the lance is elastically deformed in the height direction of the connector so that the terminal can be pushed away from the terminal when the terminal is accommodated in the terminal accommodating portion. It is necessary to provide a space along the height direction, and there is a limit to downsizing such a connector in the height direction.

  The present invention has been made on the background of the related art described above. The purpose is to provide a connector that is miniaturized in the height direction.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows.
That is, the present invention includes a plurality of terminals having a contact portion that makes conductive contact with an object to be connected, and a housing having a terminal receiving portion that receives the terminal, wherein the terminal receiving portion of the housing prevents the terminal from coming off. Wherein the lance has an elastic piece that is elastically deformed in the direction in which the terminals are arranged by the terminal inserted into the terminal accommodating portion, and a locking projection that is formed on the elastic piece and that locks with the terminal to prevent the terminal from coming off. A connector is provided.

  According to the present invention, since the lance has an elastic piece elastically deformable in the terminal arrangement direction in the terminal accommodating portion, the entire lance can be displaced in the terminal arrangement direction inside the terminal accommodating portion. Therefore, there is no need to provide a space inside the housing for the lance to be displaced in the height direction of the housing, so that the height of the housing can be reduced as compared with a housing having such a lance. Therefore, the entire connector can be downsized in the height direction.

  The terminal accommodating portion of the housing of the present invention has an insertion opening for the terminal, and an insertion groove extending from the insertion opening along the insertion direction of the terminal, and the terminal has an insertion opening when the terminal is inserted into the terminal accommodating portion. And a protruding portion that is inserted along the insertion groove.

  The terminal can be inserted into the terminal accommodating portion by aligning the protrusion of the terminal with the groove from the insertion opening. Therefore, the terminal can be correctly positioned and inserted.

  The insertion groove of the present invention has a step portion for expanding the groove width in the terminal arrangement direction, and the elastic piece of the lance is formed such that the base end is connected to the step portion and extends in the terminal insertion direction. Can be.

  By doing so, the elastic piece of the lance can be largely elastically displaced inside the insertion groove having the expanded groove width. Therefore, the elastic piece is elastically deformed more smoothly, and the operation of inserting the terminal into the terminal accommodating portion can be easily performed.

  The locking projection of the lance of the present invention is arranged so as to protrude inside the groove, and the elastic piece of the lance elastically supports the locking projection to be displaced between the inside and the outside of the groove. can do.

  Since the locking projection of the lance is arranged so as to protrude into the groove, the projection of the terminal can be securely locked to the locking projection when the terminal is inserted into the terminal accommodating portion. In addition, since the internal space of the groove into which the projecting portion of the terminal is inserted is also used as the displacement space of the locking projection of the lance, the locking projection can be displaced inside the terminal receiving portion, and the housing can be downsized. can do.

  The terminal of the present invention is formed of a series of metal pieces and has a cylindrical main body accommodated in the terminal accommodating portion, the projecting portion projecting outward from the cylindrical main body, and a terminal accommodating portion. An elastic contact piece extending from the protruding portion to the inside of the cylindrical main body along the direction of insertion of the terminal and having the contact portion can be provided.

  Since the contact portion with the connection target is arranged inside the cylindrical main body, the conductive contact portion can be protected by the cylindrical main body. In addition, since the elastic contact piece has a contact portion with the connection target, the contact pressure of the contact portion can be increased to make reliable conductive contact with the connection target. By providing such an elastic contact piece integrally with the projecting portion, the stress applied to the elastic contact piece can be dispersed to the projecting portion, so that concentration of stress is prevented, and breakage or damage of the elastic contact piece is suppressed. Can be.

  The elastic contact piece of the present invention may have a curved shape protruding toward the central axis of the cylindrical main body between one end connected to the protruding portion and the other end opposite to the protruding portion.

  With this configuration, when the connection target is inserted into the cylindrical main body, the elastic contact piece can be guided to the inner side of the cylindrical main body without being caught on the end. Therefore, the conductive contact work between the contact portion and the connection target can be easily performed. Note that the curved shape here includes a case where it is curved in a large arc shape and a case where it is curved in a small arc shape and looks substantially bent.

  The elastic contact piece of the present invention may have a contact portion on the other end side with respect to the inner surface of the tubular main body.

  With this configuration, when the contact portion is pressed from the connection target, the contact portion comes into contact with the inner surface of the tubular main body portion, and the elastic deformation of the elastic contact piece can be regulated. Therefore, the contact pressure against the connection target can be increased as compared with the case where the elastic contact piece is elastically deformed without limit.

  According to the present invention, a low-profile connector can be provided. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the size of home electric equipment or in-vehicle electric equipment equipped with such a connector.

The perspective view showing the state where the socket connector of the embodiment and the linear conductor are electrically connected. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the socket connector of FIG. 1. The front view which shows the socket connector of FIG. FIG. 3 is a rear view showing the socket connector of FIG. 2. The top view which shows the socket housing of FIG. The bottom view which shows the socket housing of FIG. FIG. 3 is a right side view showing the socket housing of FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the socket terminal of FIG. 1. Sectional drawing which shows the socket terminal of FIG. FIG. 2 is an exemplary perspective view showing a retainer included in the socket connector of FIG. 1; FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a state where a linear conductor is connected to the socket terminal of FIG. 8. FIGS. 2A and 2B are explanatory diagrams illustrating a state in which a terminal is inserted into the socket housing of FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 1A illustrates a state before insertion, and FIG. The front view of the socket connector of FIG. FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line SA-SA of FIG. 13 showing a state in which the terminal is fixed to the socket housing by moving the retainer, and FIG. 13A shows a state before the terminal is fixed; Indicates a state in which the fixing of the terminal is completed. FIG. 14 is a sectional view taken along line SB-SB of the socket connector of FIG. 13. FIG. 14 is a sectional view taken along line SC-SC of FIG. 13. The perspective view which shows the plug connector with which the socket connector of FIG. 1 makes conductive contact. FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing the bottom side of the plug connector of FIG. 17. FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram showing a state where the socket connector of FIG. 2 is fitted with the plug connector of FIG. 17. FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing a fitting structure including the socket connector of FIG. 1 and the plug connector of FIG. 17; FIG. 21 is a plan view showing the fitting structure of FIG. 20. FIG. 21 is a bottom view showing the fitting structure of FIG. 20. Sectional drawing which shows the fitting structure of FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In this specification, claims and drawings, the width direction along the longitudinal direction (the arrangement direction of the socket terminals 6) along the longitudinal direction of the socket connector 1 shown in FIGS. The direction, the height direction of the socket connector 1 is defined as the Z direction, and the plane side of the socket connector 1 in the height direction Z is defined as “upper side”, and the bottom side of the socket connector 1 is defined as “lower side”. The description in the up-down direction and the front-back direction does not limit the use direction of the socket connector 1 of the present invention.

Embodiment (FIGS. 1 to 23):
The socket connector 1 as a “connector” of the present embodiment includes a plug connector 2 as a “connection object” and a socket terminal 6 for electrically connecting a linear conductor 5 such as an electric wire. The socket connector 1 includes a socket housing 3 and a plurality of socket terminals 6. The linear conductor 5 includes a conductive portion 5a made of a conductive metal and an insulating coating 5b covering the conductive portion 5a.

[Socket housing]
The socket housing 3 is made of an insulating resin and is formed as a substantially rectangular parallelepiped as shown in FIGS. The socket housing 3 has a socket housing body 4, a bridge portion 4a2, and a retainer 7.

[Socket housing body]
The socket housing body 4 has a top surface 4a, a bottom surface 4f, a side wall 4b, and a terminal housing 4c.

  The top surface part 4a is arranged on the upper side in the socket housing 3. The top surface portion 4a has a protrusion 4a1, and a bridge portion 4a2 is provided on the upper surface thereof. The protruding portion 4a1 protrudes upward and engages with the lock portion 11a3 of the plug connector 2. The bridge portion 4a2 has two legs 4a4 arranged on both sides of the unlocking piece 4a3 in the width direction X, and a horizontal portion 4a5 connecting the legs 4a4. Moreover, the horizontal part 4a5 is arrange | positioned so that the upper side of the lock release piece 4a3 may be bridged along the width direction X. By arranging such a bridge portion 4a2, it is possible to prevent the lock release piece 4a3 from being inadvertently contacted. Further, when the lock release piece 4a3 is pulled upward due to an erroneous operation, the deformation can be suppressed by the bridge portion 4a2, so that breakage and the like can be suppressed.

  The bottom surface part 4f is arranged on the lower side in the socket housing 3. The bottom surface portion 4f has a bottom surface side protrusion portion 4f1 protruding downward from the opposite side on the side of an insertion opening 4c1 described later in the front-rear direction Y. In a state where the socket connector 1 is fitted to the plug connector 2, the worker can easily pull out the socket connector 1 from the plug connector 2 by hooking a finger on the bottom side protrusion 4 f 1.

  The terminal accommodating portion 4c is a space penetrating the socket housing 3 along the front-rear direction Y as shown in FIGS. 14 to 16, and accommodates the socket terminals 6 one by one. A plurality of terminal accommodating portions 4c are arranged in parallel along the width direction X. In particular, in the present embodiment, such rows of the terminal accommodating portions 4c are provided in two stages, upper and lower. The terminal accommodating portion 4c has an insertion opening 4c1 into which the socket terminal 6 is inserted. An insertion groove 4c2 is provided at the lower end side of the terminal accommodating portion 4c and at one end side in the width direction X along the front-rear direction Y which is the insertion direction of the socket terminal 6 from the insertion opening 4c1.

  The insertion groove 4c2 is formed in a size and shape that allows the positioning protrusion 8b of the socket terminal 6 described later to be inserted. The insertion groove 4c2 has a step 4c3 extending the groove width on the back side, and the lance 4d extends from the step 4c3. By providing such a step portion 4c3, a displacement space S where the lance 4d can be sufficiently elastically deformed along the width direction X (the arrangement direction of the socket terminals 6) is formed (see FIGS. 15 and 16).

  The lance 4d is inside the insertion groove 4c2 and has a cantilever shape extending from the insertion opening 4c1 side of the terminal accommodating portion 4c toward the back side. The lance 4d has an elastic piece 4d1 and a locking projection 4d2. When the socket terminal 6 is inserted into the terminal accommodating portion 4c, the elastic piece 4d1 is pressed by the socket terminal 6 and elastically deforms in the width direction X. The locking projection 4d2 is provided on the free end side of the elastic piece 4d1 and protrudes toward the inside of the insertion groove 4c2. The locking projection 4d2 is locked to the positioning protrusion 8b of the socket terminal 6 inserted into the terminal accommodating portion 4c to prevent the socket terminal 6 from falling off.

[Retainer]
The retainer 7 is made of an insulating resin and has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape along the width direction X as shown in FIG. Then, the socket housing body 4 is inserted into the socket housing body 4 through a retainer insertion opening 4 e provided on the bottom surface. The retainer 7 is provided with a plurality of terminal insertion holes 7a through which the socket terminals 6 are inserted along the width direction X. A locking portion 7b that protrudes upward from the rear side and lower side of each terminal insertion hole 7a and locks to the socket terminal 6 is provided. The locking portion 7b has an inclined portion 7b1 that is inclined so as to be higher from the near side to the far side in the insertion direction. When the socket terminal 6 is inserted into the terminal insertion hole 7a of the retainer 7, the socket terminal 6 is guided toward the back along the inclined portion 7b1. Similarly, a retaining portion 7b is provided on the upper surface of the retainer 7.

(Socket terminal)
The socket terminal 6 is formed by bending a single conductive metal plate, and has a contact connection portion 8 and a linear conductor connection portion 9 as shown in FIGS.

  The contact connection portion 8 has a box portion 8a as a “cylindrical main body portion”, a positioning protrusion 8b, a bent portion 8c, and an elastic contact piece 8d.

  The box portion 8a has a substantially rectangular cylindrical shape, and has a top wall portion 8a1 and a bottom wall portion 8a2. The box portion 8a has a connection space 8a3 into which the plug contact portion 10a of the plug terminal 10 is inserted, and a rear end of the box portion 8a engages with a locking portion 7b of the retainer 7. A stop 8a4 is provided. Further, a first contact portion 8a6 protruding toward the connection space 8a3 is provided on the inner surface 8a5 of the ceiling wall portion 8a1. In particular, the top wall portion 8a1 of the present embodiment has two first contact portions 8a6 along the front-rear direction Y.

  The positioning projection 8b projects downward from the bottom wall 8a2. Specifically, it is formed by projecting a metal plate forming the bottom wall portion 8a2 downward, and further bending the metal plate in a substantially inverted U-shape. The positioning projection 8b is provided so as to be elastically deformable.

  The bent portion 8c is a plate-like piece connected to the positioning protrusion 8b, and is formed by bending in the width direction X from the end of the positioning protrusion 8b along the height direction Z.

  The elastic contact piece 8d is provided so as to be connected to the tip side of the bent portion 8c, and extends toward the inside of the connection space 8a3. The elastic contact piece 8d is formed in a curved shape having a substantially curved shape formed in a small arc shape protruding from the base end side toward the center side of the box portion 8a toward the distal end side. A second contact portion 8d1 is provided at a portion of the elastic contact piece 8d that protrudes most inside the connection space 8a3. The second contact portion 8d1 is disposed between the two first contact portions 8a6, and makes a conductive contact with the first contact portion 8a6 by sandwiching the plug contact portion 10a. In the elastic contact piece 8d, a first contact portion 8d2 as a "contact portion" is provided on a tip side of the second contact portion 8d1. The plug contact portion 10a and the first contact portion 8a6 are provided. Abuts against the inner surface 8a5 of the bottom wall 8a2 of the box portion 8a in a state of conducting contact. Further, a second contact portion 8d3 is provided on the base end side of the elastic contact piece 8d with respect to the second contact portion 8d1, and like the first contact portion 8a6, the plug contact portion 10a and the second contact portion 8d3 are provided. The first contact portion 8a6 comes into contact with the inner surface 8a5 of the bottom wall portion 8a2 in a state of being in conductive contact.

  The linear conductor connecting portion 9 has a caulking portion 9a and a clamp portion 9b.

  The caulking portion 9a has a bottom portion 9a1 provided along the direction in which the linear conductor 5 extends, and a fixing piece 9a2 that presses the conductive portion 5a against the bottom portion 9a1. Further, the fixing pieces 9a2 project one by one from the plate edges on both sides along the front-rear direction Y of the bottom 9a1, and they face each other. The fixing piece 9a2 is bent and presses the conductive portion 5a of the linear conductor 5 against the bottom 9a1, whereby the linear conductor 5 is fixed to the socket terminal 6. The bottom 9a1 is provided with a plurality of substantially rectangular recesses 9a3 along the width direction X, and the corners of the recesses 9a3 can break the oxide film of the conductive portion 5a.

  The clamp portions 9b are provided so as to project one by one from the plate edges on both sides along the front-rear direction Y of the bottom portion 9a1. The socket terminal 6 is fixed to the linear conductor 5 by bending the two clamp pieces 9b1 and bringing them into press contact with the insulating coating 5b of the linear conductor 5.

[Plug connector]
The plug connector 2 includes a plug housing 11 and a plurality of plug terminals 10.

[Plug housing]
The plug housing 11 is made of an insulating resin, and is provided in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape as shown in FIGS. It has a top wall portion 11a, a bottom wall portion 11b, a back wall portion 11c, and a side wall portion 11d, and is further formed by a top wall portion 11a, a bottom wall portion 11b, a back wall portion 11c, and a side wall portion 11d. It has a fitting chamber 11e, an accommodation space 11e1, and an opening edge 11f for inserting the socket connector 1 into the fitting chamber 11e.

  The top wall portion 11a is arranged above the plug housing 11. In the top wall 11a, the opening edge 11f in the front-back direction Y has a plurality of relief recesses 11a1 arranged along the width direction X. In the present embodiment, in particular, the top wall portion 11a has two escape concave portions 11a1. The relief recess 11a1 is arranged at the same position as the two legs 4a4 of the bridge portion 4a2 of the socket connector 1 in the width direction X, and when the socket 4 is fitted to the bridge 4a2, the leg 4a4 It is housed inside (see FIG. 21). Therefore, by providing the escape recess 11a1, the length in the front-rear direction Y of the fitting structure F in which the socket connector 1 and the plug connector 2 are fitted can be further reduced.

A protruding piece 11a2 is formed between the two recessed recesses 11a1 to project toward the opening edge 11f in the front-rear direction Y. In the fitted state, the protruding pieces 11a2 are arranged immediately below the horizontal portions 4a5 of the bridges 4a2 provided in the socket housing 3. On the base end side of the protruding piece 11a2 and on the lower surface of the top wall portion 11a (the surface exposed to the housing space 11e1), a lock portion 11a3 that locks to the protruding portion 4a1 of the socket connector 1 is provided. Further, by fitting the concave and convex shape formed by the two recessed recesses 11a1 and the protruding pieces 11a2 with the legs 4a4 of the socket connector 1, twisting can be suppressed. Furthermore, assuming that the lock portion 11a3 is provided at the plate edge of the ceiling wall portion 11a without providing such a protruding piece portion 11a2, the length in the front-rear direction Y of the lock portion 11a3 (the thickness in the front-rear direction Y of the lock portion 11a3). Becomes shorter. Therefore, the lock portion 11a3 is weak against the load in the front-rear direction Y. On the other hand, by providing the protruding piece 11a2 and providing the lock portion 11a3 on the base end side as in the present embodiment, the front-rear direction of the lock portion 11a3 by the length in the front-rear direction Y of the protruding piece 11a2 The length of Y can be made longer. Therefore, it is possible to provide the lock portion 11a3 that is unlikely to be damaged even when receiving a load in the front-rear direction Y.
The protruding piece 11a2 extends to a position where the tip 11a4 is flush with the rear end of the top wall 11a where the escape recess 11a1 and the protruding piece 11a2 are not provided. As a result, in the fitted state with the plug connector 2, the distal end portion 11a4 of the protruding piece portion 11a2 is disposed closer to the opening edge 11f in the front-rear direction Y than the horizontal portion 4a5 of the bridge portion 4a2. Therefore, the operator can confirm that the fitting operation has been completely completed by visually observing that the distal end portion 11a4 of the protruding piece portion 11a2 is disposed closer to the opening edge 11f than the horizontal frame portion 4a5.

  The side wall 11d is connected to both ends in the width direction X of the top wall 11a, and a guide groove 11d1 along the front-rear direction Y is formed on a surface of the side wall 11d on the side of the housing space 11e1. The guide groove 11d1 has a shape along the outer diameter of the projection 4b1 of the socket connector 1. When the socket connector 1 is inserted into the fitting chamber 11e, the projection 4b1 is inserted inside the guide groove 11d1. Be guided.

  The bottom wall portion 11b is disposed below the plug housing 11, and a recess 11b1 for removal is formed on the rear side (the side of the opening edge 11f in the front-rear direction Y) as shown in FIG. When the socket connector 1 and the plug connector 2 are fitted together, the front end side of the socket housing 3 is exposed to the outside via the extraction recess 11b1. Therefore, when removing the socket connector 1 from the plug connector 2, it is easy for an operator to touch the bottom-side protrusion 4f1 of the socket housing 3 and easily pull the bottom-side protrusion 4f1 with a finger. Removal work can be performed.

  The back wall portion 11c is connected to the top wall portion 11a, the side wall portion 11d, and the bottom wall portion 11b, and is disposed at the front end (the back side in the insertion direction of the socket connector 1). The back wall portion 11c holds a plurality of plug terminals 10.

(Plug terminal)
The plug terminal 10 is a pin-shaped terminal, and has a board connection part 10b, a housing fixing part 10c, and a plug contact part 10a. The housing fixing portion 10c penetrates the back wall portion 11c along the front-rear direction Y, and a plug contact portion 10a described later is arranged inside the fitting chamber 11e, and the board connecting portion 10b is arranged outside. . Also, since the socket connector 1 has two rows of upper and lower socket terminals 6, the plug connector 2 includes two types of plug terminals 10 corresponding to the heights of the plug contact portions 10 a.

[How to fix the linear conductor to the socket terminal]
The linear conductor 5 is fixed to the linear conductor connection portion 9 of the socket terminal 6. Specifically, at the same time as aligning the distal end side of the insulating coating 5b with the clamp piece 9b1, the conductive portion 5a exposed from the insulating coating 5b is attached to the crimping portion 9a of the socket terminal 6 at the distal end of the linear conductor 5. Position. Thereafter, the clamp piece 9b1 is bent and held toward the insulating coating 5b, and the fixed piece 9a2 is bent and pressed toward the conductive portion 5a. Thus, the attachment of the linear conductor 5 to the socket terminal 6 is completed (see FIG. 11).

[Description of mounting method of socket terminal to socket housing]
First, the retainer 7 is pushed down and moved to the insertable position (see FIG. 14A). Thereafter, the contact connecting portion 8 of the socket terminal 6 is inserted into the insertion opening 4c1 of the socket housing 3 (see FIGS. 12A and 12B). When the retainer 7 is in the insertable position, the locking portion 7b of the retainer 7 is arranged outside the terminal accommodating portion 4c, so that the socket terminal 6 can be smoothly inserted into the terminal accommodating portion 4c. Since the locking portion 7b of the retainer 7 has the inclined portion 7b1, even if the positioning protrusion 8b or the box portion 8a of the socket terminal 6 comes into contact with the locking portion 7b, a situation occurs in which the insertion is stopped by being caught. It is difficult.

  As described above, the socket housing 3 has the insertion groove 4c2 along the front-rear direction Y on the lower end side of the terminal accommodating portion 4c. The insertion groove 4c2 is formed from the insertion port 4c1 to the far side of the terminal housing 4c. Further, since the contact connecting portion 8 is provided with the positioning protrusion 8b protruding along the height direction Z, the side on which the positioning protrusion 8b is provided faces downward and is aligned with the insertion groove 4c2. After that, the contact connecting portion 8 can be inserted into the insertion port 4c1. By providing such an insertion groove 4c2, the socket terminal 6 can be inserted into the terminal accommodating portion 4c in a regular direction. The distal end of the contact connection portion 8 of the lower socket terminal 6 passes through the terminal insertion hole 7a of the retainer 7 and is inserted into the terminal receiving portion 4c at the back. The distal end of the contact connection portion 8 of the upper socket terminal 6 passes through a further upper side of the locking portion 7b provided above the terminal insertion hole 7a of the retainer 7 and is inserted into the terminal receiving portion 4c.

  As described above, the elastic piece 4d1 of the lance 4d is elastically deformable along the width direction X and is provided to be inclined in the width direction X with respect to the front-rear direction Y. Since the locking protrusion 4d2 enters the inside of the insertion groove 4c2 from the side, the elastic piece 4d1 of the lance 4d is directed outward from the insertion groove 4c2 when the insertion groove 4c2 comes into pressure contact with the locking protrusion 4d2. It is elastically deformed along the width direction X. As described above, the lance 4d extends from the step portion 4c3 for expanding the groove width of the insertion groove 4c2, and such a lance 4d can be elastically deformed inside the displacement space S (FIGS. 15 and 16). reference). Thus, the work of inserting the socket terminal 6 into the terminal accommodating portion 4c can be performed smoothly. Further, since the insertion groove 4c2 and the displacement space S can be communicated with each other, the socket housing 3 can be further reduced in size as compared with a case where they are separately provided. Since the elastic piece 4d1 is urged toward the inside of the insertion groove 4c2, when the positioning protrusion 8b enters toward the back of the terminal accommodating portion 4c and passes through the locking protrusion 4d2, the locking protrusion 4d2 is formed. Returns to the position inside the insertion groove 4c2. When the socket terminal 6 is pulled in the pulling-out direction in this state, the rear end of the positioning projection 8b comes into contact with the locking projection 4d2, so that the locking projection 4d2 is stopped. In this manner, the lance 4d is elastically deformed not in the height direction Z but in the width direction X, so that the size can be reduced in the height direction Z.

  Thereafter, the retainer 7 is pushed up and moved to the locking position (see FIG. 14B). Thereby, the locking portion 7b of the retainer 7 enters the inside of the terminal accommodating portion 4c. When the socket terminal 6 is pulled in the removal direction in this state, the locking portion 7b comes into contact with the locked portion 8a4 provided at the rear end of the box portion 8a and is prevented from falling off. Therefore, in the socket terminal 6 of the present embodiment, since the lance 4 d and the retainer 7 are double-prevented, the socket terminal 6 can be more securely fixed to the socket housing 3. In this state, the lower end of the retainer 7 is flush with the lower surface of the socket housing 3. Therefore, it can be visually confirmed that the retainer 7 has been securely moved to the locking position. If the socket terminal 6 is not firmly inserted into the terminal accommodating portion 4c, the locking portion 7b of the retainer 7 is hooked on the bottom wall portion 8a2 of the box portion 8a and is pushed up to the locking position. I can't. In this case, since the lower end of the retainer 7 protrudes downward from the socket housing 3, such an unlocked state can be visually confirmed.

[Explanation of fitting work between socket connector and plug connector]
The plug connector 2 is mounted on the board P. At that time, as shown in FIG. 23, the extraction concave portion 11b1 of the plug connector 2 is arranged so as to be flush with the end surface P1 of the substrate P. After that, as shown in FIGS. 19 and 20, the socket connector 1 is inserted into the opening edge 11f of the plug connector 2 fixed to the substrate P, and the contact connection portion 8 of the socket terminal 6 and the plug contact portion 10a are brought into conductive contact. . At this time, the plug contact portion 10a is inserted into the connection space 8a3 provided inside the box portion 8a of the socket terminal 6. This makes it difficult for the plug contact portion 10a to fall out of the connection space 8a3 because the surroundings of the plug contact portion 10a are surrounded by the box portion 8a, so that the plug contact portion 10a makes reliable conductive contact with the first contact portion 8a6 and the second contact portion 8d1. be able to.

  After that, the plug contact portion 10a is guided to the far side of the connection space 8a3 by the elastic contact piece 8d having a curved shape, and the plug contact portion 10a presses the first contact portion 8a6 to be in contact with the second contact portion 8d1. To expand the gap and penetrate the gap. At this time, the elastic contact piece 8d having the second contact portion 8d1 is pressed downward, but the first contact portion 8d2 provided on the distal side and the second contact portion provided on the proximal side. When the portion 8d3 abuts on the inner surface 8a5 of the bottom wall portion 8a2, the displacement of the second contact portion 8d1 is regulated (see FIG. 23). Therefore, the contact pressure of the second contact portion 8d1 with respect to the plug contact portion 10a can be further increased as compared with the case where the second contact portion 8d1 is displaced without limit. Thereby, the first contact portion 8a6 and the second contact portion 8d1 can surely make conductive contact with the plug contact portion 10a.

  As described above, the elastic contact piece 8d is connected to the positioning protrusion 8b via the bent portion 8c. Therefore, in conjunction with the elastic deformation of the elastic contact piece 8d, the bent portion 8c and the positioning protrusion 8b can also be elastically deformed. Therefore, when the first contact portion 8a6 is pressed by the plug contact portion 10a, not only the elastic contact piece 8d but also the bent portion 8c and the positioning protrusion 8b are bent, so that stress can be dispersed. Therefore, occurrence of breakage or damage due to concentration of stress on the elastic contact piece 8d can be suppressed.

  Thereafter, when the socket connector 1 is further advanced into the fitting chamber 11e of the plug connector 2, the projection 4a1 of the socket connector 1 is locked to the lock portion 11a3 of the plug connector 2. At this time, since a click feeling is felt at hand, it can be confirmed that the socket connector 1 has been securely inserted into the fitting chamber 11e of the plug connector 2. Thus, the operation of fitting the socket connector 1 and the plug connector 2 is completed.

[Description of removal method]
When removing the socket connector 1 from the plug connector 2, first, the unlocking piece 4a3 of the socket housing 3 is pressed downward. By doing so, the protrusion 4a1 of the socket housing 3 is lowered, separated from the lock portion 11a3 of the plug connector 2, and the lock is released. In the present embodiment, since the extraction concave portion 11b1 of the plug connector 2 is arranged along the end surface P1 of the board P, the worker can easily attach the socket connector 1 exposed from the extraction concave portion 11b1 or the bottom side protrusion 4f1. You can hook your fingertips. Therefore, the socket connector 1 can be easily pulled out from the plug connector 2 by sandwiching the socket connector 1 from above and below by making contact with the unlocking piece 4a3 and the bottom surface side protruding portion 4f1. Note that even if the removal concave portion 11b1 is disposed on the substrate P not along the end surface P1 of the substrate P, the removal can be performed by contacting the socket housing 3 exposed from the plug connector 2.

  The socket connector 1 of the present embodiment includes the lance 4d that elastically deforms in the width direction X as described above. Therefore, unlike the case where the lance 4d is elastically deformed along the height direction Z, there is no need to provide a displacement space for the lance 4d in the height direction Z, so that downsizing in the height direction Z is possible. Such a socket connector 1 can also contribute to downsizing of home electric equipment, on-vehicle electric equipment, and the like.

Modification:
In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the elastic contact piece 8d is formed in a curved shape having a substantially bent shape having a small curved shape. On the other hand, the elastic contact piece 8d having a large curved shape may be used. By doing so, the second contact portion 8d1 can be brought into stronger contact with the plug contact portion 10a, so that the contact pressure can be further increased.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the positioning projection 8b projects downward from the box 8a. On the other hand, a positioning protrusion that protrudes in the width direction X may be used. By doing so, the height of the socket housing 3 can be further reduced.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Socket connector 2 Plug connector 3 Socket housing 4 Socket housing main body 4a Top surface part 4a1 Projection part 4a2 Bridge part 4a3 Unlocking piece 4a4 Leg part 4a5 Horizontal part 4b Side wall part 4b1 Projection part 4c Terminal accommodating part 4c1 Insertion slot 4c2 4c3 Step 4d Lance 4d1 Elastic piece 4d2 Locking projection 4e Retainer insertion opening 4f Bottom part 4f1 Bottom side protruding part 5 Linear conductor 5a Conductive part 5b Insulating coating 6 Socket terminal 7 Retainer 7a Terminal insertion hole 7b Lock part 7b1 Slant part Reference numeral 8 Contact connecting portion 8a Box portion 8a1 Top wall portion 8a2 Bottom wall portion 8a3 Connection space 8a4 Locked portion 8a5 Inner surface 8a6 First contact portion 8b Positioning protrusion 8c Bending portion 8d Elastic contact piece 8d1 Second contact portion 8d2 1 contact portion 8d3 second contact portion 9 linear Body connection part 9a Caulking part 9a1 Bottom part 9a2 Fixing piece 9a3 Concave part 9b Clamp part 9b1 Clamp piece 10 Plug terminal 10a Plug contact part 10b Board connection part 10c Housing fixing part 11 Plug housing 11a Top wall part 11a1 Escape concave part 11a2 Locking part 11a Part 11a4 Tip of protruding piece part 11b Bottom wall part 11b1 Depression recess 11c Back wall part 11d Side wall part 11d1 Guide groove 11e Fitting chamber 11e1 Housing space 11f Opening edge F Fitting structure P board P1 End face of board S displacement space

Claims (8)

In the terminal that makes conductive contact with the connection object,
A cylindrical main body,
A protrusion protruding outward from the cylindrical main body;
An elastic contact piece having a contact portion with the connection object and extending between the protrusion and the inside of the cylindrical main body,
A terminal, wherein one end side of the elastic contact piece is connected to the protruding portion. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the elastic contact piece has a curved shape protruding toward a central axis of the cylindrical main body portion between the one end side and the other end side opposite to the one end side. The terminal according to claim 2, wherein the elastic contact piece has a contact portion on the other end side with respect to an inner surface of the tubular main body. A plurality of terminals according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A housing having a terminal accommodating portion for accommodating the terminal,
The housing has a lance for retaining the terminal in the terminal receiving portion,
The lance has a resilient piece elastically deformed in the arrangement direction of the terminals by the terminals inserted into the terminal accommodating portion, and a locking projection formed on the resilient piece to lock the terminal and prevent the terminal from coming off. . The connector according to claim 4, wherein the locking protrusion locks with the protrusion of the terminal. The terminal accommodating portion has an insertion opening of the terminal, and an insertion groove extending from the insertion opening along an insertion direction of the terminal,
The connector according to claim 4, wherein the protrusion is inserted from the insertion opening along the insertion groove when the terminal is inserted into the terminal housing. The insertion groove has a step portion for expanding a groove width in the arrangement direction,
7. The connector according to claim 6, wherein the elastic piece has a base end connected to the step and extended in the insertion direction. 8. The locking projection is arranged to protrude inside the insertion groove,
8. The connector according to claim 6, wherein the elastic piece elastically supports displacement of the locking projection between the inside and the outside of the insertion groove. 9.