JP6988596B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

The techniques disclosed herein relate to connectors.

Conventionally, there is, for example, Patent Document 1 as a connector provided with a hood portion for fitting into the housing of the mating connector. In this connector, the female housing having a substantially box shape is formed with ribs, and the male housing is provided with a hood portion into which the female housing can be fitted. A guide groove having a shape that bulges outward over the entire length in the depth direction is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the hood portion, and a tapered guide surface is formed on the hole edge extending from the inner peripheral surface to the guide groove. .. Of the invitation surfaces, the first attraction surface is formed in the portion sandwiched between the guide grooves formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the hood portion and the guide grooves formed on the left and right surfaces, and the second attraction surface is the guide groove. Is formed in.

In the process of fitting the female housing to the male housing, the front end of the female housing abuts on the first attraction surface and slides on the first attraction surface to correct the misalignment of the female housing with respect to the male housing, and then the ribs are formed. By entering the guide groove and sliding on the second attraction surface, the inclination of the male and female is corrected.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-151684

However, in this configuration, since the first attraction surface for correcting the misalignment of the female housing with respect to the male housing can be formed only by the plate thickness of the hood portion, only the misalignment within the range of the plate thickness can be corrected.

The connector according to the technique disclosed in the present specification is a connector in which the mating side connector can enter into the inside from the front, and has a tubular hood portion in which the mating side connector can enter inside, and the hood portion. A guide protrusion having a groove shape that protrudes from the outer peripheral surface of the hood portion in a diameter-expanding direction and has a groove shape in which a mating protrusion projected on the outer peripheral surface of the mating connector can enter. The guide protrusion is provided with a protruding tapered portion that protrudes forward from the front end of the hood portion and has an extended tapered surface extending forward from the inner peripheral surface of the hood portion in the expansion direction.

According to this configuration, when the mating connector tries to enter the inside of the connector from a position deviated from the hood portion by exceeding the plate thickness of the hood portion, an extension taper protruding in the diameter expansion direction from the outer peripheral surface of the hood portion. It comes into contact with the surface and is attracted to the hood side. Therefore, for example, the mating connector can be attracted over a wider range than when the tapered surface is provided within the range of the plate thickness at the front end of the hood portion. Moreover, since the protruding tapered portion protrudes forward from the guide protrusion provided with the guide groove through which the mating protrusion can enter inside, it is not necessary to increase the size of the connector in the diameter expansion direction.

As an embodiment of the technique disclosed herein, the following configurations are preferred.

(1) The protruding tapered portion is provided with an extended inner peripheral tapered surface having a tapered shape in which the outer peripheral surface side projects forward from the inner peripheral surface side.

According to this configuration, the mating side protrusion attracted to the hood portion side by the extended tapered surface is further attracted from the outer peripheral surface side to the inner peripheral surface side of the protruding tapered portion by the extended inner peripheral tapered surface, so that the protruding taper You can smoothly enter the inside of the part.

(2) A protrusion protection portion that protrudes from the hood portion to the position of the front end of the protrusion taper portion or a position in front of the hood portion is further provided.

According to the above configuration, for example, when the front end of the connector is brought into contact with the floor surface or the like, the protruding protective portion abuts on the floor surface at the same time as or earlier than the protruding tapered portion and receives an impact from the floor surface. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the protruding tapered portion from being damaged.

According to the technique disclosed in the present specification, it is possible to expand the range in which the mating connector can be attracted without increasing the size of the connector in the diameter expansion direction.

Perspective view of the connector of the embodiment and the mating connector Top view of connector and mating connector Side view of connector and mating connector View of the mating side connector from the mating side View of the connector from the mating side AA cross-sectional view of FIG. The figure which shows the state which the mating side connector is arranged in the position shifted upward. Top view showing the mating start state of the connector and the mating connector BB sectional view of FIG. Side view showing a state in which unlocking is started in the mating connector. Top view of the state where unlocking is started in the mating connector, with a part cut out along the CC line in FIG. FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along the line DD. Side view showing the state where the connector and the mating connector are completely fitted. Top view of the state where the connector and the mating connector have been fitted, with a part cut out along the EE line in FIG. Vertical cross-sectional view showing the state where the mating of the connector and the mating connector is completed.

<Embodiment 1>
The first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 15. This embodiment is a male connector 10 (an example of a connector) for an equipment module, and is connected to a mating connector 100 assembled to an instrument panel for a vehicle (not shown) in a state of being assembled to an equipment module (not shown). And used. In the following description, with reference to the mating direction of the male connector 10 and the mating connector 100, the direction in which they approach each other is defined as the front, and the opposite direction is described as the rear. The vertical direction of the male connector 10 and the mating connector 100 will be described with reference to FIG.

(overall structure)
(Mother connector 100)
As shown in FIG. 1, the mating connector 100 includes a female housing 110 having a flat rectangular parallelepiped shape, a cam plate 130, and a standby housing 120 attached to an instrument panel.

As shown in FIG. 4, the female housing 110 is provided with a plurality of cavities 111 extending back and forth, and female terminals 150 are arranged so as to extend forward inside each of the cavities 111. As shown in FIG. 2, on the outer peripheral surface 110A of the female housing 110, a plurality of (two in the present embodiment) positioning ribs 112 (an example of a mating protrusion) and a plurality of (two in the present embodiment) are engaged. A stop claw 113 is provided.

The positioning rib 112 is for positioning the female housing 110 at a predetermined position with respect to the hood portion 30. As shown in FIG. 3, each positioning rib 112 protrudes upward (an example in the diameter expansion direction) from the upper surface 110U of the female housing 110 and has a ridge shape extending in the front-rear direction. The front end of each positioning rib 112 has a tapered shape in which the protrusion dimension from the upper surface 110U of the female housing 110 decreases toward the front.

As shown in FIG. 3, the locking claws 113 are provided on the side surface of the female housing 110, and each protrudes outward. As shown in FIG. 2, the upper part 1/3 and the lower part 1/3 of each locking claw 113 have a tapered shape that is inclined toward the side surface side of the female housing 110 toward the front end and the rear end, respectively. ing.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the cam plate 130 has a plate shape and is arranged along the upper surface 110U and the lower surface 110L of the female housing 110. As shown in FIG. 1, a cam groove 131 that opens forward is provided on the front end side of the cam plate 130. When the female housing 110 is pushed into the male connector 10, the cam plate 130 rotates when the cam groove 131 meshes with the cam shaft 34 of the male connector 10, and the female housing 110 is relatively placed on the standby housing 120. It is designed to be pulled inside.

As shown in FIG. 1, the standby housing 120 has a square tubular shape capable of accommodating the entire female housing 110 and the entire upper and lower cam plates 130 inside. In the state where the mating connector 100 does not fit with the male connector 10, only about 1/3 of the rear end side of the female housing 110 is housed inside the standby housing 120, and the other parts are forward from the standby housing 120. It stands out.

As shown in FIG. 11, the push-in restriction wall 121 has a long strip shape in the front-rear direction, extends from the rear to the front in the internal space of the standby housing 120 with the inner side wall of the standby housing 120 as the base end, and is shown in FIG. As shown, it slightly protrudes from the front end of the standby housing 120. As shown in FIG. 4, of the front end of the push-in restriction wall 121, the central portion in the vertical direction is the locking receiving portion 121A to which the locking claw 113 of the female housing 110 is locked, and the upper and lower portions thereof are shown in FIG. As shown in 2 and FIG. 11, the taper-shaped release receiving portion 121B is inclined outward (direction away from the female housing 110) toward the front. In a state where the mating connector 100 does not fit with the male connector 10, the locking claws 113 are arranged to face each other in front of the locking receiving portion 121A, as shown in FIG. As a result, the female housing 110 is held in a state in which further pushing into the standby housing 120 is restricted.

(Male connector 10)
As shown in FIG. 1, the male connector 10 includes a male housing body 20 having a flat box shape that opens forward and opening forward, and a plurality of male terminals 70 having a tab shape as shown in FIG. The female housing 110 is provided with a hood portion 30 that can be entered from the front.

(Food section 30)
The hood portion 30 is a hollow body having a square tube shape provided inside the male housing main body 20, and extends forward from the back wall of the male housing main body 20 to the front end of the male housing main body 20 and opens forward. There is. As shown in FIG. 1, both ends of the hood portion 30 project vertically from the portion between them via a step. As shown in FIG. 6, the male terminal 70 is held by the male housing body 20 and extends forward inside the hood portion 30.

The hood portion 30 is provided with a plurality of guide protrusions 40, a protrusion taper portion 50, and a protrusion protection portion 60, respectively.

(Guide protrusion 40)
Two guide protrusions 40 are provided on the upper wall 31 of the hood portion 30. Each of the guide protrusions 40 protrudes above the upper surface 30U of the upper wall 31 (an example of the diameter expansion direction of the hood portion 30) and has a ridge shape extending back and forth.

(Protruding taper portion 50)
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, each protruding tapered portion 50 has a shape in which each guide protrusion 40 extends forward. As shown in FIG. 5, each protruding tapered portion 50 includes a pair of protruding side walls 52, a protruding upper wall 51 connecting the upper ends of each protruding side wall 52, and an extended tapered surface 53 formed on each protruding side wall 52. Each of the protruding side wall 52 and the protruding upper wall 51 is provided with an extended inner peripheral tapered surface 54.

(Extended tapered surface 53)
The extended tapered surface 53 is formed at the front end of each protruding side wall 52, and as shown in FIG. 6, has a tapered shape that is inclined in the diameter-expanding direction of the hood portion 30 toward the front end of the protruding side wall 52. In other words, the extended tapered surface 53 is formed by forming the front end of the protruding side wall 52 into a tapered shape in which the upper end side protrudes forward from the lower end side. Lower end side In this embodiment, the extension tapered surface 53 extends from the front end of the hood portion 30 to the front end of the protruding side wall 52.

(Extended inner peripheral tapered surface 54)
The extended inner peripheral tapered surface 54 is formed at the front end of the inner peripheral surface of the protruding tapered portion 50, and has a tapered shape that is inclined in the expanding direction of each guide groove 41 toward the front end. In other words, the extended inner peripheral tapered surface is formed by forming the front end of the protruding tapered portion 50 into a tapered shape in which the outer peripheral surface side projects forward from the inner peripheral surface side. In the present embodiment, the extended inner peripheral tapered surface 54 is formed on each protruding side wall 52 and the protruding upper wall 51, and as shown in FIG. 5, is configured to surround the guide groove 41 when viewed from the front.

(Guide groove 41)
A guide groove 41 for accommodating the positioning rib 112 of the female housing 110 is formed in each guide protrusion 40 and each protrusion taper portion 50. The guide groove 41 extends from each guide protrusion 40 to the front end of the protruding tapered portion 50, and has a groove shape that opens forward and downward. The internal space of the guide groove 41 communicates with the internal space of the hood portion 30.

(Protruding protection unit 60)
As shown in FIG. 1, the protrusion protection portion 60 projects forward from both end portions of the hood portion 30. As shown in FIG. 2, the position of the front end of each protrusion protection portion 60 in the front-rear direction of the male housing main body 20 is the same as the position of the front end of each protrusion taper portion 50.

(Lock release unit 61)
At the front end of the protrusion protection portion 60, as shown in FIG. 5, a locking release portion 61 protruding outward is provided at a portion forming a step from the upper wall 31 and the lower wall 33 of the hood portion 30. There is. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 11, the locking release portion 61 has a tapered shape that inclines inward toward the front end, and as will be described later, the female housing 110 and the standby housing 120 are locked. It is a means for releasing the lock to release the state.

(Mating with the mating connector 100)
Next, the action played by the above configuration when connecting the male connector 10 and the mating connector 100 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the female housing 110 tries to enter the hood portion 30 from a position shifted upward from the plate thickness of the upper wall 31 of the hood portion 30, the female housing 110 is the upper surface of the upper wall 31. It abuts from the front on the protruding tapered portion 50 provided above the 30U, and is attracted to the inner peripheral surface 30B side of the hood portion 30 along the extended tapered surface 53 of the protruding tapered portion 50. As a result, as shown in FIG. 9, the upper surface 110U of the female housing 110 reaches the same height position as the inner peripheral surface 30B of the hood portion 30. At the same time, the positioning rib 112 of the female housing 110 is attracted toward the normal position in the left-right direction along the extended inner peripheral tapered surface 54 (see FIG. 11) provided on the protruding side wall 52 of the protruding tapered portion 50. At the same time, the extension inner peripheral tapered surface 54 (see FIG. 9) provided on the protruding upper wall 51 of each protruding tapered portion 50 is further attracted toward a normal position in the diameter expansion direction. As a result, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the invitation to the fitting start position where the front end of the female housing 110 is fitted into the opening of the hood portion 30 is completed.

Then, when the female housing 110 is pressed from the fitting start position toward the hood portion 30, as shown in FIG. 11, the female housing 110 has the positioning rib 112 entering the inside of the guide groove 41 in the front-rear direction. While correcting the inclination in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, it enters the inner part of the hood portion 30. At this time, the unlocking portion 61 of the hood portion 30 passes above and below the locking claw 113 of the female housing 110. Then, as shown in FIG. 11, the locking release portion 61 is arranged to face the release receiving portion 121B of the push-in restriction wall 121, and the cam groove 131 of each cam plate 130 meshes with the cam shaft 34 of the hood portion 30. The female housing 110 is in the pull-in start state in which the pull-in into the standby housing 120 is started.

Then, when the female housing 110 is further pressed toward the hood portion 30 from the pull-in start state, the unlocking portion 61 interrupts between the release receiving portion 121B and the side wall of the female housing 110, and the entire push-in restriction wall 121 is outwardly pressed. By displacing to, the locking receiving portion 121A is pushed out from the locking position with the locking claw 113, and these locked states are released. At the same time, the cam plate 130 rotates and pulls the female housing 110 into the standby housing 120.

As a result, as shown in FIGS. 13 to 15, the standby housing 120 and the male housing body 20 are arranged so as to face each other in the front-rear direction, and inside them, the front side of the female housing 110 is housed in the hood portion 30. Then, the male terminal 70 and the female terminal 150 are electrically connected to each other, and the rear side of the female housing 110 is in the mating complete state housed in the standby housing 120.

By the way, as described above, the male terminal 70 is arranged in the back of the hood portion 30 so as to project forward with the plate surface in a horizontal state. On the other hand, when the female terminal 150 comes into contact with the female terminal 150 in a state of being tilted in the circumferential direction about the axis passing through the center in the left-right direction and the center in the vertical direction, the male terminal 70 is pressed and damaged by being twisted. There is a concern that it will end up.

Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 1, 5, and 6, the lower wall 33 of the hood portion 30 of the present embodiment is provided with an auxiliary protrusion 80 and an auxiliary protrusion tapered portion 90. The auxiliary protrusion 80 is different from the guide protrusion 40 in that it does not have a guide groove, and has the same shape as the guide protrusion 40 in other respects. The auxiliary protruding tapered portion 90 has the same shape as the protruding tapered portion 50, has an auxiliary extending tapered surface 90A like the extended tapered surface 53, and projects forward from the auxiliary protruding tapered portion 90.

When the female housing 110 tries to enter the hood portion 30 in a state of being tilted in the circumferential direction, the upper end of the female housing 110 abuts on the protruding tapered portion 50 and is invited downward, and the lower end of the female housing 110 is assisted. It abuts on the protruding tapered portion 90 and is attracted upward. As a result, the female housing 110 can enter the inside of the hood portion 30 in a horizontal posture in which the inclination in the circumferential direction is corrected. This makes it possible to prevent the male terminal 70 from being damaged.

(Action effect)
According to the configuration of the first embodiment, the mating side connector 100 is a connector (male connector 10) that can enter inside from the front, and the mating side connector 100 has a tubular hood portion 30 that can enter inside. The mating side projection (positioning rib 112) that protrudes from the hood portion 30 in the diameter-expanding direction from the outer peripheral surface 30A of the hood portion 30 and projects into the outer peripheral surface 110A of the mating side connector 100 can enter. A guide protrusion 40 provided with a groove-shaped guide groove 41 and a guide protrusion 40 projecting forward from the front end (hood front end 30F) of the hood portion 30 and from the inner peripheral surface 30B of the hood portion 30. It is provided with a protruding tapered portion 50 having an extended tapered surface 53 extending in the radial direction toward the front.

According to this configuration, when the mating connector 100 tries to enter the inside of the connector 10 from a position deviated from the hood portion 30 by exceeding the plate thickness of the hood portion 30, the diameter is larger than the outer peripheral surface 30A of the hood portion 30. It abuts on the extension tapered surface 53 protruding in the direction and is attracted to the hood portion 30 side. Therefore, for example, the mating connector 100 can be attracted over a wider range than when the tapered surface is provided within the range of the plate thickness at the front end of the hood portion. Moreover, since the protruding tapered portion 50 is in a form of protruding forward from the guide protrusion 40 provided with the guide groove 41 through which the mating side protrusion 112 can enter, the connector 10 is enlarged in the diameter expansion direction. There is no need.

The protruding tapered portion 50 is provided with an extended inner peripheral tapered surface 54 having a tapered shape in which the outer peripheral surface 50A side projects forward from the inner peripheral surface 50B side.
According to this configuration, the mating side protrusion 112 attracted to the hood portion 30 side by the extended tapered surface 53 is further moved from the outer peripheral surface 50A side to the inner peripheral surface 50B side of the protruding tapered portion 50 by the extended inner peripheral tapered surface 54. Since it is attracted, it can smoothly enter the inside of the protruding tapered portion 50.

A protrusion protection portion 60 that protrudes from the hood portion 30 to the position of the front end of the protrusion taper portion 50 or a position in front of the hood portion 30 is further provided.

According to the above configuration, for example, when the connector 10 is dropped onto the floor surface with the front end side facing down, the protrusion protection portion 60 comes into contact with the floor surface at the same time as or earlier than the protrusion taper portion 50, and the connector 10 comes into contact with the floor surface from the floor surface. Be shocked. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the protruding tapered portion 50 from being damaged.

<Other embodiments>
The technique disclosed in the present specification is not limited to the first embodiment described by the above description and the drawings, and can be implemented, for example, in the following embodiments.

(1) In the first embodiment, the hood portion 30 is provided with the auxiliary protrusion 80 and the auxiliary protrusion taper portion 90, but the hood portion 80 may not be provided with the auxiliary protrusion 80 and the auxiliary protrusion taper portion 90. ..
(2) In the first embodiment, the configuration is such that two protruding tapered portions 50 projecting above the upper surface 30U of the hood portion 30 are provided, but the location and number of the portions and the number of these provided in the hood portion 30 are limited to this. No. For example, the protruding tapered portions 50 may be provided on both outer surfaces of the hood portion 30 one by one, or may be provided on the upper surface side, the lower surface side, and both outer surfaces one by one, and further. It may be configured to be provided at the corner of the hood portion 30.

(3) In the first embodiment, each protruding tapered portion 50 is composed of a pair of protruding side walls 52 and a protruding upper wall 51, but the shape of the protruding tapered portion 50 is not limited to this. For example, the structure may not include the protruding upper wall 51, or the protruding tapered portion 50 may have a semicircular shape that opens downward when viewed from the front as a whole.

(4) In the first embodiment, the protruding inner peripheral tapered surface 54 is provided on the protruding tapered portion 50, but for example, when sufficient positioning is performed by the extended tapered surface 53 of the protruding tapered portion 50. May be configured without the extension inner peripheral tapered surface 54. As a result, the plate thickness at the front end of the protruding tapered portion 50 can be secured, and the strength against an impact from the front can be increased.

(5) In the first embodiment, the protrusion protection portion 60 is provided so as to protrude from the hood portion 30 to the same position as the position of the front end of the protrusion taper portion 50 in the front-rear direction of the male connector 10. May project forward from the position of the front end of the protruding tapered portion 50. Further, for example, when the protruding tapered portion 50 has a desired strength, the protruding protective portion 60 may not be provided.

10: Male connector (connector)
30: Hood portion 30A: Outer peripheral surface 30F: Hood front end 40: Guide protrusion 41: Guide groove 50: Protruding tapered portion 50A: Outer peripheral surface 50B: Inner peripheral surface 53: Extended tapered surface 54: Extended inner peripheral tapered surface 60: Projecting Protective unit 100: Mating side connector 110A: Outer peripheral surface

Claims (3)

The connector on the other side is a connector that can enter from the front to the inside,
A tubular hood part that allows the mating connector to enter inside, and a hood part.
A guide that protrudes from the hood portion in a diameter-expanding direction from the outer peripheral surface of the hood portion and is provided with a guide groove having a groove shape that allows the mating protrusion protruding from the outer peripheral surface of the mating connector to enter. With the tip,
And a protruding tapered portion having an extended tapered surface extending in said radially enlarged direction protrudes forward from the inner circumferential surface of the receptacle toward the front of a front end of the hood portion from the guide projection,
The protruding taper portion comprises a pair of protruding side walls and a connecting wall connecting the ends of the pair of protruding side walls.
Connectors that have a pair of the extension tapered surface is provided on the front end of the pair of projecting side walls. The connector on the other side is a connector that can enter from the front to the inside,
A tubular hood part that allows the mating connector to enter inside, and a hood part.
A guide that protrudes from the hood portion in a diameter-expanding direction from the outer peripheral surface of the hood portion and is provided with a guide groove having a groove shape that allows the mating protrusion protruding from the outer peripheral surface of the mating connector to enter. With the tip,
A connector comprising a protruding tapered portion having an extended tapered surface that protrudes forward from the guide protrusion portion to the front of the front end of the hood portion and extends forward from the inner peripheral surface of the hood portion in the diameter-expanding direction. ,
Further comprising benzalkonium connector projecting protection portion projecting from the receptacle to a position or a position ahead of that of the front end of the protruding tapered portion. The connector according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the protruding tapered portion is provided with an extended inner peripheral tapered surface having a tapered shape in which the outer peripheral surface side projects forward from the inner peripheral surface side.

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