JPH0235175Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an electrical connector used for electrical components such as automobile headlights, and more particularly to a connector having a mechanism for engaging and releasing male and female terminals with each other.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, as a terminal structure used in this type of connector, a terminal as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 57-41271 is known.

That is, as shown in the perspective view in Fig. 6, this terminal consists of a female terminal A' and a male terminal B', and the female terminal A' is formed by punching and bending a thin conductive metal plate. By forming a pair of arm pieces b rising from both sides of the base plate a, and forming an elastic tongue piece c by bending back from the front part of the base plate a, the free end b ₁ of the arm piece b and the tongue piece are formed. An electrical contact part with the male terminal B' is formed between the terminals C, and as shown in FIG. When the male terminal B' is inserted into the electrical contact part, the tip part f of the tongue piece c is made to engage with the hole e formed in the male terminal B'.
protrudes from the electrical contact part, and its tip f
It is constructed by forming ear pieces g that protrude laterally from both sides of. When the male and female terminals are disengaged, the tongue c is pushed down by pushing down the ear g by hand, thereby causing the protrusion d on the tongue to disengage from the male terminal B'. be.

FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a housing for accommodating this female terminal A', and a terminal accommodating chamber h and a terminal locking arm i are formed inside this housing C'.

However, since the female terminal A' has multiple shapes, the punching die required for molding is complicated, and the shape is also large, which increases the molding cost. Processing costs also increase. In addition, since the lug g protrudes outward from the side surface of the terminal, it is easily deformed due to catching during transportation or handling, and may even lead to deformation of the electrical contact part with the male terminal B'. This has the disadvantage that the reliability of electrical contact and release operations is reduced.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] The present invention has been made by focusing on the drawbacks of the terminal structure that has a mechanism for engaging and disengaging male and female terminals with each other, and has a simple structure and is easy to mold. can be,
In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a connector that eliminates a protrusion from its outer shape by incorporating an engagement release mechanism therein, thereby preventing deformation due to snagging and the like, and resulting deterioration in the reliability of electrical contact.

[Means for solving problems]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate embodiments.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a female terminal constituting a part of the connector of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a housing in which the female terminal of Fig. 1 is accommodated, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the housing. A side view, FIG. 4 is a plan view of the same housing, and FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the female terminal shown in FIG. 1 accommodated in the housing, respectively.

First, female terminal A used in the connector of the present invention
As shown in Fig. 1, a box-shaped electrical contact part _A1 is formed at the front part by punching and bending from a thin conductive metal plate, and a wire connection part _A2 is formed at the rear part. configured.

Therefore, the electrical contact portion _A1 is formed by an elastic tongue piece 3 extending from the front end of the upper wall 2 toward the surface of the substrate 1.
and a flexible arm 5 formed by cutting and raising a part of one side wall 4 and a part of the board 1 in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the board 1, and having a protrusion 6 on the plate surface. .

The flexible arm 5 has a cut-out base 5a of the side wall 4.
It is formed so as to be flexible in the vertical direction with the support axis as a pivot, and an upright piece 7 having an inclined surface 7a in the front part is formed at its free end by bending or the like.
In addition, a locking hole (not shown) is formed in the upper wall 2 to lock a locking arm of a housing to be described later, and a male terminal and a male terminal are formed in the plate surface of the board 1 in the axial direction as necessary. A plurality of protrusions 8 are formed to ensure contact.

Further, the rear wire connection portion A ₂ is constructed by forming the conductor crimping portion 9 and the insulation coating crimping portion 10 of the electric wire W by cutting and raising a part of the board 1 and the extension portion. .

Next, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the housing B in which the female terminal A is accommodated is formed into a box shape from a plastic material or the like, and is made of a front upper wall 11.
A, a terminal accommodating chamber 15 is formed inside by the rear upper wall 11b, the bottom wall 12, the front wall 13, and the rear wall 14.

Inside this terminal accommodating chamber 15, a locking arm 16 for the female terminal A is provided projecting forward from the rear upper wall 11b, and an arm 17 is provided projecting backward from the front wall 13. A locking protrusion 1 is provided at the tip of the locking arm 16.
6a is formed on the end surface of the arm 17, and an inclined surface 17a is formed on the end surface of the arm 17 so as to face and collide with the inclined surface 7a of the upright piece 7 formed on the flexible arm 5 of the female terminal A.

Further, an opening 18 is formed in the front wall 13 into which a plate-shaped male terminal (not shown) is inserted. On the other hand, rear wall 1
4 forms a connection part with the bottom wall 12 in a thin hinge part 19, so that the rear opening 20 of the housing B can be opened and closed freely, and the lock part when the opening 20 is closed is attached to the rear upper wall. 11b, and a locking groove 22 provided in an extending portion 14a extending from the rear wall 14 onto the rear upper wall 11b.

Further, the female terminal A inserted into the housing B is locked and fixed with a gap between the front end of the female terminal A and the front wall 13 of the housing B, as shown in FIG. In this state, the tip inclined surface 17a of the arm 17 protruding into the housing B is set so as to abut the protruding piece inclined surface 7a formed on the flexible arm 5 of the female terminal A.

[Effect]

Next, the operation of the connector of the present invention will be explained based mainly on FIG. 5.

First, the female terminal A with the electric wire W crimped thereon is inserted through the rear end opening 20 of the housing B, and the locking hole 23 formed in the upper wall 2 is inserted into the locking arm 1 of the housing.
6, and the female terminal A
is fixed in the housing B, and the locking groove 2 of the rear wall extension part 14a is inserted into the protrusion 21 at the rear of the housing.
2 to engage and lock.

Next, insert the male terminal C protruding from the mating housing D into the electrical contact part _A1 from the front part of the female terminal A, and insert the male terminal C into the protrusion 6 on the flexible arm 5 (see Fig. 1).
By engaging engagement holes (not shown) formed in the male and female terminals, the male and female terminals are brought into electrical contact with each other.

Next, to release the electrical contact between the male and female terminals, pull the housing B in the direction of the arrow A, the female terminal A will disengage from the locking arm 16, and the housing B will move by a distance corresponding to the interval. It becomes movable relative to the female terminal A. Therefore, the arm 17 presses the upright piece 7 that comes into contact with the inclined end portion 17a with its inclined surface 7a, so that the flexible arm 5 is bent downward via the upright piece 7, and the flexible arm 5 is The protrusion 6 is removed from the engagement hole of the male terminal C, and the male and female terminals are disengaged from each other.

[Effect of idea]

Since the connector of the present invention has the configuration and function described in detail above, the structure of the female terminal is extremely simplified, the mold and sheet metal process required for molding are also simplified, and the female terminal itself is miniaturized. Therefore, production costs can be reduced. In addition, since the mutual disengagement mechanism for the male and female terminals is provided inside the box-shaped electrical contact part, there is no protruding part on the outer shape of the terminal, thus reducing accidents such as terminal deformation due to snagging, etc., and electrical contact failures caused by this. can be done.

Furthermore, since the mechanism for disengaging the male and female terminals from each other is simplified, there are advantages such as improved operational reliability and the ability to provide a connector with fewer failures.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a female terminal constituting a part of the connector of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a housing in which the female terminal of Fig. 1 is accommodated, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the housing. 4 is a plan view of the housing, FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the female terminal shown in FIG. 1 housed in the housing, FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the conventional terminal, and FIG. 7 is the conventional terminal. A partially cutaway perspective view of the female terminal of
FIG. 8 shows a partially cutaway perspective view of a housing for accommodating a conventional female terminal. A...Female terminal, B...Housing, C...Male terminal, _A1 ...Electrical contact part, _A2 ...Wire connection part, 1
... Board, 2 ... Top wall, 3 ... Tongue piece, 4 ... Side wall, 5 ... Flexible arm, 6 ... Protrusion, 7 ... Standing piece, 7a ... Inclined surface, 15 ... Terminal Containment room, 16
... Locking arm, 17 ... Arm, 17a ... Inclined surface.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] An elastic tongue piece extending from the top end of the upper wall toward the substrate surface, and a flexible tongue piece cut and raised on the substrate with one side as a pivot in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the substrate, and a protrusion provided on the plate. The arm forms an electrical contact portion with a mating male terminal, and the female terminal is formed by forming an upright piece with an inclined surface on the front surface at the free end of the flexible arm, and a female terminal that is engaged with the female terminal inside. and a housing having an arm protruding from a front wall, the arm having a stop arm protruding thereon and having a front end face formed with an inclined surface that faces and collides with the inclined surface formed on the upright piece of the female terminal. Characteristic connectors.