JPH04209478A - Detecting method for electrical connector locking and connector using said method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To warrant the quality of an electrical connector by moving upward a detection piece on the free posture restoration motion of a locking piece from a lower level to freely expose the upper end of the detection piece outside a connector housing, and detecting a connector locking condition with the extent of exposure of the detection piece. CONSTITUTION:A detection piece hole 8 and a detection piece 9 are provided with an engagement device having two sets of engagement claws 10A and 10B, and 11A and 11B. The pair of lower claws 11A and 11B are engaged at the bottom dead center position 9B of the detection piece 9, thereby preventing the drop of the aforesaid piece 9. Also, the pair of upper claws 10A and 10B are engaged at the upper dead center position 9A, thereby preventing the upward disconnection of the piece 9. Furthermore, the lower end 12 of the piece 9 at the lower dead center position 9B is pressed down by a claw 6, and faced to the end of a locking piece 5 deflected downward. At the same time, the upper end of the piece 9 is so housed as not to project above the upper end of the hole 8. When the downward deflected locking piece 5 tries to restore the free posture thereof, the piece 9 above is pushed with a resilient force for the free posture restoration, and reaches the upper dead center position 9. Also, the upper end of the piece 9 is exposed from the hole 8.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION "Field of Industrial Application" The present invention relates to a connector that connects and locks a pair of connector housings for electrical continuity. The present invention relates to a connector lock detection method for detecting and confirming whether the connector is locked, and a connector having the lock detection means.

"Prior Art" The connector is equipped with a mating position locking mechanism that locks the normally mated position by engaging an elastic locking piece on one side of the connector housing with a locking claw on the other side of the connector housing. are often used, and whether or not the locking mechanism has properly locked depends on the operating feeling of the lock piece and lock pawl engaging with each other, auditory confirmation, or visual confirmation of the engaged state. There is.

On the other hand, as a means of preventing the occurrence of half-fitting connectors that do not mate properly due to insufficient mating amount of the pair of connector housings, a connector having a mating detection mechanism has been developed
It is shown in Japanese Patent No. 160674. That is, in the connector of this known example, a separate rod-shaped detection spacer is attached and locked to the upper side of one side of the connector housing in the fitting direction of the housing, and after being fitted with the other side of the connector housing. By pushing the detection spacer forward, you can visually check whether the tip of the detection spacer protrudes or not from the detection part located above the connector in the mated position to determine whether it is properly mated or partially mated. It is structured to make decisions.

``Problem to be Solved by the Invention'' Among the above-mentioned known means, those having the former locking mechanism rely on the above-mentioned sensory confirmation to determine whether the lock is normal or not. Sensory judgments may become inaccurate and connectors with a lock defect may be overlooked.Furthermore, connectors with a defective lock will pass the continuity test if the terminals are in contact with each other, so they may be misidentified as non-defective and used. However, when this lock-defective connector is used in an automobile wire harness, there is a problem in terms of quality assurance that contact between terminals of the connector separates due to vehicle body vibration, resulting in poor conduction, and the reliability of lock detection is extremely poor.

Furthermore, the latter mating detection mechanism has poor operability because it requires manual operation of the detection spacer to check whether the tip of the spacer has protruded, making it difficult to operate and process the mating connections of an extremely large number of connector groups. It is not compatible with the productivity of automotive wiring harnesses performed on a line.

Although the connector housing has a correlation relationship in which the locking mechanism operates only in the normal mating position, there may be cases where the lock is insufficient even when the connector is in the normal mating position, and the detection and confirmation of this mating position guarantees the locked state. There is no function.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and provides a connector with excellent lock confirmation reliability.

``Means for Solving the Problems'' The connector of the present invention which solves the above technical problems is ``consisting of an elastic beam-shaped locking piece on one side of the connector housing and a locking claw on the other side of the connector housing. In a connector having a locking mechanism in a mating position in which the lock piece is bent downward by a lever and then the lock piece is restored to its free position and the lock claw engages with each other, the connector housing is provided with a locking mechanism in the vicinity of the lock claw on the other side of the connector housing. A vertically movable detection piece is inserted, and the detection piece is moved upward by the movement of the locking piece to restore its free posture from the downward deflection to automatically protrude its upper end to the outside of the connector housing, and the protruding portion is exposed. ``A lock detection method for a connector characterized by detecting a lock by a locking piece of an elastic beam of a connector housing on one side;
A connector consisting of a locking claw on the other side of the connector housing, and having a locking mechanism in a mating position in which the locking piece is bent downward by the locking claw, and then the locking piece and the locking claw are engaged with each other when the free position is restored. In this case, a detection piece hole is provided near the lock claw of the connector housing on the other side, and a column-shaped detection piece is inserted so as to be movable up and down, and the detection piece at the bottom dead center position has a lower end bent downward. The detection piece, which faces the upper end of the free end of the lock piece in the posture, has its upper end fitted in the connector housing, and is at the top dead center position has its lower end in contact with the tip of the lock piece in the free posture restoration state, and its upper end A connector equipped with a lock detection mechanism that protrudes from the connector housing.

As for the structural aspects of the connector, it is possible to provide a locking means to prevent the detection piece from being removed, or to combine the connector housing having the detection piece and the detection piece in different colors to make it easier to determine whether the detection piece is protruding. be.

"Operation J" The lock detection method of the present invention having the above configuration and the connector using the same are such that when the connector housing is fitted in the normal position, the tip of the lock piece that was bent downward by the lock claw is released from the downward bend. When the detection piece is pushed up and elastically returns to its free position, its elastic restoring force pushes up the detection piece located above, and the upper end of the detection piece is automatically forcibly protruded from the connector housing. It is possible to accurately detect that the device is locked.

Since the protruding operation of the detection piece is instantaneously and automatically performed at the same time as the connector housing is properly mated, there is no special manual operation and time loss for lock detection, and the end of the mating operation is locked. It has a detection effect.

Furthermore, since the locking mechanism of the connector has a structural feature that locks in the normal fitted position, normal fitting of the housing is guaranteed by detecting this lock.

In addition, in the case of the connector housing and the detection piece having different color configurations, visual confirmation of the protruding portion is possible.
- Become more accurate.

"Example" Hereinafter, a detailed explanation will be given based on an example. Referring to FIG. 1 showing an embodiment of a connector using the lock detection method described above, the front half of a female connector housing 1 (hereinafter simply referred to as female housing 1) housing a female terminal (not shown) is shown as follows. It fits into the fitting part 3 of the male connector housing 2 (hereinafter simply referred to as male housing 2) that accommodates a male terminal (not shown), and is provided on the upper part of #housing 1 and extends in the fitting direction of the housing. has a locking mechanism consisting of a locking piece 5 of a cantilevered elastic beam facing the male housing 2, and a locking claw 6 provided on the upper part of the male housing 2 and protruding downward. When the male and female housing butts 2 are fitted together, the locking claw 6 pushes down the free end of the lock piece 5 to cause it to elastically bend downward, and then, when the fitting is sufficiently completed and the normal fitted position is achieved, the lock piece 5 released from the downward bend returns to its free position, In a connector in which a locking claw 6 engages and engages with a locking hole 7 of a locking piece 5, the male housing 2
A detection piece hole 8 that vertically penetrates the housing peripheral wall is provided near and rearward of the lock claw 6, and this detection piece hole 8
A columnar (prismatic in this embodiment) detection piece 9 is inserted and mounted so as to be vertically movable.

The detection piece hole 8 and the detection piece 9 of this embodiment have two pairs of hooking claws 10AIOB and IIA.
A locking means from which IIB protrudes is provided, as shown in Fig. 1 (B
) At the bottom dead center position 9B of the detection piece 9, indicated by the solid line, the lower pair of latching claws 11AIIB engage to prevent the detection piece 9 from falling off downward, and at the top dead center position 9A, indicated by the dotted line, the upper pair of latching claws 11AIIB engage. The retaining claw 10AIOB is engaged to prevent the detection piece 9 from coming off upward.

Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the lower end 12 of the detection piece 9 at the bottom dead center position 19B faces the tip of the lock piece 5 which is pushed down by the lock claw 6 and is bent downward, and the detection piece 9 The upper end is housed so as not to protrude beyond the upper edge of the detection piece hole 8. Then, the lock piece 5 in the downward flexing position
When the sensor tries to restore to the free position, the elastic force of restoring the free position pushes up the sensing piece 9 located above, and as the sensing piece 9 reaches the top dead center position 9A, the upper end of the sensing piece 9 that has been pushed up moves. , has a structure in which it slightly protrudes from the detection piece hole 8 and becomes a protrusion 15 .

Note that the detection piece 9 is inserted from above the detection piece hole 8 with a "snap", and the hooking claw 10B contacts the inner surface of the detection piece hole 8 and is so light that it does not move inside the detection piece hole 8 due to its own weight. It is locked.

In the connector of the above embodiment, when the male and female housing butts 2 are properly fitted and the locking piece 5 for restoring the free posture and the locking claw 6 are meshed and engaged, the detection piece 9 appears as shown in FIG. 2(A). moves upward and the protrusion 15 at the upper end protrudes from the housing, so normal locking can be detected and confirmed by detecting the protrusion.

Then, due to insufficient fitting, the lock piece 5 is held down by the lock claw 6 and is in a downwardly bent position.

As shown in Fig. 2 (B), the detection piece 9 is at the bottom dead center position 9B.
Since the detection piece 9 is stopped at , there is no protrusion of the detection piece 9.
Defects in the lock can be accurately detected and confirmed based on the non-protrusion state, and whether the lock is good or bad can be immediately detected only by the presence or absence of the protrusion of the protrusion 15.

Note that the shape of the detection piece 9 and the locking means in the above configuration of the present invention may be changed other than those in the above embodiment by other known means.

"Effects of the Invention" As explained above, the connector lock detection method of the present invention and the connector using the same have accurate lock detection performance and simple and efficient detection performance of "connector housing fitting part lock detection". In addition, the lock detection guarantees the mating of the connector housing, making the conventional mating detection mechanism unnecessary, making it extremely suitable for automotive wire harness connectors that require high mass production productivity. This has the remarkable effect of further improving quality assurance on the basis of high productivity and low cost.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a connector using the lock detection method of the present invention, (A) is a perspective view of its constituent members, (B)
1 is a front view of the male connector housing, (C) and (D) are plan views showing its operating state. 1: Female connector housing, 2: Male connector housing, 3: Fitting part, 5
: Lock piece, 6: Lock claw, 8: Detection piece hole, 9: Detection piece, 9A: Top dead center position, 9B: Bottom dead center position, 1
0A10BIIAIIB:Latching pawl, 15:Protruding portion Patent applicant Sumitomo Wiring Systems Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney Satomi Oka (Fig. 1 G3) 3: Fitting portion 5: Lock piece 6: Lock pawl 9A: Top dead center position 9B: Bottom dead center position Fig. 2 (A) 2nd rI! J(a) Procedural amendment form) March 22, 1991 1. Display of case 5. Patent application No. 341109 of 1990 2. Name of invention Connector lock detection method and connector using the same 3
, Relationship with the case of the person making the amendment Patent applicant

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) Consisting of an elastic beam-shaped lock piece on one side of the connector housing and a lock claw on the other side of the connector housing, after the lock piece is bent downward by the lock claw, the lock piece returns to its free position. In a connector having a locking mechanism in a mating position where locking claws are engaged, a vertically movable detection piece is inserted near the locking claw on the other side of the connector housing, and a detection piece that is movable up and down is inserted in the vicinity of the locking claw on the other side of the connector housing to detect the downward deflection of the locking piece. A method for detecting a lock in a connector, characterized in that the detecting piece is moved upward by a free posture restoring movement to automatically project its upper end to the outside of the connector housing, and locking is detected by the appearance of the projecting portion. (2) Consists of an elastic beam-shaped lock piece on one side of the connector housing and a lock claw on the other side of the connector housing, and after the lock piece is bent downward by the lock claw, the lock piece returns to its free position. In a connector that has a locking mechanism in a mating position in which locking claws are engaged, a detection piece hole is provided near the locking claw in the connector housing on the other side, and a columnar detection piece is inserted vertically movably. At the same time, the detection piece at the bottom dead center position has its lower end facing the upper end of the free end of the lock piece in the downwardly bent position, and the upper end fits into the connector housing, and the detection piece at the top dead center position has the lower end The connector is provided with a lock detection mechanism having a structure in which the lock piece is in contact with the tip of the lock piece that is restored to a free position, and the upper end protrudes from the connector housing. (3) The connector according to claim (2), further comprising means for locking the detection piece to the detection piece hole. (4) The connector according to claim (2), in which a detection piece and a connector housing having a detection piece hole are combined in different colors.