JPH06275334A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To hook a terminal metal, lock a retainer, and maintain the double hook state by providing a guide mechanism guiding the retainer to the terminal hook position and a lock mechanism regulating the displacement of the retainer at the hook position. CONSTITUTION:The terminal hook piece 14 of a retainer 3 is inserted into the terminal insertion hole 6 of a connector housing 1 and held at the temporary hook position. When each terminal metal 2 is inserted to the depth end of the hole 6, an elastic hook claw 8 is coupled with the coupling piece 9 of the terminal metal 2 as the first-stage release stop. When the retainer 3 is further thrust, the tip section of the terminal hook piece 14 is pressed by the slant face 11 of the hole 6, a projection 21 is guided by the guide face 20 of the housing 1, the hook piece 14 is dropped on the hook section 16 of the metal 2 to hook it in the second stage, and a lug 25 on the lower face of a retainer main body 13 is dropped into the hook groove 24 of the housing 1 to hook it undisplaceably in the release direction.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector having an improved so-called double locking structure by a retainer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a connector shown in FIG. 6 is known as a connector having a double locking structure. this is,
The terminal fitting c is inserted from the rear end of the terminal accommodating hole b provided in the housing a, and then the retainer d having a plug shape is pushed in from the rear end of the terminal accommodating hole b, so that the temporary locking position in FIG. (B) is the main locking position. This retainer d
Is provided with a flexible terminal locking piece e that abuts against a part of the terminal fitting c and restricts its displacement in the pull-out direction. On the other hand, at the upper rear part of the terminal accommodating hole b, the terminal engaging piece e is provided. An accommodation space f for accommodating the stopper piece e is formed, and this front portion is connected to the front portion of the terminal accommodation hole b by an inclined surface g.
Therefore, when the retainer d is pushed forward in the arrow x direction to reach the final locking position, the terminal locking piece e bends along the inclined surface g and engages with the locking portion h of the terminal fitting c. It is configured to match.

[0003]

However, the above-mentioned problems have the following problems. First, when the terminal locking piece e is in the final locking position, a bending stress that constantly bends the tip end side in the drawing downward is generated in the terminal locking piece e to cause creep deformation. Even when the retainer d is returned to the temporary locking position, the bent terminal locking piece e is caught by the locking portion h of the terminal metal fitting c and prevents the removal thereof. In addition, since the terminal locking piece e is largely bent when the retainer d is inserted, particularly in a connector having many terminal fittings c to be inserted, a large force is required to push in the retainer d, resulting in poor workability. .

Further, in order to hold the retainer d itself at the main locking position, the retainer d is locked so as not to come off in the insertion direction, so that the recess and protrusion fit in the direction of overlapping with the housing a. For example, it is necessary to provide a plurality of locking claw mechanisms, and it is necessary to remove all the locking claws to return to the temporary locking position, which is troublesome.

Further, since a mechanism for preventing the retainer d from moving from the temporary locking position to the main locking position is not provided, for example, when the retainer d is mounted in the temporary locking position and is in an assembled state, it is conveyed to the work site. In addition, there is a possibility that the retainer d may be pressed and may be permanently locked by mistake.

[0006]

The connector of the present invention has been completed in order to eliminate the above-mentioned problems, and the invention of claim 1 is provided in a connector housing and a retainer, and is accompanied by insertion of the retainer. Guide mechanism that displaces the retainer in the direction that intersects the insertion direction and guides it to the terminal locking position where the terminal locking piece restricts the displacement in the removal direction of the terminal fitting, and the terminal locking provided on the connector housing and the retainer. The lock mechanism that restricts the displacement of the retainer that has reached the position in the pulling-out direction of the terminal fitting is provided.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the temporary locking position holding mechanism is provided in the connector housing and the retainer, and holds the retainer in the temporary locking position where the terminal locking pieces do not prevent insertion and removal of the terminal fitting. And, provided with the connector housing and the retainer, the retainer is displaced in a direction intersecting the insertion direction when the retainer is inserted, and is guided to a terminal locking position where the terminal locking piece restricts the displacement in the removal direction of the terminal fitting. The guide mechanism and the lock mechanism provided on the connector housing and the retainer for restricting the displacement of the retainer, which has reached the terminal locking position, in the withdrawal direction of the terminal fitting are provided.

[0008]

According to the present invention, when the terminal locking piece of the retainer is inserted into the terminal insertion hole of the connector housing, the retainer is guided by the guide mechanism provided in the connector housing and the retainer, and the retainer intersects the insertion direction. The terminal metal fittings are locked in place so that they cannot be removed, and the retainer itself is locked by the locking mechanism so that it cannot be displaced in the direction of the terminal metal fittings. The locked state is maintained.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the retainer is mounted on the connector housing at the temporary locking position before being fully inserted, the retainer is held at the temporary locking position by the temporary locking position holding mechanism.

[0010]

That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the retainer, that is, the terminal locking piece thereof is displaced in a direction intersecting with the inserting direction of the retainer so as to be locked in the terminal fitting so that it cannot be pulled out, and by the reverse displacement. Since the structure that does not cause creep deformation due to bending stress in the terminal locking piece is used to release the locking, make sure to pull out the terminal metal fitting when the retainer is returned to the temporary locking position. You can

Further, unlike the case where the terminal locking piece is bent against the elastic force, a large force is not required for the pushing operation, and the work efficiency of the assembling can be greatly improved.

Further, since the retainer has a structure in which the retainer is displaced in a direction intersecting with the inserting direction to lock the retainer at the terminal locking position, the locking mechanism may be a concave and convex fitting with the housing in the inserting direction of the retainer. Even if there are multiple such locking mechanism parts, they can be removed at once by returning the retainer in the direction intersecting the insertion direction, so the work of returning the retainer to the temporary locking position is easy. Can be done.

According to the invention of claim 2, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 1, by providing a mechanism for holding the retainer at the temporary locking position, it is ensured that the retainer is erroneously permanently locked by an external force. Can be prevented.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the connector of this embodiment has a substantially rectangular housing 1 and a terminal fitting 2 fixed to the tip of an electric wire w inserted and fixed in the housing 1.
And a stopper-shaped retainer 3 attached to the rear surface side of the housing 1. The main body 5 of the housing 1 is formed with a plurality of longitudinal terminal-shaped terminal accommodating holes 6 for accommodating the terminal fittings 2, which are vertically arranged in two rows and arranged side by side in the lateral direction. Holding frame 7 that is slightly larger than
When the terminal fitting 2 is inserted into each terminal receiving hole 6 in a fixed posture and pushed to the rear end, the elastic locking claws 8 formed on the bottom surface of the terminal receiving hole 6 form the bottom surface of the terminal fitting 2. The terminal fitting 2 is fitted in the fitting hole 9 formed in the first step to prevent the terminal fitting 2 from coming off in the first step.

Next, the second-stage locking structure by the retainer, which is a feature of the present invention, will be described in detail.

An inclined surface 11 that gradually inclines upward toward the rear side is formed at a substantially central portion of the upper surface of each terminal accommodating hole 6 of the housing 1 in the longitudinal direction, and an upper portion on the rear side will be described later in detail. A large opening is provided so that the terminal locking piece 14 formed on the retainer 3 can be inserted.

The retainer 3 is provided with a main body 13 having a structure in which the terminal fitting 2 and the electric wire w connected thereto are separately inserted by a partition wall. The main body 13 has a front surface in which each terminal receiving hole 6 of the housing 1 is inserted. Correspondingly, terminal locking pieces 14 that are individually inserted are projected. This terminal locking piece 14 is
The tip of the terminal abuts on the locking portion 16 formed on the upper surface of the terminal fitting 2 to lock the terminal fitting 2 in a non-pullable state, and the inclined surface 11 of the terminal receiving hole 6 is provided on the upper surface of the tip. Is formed on the front side of the inclined surface 17.

On the ceiling surface of the holding frame 7 of the housing 1, there is formed a ridge 19 on the rear surface of which a guide surface 20 is formed which is gradually inclined forward toward the lower end.
On the upper surface of the main body 13 of the retainer 3, there are formed a plurality of protrusions 21 having front-down guide surfaces 22 aligned with the guide surfaces 20 of the protrusions 19 formed on the front surface at appropriate intervals in the lateral direction. There is.

Further, in order to lock the retainer 3 at the main locking position so that it cannot be pulled out in the insertion direction, a locking groove 24 is formed in the bottom surface of the holding frame body 7 of the housing 1 and the main body 13 of the retainer 3 is provided. A protrusion 25 that fits into the locking groove 24 is formed on the bottom surface.

Further, the mechanism for holding the retainer 3 in the temporary locking position will be described. On both side surfaces of the holding frame body 7 of the housing 1, as shown in FIG. A window hole 27 having a bridge 28 formed therein is opened, while a side surface of the main body 13 of the retainer 3 has a claw portion 31 at its tip and is expanded outward as shown in detail in FIGS. The rearward facing elastic piece 30 is formed so as to be elastically deformable inward, and the elastic piece 30 in front of the elastic piece 30 is sandwiched from the claw portion 31 of the elastic piece 30 by a distance corresponding to the width of the bridge 28. A pair of pinching projections 32 are formed on both sides.

A locking step portion 34 is recessed at the lower edge of the window hole 27 of the housing 1, and the lower pressing protrusion 32 of the retainer 3 is fitted into the locking step portion 34, The retainer 3 is also provided with a function of locking the retainer 3 in the main locking position so that the retainer 3 cannot be pulled out in the insertion direction.

This embodiment has such a structure, and its operation will be described below.

First, the retainer 3 is attached to each terminal locking piece 1 thereof.
While inserting 4 into the corresponding terminal accommodating hole 6 of the housing 1 and pushing the pinching projection 32 on the side surface of the main body 13 toward the housing 1 side by forcibly passing over the bridge 28 of the window hole 27 of the housing 1, When the bridge 32 crosses the bridge 28, as shown in FIGS. 2B and 5A, the bridge 28 is sandwiched between the pinching projection 32 and the claw portion 32 of the elastic piece 30, whereby the retainer 3 Is held at the temporary locking position shown in FIG. 1 (A) so that it cannot be easily moved in the front-rear direction. At this time, the terminal locking piece 14 is in its original posture and its inclined surface 1
The tip of 7 enters the lower surface of the inclined surface 11 of the terminal receiving hole 6.

Next, each of the terminal fittings 2 is inserted into the corresponding terminal receiving hole 6 of the housing 1 through the retainer 3 and pushed to the far end, and as described above, the first fitting of the terminal fitting 2 with the housing 1 is performed. Stage locking is performed. At that time,
As shown in the upper terminal metal fitting 2 in (A), when the orientation is upside down, a part of the terminal metal fitting 2 hits the terminal locking piece 14 and cannot be inserted, so that the reverse insertion is detected.

Since the retainer 3 is held at the temporary locking position as described above, there is no possibility that the retainer 3 is inadvertently pushed into the permanent locking position to be described later during transportation to the work site in the temporarily assembled state. .

In the case of full locking, the elastic pieces 30 on both sides of the retainer 3 are pushed inward in the direction of the arrow X in FIG. 5 (A) to bend inwardly, allowing the claw portion 31 to escape to the inside of the bridge 28 and retainer. When 3 is further pushed, as shown in FIG. 1 (B), the tip of the terminal locking piece 14 reaches the inclined surface 11 of the terminal accommodating hole 6 before the retainer 3 and the guide surfaces 20, 22 of the housing 1 come into contact with each other. Then, the terminal locking piece 14 is bent and the downward pressing force acts on the terminal locking piece 14.

At this time, unless the terminal fitting 2 is inserted into the rear end side more than a certain amount, the downward bending of the tip of the terminal locking piece 14 is prevented by the terminal fitting 2 and the retainer 3 cannot be pushed in. Therefore, it is detected that the terminal fitting 2 is in the half-inserted state.

When the retainer 3 is further pushed in from the state of FIG. 1B, the terminal locking piece 14 is guided by the oblique guide surfaces 20 and 22 of the housing 1 and the retainer 3 while receiving the downward pressing force. Then, as shown in FIG. 7C, the retainer 3 moves diagonally downward, which is the main locking position, and accordingly, the terminal locking piece 14 also moves diagonally downward while restoring the original posture, Its tip falls behind the locking portion 16 of the terminal fitting 2 and locks the terminal fitting 2 in the second stage so that it cannot be removed.

The terminal locking piece 14 is bent only slightly when it is pushed in from the temporary locking position, and the pressing force applied to the terminal locking piece 14 is required to move the retainer 3 to the full locking position. Since it uses, the pushing force is small.

Even when the terminal fitting 2 is in the same half-inserted state, the tip of the terminal locking piece 14 bent downwardly of the retainer 3 as in the upper terminal fitting 2 of FIG. Locking part 1
If it is inserted until it can fall to the rear of 2, the terminal fitting is pushed to the inner end as the terminal locking piece 14 moves obliquely downward, and locking with the housing 1 is performed. .

By the obliquely downward movement of the retainer 3 described above, the projection 25 on the lower surface of the main body 13 falls in front of the locking groove 24 of the housing 1, and the pinching projection 32 on the lower side of the side surface of the main body 13 is released. It falls in front of the locking step portion 34 of the window hole 27 of the housing 1 and is locked so as not to be displaceable in the removal direction, and the projection 21 on the upper surface of the main body 13 sneaks into the lower surface of the projection 19 of the housing 1. The retainer 3 is held in the main locking position, and the double locking of the terminal fitting 2 is completed.

When the retainer 3 is returned to the temporary locking position in order to remove the terminal fitting 2, the protrusion 21 on the upper surface of the main body 13 of the retainer 3 is removed from the lower surface of the protrusion 19 of the housing 1 and the retainer 3 is moved upward. If so, the protrusion 2 of the retainer 3
5 and the lower pinching protrusions 32 come off from the engaging groove 24 and the engaging stepped portion 34 of the housing 1, respectively, so that if they are retracted in the direction of their removal and returned to the temporary engaging position of FIG. 1 (A). good. As a result, the terminal locking piece 14 moves upward and the locking portion 1 of the terminal fitting 2
6, the terminal locking piece 14 has not returned to the original posture and has not been deformed by creep downward in the main locking of the retainer 3 as described above. The terminal fitting 2 can be pulled out without it.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a sectional view of a retainer in a temporary locking position,
(B) is a sectional view of a position in the middle of pushing, and (C) is a sectional view of a final locking position.

FIG. 2A is a front view of a housing and a retainer before being assembled, and FIG. 2B is a front view of the housing being assembled at a temporary locking position.

FIG. 3 is a partial plan sectional view of a retainer.

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of a side surface of the main body of the retainer.

5A is a partial plan sectional view of the retainer at a temporary locking position, and FIG. 5B is a partial plan sectional view of the retainer at a full locking position.

FIG. 6 (A) is a cross-sectional view of a temporary locking position of a conventional example, (B).
FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the main locking position.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Connector housing 2 ... Terminal metal fitting 3 ... Retainer 6 ... Terminal accommodation hole 12 ... Locking part 14 ... Terminal locking piece 20, 22 ... Guide mechanism (guide surface) 24, 25, 32, 34 ... Lock mechanism (24 ... Locking groove,
25 ... Protrusion, 32 ... Clamping protrusion, 34 ... Locking step portion 28, 30, 31, 32 ... Temporary locking position holding mechanism (28 ...
Bridge, 30 ... Elastic piece, 31 ... Claw, 32 ... Clamping protrusion

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A connector housing having a terminal accommodating hole for accommodating a terminal fitting, and a terminal fitting which is inserted from the insertion direction side of the terminal fitting into the terminal accommodating hole with the terminal fitting accommodated therein. A retainer having a terminal locking piece that locks in a retaining state,
It is provided in the connector housing and the retainer, and the retainer is displaced in a direction intersecting the insertion direction with the insertion of the retainer, and the terminal locking piece restricts the displacement in the pulling direction of the terminal fitting to the terminal locking position. A connector provided with a guide mechanism for guiding, and a lock mechanism provided on the connector housing and the retainer for restricting displacement of the retainer, which has reached the terminal locking position, in the direction in which the terminal fitting is pulled out. . 2. A connector housing having a terminal accommodating hole for accommodating the terminal fitting, and a terminal fitting which is inserted into the terminal accommodating hole from the insertion direction side of the terminal fitting in a state where the terminal fitting is accommodated. A retainer having a terminal locking piece that locks in a retaining state,
A temporary locking position holding mechanism that is provided on the connector housing and the retainer and holds the retainer at a temporary locking position where the terminal locking pieces do not prevent the insertion and removal of the terminal fitting, and the connector housing and the retainer. A guide mechanism that is provided on the guide member and is displaced with the insertion of the retainer in a direction intersecting the insertion direction to guide the retainer to a terminal locking position that restricts the displacement of the terminal fitting in the removal direction, A connector provided with the connector housing and the retainer, and a lock mechanism for restricting displacement of the retainer, which has reached the terminal locking position, in a direction in which the terminal fitting is pulled out.