JPH0722109A - Electric connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To certainly eliminate risk of imperfect insertion of a terminal due to dimensional dispersion of terminal, rear holder, etc., in an electric connector of such a type that a rear holder to make double detention of the terminal is mounted at the rear of a housing. CONSTITUTION:A terminal 4 at a terminal accommodating chamber 2 of a housing 1 is put in primary detention through detaining of a detent arm with a detention part. A rear holder 13' is locked fast to a rear holder accommodation chamber 11 behind the housing, and secondary detention is generated through detaining of the edge of an opening O (side face of arm 13a) with a secondary detention part 10. A resilient member 16 is mounted at a detent projection 14a on the rear holder 13' to be detained with a detaining hole 12a provided in the rear holder accommodation chamber 11, and with this resilience the gap between the detaining hole 12a and detent projection 14a is eliminated so as to ensure double detention of the terminal 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric connector provided with a rear holder for double locking terminals.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state where a housing and a rear holder are separated in a conventional electric connector, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of terminals (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-77384). A plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 2 are defined in the housing 1, and each terminal accommodating chamber 2 has a flexible locking arm 3 integrally formed with the inner wall thereof.
(See FIG. 7) are provided. The engaging arm 3 engages with the shoulder 6 of the terminal 4, and when the mating connector (not shown) is fitted, or when tension is applied to the electric wire W connected to the terminal 4, the terminal 4 moves backward. Prevent you from getting out.

An electric contact portion 5 for the mating terminal is formed at the front portion of the terminal 4, and a shoulder portion 6 at the rear end thereof functions as a locking portion as described above. A conductor crimping piece 7 is provided at the rear of the terminal 4.
The electric wire connecting portion 9 including the insulator crimping piece 8 is formed, and the free end portion of the insulator crimping piece 8 is extended to form the secondary locking portion 10.

Behind the terminal accommodating chamber 2 of the housing 1,
Rear holder housing chamber 11 for holding the rear holder 13
2 is provided on one side of the outer wall 12 forming the accommodation chamber 11.
The individual locking holes 12a and 12a 'are provided, and the other side is provided with one locking hole 12b. The rear holder 13 includes a pair of parallel arm portions 13 a, 13 corresponding to the arrangement of the terminal accommodating chambers 2.
It is formed in a U shape from a'and these connecting pieces 13b, and locking projections 14a, 14a 'and 14b are provided on the tips of the arm portions 13a, 13a' and the outer surface of the connecting piece 13b, respectively. There is.

In the connector assembling work, FIG.
, The terminals 4 to which the electric wires W are connected are inserted into the corresponding terminal accommodating chambers 2, and the electric wires W are passed through the openings O between the arm portions 13a and 13a 'of the rear holder 13 and then Insert the rear holder 13 into the rear holder accommodating chamber 11 while inclining the rear holder 13 with the stop projections 14a and 14a 'first.
The locking projections 14a and 14a 'are engaged with the locking holes 12a and 12a', and the locking projections 14b are engaged with the locking holes 12b by pushing down the opposite side as indicated by arrow P. As a result, the rear holder 13 is locked and fixed at a predetermined position in the rear holder housing chamber 11. That is, the rear holder 13 rotates about the side surface A on the one of the locking projections 14a and 14a 'as a fulcrum, and the other locking projection 14b is sufficiently pressed into the rear holder accommodating chamber 11. Therefore, if there is the terminal 4 in the incompletely inserted state on the side of the locking projection 14b, the arm portion 13a or 13a '.
The side surface of the terminal abuts the secondary locking portion 10 at the rear portion of the terminal, and acts to push it into the terminal accommodating chamber 2. As a result, the terminal 4 is doubly locked by the primary and secondary locking means such as the locking arm 3 and the arm portion 13a.

However, since the clearance 15 with the locking holes 12a, 12a 'is relatively wide on the side of the locking projections 14a, 14a', the rear holder 13 cannot push in the terminal 4 in an incomplete state, and the primary relation It may be left without being stopped.

The reason why such incomplete locking occurs is shown in FIG.
As shown in (B), the locking protrusion 14a of the rear holder 13
Are engaged with the engaging holes 12a, and the engaging arms 3 of the terminal accommodating chamber 2 are engaged with the shoulders 6 in the reference state, the engaging protrusions 14a (14a ') Locking hole 12a (1
2a '), that is, the rear holder 13 and the terminal 4
This is because of the dimensional relationship such that there is a gap 15 between the next locking portion 10.

[0008] The gap 15 is involved in the dimensional variations of the housing 1, the terminal accommodating chamber 2, the terminal 4, the rear holder 13 and the like, and if the gap 15 is to be controlled to a small value, a high precision is required for the machining accuracy of parts. Therefore, the production yield may be reduced.

On the other hand, if the clearance 15 becomes a negative value, the rear holder 13 cannot be assembled in the rear holder accommodating chamber 11. Therefore, the clearance 15 is unavoidably inevitably designed to have a large size. Not only is the improper insertion of the plug, but it also causes rattling when the car is running, causing abnormal noise.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, and substantially eliminates the gap between the rear holder and the terminal accommodating chamber and secures the terminal locking. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector that can be used in any method.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a housing having a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers arranged side by side, a terminal accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber, and a rear pullout of the terminal. A rear holder for blocking and a rear holder accommodating chamber formed in the rear of the housing are provided, and a locking arm formed in the terminal accommodating chamber engages with a locking portion of the terminal to perform primary locking,
Further, the locking projection formed on the rear holder is fixed by engaging with the locking hole formed on the outer wall of the rear holder accommodating chamber, and one side edge of the rear holder is engaged with the rear portion of the terminal to make the secondary engagement of the terminal. In the electrical connector designed to stop
An elastic member is interposed between the engaging protrusion and the engaging hole, and the elasticity of the elastic member eliminates the gap between the rear holder and the terminal accommodating chamber.

[0012]

According to the present invention, the variation of the gap due to the variation of the dimensions of the housing, the terminal, the terminal accommodating chamber, the rear holder, etc. is caused by the elastic member interposed between the locking protrusion of the rear holder and the locking hole of the housing. Elastically absorbed. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a gap having a strict dimension in dimension allocation, and when the rear holder is fixed at a predetermined position in the rear holder accommodating chamber, the terminal is always completely inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber to achieve the primary locking. The maintenance of reliability by the double locking function is satisfied.

[0013]

1 is an exploded perspective view of an essential part of an electrical connector according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which the same components as those in the conventional example are designated by the same reference numerals, and a duplicate description will be omitted. That is, in the arm portions 13a, 13a 'of the rear holder 13', the portions of the locking projections 14a, 14a 'that engage with the locking holes 12a, 12a' in the rear holder accommodating chamber 11 are made of an elastic material such as rubber or soft plastics. The elastic member 16 made of is attached by an appropriate method such as adhesion.

In the connector assembling work, the terminals 4 to which the electric wires W are connected are inserted into the corresponding terminal accommodating chambers 2, respectively, and the arm portion 13 of the rear holder 13 'as in the conventional example.
After passing the electric wire W through the opening O between a and 13a ′,
As shown in FIG. 2, the rear holder 13 'is fixed to the locking projection 14a,
Rear holder accommodating chamber 1 while inclining 14a 'first
1, and the locking projections 14a, 1 through the elastic member 16
After engaging 4a 'with the engaging holes 12a, 12a', the engaging protrusion 14b on the opposite side is pushed in to engage with the engaging hole 12b.

By this operation, the rear holder 13 'rotates with the end faces A'of the arm portions 13a, 13a' as fulcrums as in the conventional example, and the arm portions 13a, 13a 'also on the locking projections 14a, 14a' side. The side surface of pushes the secondary locking portion 10 at the rear portion of the terminal 4 to allow the terminal 4 in the incompletely inserted state to enter the terminal accommodating chamber 2.

In the connector of the present invention, the elastic member 16
Due to the existence of the gap 1 between the locking projection 14a and the locking hole 12a
5 ', that is, the gap between the terminal accommodating chamber 2 and the rear holder 13' almost disappears, so that the dimensional relationship is assigned such that there is no gap 15 in the prior art. Therefore, the locking protrusion 1
4b engages with the locking hole 12b to lock the rear holder 13 'in a predetermined position, and at the same time all terminals are connected to the terminal accommodating chamber 2
Will be completely inserted inside. In this way, both terminals 4 on the locking projection 14a side (fulcrum A'side) and the locking projection 14b side of the rear holder 13 'achieve the primary locking and at the same time the secondary locking by fixing the rear holder 13'. Is achieved.

In the above, an example in which the outer shape of the rear holder 13 'is formed in a U shape from the pair of arm portions 13a, 13a' and the connecting piece 13b has been described. Locking plate 14a, which has at least one opening for electric wire insertion corresponding to each terminal accommodating chamber 2 and has the elastic member 16 on one end side of the plate,
14a 'may have a structure in which 14b is provided on the other end side. Further, the elastic member 16 may be provided on the other locking projection 14b side, and further, the locking projection 14a.
Instead of providing it on the side, it may be provided on the side of the locking hole 12a.

[0018]

According to the present invention, it is expected to contribute to the cost reduction because the high requirement for the dimensional accuracy of parts can be evaded by the easy-to-execute means such as attaching the elastic member to the locking projection of the rear holder. It Also, the interposition of the elastic member absorbs the gap between the rear holder and the terminal accommodating chamber, so double locking of the terminal removal is guaranteed, and the reliability of the connector as an electrical connecting device is improved.
Product value is high.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a housing and a rear holder showing an embodiment of an electric connector according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory view of the rear holder of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the operation of the rear holder of the same.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a housing and a rear holder in a conventional electric connector.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional terminal.

6 (A) and 6 (B) are operation explanatory views of a conventional rear holder, respectively.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 O opening W electric wire 1 housing 2 terminal accommodating chamber 3 locking arm 4 terminal 6 shoulder 10 secondary locking part 11 rear holder accommodating chamber 12 outer wall 12a, 12a 'locking hole 13' rear holder 13a, 13a 'arm 14a, 14b Locking protrusion 15 'Gap 16 Elastic member

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A housing having a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers arranged in parallel, a terminal accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber, a rear holder for preventing the terminal from coming off later, and a rear holder accommodating chamber formed at the rear of the housing. And a locking arm formed in the terminal accommodating chamber engages with a locking portion of the terminal for primary locking,
Further, the locking projection formed on the rear holder is fixed by engaging with the locking hole formed on the outer wall of the rear holder accommodating chamber, and one side edge of the rear holder is engaged with the rear portion of the terminal to make the secondary engagement of the terminal. In the electrical connector designed to be stopped, an elastic member is interposed in the engaging portion between the locking projection and the locking hole, and the elasticity of the elastic member eliminates the gap between the rear holder and the terminal accommodating chamber. An electrical connector characterized by. 2. The electric connector according to claim 1, wherein the elastic member is provided on the locking protrusion side of the rear holder. 3. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the elastic member is provided on the side of the locking hole of the housing.