JPH0743965Y2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to a connector used for wiring in an automobile or the like.

[Conventional technology]

A connector for detecting whether or not the terminal fitting housed in the terminal housing chamber is normally housed by the conventional detection key is moved up and down in the terminal housing chamber 21 of the plastic connector housing as shown in FIG. Freely installed lance
After locking the terminal fitting 15 to the terminal 22, in order to detect whether or not the terminal fitting 15 is completely stored in the terminal storage chamber 21, the lance 22 and the inner wall surface of the bottom of the terminal storage chamber 21 are detected. When the detection key 30 made of plastic is inserted in the gap between and, and is completely stored, as shown in FIG. 3, the detection key 30 is easily inserted into the gap without any resistance, resulting in an incomplete state. In the half-inserted state, as shown in FIG. 4, the lance 22 is pushed by the terminal fitting 15 and bends downward so that the tip of the detection key 30 comes into contact with the tip of the lance and the lance 22 cannot be inserted into the gap. , The terminal metal fitting in the terminal storage chamber 21 depending on whether the detection key 30 can be inserted into the gap.
It was detecting the storage state of 15.

In addition, the connector housing is provided with a first locking projection 7 on the upper end of the flexible locking arm 6 provided on the inner wall of the terminal accommodating chamber 1 and extends forward of both sides of the flexible locking arm 6. Is formed on the vertical shoulder surface 8a and the rear is formed in a tapered shape 8b, and a second locking projection 8 is provided. A clearance t'is provided between the flexible locking arm 6 and the inner wall surface of the housing. The thickness t of the lock member C inserted into the ′ ′ is formed to be slightly larger than the gap t ′, and the terminal fitting B inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber 1 of the connector housing has a tubular tab receiving member from the tip. Part 11
An elastic tongue piece 12 is provided inside, and downward engaging pieces 15 are projected on both sides of an engaging hole 14 provided at the bottom of the tab receiving portion 11, and a terminal fitting B is provided in the terminal accommodating chamber 1 of the connector housing. When inserted, the first locking projection 7 of the flexible locking arm 6 is locked in the locking hole 14 at the bottom of the terminal fitting, and the shoulder surface of the second locking projection 8 of the flexible locking arm 6 is inserted. The rear end edges of the locking pieces 15 on both sides of the terminal fitting are locked to 8a to prevent the terminal fitting B from slipping out backward, and further, the gap between the inner wall surface of the housing and the flexible locking arm 6 is prevented. An electric connector of Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-126376 is known in which a locking member C having a thickness t larger than this is pushed into t'to lock the engagement state of the terminal fitting B and the flexible locking arm 6.

[Problems to be solved by the device]

The conventional connector shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 has a structure in which the terminal fitting 15 is housed in the terminal housing chamber 21 in an incompletely inserted state and the lance 22 is bent downward. twenty two
If there is a certain gap between the terminal and the bottom of the terminal storage chamber 21, and the detection key 30 is strongly inserted into this gap, the plastic detection key 30 and the lance 22 are both deformed and the detection key is deformed.
Since 30 is inserted into the gap, it is impossible to detect incomplete storage of the terminal fitting 15. Therefore, when the terminal fitting 15 is in the half-inserted state, a small gap is formed between the lance 22 and the bottom of the terminal storage chamber 21 so that the detection key 30 cannot be inserted. The lance 22 bends downward when it is inserted and stored in the terminal storage chamber.
Since it hits the bottom surface of 21 and does not bend downward anymore, the resistance when inserting the terminal metal fittings becomes large and it interferes with the terminal storage work, rather increasing the risk of incomplete insertion.
When 15 is pulled out from the terminal storage chamber 21, there is a problem that the terminal fitting is forcibly pulled out without being sufficiently unlocked and the terminal fitting is caught, and a large pulling force is applied to the electric wire connecting portion to break the wire.

Also, the lock member C of the electric connector disclosed in the utility model
Does not detect the storage state of the terminal fitting 15 in the terminal storage chamber 21, but the lock member C having a thickness t larger than the gap t'between the inner wall surface of the housing and the flexible locking arm 6 is not detected. Is forcibly pushed in to lock the engagement state of the terminal fitting B and the flexible locking arm 6, and even when the terminal fitting housed in the terminal housing chamber is normally housed, the lock member C is left in the gap. When pushed into t ′, the tip of the lock member C having the thickness t hits the opening edge of the gap t ′ smaller than this,
It is not possible to detect whether or not the storage state of the terminal fitting 15 in the terminal storage chamber 21 is complete or incomplete.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above problems and provide a connector capable of smoothly storing and extracting terminal fittings and completely and surely preventing incomplete storage of terminal fittings. To do.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the connector of the present invention is designed to detect between a lower surface 3a of a lance 3 which is provided in the terminal housing chamber 2 of the connector housing 1 in a vertically flexible manner and a bottom surface 2a of the terminal housing chamber 2. A detection key insertion gap 5 into which the key tip portion 10b is inserted is provided, and the lower end 3b of the lance 3 is inserted into the lower side of the bottom surface 2a of the terminal accommodating chamber so as to be continuous with the lower side of the detection key insertion gap 5. The groove 4 is provided.

[Action]

When the terminal fitting 15 is inserted into the terminal storage chamber 2, the terminal fitting 15
Rides on the upper surface of the lance 3, and the lance 3 is pushed downward and bends, so that the lower portion 3b of the lance tip descends into the lower fitting groove 4 of the lance tip of the bottom surface 2a of the terminal accommodating chamber, and the inserted terminal fitting 15 is inserted into the terminal. When completely stored in the storage chamber 2, the lower portion 3b of the lance tip, which is bent downward, is returned from the inside of the lance tip lower fitting groove 4 to the original position by the return spring force of the plastic material, and the terminal fitting 15 is engaged with the lance 3 and is prevented from coming off.

When the terminal fitting 15 is completely housed in the terminal storage chamber 2 as described above, the detection key insertion gap 5 is formed in the gap between the lance 3 and the inner bottom surface 2a of the terminal storage chamber 2. When the tip of the detection key 10 is inserted into the gap 5, the tip of the detection key 10 is inserted deep into the gap 5, and the insertion of the detection key 10 into the gap 5 causes the terminal fitting 15 to be inserted deep inside. Is completely stored in the terminal storage chamber 2.

In addition, when the terminal fitting 15 is incompletely half-inserted, the terminal storage chamber 2
When it is housed inside, the lower end 3b of the lance 3 is lowered into the lower lance tip fitting groove 4 as described above, so that the tip of the detection key 10 may hit the lance tip and be inserted further. It becomes impossible to detect the incomplete insertion of the terminal fitting 15.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view showing an incompletely stored state of the terminal fitting. 1 is a connector housing, 2 is a terminal storage chamber, 2a is this terminal storage chamber 2
It is the bottom inside.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a lance that locks the terminal fitting to prevent it from coming off. The lance 3 is provided to extend forward in the terminal housing chamber 2, and the free end of the lance is flexibly provided up and down by the elastic force of the plastic material of the housing. 3a is the underside of the lance 3, 3b is the lance 3
The lower end, 3c, is a terminal locking projection provided on the upper surface of the lance 3.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a lance tip lower fitting groove 4, which is provided on the bottom surface 2a of the terminal accommodating chamber facing the lance lower surface 3a. The groove width of the lance tip lower fitting groove 4 is formed slightly wider than the width of the lance 3,
The depth of the groove is formed so that the lower surface of the lance tip lower part 3b does not contact the bottom surface of the groove 4 when the terminal fitting described later is inserted into the terminal housing chamber 2 and the lance 3 bends downward. In addition,
The width of the lower part 3b of the tip of the lance 3 is set to half the width of the main body of the lance 3 and the width of the groove 4 is set to be slightly wider than this to prevent the mechanical strength of the connector housing from being lowered. Good.

5 is a detection key insertion gap, which is used for the terminal storage chamber 2
It is a gap formed between the inner bottom surface 2a and the lower surface 3a of the lance 3.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a detection key, the width of which is formed to be substantially the same as the width inside the terminal housing chamber 2, and as shown in FIG. 2, an operation portion 10a fitted to the tip end portion of the connector housing 1 and a front portion thereof. And a detection portion 10b extending to the bottom surface, a groove 10c for fitting the lance bottom portion is provided on the upper surface of the detection portion 10b, and the lower surface 10d of the detection portion 10b
Is formed in a plane.

Reference numeral 15 is a female terminal fitting 15, and a bottom plate portion thereof is provided with a locking hole 15a into which the terminal locking projection 3c of the lance 3 is fitted and locked.

When the terminal fitting 15 is inserted into the terminal housing chamber 2 of the connector housing 1, the bottom plate portion of the terminal fitting 15 rides on the upper surface of the lance 3 and the lance 3 is once pushed downward to bend and the lower portion 3b of the lance tip. It goes down into the lance tip lower part fitting groove 4 on the bottom surface 2a of the storage room. When the inserted terminal fitting 15 is completely housed in the terminal housing chamber 2, the lance 3 pushed and bent downward is returned to its original position by the return spring force of the plastic material, and the lance tip lower part is inserted. The lower part 3b of the lance that has descended into the groove 4 returns from the inside of the groove 4 to the original position, and the terminal locking protrusion 3c on the upper surface of the lance 3 is fitted into the locking hole 15a of the bottom plate of the terminal fitting 15. Then, the terminal fitting 15 engages with the lance 3 and is prevented from coming off.

As described above, when the terminal fitting 15 is completely housed in the terminal accommodating chamber 2 and pushed downward to bend the italance 3 to its original position, the lance 3 and the inner bottom surface of the terminal accommodating chamber 2 are returned.
A detection key insertion gap 5 is formed in a gap between the 2a and 2a.

The detection portion 10b of the detection key 10 is inserted into the detection key insertion gap 5
When the tip of the detection key 10 is inserted, the tip is inserted deeply into the gap 5 inside. Therefore, by inserting the detection key 10 deep inside the detection key insertion gap 5, the terminal metal fitting 15 is inserted into the terminal storage chamber 2. It is detected that it is completely stored in.

In addition, when the terminal fitting 15 is incompletely half-inserted, the terminal storage chamber 2
In the case of being housed inside, as shown in FIG. 2, since the lower end 3b of the lance 3 is lowered into the lower lower end fitting groove 4 of the lance, the detection key insertion gap 5 is not formed and the detection key insertion gap 5 is not formed. The tip of the key 10 hits the tip of the lance and cannot be inserted any further. Since the detection key 10 cannot be inserted in this way, it is detected that the terminal fitting 15 is incompletely inserted.

As described above, when the terminal fitting 15 is inserted into the terminal housing chamber 2, if the lower end 3b of the lance 3 is bent downward, the lance 3 is lowered into the lower end fitting groove 4 and enters the lance as in the conventional case. The lower end 3b of the tip does not come into contact with the bottom surface 2a of the terminal storage chamber 2 and is not bent further downward, so that the terminal fitting can be mounted smoothly and the terminal extraction work can be performed without any trouble.

Although the above embodiment is an embodiment in which the terminal fitting 15 is a single-core female connector, it can be applied to a multi-core female connector or a male connector.

[Effect of device]

As described above, in the connector of the present invention, the detection key insertion gap is provided between the lower surface of the lance provided in the terminal accommodating chamber and the bottom surface of the terminal accommodating chamber, and the fitting groove at the lower end of the lance is provided. When the terminal fitting is inserted and stored, the lower part of the lance tip is configured to descend into the lower fitting part of the lance tip, so it may not be possible to detect the incomplete half-inserted state of the terminal fitting as in the past. Without
The terminal storage work and the withdrawal work become smooth, and the incomplete storage of the terminal fitting can be prevented.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing an incompletely accommodated terminal fitting, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are vertical cross-sectional views showing a conventional connector. is there. 1: Connector housing 2: Terminal housing chamber 2a: Bottom of terminal housing chamber 3: Lance 3a: Lance lower surface 4: Lance tip lower fitting groove 5: Detection key insertion gap 10: Detection key 10b: Detection key tip

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A lower surface (3a) of a lance (3) provided flexibly up and down in a terminal housing chamber (2) of a connector housing (1) and a bottom surface (2a) in the terminal housing chamber (2). A detection key insertion gap (5) for inserting the detection key tip portion (10b) is provided between the two, and is connected to the lower side of the detection key insertion gap (5) so as to be below the terminal storage chamber bottom surface (2a). A connector provided with a lance tip lower part fitting groove (4) into which the lower end part (3b) of the lance (3) is fitted.