JPH08148228A - Female type connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a female type connector which is small and strong and by which a metal mold structure is simplified and inverse insertion of a mating connector is checked and slipping-out is prevented. CONSTITUTION: A housing of a female type connector 1 has side walls 14 and 16 and an end wall to demarcate a space 22 to receive a mating connector 6. A recessed part 26 extending in the lengthwise direction of the side wall 14 from a bottom surface 24 of a base part 12 is formed on one side wall 14 without requiring a slide type. Since the recessed part 26 is communicated with a cavity 22, elasticity is applied to the side wall 14. A locking part 30 is arranged on the side wall 14 to which elasticity is applied, and engages with a projection 70 of the mating connector 6, and prevents slipping-out of the mating connector 6.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a female connector having a locking portion which engages with a protrusion of a mating male connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A pair of connectors, which are male and female connectors, have been widely used to connect electric wires to each other or electric wires to a substrate.
FIG. 10 of Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-113266 discloses an example of such a connector. That is, a pair of connectors consisting of a male connector terminating the electric wire and a female connector mounted on the board. A protrusion is formed on the side surface of the male connector, while a hole that engages with the protrusion is formed on the side wall of the female connector. The engagement of the protrusions and holes maintains the mated state of the male and female connectors.

Since the four walls of the female connector that form the space for receiving the male connector are connected to each other, the female connector has a relatively robust structure. However, in order for the protrusion of the male connector to ride over the side wall of the female connector and engage with the hole, the side wall needs to be thin enough to have flexibility. However, there is a problem that the flexible side wall also receives the male connector inserted in the opposite direction, that is, the direction in which the protrusion engages with the side wall having no hole. Furthermore, the formation of the holes must rely on pins that move in a direction orthogonal to the pins of the mold that form the space for receiving the male connector. Therefore, there is a problem that the mold for molding the housing of the female connector has to be a complicated and expensive mold having a so-called slide type structure.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-292588 discloses a female connector having a fitting guide having a slit formed in a side wall,
A pair of connectors including a male connector having a protrusion at a position corresponding to the slit is disclosed. The slits and protrusions are for guiding the fitting of the female and male connectors to prevent oblique insertion and removal. The second publication
As shown in the figure, by providing slits and protrusions at different positions on the opposite side walls of the female connector and the opposite side faces of the male connector, it is possible to prevent the insertion of the male connector in the opposite direction. .

However, since the side wall of the fitting guide described in the publication is divided by the slit, it cannot be said that the structure is robust. In addition, since the side wall is flexible due to the slit, the fitting guide cannot completely prevent the insertion of the male connector in the reverse direction, and may receive the male connector in the reverse direction which is forcibly inserted. . Furthermore, since there is no particular engagement (locking) means between the male and female connectors, there is a risk that the mated state of both connectors may not be maintained due to external force.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-63679 discloses male and female connectors having reverse insertion preventing means and hooking (engaging) means. The reverse insertion means is composed of a rib provided on the outer periphery of the housing portion of the male connector, and a recess provided in the space of the female connector that receives the housing portion. The hooking means is composed of a hooking (lock) arm provided on the peripheral wall of the male connector and a locking shoulder provided on the peripheral wall of the female connector.

However, since the hooking arm is located outside the peripheral wall of the female connector when the two connectors are fitted to each other,
There is a problem that the fitting height of both connectors, that is, the dimension in the direction orthogonal to the fitting direction becomes large.

Therefore, according to the present invention, a female connector which solves the above-mentioned problems, that is, a small-sized and robust connector having a simple mold structure, and which prevents the mating connector from being inserted in the opposite direction and retains the mating connector. An object is to provide a female connector.

[0009]

A female connector according to the present invention has a base portion, a pair of opposed side walls and a pair of opposed end walls, and receives a mating connector in a space surrounded by them. In a female connector in which a locking portion that engages with a protrusion provided on the side surface of the mating connector is formed on one of the side walls, in the vicinity of the locking portion of the side wall, the length of the side wall from the bottom surface of the base portion is increased. A recess is formed so as to extend along the direction and communicate with the space.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the female connector of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a female connector of the present invention, and is a (A) plan view, (B) front view, and (C) side view. FIG. 2 shows line II- in FIG.
FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along line II. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a fitted state of the connector of FIG. 1 and a mating connector. The mating connector is not shown in cross section.

In FIG. 1, a header connector 1 which is one mode of a female connector is an insulating housing 10 made of synthetic resin.
And two rows of post contacts 50 held in the insulating housing 10. The insulating housing 10 includes a base 12 that holds the post contacts 50, a pair of side walls 14 and 16 that rise from the base 12 and face each other, and a pair of end walls 18 that also rise from the base 12 and face each other. , 20. Both ends of each side wall 14, 16 are connected to the ends of each end wall 18, 20 respectively. These four walls 14, 16, 18, 20 form a space 22 for receiving the male connector 6 (FIG. 3).

A recess 26 extending from the bottom surface 24 side along the longitudinal direction of the side wall 14 is formed on one side wall 14. This recess 26 communicates with the space 22 so that the side wall 14 is shown in FIG.
It is separated from the base 12 in the range of L in (B). Therefore, since the side wall 14 is a cantilever beam 28 in the range of L, it has elasticity and facilitates passage of the projection 70 (FIG. 3) of the male connector 6 as described later. The height of the recess 26 is changed stepwise so that the internal stress is not concentrated on the side wall 14 in the range L when pressed by the protrusion 70 of the male connector 6. In order to prevent the internal stress of the side wall 14 from being concentrated, the width of the doubly supported beam 28 may be gently changed instead of being changed stepwise as shown in the drawing.

In FIG. 2, an engaging portion 30 that engages with the projection 70 of the male connector 6 is formed in the middle of the both-supported beam portion 28 of the side wall 14. The locking portion 30 is the protrusion 70 of the male connector 6.
Has a first inclined surface 32 for facilitating passage of the male connector 6 and a second inclined surface 34 for engaging with the projection 70 to prevent the male connector 6 from coming off. First
The upper end of the bevel 32 is not the mating end 36 but the tapered surface of the side wall 14.
Located below 38. Therefore, the male connector 6 is
The protrusion after being guided in the insertion direction by the tapered surface 38
70 will begin to engage the first bevel 32. Therefore, the male connector 6 can be inserted smoothly. It can be understood from the drawings that the locking portion 30 is formed by a die having a simple structure having only the core pin that moves in the vertical direction, without depending on the slide die. Therefore, the mold for molding the insulating housing 10 can be manufactured at low cost.

The post contact 50 is formed of, for example, a 0.5 mm square wire, and has a contact portion 52 and a connection portion 54 which is inserted into a through hole (not shown) of the substrate and soldered. Since the corners of the connection portion 54 are crushed and formed into a substantially circular cross section, the width seems to be enlarged as shown in the figure. The post contact 50 is press-fitted and held in the holding hole 40 from the bottom surface 24 side of the insulating housing 10.

In FIG. 3, a plug (male type) connector 6 is shown.
Is a known connector having an insulating housing 60, a plurality of receptacle contacts (not shown) housed in the insulating housing, an electric wire 62 pressure-connected to the contacts, and a cover 64 for retaining the electric wire 62. . On one side 66 of the insulating housing 60, a projection 70 for giving direction is provided.
Are formed. The protrusion 70 has a tip surface 72 and a slope 74 that are substantially flush with the fitting surface 68.

When the plug connector 6 is inserted into the header connector 1 in the proper orientation as shown in the drawing, the projection 70 is guided by the tapered surface 38 and then the projection 70 engages with the first inclined surface 32 of the locking portion 30. The locking portion 30 is pressed outward (left side in the figure).
At this time, the both-supported beam portion 28 of the side wall 14 elastically deforms outward. When the projection 70 gets over the locking portion 30, the slope of the projection 70
74 is engaged with the second inclined surface 34 of the locking portion 30, and the header connector 1
On the other hand, the plug connector 6 is retained.

When the plug connector 6 is inserted into the header connector 1 in the opposite direction, the tip end surface 72 of the protrusion 70 and the fitting end 36 of the side wall 16 come into contact with each other. For this reason, both connectors 1 and 6 cannot be fitted.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made as necessary. For example, the post contact may be an SMT type, and the female connector may be a connector that terminates an electric wire instead of the header connector mounted on the board. Further, in order to make the insertion force or the holding force of the female connector an optimum value, the recess 26
It is also possible to change the length L of.

[0019]

According to the present invention, the side wall having the engaging portion for engaging with the protrusion of the mating connector is provided with a recess extending from the bottom side along the longitudinal direction of the side wall and communicating with the mating connector receiving space. Since it is provided, the following effects are achieved. That is,
It is possible to obtain a robust female connector having both the function of preventing the mating connector from being inserted in the opposite direction and the function of retaining the mating connector. Moreover, since the mold structure of the housing is simple, it is easy to manufacture and the cost of the mold does not increase. Further, it does not become bulky when fitted with the mating connector.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a female connector of the present invention,
It is a (A) top view, a (B) front view, and a (C) side view.

2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a fitted state of the connector of FIG. 1 and a mating connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Female Connector 6 Male (Mating) Connector 12 Bases 14, 16 Side Walls 18, 20 End Wall 22 Space 24 Bottom 26 Recess 30 Locking Part 66 Side 70 Protrusion

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A base portion, a pair of side walls facing each other, and a pair of end walls facing each other. The mating connector is received in a space surrounded by these, and a projection provided on a side surface of the mating connector is engaged with the mating connector. A female connector in which a mating locking portion is formed on one of the side walls, in the vicinity of the locking portion of the side wall, a recess extending from the bottom surface of the base along the longitudinal direction of the side wall and communicating with the space. A female connector characterized by being formed.