JPH09147952A - Electrical connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electrical connector of the same shape common to male and female, which is hardly deformed and damaged. SOLUTION: This connector is provided with a female engaging part 1 comprising a plurality of contacts 2 arranged inside, and having an opening 1a extended in the longer direction, and with a plate shaped male engaging part 3 comprising a plurality of the contacts 2 arranged, which are erected in the direction to which the aforesaid opening 1a is opened, and are extended to the longer direction along the female engaging part 1. In this case, a plate- shaped protection wall 11 is provided which, at a place facing the female engaging part 1 with the male engaging part 3 between, is erected in parallel with the male engaging part 3 and is extended longitudinally along the male engaging part 3 and which is brought into slide contact with the outer wall 12 of the female engaging part 1 of another electrical connector at the time of engagement with another electrical connector of the same shape.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hermaphroditic electrical connector.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, many kinds of electric connectors have been used to connect two electric / electronic circuits to each other, and one of them is a hermaphroditic electric connector. FIG.
FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing an example of a conventional hermaphroditic electrical connector. The electrical connector 9 includes a female fitting portion 1 and a male fitting portion 3. The female fitting portion 1 has an opening 1a extending in the longitudinal direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. The male fitting portion 3 is erected in a direction in which the opening 1a of the female fitting portion 1 faces, and has a plate-like shape extending in the longitudinal direction along the female fitting portion 1. ing. The female fitting portion 1 and the male fitting portion 3 both have a common base portion 18.

Further, a plurality of contacts 2 are arranged in the longitudinal direction inside the opening 1a of the female fitting portion 1, and the same number of contacts 4 are also arranged in the male fitting portion 3. . A harness connector 6 is fitted in a space 5 on the side opposite to the contact 4 of the male fitting portion 3,
Is connected to a wiring 7 for connecting to another electric / electronic circuit (not shown).

A pair of hermaphroditic electrical connectors 9 and 9 configured as described above are combined, and the other electrical connector 9 is inserted into the opening 1a of the female fitting portion 1 of one electrical connector 9.
The male fitting portion 3 of one of the electric connectors 9 and the male fitting portion 3 of the one electric connector 9 into the opening 1a of the female fitting portion 1 of the other electric connector 9 2 and 4 are electrically connected to each other, and both electrical connectors 9 and 9 are mechanically and firmly coupled.

[0005]

However, as shown in FIG. 7, the conventional hermaphroditic electrical connector 9 has a male section having a plate-shaped cross section as compared with the female fitting section 1 having a box-shaped section. Due to the low strength of the mold fitting portion 3, the male fitting portion 3 is often damaged or deformed and may become unusable during handling of the electric connector alone before fitting.

Further, since the contact 4 of the male fitting portion 3 before fitting is normally exposed, it may be unusable due to deformation or contamination of the contact. In view of the above circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a hermaphroditic electrical connector that is resistant to deformation and damage.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An electrical connector of the present invention that achieves the above object comprises a female fitting portion having a plurality of contacts arranged therein and having an opening extending in a predetermined longitudinal direction. A plate-shaped male fitting portion in which a plurality of contacts are arranged, which is erected in the direction in which the opening faces and extends in the longitudinal direction along the female fitting portion, In the electrical connector capable of being fitted with the electrical connector, the male connector is erected in parallel with the male connector at a position facing the female connector with the male connector interposed therebetween. A plate-shaped protective wall extending along the fitting portion in the longitudinal direction and slidingly contacting the outer wall of the female fitting portion of the other electric connector when fitted with another electric connector of the same type. Is characterized by.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. 1 is an elevation view showing an embodiment of an electrical connector of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view seen from the direction A in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a plan view seen from the direction B in FIG. 1, and FIG. Is C in FIG.
It is the side view seen from the direction, and FIG. 5 is D- of FIG.
It is sectional drawing seen from the D'direction.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the electrical connector 10 of this embodiment includes a female fitting portion 1 and a male fitting portion 3.
And a protective wall 11. The female fitting part 1 is
The whole has an elongated shape extending in the longitudinal direction, and has an opening 1a extending in the longitudinal direction and having a plurality of contacts 2 arranged therein. The male fitting portion 3 has a plate-like shape that is erected in the direction in which the opening 1 a of the female fitting portion 1 faces and extends in the longitudinal direction along the female fitting portion 1. The female fitting portion 1 and the male fitting portion 3 both have a common base portion 18.

The protection wall 11 is erected in parallel with the male fitting portion 3 at a position facing the female fitting portion 1 with the male fitting portion 3 interposed therebetween, and extends along the male fitting portion 3. And has a plate-like shape extending in the longitudinal direction. In addition, the base portion 18 of the female fitting portion 1
The tine portions 2a of the plurality of contacts 2 are arrayed in the, and these serve as contacts with the electric / electronic circuit. Similarly,
On the base portion 18 of the male fitting portion 3, the tine portions 4a of the plurality of contacts 4 are arranged and similarly serve as contacts with an electric / electronic circuit.

The inner wall 14 of the plate-shaped protective wall 11 is an outer wall 12 of the female fitting portion 1 of another electric connector 10 of the same type when the electric connector 10 is fitted to the electric connector 10 of the same type. It is configured to be in sliding contact with. In this way, the male fitting part 3 is covered by the plate-shaped protective wall 11 extending along the male fitting part 3, so that the male connector in the state of the electric connector alone before fitting is The die fitting portion 3 itself and the contacts 4 are protected from damage, deformation, contamination and the like.

In addition, the protective wall 11 is in sliding contact with the outer wall of the female fitting portion of the other electrical connector when the electrical connector 10 is fitted with the other electrical connector of the same type, so that in the normal hermaphroditic electrical connector. The mechanical connection by male and female fitting is further strengthened, and a more reliable mechanical connection is realized. Further, the outer wall 12 of the female fitting portion 1 is provided with four protrusions 13 in the longitudinal direction, while the inner wall 1 of the protective wall 11 is provided.
4 are provided with the same number of groove portions 15, and these protrusions 13 and groove portions 15 constitute a locking mechanism that engages with each other when this electric connector 10 is fitted to another electric connector 10 of the same type. .

Next, the details of the fitted state and the lock mechanism will be described. FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a state in which the electric connector of this embodiment is fitted with another electric connector of the same type. As shown in FIG. 6, in the two electrical connectors 10 and 100 of the same type, the female fitting portion 1 and the male fitting portion 103 are coupled to each other, and the female fitting portion 101 and the male fitting portion are combined. 3 are connected to each other. In addition, the electrical connector 10,
100 has bases 18 and 118 fixed on substrates 16 and 116, respectively.

Further, the protective wall 1 of the one electric connector 10
The inner wall 14 of No. 1 is in sliding contact with the outer wall 112 of the female fitting portion 101 of the other electric connector 100, and both electric connectors 1
0 and 100 are mechanically and firmly connected. The same applies to the protective wall 111 of the other electrical connector 100. Next, how the protrusion 13 and the groove 15 are engaged with each other and locked will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

In the process of fitting the two electric connectors,
The slanted portion 13a of the protrusion 13 of the electric connector 10 enters while expanding the inner wall 114 of the protection wall 111 on the other side, and the protrusion 13 is a groove 115 provided on the inner wall 114 of the protection wall 111, that is, a protrusion. The engaging portion 13b of 13 reaches the position where it engages with the engaging portion 17 of the groove portion 115 on the mating side and is locked, but at the same time, the inclined portion 113a of the protrusion 113 of the electrical connector 100 is The inner wall 14 of the protective wall 11 is pushed in while being expanded, and the protrusion 113 reaches the groove 15 provided in the inner wall 14 of the protective wall 11 and is locked. In this way, the two electrical connectors 10, 10 are locked by being locked at the two positions of the groove portion 15 and the groove portion 115.
The mated state of 0 is reliably maintained.

The electrical connector 10 fitted in this way,
100 is mechanically and electrically tightly coupled. That is, in this embodiment, since the male fitting portion and the female fitting portion are provided with engaging means having shapes corresponding to each other (shapes that engage with each other when the electrical connectors of the same type are fitted),
The fitting with the electric connector of the same type is surely maintained.

[0017]

As described above, according to the electrical connector of the present invention, it is erected in parallel with the male fitting portion at a position facing the female fitting portion sandwiching the male fitting portion. The plate-shaped protective wall extending in the longitudinal direction along the male fitting portion can prevent the male fitting portion from being damaged or deformed during handling of the electric connector alone before fitting.

Further, when the electric connector is fitted to another electric connector of the same type, the protective wall comes into sliding contact with the outer wall of the female fitting portion of the other electric connector of the same type. The mechanical coupling degree can be increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an elevational view showing an embodiment of an electrical connector of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view as viewed from a direction A in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view seen from the direction B in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a side view seen from the direction C in FIG.

5 is a cross-sectional view as seen from the direction D-D 'in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the electric connector of the present embodiment is fitted with another electric connector of the same type.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing an example of a conventional hermaphroditic electrical connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Female Fitting Part 1a Opening 1b Base Part of Female Fitting Part 2 Contact 2a Tine Part 3 Male Fitting Part 3b Base Part of Female Fitting Part 4 Contact 4a Tine Part 5 Vacancy 6 Harness Connector 7 Wiring 9 Electrical Connector 10 Electrical connector 11 Protective wall 12 Outer wall 13 Projection part 13a Inclined part 13b Engagement part 14 Inner wall 15 Groove part 16 Board 17 Engagement part 18 Base 100 Electrical connector 101 Female fitting part 102 Contact 103 Male fitting part 111 Protection Wall 112 Outer wall 113 Projection 113a Slope 114 Inner wall 115 Groove 116 Substrate 118 Base

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A female fitting portion having a plurality of contacts arranged therein and having an opening extending in a predetermined longitudinal direction, and a female fitting portion provided upright in a direction in which the opening faces. An electrical connector that extends along the longitudinal direction and has a plate-shaped male fitting portion in which a plurality of contacts are arranged, and is capable of fitting with another electrical connector of the same type; The same type of fitting member, which is erected parallel to the male fitting portion and extends in the longitudinal direction along the male fitting portion, at a position opposed to the fitting portion with the male fitting portion interposed therebetween. An electrical connector comprising a plate-shaped protective wall that is in sliding contact with an outer wall of a female fitting portion of the other electrical connector when mated with the other electrical connector.