JPH0922750A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify dies for molding a housing, and surely prevent the deformation of a connecting terminal in a connector in which the connecting terminal is doubly locked in the housing. SOLUTION: In a connector 30, when a retainer 36 is in a temporary lock condition, a positioning lock member 52 of a male terminal 34 engaged in a housing 32 is applied to a positioning plate 42 of the housing 32, so the male terminal 34 is positioned to a specified position. As the retainer 36 moves to a primary lock condition, the positioning lock member 52 of the male terminal 34 is locked to a step part 51 of the retainer 36, and the positioning plate 42, while a removal-protective lock member 54 of the male terminal 34 is locked to a protruded part 48 of the housing 32, thereby the male terminal 34 is doubly locked.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structure of a connector, and more particularly, to a connector in which a retainer is fitted in a connector housing (hereinafter simply referred to as a housing) to double-lock a connecting terminal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Connectors are used for connecting wire harnesses assembled to automobiles or the like, or connecting wire harnesses and electric equipment. This connector holds a connection terminal connected to the end of the wire in a resin housing, and the connection terminal and the connection terminal held in the other housing are mated by mating this connection terminal with the other connector. By doing so, they are electrically connected. In this case, the connection terminals held in the housings are doubly locked so as not to come out of the respective housings. A double locking structure of the connector for preventing the connection terminal from coming off is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-45076.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, a terminal accommodating chamber 13 into which a connecting terminal 12 is inserted is formed in the housing 10, and the connecting terminal 12 is inserted to a predetermined position in the terminal accommodating chamber 13. The convex portion 14a of the flexible locking lance 14 is locked in the concave portion of the connection terminal 12. As a result, the connection terminal 12 is positioned at the predetermined position. Next, after the retainer 16 is fitted into the housing 10, the retainer 16 is rotated 90 ° (see FIG. 6), and the protrusion 16a of the retainer 16 is rotated.
The connection terminal 14 is locked by. As a result, the connection terminal 12 is doubly locked in the housing 10.

[0004]

However, the locking lance 1 formed in the terminal accommodating chamber 13 of the housing 10 is described.
Since the shape of 4 is complicated, there is a problem that the shape of the mold for molding the housing 10 becomes complicated, which causes a cost increase.

When the connection terminal 12 is pulled out from the housing 10, a special jig is inserted into the housing 10 to release the engagement between the projection 14a of the engagement lance 14 and the connection terminal 12. It is necessary to force down the lance 14. At this time, the connecting terminal 12 is
However, there is a problem that it may be deformed or the locking lance 14 may be damaged or damaged.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, and in a connector in which a connection terminal is doubly locked in a housing, a mold for molding the housing is simplified and deformation of the connection terminal is prevented. It is to provide a connector that can.

[0007]

The above object of the present invention is to provide a connection terminal connected to an end of an electric wire and provided with two locking portions,
A first lock portion that contacts the first locking portion of one of the connection terminals at the time of inserting the connection terminal and restricts the pushing of the connection terminal and positions the connection terminal at a predetermined position, and the second lock of the other of the connection terminals is formed. A housing formed with a second lock portion that is locked to the stopper portion and prevents the connection terminal from coming off later, and the connection terminal inserted into the housing is held at the lock position and the first engagement of one of the connection terminals is performed. It can be achieved by a connector characterized in that it is constituted by a retainer that holds the stop portion in contact with the first lock portion.

The above object is also achieved by providing a positioning groove for locking the first locking portion to the first locking portion when the connection terminal abuts on the first locking portion.

The above object is also achieved by forming a part of the terminal accommodating chamber into which the connection terminal is inserted and guiding the connection terminal when the retainer is temporarily locked to the housing.

The above object is also achieved by forming a guide groove for guiding the first locking portion of the connection terminal in the fitting hole of the housing which is the insertion port of the connection terminal.

Further, the above object is achieved by forming a step portion for locking the first locking portion of the connection terminal at the front end portion of the retainer.

Further, the above object can be achieved by forming a cutout recess for inserting the front end of the connection terminal in the first lock portion.

[0013]

According to the connector of the above construction according to the present invention,
When the connecting terminal is inserted into the housing in a state where the retainer is inserted from below the housing and is temporarily locked, the first locking portion of the connection terminal is brought into contact with and locked by the first locking portion in the housing. . Next, the connection terminal is pushed up by moving the retainer from the temporarily locked state to the fully locked state, the second locking portion of the connection terminal is locked by the second locking portion in the housing, and Since the stopper is locked to the retainer, the connection terminal is double locked in the housing. Therefore,
Since the connecting terminal is doubly locked by the movement of the retainer, the first locking part and the second locking part can be made into a simple shape, and a locking lance having a complicated shape as in the past is not necessary. Therefore, the manufacturing cost can be reduced. In addition, the connecting terminal can be pulled out from the housing simply by retracting the retainer from the lock position, so there is no need to push down the locking lance with a dedicated jig as in the past, and workability during maintenance can be improved. You can

Further, by providing the positioning groove for locking the first locking portion to the first lock portion when the connection terminal contacts the first lock portion, the first lock portion at the time of contact. The end of is locked in the positioning groove. Therefore, the connection terminal can be reliably positioned at a predetermined position in a state where it can move only in the moving direction of the retainer.

Further, when the retainer is temporarily locked to the housing, it constitutes a part of the terminal accommodating chamber into which the connection terminal is inserted and guides the connection terminal. 1 The upper end surface of the retainer slides until it comes into contact with the lock portion. Therefore, stable insertion work of the connection terminal can be obtained.

Further, since the guide groove for guiding the first locking portion of the connection terminal is formed in the insertion hole of the housing which is the insertion port of the connection terminal, the insertion work of the connection terminal can be performed reliably and easily. You can

The first end of the connecting terminal is attached to the front end of the retainer.
Since the stepped portion that locks the locking portion is formed, the first locking portion of the connection terminal can be reliably locked by moving the retainer from the temporary locking state to the main locking state.

Further, since the first lock portion is formed with the notch recess for inserting the front end of the connection terminal, the retainer is moved with the front end portion of the first locking portion of the connection terminal being locked. The connection terminal can be moved reliably.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the connector of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. FIG.
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of a connector of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory view showing a temporarily locked state of the retainer in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory view showing a movement of the retainer in FIG. 4A and 4B are operation explanatory views showing the retainer in the fully locked state. As shown in FIG. 1, the connector 30 includes a housing 32, a male terminal 34, and a retainer 36. A plurality of fitting holes 38 are provided in parallel at the rear end portion 32 a of the housing 32. This fitting hole 38
Guide grooves 38a, 38a are formed on both sides of the.

Further, the terminal accommodating chamber 4 is provided in front of the fitting hole 38.
0 is formed. The terminal accommodating chamber 40 is opened at the front end portion 32c of the housing 32, and the fitting hole 3
It is in communication with 8. Then, a positioning plate 42 as a first lock portion is provided at a substantially center of the terminal accommodating chamber 40. The positioning plates 42 are erected on the bottom of the housing 32 so as to face the fitting holes 38, respectively. Further, the positioning plate 42 is provided with a slit-shaped notch recess 42 a at a position facing the fitting hole 38. As a result, the rear end portion 32 of the housing 32 is
When a male terminal 34, which will be described later, is inserted into the fitting hole 38 from a, the tip portion of the male terminal 34 is fitted into the cutout recess 42 a of the positioning plate 42.

An opening 44 is formed at the bottom of the housing 32 between the positioning plate 42 and the fitting hole 38. The opening 44 communicates with the terminal accommodating chamber 40, and the retainer 36 described later is fitted into the terminal accommodating chamber 40 through the opening 44. In addition, a positioning hole 46a that locks the retainer 36 at the temporary locking position and a lock hole 46b that locks the retainer 36 at the main locking position are formed on both sides 32b of the housing 32 that forms the terminal accommodating chamber 40. Has been done.

A ridge 48, which is a second lock portion and projects into the terminal accommodating chamber 40, is formed on the upper portion 32d of the housing 32 which forms the terminal accommodating chamber 40. The ridge portion 48 is located substantially in the middle of the positioning plate 42 and the fitting hole 38, and extends continuously from one side portion 32b of the housing 32 so as to be orthogonal to the fitting hole 38. Further, a flexible piece 33 for urging the male terminal 34 is formed on the upper portion 32d of the housing 32. That is, the flexible piece 33 prevents the male terminal 34, which is inserted into the insertion hole 38, from being lifted up at the rear portion of the male terminal 34 in the temporarily locked state by pressing the male terminal 34.

The male terminal 34 described above has an electric wire W at the rear end.
Are connected by crimping, and positioning locking pieces 52, 52, which are first locking portions, are formed on both side edges of the center in a state of being bent downward. Protrusions 34a, 34a are formed in front of the positioning locking pieces 52, 52, and a positioning groove 34b is formed between the projection 34a and the positioning locking piece 52. Further, behind the positioning locking pieces 52, 52, retaining locking pieces 54, 54 which are second locking portions are formed in a state of being bent upward.

The retainer 36 described above is provided in the housing 32.
It is formed in a rectangular block shape so that it can be fitted into the terminal accommodating chamber 40 through the opening 44. Then, when the retainer 36 is fitted into the terminal accommodating chamber 40, the retainer 3
6 is in contact with the positioning plate 42, and the rear end 36b of the retainer 36 is in the rear 32 of the terminal accommodating chamber 40.
Contact e. A step portion 51 for locking the male terminal 34 is formed at the upper front end of the retainer 36.
Locking protrusions 53 are formed on both sides of the retainer 36.

The locking projection 53 is fitted in a positioning hole 46a for positioning the retainer 36 fitted in the terminal accommodating chamber 40 at the temporary locking position, and the lock for positioning the retainer 36 at the main locking position. It fits in the hole 46b.

The operation of the connector configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the retainer 36 is fitted into the terminal accommodating chamber 40 through the opening 44 of the housing 32, and the locking projection 53 of the retainer 36 is inserted into the housing 32.
It is pushed in until it fits into the positioning hole 46a (see FIG. 1).
reference). At this time, the retainer 36 is positioned at the temporary locking position as shown in FIG.
Becomes flush with the guide grooves 38a, 38a formed in the fitting hole 38. Next, when the male terminal 34 is inserted while being biased by the flexible piece 33 from the fitting hole 38 opened in the rear end portion 32a of the housing 32, the positioning locking pieces 52, 5 are inserted.
2 is fitted into the guide grooves 38a, 38a of the fitting hole 38.

From this state, the male terminal 34 is attached to the housing 3
When the male terminal 34 is pushed in, the positioning locking pieces 52, 52 of the male terminal 34 are moved into the guide grooves 38a, 38 of the fitting hole 38.
a and the upper end portion 36c of the retainer 36 are guided. Then, the tip of the male terminal 34 is inserted into the notch recess 42 a of the positioning plate 42, and the projections 34 a, 34 a of the male terminal 34 pass over the positioning plate 42.
As a result, the positioning locking pieces 52, 52 come into contact with the positioning plate 42. Then, the side end of the notch recess 42a of the positioning plate 42 is locked in the positioning groove 34b formed between the protrusion 34a and the positioning locking piece 52. Therefore, it is possible to intuitively recognize that the male terminal 34 is positioned at the predetermined position in the terminal accommodating chamber 40.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3, when the retainer 36 is pushed upward from the temporary locking position, the retainer 36 is
The positioning locking pieces 52, 52 of the male terminal 34 are fitted into the step portion 36a formed at the upper front end of the.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4, when the retainer 36 is further pushed upward from this state, the retainer 36
The locking projection 53 of is fitted into the lock hole 46b of the housing 32, and the retainer 36 is locked at the main locking position.
At this time, the upper portion of the male terminal 34 contacts the housing 32 while pushing up the flexible piece 33, and the male terminal 34
The retaining locking pieces 54, 54 are locked to the front wall portion 48a of the protruding portion 48 formed on the upper portion of the housing 32. At this time, the rear end edge of the retaining locking piece 54 and the front end edge of the protruding portion 48 are chamfered, so that the male terminal 34 can be smoothly moved to the locking position. . As a result, the positioning locking pieces 52, 52 of the male terminal 34 are locked by the step portion 51 of the retainer 36, and the retaining locking pieces 54, 54 are locked by the protruding portion 48. The mold terminal 34 is doubly locked.

As described above, in the connector of this embodiment, when the male terminal 34 is inserted into the housing while the retainer 36 is inserted from below the housing 32 and temporarily locked, the male terminal 34 is inserted. The positioning locking piece 52 is brought into contact with and locked by the positioning plate 42 in the housing. Next, the retainer 36 is moved from the temporarily locked state to the fully locked state, whereby the male terminal 34 is pushed up, and the male terminal 3
The retaining locking piece 54 of No. 4 is locked to the ridge 48 in the housing, and the positioning locking piece 52 is attached to the retainer 36.
The male terminal 34 is doubly locked in the housing by being locked.

Therefore, since the male terminal 34 is doubly locked by the movement of the retainer 36, the positioning plate 42 and the protruding portion 48 can have a simple shape.
It is possible to eliminate the need for a locking lance having a complicated shape as in the related art. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of the connector can be reduced. In addition, by simply retracting the retainer 36 from the lock position, the male terminal 3 is coupled with the restoring force of the flexible piece 33.
Since 4 can be easily pulled out from the inside of the housing, it is not necessary to perform the complicated work of pulling out the male terminal 34 in the state where the locking lance is pushed down by the dedicated jig as in the conventional case, and the workability at the time of maintenance is improved. It is possible to improve.

It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and can be applied to other embodiments. For example, although the case where the male terminal is assembled in the housing has been described in the present embodiment, the invention can be applied to the case where the female terminal is assembled in the housing.

[0033]

As described above, according to the connector of the present invention, the connection terminal having the two locking portions and the first locking portion of one of the connection terminals are brought into contact with each other when the connection terminal is inserted. A first lock portion for restricting pushing of the connection terminal and for positioning the connection terminal at a predetermined position, and a second lock portion for locking the connection terminal at the other second locking portion and preventing the connection terminal from coming off later. And a retainer for holding the connection terminal inserted in the housing in a locked position and holding one of the first locking portions of the connection terminal in contact with the first lock portion. ing.

Therefore, the first locking portion of the connection terminal is locked by the retainer and the first lock portion, and the second locking portion of the connection terminal is locked by the retainer and the second lock portion as the retainer moves. Since the first locking portion and the second locking portion themselves are configured to be stopped, they can have a simpler shape than the conventional locking lance having flexibility. Therefore, since the shape of the housing can be simplified, the manufacturing cost at the time of molding the housing can be reduced. Further, since the connecting terminal can be pulled out from the housing simply by retracting the retainer from the lock position, it is not necessary to push down the locking lance with a dedicated jig as in the prior art. Therefore, the workability at the time of maintenance can be improved, and the reliability of the connector can be improved by eliminating the fear of deforming the connection terminal etc. by the dedicated jig.

Further, by providing the positioning groove for locking the first locking portion to the first locking portion when the connection terminal contacts the first locking portion, the first locking portion at the time of contacting. The end of is locked in the positioning groove. Therefore, the connection terminal can be reliably positioned at a predetermined position in a state where it can move only in the moving direction of the retainer.

Further, when the retainer is temporarily locked to the housing, the first locking portion of the connection terminal is located at the first position because it constitutes part of the terminal accommodating chamber into which the connection terminal is inserted and guides the connection terminal. 1 The upper end surface of the retainer slides until it comes into contact with the lock portion. Therefore, the connection terminal inserted in the housing can be accurately inserted to a predetermined position,
A stable connection terminal insertion process can be established.

Further, since the guide groove for guiding the first locking portion of the connection terminal is formed in the fitting hole of the housing which is the insertion port of the connection terminal, the insertion work of the connection terminal can be performed reliably and easily. You can

Further, the first end of the connecting terminal is attached to the front end of the retainer.
Since the stepped portion that locks the locking portion is formed, the first locking portion of the connection terminal can be reliably locked by moving the retainer from the temporary locking state to the main locking state.

Further, since the notch recess for inserting the front end of the connection terminal is formed in the first lock portion, the retainer moves with the front end portion of the first locking portion of the connection terminal locked. The connection terminal can be moved reliably.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a connector of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory view showing a temporarily locked state of the retainer in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory view showing the middle of movement of the retainer in FIG. 1 to the main locking.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory view showing a fully locked state of the retainer in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a conventional connector with retainer.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a retainer and a housing in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 30 Connector 32 Housing 34 Male Terminal (Connecting Terminal) 34a Protrusion 34b Positioning Groove 36 Retainer 40 Terminal Housing 42 Positioning Plate (First Lock Part) 42a Notch Recess 46a Positioning Hole 46b Lock Hole 48 Projection (Second Lock Part) ) 51 step portion 52 positioning locking piece (first locking portion) 54 retaining locking piece (second locking portion)

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A connection terminal which is connected to an end of an electric wire and which is provided with two locking portions, and a first locking portion which is one of the connection terminals when the connection terminal is inserted so as to press the connection terminal. A first lock portion that restricts and positions the connection terminal at a predetermined position is formed, and a second lock portion that locks to the other second locking portion of the connection terminal to prevent the connection terminal from coming off later The formed connector housing and the connection terminal inserted in the connector housing are held in a lock position, and one first locking portion of the connection terminal is held in contact with the first lock portion. A connector characterized by being configured with a retainer. 2. The connection terminal is provided with a positioning groove for locking the first locking portion to the first locking portion when abutting on the first locking portion. The connector according to claim 1. 3. The retainer constitutes a part of a terminal accommodating chamber into which the connection terminal is inserted and guides the connection terminal when the retainer is temporarily locked to the connector housing. The connector according to claim 1. 4. A guide groove for guiding the first locking portion of the connection terminal is formed in a fitting hole of the connector housing which is an insertion port of the connection terminal. Connector. 5. The connector according to claim 1, wherein a step portion for locking the first locking portion of the connection terminal is formed at a front end portion of the retainer. 6. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the first lock portion is formed with a cutout recess for inserting the front end of the connection terminal.