JPH09320692A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To visually detect the fitted state of connectors. SOLUTION: A female housing 2 is provided with a detecting pin 31 in such a way that the pin passes through its back plate 2a and is free to move, and the detecting pin 31 is energized with a force of movement in the retracting direction by a compression coil spring 37. The detecting pin 31 is locked by a deformable locking arm 39 against the energizing force, and is constantly held in a position where it projects from the back plate 2a. When the female housing 2 is normally fitted into the male housing 1, the locking arm 39 is deformed by a releasing arm 42 projected from the surface of the depth of the male housing 1 and is unlocked from the locking pin 31, and the detecting pin 31 is drawn into the female housing 2 by the energizing force.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector having a fitting detection function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a connector provided in an important circuit such as an air bag circuit, an electric fitting detection function is additionally provided in order to accurately detect whether or not the connector is properly fitted. Has been done. Specifically, one connector housing has a built-in short-circuit terminal, and when both connector housings are properly fitted and locked by the lock lever, the short-circuit terminal is linked to this and the short-circuit terminal is provided on the mating connector housing. By contacting with and short-circuiting, the fitting state is electrically detected.

[0003]

By the way, the above-mentioned detection method can detect only in the place where the detection device is installed, such as in the final inspection step in the connector assembly line. On the other hand, in some cases, it may be desired to check the fitted state even during the assembly line, but this cannot be done by the conventional method. The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a connector having a function capable of easily detecting a fitted state visually without installing a special inspection device. And

[0004]

As means for achieving the above object, the invention of claim 1 is characterized in that both connector housings are fitted to either one of a pair of connector housings fitted to each other. In the case where the surface is visible from the outside, a detection member movable between an advanced position protruding from the surface and a retracted position retracted to the surface is provided, and the detection member is provided in either of the two positions. In the case where both the connector housings are fitted properly, the biasing means for moving and biasing the one side position, the locking means for always locking the detection member against the biasing force in the other position, The present invention is characterized in that a lock releasing means for releasing the lock of the locking means is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the detecting member is always locked at the advanced position, and is moved to the retracted position when both connector housings are properly fitted. There is a feature in that. The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or claim 2,
A fixed contact provided in the vicinity of the moving range of the detection member,
The present invention is characterized in that a movable contact that comes into contact with and separates from the fixed contact in response to the movement of the detection member is provided.

[0006]

[Operation and effect of the invention]

<Invention of Claim 1> The detection member is always locked at either one of the forward and backward positions against the biasing force. In this state, the connector is in a non-fitting state or a semi-fitting state. When both connector housings are properly fitted, the locking of the detection member is released and the biasing force moves the position to the position opposite to the locking position. That is, the fitting state of the connector can be easily and accurately detected by visually observing the position of the detection member.

<Invention of Claim 2> Since the detection member is retracted when the connector is properly fitted, there is little risk of interference with other members when the connector is installed at a predetermined mounting location. And so on, it will be excellent in usability.

<Invention of Claim 3> When the connector is properly fitted and the detecting member is moved to a predetermined position, the contact / separation state of the movable contact and the fixed contact is switched, and the fitting state is electrically detected. Is possible. That is, in addition to the mechanical type, it is possible to have an electrical fitting detection function together.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. <First Embodiment> FIGS. 1 to 10 show a first embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment exemplifies a PCB connector, and as shown in FIG. 1, a male connector housing 1 (hereinafter, simply referred to as a male housing) connected to a printed wiring board and a female connector to be fitted thereto. Side connector housing 2 (hereinafter, simply referred to as a female housing).

The male housing 1 is made of a synthetic resin material and is formed in a box shape having an opening on the front side which is a fitting side. In the male housing 1, a plurality of male terminal fittings formed in an L shape are formed. One end side of 3 is aligned and projected from a predetermined position on the back surface. As shown in FIG. 8, the other end of each male terminal fitting 3 penetrates an alignment plate 4 projecting from the bottom of the back surface of the male housing 1 and projects downward to connect to a contact of a printed wiring board (not shown). It is possible. Male terminal fitting 3
Of these, the two male terminal fittings at the center of the uppermost stage serve as detection terminals 3a for fitting detection, which will be described later.

The female housing 2 is also made of a synthetic resin material, and is formed in a block shape that can be fitted into the male housing 1 described above. Inside the female housing 2,
A plurality of cavities 6 are formed in line, and each cavity 6 has a female terminal fitting 8 fixed to the end of an electric wire 7.
(See FIG. 8), respectively, and each female terminal fitting 8
Can be individually fitted and connected to the male terminal fitting 3 except the detection terminal 3a on the male housing 1 side.

A lock arm 10 is provided in the center of the upper surface of the female housing 2 for locking the male housing 1 in a fitted state, and a mounting space 12 for mounting the short-circuit terminal 11 is provided below the lock arm 10. It is provided. The lock arm 10 is provided so as to extend from the front edge of the female housing 2 toward the rear edge side, and as shown in FIG. 8, the tip side on which the pressing operation portion 14 is formed is bent toward the mounting space 12. It is transformable. At the center of the upper surface of the lock arm 10 in the lengthwise direction, the front surface side is inclined surface 1
6, the locking projection 15 is formed.

On the other hand, an insertion groove 18 into which the above-mentioned lock arm 10 can be inserted is formed in the front surface in the central portion in the width direction of the ceiling surface inside the male housing 1.
On the ceiling surface of the insertion groove 18, an abutting portion 19 that can abut against the locking projection 15 of the lock arm 10 is provided in a protruding manner, and an inclined riding surface 20 is formed on the front end side thereof.

That is, when the female housing 2 is fitted into the male housing 1, the abutment portion 19 abuts the inclined surface 16 of the locking projection 15 during the fitting, so that as shown in FIG. When the lock arm 10 is pushed into the mounting space 12 side while being flexibly deformed, and the female housing 2 is fitted to the inner surface of the male housing 1, that is, to the regular position, the locking projection 15
Reaches the rear of the abutting portion 19, and as shown in FIG. 10, the lock arm 10 is restored and deformed so that the locking ridge 15 is abutted on the abutting portion 19.
By being locked on the rear surface, it is locked in a retaining state. If the pressing arm 14 is pressed to bend the lock arm 10 from the locked state,
Since the locking projection 15 is unlocked, the fitting can be released by pulling it out as it is.

The structure of the electrical fitting detecting portion which works in conjunction with the above-mentioned locking operation is as follows. The short-circuit terminal 11 is mounted in the mounting space 12 of the female housing 2. As shown in FIG. 1, the short-circuit terminal 11 includes two elastic contact pieces 2 spaced apart from each other.
The connection plate 23 also serving as a mounting portion is placed on the base end side of 2,
In addition, the pressed portion 24 is formed so as to rise at the tips of the elastic contact pieces 22. This short-circuit terminal 11
As shown in FIG. 8, the connection plate 23 is attached by being inserted into the attachment groove 26 formed in the bottom portion of the front edge of the attachment space 12, and each elastic contact piece 22 has its tip end side facing rearward. It gradually takes an inclined posture with an upward slope, and the tip side is elastically deformable downward. Then, when the female housing 2 is fitted into the male housing 1, the two detection terminals 3a provided in the male housing 1 can respectively enter toward the upper surface of the tip end portion of the elastic contact piece 22. Has become.

Further, on the upper surface side of both the detection terminals 3a, the receiving plate 2 for restricting the upward bending deformation of the detection terminals 3a.
7 is formed so as to project from the back surface. A guide plate 28, which guides the receiving plate 27 along the lower surface side, is formed on the one mounting space 12 side so as to be folded back from the front edge toward the rear edge side. Specifically, when the female housing 2 is fitted close to the inner surface of the male housing 1, the detection terminal 3a enters into the mounting space 12 before it can come into contact with the elastic contact piece 22. As shown in FIG. 4, the lock arm 10 is bent and deformed downward, and the elastic contact piece 22 is bent and deformed downward by pressing the pressed portion 24. Therefore, the detection terminal 3a and the elastic contact piece 22 are deformed.
Hasn't touched yet. However, as shown in FIG. 10, when the female housing 2 is properly fitted and the lock arm 10 is restored to its original shape, the elastic contact piece 22 is also restored and deformed by removing the pressing force on the pressed portion 24. The setting is such that the corresponding detection terminals 3a are sandwiched and pressed against the receiving plate 27.

In this embodiment, a mechanical fitting detection function is added, and the structure thereof will be described below. A detection pin 31 is provided at the upper right corner of the female housing 2 when viewed from the back so as to be able to move forward and backward. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the detection pin 31 is formed in a round bar shape, and a stopper plate 33 is continuously provided at a rear end of the detection pin 31 via spring receivers 32 formed in a protruding shape on both left and right sides. The pin 31 is the rear plate 2a of the female housing 2.
It is movably installed in the front-rear direction by penetrating the insertion hole 35 opened in the. Around the detection pin 31,
A compression coil spring 37 is attached to both ends of the spring receiver 32 and the inner surface of the back plate 2a, and the detection pin 31 is attached.
On the other hand, the moving force in the direction of being drawn into the female housing 2 is urged. A stopper 31a is fixed to the tip of the detection pin 31 by post-attachment such as adhesion or press-fitting. On the other hand, the outer diameter of the insertion hole 35 is fitted with the stopper 31a. The portion 35a is formed in a stepped shape, and the stopper 31a is fitted and locked to the expanded diameter portion 35a, so that the detection pin 31 is prevented from coming out in front of the female housing 2. .

A pair of locking arms 39 are provided on the left and right sides at a position slightly below the detection pin 31. The locking arm 39 is provided on the rear plate 2 of the female housing 2.
The hook portion 40 is provided so as to project from a toward the front, and a hook portion 40 for locking is provided on the upper surface of the tip, and the tip side thereof can be bent and deformed downward. And the hook portion 40 of the locking arm 39
Is locked to the spring receiver 32 of the detection pin 31, the movement in the direction in which the detection pin 31 is pulled in is restricted, and the tip end side of the detection pin 31 is set to project outside the back plate 2a.

On the other hand, a pair of left and right release arms 42 are provided so as to project from the inner surface of the male housing 1. The hook 40 of the locking arm 39 is provided on the lower surface of the tip of the release arm 42.
Is formed with a hook 43 that can come into contact with. More specifically, when the female housing 2 is pushed into the male housing 1 and slightly before the normal fitting, the hook portions 40, 43 of both arms 39, 42 come into contact with each other, as shown in FIG. When the fitting is further fitted, the locking arm 39 is gradually bent and deformed downward, and when the housings 1 and 2 are fitted together properly, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the hook 40 of the locking arm 39 is bent and deformed by the time it rides on the top of the hook 43 of the release arm 42, and the locking of the spring bearing 32 is released.
It can be moved in the direction in which 1 is drawn. The stopper plate 3 moves when the detection pin 31 is pulled in.
3 is restricted by contacting the inner surface of the male housing 1,
At that time, the tip of the detection pin 31 is set so that the stopper 31a fits into the enlarged diameter portion 35a and is set inside the insertion hole 35.

The first embodiment has the above-mentioned structure, and its operation will be described below. First, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 and 4, the detection pin 31 is attached to the female housing 2 while being locked with the tip thereof protruding toward the back side, and the short-circuit terminal 11 is attached to the attachment space 12. . Then, the female housing 2 having the female terminal fitting 8 mounted thereon is fitted into the mating male housing 1.

When the female housing 2 is pushed to a position slightly in front of the inner surface of the male housing 1 as shown in FIG. 5, the inclined surface 40a of the hook portion 40 of the locking arm 39 projects from the male housing 1. It comes into contact with the inclined surface 43a of the hook portion 43 of the released arm 42. When it is further pushed in from there, it is guided by both inclined surfaces 40a and 43a, and the tip of the locking arm 39 gradually bends and deforms downward.

When the female housing 2 comes into contact with the inner surface of the male housing 1, that is, when the male and female terminal fittings 3 and 8 are pushed into a position where they are normally fitted, as shown in FIG. The hook 40 is flexed and deformed by the time it rides on the top of the hook 43 of the release arm 42, the hook 40 is disengaged from the spring receiver 32, and the detection pin 31 is compressed by the compression coil spring 37.
Is restored into the female housing 2. The detection pin 31 is stopped by the stopper plate 33 hitting the inner surface of the male housing 1, and the tip of the detection pin 31 is inserted into the insertion hole 35.
It is pulled in until it fits in. That is, the detection pin 31
Was initially projected from the back plate 2a of the female housing 2 as shown in FIG. 1, but the two housings 1 and 2 are properly fitted by retracting the back plate 2a substantially flush with the housing 2 as shown in FIG. It can be visually detected.

On the other hand, during the above fitting operation, the lock arm 10 provided on the female housing 2 is inserted into the insertion groove 18 of the male housing 1, so that the female housing 2 is located just before the normal fitting position. When pushed in, as shown in FIG. 9, the detection terminal 3a enters into the mounting space 12 by the time it can come into contact with the elastic contact piece 22 of the short-circuit terminal 11, but the lock arm 10 is mounted so as to match the timing. The pressed portion 24 of the short-circuit terminal 11 is bent and deformed toward the space 12 side.
Since the elastic contact piece 22 is flexed and deformed downward by pressing, the detection terminal 3a and the elastic contact piece 22 are not yet in contact with each other.

The female housing 2 is replaced by the male housing 1.
When the lock arm 10 reaches the inner surface of the lock and is fitted properly, as shown in FIG. 10, the lock arm 10 is restored and deformed by the restoring elasticity,
The locking projection 15 is locked to the rear surface of the abutting portion 19 so that the locking projection 15 is locked in the retaining state. Lock arm 1
When 0 is restored to its original shape, the pressing force applied to the pressed portion 24 of the short-circuit terminal 11 is removed, and the elastic contact piece 22 is also restored and deformed and pressed against the receiving plate 27 while sandwiching the corresponding detection terminal 3a. As a result, both detection terminals 3a are connected to the short-circuit terminal 11
It is possible to electrically detect that the female housing 2 is properly fitted by being short-circuited via the. When the housings 1 and 2 are removed for maintenance or the like, the stopper 31a of the detection pin 31 has the expanded diameter portion 3 of the insertion hole 35.
By being locked by 5a, it is stopped and placed in the female housing 2.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, it is possible to easily and accurately detect the fitting state of the connector by visually checking whether or not the detection pin 31 is retracted into the female housing 2. . Therefore, for example, it is possible to easily detect even in the middle of an assembly line where an electrical inspection device is not provided. When the connector is properly fitted, the detection pin 31 is retracted into the female housing 2, so there is no risk of interfering with other members when the connector is subsequently installed at a predetermined mounting location. .

<Second Embodiment> FIGS. 11 to 13 show a second embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, the first
The mechanical fitting detection mechanism shown in the embodiment has an electrical detection function. for that reason,
As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, a short-circuit plate 45 made of a conductive material is stretched at the tip of the stopper plate 33 connected to the detection pin 31 described above. In one male housing 1, a pair of detection terminals 3b is arranged so as to face a portion of the inner surface thereof against which the above-mentioned short circuit plate 45 abuts. Therefore, the short-circuit terminal 11 shown in the first embodiment
Electrical sensing means such as. Other structures are first
Since it is the same as that of the embodiment, the same parts are designated by the same reference numerals and the duplicated description will be omitted.

Therefore, in this second embodiment, when the female housing 2 is properly fitted to the male housing 1, the tip of the detection pin 31 is pulled into the female housing 2 so that it can be visually detected. At the same time, as shown in FIG. 13, the short-circuit plate 4 provided at the tip of the stopper plate 33.
5 abuts on both ends of the detection terminals 3b on the male housing 1 side, and the detection terminals 3b are short-circuited via the short-circuit plate 45, so that electrical fitting is detected. That is, since the electrical detection mechanism is provided side by side with the mechanical fitting detection portion, the structure of the connector can be simplified.

<Other Embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. In addition, various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

(1) In the second embodiment, the detection pin itself is provided with a short-circuit plate and is connected to and separated from the detection terminal to form an electric switch. However, the fixed contact and the movable contact are provided in the housing. It is also possible to provide an electric switch of the type in which when the detection pin moves to a predetermined position, the movable contact is pressed to switch the contact / separation state with respect to the fixed contact.

(2) Contrary to the above embodiment, the detection pin may be always retained in the retracted state and the detection pin may be advanced when both housings are properly fitted. (3) Further, the detection pin may be provided on the male connector side. (4) Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the PCB connector shown in the above embodiment, but can be widely applied to other connectors in general.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a connector according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state where the connector is properly fitted.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway side view of a male and female housing before fitting.

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway plan view thereof.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway side view of a state before the female housing is normally fitted.

FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway side view showing a state where the female housing is properly fitted.

FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway plan view thereof.

FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway side view showing a structure of an electrical fitting detection portion.

FIG. 9 is a partially cutaway side view of a state before the female housing is normally fitted.

FIG. 10 is a partially cutaway side view showing a state where the female housing is properly fitted.

FIG. 11 is a partially cutaway side view of the male and female housings according to the second embodiment of the present invention before fitting.

FIG. 12 is a partially cutaway plan view thereof.

FIG. 13 is a partially cutaway plan view showing a state where the female housing is properly fitted.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Male connector housing 2 ... Female connector housing 2a ... Back plate 31 ... Detection pin 35 ... Insertion hole 37 ... Compression coil spring 39 ... Locking arm 42 ... Release arm 45 ... Short-circuit plate 3a ... Detection terminal

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An advancing position projecting from one of a pair of connector housings that are fitted to each other and a surface side visible from the outside when the both connector housings are fitted to each other. A detection member movable between the retracted position and the retracted position is provided, and the detection member is always biased by a biasing unit that moves and biases the detection member to one of the two positions. Locking means for locking in the other position against the lock and locking releasing means for unlocking the locking means when both connector housings are properly fitted. Characteristic connector. 2. The structure according to claim 1, wherein the detection member is always locked at the advanced position and is moved to the retracted position when both connector housings are properly fitted. connector. 3. A fixed contact provided in the vicinity of the moving range of the detection member, and a movable contact that comes into contact with and separates from the fixed contact in response to the movement of the detection member. Alternatively, the connector according to claim 2.