JPH0976747A - Connector for defogger - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To avoid deformation of a terminal metal fitting. SOLUTION: A connector housing 13 receiving a female terminal metal fitting is constituted of a terminal receiving part and a hood part 23, and the hood part 23 is constituted of a pair of hood wall parts 24 and a hood cover part 25 closing an opening extending from the upper face to the left side. When the female terminal metal fitting is combined with a male terminal metal fitting 11 fixed on the side of a rear window, the male terminal metal fitting 11 is covered with the hood part 23. Consequently, because the male terminal metal fitting 11 does not become in the exposed condition, direct deformation by external force against the male terminal metal fitting 11 can be avoided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

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

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In some vehicle rear windows, heat rays are printed to prevent the glass from fogging. The heat wire is connected to a defogger device provided on the vehicle body via a connector. Now, as shown in FIG. 4, this connector is arranged on one side of the rear window 1 and is composed of a female terminal fitting (not shown) and a male terminal fitting 2 which can be connected to each other. . The female terminal fitting is connected to the power source side of the defogger device (not shown) and is housed in the connector housing 3. Also,
The male terminal fitting 2 is formed by bending a conductive metal plate, is fixed to the frame portion of the rear window 1, and is connected to the heating wire 4.

[0003]

However, in the above structure, since the male terminal fitting is not housed in the connector housing and is exposed, a part of the male terminal fitting sticks out from the connector housing even when it is connected to the female terminal fitting. Part of the metal fitting is left exposed. Therefore, there is a possibility that the exposed portion may directly receive an external force and the terminal fitting may be deformed. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a defogger connector capable of avoiding deformation of a terminal fitting.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the defogger connector of the present invention has terminal fittings that can be coupled to each other, and one terminal fitting is housed in a connector housing and the other fitting. In the defogger connector in which the terminal fitting is fixed to the wall surface and is exposed, the connector housing is characterized in that it is configured to cover the other terminal fitting on the mating side (the invention of claim 1). Further, the connector housing may be formed of a terminal accommodating portion that accommodates one of the terminal fittings and a hood portion that extends from the terminal accommodating portion and covers the other terminal fitting that is a mating side. Invention of 2).

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when one terminal fitting housed in the connector housing and the other exposed terminal fitting are coupled, the other exposed terminal fitting is a connector. Covered by the housing. According to the second aspect of the present invention, when one of the terminal fittings housed in the connector housing and the other terminal fitting in the exposed state are combined, the other terminal fitting in the exposed state is connected to the connector housing. Covered by the hood part of.

[0006]

As described above, according to the present invention as set forth in claims 1 and 2, since the other exposed terminal metal fitting is covered, the deformation of the terminal metal fitting can be avoided in the coupled state. Produce an effect.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the defogger connector of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The defogger connector of the present embodiment is disposed on one side of the rear window on the indoor side, and is used to connect the defogger device provided on the vehicle body and the heat wire printed on the rear window. is there.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the defogger connector has male terminal fittings 11 that can be connected to each other.
The male terminal fitting 11 is connected to the heating wire 4 (see FIG. 4), and the female terminal fitting 12 is connected to a defogger device (not shown). Further, the female terminal fitting 12 is adapted to be housed in the connector housing 13, while the male terminal fitting 11 is fitted in the connector housing 1.
It is not housed in 3 and is exposed.

The male terminal fitting 11 is formed by bending a conductive metal plate, and has a shape in which an elastic contact piece 16 projects obliquely upward from one end of the fixed plate 14 via a projecting piece 15. Further, both ends of the fixing plate 14 are soldered onto the connecting portion 17 (see FIG. 4) in which the heating wire 4 is widened.

The female terminal fitting 12 is generally composed of a contact portion 18 and a barrel portion 19. In the barrel portion 19, the core wire exposed from the coated end of the electric wire 20 is caulked and fixed. Cage and this caulked and fixed electric wire 20
Is connected to a defogger device (not shown). Further, the elastic contact piece 16 of the male terminal fitting 11 is inserted into the contact portion 18, whereby the male terminal fitting 11 is inserted.
And the female terminal fitting 12 are in a coupled state. As the female terminal fitting 12, a so-called faston type fitting is known.

The connector housing 13 is formed of a synthetic resin material into a rectangular parallelepiped, and is composed of a terminal accommodating portion 30 and a hood portion 23. A terminal accommodating chamber 21 is formed inside the terminal accommodating portion 30. And, here, the terminal accommodating port 21a formed on the right side surface of the connector housing 13
The faston type female terminal fitting 12 is accommodated via the. At this time, the female terminal fitting 1
The electric wire 20 connected to the second barrel portion 19 is drawn out of the connector housing 13 through the terminal accommodating port 21a. Further, a terminal insertion opening 21b is formed on the left side surface of the terminal accommodating chamber 21, from which the male terminal fitting 11 is
The elastic contact piece 16 is inserted and comes into contact with the contact portion 18 of the female terminal fitting 12. An engaging protrusion 22 is formed on the bottom of the terminal accommodating chamber 21, and an engaging piece 18b formed on the bottom plate of the female terminal fitting 12 is engaged therewith to prevent the female terminal fitting 12 from coming off. It is supposed to be done.

Further, on the left side of the terminal accommodating portion 30, a hood portion 23 is integrally formed so as to extend. Hood part 23
Is a pair of hood wall portions 2 formed by extending both front and rear side walls of the terminal accommodating portion 30 so as to face each other in the left direction.
4 and a hood lid 25 that is bent and formed in an L-shape so as to cover the openings from the upper surfaces to the left side surfaces of both hood wall portions 24. This hood lid 25
Is connected to the upper surface of the terminal accommodating portion 30 via a hinge portion 26, and stands upright with respect to the connector housing 13 (the position shown in FIG. 2) and falls down to fold the hood portion 23.
It is rotatable with respect to the lying position (the position shown in FIG. 3) that covers the opening. That is, in the lying position, the hood portion 23
Is open only on the bottom surface, and the top surface and the left side surface are closed by the hood lid portion 25, and in the standing position, the hood portion 23 is opened from the left side surface to the top surface in addition to the bottom surface. Further, on the back surface of the hood lid portion 25, a pair of locking claws 27 are projectingly formed so as to face each other at substantially the center portions of the front and rear edges, and these are formed on the inner side surface of the hood wall portion 24 in the lying position. The engaging protrusions 28 that are formed so as to be opposed to substantially the central portion can be elastically engaged with each other. The connector housing 13
The corners and the bent portion of the hood lid 25 are rounded to improve the feel.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
Male terminal fitting 1 fixed to one side of rear window 1
In order to connect the female terminal fitting 12 connected to the defogger device to 1, first, the hood lid portion 25 of the connector housing 13 is rotated to the upright position to open the hood portion 23 from the left side surface to the upper surface ( See FIG. 2). Then, the elastic contact piece 16 of the male terminal fitting 11 is inserted into the terminal insertion opening 21b through the left side surface of the opening. As a result, the elastic contact piece 16 is inserted into the contact portion 18 of the female terminal fitting 12 housed in the connector housing 13, and the female terminal fitting 12 and the male terminal fitting 11 are brought into a coupled state. Further, thereafter, the hood lid portion 25 in the standing position is rotated to the lying position. As a result, the left side surface and the upper surface of the hood portion 23 are closed and the male terminal fitting 11 is covered (see FIG. 3). Further, at this time, the locking claw 27 of the hood lid portion 25 engages with the engaging protrusion 28 of the hood wall portion 24, and the hood lid portion 25.
Is locked in that position.

As described above, in this embodiment, the exposed male terminal fitting 11 is covered with the hood portion 23 by being combined with the female terminal fitting 12, so that the male terminal fitting 11 is not directly deformed by an external force. There is an effect that it can be avoided. Further, in order to avoid damage to the male terminal fitting, it may be considered that the male terminal fitting itself is housed in a connector housing for the male terminal fitting. However, in the present embodiment, the connector housing housing the female terminal fitting 12. Since the male terminal fitting 11 is covered with 13, the deformation of the male terminal fitting can be avoided even in combination with the conventional male terminal fitting. Therefore, when the conventional one is already mounted, the deformation of the male terminal fitting can be avoided by replacing only the female terminal fitting side with that of the present embodiment.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be modified and implemented as follows, for example, and these embodiments also belong to the technical scope of the present invention. (1) In the above-described embodiment, the hood portion 23 is configured such that the left side surface and the upper surface thereof can be opened and closed by the hood lid portion 25, but the opening on the bottom surface of the hood portion is formed wide, and only the opening on the bottom surface is formed. If the elastic contact piece can be inserted into the terminal insertion opening via, without providing the hood lid,
The left side surface and the upper surface may be always closed. In addition, the present invention can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the scope of the invention.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the entirety of the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a state in which a hood portion is opened.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a hood portion is closed.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 ... Male terminal fitting (other terminal fitting) 12 ... Female terminal fitting (one terminal fitting) 13 ... Connector housing 23 ... Hood part 30 ... Terminal accommodating part

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A defogger connector having terminal fittings that can be coupled to each other, wherein one terminal fitting is accommodated in a connector housing and the other terminal fitting is fixed to a wall surface and exposed. The defogger connector, wherein the housing is configured to cover the other terminal metal fitting on the other side when coupled. 2. The connector housing includes a terminal accommodating portion that accommodates the one terminal fitting, and a hood portion that extends from the terminal accommodating portion and covers the other terminal fitting that is a mating side. The defogger connector according to claim 1, wherein: