JPH0976748A - Connector for defogger - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To avoid deformation of a terminal metal fitting. SOLUTION: A connector for defogger is provided with a male terminal metal fitting 11 and a female terminal metal fitting 12, and the male terminal metal fitting 11 is received in a connector housing 16. This connector housing 16 is formed so the the female terminal metal fitting 12 can be covered with it, and resetively formed with a terminal receiving hole 21 on the left side and contactor inserting holes 23 on the bottom face. The male terminal metal fitting 11 is provided with a terminal part 20, and the one part is exposed at the contactor inserting holes 23 in the condition built in the terminal receiving hole 21. Meanwhile, the female terminal metal fitting 12 is formed with elastic contactors 19, the elastic contactors 19 are contacted with the terminal part 20 through the contactor inserting holes 23, hereby the male terminal metal fitting 11 can be combined with the female terminal metal fitting 12, and also the male terminal metal fitting 11 can be coveredly concealed with the connector housing 16.

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. 5, 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 a defogger device (not shown) and is housed in the connector housing 3. Further, 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 vehicle body side and is exposed, the connector housing has an opening on the bottom surface for covering the other terminal fitting and a terminal accommodating portion for accommodating one terminal fitting. It is characterized in that the other terminal fitting is connected to the one terminal fitting through an opening formed in the bottom surface (the invention according to claim 1). Further, the other terminal fitting is provided with an elastic contact piece that opens upward in a U shape, and one terminal fitting is supported in the terminal accommodating portion in a state in which a portion elastically clamped by the elastic contact piece is exposed. Good (the invention according to claim 2).

[0005]

According to the invention of claim 1, in order to connect one terminal fitting to the other terminal fitting, first, the connector housing is brought above the other terminal fitting, and the opening of the bottom surface of the other terminal fitting is brought into contact with the other terminal fitting. Position it toward the metal fittings. Then, while covering the connector housing with the other terminal fitting, the one terminal fitting and the other terminal fitting are coupled through the opening on the bottom surface. As a result, the other terminal fitting is covered with the connector housing, and at the same time, the one terminal fitting is coupled to the other terminal fitting. According to the invention of claim 2, when the connector housing is covered with the other terminal fitting, the exposed portion of the one terminal fitting is elastically sandwiched by the elastic contact piece of the other terminal. As a result, the other terminal fitting is covered with the other terminal fitting, and at the same time, the one terminal fitting and the other terminal fitting are brought into a coupled state.

[0006]

As described above, according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, the other exposed terminal fitting is
Since it is covered with the connector housing at the same time as it is coupled with one of the terminal fittings, it is possible to avoid direct deformation of the terminal fitting due to an external force in the joined state.

[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 arranged 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.

As shown in FIG. 1, the defogger connector includes a male terminal fitting 11 and a female terminal fitting 12 which can be connected to each other. As shown in FIG. 2, the female terminal fitting 12 is fixed to the frame portion 13 a of the rear window 13 in an exposed state and connected to the heating wire 15. Further, the male terminal fitting 11 is housed in the connector housing 16 and connected to a defogger device (not shown) through the electric wire 17.

The female terminal fitting 12 is formed by bending a conductive metal plate, and a pair of elastic contact pieces 19 are provided on both left and right side portions (left and right side portions in FIG. 1) of the fixed plate 18.
It is formed so as to project from both front and rear edges (both left and right edges in FIG. 4). Each of the pair of elastic contact pieces 19 has a shape in which the upper part is slightly curved outward from the base part and then the leg is opened upward in an arc shape. The exposed portion of the terminal portion 20 can be sandwiched while slightly floating from the fixed plate 18. Further, the fixing plate 18 is soldered on both left and right sides to the connecting portion 15a extending widely from the heating wire 15, whereby the female terminal fitting 12 and the heating wire 15 are soldered.
And are conducted.

The male terminal fitting 11 is composed of a barrel portion 25 and a terminal portion 20, and the core wire exposed from the coated end of the electric wire 17 is caulked and fixed to the barrel portion 25. The terminal portion 20 is formed by bending a thin metal plate into a tubular shape, and its length dimension is formed to be slightly longer than the width between the elastic contact pieces 19 provided on both left and right sides of the fixed plate 18. There is. Further, a pair of lances 20a are arranged symmetrically with respect to the vertical direction in the substantially central portion of the terminal portion 20, and are formed by being obliquely cut and raised along the insertion direction of the connector housing 16 into the terminal accommodating hole 21 described below. .

The connector housing 16 is in the form of a hollow sheath whose bottom side is open so as to cover both elastic contact pieces 19, and its outer shape is rounded except for the peripheral edge of the bottom surface. Inside the connector housing 16, an intermediate wall 26 is formed, and a terminal accommodating hole 21 is formed along the axial direction from the left side surface in FIG. 1. The terminal accommodating hole 21 has the intermediate wall 26 interposed therebetween. Has a length that allows the male terminal fitting 11 including the barrel portion 25 to be immersed therein. Further, the inner diameter of the terminal accommodating hole 21 is formed to be slightly larger than the outer diameter of the terminal portion 20 of the male terminal fitting 11. Then, when the male terminal fitting 11 is inserted into the terminal accommodating hole 21, the lance 20 a of the male terminal fitting 11 forms a hole edge 22 of a through hole (which constitutes the terminal accommodating hole 21) formed in the intermediate wall 26.
To prevent the male terminal fitting 11 from coming off. Further, on the bottom surface of the connector housing 16, both the left and right sides sandwiching the intermediate wall 26 allow the fitting of the elastic contact piece 19 of the female terminal fitting 12 into the contact piece insertion hole 2
It is 3. Therefore, of the terminal portion 20 of the male terminal fitting 11, the portions corresponding to the contact piece insertion holes 23 are exposed to the bottom surface side. Also, this contact piece insertion hole 2
3 is formed to a depth such that an empty space is retained above the exposed portion of the terminal portion 20, and when the connector housing 16 is mounted, interference with the upper side of the elastic contact piece 19 is avoided. ing. Accordingly, when each elastic contact piece 19 is inserted into each contact piece insertion hole 23, the exposed part of the terminal portion 20 of the male terminal fitting 11 housed in the terminal housing hole 21 is press-fitted between the elastic contact pieces 19. Then, the male terminal fitting 11 and the female terminal fitting 12 are brought into a coupled state.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.
In order to connect the male terminal fitting 11 provided on the defogger device side to the female terminal fitting 12 provided on the heating wire 15 side, first, the connector housing 16 in which the male terminal fitting 11 is assembled is attached to the female terminal fitting 12. Of the connector housing 16 so that the bottom surface of the connector housing 16 faces the female terminal fitting 12 side and the elastic contact pieces 19 of the female terminal fitting 12 can be inserted into the respective contact piece insertion holes 23 (see FIG. 1). Then, the connector housing 16 is attached to the female terminal fitting 1
The elastic contact piece 19 is inserted into the contact piece insertion hole 23 while covering the contact piece 2. Then, the exposed portion of the terminal portion 20 of the male terminal fitting 11 comes into contact with the upper end portion between the elastic contact pieces 19, so that the connector housing 1 is further connected.
When 6 is pressed in the direction of the female terminal fitting 12, the male terminal fitting 1
The first terminal portion 20 is press-fitted into the curved portion 19a while slightly expanding the space between the elastic contact pieces 19, so that the male terminal fitting 11 is prevented from slipping off from the female terminal fitting 12 and is in a coupled state.
Then, in the coupled state, the connector housing 16 covers the female terminal fitting 12 above the female terminal fitting 12,
2 is in a hidden state (see FIGS. 3 and 4).

As described above, in this embodiment, the exposed female terminal fitting 12 is covered with the connector housing 16 by being joined to the male terminal fitting 11, so that the external force directly applied to the male terminal fitting 11 in the joined state. This has the effect of avoiding deformation of the. Further, after the connector housing 16 is mounted, the rear window 1
Although it slightly protrudes from the surface of No. 3, the corner edges are rounded and formed so that the touch is soft.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned 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 embodiment, the female terminal fitting 12 is fixed to the frame portion 13a of the rear window 13 in an exposed state, and the male terminal fitting 11 is housed in the connector housing 16, but the male terminal fitting is exposed. In this state, the female terminal fitting may be fixed to the frame portion of the rear window and housed in the connector housing. 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 cross-sectional view showing an entire embodiment (a state before being combined).

FIG. 2 is a top view showing a female terminal fitting.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view showing a combined state.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 ... Male terminal fitting (one terminal fitting) 12 ... Female terminal fitting (other terminal fitting) 16 ... Connector housing 21 ... Terminal accommodation hole 23 ... Contact piece insertion hole (opening)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A defogger connector having terminal fittings which can be connected to each other, wherein one terminal fitting is accommodated in a connector housing and the other terminal fitting is fixed to a vehicle body and exposed. The connector housing has an opening on its bottom surface that can cover the other terminal fitting, and includes a terminal housing portion that houses the one terminal fitting, and the other terminal fitting is formed on the bottom surface. A defogger connector, characterized in that it is connected to the one terminal fitting through an opening. 2. The defogger connector according to claim 1, wherein the other terminal fitting includes an elastic contact piece that opens upward in a U shape, and the one terminal fitting is elastically sandwiched by the elastic contact piece. A defogger connector, wherein the defogger connector is supported in the terminal accommodating portion in a state where a portion is exposed.