JPH10255907A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector in which the number of parts can be reduced. SOLUTION: A connector housing 11 comprises a short-circuiting terminal metal fitting 20 for short-circuiting a pair of signal transmission terminal metal fittings 12, and a lever 30 to lock a counter connector housing 40 in a normal fitting condition. The lever is movable to oscillate between an unlocking position to allow fitting action of the counter connector housing 4, and a locking position to lock the counter connector housing 40 in the normal fitting condition, and it is energized to the locking position side by an energization part 24. This energization part 24 is not composed of a specialized separate body member, but it is integrally formed with the short-circuitting terminal metal fitting 20, thereby the number of parts can be reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector provided with a lock member for locking a mating connector housing in a fitted state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a connector used in a circuit for an air bag of an automobile, a pair of signal transmitting terminal fittings and a pair of signal transmitting terminal fittings are fitted together with a mating connector housing in a connector housing. There is a device provided with a short-circuit terminal fitting which is displaced from a state in which the short-circuit is performed to a state in which the short-circuit is released. By using the connector provided with such a short-circuit terminal, the short-circuit terminal short-circuits the signal transmission terminal when the mating connector housing is removed, thereby preventing malfunction of the airbag. ing. By the way, in the connector provided with the short-circuit terminal fitting as described above, a lock member is provided in the connector housing as a means for securely locking the mating connector housing in the properly fitted state when the mating connector housing is fitted. There is. The lock member is swingably supported by the connector housing, and can be engaged with the mating connector housing in a disengagement-restricted state, and a lock releasing position allowing fitting and disengaging of the mating connector housing. Is displaced between Further, the connector housing is provided with an urging means for urging the lock member toward the lock position. By providing such biasing means, the lock member is automatically displaced to the lock position without performing an operation of displacing the lock member to the lock position when the mating connector housing is properly fitted. Locking of the mating connector housing to the normal fitting state is ensured.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional connector, the urging means is provided as a dedicated part separately from the connector housing and other members. for that reason,
The number of parts is increased, which leads to troubles such as troublesome parts management and a decrease in assembling workability. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a connector capable of reducing the number of parts.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector housing which can be fitted to a mating connector housing, a plurality of signal transmission terminal fittings provided in the connector housing, and the mating connector housing. A short-circuit terminal fitting which is displaced from a state in which the plurality of signal transmission terminal fittings are short-circuited to a state in which the short-circuit is released as the plurality of signal transmission terminal fittings are fitted,
A lock member displaceable between a lock release position permitting disengagement and a lock position engaged with the mating connector housing in the regular fitting position in a disengagement restricted state,
In a connector including a biasing means for biasing the lock member toward the lock position, the biasing means is formed integrally with the short-circuit terminal fitting.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the lock member is supported so as to be swingable about a support shaft, and the urging means is provided between the lock member and the connector housing. It is arranged so as to be interposed therebetween and to be capable of engaging with the lock member in the vicinity of the support shaft. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the urging means is in a non-deflection state when the lock member is at the lock position.

[0006]

Actions and effects of the present invention

<Invention of claim 1> Since the urging means for urging the lock member to the lock position side is provided integrally with the short-circuit terminal fitting, it is compared with a case where the urging means is provided as a separate dedicated part. Thus, the number of parts can be reduced. <Invention of claim 2> Since the urging means is sandwiched between the lock member and the connector housing and is arranged so as to engage with the lock member near the support shaft, the urging means can be downsized. And the amount of displacement can be kept small, thereby making it possible to reduce the size of the entire connector.

The lock member is normally kept in the lock position. However, when the lock member is in the lock position, the urging means is in a non-deflected state, so that the lock member is kept for a long time. It is possible to prevent the biasing means from sagging due to being bent.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

<First Embodiment> Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The connector 10 according to the present embodiment includes a connector housing 11 that can be fitted to the mating connector housing 40, a pair of signal transmission terminal fittings (only one of them is shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 because they overlap), and A short-circuit terminal fitting 20 capable of short-circuiting the two signal transmission terminal fittings 12 and a lever (lock member) 30 capable of locking the mating connector housing 40 in a fitted state. Have been.

The connector housing 11 is a rectangular hood 1 for fitting the mating connector housing 40.
3 and a connector housing 11 in the hood portion 13.
Tabs at the tips of a pair of signal transmission terminal fittings 12 housed therein are projected side by side. At the rear of the hood section 13,
Mounting recess 14 penetrating from inside of hood portion 13 to outside
Are formed in the mounting recesses 14, and the short-circuit terminal fittings 20 are formed.
And a lever 30 are attached.

The short-circuit terminal fitting 20 is made of a metal plate and has a rectangular flat terminal body 21, a pair of elastic contact pieces 22 cut and raised from the terminal body 21 and extending obliquely downward and rearward, and a terminal body. 21 and a locking hole 23 formed at a position nearer to the rear. The short-circuit terminal fitting 20 is fixed to the connector housing 11 by locking the locking hole 23 with a locking projection (not shown) of the mounting concave portion 14, and most of the terminal body 21 and the pair of elastic contact pieces 22. Are projected into the hood portion 13. In a state where the mating connector housing 40 is not fitted, the pair of elastic contact pieces 22 are in elastic contact with the corresponding signal transmission terminal fittings 12 from above, respectively. The terminal fitting 12 is in a short-circuit state.

The shorting terminal fitting 20 is integrally formed with a biasing portion (biasing means, which is a constituent element of the present invention) by folding a rear end edge of the terminal body 21 upward in a U-shape. Have been. The urging portion 24 is provided in the mounting recess 1.
4 and is capable of elastically bending such that the folded end thereof approaches the upper surface of the terminal body 21 and can be engaged with a lever 30 described later. A biasing force is applied to the lever 30 by the elastic restoring force of the lever 24.

The lever 30 has a rectangular lever body 31 extending along the upper surface of the hood 13, a side wall 32 extending from both left and right edges of the lever body 31 along the outer surface of the hood 13, It is composed of an engaging portion 33 projecting from the lower surface of the lever body 31 in a rudder shape, and a bearing portion 34 projecting downward from the rear end edge of the lever body 31. The bearing portion 34 is rotatably fitted to a pair of support shafts 15 provided slightly above the urging portion 24 in the mounting recess 14. As a result, the lever 30 is moved around the support shaft 15 so that the mating connector housing 40 is
The locking position (shown in FIGS. 4 and 6) which engages with the mating connector housing 40 with respect to the mating connector housing 40.
It is possible to swing to and from a lock release position (shown in FIG. 5) that allows the detachment operation. When the lever 30 is in the locked position, the engaging portion 33 penetrates through the escape hole 16 of the hood portion 13 and engages with the receiving hole 41 on the upper surface of the mating connector housing 40. The housing 40 is locked in the regular fitting position.
When the lever 30 is in the unlocked position, the engaging portion 33 is retracted upward from the movement area when the mating connector housing 40 is fitted / removed.

Here, the positional relationship between the urging portion 24, the lever 30, and the connector housing 11 will be described. The urging portion 24 is located in a narrow space between the lever 30 and the upper surface of the connector housing 11, Further, it is arranged so as to engage with the bearing portion 34 of the lever 30 in the vicinity of the support shaft 15. The bearing portion 34 of the lever 30 has a rectangular shape when viewed from the side, and when in the locked position, the lower surface of the bearing portion 34 has an urging portion of the short-circuit terminal fitting 20, as shown in FIGS. 24 is almost in surface contact.
When the lever 30 is in the locked position, the urging portion 2
Reference numeral 4 denotes a non-deflected state. On the other hand, when the lever 30 swings to the unlocked position, as shown in FIG. 5, the rear corner 34A of the bearing portion 34 exerts a cam function on the biasing portion 24, and this biasing is performed. To push down the portion 24, the urging portion 24 is elastically bent. Due to the elastic restoring force of the urging portion 24, the lever 30 at the unlock position is applied with the urging force toward the lock position.

Further, the guide portion 3 which is inclined with respect to the fitting direction is provided on the engagement portion 33 and the mating connector housing 40.
5, 42 are formed. When the mating connector housing 40 is fitted to the hood portion 13, the guide slopes 35 and 42 are engaged with each other during the fitting, so that the lever 3 is engaged.
0 is pushed from the lock position to the unlock position. Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. In a state where the mating connector housing 40 is not fitted, the short-circuit terminal fitting 20 short-circuits the signal transmission terminal fittings 12 and the lever 30 is held in the locked position by the urging of the urging portion 24. ing.
Then, the mating connector housing 40 is connected to the hood portion 13.
Are fitted to the guide slopes 35, 42 as shown in FIG.
The engagement of the levers causes the lever 30 to be pushed to the unlock position against the urging of the urging portion 24 and to retract from the fitting area of the mating connector housing 40. The elastic contact piece 22 of the short-circuit terminal fitting 20 is elastically bent along the terminal main body 21 by engaging with the mating connector housing 40 (see FIG. 5).

When the mating connector housing 40 is fitted to the proper fitting position against the biasing force of the biasing portion 24 and the elastic restoring force of the elastic contact piece 22, the lever 30 is biased by the biasing force of the biasing portion 24. While automatically swinging to the lock position, the engaging portion 33 of the lever 30 engages with the receiving hole 41 of the mating connector housing 40, and thus both connector housings 11,
40 is locked in the properly fitted state (see FIG. 6). As described above, in the present embodiment, the urging portion 24, which is urging means for urging the lever 30 toward the lock position, is formed integrally with the short-circuit terminal fitting 20. Therefore, the number of components is smaller than in the case where the biasing means is attached to the connector housing 11 as a dedicated component (for example, a compression coil spring or a torsion coil spring) separate from the short-circuit terminal fitting 20, and the number of components is reduced. The inconvenience is reduced and the assembling workability can be improved. Further, since the short-circuit terminal fitting 20 on which the urging portion 24 is formed is made of metal, it is sufficiently large without increasing the size as compared with a case where it is integrally formed with a resin component such as the connector housing 11 or the lever 30. Energizing force can be secured. Further, since the urging portion 24 is sandwiched between the lever 30 and the connector housing 11 and is arranged so as to engage with the bearing portion 34 of the lever 30 near the support shaft 15, the urging portion 24 is small. The size of the connector is reduced and the amount of displacement is reduced, thereby reducing the size of the entire connector. The lever 30 is normally kept in the locked position. However, when the lever 30 is in the locked position, the urging portion 24 is in a non-deflecting state. There is no danger that the urging portion 24 will be sagged due to continued bending.

<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 above embodiment, the case where the lock member is a lever that is swingably supported by the connector housing has been described. However, the present invention is also applicable to a case where the lock member is of a type that is slidably displaced. Can be.

(2) In the above embodiment, when the mating of the mating connector housing advances to just before the regular mating position, the inclined portion for pushing the mating connector housing to the normal mating position is provided by a lever or a lever. It may be provided in the mating connector housing. (3) In the above embodiment, when the mating operation of the mating connector housing is interrupted by half mating, the lever or the mating connector housing may be provided with an inclined portion that pushes the mating connector housing back in the detaching direction. Good.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state where a mating connector housing is detached in a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which a mating connector housing is fitted.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a short-circuit terminal fitting.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the mating of the mating connector housing is started.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a state where the mating connector housing is half-fitted.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the mating connector housing is properly fitted.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Connector 11 ... Connector housing 12 ... Signal transmission terminal fitting 15 ... Support shaft 20 ... Short-circuit terminal fitting 24 ... Biasing part (biasing means) 30 ... Lever (lock member) 40 ... Mating connector housing

Claims (3)

[Claims] A connector housing that can be fitted with a mating connector housing; a plurality of signal transmission terminal fittings provided on the connector housing; and a plurality of the plurality of signal transmitting terminal fittings fitted with the mating connector housing. A short-circuit terminal fitting that is displaced from a state in which the signal-transmitting terminal fittings are short-circuited to a state in which the short-circuit is released; an unlocked position allowing the mating / removal of the mating connector housing; and a regular mating position. A connector comprising: a lock member displaceable between a lock position that engages with the mating connector housing in a detachment-restricted state; and urging means for urging the lock member toward the lock position. The connector, wherein the urging means is formed integrally with the short-circuit terminal fitting. 2. The lock member is supported so as to be swingable about a support shaft, and the urging means is sandwiched between the lock member and the connector housing, and is provided near the support shaft. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the connector is arranged so as to be able to engage with the lock member. 3. The connector according to claim 1, wherein said urging means is in a non-deflected state when said lock member is at said lock position.