JPH10289747A - Female connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the mis-insertion of the tab of a female connector into a mold rapping hole for lance molding. SOLUTION: A mask plate 23 is integrally provided with a retainer 20, and a tab insertion hole 24 continuing to the front face opening 14 of a connector housing 10 is provided in the mask plate 23. When the retainer 20 is at a temporary engages position, the tab insertion hole 24 coincides with a lance 16 molding mold rapping hole 18. When the retainer 20 is slid to a real engaging position, the same coincides with the tab insertion hole 24, so that the insertion of the tab 13 into a female terminal 12 side is permitted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector for retaining a female terminal with a lance provided in a cavity.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 5, a general structure of a connector of this type is such that a cavity 2 is formed in a connector housing 1 to open back and forth, and a female terminal 3 is arranged in the cavity 2. Have been. The female terminal 3 is positioned in the cavity 2 and is retained and retained by a lance 4 integrally molded with the connector housing 1. The tab of the male terminal is inserted through the front opening 5 of the connector housing 1. 6 (shown in FIG. 6).

[0003]

However, in this type of connector housing 1, not only a front opening 5 for inserting a tab 6 into the front surface as shown in FIG. Inevitably, a punching hole 7 for pulling out a molding die is required. If the two connectors are not properly aligned at the time of mating with the male connector, the tip of the tab 6 will enter the die hole 7 and, for example, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 6 was forcibly pressed into the narrow portion 7A, which sometimes caused a fitting failure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and even if there is a lance molding hole, a female connector can be reliably prevented from being erroneously inserted into the hole. The purpose is to provide.

[0005]

The invention according to claim 1 is
The female terminal inserted into the cavity of the connector housing is prevented from coming off by a lance provided in the cavity of the connector housing, and the tab is inserted through the front opening of the cavity opened to the front of the connector housing. And a female terminal, wherein a mask plate is provided on the front surface of the connector housing so as to be slid in a direction intersecting with the insertion direction of the tab, and the mask plate matches the opening on the front surface. The feature is that a tab insertion hole is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the retainer which is inserted into the connector housing in a direction intersecting with the insertion direction of the female terminal to perform double locking of the female terminal. Are provided, and the mask plate is provided integrally with the retainer.

A third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, a guide groove for guiding the slide of the mask plate is formed in the front side edge of the connector housing.

The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to claim 2.
Or in any one of the inventions of claim 3, the retainer is
The female terminal can be locked in a temporary locking position that allows insertion and removal of the female terminal into the cavity, and a full locking position that performs double locking of the female terminal can be locked in the mask plate in the temporary locking position. The present invention is characterized in that a jig insertion hole for inserting a jig for unlocking a lance into a cavity is formed.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the mask plate is slid and mounted and set at a position where the tab insertion hole and the front opening of the connector housing coincide with each other, the tab insertion hole and the connector housing are provided. The tab can be inserted through the front opening of the female terminal, so that the tab and the female terminal can be contacted. Even if a lance die-cutting hole is formed on the front of the connector housing in addition to the front opening to the female terminal, this can be covered by the mask plate. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the female terminal from receiving an unexpected external force or being damaged. The fact that the tabs can be prevented from being erroneously inserted in this way is difficult to reduce the size of the lance from the viewpoint of securing the locking force of the terminal, especially when the connector is downsized, but the tab width is set narrow. Is especially effective.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the mask plate is integrated with the retainer, not only the number of parts is reduced, but also the mask plate can be attached together by the operation of mounting the retainer on the connector housing. It is possible to reduce the number of assembling steps, which is reasonable.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the slide of the mask plate is guided by the guide groove, an effect of further simplifying the mounting operation can be obtained. According to the fourth aspect of the invention, when the retainer is returned to the temporary locking position, a jig for unlocking the lance can be inserted from the jig insertion hole of the mask plate. Therefore, the work of removing the female terminal from the connector housing is facilitated, and the effect that the maintainability is excellent is further obtained.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

<First Embodiment> A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. Reference numeral 10 denotes a rectangular box-shaped connector housing, in which cavities 11 are formed in a total of eight places in two stages vertically. Each cavity 11 has such a shape that the female terminal 12 can be inserted and accommodated in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1, and a tab 13 (shown only in FIG. 3) of the male connector can pass through the front surface of the connector housing 10. A front opening 14 is formed. Female terminal 12
Are formed with a contact piece 12B in the box-shaped portion 12A, and a wire barrel 12C and an insulation barrel 1C for caulking and fixing the electric wire 15 behind the box-shaped portion 12A.
This is a known structure having 2D integrally.

The female terminal 12 is retained and retained in the cavity 11 by a lance 16. The lance 16 is located in the cavity 11 and is integrally formed with the connector housing 10 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and the rear (right side in the figure) of the cavity 11 is integrated with the connector housing 10 and the front is free. It is in the form of a cantilevered elastic piece having an end, and its upper surface projection 16A engages with the female terminal 12. A support rib 17 for receiving the front end of the female terminal 12 inserted into the cavity 11 is provided in front of the lance 16 on the inner surface of the cavity 11. In addition, a mold release hole 18 formed for molding the lance 16 is formed in the front surface of the connector housing 10, and is connected to the front opening 14 via a gap between the support ribs 17.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a retainer, which is a substrate unit 21.
In addition, four supporting plate portions 22 to be inserted into the connector housing 10 are integrally formed, and double locking portions 22A are protrudingly provided on both surfaces of the supporting plate portion 22. This retainer 2
When the support plate 22 is inserted from below the connector housing 10 and the support plate portion 22 enters the connector housing 10 from below, first, the temporary locking projections 22B formed on the support plate portion 22 When the retainer 20 is further pushed in so as to cover the bottom surface of the connector housing 10 with the board portion 21, the double locking portion 22 </ b> A
1 and a stabilizer 12 of the female terminal 12
When the female terminal 12 reaches the final locking position where it engages with the rear end of E, double locking of the female terminal 12 is performed. In this final locking position, the final locking projection 22C protruding near the lower end of the support plate portion 22 engages with an engaging portion (not shown) of the connector housing 10, and the retainer 20 is held at that position.

A mask plate 23 is integrally formed substantially at a right angle with the front end of the substrate portion 21 of the retainer 20. The mask plate 23 has the same number of tab insertion holes 24 as the cavities 11 of the connector housing 10 so that the tabs 13 of the male connector can be inserted therein. The tab insertion hole 24 is located at a position separated from the front opening 14 of the connector housing 10 when the retainer 20 is at the temporary locking position as shown in FIG. 2, but when the retainer 20 is at the full locking position as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. In addition, the peripheral edge of the front surface of the tab insertion hole 24 is formed in a sloped shape for guiding the tab 13. Further, a pair of slide ridges 25 project from the left and right side edges of the mask plate 23, and correspondingly, guide grooves 26 are formed on the front surface of the connector housing 10, and the slide ridges 25 of the mask plate 23 are formed. Are fitted in the guide grooves 26 to guide the vertical sliding movement of the mask plate 23.

This embodiment has the above structure, and its operation will be described below. In order to assemble the female connector having the above structure, first, the retainer 20 is set in the connector housing 10 and held at the temporary locking position. To do so, the slide ridge 25 of the mask plate 23 is inserted into the guide groove 26 of the connector housing 10 to be in the guide state, and the retainer 20 is lightly pushed up. Then, while the mask plate 23 slides and moves upward, the temporary locking projection 22B of the retainer 20 engages with the engaging portion of the connector housing 10 and is held at the temporary locking position. . In this temporary locking position, as shown in FIG.
Are not aligned with the front opening 14 of the connector housing 10 and are in a state of being connected to the punching hole 18. Then, the female terminal 12 is inserted into the cavity 11 from the rear side and engaged with the lance 16. After that, when the retainer 20 is pushed up, the retainer 20 reaches the final locking position to bring the female terminal 12 into the double locking state, and the final locking projection 2
2C holds the main lock position.

In this fully locked position, the tab insertion hole 24 of the retainer 20 is inserted into the connector housing 10 as shown in FIG.
And the two openings are connected in series. Also, the double locking portion 22A of the retainer 20
Are located in the cavity 11, whereby the female terminal 12 is double-locked, and the assembly of the connector is completed.

When this connector is mated with a mating male connector, the tab 13 of the male connector enters the connector housing 10 of the female connector. At this time, if there is an error in the alignment between the two connectors and the tab 13 enters a position shifted, the tab 13 is
3 is shifted from the tab insertion hole 24 of the
3 hits the mask plate 23. Therefore, the front opening 14 leading to the female terminal 12 is provided on the front surface of the connector housing 10.
In addition to the above, even if there is a situation in which the lance punching hole 18 is formed, it is possible to reliably prevent the tab 13 from erroneously entering the punching hole 18. In the present embodiment, since a guide slope is formed on the peripheral edge of the front face of the tab insertion hole 24 of the mask plate 23, if the tab 13 is slightly misaligned, it can be easily corrected to correct the female terminal. 12 can be guided.

In this embodiment, in order to remove the female terminal 12 once mounted, the retainer 20 is returned to the temporary locking position, a jig for disengaging is inserted from the tab insertion hole 24, and the lance 16 is removed. And the female terminal 12 may be disengaged. Alternatively, the retainer 20 may be completely removed from the connector housing 10, and the engagement of the lance 16 may be released by inserting a jig for releasing the engagement from the front opening 14 or the punching hole 18 of the connector housing 10.

<Second Embodiment>

FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the first embodiment is that the jig insertion hole 30
Are formed, and the other parts are the same as those of the same embodiment. Therefore, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description will be omitted. The jig insertion holes 30 are formed corresponding to the respective cavities 11, and are the most suitable portions for releasing the engagement of the lances 16 of the connector housing 10 when the retainer 20 is at the temporary locking position. It is provided at such a position. Therefore, the female terminal 12 is connected to the connector housing 1.
In order to remove the lance 16, the retainer 20 can be returned to the temporary locking position, and the lance 16 can be released by passing a locking release jig (not shown) through the jig insertion hole 30. In addition to the above, an effect is obtained that the work of removing the female terminal 12 is further facilitated.

<Other Embodiments>

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. Various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

In each of the above embodiments, the mask plate 23 is formed integrally with the retainer 20. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the mask plate 23 may be formed as a separate component from the retainer.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state where the retainer is in a temporary locking position.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state where the retainer is in a final locking position.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a second embodiment of the present invention, in a state where a retainer is in a temporary locking position.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a conventional female connector.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view showing a front part of a conventional connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Connector housing 11 ... Cavity 12 ... Female terminal 13 ... Tab 14 ... Front opening 16 ... Lance 20 ... Retainer 23 ... Mask plate 24 ... Tab insertion hole 26 ... Guide groove 30 ... Jig insertion hole

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A female terminal inserted into a cavity of a connector housing is prevented from coming off by a lance provided in the cavity of the connector housing, and a tab is formed through a front opening of the cavity opened to a front surface of the connector housing. By being inserted, the tab and the female terminal are connected to each other,
A female board, wherein a mask plate is provided on the front surface of the connector housing so as to be slid in a direction intersecting with the insertion direction of the tab, and a tab insertion hole matching the front opening is provided on the mask plate. Type connector. 2. The connector housing is provided with a retainer that is inserted and mounted in a direction intersecting with the insertion direction of the female terminal to perform double locking of the female terminal,
2. The female connector according to claim 1, wherein the mask plate is provided integrally with the retainer. 3. The female connector according to claim 1, wherein a guide groove for guiding sliding of the mask plate is formed in a front side edge of the connector housing. 4. The retainer can be locked in a temporary locking position allowing insertion and removal of the female terminal into the cavity and in a full locking position performing double locking of the female terminal. 4. The female connector according to claim 2, wherein a jig insertion hole for inserting a jig for unlocking the lance into the cavity at the temporary locking position is formed.