JPS6247093Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a connector tester that attempts to detect failure of a terminal to be locked in a connector. This applies to connectors that are locked.

As shown in FIG. 1, this connector 1 has a plurality of terminal storage chambers A that are open on the front and rear surfaces in a housing 2, and a terminal 3 with an electric wire W crimped inside the terminal storage chamber A is inserted from the rear surface of the housing 2. The housing 2 has a bending space S at the bottom in the direction in which the elastic locking arm 4 bends. This bending space S is open to the front surface of the connector 1.

The operation of locking the terminal 3 into the housing 2 will be explained using FIG. 2. First, the terminal 3 is inserted from the rear surface of the housing 2 and moved forward. Then, the tip of the terminal 3 comes into contact with the locking protrusion 4a provided on the elastic locking arm 4, which is molded integrally with the housing 2 and has one free end as its free end (FIG. 2A), and is moved further forward. The movement of the terminal 3 causes the elastic locking arm 4 to bend downward into the bending space S (FIG. 2B) until the engagement hole 3a at the base of the terminal 3 comes directly above the locking protrusion 4a. The terminal 3 is moved and the engagement hole 3
When the arm a comes directly above the locking protrusion 4a, the elastic locking arm 4 that had been bent into the storage chamber S is restored to its original position, and the locking protrusion 4a is fitted into the engagement hole 3a. The terminal 3 is locked in the housing 2, and the terminal is completely housed.

However, the terminal 3 into the housing 2
When locking, the following locking failures occur.
One is that the terminal 3 is not fully inserted behind the contact point between the locking protrusion 4a and the tip of the terminal 3, and the other is that the terminal 3 is moved toward the front of the housing 2, causing the elastic locking arm to tighten. 4 is bent, but the locking protrusion 4a is not fitted into the locking hole of the terminal 3 but is in pressure contact with the base of the terminal 3, which is a semi-inserted state. If a mating terminal (not shown) is connected from the front surface of the housing 2 while the terminal 3 is not properly locked into the housing 2, a connection failure will occur.

The present invention aims to provide a connector tester capable of detecting poor locking of the terminals within the housing and testing whether the terminals are completely accommodated within the connector.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 5. Reference numeral 5 denotes a connector tester of the present invention, and a recess 7 (see FIG. 4) in which the connector to be tested is fitted on the base. A retractable pin-shaped conductor 8 is provided which is elastically pressed by a spring 12 protruding into the recess 7, and the conductor 8 corresponds to the terminal arrangement of the aforementioned connector 1, which is the connector under test. The array is connected to a continuity tester M at one end. In addition, the elastic locking arms 4 extend in the insertion direction of the mating terminals of the connector 1 in an arrangement corresponding to the arrangement of the bending spaces S of the elastic locking arms 4 opening on the front surface of the connector 1, and
A spacer 9 is provided protrudingly facing the flexure space S of the base 6, and a rotatable lock piece 10 is supported by the fulcrum 0 inside the base 6, and a lock piece 10 is attached to the end of the recess 7 of the base 6. A lock pawl 11 is provided for positioning.

According to the connector tester 5 of the present invention having the above configuration, if even one of the plurality of terminals 3 in the connector 1 is in the insufficiently inserted state, the spacer 9 is inserted as shown in FIG. Deflection space S
The connector 1 is fitted into the recess 7 of the base 6, but the insufficiently inserted terminal 3 and the conductor 8 come into contact, and the continuity tester M senses this, and the connector 1 Detects insufficient insertion of terminal 3. Further, if at least one of the plurality of terminals 3 in the connector 1 is in the insufficiently fitted state, as shown in FIG. The free end of the elastic locking arm 4 which is bent in the bending space S comes into contact with the recess 7.
Half-insertion of the terminal 3'' into the connector 1 is detected by preventing the connector 1 from fitting into the connector 1.

If the locked state of the terminal 3 in the connector 1 is completely retracted without being inserted insufficiently or half-inserted, the spacer 9 is fitted into the bending space S of the connector 1 as shown in FIG. Connector 1 is fitted into recess 7 on top 6.

During this fitting, the conductor 8 and the fully housed terminals 3 come into elastic contact, and the continuity tester M detects an incorrect arrangement of the terminals 3 within the connector 1.

After completing the test for complete retraction and misalignment of the terminals in the connector 1, by rotating the locking piece 10 in the direction of the arrow, the locking pawl 11 moves downward and makes elastic contact with the terminal 3. The resilient force of the conductor 8 allows the connector 1 to be detached from the recess 7 as if it were to pop out.

In addition, the connector adapted to the connector tester of the present invention is not limited to the shape shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, and as shown in FIG. Even if the connector 1' in which the terminal 3' is locked by the elastic locking arm 4' integrally formed with the housing 2' extending diagonally is applied to the tester of the present invention as the connector to be tested, the same effect as described above can be obtained. It is something that plays.

In short, the present invention is a connector tester applied to a connector 1 in which the terminals 3 are locked in the terminal storage chambers A in the housing 2 by the elastic locking arms 4, and the terminals 3 housed in each terminal storage chamber A. A conductor 8 that makes elastic contact with the terminal 3 of the connector 1, and a spacer 9 that extends in the insertion direction of the mating terminal to be connected to the terminal 3 of the connector 1 and faces into the flexure space S of the connector 1. Therefore, due to the above-mentioned action, it is possible to detect insufficient insertion of the terminal 3 in the connector, failure of locking due to half-fitting, and confirm that the terminal 3 is completely accommodated in the connector 1. The elastic force applied is only a slight force (approximately 100 g) that generates electrical contact pressure when making contact with the terminals. Therefore, even if the number of terminals in the connector increases, or the number of terminals increases, the amount of elastic force to be tested in the connector tester increases. The mating force, which is equal to the sum of the elastic forces of the conductive pins required for mating the connector, is light despite the large number of pins. However, since the conductor 8 contacts with a slight force, it is a connector tester with great practical value as it can also prevent terminal deformation.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view and a sectional view of a connector applied to the present invention. Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the process of locking the terminal into the housing.
The figure is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which a connector applied to the present invention is fitted into a tester. FIG. 6 is a sectional view illustrating a state in which a connector of another shape applied to the present invention is fitted into a tester. 1... Connector, 2... Housing, 3... Terminal, 4... Elastic locking arm, 5... Connector tester,
8... Conductor, 9... Spacer, S... Flexible space part.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A complete connector having an elastic locking arm provided on the side of the terminal storage chamber, which bends into the bending space when the terminal is inserted into the storage chamber, and restores when the terminal is fully retracted to lock the terminal in the storage chamber. The insertion direction of the mating terminal connected to the conductor that elastically contacts and makes electrical contact with the terminals stored in each terminal storage chamber and the terminal of the connector under test in a tester that tests terminal storage. A connector tester comprising: a spacer that faces the bending space.