KR100540813B1 - Connector inspection device - Google Patents

Abstract

It is an object of the present invention to provide a tester for a connector which can prevent the occurrence of defective or incomplete products by performing a terminal or conduction inspection accurately with a simple configuration.

As a means for solving this problem, a connector inspector which accepts and stops a terminal fitting in a terminal accommodating chamber of a connector housing, wherein the connector supporter 3 and the inspector main body 4 are arranged so as to be accessible, and to the inspector main body 4. In the tester arranged by pressing a plurality of test pins connected to the test electrical circuit to the connector side by a spring, the member for supporting the connector and the contact of the connector support (3) and the tester main body (4) The tolerance absorbing means 40 in the contact direction is disposed.

Description

Connector Inspector {CONNECTOR INSPECTION DEVICE}

1 is a side view of main parts of a tester in a reset state.

Figure 2a is a plan view of the tolerance absorbing means, Figure 2b is a cross-sectional view of the tolerance absorbing means.

3 is a side view of main parts of a tester in a connector set state;

4 is a perspective view of a tester according to the prior art and the present invention.

5 is a side view of the inspector of FIG. 4.

6A and 6B are enlarged cross-sectional views of parts of the accessory detecting mechanism, respectively.

FIG. 7 is a partially broken side view illustrating an inspection process by the inspection apparatus of FIG. 4. FIG.

FIG. 8 is a partially broken side view showing the next inspection process of FIG. 7; FIG.

Fig. 9 is a sectional view showing the main parts of a component detection and terminal conductance test state of Fig. 8;

※ Explanation of symbols about main part of drawing ※

A: Inspector, B: Connector, C: Terminal Bracket,

3: connector support, 3c: (left) bulkhead, 4: inspector body,

5: inspection terminal, 6: inspection pin, 7: coil spring,

8: laboratory, 12: lever, 21: accessory detecting mechanism,

22: striker attachment chamber, 23: accessory detecting pin, 24: striker,

25: coil spring, 30: connector housing, 31: terminal housing chamber.                 

36: terminal interface (as an accessory), 40: tolerance absorbing means (bearing)

42: connecting shaft, 44: urethane rubber (element of tolerance absorbing means), 46,48: hollow cylinder member

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention mainly relates to an inspection machine such as conduction of a connector, which is used for connection of automotive wire harnesses.

An electrical connector generally has a structure that accommodates a male terminal or a female terminal connected to an electric wire terminal in a terminal housing chamber of a connector housing and locks the terminal by a so-called terminal lance or case lance type to prevent its fallback. The male connector achieves the electrical connection between the female and the male.

For a multi-pole connector that accepts and holds several terminals, a tester main body having an inspection terminal for conducting connection with an electrical circuit for inspection to the connector supporter is freely disposed, and both parts of the terminal are inserted and connected to the electric wire ( A connector tester capable of simultaneously identifying i) is proposed (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-56786).

The apparatus described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-56786 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 9. 4-9, the code | symbol A shows the tester of a connector, and the code | symbol B shows the to-be-tested connector. The tester A is composed of a frame 1, a connector supporter 3 disposed at one end thereof, a tester main body 4 facing the supporter 3, a lever 12, an accessory detecting mechanism 21, and the like.                         

In the inspection machine (A), a fixed wall (2) having a wire outlet (2a) is erected on one side of the ordinary frame (1), and the connector support (3) is fixed to the fixed wall (2), and on the other side of the inspector main body. 4 is arranged to be movable in the direction of the connector support 3, and moves back and forth in conjunction with the operation lever 12. FIG.

The connector supporter 3 has a wire take-out port 3b on the fixed wall 2 side in a frame shape having a connector accommodating chamber 3a with an upper side and an inspector main body 4 side open. The connector B is accommodated in the connector support 3 from above, and at this time, the electric wire W1 drawn from the rear of the connector B is guided into the electric wire outlets 3b and 2a (see Fig. 9).

In the tester main body 4, a plurality of test terminals 5 are arranged in correspondence with a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 31 in the housing 30 of the connector B as shown in FIG. 9. In this case, the test pin 6 is slid freely arranged and simultaneously pressed by the coil spring 7 so as to protrude into the front test chamber 8. In addition, the inspection terminal 5 is connected to, for example, an inspection electrical circuit having a check lamp, but this inspection electrical circuit is in accordance with a known configuration and is omitted.

Moreover, the tester main body 4 is arrange | positioned freely slidingly facing the connector support body 3. As shown in FIG. That is, the tester main body 4 has a pair of guide holes 9 on both lower sides thereof, one end of the guide rod 10 penetrating the guide hole 9 is fixed to the connector support 3, and the other end of the frame ( It is fixed to the rod stopper 11 arrange | positioned at the bottom wall board 1a of 1).

The lever 12 is configured by connecting a pair of lever plates 13 and 13 in a door shape. The lever plate 13 is composed of a wide substrate portion 13a and an operation panel portion 13b extending inclined upwardly integrally therewith, and the upper and middle portions of the lever plate 13, that is, both ends of the operation panel portion 13b. The part is connected by a spacer 14, a joint rod 15.

On the other hand, in the lower end part of the board | substrate part 13a, the rear end is axially supported by the pin 16 at the ear piece 1c arrange | positioned at the rear end of the side wall 1b of the frame 1, and the link 18 is carried out at the front end. Is supported by the pin 17 and the other end of the link 18 is connected to the side wall of the inspector body 4 by a stud push 19. The lever 12, the link 18 and the inspector body 4 stop at a position where the pin 17 is slightly lowered from the position where the pins 16, 17 and the stud push 19 line up. By employing a link mechanism 20, the first half of the connector B is securely fitted in the test chamber 8 so as to be in contact with the test pin 6 and maintain the state thereof.

The accessory detecting mechanism 21 is composed of a striker attachment chamber 22 under the connector supporter, an accessory detecting pin 23, a striker 24, and a connector spring 25 disposed in the chamber 22, as shown in FIG. 6. In correspondence with the striker 24, a striker residual hole 28 is arranged in the lower front side of the inspector main body 4. As shown in FIG. That is, in the connector supporter 3, a striker attachment chamber 22 is formed at the lower part of the connector accommodating chamber 3a through which the front and rear ends are opened through the partition 3c, which is the seat of the connector housing B. The communication hole 26 is provided in this partition 3c. An accessory detecting pin 23 having a stopper flange portion 23a is inserted into the communication hole 26 so as to freely project, and the flange portion 23a is supported on the upper surface of the striker 24. In the striker attachment chamber 22, in the striker 24, the base end portion 24a is axially supported by the pin 27, and the tip end portion 24b protrudes from the front surface of the connector supporter 3 toward the inspector main body 4 side. It is attached to rotate freely in. In addition, the striker 24 is pressed to the connector housing chamber 3a side by a coil spring 25 sandwiched between the rear surface and the bottom wall 22a, and the striker 24 is always horizontally fitted with the accessory detecting pin 23. ) Is configured to protrude from the connector housing chamber 3a. Reference numeral 22b is a spring receiving hole disposed in the bottom wall 22a of the attachment chamber 22.

4 and 9, a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 31 (five in the upper and lower two stages) are partitioned in the housing 30 of the connector B. As shown in FIG. Each terminal accommodating chamber 31 is provided with a flexible stopper 33 having an allowable displacement allowance 32 and a locking projection 33a, and an electrical contact portion C1 at the terminal fitting C completely inserted at a regular position. The locking projection 33a is engaged with the locking hole 34 of the c) to prevent back dropping. In addition, a window 35 is formed on the outer circumferential wall of the housing 30, and the engaging piece 36a of the terminal locking earth 36 fitted in the window 35 is engaged with the shoulder 37 of the electrical contact portion C1. The double fall is prevented.

Next, the inspection method of the connector B by the detector A is demonstrated. As shown in Figs. 7 and 9, when the connector B, which has not yet been mounted with the terminal interface 36, is set in the connector accommodating chamber 3a of the connector supporter 3, the tip of the accessory detecting pin 23 is left as it is. The fitting detecting pin 23 and the striker 24 do not displace because the window 35 of the 30 is accessible into the terminal housing chamber 31. Thus, the striker 24 is in a horizontal state. In this state, when the lever 12 is turned down in the line of sight P as shown in FIG. 7, the inspector main body 4 is slightly advanced toward the connector supporter 3 side, but the front end of the striker 24 in the horizontal state of the inspector main body 4 Advancing is prevented at the time when the front end surface 4a is fitted. In other words, before the conduction inspection of the terminal bracket C of the connector B, it is detected that the terminal terminal strip 36 as an accessory is not attached.

On the other hand, the connector support (3) as shown in Figs. 6 (b), 8 and 9 for the connector (B) in which the terminal bracket (C) is completely inserted and locked as described above and the terminal mounting strip (36) is completed. By the set of the furnace, the terminal strip 36 pushes the accessory detecting pin 23 down. Thereby, the striker 24 also rotates and inclines in the visual line Q direction. Therefore, the tip of the striker 24 enters into the striker remaining hole 28 without fitting to the front end face 4a of the inspector main body 4, while the inspector main body 4 is connected to the connector support by the operation of the lever 12. It advances to the (3) side as it is, and the said pin mechanism 16 and 17 and the stud push 19 stop by the said link mechanism 20 in a substantially straight line.

Inspecting the connector B in this state pushes the test pin 6 corresponding to the terminal bracket C, retreats against the coil spring 7, and contacts the test terminal 5 so that the test electrical circuit is conducted. Let's do it. As a result, in addition to the confirmation of attachment of the accessory, the connector B receives and stops the terminal fitting C at the normal position, and the conduction state with the connection wire W1 is also positively determined. In addition, since the inspection of the connector B in the incomplete or semi-inserted state of the terminal fitting C can be handled in the same manner as in the conventional example, description thereof is omitted. After completion of the inspection, the lever 12 is rotated in the opposite direction to the above, and the inspection body main body 4 and the connector support body 3 are separated.

The accessory detecting mechanism 21 is composed of a mechanical detecting element having a simple structure, such as an accessory detecting pin 23, a striker 24 that rotates by the appearance of the pin, and a coil spring 25 that presses the pin. Therefore, it is easy to manufacture at low cost, and there is no problem such as contact failure or interruption of the circuit when an electrical element is used as in the switch block (a) of FIG. 9 showing a conventional example, and the detection accuracy can be increased.

In the inspector A, the front face Bb of the connector B is in close contact with the front face 4a of the inspector main body 4 at the time of inspection, and the position of the front face Bb of the connector B, that is, the inspector main body 4 The position to the terminal fitting C is judged based on the position of the front surface 4a of (). However, since the inspector is composed of a large number of parts, and the individual parts have dimensional tolerances, the front face Bb of the connector B is set to the front face 4a of the inspector main body 4 by the cumulative tolerance during assembly of the inspector. There is a case where it is not close.

Since the amount of movement of the test pin 6 is set as the threshold value at the time of detection, if the front face Bb of the connector B is not firmly close to the front face 4a of the inspector body 4, the inspector body There is a problem that the position of the terminal fitting C with the front surface 4a of (4) as the reference position cannot be detected accurately.

In order to prevent such a problem, it is conceivable to mold each part with extremely high precision and to make the dimension tolerance as small as possible, but this is very difficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and to provide a tester for a connector which can prevent the occurrence of defective or unfinished products by accurately performing the presence or absence of a conductive test by a simple configuration.

The above object of the present invention is achieved by the following configuration.

(1) A connector tester that accepts and locks a terminal bracket in a terminal housing chamber of a connector housing. The connector supporter and the tester main body are arranged to be in contact with each other, and a plurality of test pins connected to the test electric circuit in the tester main body are spring-loaded. In the inspection machine arranged by pressing on the connector side,

Arranging the tolerance absorbing means in the contact direction of the support for the connector and the contact between the connector support and the inspector body;
And a means for contacting the connector support and the inspector body is a link mechanism, and the tolerance absorbing means is disposed in a bearing portion of the link mechanism.

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(2) said tolerance absorbing means comprises an elastic member arranged around said shaft in said bearing portion.

③ said elastic member is a tester of said ②-based connector, characterized in that made of urethane rubber.

(Action)

According to the invention of (1) above, the processing precision of each part is reduced in order to reduce the tolerance of the member by arranging the tolerance absorbing means in the contact direction of the member related to the support of the connector and the contact between the connector support and the inspector main body. There is no need to make it extremely high, and even if there is a tolerance in the member, the tolerance absorbing means accommodates the accumulated tolerance by assembling each member, so that the tolerance is not accumulated and the inspection of the connector can be executed accurately with a simple configuration.

Further, by arranging the tolerance absorbing means in the bearing portion of the link mechanism, the tolerance absorbing means can be arranged without increasing the size of the inspector, and the inspection of the connector can be executed accurately with a simple configuration.

According to the invention of ②, since the tolerance absorbing means is an elastic member, the configuration is simple and the tolerance absorbing means can be provided at low cost, and the inspection of the connector can be executed accurately with a simple configuration.

According to the invention of (3), since the tolerance absorbing means is made of urethane rubber, the configuration is simple and the tolerance absorbing means can be provided at low cost, and the inspection of the connector can be executed accurately with a simple configuration.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 is a side view of a main part of a tester in a reset state, Fig. 2 (a) is a front view of a tolerance absorbing means, Fig. 2 (b) is a sectional view thereof, Fig. 3 is a main part side view of a tester in a connector set state.

In addition, in the inspection machine A of the present embodiment, the tolerance absorbing means 40 is disposed in the bearing portion of the link 18 in addition to the configuration of the conventional example described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 9. Therefore, since the basic structure and inspection method of the inspection machine A are the same as the conventional example, the description is abbreviate | omitted and only the structure and effect | action different from a conventional example are demonstrated.                     

As shown in FIG. 1, the tolerance absorbing means 40 is disposed at the connection portion between the inspector main body 4 and the link 18. 1 to 3, the tolerance absorbing means 40 is composed of a bearing 40 of the connecting shaft 42 fixed to the inspector body 4 to connect with the inspector body 4 and the link 18 ( The tolerance absorbing means and the bearing are denoted by reference numeral 40), and the connecting shaft 42 through the urethane rubber 44 (Elastran ET 690-50 in this embodiment), which is one component of the tolerance absorbing means. It is a configuration that supported. The bearing 40 is formed by inserting urethane rubber 44, which is an element of tolerance absorbing means, between two large hollow cylinder members 46, 48 by insert molding. It is fixed to the), and is connected to the inner hollow cylinder member 48, the connecting shaft 42 is configured to be supported to rotate freely. The two hollow cylinder members 46 and 48 together are made of iron (plated with uni-quenching after quenching and nitriding).

Since the bearing 40 is made of urethane rubber 44 sandwiched between two hollow cylinder members 46 and 48, the connecting shaft 42 supported by the hollow cylinder member 48 on the inner side has a hollow cylinder member on the outer side. It is possible to move relative to the 46 in the radial direction by the amount of elastic deformation of the urethane rubber 44.

On the other hand, the distance (a) (see FIG. 1) between the front face 4a of the inspector main body 4 and the front face 3d of the connector support body 3 in the set state without the connector B mounted is the connector B. FIG. It is set slightly shorter (0.5 mm short in this embodiment) than the length b of (see FIG. 3). Therefore, when the connector B is mounted and the inspection is executed, the connector B is pressed in the horizontal direction. At this time, even if a gap occurs between parts due to the cumulative tolerances of the parts constituting the inspector A, the urethane rubber 44 of the bearing 40 deforms and the thickness in the radial direction changes so that the cumulative tolerance is absorbed. do.

Therefore, even if the tolerances of the components constituting the inspector A accumulate, the front surface of the connector B is pushed to the front surface 4a of the inspector body 4, so that the front surface of the connector B is the front surface of the inspector body 4. It comes close to (4a). In addition, the deformation amount c of the urethane rubber 44 (refer FIG. 3) is c = b-a, and is 0.5 mm in this embodiment.

3, the deformation amount c of the urethane rubber 44 is exaggerated for easy understanding, and an exaggerated gap is also shown between the connector support 3 and the inspector main body 4, but the connector support 3 and the inspector main body ( There is no visible gap between 4).

If the front face of the connector B is in close contact with the front face 4a of the inspector main body 4, the connector B is detected by the test pin 6 on the basis of the position of the front face 4a of the inspector main body 4. Reliable detection is possible. Therefore, the correct stroke amount of the test pin 6 for detecting the terminal bracket C and the correct length (permissible error) of the detectable conduction range by the test pin 6 can be ensured.

For example, when the length of the detectable conduction range by the test pin 6 is set to 1.00 mm, the dropout amount (insertion error length in the release direction) of the terminal fitting C in the normal insertion state is within 1.0 mm. Since the terminal bracket C and the test pin 6 are securely in contact with each other, conduction can be detected. When the terminal bracket C is dropped 1.1 mm or more in the normally inserted state, the terminal bracket C and the test pin 6 are reliably contactless, so that there is no conduction and the terminal bracket C can be reliably detected. It is possible to reliably detect that is an incomplete insertion state.

In addition, when the detection pin 6 detects a part other than the terminal bracket C, the stroke amount of the inspection pin 6 is correct. Therefore, when the part is drawn in an extremely short length of 0.6 mm, for example, than the normal position, Even if the part and the test pin 6 is not in contact with each other, the test pin 6 can be prevented from operating, and the incomplete insertion state of the part can be detected with high accuracy and reliability.

In the above embodiment, the tolerance absorbing means 40 is disposed at the connection portion between the tester main body 4 and the link 18, but the connection portion between the substrate portion 13a of the lever plate 13 and the link 18 (pin 17). May be disposed at a connecting portion (a bearing portion of the pin 16) between the substrate portion 13a of the lever plate 13 and the side wall 1b of the frame 1. In addition, a tolerance absorbing means may be disposed on the connector support 3. In this case, the tolerance absorbing means can be constituted by providing urethane rubber or the like on the connector support surface 3d perpendicular to the connector contact direction.

As the tolerance absorbing means, elastic resins other than urethane rubber can also be used. Moreover, as a tolerance absorbing means, what comprised using elastic means, such as a leaf spring and a coil spring, can also be used.

According to a first configuration feature, the processing precision of each part is extremely reduced in order to reduce the tolerance of the member by disposing the tolerance absorbing means in the contact direction of the member relating to the support of the connector and the contact between the connector support and the inspector main body. It is not necessary to increase the tolerance, and the tolerance absorbing means absorbs the accumulated tolerance by assembling each member even if there is a tolerance in the member, so that the tolerance is not accumulated and the inspection of the connector can be executed accurately with a simple configuration.

In addition, by arranging the tolerance absorbing means in the bearing portion of the link mechanism, the tolerance absorbing means can be arranged without increasing the size of the tester, and the inspection of the connector can be executed accurately with a simple configuration.

According to the second configuration feature, since the tolerance absorbing means is an elastic member, the configuration is simple and the tolerance absorbing means can be provided at low cost, and the inspection of the connector can be executed accurately with a simple configuration.

According to the third configuration feature, since the tolerance absorbing means is made of urethane, the configuration is simple and the tolerance absorbing means can be provided at low cost, and the inspection of the connector can be executed accurately with a simple configuration.

Claims (4)

A tester for a connector in which a terminal fitting is held in a terminal housing chamber of a connector housing, the connector supporter and the tester main body being arranged to be in contact with each other, and the plurality of testers connected to the test circuit in the tester main body. In the inspection machine which presses a pin to the connector side by a spring, A tolerance absorbing means for providing a tolerance absorbing in the contacting direction with respect to the support of the connector and the member related to the contact between the connector support and the inspector main body; And a means for contacting the connector support and the inspector body is a link mechanism, and the tolerance absorbing means is disposed in a bearing portion of the link mechanism. delete The method of claim 1, And said tolerance absorbing means comprises an elastic member disposed around said shaft in said bearing portion. The method of claim 3, wherein The elastic member is a connector inspection device, characterized in that made of urethane rubber.

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