JP2014120262A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector in which a front holder does not carelessly shift from a tentative lock position to a main lock position.SOLUTION: A connector 11 comprises: a connector housing 13 having a first terminal housing and second terminal housings 35 provided on both sides of the first terminal housing; and a front holder 15 having a lock arm 73 for locking a main lock protrusion 83 and a tentative lock protrusion 85 at a tentative lock salient 89 or a main lock salient 87 of the connector housing 13, and capable of moving between a tentative lock position which permits inserting/drawing-out of the first terminal and a main lock position which prevents inserting/drawing-out of the first terminal. At the tentative lock position, the front holder 15 is positioned behind the housing than a second opposing surface 55 of the connector housing 13 in front of the second terminal housing 35.

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector.

As a connector provided with a retainer (front holder) inserted from the front surface of the connector housing, for example, the connector shown in FIG. 5 is known (see Patent Document 1).
A connector 501 shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B includes an insulating housing 503, contacts (terminals) 505 accommodated in the housing 503, and a retainer 507 inserted from the front surface of the housing 503. ing. The retainer 507 is provided with a locking arm 509. The locking arm 509 has a first locking portion 511 that prevents the retainer 507 from moving from the temporary locking position to the final locking position at a substantially intermediate portion thereof, and abuts against the housing 503 in the vicinity of the free end. Part 513. When the retainer 507 is in the temporary locking position, the locking arm 509 is supported by the housing 503 at two points of the first locking portion 511 and the contact portion 513.

  To assemble the connector 501, as shown in FIG. 5B, a contact 505 connected with an electric wire (not shown) is inserted into a contact receiving cavity (terminal receiving chamber) 515 from the rear side of the housing 503. As a result, the lance 517 is positioned on the rear side of the receptacle 519 of the contact 505, and the contact 505 is primarily locked and prevented from coming off. Next, the retainer 507 at the temporary locking position is pressed rearward of the housing, and the retainer 507 is positioned at the final locking position. At this time, the restricting piece 521 of the retainer 507 enters the space 523 formed below the lance 517 and restricts the downward movement of the lance 517, and ensures that the contact 505 is prevented from coming off.

JP 2005-123032 A

  However, the conventional connector 501 presses the retainer 507 at the temporary locking position to the rear of the housing so as to be positioned at the final locking position. In other words, if the retainer 507 is pressed with a predetermined pressing force in the pressing direction, the retainer 507 moves to the final locking position. If the retainer 507 is moved to the final locking position by some external force before the connector 501 is assembled, the displacement of the lance 517 is prevented and the contact 505 cannot be inserted. Release work (that is, an extra work for returning the retainer 507 from the final locking position to the temporary locking position) occurs. For this reason, in the connector 501 before the contact 505 is inserted, the retainer 507 must be handled with care so that it is not moved. As a result, the complicated retainer returning operation described above occurred and the assembly workability was lowered. Further, if a dedicated spacer or the like that prevents the retainer 507 from moving to the full locking position is employed, it becomes uneconomical. Furthermore, since the retainer 507 protrudes from the front of the housing 503 in both the temporary locking position and the final locking position, an external load is likely to be directly applied to the retainer 507 due to dropping or the like, and the retainer 507 enters the fully locked state. There was a problem of migration or damage. For this reason, it has been desired to develop a connector in which the retainer 507, which is a lance regulating member, does not inadvertently move from the temporary locking position to the final locking position.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide a connector in which the front holder is not moved from the temporary locking position to the final locking position due to inadvertent external force.

The above object of the present invention is achieved by the following configuration.
(1) a connector housing having a first terminal accommodating chamber for accommodating a first terminal, and a second terminal accommodating chamber for receiving a second terminal provided on both sides of the first terminal accommodating chamber; A temporary locking position that has a locking arm to which a locking projection provided on the free end side with respect to the temporary locking portion or the main locking portion is locked, and that allows insertion and removal of the first terminal, and the first locking position. A front holder movable between a main locking position for preventing insertion and removal of a terminal, wherein the front holder is located in front of the second terminal receiving chamber at the temporary locking position. The connector is located on the rear side of the housing relative to the second facing surface of the connector housing.

  According to the connector configured as described in (1) above, the front holder mounted in front of the first terminal housing chamber has the second opposing front of the second terminal housing chamber provided on both sides of the first terminal housing chamber of the connector housing. Since it is located behind the housing from the surface, it is difficult for external force to be applied to the front holder due to direct contact with other members when handling the connector, transporting the connector, or dropping the connector.

(2) The connector configured as described in (1) above, wherein the front holder includes a front plate that is in contact with and faces the first facing surface of the connector housing in front of the first terminal housing chamber, 1. A connector, wherein a mating portion between an opposing surface and the front plate is exposed on a side surface of the connector housing.

  According to the connector configured as described in (2) above, the surface where the front holder and the connector housing that are in the final locking position are in contact with each other (that is, the mating portion between the first facing surface and the front plate) is the connector housing. Therefore, it becomes easy to insert a jig into the mating portion and return the front holder to the temporary locking position.

  According to the connector of the present invention, the front holder is not shifted from the temporary locking position to the final locking position due to an inadvertent external force.

  The present invention has been briefly described above. Further, the details of the present invention will be further clarified by reading through a mode for carrying out the invention described below (hereinafter referred to as “embodiment”) with reference to the accompanying drawings. .

It is a disassembled perspective view of the connector which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the connector where the front holder shown in FIG. 1 is in a temporary locking position. It is a horizontal sectional view of the connector in which the front holder shown in FIG. (A) is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the 1st terminal storage chamber in which a front holder is a temporary latching position, (b) is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the 1st terminal storage chamber in which a front holder is a final locking position. (A) is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the conventional connector provided with a retainer, (b) is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the connector which complete | finished mounting | wearing of a contact and a retainer.

Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the connector 11 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a connector housing 13, a front holder 15, a first terminal 17, and a second terminal 19.
The connector housing 13 is integrally formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape with a synthetic resin material. A concave groove 27 is formed in the center of the housing upper surface 21 from the housing front surface 23 to the housing rear surface 25, and a lock arm 31 is formed in the concave groove 27 to lock the engagement state with the mating connector by a locking claw 29. Is done. In this specification, the connector 11 will be described with the side to which the mating connector is coupled (the lower side in FIG. 2) as the front and the opposite side as the back.

  A plurality of first terminal accommodation chambers 33 and second terminal accommodation chambers 35 are formed in the connector housing 13. The first terminal 17 is accommodated in the first terminal accommodating chamber 33, and the second terminal 19 is accommodated in the second terminal accommodating chamber 35. In the present embodiment, two second terminal accommodating chambers 35 are provided on both sides of the connector housing 13, and six first terminal accommodating chambers 33 are provided side by side therebetween. The six first terminal accommodating chambers 33 are formed in two upper and lower stages, four are arranged at equal intervals in the lower stage, and two are arranged symmetrically with the concave groove 27 in the upper stage. Each of the first terminal accommodation chamber 33 and the second terminal accommodation chamber 35 has a first opening 37 and a second opening 39 at the front and is opened in the front surface 23 of the housing, and the first terminal insertion port 41 at the rear. And it becomes the 2nd terminal insertion port 42, and is opened by the housing rear surface 25. FIG. The first opening 37 and the second opening 39 can receive the mating terminal, and the first terminal insertion port 41 and the second terminal insertion port 42 can be inserted into the terminal when the terminal is mounted.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, each of the first terminal accommodating chamber 33 and the second terminal accommodating chamber 35 is connected to the connector housing 13 at the proximal end side, and the distal end side which is a free end is in the accommodating chamber space. A projecting cantilever-shaped first lance 43 and a second lance 45 are provided. The first lance 43 and the second lance 45 are elastically displaced to the outside of the accommodation chamber space once the first terminal 17 and the second terminal 19 are inserted from the first terminal insertion port 41 and the second terminal insertion port 42, respectively. After that, the elastic recovery is performed, and the first terminal 17 and the second terminal 19 inserted in the regular positions are locked to restrict the rearward release thereof. The connector housing 13 is formed with a first terminal displacement allowance space 47 and a second terminal displacement allowance space 49 when the first lance 43 and the second lance 45 are elastically displaced to the outside of the accommodation chamber space.

  A front recess 51 that is recessed from both sides is formed in the housing front surface 23. The bottom surface of the front recess 51 serves as a first facing surface 53 of the connector housing 13 in front of the first terminal accommodating chamber 33. On the other hand, the front side of the second terminal accommodating chamber is the second facing surface 55 of the connector housing 13. That is, the second facing surface 55 protrudes forward from the first facing surface 53.

  The six first openings 37 are opened in the front recess 51. The front holder 15 is mounted on the first facing surface 53 of the housing front surface 23 of the connector housing 13. The front holder 15 is fitted into the front recess 51 and is in surface contact with the first facing surface 53, and projects from the front plate 57 toward the connector housing 13 to enter the first terminal accommodating chambers 33. And a plurality of lance restricting pieces 59 provided accordingly. The front plate 57 is formed with a thickness thinner than the depth of the front recess 51. Further, the front terminal plate 57 is provided with a mating terminal receiving port 61 corresponding to each first opening 37. Each lance restricting piece 59 is inserted into a restricting piece insertion port 63 opened above the first opening 37 and enters the displacement allowance space 47 for the first terminal.

  The lance restricting piece 59 allows the insertion and removal of the first terminal 17 at a position where it does not enter the displacement allowance space 47 for the first terminal, and prevents the first terminal 17 from coming off by entering the displacement allowance space 47 for the first terminal. Put it in a state. That is, in the front holder 15, the position where the insertion / extraction of the first terminal 17 is allowed is the temporary locking position shown in FIGS. 2 and 4A, and the position where the first terminal 17 is prevented from being detached is shown in FIGS. This is the final locking position shown in FIG. The front holder 15 has the front plate 57 separated from the first facing surface 53 at the temporary locking position shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 (a), and the front plate at the final locking position shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 (b). 57 is in surface contact with the first facing surface 53. When the front holder 15 is in the temporary locking position, the front holder 15 is located behind the second opposing surface 55 of the connector housing 13 in front of the second terminal accommodating chamber 35 (on the first opposing surface 53 side relative to the second opposing surface 55). Retracted).

  The front recess 51 is formed to open across the housing upper surface 21 and the housing lower surface 69. That is, only the second opposing surfaces 55 on the left and right sides protrude from the first opposing surface 53. Accordingly, the mating portion 71 (see FIG. 4B) between the first facing surface 53 and the front plate 57 is exposed on the housing upper surface 21 and the housing lower surface 69 which are the side surfaces of the connector housing 13.

The front holder 15 is provided with a pair of locking arms 73 that protrude rearward from the left and right sides of the front plate 57, and in a flexible direction across a central axis 91 (see FIG. 2) along the insertion direction of the front holder 15. Becomes symmetric. The locking arm 73 is inserted into the arm insertion hole 75 that opens in the first facing surface 53. The left and right arm insertion holes 75 are formed between the left and right arm insertion holes 77 and the second terminal accommodation chamber wall 79, respectively. The locking arm 73 includes an arm main body 81, a main locking protrusion 83 and a temporary locking protrusion 85 that are locking protrusions.
That is, the locking provided on the free end side that is locked to the temporary locking convex portion (temporary locking portion) 89 or the main locking convex portion (main locking portion) 87 of the connector housing 13 of the present embodiment. The protrusion is composed of two different main locking protrusions 83 and temporary locking protrusions 85. The arm body 81 is formed in a rectangular frame shape that is long in the front-rear direction, the base end is connected to the front plate 57 to form a cantilever shape, and the distal end is a free end.
On the free end side of the arm main body 81, the temporary locking protrusion 85 protruding toward the second terminal accommodating chamber 35 side is provided. Further, the main locking projection 83 protruding to the opposite side of the temporary locking projection 85 is provided on the free end side closer to the base end than the temporary locking projection 85 of the arm body 81.

  A main locking projection 87 that is a main locking portion protrudes from the first terminal accommodating chamber wall 77 of the arm insertion hole 75. Further, a temporary locking convex portion 89 that is a temporary locking portion protrudes from the second terminal accommodating chamber wall 79 of the arm insertion hole 75 at a position closer to the side of the arm insertion hole 75 than the main locking convex portion 87. Has been. As shown in FIG. 2, the front holder 15 has the final locking projection 83 abutting on the front side of the final locking projection 87 and the temporary locking projection 85 locked on the rear side of the temporary locking projection 89. The temporary locking position is reached, and the main locking projection 83 is locked to the rear side of the main locking projection 87 as shown in FIG.

  That is, the locking arm 73 is held by sandwiching the main locking projection 87 and the temporary locking projection 89 from the front-rear direction at the temporary locking position. In addition, the locking arm 73 has a front locking plate 67 that abuts against the first facing surface 53 at the final locking position 67 so that the rearward movement of the housing becomes impossible. Locked to the rear side, the forward movement is restricted and held.

  The temporary locking projections 85 and the temporary locking projections 89 are locked with each other on a plane where the front holder 15 cannot move forward. On the other hand, the main locking projection 83 and the main locking projection 87 are locked between the inclined surfaces so that the front holder 15 can move in the front-rear direction. The main locking projection 83 and the main locking projection 87 are locked by inclined surfaces close to each other so that the front holder 15 does not move forward at the main locking position, and a high holding force is obtained. .

  As described above, the front holder 15 includes the temporary locking protrusions 85 and the main locking protrusions which are locking protrusions provided on the free end side with respect to the temporary locking protrusion 89 or the main locking protrusion 87 of the connector housing 13. A locking arm 73 that locks 83, and a temporary locking position that allows insertion and removal of the first terminal 17, and a state in which the first terminal 17 is prevented from coming off behind the temporary locking position (at the back of the housing) It becomes possible to move between the main locking positions.

Next, the assembly method and operation of the connector 11 having the above configuration will be described.
In the connector 11 of the present embodiment, when the front holder 15 is inserted for a predetermined length from the front surface of the connector housing 13, the temporary locking projections 85 provided on the locking arm 73 of the front holder 15 are provided as shown in FIG. The temporary locking projections 85 are locked to the temporary locking projections 89 by overcoming the temporary locking projections 89 of the connector housing 13 and elastically returning the locking arms 73. At the same time, the main locking projection 83 of the locking arm 73 comes into contact with the main locking projection 87 of the connector housing 13, and the front holder 15 becomes a temporary locking position where movement in the front-rear direction is restricted.

  In this temporary locking position, the front holder 15 mounted in front of the first terminal accommodating chamber 33 is in front of the second terminal accommodating chamber 35 in which the front plate 57 is provided on both sides of the first terminal accommodating chamber 33 of the connector housing 13. The second opposing surface 55 is located behind the housing. For this reason, it is difficult to apply an external force to the front holder 15 due to direct contact with other members when the connector is handled, when the connector is transported, or when the connector is dropped. As a result, it is possible to prevent the front holder 15 from undesirably shifting from the temporary locking position to the final locking position due to an impact during transportation or the like when the terminal is not inserted.

  The first terminal 17 is completely attached to the first terminal accommodating chamber 33 at this temporary locking position. After the completion of the mounting of the first terminal 17, the front holder 57 is pushed, whereby the front holder 15 is moved to the final locking position.

  When the front holder 15 is pushed in, the temporary locking projection 85 is moved away from the temporary locking projection 89 toward the rear of the housing. At the same time, the main locking projection 83 gets over the main locking projection 87 and is locked to the rear side of the main locking projection 87. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 3, the front holder 15 completes the transition to the final locking state.

  In order to return the front holder 15 from the final locking position to the temporary locking position, a jig (not shown) is inserted between the vicinity of the center in the left-right direction of the front plate 57 and the first facing surface 53, and the front holder 15 is pulled out. Squeeze. Then, the front holder 15 from which the front plate 57 has been pulled can be returned to the temporary locking position by releasing the locking of the main locking projection 83 with respect to the main locking projection 87 and further pulling out. .

  At this time, the surface where the front holder 15 and the connector housing 13 that are in the final locking position come into contact with each other (that is, the mating portion 71 between the first facing surface 53 and the front plate 57) is the housing upper surface 21 of the connector housing 13 and the housing. Since it is exposed on the lower surface 69, it is easy to insert a jig into the mating portion 71 and return the front holder 15 to the temporary locking position 65.

Therefore, according to the connector 11 according to the present embodiment, the front holder 15 is not moved to the final locking position by an inadvertent external force.
In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, A deformation | transformation, improvement, etc. are possible suitably. In addition, the material, shape, dimensions, number, arrangement location, and the like of each component in the above-described embodiment are arbitrary and are not limited as long as the present invention can be achieved.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Connector 13 ... Connector housing 15 ... Front holder 17 ... 1st terminal 19 ... 2nd terminal 21 ... Housing upper surface (side surface)
33 ... 1st terminal storage chamber 35 ... 2nd terminal storage chamber 53 ... 1st opposing surface 55 ... 2nd opposing surface 57 ... Front plate 69 ... Housing lower surface (side surface)
71 ... Matching portion 73 ... Locking arm 83 ... Main locking protrusion (Locking protrusion)
85 ... Temporary locking protrusion (locking protrusion)
87 ... Main locking projection (main locking portion)
89 ... Temporary locking projection (temporary locking portion)

Claims (2)

A connector housing having a first terminal housing chamber for housing the first terminal; a second terminal housing chamber provided on both sides of the first terminal housing chamber for housing the second terminal; and temporary locking of the connector housing A temporary locking position for allowing insertion and removal of the first terminal, and an insertion / extraction of the first terminal. A front holder movable between the main locking position for preventing
The connector is characterized in that the front holder is positioned behind the second facing surface of the connector housing in front of the second terminal accommodating chamber in the temporary locking position. The front holder has a front plate in surface contact with the first facing surface of the connector housing in front of the first terminal housing chamber;
The connector according to claim 1, wherein a mating portion between the first facing surface and the front plate is exposed on a side surface of the connector housing.

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