JP2002184524A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable to detect half-insertion both at insertion-coupling and detachment. SOLUTION: A movable body 30 is housed in a housing groove 14 formed in a female housing 10 in free up and down movement and is biased upward by a compression coil spring 43. On a top wall 22A of a hood part 22 of a male housing 20, are formed a groove 25 for a locked protrusion part 31 of the movable body 30 to come in and a window hole 27 behind it for the locked protrusion part 31 to get inserted in, the top face of the admission groove 25 made a tapered face 26. In case an insertion-coupling operation and a detachment operation are interrupted, the top of the locked protrusion part 31 is in a state of being pressed onto the tapered face 26 of the admission groove 25, but, component force Fa directed backward along the tapered face 26 from elastic force F of the compression coil spring 43 acts on the locked protrusion part 31 so that the female housing 10 is pressed further backward or pushed out from the position where at least connection of female and male terminal fittings 12, 23 is broken off.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector having a fitting detection function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a connector of this type is disclosed in
The thing described in 1-185880 is known. As shown in FIG. 6, the lock arm 3 is provided on the female housing 1 of the male and female connector housings 1 and 2 to be fitted together, while the slider 4 is mounted on the male housing 2 and It has a structure in which the coil spring 5 is arranged. Then, when the two housings 1 and 2 are fitted, the lock arm 3 that has been bent and deformed is moved to the slider 4.
Is pressed against the urging force of the coil spring 5, and when the two housings 1 and 2 are properly fitted, the lock arm 3 is restored and deformed to lock the two housings 1 and 2, and the lock arm 3 is moved by the slider 4 The slider 4 is moved back by the urging force of the coil spring 5 by dissociating from the coil spring 5. Also, if the fitting operation is stopped while the two housings 1 and 2 remain half-fitted,
The slider 4 pushes back the lock arm 3 by the urging force of the coil spring 5 to separate the two housings 1 and 2, and by this separating operation, it is possible to detect that the two housings 1 and 2 are kept in a half-fitted state. Has become.

[0003]

On the other hand, when detaching the male and female housings 1 and 2 for maintenance or the like,
After releasing the lock by forcibly bending and deforming the lock arm 3, the female housing 1 is pulled. However, the pulling operation of the female housing 1 was interrupted for some reason, and it was forgotten and left as it was. In such a case, a half-fitted state may be maintained even during detachment. However, since the conventional one cannot detect such a half-fitting at the time of detachment, the appearance thereof has been eagerly desired. The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to enable half-fitting detection at both the time of fitting and the time of disengagement.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector, wherein a moving body is provided on both of the connector housings of the pair of connector housings to be fitted together. The other connector is mounted so as to be movable in a direction substantially orthogonal to the fitting direction of the housing, and is urged to move toward the opposite fitting peripheral surface of the other connector housing by the elastic force of the spring member. A locking portion is provided on the fitting peripheral surface of the housing so that the locking portion can be locked to the locked portion of the moving body in the fitting direction of the connector housing in the fitting direction. On the way, the locked portion passes through the locking portion while moving the moving body in a direction away from the fitting peripheral surface of the other connector housing against the elasticity of the spring member, The locked portion is locked to the locking portion while the movable body is restored and moved when the nectar housing is properly fitted, and the locking portion and the locked portion are Either one of the parts engaged with each other is formed as a tapered surface oblique to the direction of action of the elasticity of the spring member, and the movable body is moved rearward in the fitting direction of the connector housing from the elasticity of the spring member. It is characterized in that it is configured to obtain a component force that presses against the surface. According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, a housing groove is formed in a fitting peripheral surface of the one connector housing, and the moving body is mounted in the housing groove. Having.

[0005]

<Operation and effect of the invention><Invention of claim 1> If both connector housings are kept in a half-fitted state at the time of fitting, the locked portion of the moving body is in the middle of passing through the locking portion. A tapered surface is provided at the engagement portion between the two, so that a component force for pressing the moving body backward is obtained from the elastic force of the spring member. It is pushed back away from the connector housing, thereby detecting a half-fit. The disengagement operation of both connector housings is performed after the movable body is pushed in against the elasticity of the spring member to release the lock from the properly fitted state.
This is performed by pulling out one connector housing.
If it is held in a semi-fitted state at the time of this detachment, the locked part of the moving body is similarly placed on the locking part, and the component force of pressing the moving body backward via the tapered surface is also used. Works, one connector housing is pushed out from the other connector housing, and the half-fitting is also detected. With a relatively simple structure, semi-fitting detection can be performed both at the time of fitting and at the time of disengagement. <Invention of Claim 2> Since the moving body is housed in one connector housing, the height of the connector can be reduced.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
A description will be given with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a female connector housing 10 (hereinafter, referred to as a female housing) and a male connector housing 20 (hereinafter, referred to as a male housing) are fitted to each other. Have. In the following, the description will be made with the fitting surface side in each of the housings 10 and 20 as the front surface.

The female housing 10 is formed in a block shape from a synthetic resin material. Inside the female housing 10, two cavities 11 are formed at positions closer to the lower left and right ends. In each of the cavities 11, a female terminal fitting 12 (broken line in FIG. 2) fixed to the end of the electric wire is inserted from the rear, and is housed in a state where it cannot be removed. The male housing 20 is also formed of a synthetic resin material, and has a shape in which a hood portion 22 into which the female housing 10 is fitted is provided on the front surface of the main body portion 21. Two cavities (not shown) are formed in the main body 21 so as to face the female housing 10 side, and a male terminal fitting 23 connected to the terminal of the electric wire is inserted into each cavity from the rear. , Tab to hood part 2
It is housed in the state of being protruded into 2 and prevented from falling off.

[0008] The moving body 3 is
0 is attached. The moving body 30 is made of a synthetic resin, and has a length slightly shorter than the entire length of the female housing 10 and a thickness of approximately １ ／ of the entire width of the female housing 10 as shown in FIG. And a thick plate having a height dimension of about 1/4 of the total height of the female housing 10. A locked projection 31 is formed at a front end of the upper surface of the moving body 30. The upper surface of the locked projection 31 is a tapered surface 32 having a gentle upward slope toward the rear, and the rear surface is a vertical locked surface 33. At the rear end of the upper surface of the moving body 30,
An operation unit 34 is provided to protrude.

A pair of front and rear protrusions 35 are formed on the left and right side surfaces of the moving body 30 at the same height. Double protrusion 35
Has an upper surface serving as a horizontal abutting surface 36 and a lower surface serving as a tapered guide surface 37. On the other hand, an accommodation groove 14 capable of accommodating the above-mentioned moving body 30 is cut in the upper surface of the female housing 10. This accommodation groove 14
Is formed so as to open to the rear edge from a position slightly entering from the front edge of the female housing 10, and has a width dimension in which the moving body 30 is fitted almost tightly, and a depth dimension of approximately １ ／ of the total height of the female housing 10. And On the left and right side walls of the housing groove 14, a vertical guide groove 15 is formed to slidably fit the protrusion 35 of the moving body 30, and the upper edge of the guide groove 15 is formed by the protrusion. The stopper surface 16 abuts the abutment surface 36 of the reference numeral 35.

The upper and lower two upper spring receiving holes 40 are formed in the bottom surface of the moving body 30 and the female housing 10 is formed.
On the bottom surface of the accommodation groove 14, two lower spring receiving holes 41 are formed corresponding to the upper spring receiving hole 40.
A compression coil spring 43 is mounted between the upper and lower spring receiving holes 40 and 41 forming a pair. The movable body 30 has the protrusions 35 on both sides fitted in the guide grooves 15 in a state where the compression coil spring 43 is mounted, and is accommodated in the accommodation grooves 14 so as to be freely slidable in the vertical direction along the guide grooves 15. The upward moving force is urged by the elastic expansion force of the compression coil spring 43, and is stopped by the stopper surface 16. At this time,
The upper surface of the moving body 30 is flush with the upper surface of the female housing 10, and the locked projection 31 and the operating portion 34 are
Projecting upward from the upper surface of the.

[0011] On the inner surface of the upper wall 22A of the hood portion 22 of the male housing 20, there are provided a forward and backward entry groove 25 into which the above-mentioned locked projection 31 of the moving body 30 can enter, and a window hole 27 at the rear thereof. Is formed. The window hole 27 allows the locked projection 31 of the moving body 30 to be fitted when the female housing 10 is fitted into the hood portion 22 to a regular position, and is opened on the outer surface of the upper wall 22A. It is formed. The front surface of the window hole 27 is a locking surface 28. Therefore, the portion where the entry groove 25 is formed corresponds to the “locking portion” of the present invention. The upper surface of the entrance groove 25 has a slightly upward slope from the position of the front edge of the window hole 27 toward the front edge of the upper wall 22A, which is slightly gentler than the tapered surface 32 of the locked projection 31 of the moving body 30. It is formed as a tapered surface 26.

This embodiment has the above-described structure,
Subsequently, the operation will be described. The compression coil spring 43 and the movable body 30 are assembled in the female housing 10 in the manner described above, and the female terminal fitting 12 is accommodated in the female housing 10, and the male terminal fitting 23 is accommodated in the male housing 20. You. From this state, both housings 10, 2
0 are fitted facing each other as shown in FIG.

As shown by the arrow in FIG.
0 is fitted into the hood portion 22 of the male housing 20, the locked projection 31 of the moving body 30 enters the entry groove 25, and the top of the locked projection 31 is By sliding along the tapered surface 26, as shown in FIG. 3, the moving body 30 elastically compresses the compression coil spring 43 and moves downward while the female housing 10 is pushed in, and the male and female terminal fittings 12, 23 are moved. They are also deeply connected. When the fitting operation is continued and the female housing 10 is pushed to the normal position, the top of the locked projection 31 of the moving body 30 passes through the rear edge of the approach groove 25, and as shown in FIG. 30 is slid upward by the restoring elastic force of the compression coil spring 43, and the locked projection 31 fits into the window hole 27 of the hood 22. As a result, the housings 10, 20 are locked in a proper fitting state in which the male and female terminal fittings 12, 23 are properly connected.

On the other hand, the fitting operation may be interrupted before the lock state is reached. In this case, as shown in FIG. 3 described above, the top of the locked projection 31 of the moving body 30 is pressed against the tapered surface 26 of the entry groove 25. As a result, a component force Fa from the elastic force F of the compression coil spring 43 toward the rear along the tapered surface 26 acts on the locked projection 31,
As a result, the female housing 10 is
As shown in FIG. 5, at least male and female terminal fittings 12, 2 are provided.
It is pushed back further from the position where the connection between the three is disconnected. This prevents the housings 10, 20 from being left in a semi-fitted state.

When the housings 10 and 20 are disengaged from each other for maintenance or the like, the compression coil spring 43 is elastically contracted by the operating section 34 from the fitted state shown in FIG. When the movable body 30 is pushed downward, the locked projection 31 is released below the window hole 27 to release the lock. Therefore, the rear side of the female housing 10 is successively pinched and pulled, whereby the female housing 10 is pulled. Can be pulled out of the hood section 22 of the male housing 20.

Here, the operation of pulling out the female housing 10 may be interrupted for some reason. Also in this case, as shown in FIG. 3, the top of the locked projection 31 of the moving body 30 is pressed against the tapered surface 26 of the entry groove 25, and the function of the tapered surface 26 also causes the tapered surface 26 to move. A component force Fa heading backward along is obtained,
By receiving this component force Fa, as shown in FIG. 5, the female housing 10 is pushed further rearward from a position where at least the connection between the male and female terminal fittings 12, 23 is disconnected. That is, even during the detaching operation, both housings 1
It is avoided that 0,20 is left in a semi-fitted state.

As described above, according to the present embodiment,
Both housings 1 not only at the time of mating but also at the time of disengagement
It is possible to perform a half-fit detection of 0 and 20. In addition, the moving body 30 is connected to the female housing 10 by the compression coil spring 4.
3 and can be mounted with a relatively simple structure such that the upper surface of the entry groove 25 to which the locked projection 31 of the moving body 30 abuts is formed as a tapered surface 26. Further, since the moving body 30 has a structure almost housed in the female housing 10, the entire connector including the female housing 10 and the male housing 20 into which the female housing 10 is fitted can be reduced in height.

<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) Contrary to the above embodiment, the locked projection may be provided on the hood portion side of the male housing, and the entry groove (locking portion) and the window hole may be provided on the moving body side. (2) Further, a set of a moving body and a compression coil spring, and a locking portion for the moving body may be provided in a housing that is male and female reverse to that of the above embodiment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a state before both housings are fitted.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view during fitting or disengaging.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state where both housings are properly fitted.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state where the female housing is pushed back or pushed out.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Female housing (one connector housing) 12 ... Female terminal fitting 14 ... Housing groove 20 ... Male housing (the other connector housing) 22 ... Hood part 22A ... Upper wall (of the hood part 22) 23 ... Male terminal fitting 25 Entry groove (locking portion) 26 Tapered surface 27 Window hole 30 Moving body 31 Locked protrusion (locked portion) 43 Compression coil spring F Elasticity (of compression coil spring 43) Fa Min Power

Claims (2)

[Claims] A movable body is provided on a fitting peripheral surface of one of a pair of connector housings fitted to each other in a direction substantially orthogonal to a fitting direction of the two connector housings. The other connector housing is attached and is urged to move toward the opposite fitting peripheral surface of the other connector housing by the elastic force of the spring member. A locking portion is provided which can be locked to the locking portion in a state in which the connector housing is prevented from coming off in the fitting direction. During the fitting of the two connector housings, the movement against the elastic force of the spring member is performed. While the body is moved in a direction away from the mating peripheral surface of the other connector housing, the locked portion passes through the locking portion, and when the two connector housings are properly fitted, the shifting is performed. The locked portion is locked to the locking portion while the body is restoring, and one of the locking portion and the locked portion engage with each other. Is formed as a tapered surface oblique to the direction of action of the elastic force of the spring member, and is configured to obtain a component force for pressing the moving body backward in the fitting direction of the connector housing from the elastic force of the spring member. A connector characterized in that: 2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein a housing groove is formed in a fitting peripheral surface of said one connector housing, and said moving body is mounted in said housing groove.