JP2004200075A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a connector that enables a short terminal to be easily attached thereto. <P>SOLUTION: A male housing 10 can accommodate a plurality of male terminal fittings 17 and the short terminal 23. The short terminal 23 comprises a body part 27, an elastic contact piece 28 capable of making contact with the male terminal fittings 17, and a pushing piece 29 for pushing the short terminal 23 to house the short terminal in the male housing. The pushing piece 29 is formed by being bent and raised from the body part 27, with the plate surface of the pushing piece going along pushing direction. The male housing 10 is provided with a receiving part 30 which can regulate the pushing depth of the short terminal 23 by receiving the pushing piece 29. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a connector provided with a short terminal.
[0002]
[Prior art]
DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART Conventionally, the thing of the following patent document 1 is known as an example of the connector provided with the short terminal. As shown in FIG. 10, a plurality of terminal fittings 2 and a short terminal 3 are accommodated in a housing 1, and a mating housing fitted to the housing 1 by the short terminal 3. Can be short-circuited between a plurality of terminal fittings arranged in the same manner. The short terminal 3 is provided in the housing 1, a contact piece 3 a for the other terminal fitting, a pair of pressing pieces 3 b for performing a pressing operation by the jig 5 when the short terminal 3 is accommodated in the housing 1. And a butting portion 3c for regulating the depth to which the short terminal 3 is pushed by abutting the receiving portion 4.
Incidentally, the short terminal 3 may be attached to the housing 1 by an automatic machine. In this case, in the automatic machine, when the short terminal 3 is pushed in by a predetermined stroke, the pushing is automatically stopped.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-9-153386
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the short terminal 3, the pushing piece 3b and the abutting portion 3c are separately provided, and are formed in another process in the manufacturing process, so that either the pushing piece 3b or the abutting portion 3c is formed. There was a high possibility that the front and rear positions would deviate from the regular positions due to molding errors. If any of the pushing pieces 3b and the abutting portion 3c is misaligned in the front-rear position, the short terminal 3 may be attached at a position shallower than the regular position, And the pushing piece 3b may be deformed. In addition, since the plate surface of the pushing piece 3b is pushed by the jig 5, the pushing piece is easily deformed so as to be inclined by the pushing force.
The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and has as its object to easily attach a short terminal.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
As means for achieving the above object, the invention of claim 1 is a connector housing in which a plurality of terminal fittings and a short terminal are accommodated, wherein the short terminal includes a main body, It is composed of a contact piece that can be brought into contact with a plurality of mating terminal fittings accommodated in the terminal fitting or the mating connector housing, and a pushing piece for performing a pushing operation when the short terminal is accommodated in the connector housing. The pushing piece is formed by bending and raising the main body so that the plate surface is along the pushing direction, and the connector housing can control the pushing depth of the short terminal by receiving the pushing piece. It is characterized in that the receiving portion is provided.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, a pair of the pushing pieces are formed on both side ends of the main body.
[0006]
Function and effect of the present invention
<Invention of claim 1>
To accommodate the short terminal in the connector housing, the edge of the pushing piece is pushed in. When the short terminal is pushed to the normal depth, the pushing piece is received by the receiving portion, whereby further pushing is restricted. The contact pieces of the short terminals accommodated in the connector housing are brought into contact with the respective terminal fittings accommodated in the connector housing, or the respective terminal fittings accommodated in the mating connector housing, so that the contacted terminals are formed. A short circuit occurs between the metal fittings or between the terminal metal fittings of the respective mating members.
[0007]
As described above, since the pushing piece has the pushing portion in the short terminal and the abutting portion against the receiving portion, compared with the case where the pushing portion and the abutting portion are separately formed as in the related art, The misalignment of the front and rear positions due to molding errors is less likely to occur. Thus, when the short terminal is accommodated, the short terminal can be accommodated in a regular position by pushing in the predetermined stroke, so that the short terminal can be easily attached using an automatic machine or the like. In addition, since the pushing piece is bent and raised from the main body so that the plate surface is along the pushing direction, the edge of the pushing piece can be pushed in, and the pushing piece is hard to be inclined by the pushing force.
[0008]
<Invention of Claim 2>
By pushing in both pushing pieces formed on both side ends of the main body, the short terminal can be accommodated in the connector housing, so that rattling hardly occurs in the pushing process and workability is improved.
[0009]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, three male terminal fittings 17 and a short terminal 23 for short-circuiting two male terminal fittings 17 are provided for the male connector housing 10 (hereinafter, simply referred to as the male housing 10). Indicates what is contained. The male housing 10 can be fitted to a mating female connector housing 40 (hereinafter simply referred to as a female housing 40) on which the slider 44 and the compression coil spring 45 (semi-fitting prevention unit) are mounted. In the following, a description will be given assuming that the fitting surface side of both housings 10 and 40 is the front.
[0010]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the male housing 10 is made of a synthetic resin, and has a substantially rectangular tubular hood portion 11 that opens roughly forward, and a terminal housing portion 12 that can house a male terminal fitting 17. Are connected back and forth. The hood portion 11 has an opening range in which the female housing 40 of the other party can be fitted inside the slider 44 together, and a cantilevered lock arm 13 is protruded from the inner surface thereof. The lock arm 13 can be elastically displaced up and down with a protruding base end as a fulcrum, and a hook 13a that can be locked to the lock 42 on the female housing 40 side is provided at the distal end thereof so as to protrude downward. Have been. Further, on both inner side surfaces of the hood portion 11, a pair of guide concave portions 14 capable of guiding the moving operation of the slider 44 are formed so as to face each other. In addition, a mounting portion 15 for mounting the male housing 10 to a bracket or the like (not shown) is protruded from the lower surface side of the male housing 10.
[0011]
The terminal accommodating portion 12 has a substantially double cylindrical shape that opens rearward, and a cavity 18 into which a male terminal fitting 17 crimped and connected to the terminal of the electric wire 16 from the rear is inserted in the inner cylindrical portion 12a. Three rooms are arranged side by side in the width direction. On the upper surface of each cavity 18, a locking groove 18 a formed by cutting and raising from the male terminal fitting 17, which can elastically lock, is provided to open forward. A stabilizer insertion groove 18b through which a stabilizer 17b of the male terminal fitting 17 can be inserted is formed on one side edge of the upper surface of each cavity 18 so as to open backward (FIG. 5).
[0012]
A retainer mounting hole 19 through which a retainer 20 for secondary locking the male terminal fitting 17 inserted into each cavity 18 is formed in a side surface at a rear portion of the terminal accommodating portion 12 is formed across each cavity 18. I have. The retainer 20 is provided with a retaining portion 20a for retaining each male terminal fitting 17, and each retaining portion 20a is retracted to the side of the cavity 18 so that the retainer 20a can move to the cavity 18 of each male terminal fitting 17. And a full locking position (FIG. 8) where each retaining portion 20a advances into the cavity 18 and locks on the jaw portion 17c of each male terminal fitting 17. It is movable along the width direction. As shown in FIG. 5, the retainer 20 has a pair of upper and lower holding arms 20 b, and the two holding arms 20 b are attached to holding portions 21 protruding from the outer surface of the inner cylindrical portion 12 a of the terminal accommodating portion 12. A temporary locking recess 20c and a final locking recess 20d that can be locked are formed side by side on the left and right, respectively. The retainer 20 is held in the temporary engagement position by the temporary engagement concave portion 20c being locked by the holding portion 21, and the retainer 20 is locked by the permanent engagement concave portion 20d being locked by the holding portion 21. It is held in the stop position.
[0013]
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a short terminal accommodating chamber 22 capable of accommodating a short terminal 23 from the front is provided below the cavity 18 at the front of the terminal accommodating portion 12 so as to open forward. I have. The short terminal accommodating chamber 22 is formed in a width region that traverses the entire cavity 18, and two holding pieces 24 for holding the short terminals 23 protrude from the inner surface thereof. The two holding pieces 24 are respectively arranged at intermediate positions of the respective cavities 18, are formed in a cantilever shape, and can be hooked from the lower surface of the distal end thereof into the locking hole 27 a of the short terminal 23. The part 24a is provided in a protruding manner. The hook portion 24a has a rear surface which is a locking surface with respect to the locking hole 27a, and has a straight vertical end surface, while the front surface has a downward slope so that it can easily ride on the main body portion 27 of the short terminal 23. It is formed in a tapered shape. Note that, on the bottom surface and the rear surface of the short terminal accommodating chamber 22, two die-cutting grooves 25 for die-cutting a die for forming both holding pieces 24 are formed. 11 and an inner surface (FIG. 5) of the outer cylindrical portion 12b of the terminal accommodating portion 12 so as to be continuously opened back and forth. A relief groove 26 for releasing the elastic contact piece 28 of the short terminal 23 is formed in a portion of the upper wall of the short terminal accommodating chamber 22 corresponding to each cavity 18 (lower wall of each cavity 18) so as to open forward. It is formed over a predetermined length.
[0014]
The short terminal 23 is formed into a shape as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 by performing a bending process or the like on a metal plate punched into a predetermined shape. The short terminal 23 includes a main body 27 having a flat plate shape along the bottom surface of the short terminal accommodating chamber 22, and two elastic contact pieces 28 protruding from the rear end of the main body 27. The main body 27 is provided with two rectangular locking holes 27a when viewed in a plan view, at positions corresponding to the two holding pieces 24 (intermediate positions of the cavities 18). Further, the main body 27 is easily inserted into the short terminal accommodating chamber 22 because the rear corners are obliquely cut.
[0015]
The two elastic contact pieces 28 are respectively disposed at positions on the left side of FIG. 3 with respect to the both locking holes 27a, and each male terminal fitting 17 accommodated in the cavity 18 on the center and left side of FIG. Contact. The elastic contact piece 28 is formed in a cantilever shape that is folded forward from the rear end of the main body 27, and can be elastically displaced up and down. Is formed. In the accommodated state, the two elastic contact pieces 28 are arranged such that the contact portions 28a protrude into the hood portion 11 and can elastically contact the lower surfaces of the tabs 17d of the corresponding male terminal fittings 17.
[0016]
By the way, a pair of pushing pieces 29 for pushing operation by a jig or the like when accommodating the short terminal 23 in the short terminal accommodating chamber 22 is bent and raised at both end portions of the main body 27 of the short terminal 23. Is formed. The push-in piece 29 is formed by bending a plate piece that protrudes horizontally from the main body 27 laterally upward substantially at a right angle, so that the plate surface 29 c is in the front-rear direction, that is, along the push-in direction of the short terminal 23. Is set to The push-in piece 29 has a front-rear length dimension that is about one-third the length of the main body 27 and a front end position substantially aligned with the main body 27. When the short terminal 23 is accommodated, the front edge 29a of both the pushing pieces 29 is pushed in the front-rear direction. The front edge 29a and the rear edge 29b of the pushing piece 29 are formed straight along the vertical direction.
[0017]
On the other hand, in order to allow the two pushing pieces 29 to enter along with the mounting of the short terminals 23 and to receive the rear edges 29 b of the two pushing pieces 29, the insertion depth thereof is restricted to both side edges of the short terminal accommodation chamber 22. Are provided in a pair. The receiving portion 30 has a groove shape that opens forward, and is set so that the length and height before and after it are substantially the same as or slightly larger than the pushing piece 29. When the short terminal 23 is inserted into the short terminal accommodating chamber 22 to the normal depth, the rear edge 29b of the pushing piece 29 abuts on the rear surface 30a of the receiving portion 30. The outer surface of the pushing piece 29 can slide on the side surface 30b of the receiving portion 30 in the pushing process. The rear surface 30a and the side surface 30b of the receiving portion 30 are set to be straight along the up-down direction.
[0018]
As described above, the pushing piece 29 has the front edge 29 a as a pushed portion by a jig or the like, and the rear edge 29 b as an abutting portion against the receiving portion 30. The front edge 29a and the rear edge 29b are formed at the same time when the pressed piece 29 is formed, that is, in the step of punching a metal plate in the step of forming the short terminal 23.
[0019]
The structure of the female housing 40 fitted to the male housing 10 will be briefly described. The female housing 40 is made of a synthetic resin, and contains therein three female terminal fittings 41 that can be electrically connected to each male terminal fitting 17. On the upper surface of the female housing 40, a lock portion 42 capable of locking the hook portion 13a of the lock arm 13 is protruded, and on the lower surface, the lock portion 42 is engaged with the distal end portion of each elastic contact piece 28 of the short terminal 23. An engagement recess 43 for elastically displacing this downward is formed. A slider 44 having a substantially cylindrical shape is mounted on the outer side of the female housing 40 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction, and between the slider 44 and the female housing 40, as the slider 44 retreats. A compression coil spring 45 that can be compressed is provided.
[0020]
The present embodiment has the above structure, and its operation will be described below. First, the operation of accommodating the short terminals 23 and the respective male terminal fittings 17 in the male housing 10 will be described. Although the case where the short terminals 23 are accommodated first is described below, the male terminal fittings 17 may be accommodated first by reversing the order.
[0021]
After setting the male housing 10 and the short terminal 23 in the automatic machine and positioning each other, the automatic machine accommodates the short terminal 23 from the front in the short terminal accommodating chamber 22. When the front edges 29a of the push-in pieces 29 are pushed straight along the front-rear direction (the plate surface 29c of the push-in piece 29) from the state shown in FIGS. 3 enters the left side of FIG. 3 with respect to each holding piece 24, and both holding pieces 24 are elastically displaced upward by the main body 27. In this process, the outer side surfaces of both the pushing pieces 29 are slidably contacted with the side surfaces 30b of the both receiving portions 30, so that the short terminals 23 are accommodated without rattling in the width direction.
[0022]
When the short terminal 23 is pushed in by a predetermined stroke by the automatic machine, the pushing is automatically stopped. At this time, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the short terminal 23 is inserted into the short terminal accommodating chamber 22 to a regular depth, the two holding pieces 24 are restored, and the hook portions 24a are respectively engaged with the locking holes 27a. The short terminal 23 is held in a retaining state by entering and locking the inside. At this time, since the rear edges 29b of both the pushing pieces 29 abut against the rear surface 30a of the receiving portion 30, further pushing is restricted. Further, the contact portions 28a of the two elastic contact pieces 28 are arranged at the front positions of the corresponding cavities 18.
[0023]
Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 6, the male terminal fittings 17 connected to the electric wires 16 are inserted into the cavities 18 from the rear while the retainer 20 is in the temporary locking position. In the process of inserting the male terminal fitting 17 into the left end and center cavity 18 of FIG. 4, the tab 17d comes into contact with the contact portion 28a when protruding forward (into the hood portion 11) from the cavity 18, so that the tab 17d is inserted. The elastic contact piece 28 is pushed down by the tab 17d as the movement proceeds. When the male terminal fitting 17 is inserted into the cavity 18 to the proper depth, the lance 17a is restored and locked on the rear surface of the locking groove 18a, as shown in FIG. At this time, the contact portion 28a of the elastic contact piece 28 is in elastic contact near the base of the tab 17d. When the retainer 20 is moved to the final locking position after all the male terminal fittings 17 are inserted, the secondary locking is achieved by locking the retaining portions 20a to the jaws 17c. In this state, there is no short circuit between the two male terminal fittings 17 with which the two elastic contact pieces 28 are elastically contacted, so that there is no potential difference between the two male terminal fittings 17.
[0024]
Next, an operation of fitting the male housing 10 and the mating female housing 40 will be briefly described. When the female housing 40 is fitted into the hood 11 together with the slider 44 from the state shown in FIG. 8, the lock arm 13 rides on the lock portion 42 and is elastically displaced, and the lock arm 13 pushes the slider 44 rearward. Thus, the compression coil spring 45 is compressed. If the work is interrupted in the middle of the fitting, the biasing force accumulated in the compression coil spring 45 is released, and the housings 10 and 40 are forcibly disengaged, so that half-fitting is prevented. In this fitting process, after the tab 17d first comes into contact with the female terminal fitting 41, the engaging concave portions 43 engage with the distal end portions of the two elastic contact pieces 28, so that the two elastic contact pieces 28 The shorted state between the two male terminal fittings 17 is released by being elastically displaced downward while being separated from 17d. When the two housings 10 and 40 are properly fitted, as shown in FIG. 9, the lock arm 13 is restored and the hook 13a is locked by the lock portion 42, and the lock arm 13 is disengaged from the slider 44. The slider 44 moves forward by the urging force of the compression coil spring 45.
[0025]
Note that the short terminal 23 and the male terminal fitting 17 may be removed from the male housing 10 in the state shown in FIG. In order to remove the short terminal 23, both holding pieces 24 are lifted up by a jig inserted into the hood portion 11 from the front to release the locking state with the locking hole 27 a, and separately into the mold release groove 25 from the rear. Is inserted so that the rear edge 29b of the main body 27 is pushed forward (see FIG. 5). To remove the male terminal fitting 17, the retainer 20 is moved from the full locking position to the temporary locking position to release the locked state by the retaining portion 20a. Then, the lance 17a is elastically displaced downward by a jig inserted into the hood portion 11 from the front, and the wire 16 is pulled backward while releasing the locked state with the locking groove 18a.
[0026]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the pushing piece 29 has both the front edge 29a that is a pushed portion from the automatic machine and the rear edge 29b that is the abutting portion against the receiving portion 30, The front edge 29a and the rear edge 29b are formed at one time in the punching step of the step of forming the short terminal 23. Therefore, compared to the conventional case where the pressed part and the abutting part are formed in separate processes, the front and rear positions of the front edge 29a and the rear edge 29b are less likely to be out of order due to a molding error. Thus, when the short terminal 23 is accommodated, the short terminal 23 can be accommodated in a regular position by pushing it in by a predetermined stroke, so that the short terminal 23 can be easily attached using an automatic machine. .
[0027]
Moreover, the pushing piece 29 is formed by bending and raising the plate surface 29c from the main body 27 so that the plate surface 29c is along the front-rear direction which is the pushing direction. In other words, the bending and raising direction of the pushing piece 29 is orthogonal to the pushing direction. As a result, the front edge 29a of the pushing piece 29 can be pushed in, and the pushing piece 29 is hardly tilted by the pushing force, so that the mounting becomes easier.
[0028]
Furthermore, by pushing in both pushing pieces 29 formed on both side ends of the main body 27, the short terminals 23 can be accommodated in the male housing 10, so that rattling hardly occurs in the pushing process, and workability is improved. Is good.
[0029]
<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, and furthermore, besides the following, within the scope not departing from the gist. Can be implemented with various modifications.
(1) The forming position of the push-in piece is not limited to the side end of the main body. For example, a U-shaped slit is formed in the main body, and the push-in piece is bent and raised from the slit to form the present invention. included. The present invention also includes a case where the plate surface of the pushing piece is slightly inclined with respect to the front-back direction. In addition, the number of pushing pieces may be one or three or more.
[0030]
(2) The form of the receiving portion is not limited to a groove-like shape, and for example, a shape protruding from the inner surface of the short terminal accommodating chamber is included in the present invention.
(3) In the above-described embodiment, the short terminal short-circuits two male terminal fittings out of the three male terminal fittings. However, the short-circuiting of all male terminal fittings is also included in the present invention. . Further, the present invention includes a case where one elastic contact piece is brought into contact with a plurality of male terminal fittings.
[0031]
(4) In the above embodiment, the short terminal short-circuits the male terminal fitting, but the short terminal short-circuits the mating female terminal fitting is also included in the present invention. Specifically, before and during the fitting of the two housings, the short terminal is not in contact with the mating female terminal fitting. A structure in which an elastic contact piece contacts a plurality of female terminal fittings, and a detection circuit composed of a short terminal and a plurality of female terminal fittings is energized to detect that both housings are properly fitted. Are also included in the present invention.
[0032]
(5) In addition to the above-described embodiment, the present invention also includes a configuration in which the short terminal accommodating chamber is accommodated from the rear, which is the same direction as the male terminal fittings, as a form in which the short terminal accommodating chamber is opened rearward. Further, the short terminals may be housed manually without using an automatic machine.
(6) Contrary to the above embodiment, one in which the short terminal is accommodated in the female housing is also included in the present invention.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a front view of a male housing and a short terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XX of FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the male housing and the short terminal taken along line YY in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a front view of the male housing accommodating the short terminal. FIG. FIG. 6 is a rear view of the male housing in a state. FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 4 of the male housing and the male terminal fitting accommodating the short terminal and mounting the retainer in the temporary locking position. FIG. FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line YY in FIG. 4 of the male housing. FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. Disconnection Figure 9 along line X-X sectional view of FIG. 4 showing a state where the two housings is fitted normalized Figure 10 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional example [Description of symbols]
10. Male housing (connector housing)
17 ... Male terminal fittings (terminal fittings)
23 short terminal 27 body part 28 elastic contact piece (contact piece)
29: push-in piece 29c: plate surface 30: receiving part

Claims (2)

The connector housing accommodates a plurality of terminal fittings and short terminals,
The short terminal is pressed into contact with the main body, the contact piece that can be brought into contact with the terminal fitting or a plurality of counterpart terminal fittings housed in the mating connector housing, and a push operation when the short terminal is housed in the connector housing. And a push-in piece for
The pushing piece is formed by bending and rising from the main body so that its plate surface is along the pushing direction, and the connector housing has a receiving portion capable of controlling the pushing depth of the short terminal by receiving the pushing piece. A connector characterized by being provided. The connector according to claim 1, wherein a pair of the pushing pieces are formed at both side ends of the main body.

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