JP2011090881A - Mounting structure of electric wire cover - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable to prevent breakage of a lock arm by regulating excessive deflection of the lock arm at the time of unlocking operation. <P>SOLUTION: In a mounting structure of the electric wire cover 50 on a wire extraction part (equivalent to mat seal cover 40) of a connector housing 10A, a lock arm 45 which engages with a lock part 55a on the electric wire cover side is installed at the side wall 42a of the wire extraction part. The lock arm is constructed to allow engagement and disengagement with the lock part by deflecting and deforming to the outside once when engaging or disengaging with the lock part on the electric cover side. On the other hand, a lever 20 which is held at a prescribed temporary locking position before connector insertion engagement is installed at the connector housing, and an excessive displacement regulating part 22a which regulates excessive deflection to the outside direction of the lock arm when the lever is held in a temporary locking position is installed in the lever. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electric wire cover mounting structure for guiding a bundle of electric wires in a predetermined direction while protecting the bundle of electric wires drawn out from an electric wire extraction portion at the rear portion of a connector housing.

Patent Document 1 provides an example of a conventional wire cover mounting structure.
In this conventional wire cover mounting structure, a lock protrusion is provided on the wire lead-out portion of the connector housing, and a lock arm that engages with the lock protrusion on the connector housing side is provided on the wire cover side. When the lock arm is engaged, the lock arm collides with the lock protrusion, so that the lock arm is once bent and deformed to allow the lock protrusion to pass, and after the lock protrusion has passed, the lock arm returns from the bend. The lock arm and the lock projection are engaged so that the wire cover is locked at the mounting position.

JP-A-9-219245

  By the way, when releasing this locked state, insert a jig into the free end of the lock arm, pull the wire cover while forcibly bending the lock arm outward, and engage the lock protrusion with the lock arm. Although an operation of extracting from the mating position is necessary, there is a concern that the lock arm is excessively bent by the operation of the jig and the lock arm is damaged.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to prevent the lock arm from being damaged by restricting excessive bending of the lock arm during the unlocking operation. The object is to provide a mounting structure for an electric wire cover.

In order to achieve the above-described object, the wire cover mounting structure according to the present invention is characterized by the following (1) to (2).
(1) An electric wire cover mounting structure in which an electric wire cover that covers an electric wire drawn from the electric wire drawing portion is detachably attached to the electric wire drawing portion at the rear of the connector housing,
A lock arm that locks the electric wire cover in a mounting position by engaging with a lock portion on the electric wire cover side is provided on the side wall of the electric wire drawing portion,
When the lock arm is engaged with or released from the lock portion on the electric wire cover side, the lock arm is once bent and deformed outwardly intersecting the side wall, thereby engaging with and engaging with the lock portion. It is configured to allow unlocking,
On the other hand, the connector housing is operated to rotate when mated with the mating connector housing, so that both the connector housings are fitted, and the lever is held in a predetermined temporary locking position before the fitting. Is provided,
The lever is provided with an excessive displacement restricting portion that restricts excessive bending of the lock arm toward the outer side in the vicinity of the lock arm when the lever is held at the temporary locking position. Being.
(2) In the mounting structure of the electric wire cover configured as described in (1) above,
The lever includes a pair of side plate portions that are opposed to each other so as to sandwich both outer side surfaces of the connector housing and are rotatably connected to rotation fulcrums provided on both outer side surfaces of the connector housing, and the pair of side plate portions. And a connecting arm portion for connecting the connector housing, and when the connector housing is fitted to the mating connector housing, the connector housing is rotated forward from the temporary locking position that has fallen backward. The over-displacement restricting portion is provided on the inner surface of the connecting arm portion of the lever.

According to the mounting structure of the electric wire cover having the configuration (1), the lever is provided with the excessive displacement restricting portion, so that it is possible to prevent the lock arm from being excessively bent outward during the unlocking operation. It is possible to prevent the lock arm from being damaged.
According to the mounting structure of the electric wire cover having the configuration (2) above, an excessive displacement of the lock arm can be achieved only by providing a slight contrivance (excessive displacement restricting portion) at an inconspicuous portion of the lever (inner surface of the connecting arm portion). Therefore, reliability during handling can be improved.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the lock arm from being damaged by restricting excessive bending of the lock arm during the unlocking operation.

  The present invention has been briefly described above. Further, details of the present invention will be further clarified by reading the embodiments for carrying out the invention described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It is the disassembled perspective view seen from the front side of the connector unit to which the mounting structure of the electric wire cover of the embodiment of the present invention was applied. It is the disassembled perspective view seen from the rear side of the connector unit. It is a side view which shows the assembly state in the middle of the connector unit. It is a sectional side view which shows the whole assembly state of the connector unit, and is sectional drawing which understands the structure of the lock part of a mat | matte seal cover and an electric wire cover, and the relationship of a lever. To release the engagement between the lock arm on the mat seal cover side and the lock part of the wire cover, when the lock arm is bent outward, the excessive displacement restricting part of the lever prevents excessive bending of the lock arm. It is the side view which shows the state which exists, and the enlarged view of the principal part. FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 showing a case where the lever is not provided with an excessive displacement restricting portion as a comparative example with respect to the present embodiment, and shows a state where the lock arm is excessively bent during a forced release operation. It is the side view to show, and the enlarged view of the principal part.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view as seen from the front side of a connector unit to which the wire cover mounting structure of the embodiment is applied, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view as seen from the rear side of the connector unit, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing an entire assembled state of the connector unit. FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the structure of the mat seal cover and the lock portion of the wire cover and the relationship between the levers, and FIG. When the lock arm is bent outward to release the engagement between the lock arm on the cover side and the lock part of the wire cover, the excessive displacement restricting part of the lever prevents the lock arm from being excessively bent. FIG.

  The connector unit to which the wire cover mounting structure of the present embodiment shown in exploded view in FIGS. 1 and 2 accommodates a large number of terminals (not shown) in a connector housing 10A made of a synthetic resin molded product. The multi-core connector 10 configured as described above and a connector housing 10A are rotatably mounted on the outside of the connector housing 10A, and are rotated in the direction of arrow A when the connector 10 is fitted to a connector on the other side (not shown). Thus, the lever 20 made of a synthetic resin molded product that generates a large fitting force with a small rotational operation force and smoothly fits both connectors and the rear portion of the connector housing 10A by the lever principle. A mat or mat made of rubber or flexible resin that seals the gap between the electric wire extending from each terminal accommodated in the connector housing 10A and the connector housing 10A. And a mat seal cover made of synthetic resin that is fitted and fixed to the rear portion of the connector housing 10A and prevents the mat seal 30 from falling off while pressing the mat seal 30 from the rear side. 40, which is a portion corresponding to the lead-out portion) and the mat seal cover 40, and guides the bundle of electric wires in a predetermined direction while protecting the bundle of electric wires drawn out from the rear side of the mat seal cover 40 An electric wire cover 50 made of a synthetic resin molded product.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the connector housing 10 </ b> A includes an inner peripheral connector main body portion 11, an outer peripheral side hood portion 12, and a rear end cylindrical wall portion 13. The hood part 12 is a part that fits to the outer periphery of the fitting cylindrical wall of the connector housing of the mating connector, and the connector main part 11 is a part that fits to the inner circumference of the fitting cylindrical wall of the connector housing of the mating connector. As shown in FIG. 3, the rear end of the hood portion 12 is coupled to the rear end of the connector main body portion 11 and the front end of the cylindrical wall portion 13. A lock mechanism 14 that locks with the lever lock 22 c of the lever 20 is provided on the upper portion of the hood portion 12. Further, a front holder 18 is attached to the front portion of the connector main body 11 of the connector housing 10A, and a side spacer 19 for preventing terminal detachment is attached to a space in the middle of the connector main body 11 in the front-rear direction. Yes.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the lever 20 has a substantially U-shape having a pair of left and right side plate portions 21 and a connecting arm portion 22 that connects the side plate portions 21, and both the hood portions 12 of the connector housing 10 </ b> A. As shown in FIG. 3, the mounting hole 26 formed in the side plate portion 21 is fitted to the boss 16 projecting on the outer side surface, so that the boss 16 is rotatably provided on the upper side of the connector housing 10A. Prior to the fitting, it is held at the temporary locking position in the state of being tilted obliquely backward in the drawing.

  The temporary locking means in this case is provided between the inner surface of the side plate portion 21 of the lever 20 and the outer surface of the connector housing 10A, for example, in the form of protrusions that interfere with each other before being fitted to the connector. In addition, the lever 20 can be held at the temporary locking position with a constant holding force, and the temporary locking state can be canceled by operating with a force exceeding the holding force, and the lever 20 can be rotated. It is configured to allow movement.

  When the connector is fitted, the convex portion (not shown) protruding from the housing of the mating connector is connected to the peripheral edge of the side plate portion 21 of the lever 20 and the connector housing while the lever 20 is held at the temporary locking position. By rotating the lever 20 in the direction of the arrow A in FIG. 1 while being received at one end of the cam groove 25 from the inlets 27, 17 provided at the front end of the hood portion 12 of 10A, The mating connector is pulled into the connector 10 side through a convex portion that slides along the cam groove 25 so that both connectors can be fitted.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the cylindrical wall portion 13 provided at the rear portion of the connector housing 10 </ b> A has an open rear surface and a substantially quadrangular shape when viewed from the rear surface, and a space 13 a inside thereof is a mat seal. It is a space that accommodates 30. A plurality of locking projections 15 for locking the mat seal cover 40 are provided on the outer periphery of the upper wall portion and the lower wall portion of the cylindrical wall portion 13 that face each other.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the mat seal cover 40 has a first half portion fitted in a cylindrical peripheral wall 41 that fits on the outer periphery of the cylindrical wall portion 13 of the connector housing 10 </ b> A and a space 13 a inside the cylindrical wall portion 13. By connecting the thick pressing surface plate portion 42 that presses and supports the mat seal 30 forward, the rear end edge of the cylindrical peripheral wall 41 and the outer periphery of the intermediate portion in the front-rear direction of the pressing surface plate portion 42. And a connecting wall portion 44 that secures an annular groove 46 into which the rear end of the cylindrical wall portion 13 of the connector housing 10A is inserted between the front half portion of the pressing face plate portion 42 and the cylindrical peripheral wall 41. . The pressing face plate portion 42 is provided with a number of electric wire extraction holes arranged corresponding to the positions of the terminals in order to draw out the electric wires. Further, a lock that engages with the lock projection 15 on the connector housing 10A side when the mat seal cover 40 is assembled to the cylinder wall portion 13 of the connector housing 10A on the upper wall portion and the lower wall portion of the cylindrical peripheral wall 41. A portion 43 is provided. When the mat seal cover 40 is attached to the rear portion of the connector housing 10A, the electric wire is drawn backward from the rear surface of the mat seal cover 40, so the mat seal cover 40 corresponds to the electric wire extraction portion of the connector 10. It becomes a part to do.

  In the present embodiment, the electric wire cover 50 is attached and fixed to the mat seal cover (corresponding to the electric wire drawing portion) 40, and the upper wall portion and the lower wall portion of the cylindrical peripheral wall 41 of the mat seal cover 40. A band plate-like lock arm (locking means) 45 for locking the electric wire cover 50 in a state of being separated from the connecting wall portion 44 is protruded from a part of the rear end edge.

  The lock arm 45 has a base end 45 a integrally coupled to the cylindrical peripheral wall 41, and a distal end 45 b that is a free end is extended rearward along the outer peripheral surface 42 a of the rear half portion of the pressing surface plate portion 42. The inner surface of the tip 45b, which is the free end, is provided on the side wall 51a of the electric wire cover 50. An engagement convex portion 45c that engages with the lock portion 55a is provided. In addition, a slope 45d that facilitates insertion of the lock portion 55a on the electric wire cover 50 side is provided on the distal end surface of the engaging convex portion 45c.

  In addition, the portion where the base end 45a of the lock arm 45 is connected on the cylindrical peripheral wall 41 of the mat seal cover 40 is locked from the rear end edge of the cylindrical peripheral wall 41 at positions on both sides in the width direction of the lock arm 45. A pair of first slits 45e are provided to extend the length of the substantial bending portion of the lock arm 45 by separating the arm 45, and to make the lock arm 45 easy to bend.

  The pair of first slits 45e are formed by cutting from the rear end edge of the cylindrical peripheral wall 41 to an intermediate position between the rear end edge and the front end edge of the cylindrical peripheral wall 41. The position near the back end in the cutting direction of one slit 45e can be bent outward. The lock arm 45 configured as described above is positioned on the outer wall surface (corresponding to a pair of side walls facing each other) of the outer peripheral surface 42a of the pressing surface plate portion 42 in the vertical direction.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the inner surface of the connecting arm portion 22 of the lever 20 is locked when the lever 20 is held at the temporary locking position in correspondence with the lock arm 45. An excessive displacement restricting portion 22 a that restricts excessive bending of the lock arm 45 toward the outside in the vicinity of the arm 45 is provided. This is because when the lock arm 45 is disengaged, the tip of the jig 200 is inserted into the tip of the lock arm 45 to forcibly bend the lock arm 45 outward. This is to prevent bending.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, the electric wire cover 50 has a substantially semi-cylindrical shape having a space for guiding an electric wire therein, and has a semi-cylindrical shape (a U-shaped cross section) having a pair of upper and lower side walls 51a. Main cover portion 51, an end wall portion (corresponding to another side wall) 52 provided to close one end side of the semi-cylindrical main cover portion 51, and the other end of the semi-cylindrical main cover portion 51 And a semi-cylindrical wire guide portion 53 that guides the direction of drawing out the wire. The wire guide portion 53 is a portion that guides the bundle of wires received in the main cover portion 51 while curving it to the side of the main cover portion 51, and the end of the length direction passes through the wire binding band. A hole 54 is provided.

  The upper and lower side walls 51a of the main cover 51 are provided with wide lock plates 55 for connecting to the mat seal cover 40 when the wire cover 50 is attached to the mat seal cover 40. A lock portion 55 a that engages with the lock arm 45 on the mat seal cover 40 side is provided on the electric wire guide portion 53 side of the plate 55. Further, the portion of the lock plate 55 opposite to the electric wire guide portion 53 side is an opening prevention portion (opening prevention means) 48 provided side by side with the lock arm 45 on the upper and lower outer peripheral surfaces of the pressing surface plate portion 42 of the mat seal cover 40. It becomes the insertion part (opening stop means) 55b inserted in.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the distance H2 between the pair of upper and lower side walls 51a of the main cover portion 51 of the wire cover 50 is between the upper and lower outer peripheral surfaces (side walls) 42a of the pressing surface plate portion 42 of the mat seal cover 40. It is more open than the width, and it is easy to pick up a large number of wires when the wire cover 50 is attached. Further, the pair of upper and lower lock plates 55 are also more open than the distance between the upper and lower lock arms 45 of the mat seal cover 40 as the side wall 51a is opened. Since the engagement is difficult, the insertion portion 55b is inserted into the opening stop portion 48 while the interval between the pair of lock plates 55 is narrowed, so that the lock portion 55a is attached to the lock arm 45 while the interval between the lock plates 55 is kept narrow. It can be engaged.

  The lock portion 55a advances while pushing and opening the lock arm 45 outward (bending outward) by abutting with the locking projection 45c of the lock arm 45 when the electric wire cover 50 is attached. When the lock arm 45 is elastically returned to the initial inward position after the locking projection 45c, the lock projection 45c is engaged with the engagement projection 45c of the lock arm 45. This is the part that functions to regulate movement in the opposite direction.

  Further, the excessive displacement restricting portion 22a of the lever 20 described above is disposed at a position where the bending of the lock arm 45 can be sufficiently allowed when the lock arm 45 is bent by the insertion of the lock plate 55 as described above.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the opening preventing portion 48 on the mat seal cover 40 side is formed in a hook shape from the connecting wall portion 44 so as to face the upper and lower outer peripheral surfaces of the pressing face plate portion 42 with a predetermined gap. The extending presser plate portion 48a and one end of the presser plate portion 42 are connected to the outer peripheral surface of the press face plate portion 42 to thereby reinforce the presser plate portion 48a, and the lock plate 55 of the electric wire cover 50 is inserted. When viewed from the rear front, it is substantially L-shaped.

  Moreover, as shown in FIG. 1, the front-end | tip of the end wall part (equivalent to another side wall) 52 of the electric wire cover 50, and the outer peripheral surface (other side wall) of the right-and-left one side of the press surface board part 42 of the mat seal cover 40 corresponding to it. Are provided with engaging portions (engaging means) 52a and 47 that are engaged with each other when the electric wire cover 50 is attached and serve as pivotal fulcrums when the electric wire cover 50 is attached. Accordingly, the opening preventing portion 48 and the insertion portion 55b that are the opening preventing means are located closer to the engaging portions 52a and 47 than the lock arm 45 and the locking portion 55a that are the locking means, and the electric wire cover 50 is rotated. When it is moved and attached to the mat seal cover 40, the insertion portion 55b starts to be inserted into the opening preventing portion 48 before the lock portion 55a and the lock arm 45 are engaged.

Next, the operation will be described.
When assembling the connector unit shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the lever 20 is assembled to the connector housing 10 </ b> A constituting the connector 10, and the mat seal 30 is fitted on the inner peripheral side of the cylindrical wall portion 13 at the rear of the connector housing 10 </ b> A. The mat seal cover 40 is mounted and fixed to the rear portion of the connector housing 10A while pressing the mat seal 30 (see FIG. 4). At this time, the mat seal cover 40 is fixed to the connector housing 10A by engaging the lock portion 43 of the mat seal cover 40 with the lock projection 15 on the connector housing 10A side. In this state, a large number of electric wires are drawn backward from the electric wire extraction holes of the pressing face plate portion 42 of the mat seal cover 40.

  Next, the engaging portion 52a of the end wall portion 52 of the electric wire cover 50 is engaged with the engaging portion 47 on the side surface of the mat seal cover 40, and the electric wire drawn out rearward of the mat seal cover 40 is placed in the inner space. While picking it up, the electric wire cover 50 is rotated to the mat seal cover 40 side with the engaging portion 52a, 47 as the fulcrum. At that time, first, the electric wires W are picked up without leaking while the both side walls 51a of the electric wire cover 50 are kept open in a free state. When all the electric wires W have been picked up, the gap between the side walls 51a is gradually narrowed while applying an inward pressing force to the side wall 51a from the outside. The mat seal cover 40 is inserted into the opening stopper 48.

  When the electric wire cover 50 is further rotated in this state, the lock portion 55a of the electric wire cover 50 is hooked on the tip of the lock arm 45, and the electric wire cover 50 is further rotated while the lock arm 45 is bent outward. When the cover 50 is properly attached to the mat seal cover 40, as shown in FIG. 4, the lock portion 55a is engaged with the engagement convex portion 45c of the lock arm 45, and the electric wire cover 50 is locked so as not to drop off. Is done.

  Next, in order to release the electric wire cover 50, when the engagement between the lock arm 45 on the mat seal cover 40 side and the electric wire cover 50 side is released, as shown in FIG. Then, the lock arm 45 is forcibly bent outward, and the electric wire cover 50 is pulled and moved in the direction opposite to the mounting direction in this state.

  At this time, if the jig 200 is operated by groping, the lock arm 45 may be excessively bent outward and the lock arm 45 may be damaged. In that respect, in the present embodiment, the excessive displacement restricting portion 22a is provided in the connecting arm portion 22 of the lever 20, and when the lock arm 45 attempts to bend excessively outward, it interferes with the lock arm 45. Thus, excessive bending of the lock arm 45 can be prevented.

  Incidentally, when there is no excessive displacement restricting portion 22a, as shown in FIG. 6, if the jig 200 is accidentally strongly inserted into the lock arm 45, the lock arm 45 may be excessively bent outward. Conceivable. In this embodiment, such a situation can be avoided and the lock arm 45 can be protected. Moreover, since the excessive displacement restricting portion 22a is provided on the lever 20 close to the lock arm 45 when it is just in the temporary locking position, the reliability of the lock arm 45 can be improved only by adding a simple device. Can do.

  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. For example, in the present embodiment, the excessive displacement restricting portion 22 a is provided on the connecting arm portion 22 of the lever 20, but the inner surface of the connecting arm portion 22 of the lever 20 is positioned on the rotation trajectory of the lock arm 45. In addition, the turning locus of the lever 20 may be set.

  In each of the above embodiments, the case where the present invention is applied between the mat seal cover and the wire cover attached to the rear portion of the connector has been described. However, when the mat seal cover is not used, the wire lead-out portion of the connector housing is used. The present invention can also be applied between the wire cover and the wire cover.

10A connector housing 20 lever 21 side plate part 22 connecting arm part 22a excessive displacement restricting part 40 mat seal cover (wire drawing part)
42a Outer peripheral surface (side wall) of pressing face plate
45 Lock arm 50 Electric wire cover 55a Lock part

Claims (2)

An electric wire cover mounting structure in which an electric wire cover covering the electric wire drawn out from the electric wire extraction portion is detachably attached to the electric wire extraction portion at the rear of the connector housing,
A lock arm that locks the electric wire cover in a mounting position by engaging with a lock portion on the electric wire cover side is provided on the side wall of the electric wire drawing portion,
When the lock arm is engaged with or released from the lock portion on the electric wire cover side, the lock arm is once bent and deformed outwardly intersecting the side wall, thereby engaging with and engaging with the lock portion. It is configured to allow unlocking,
On the other hand, the connector housing is operated to rotate when mated with the mating connector housing, so that both the connector housings are fitted, and the lever is held in a predetermined temporary locking position before the fitting. Is provided,
The lever is provided with an excessive displacement restricting portion that restricts excessive bending of the lock arm toward the outer side in the vicinity of the lock arm when the lever is held at the temporary locking position. An electric wire cover mounting structure.   The lever includes a pair of side plate portions that are opposed to each other so as to sandwich both outer side surfaces of the connector housing and are rotatably connected to rotation fulcrums provided on both outer side surfaces of the connector housing, and the pair of side plate portions. And a connecting arm portion for connecting the connector housing, and when the connector housing is fitted to the mating connector housing, the connector housing is rotated forward from the temporary locking position that has fallen backward. The wire cover mounting structure according to claim 1, wherein the excessive displacement restricting portion is provided on an inner surface of the connecting arm portion of the lever.

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