JP5136341B2 - connector - Google Patents

Description

The present invention also relates to a connector.

Patent Document 1 discloses a connector including a terminal fitting connected to an end of an electric wire and a housing having a plurality of cavities into which the terminal fitting is inserted. The terminal fitting includes a rectangular tube-shaped main body connected to the mating terminal fitting, and an open barrel-shaped barrel connected to the end of the electric wire and located behind the main body. Further, a protrusion is formed on the outer surface of the main body, and an insertion groove into which the protrusion enters is formed on the inner surface of the cavity. As schematically shown in FIG. 7 as a reference diagram, the cavity 2 has a quadrangular cross section (excluding the insertion groove), and the main body 3 also has a quadrangular cross section (excluding the protrusion).
JP 2006-236678 A

  In the connector as described above, as shown in the figure, a partition wall 4 connected at a constant height is interposed between the cavities 2 adjacent in the height direction, and the pitch between the cavities 2 in the height direction depends on the thickness of the partition wall 4. Was to be stipulated. For this reason, the height dimension of the housing 5 is inevitably increased by the thickness of the partition wall 4, and as a result, the height dimension of the entire connector is also increased, making it difficult to meet the demand for a low profile. In that respect, although it is possible to meet the demand for a reduction in height by reducing the thickness of the partition wall 4, this leads to a decrease in rigidity of the housing 5.

  The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to reduce the height of a connector while ensuring the rigidity of a housing.

As means for achieving the above object, the invention of claim 1 is a connector comprising a terminal fitting connected to a terminal of an electric wire, and a housing having a cavity into which the terminal fitting is inserted, cavity, without the hexagonal cross section, said housing has a plurality of said cavities have a honeycomb structure arranged alternately shifted in the width direction, on an outer peripheral surface of the housing, a plurality of the located on the outer peripheral side A stepped portion that repeats unevenness in the circumferential direction is formed along the cavity, and the stepped portion is fitted into a hood portion of a mating connector having a stepped shape corresponding to the stepped portion. It is characterized by the configuration.

  The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 1, the cavities adjacent in the height direction are arranged so as to overlap each other in the height direction.

  The invention of claim 3 is characterized in that, in the invention described in claim 1 or 2, the cavity has a flat shape in which the height dimension is smaller than the width dimension.

<Invention of Claim 1>
Since the cavity has a hexagonal cross section and the housing has a honeycomb structure in which a plurality of cavities are staggered in the width direction, the pitch between adjacent cavities is reduced, and the height of the connector can be reduced. Further, the honeycomb structure realizes weight reduction of the housing and maintains the rigidity of the housing. In addition, since the outer peripheral surface of the housing has a stepped portion that repeats unevenness in the circumferential direction along a plurality of cavities positioned on the outer peripheral side, the thickness of the stepped portion is also increased. Compared with, the housing material can be saved, and the structure can be distinguished from other connectors.

<Invention of Claim 2>
Since the cavities adjacent to each other in the height direction are arranged so as to overlap with each other in the height direction, the height of the connector can be further reduced.

<Invention of Claim 3>
Since the cavity has a flat shape in which the height dimension is smaller than the width dimension, the height of the connector can be further reduced.

<Embodiment 1>
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The connector according to this embodiment includes a housing 10 and terminal fittings 30A and 30B.

  The housing 10 is made of synthetic resin, and a plurality of cavities 11 into which the terminal fittings 30A and 30B are inserted extend in the front-rear direction. As shown in FIG. 2, the cavity 11 has a hexagonal cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the extending direction, and specifically a flat shape whose height is slightly smaller than the width. The cavities 11 are arranged in two steps in the height direction and in a plurality of rows in the width direction. The cavities 11 in the upper and lower steps are alternately arranged in a staggered manner with a half-pitch position shifted in the width direction. ing. Therefore, the cavities 11 individually have a hexagonal cross section and are arranged in a honeycomb shape as a whole.

  More specifically, in the case of the illustrated cavity 11, the upper cavity 11 is divided into five rows, and the lower cavity 11 is divided into four rows, corresponding to the valley portions formed between the upper cavities 11. The top of the lower cavity 11 is positioned. The cavities 11 adjacent to each other in the height direction are arranged in a positional relationship such that they overlap each other in the height direction so as to intersect the virtual line 60 that is located at the center in the height direction of both cavities 11 and extends in the width direction.

  The housing 10 has a honeycomb structure portion 12 corresponding to each cavity 11. The honeycomb structure portion 12 has a structure in which peripheral walls 13 having a hexagonal cross section surrounding the cavity 11 are connected in the height direction and the width direction, and one adjacent peripheral wall 13 is shared between adjacent cavities 11. Among these, the peripheral wall 13 partitioning the cavities 11 adjacent in the height direction is an uneven partition wall 14 extending between the cavities 11 in the height direction and extending in the width direction. Note that the thickness of the peripheral wall 13 is substantially constant over the entire honeycomb structure 12.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the outer peripheral surface of the peripheral wall 13 of the honeycomb structure portion 12 is exposed and arranged on the outer peripheral surface of the housing 10, whereby all the circumferential direction along the plurality of cavities 11 located on the outer peripheral side is arranged. A stepped portion 15 that repeats triangular irregularities over the circumference is formed. The stepped portion 15 is adapted to be fitted into a hood portion (not shown) of the mating connector, and this hood portion also has a stepped shape corresponding to the stepped portion 15. Further, a flat flat surface (not shown) is also held on the outer peripheral surface of the housing 10 behind the stepped portion 15, and a lock arm (not shown) is erected on the flat surface. ing. The lock arm plays a role of holding both connectors in a detachment restricted state by elastically locking a lock receiving portion (not shown) formed in the housing of the mating connector to be mated.

  Next, the terminal fittings 30A and 30B will be described. The terminal fittings 30A and 30B are integrally formed by bending a conductive metal plate or the like and connected to the end of an electric wire (not shown) as shown in FIG. Barrel portions 31 and 32, and a main body portion 33 connected to the mating terminal fitting 70. The barrel portions 31 and 32 are composed of a wire barrel 31 that is caulked to the core wire exposed at the end of the electric wire, and an insulation barrel 32 that is located behind the wire barrel 31 and is caulked to the end coating of the electric wire, Both have an open barrel shape.

  The main body 33 has a rectangular tube shape capable of receiving the male tab 71 of the mating terminal fitting 70 from the front, and has a hexagonal cross section disposed substantially along the inner surface of the cavity 11. In the main body 33, an elastic contact piece 34 folded back from the front end of one side constituting the bottom wall thereof is formed so as to be able to bend, and a dome-shaped contact portion 35 strikes the elastic contact piece 34. Is formed. In addition, the main body 33 is formed with a trapezoidal shaped receiving portion 36 that is struck inwardly on the other side that forms the ceiling wall and faces the one side in parallel. . As shown in FIG. 3, the male tab 71 that has entered the main body portion 33 elastically contacts the elastic contact piece 34 and is elastically sandwiched between the contact portion 35 and the receiving portion 36. The electrical connection with the terminal fitting 30A can be taken.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a terminal fitting 30B provided with a main body portion 33 having an octagonal cross section can also be used. The main body portion 33 is formed by cutting the two upper and lower sides sandwiching the apex angle opposed in the height direction among the six sides of the hexagon arranged substantially along the inner surface of the cavity 11 in the middle. Two sides that are parallel to each other in the vertical direction are additionally formed to have an octagonal cross section. The two sides facing in parallel in the height direction are shorter than the other six sides, and among these, the elastic contact piece 34 similar to the terminal fitting 30A is formed on one side constituting the bottom wall of the main body 33. The contact portion 35 is formed, and a receiving portion 36 similar to the terminal fitting 30A is formed on the other side constituting the ceiling wall of the main body portion 33.

Next, the effect of this embodiment is demonstrated.
Terminal fittings 30A and 30B are inserted into the cavity 11 of the housing 10 from the rear. The terminal fittings 30 </ b> A and 30 </ b> B that are normally inserted into the cavity 11 are locked in a retaining state by a lance (not shown) provided on the inner surface of the cavity 11.

  In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, the terminal fitting 30 </ b> B provided with the main body portion 33 having an octagonal cross section is inserted into the cavity 11 in a vertically oriented posture, and the receiving portions are respectively provided at the vertical positions facing each other in the height direction. 36 and the elastic contact piece 34 are arranged. That is, two parallel sides having the receiving portion 36 and the elastic contact piece 34 are arranged at positions facing the top and bottom vertices of the cavity 11, and the main body portion 33 is accommodated in the cavity 11 in a positioned state (floating regulation state). . Thereafter, when the male tab 71 enters the main body 33 from the front along with the mating connector, the male tab 71 is electrically connected to the terminal fitting 30B in a lateral orientation with its plate surface facing the height direction. .

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the terminal fitting 30A having a hexagonal cross section 33 is inserted into the cavity 11 in a lateral orientation and elastically receives the receiving portion 36 at the left and right positions facing each other in the width direction. The contact piece 34 is arranged. That is, the two parallel sides having the receiving portion 36 and the elastic contact piece 34 are arranged at positions facing the left and right vertices of the cavity 11, and thus the main body portion 33 is accommodated in a positioning state (floating regulation state). The male tab 71 inserted into the main body 33 is conductively connected to the terminal fitting 30A in a vertically oriented posture with its plate surface facing the width direction.

  According to the present embodiment, since the housing 10 has the honeycomb structure portion 12, the cavities 11 adjacent in the height direction are partitioned by the partition walls 14 that are uneven in the width direction. The upper cavity 11 is shifted downward and the lower cavity 11 is shifted upward compared to the case of being partitioned by the continuous partition walls 4 (see FIG. 6). For this reason, the cavities 11 adjacent in the height direction come close to each other, and the pitch between the cavities 11 in the height direction is reduced. As a result, the overall height of the connector can be reduced. Moreover, the overall weight of the housing 10 can be reduced by the honeycomb structure 12 and the rigidity of the housing 10 can be kept high.

  Further, since the cavities 11 adjacent to each other in the height direction overlap each other in the height direction so as to straddle the virtual line 60, it is possible to further reduce the height of the connector. In addition, since the individual cavities 11 have a flat shape in which the height dimension is smaller than the width dimension, a further reduction in height is realized.

  In addition, since the stepped portion 15 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the housing 10 so as to repeat unevenness in the circumferential direction along the plurality of cavities 11 arranged on the outer peripheral side. Compared with the case where it is made, the material of the housing 10 can be saved, and the structure distinguishability from other connectors is excellent.

  Furthermore, since the main body 33 has a hexagonal cross section or an octagonal cross section, the terminal fittings 30A and 30B can be accommodated in the cavity 11 without any trouble in the positioning state. In this case, since the connection structure (elastic contact piece 34, contact point part 35 and receiving part 36) to the mating terminal fitting 70 is formed between two sides facing each other in parallel, the connection stability is excellent and the terminal The moldability of the metal fittings 30A and 30B is also excellent.

<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.
(1) A plurality of cavities may be arranged in three or more stages in the height direction.
(2) The cavity may have a regular hexagonal cross section.

In the connector which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention, it is a principal part perspective view of a housing. It is sectional drawing of the housing which inserted the terminal metal fitting provided with the cross-sectional octagonal main-body part in one part cavity. It is principal part sectional drawing of the housing which inserted the terminal metal fitting provided with the cross-sectional hexagonal main-body part in some cavities. It is a perspective view of the terminal metal fitting with which the cross-section hexagonal main-body part was equipped. It is a perspective view of a terminal metal fitting provided with a section with an octagonal cross section. It is a reference drawing which shows the conventional cavity, a terminal metal fitting, and a housing.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Housing 11 ... Cavity 12 ... Honeycomb structure part (honeycomb structure)
14 ... Bulkhead 15 ... Stepped portion 30A, 30B ... Terminal fitting 33 ... Main body

Claims (3)

A terminal fitting connected to the end of the wire;
A connector having a housing having a cavity into which the terminal fitting is inserted,
The cavity forms a hexagonal cross section, said housing, have a honeycomb structure in which a plurality of said cavities are arranged alternately shifted in the width direction,
On the outer peripheral surface of the housing, a stepped portion that repeats unevenness in the circumferential direction along the plurality of cavities located on the outer peripheral side is formed,
The connector, wherein the stepped portion is fitted into a hood portion of a mating connector having a stepped shape corresponding to the stepped portion .   The connector according to claim 1, wherein the cavities adjacent in the height direction are arranged so as to overlap each other in the height direction.   The connector according to claim 1, wherein the cavity has a flat shape with a height dimension smaller than a width dimension.

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