JPH06203925A - Low mating force multi-pole connector - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] It is an object of the present invention to enable mating / disengaging of male and female multi-pole connectors with a smaller force when adopting a cam mechanism. [Structure] A male connector B is equipped with a slider D that moves forward and backward by operating a cam block E. The slider D has a pressing piece 30 that engages with (the ear piece 18 of) the elastic contact piece 17 of the female terminal F, and moves back and forth between the engagement position and the non-engagement position. At this engagement position, the elastic contact piece 17 is deformed so as not to substantially contact the mating male terminal F. In this state, the male connector B and the female connector C are fitted and released.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement in a multi-pole connector which allows a pair of connector housings containing a plurality of female and male terminals to be fitted and released with a smaller force when a cam mechanism is adopted.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As this type of low insertion / removal force multi-pole connector,
The ones shown in FIGS. 26 and 27 (A) and (B) are disclosed (JP-A-55-163783).
That is, the movable piece b is temporarily fixed in the female connector a, and the movable piece b is pivotally supported by the support pins c on both sides.
On the other hand, the male connector d has a pressing portion e for pressing the movable piece b. Here, when the male side connector d is inserted into the female side connector a, when the male terminal f reaches a predetermined position, the pressing portion e pushes the movable piece b so that the male terminal f and the female terminal g come into contact with each other. start. Next, male connector d
By pushing in, complete contact (wiping) is made between the female and male terminals. However, in the fitting structure as described above, the movable piece b is retracted, and since the return mechanism is not provided, the fitting is effective only once, and the female and male connectors utilizing the low insertion / removal force are used. It is not possible to repeatedly attach and detach a and d.

FIG. 28 shows a wire harness W attached to an instrument panel of an automobile (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-203122). This is because a positioning member k is provided on the rigid circuit body h together with the wire harness coupling connectors i and i'and the electrical component coupling connectors j and j ', while the instrument panel 1 and the dashboard harness W in the dashboard m are provided. For example, knock pins o are provided on the connectors n and n'of the connector ', and the guide members of the positioning member k and the knock pins o guide the connectors i, i',
The j and j'can be collectively connected to the mating connectors n and n '. Therefore, when a low insertion / extraction force multi-pole connector having a structure shown in FIG. 26 is adopted for these connectors i, i ′, j, j ′, the wire harness W
Since the circuit body h is rigid, the above connectors cannot be fitted individually, but all of them must be fitted together. Therefore, it requires a very large force and is practically difficult to apply.

[0004]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the female and male terminals do not substantially come into contact with each other when the pair of connectors are fitted and separated, Therefore, it can be attached / detached with almost zero insertion force (zero pulling output), and can be repeatedly attached / detached, and even if there are a plurality of pairs of connectors, the mating / unmating can be performed collectively. An object is to provide a multi-pole connector. Another object is to provide a low insertion / removal force multi-pole connector having a structure capable of easily absorbing even if a mating connector has a positional deviation when a plurality of pairs of connectors are collectively fitted.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, in the electric wire direction changing device of the present invention, as described in claim 1, a plurality of female terminals having elastic contact pieces are arranged in parallel. A male connector that is housed therein, a female connector that houses the male terminals that are in contact with each of the female terminals and that fits into the male connector, and a non-engaging position with respect to the female terminals in the male connector. And a cam block that is mounted on a male connector to move the slider forward and backward, the female terminal of the male connector being a part of the elastic contact piece. The slider has an ear piece, and the driven cam pin is provided on a frame-shaped main body having a terminal insertion hole for each of the male terminals, and the slider engages with the ear piece of the elastic contact piece at the engagement position. With a male terminal against the elasticity An elastic contact piece is provided which has a pressing piece that deforms the elastic contact piece so as not to touch it, and the slider is moved to the engagement position by the operation of the cam block, and the ear piece and the pressing piece are engaged with each other. In the deformed state, the male connector and the female connector are fitted, and after the fitting, the slider is returned to the disengaged position by the operation of the cam block to complete the coupling of the female terminal and the male terminal. It is characterized in that it has a structure. When connecting one male connector of the low insertion / removal force multi-pole connector to a plurality of relay boards mounted on a flat wire harness, the cam mounted on the male connector as set forth in claim 2. It is preferable that the block is provided so as to be slidable with respect to the relay board in parallel with the connector fitting surface. Further, as described in claim 3, the cam block includes a cam base board, a drive cam, and a driven cam, and the cam base board has a large screw hole between a pair of lock hooks. The drive cam is provided with a locking projection wall having a small screw hole between a pair of lock holes, the diameter of the large screw hole is x, the gap between the pair of lock hooks is y, and the small screw hole has a small screw hole. Set the diameter as z, set x>y> z, and insert the drive cam into the cam base board by screwing the small screw into the small screw hole and rotating it.
When pulling the locking projection wall to the locking wall to drive the driven cam and engaging the lock hook with the lock hole to lock both, and to separate the drive cam from the cam base board, use the large screw hole. By screwing and rotating the screw, the large screw enters between the pair of lock hooks to expand the lock hooks to unlock the lock hole and press the locking projection wall to drive. It is preferable to drive the driven cam by retracting the cam.

[0006]

When the slider is brought to the engagement position by operating the cam block, the ear piece of the elastic contact piece of the female terminal and the pressing piece of the slider engage with each other in the male connector, and the elastic contact piece is deformed. Since the male terminal is not substantially in contact with the male terminal, the mating or unmating with the female connector can be performed with almost zero insertion force or a force with a small zero ejection force in this state. Further, when one male connector of the low insertion / removal force multi-pole connector is connected to a plurality of relay boards of the flat wire harness, the cam block mounted on the male connectors is connected to the relay board by a connector fitting surface. By disposing slidably in parallel with, even if there is a positional deviation of the mating connector, this can be absorbed without difficulty, and a plurality of pairs of connectors can be collectively fitted. Further, with the cam block having the structure described in claim 3, the machine screw inserted through the large screw hole of the locking wall of the cam base board is screwed into the small screw hole of the locking protruding wall of the drive cam. It is not necessary to reach for the drive cam and operate it because the locking projection wall can be pulled closer to the locking wall by rotating it. Even when the drive cam is separated from the cam base board, by inserting the large screw into the large screw hole and rotating it, the large screw enters between the pair of lock hooks and presses the pressing protrusion of the lock hook. Since the lock hooks are opened to release the lock and the locking projection wall is pressed to retract the drive cam, it is not necessary to directly release the lock hook and directly operate the drive cam. Therefore, the drive cam can be locked and disengaged from the cam base board, and the drive cam can be moved back and forth only by rotating the small screw and the large screw. Can be performed easily and workability is significantly improved.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a male connector and a female connector which form a low insertion / removal force multi-pole connector in a separated state, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of an essential part of FIG. 1, and FIG. An exploded perspective view of a portion is shown. In these figures, A is a flat wire harness, B is a male connector, C is a female connector,
D is a slider mounted in the male connector B, E is a cam block for moving the slider D forward and backward, and the slider D is between a non-engaging position and an engaging position with respect to the female terminal as described later. It is provided so that it can move forward and backward.

The flat wire harness A is formed by covering a plurality of conductors 1 in parallel with an insulator 2 such as polyvinyl chloride, and is provided on, for example, an inner wall of an instrument panel or a dashboard. The male connector B is attached to the relay board 3 provided in the flat wire harness A, and a plurality of female terminals F are housed and locked in the insulating housing 8.
The relay board 3 holds and holds a part of the flat wire harness A between the lower case 4 and the upper case 5, and presses the desired conductor 1 of the harness A into a press contact portion 6a having slots (not shown) at both ends. , 6b are formed to connect to one end of the electric wire 7 and the other end of the electric wire 7 is connected to the female terminal F to form a desired circuit. The insulating housing 8 is formed with a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 9 and 9'in the rear half thereof and a slider accommodating portion 10 for the slider D in the front half thereof, and each terminal accommodating chamber 9 (9 ') is formed in each terminal accommodating chamber 9 (9'). A flexible locking arm 11 for the female terminal F is provided. In addition, outside the insulating housing 8,
Two pin guide grooves 1 in front of one side wall in the longitudinal direction
2, 12 are opened, and mounting pieces 14 having screw insertion holes 14a are provided in front of the left and right end walls.

The female terminal F is, as shown in FIG.
5 is formed by connecting an electric contact portion F ₁ in front of the electric wire 5 and an electric wire connecting portion F ₂ in the rear thereof, and the electric wire 7 is connected to the electric wire connecting portion F ₂ by a conductor holding piece 21 and an insulator holding piece 22. . The electric contact portion F ₁ includes a rectangular tab receiving cylinder 16 formed by bending inward the free edges of the standing side walls 16 a on both sides, and the tip of the base plate portion 15 inside the tab receiving cylinder 16. The elastic contact piece 17 is formed by folding back, the ear pieces 18, 18 are extended on both sides of the elastic contact piece, and the side wall 16a is provided with a notch 16b facing the ear piece 18. Furthermore,
In the electric contact portion F ₁ , a locking hole 19 is opened in the board portion 15, and stabilizers 20 are provided so as to project downward on both sides. In this female terminal F, in the terminal accommodating chamber 9, the flexible locking arm 11 is engaged with the locking hole 19 to prevent rearward removal, and the stabilizer 20 is engaged with the locking groove 9a to be pulled out forward. Is blocked.

The female connector C is used, for example, by being attached to the inner wall of the instrument panel or formed on the side wall of an electric device. The insulating housing 23 of the female connector C has a terminal housing chamber 24 corresponding to the terminal housing chambers 9 and 9'on the rear half thereof.
24 ', each of which accommodates a male terminal G, and a cam case accommodating portion 26 is defined and formed in the front half together with a hood 25 for receiving the male connector B, and the locking elongated hole 2
Flexible lock pieces 27 having 7a are projected on both sides.

The slider D is a rectangular frame-shaped main body portion 28 corresponding to the shape of the slider housing portion 10 of the male connector B.
The frame-shaped main body 28 is provided with a plurality of terminal insertion holes 29, 2 corresponding to the terminal accommodating chambers 24, 24 ′ of the female connector C.
Along with opening 9 ', as shown in FIG. 5, a pressing piece 30 extending forward from the hole edge of each hole is provided so as to project on the upper surface.
The driven cam pins 31, 31 of the book are provided.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the cam block E includes a cam case 32, a drive cam 41, and a driven cam 44.
And a cam holding plate 49 and the like. Cam case 32
Is a box body composed of a bottom wall 32a, left and right side walls 32b surrounding the bottom wall 32a, a front side wall 32c and a rear side wall 32c '. 32d is provided. Spacers 33 are provided upright on the left and right side walls 32b, 32b. The front half of the spacer 33 is formed one step higher than the front half through an intermediate inclined portion, and screw holes 32a are formed in the front and rear upper end surfaces thereof. In addition, the spacer 33
A locking projection 34 that engages with the flexible lock piece 27 of the female connector C is provided on the outer surface of the. On the back surface of the cam case 32, as shown in FIGS.
A slide groove 35 for the drive cam 41 is provided. And, behind the bottom wall 32a of the cam case 32,
Between the left and right slide frames 35a, 35a, the frame 35
The pin guide hole 36 is provided orthogonally to a, and the lock groove 37 communicating with the hole 36 and the outside is formed on the back surface thereof.
Are provided in the vertical direction. Further, as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, a flexible lock piece 38 having a protrusion 38a at a rear corner (upper left portion in the drawing) protrudes from the inner surface of the side wall 32b inside the cam case 32. A guide boss 39 having a screw insertion hole 39a is provided upright on both sides of the central portion. Furthermore, the side walls 32b, 32b and the front and rear side walls 32c,
A welding boss 40, which also functions as a positioning member, is projectingly provided on the upper end surfaces of the four walls of 32c '.

The drive cam 41 is a rectangular plate cam that is longer than the vertical width of the cam case 32, and has a drive cam groove 42 and a locking projection 43. The drive cam groove 42 is formed so as to have an upward slope along a diagonal line connecting the lower left corner portion and the upper right corner portion in the arrow P direction (insertion direction with respect to the slide groove 35) in FIG. 6. The protrusion 43 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the two-sided beam-like flexible elastic piece 43b formed at the lower right corner via the two slits 43a on both sides is projected so as to be elastically movable up and down.

The driven cam 44 is a plate cam shorter than the lateral width of the cam case 32, and has laterally long boss guide holes 45, 45 on both sides of the central portion, and a driven cam pin 46 engaging with the drive cam groove 42 on the back surface. (See FIG. 9), and driven cam grooves 47, 47 are recessed on both front sides of the surface. The driven cam groove 47 has an inlet portion 47a parallel to the connector fitting direction.
And the slanting part 47 for pulling in which has a slope to the right following this.
b and a push-back inclined portion 47c having an upward slope. Also, on the back surface of the lower right corner of the driven cam 44,
Lock groove 4 having a lock hole 48a parallel to its longitudinal direction
8 are provided.

The cam pressing plates 49 and 49 'are engaged with the lower edge 44a at the front end of the driven cam 44 to prevent them from rising, and have a plurality of holes 49a for the welding boss 40. Reference numeral 50 denotes a cam cover, which has a through hole 50a for the guide boss 39 in the front portion, and a plurality of holes 50b for the welding boss 40 are provided along both side edges and a rear edge thereof similarly to the cam pressing plate 49. There is.

The cam block E is assembled as follows (FIG. 7). First, the slide groove 35 of the cam case 32
The drive cam 41 is inserted into and the drive cam groove 42 is made to communicate with the pin guide hole 36. Next, the driven cam 44 is housed in the cam case 32, the driven cam pin 46 penetrates the pin guide hole 36 to engage with the drive cam groove 42, and the boss guide hole 45 is externally inserted into the guide boss 39. As a result, when the drive cam 41 is slid back and forth as indicated by arrows P and P ′, the driven cam pin 46 that engages with the drive cam groove 42.
As a result, the driven cam 44 also reciprocates in the directions of the arrows Q and Q ', that is, in the lateral direction. In this state, set the cam pressing plates 49 and 49 'on the front side wall 32c of the cam case 32,
The welding boss 40 is heated and fixed by welding with a jig (not shown).
Similarly, the cam cover 50 is covered on the rear half of the driven cam 44, and the welding boss 40 protruding from the hole 50b is welded. Further, a nut (not shown) is screwed on the tip of the screw 51 penetrating from the screw insertion hole 39a of the guide boss 39. As a result, the cam cover 50 is fixed and the driven cam 44 is prevented from rising.

As shown in FIG. 7, connect the drive cam 41 to the arrow P '.
When the driven cam 44 is pulled back in the direction, the driven cam 44 is moved to the arrow Q ′ due to the engagement of the driven cam pin 46 and the drive cam groove 42. As a result, the flexible lock piece 38 enters the lock groove 48 of the driven cam 44 (see FIG. 9), and the protrusion 38a engages with the lock hole 48a to be temporarily locked (initial insertion position). Then, the cam pin introduction groove 32d in the front wall 32c of the cam case 32 and the inlet portion 47a of the driven cam groove 47 of the driven cam 44 are aligned with each other. The temporary lock and its release can be easily performed by sliding the drive cam 41. Therefore, when the cam block D is assembled and stored, the slide groove 35 is used.
The projection 43 at the rear end of the cam case 3
The pin guide hole 36 is engaged and locked through the lock groove 37 on the back surface of the No. 2.

Returning to FIG. 3, the assembly of the cam block D is attached to the male connector B and the relay board 3 together with the connector cover 52. That is, the connector cover 52 comprises a plate-shaped front cover 52a, a tapered intermediate cover 52b, and a rear cover 52c, and screw insertion holes 52d are provided on both sides of the front cover 52a and the rear cover 52c. ing. With the male connector B and the relay board 3 sandwiched between the connector cover 52 and the cam block D, the screw 53 is inserted from the screw insertion hole 52d through the screw insertion hole 14a of the mounting piece 14 in the insulating housing 8. Screw hole 33a4 of the spacer 33
Screw on each.

Next, with reference to FIG. 10 and FIGS. 11 to 14, the mating and unmating of the male connector B and the female connector C will be described. 10A and 11 show a state in which the slider D is in the temporary engagement position with the female terminal F in the male connector B. First, when the slider D is inserted into the insulating housing 8, the driven cam pin 31 enters into the pin guide groove 12 (see FIG. 3) and the entrance portion 47a of the driven cam groove 47 of the cam block E, and the entrance portion 47a. And the approach is stopped once it reaches the inner part (the start point part of the pull-in inclined part 47b). At this time, the side edge portion of the pressing piece 30 of the slider D enters into the tab receiving cylinder 16 from the notch portion 16b (see FIG. 4) provided in the side wall 16a of the female terminal F, and the ear of the elastic contact piece 17 is inserted. The contact with the piece 18 is started. That is, one pressing piece 30 is positioned on the side of the elastic contact piece 17 by entering the notch 16b on one side of the female terminals F, F to which both side edges 30a, 30a (see FIG. 5) are adjacent, Therefore, one female terminal F is in a state of being sandwiched between the pressing pieces 30, 30 that are adjacent to each other except the elastic contact piece 17.

FIGS. 10B and 12 show the slider D.
Shows the state in which the male connector B is in the engagement position with the female terminal F. When the drive cam 41 slides in the arrow P direction at the temporary engagement position, the driven cam 44 moves in the arrow Q direction as described above. As a result, the driven cam pin 31 of the slider D is pulled inward by the engagement with the pulling inclined portion 47b of the driven cam groove 47. As a result, the pressing piece 30 of the slider D further enters into the tab receiving cylinder 16, and the ear piece 18 resists the elastic force of the elastic contact piece 17 to cause the base plate portion 1 to move.
It is pressed to the 5 side, and a gap V is formed between the elastic contact piece 17 and the ceiling wall 16c of the tab receiving cylinder 16. This gap V is designed to be slightly larger than the thickness of the tab-shaped contact portion G ₁ of the male terminal G.

FIG. 13 shows a state in which the female connector C is fitted to the male connector B at the engagement position of the slider D. The female terminal F of the male connector B is in a state in which the elastic contact piece 17 thereof has the gap V between the elastic contact piece 17 and the ceiling wall 16c of the tab receiving cylinder 16 as described above, so that when the female connector C is fitted, The tab-shaped contact portion G ₁ of the male terminal G enters the gap V with almost no resistance. Therefore, the female and male connectors B and C can be fitted with almost zero insertion force even if they are multi-pole connectors having a very large number of poles. Further, by fitting the female connector C into the male connector B, as shown in FIG. 3, the locking elongated hole 2 of the flexible lock piece 27 is formed.
7a and the protrusion 34 of the spacer 33 are engaged with each other, so that both connectors B and C are locked.

FIGS. 10C and 14 show the slider D
Is in a non-engaging position with the female terminal F in the male connector B,
In addition, the female terminal F and the male terminal G are completely connected to each other. When the drive cam 41 is further slid in the arrow P direction after the female and male connectors B and C of FIG. 13 are fitted and locked, the driven cam 44 is further moved in the arrow Q direction. As a result, the driven cam pin 31 of the slider D is pushed back toward the female connector C by the engagement with the push-back inclined portion 47c of the driven cam groove 47, and at the non-engagement position slightly retracted from the temporary engagement position. Stop. This is because the end of the push-back inclined portion 47c is
This is because it is provided slightly closer to the female connector C than the starting point of the pull-in inclined portion 47b as described above. In addition,
The tip portion of the drive cam 41 protruding from the cam case 32 by sliding is housed in the cam case housing portion 26 of the female connector C. When the slider D retracts, the engagement between the pressing piece 30 and the ear piece 18 is completely released, and the elastic contact piece 17 elastically returns. As a result, the tab-shaped contact portion G ₁ of the male terminal G is sandwiched between the elastic contact piece 17 and the ceiling wall 16c in the tab receiving cylinder 16, and the electrical connection with the female terminal F is achieved.

To disconnect the female and male connectors B and C,
If the drive cam 41 is pulled to the front side by the operation opposite to the above, the slider D is once returned to the engaging position of FIG. 13, and the lock by the flexible lock piece 27 and the protrusion 34 is released,
It can be separated with almost zero output.

As described above, the male connector B and the female connector C are engaged and disengaged by moving the slider D between the engaged position and the disengaged position by operating the cam block E. It can be performed with almost zero insertion force or zero extraction output, and can be similarly applied to the case of multiple pairs of multi-pole connectors. Further, since the operation direction of the drive cam 41 of the cam block E coincides with the fitting (disengaging) direction of both connectors B and C, it is possible to easily perform the work without a large work space around the connectors. it can. Further, since a large force multiplication factor can be obtained by the combination of the two driving cams 41 and the driven cams 44 that slide at right angles to each other, even if the number of poles (the number of female terminals) of the connector increases, the operator can slide the slider D Both connectors B and C can be attached / detached with a smaller force by advancing / retreating.

FIG. 15 shows another embodiment of the present invention. Even if the male connector B mounted on the relay board 3 is slightly displaced from the mating connector, it can be easily absorbed. It is a thing. That is, the upper case 5 of the relay board 3 attached to the flat wire harness A
And two guide grooves 54 parallel to the mating surface of the male connector B.
To provide. On the other hand, the cam cover 5 in the cam block E
0 has two guide ridges 55 slidably fitted in the guide grooves 54, and serves as a guide member for the mating connector (female connector C) on the front surface of the front spacer 33 in the cam case 32. A knock pin 56 of is provided. According to the present embodiment, when the plurality of male connectors B are collectively fitted to the mating connector by mounting the flat wire harness A, even if there is a positional deviation from the mating connector, the knock pin Since the male connector B itself slides in the lateral direction while 56 enters into the positioning hole (not shown) of the other party, some positional deviation is absorbed.

16 and 17 show a cam block H according to another embodiment of the present invention. The cam block H is
The flat wire harness A is mounted on the relay board 3 to move the slider D forward and backward, and includes a cam base board 57, a drive cam 58, a driven cam 59 (see FIG. 18), etc. Even in the case of being forced, both connectors B and C can be easily attached and detached.

The cam base board 57 is a plate-like member for supporting the drive cam 58 and the driven cam 59, and spacers 60 are provided on both edges thereof, and the base portion 57a has a slide groove 61 and a locking wall for the drive cam 58. 62 is provided. The locking wall 62 is provided with a pair of lock hooks 63, 63 ′ extending in parallel with the cam base board 57 and a large screw hole 64. The slide groove 61 has a pin guide hole 66.
Is provided.

The drive cam 58 is a rectangular plate cam,
It has a drive cam groove 67 and a locking projection wall 68. Drive cam groove 6
7 is formed in a diagonal line connecting the lower left corner and the upper right corner as seen in the direction of arrow P in FIG. 17 (insertion direction with respect to the slide groove 61). 69 is a protrusion for operation. In the locking projection wall 68, the screw hole 64 of the locking wall 62 of the cam base board 57 with the drive cam 58 inserted in the slide groove 61 is inserted.
A small screw hole 70 is provided coaxially with the screw hole, and lock holes 71, 71 ′ for receiving the lock hooks 63, 63 ′ are formed on both sides of the small screw hole 70.

The driven cam 59 is a rectangular plate cam provided below the base plate portion 57a of the cam base board 57, and has a driven cam pin 72 with respect to the pin guide hole 66 of the cam base board 57 at one end in the longitudinal direction. And a cam groove 73 for the driven cam pin 65 of the slider D is recessed on the surface opposite to the driven cam pin 72.

A pair of lock hooks 63 provided on the locking wall 62,
As shown in FIG. 19, 63 'is provided with lock claws 74 and 74' at the tip ends thereof, respectively, and press projections 75 and 75 'having tapered portions 75a and 75a' are formed in the middle portion so as to face each other. Has been done. Locking projection wall 6 of drive cam 58
The lock holes 71, 71 ′ provided in No. 8 are narrow on the insertion side with respect to the slide groove 61, and have stepped portions 71 a, 71 a ′ in the middle portion.
Is provided. The diameter of the large screw hole 64 of the locking wall 62 is x, the gap between the pressing projections 75 and 75 'is y, and the locking projection wall 6 is
When the diameter of the small screw hole 70 of 8 is z, the respective dimensions are set so that x>y> z. For example, with x set to 6 mm, y set to 5 mm, and z set to 4 mm, the operation process of the cam block H will be described below.

In FIG. 21, a small screw (M4 screw) 76 screwed into the small screw hole 70 is inserted into the large screw hole 64 of the locking wall 62.
It is screwed into the small screw hole 70 of the locking projection wall 68 of the drive cam 58 in the state of being inserted into. A collar 77 is fixed to the machine screw 76 to prevent the machine screw 76 from excessively entering.

In this state, when the machine screw 76 is rotated in such a direction that the machine screw 76 enters the machine screw hole 70, as shown in FIG. 22, the locking projection wall 68 is attracted to the locking wall 62 and the lock hook. The lock claws 74 and 74 'of 63 and 63' are engaged with the stepped portions 71a and 71a 'of the lock holes 71 and 71', respectively, so that the locking wall 62 and the locking projection wall 68 are locked.

When the drive cam 58 is separated from the cam base board 57, the large screw (M6 screw) 7 is inserted in the large screw hole 64.
Screw 8 together. Then, when the large screw 78 is rotated in a direction to enter the large screw hole 64, as shown in FIG. 23, as shown by the tip 78a of the large screw 78, the lock hooks 63, 63 'are formed.
Taper portions 75a, 75a 'of the pressing protrusions 75, 75' of
Abut.

When the large screw 78 continues to rotate, the large screw 78
Of the locking hooks 63 and 63 'is pushed open to remove the locking claws 74 and 74' from the stepped portions 71a and 71a 'of the locking holes 71 and 71', and the locking wall 62 and the locking protruding wall 6
The lock with 8 is released. When the large screw 78 is further rotated, as shown in FIG. 25, the tip 78a of the large screw 78 presses the locking protruding wall 68, and the locking protruding wall 68 is pushed out as the large screw 78 enters, so that the base The drive cam 58 is isolated from the board 57.

As the drive cam 58 advances and retracts, the driven cam 59 moves.
Is driven, and the driven cam pin 65 of the slider D that engages with the cam groove 73 of the driven cam 59 is driven,
Although the male connector B and the female connector C are fitted to each other, the fitting process is the same as the process shown in FIGS.

As described above, in this embodiment, the drive cam can be locked and disengaged from the cam base board and the drive cam can be advanced and retracted only by rotating the small screw and the large screw. Even if the cam block is attached to the, the operation can be easily performed, and the workability is significantly improved.

[0037]

As described above, in the low insertion / extraction force multi-pole connector of the present invention, when the slider is in the engagement position by the operation of the cam block, the elastic contact piece of the female terminal is deformed to substantially form the male terminal. Since they are not in contact with each other, the female and male multi-pole connectors can be fitted or released with almost zero insertion force or a force with a small zero-pulling output. It is possible to do. Also,
One male connector of the low insertion / removal force multi-pole connector is connected to a plurality of relay boards of a flat wire harness, and a cam block mounted on the male connector is slid on the relay boards in parallel with the connector fitting surface. Since it is movably provided, even if the mating connector has a positional deviation, it can be absorbed without difficulty, and a plurality of pairs of connectors can be collectively fitted. Further, a pair of lock hooks and a locking wall having a large screw hole are provided on the cam base board that constitutes the cam block, and a locking projection wall having a lock hole and a small screw hole is provided on the drive cam. Locking and disengaging the cam base board and advancing / retreating the drive cam can be performed using only small screws and large screws, so even if the cam block is mounted in a narrow space, the operation can be performed easily. There is an advantage in that it is possible and the workability is remarkably improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a separated state of a male connector and a female connector of a low insertion / removal force multi-pole connector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of a main part of FIG.

3 is an exploded perspective view of the low insertion / removal force multipolar connector of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a female terminal F in FIG.

5 is a perspective view of a main part of a slider D of FIG.

6 is an exploded perspective view of the cam block in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the cam block of FIG. 2 in an assembled state.

8A is a perspective view showing a mutual relationship between a cam case and a drive cam, and FIG. 8B is an enlarged perspective view of portions X and X'of FIG. 8A.

9A is a perspective view showing a mutual relationship between a cam case and a driven cam, and FIG. 9B is an enlarged perspective view of Y and Y ′ portions of FIG. 9A.

FIGS. 10A to 10C are explanatory views showing a process of advancing and retracting a slider by a drive cam.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of a male connector in which a slider is in a temporary engagement position with a female terminal.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the male connector in which the slider is in the engagement position with the female terminal.

13 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the female connector is fitted in FIG.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the slider is in the non-engaging position with respect to the female terminal in FIG.

FIG. 15 is an exploded perspective view of a low insertion / removal force multi-pole connector according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a cam block and a flat wire harness according to another embodiment of the present invention.

17 is a perspective view of a cam base board and a drive cam which form the cam block of FIG.

FIG. 18 is a plan view of a driven cam that constitutes the cam block of FIG. 16.

FIG. 19 is a plan view of the cam block of FIG.

20 is a side view of the cam block of FIG. 19. FIG.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram of a process of pulling the drive cam toward the cam base board of FIG. 19.

22 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the locking projection wall is locked by the lock hook of the locking wall through the process of FIG. 21. FIG.

FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram of a process of separating the drive cam from the cam base board of FIG. 22.

FIG. 24 is an explanatory view showing a state where the lock hook is expanded by the entry of the large screw in FIG. 23.

FIG. 25 is an explanatory view showing a state where the large screw of FIG. 24 further enters and pushes out the locking projection wall.

FIG. 26 is an exploded perspective view showing a conventional low insertion / removal force multipolar connector in a separated state.

27A and 27B are cross-sectional views showing a non-contact state and a contact state of the terminal of FIG. 26, respectively.

FIG. 28 is a perspective view showing a conventional flat wire harness for an instrument panel of an automobile.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A Flat wire harness B Male connector C Female connector D Slider E Cam block F Female terminal G Male terminal H Cam block 8 Insulation housing 10 Slider accommodating part 12 Pin guide groove 17 Elastic contact piece 18 Ear piece 28 Frame-like main body part 29 , 29 'Terminal insertion hole 30 Pressing piece 31 Driven cam pin 41 Drive cam 42 Drive cam groove 44 Driven cam 46 Driven cam pin 47 Driven cam groove 57 Cam base board 58 Drive cam 59 Driven cam 62 Locking wall 63, 63' Lock hook 64 large screw hole 68 locking protruding wall 70 small screw hole 71, 71 'lock hole 76 small screw 78 large screw

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A male connector in which a plurality of female terminals having elastic contact pieces are arrayed and housed in parallel, and a male terminal in contact with each of the female terminals are arrayed and housed and fitted to each other. A mating female connector, a slider mounted in the male connector so as to be movable back and forth between a non-engaging position and an engaging position with respect to the female terminal, and a cam block mounted to the male connector to move the slider forward and backward. The female terminal of the male connector has an ear piece in a part of the elastic contact piece, and the slider is provided with a driven cam pin in a frame-shaped main body having a terminal insertion hole for each male terminal opened. , A pressing piece that engages with the ear piece of the elastic contact piece at the engaging position and deforms the elastic contact piece so as not to contact the male terminal against its elasticity, , The slider Moves to the engagement position and causes the male connector and the female connector to be fitted in a deformed state of the elastic contact piece due to the engagement of the ear piece and the pressing piece, and after the fitting, further A low insertion / extraction force multi-pole connector having a structure in which the slider is returned to a non-engaging position by operating a cam block to complete the coupling of the female terminal and the male terminal. 2. The male connector is connected to a plurality of relay boards mounted on a flat wire harness, and the cam block mounted on the male connector is parallel to the connector fitting surface with respect to the relay boards. The low insertion / removal force multi-pole connector according to claim 1, wherein the multi-pole connector is slidably provided. 3. The cam block includes a cam base board,
A driving cam and a driven cam are provided, the cam base board is provided with a locking wall having a large screw hole between a pair of lock hooks, and the driving cam is provided with a small screw hole between the pair of lock holes. Provide the locking projection wall that has, the diameter of the large screw hole is x, the gap between the pair of lock hooks is y, and the diameter of the small screw hole is z. Set x>y> z, and set it to the cam base board. When inserting the drive cam, screw a small screw into the small screw hole and rotate
When pulling the locking projection wall to the locking wall to drive the driven cam and engaging the lock hook with the lock hole to lock both, and to separate the drive cam from the cam base board, use the large screw hole. By screwing and rotating the screw, the large screw enters between the pair of lock hooks to expand the lock hooks to unlock the lock hole and press the locking projection wall to drive. The low insertion / removal force multi-pole connector according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the driven cam is driven by retracting the cam.